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VOL. 5 NO. 66

MAY 31, 2013

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12

18

28

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Communist rebels kill 7, wound 7

Abolish the Senate?

Safety First: Tips on Travel, Tornadoes, Scams

Soho: gang rape’s not a joke

Manila: “The Gates of Hell”

NDP, Liberals bombard Harper on Senate scandal

BY JOAN BRYDEN AND JENNIFER DITCHBURN The Canadian Press

NO POLL FRAUD. Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. fields questions from the media regarding the reported “60-30-10” pattern that raised doubts

about the integrity of the recent election results. (See page 14 for full story)

PHOTO BY RAFFY LERMA

Taiwan to insist on criminal liability

❱❱ PAGE 6 Taiwan to insist

❱❱ PAGE 18 NDP, Liberals

One Pinay becomes the most beautiful in Canada ❱❱ PAGE 19

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TAIPEI—Taiwan and the Philippines will discuss the results of their respective investigations into the killing of a Taiwanese fisherman in the northern Philippine waters on May 9, but Taipei will insist on criminal liability if warranted, according to an official of Taiwan’s Ministry of Justice.

“Each team will come out with

separate reports and in case of major differences, we will again meet to discuss the result, but we will insist on the criminal liability of those who are guilty,” Chen Wen-chen, director general of the International Cross– Straits Legal Affairs, told the Inquirer in an interview Tuesday.

She also said she expected no “major difference in the findings because we are looking at the same evidence.”

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BY NANCY C. CARVAJAL Philippine Daily Inquirer

OTTAWA—The House of Commons took on the aura of an inquisition Tuesday as Stephen Harper was grilled for the first time in Parliament about the role his office played in the Senate spending scandal.

Eschewing the histrionics and partisan broadsides that normally dominate question period, opposition leaders posed short, sharp, relentless queries about when the prime minister learned his chief of staff had personally footed the $90,000 bill for Sen. Mike Duffy’s invalid Home - canadianinquirer.net - Powered by Discuz! http://www.canadianinquirer.net expense claims.

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Philippine News

3 FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013

PH, Taiwan iron out details of probe; NBI team off today

BY NANCY C. CARVAJAL Philippine Daily Inquirer TAIPEI—Did Taiwan set new conditions for helping the Philippines investigate the fatal shooting of a Taiwanese fisherman by Filipino coast guards? Or did Taipei simply try to clarify the rules of cooperation between Taiwanese and Filipino investigators?

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Sunday denied Taiwan had set new conditions, but Manila Economic and Cultural Office (Meco) Chair Amadeo R. Perez maintained his statement on Saturday that new terms had been set and that these would be disclosed today.

At any rate, an eight-member team from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) leaves for Taipei this morning to begin the last phase of the Philippine investigation of the shooting death of fisherman Hung Shihchen, which has sparked a major diplomatic row between Manila and Taipei.

The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (Teco), Taiwan’s de facto embassy in Manila, issued visas to the team’s members late last week after the Department of Justice (DOJ) agreed to Taipei’s request for access to a video of the encounter between Hung’s boat and a Philippine Coast Guard patrol vessel off Balintang Island in northern Philippines on May 9.

But Perez told the INQUIRER on Saturday that Taiwan imposed new conditions and that these had been forwarded to the DOJ for action.

Meeting the new conditions could delay the NBI team’s departure for Taiwan, Perez said.

“There are no new demands from Taiwan,” De Lima told the INQUIRER in a text message on Sunday. “The NBI team will leave for Taiwan (this morning).”

De Lima said the matter involved “ironing out details” of the agreements between the two sides.

“As I’ve previously mentioned, certain details had to be ironed out, including itineraries of both the Philippine and the Taiwanese teams,” she said.

“There were also written exchanges of lists of requested evidence and agreed parameters of evidence sharing,” she added.

Malacañang and another Meco official on Sunday also said Taiwan did not set new conditions for giving legal assistance to the NBI team.

“I checked that with the secretary of justice, and the reply of Secretary Leila de Lima to me was that there were no new conditions. She also informed me that they were just firming up several—certain—details of the visit by both sides,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said on

Hung’s boat, the Guang Ta Hsin 28, which Taiwanese investigators said had taken 45 hits from the Philippine patrol vessel MCS-3001.

No new autopsy

Taiwanese fisherman Hung Shihchen was shot dead in a skirmish with the Philippine Coast Guard near Balintang Island in northern Philippines on May 9. The Philippines and Taiwan have overlapping exclusive economic zones (EEZs) in waters within the area.

PHOTO FROM GOOGLE MAPS

state-run radio.

death.

Clarification only

Photocopies only

Meco permanent representative Antonio Basilio said Taiwan was merely clarifying procedures for the various stages of the investigation involving, among other steps, ballistics and forensics.

“Otherwise, it looks like they already have an agreement,” Basilio told the INQUIRER by phone. “I don’t see any more impediments to [the NBI team’s] departure.”

It appears that Perez understands the clarification of procedures as conditions.

He said the new conditions were related to the conduct of the investigation.

“The reply of the Department of Justice had been forwarded to the Department of Foreign Affairs for their action,” Perez told the INQUIRER by phone.

Perez clarified his statement on Saturday that Teco had issued visas to the members of the NBI team.

He said Teco released only photocopies of the team members’ stamped passports.

“The passports of the agents with visas are still with Teco. They have not released them,” he said.

Perez offered no explanation for Teco’s withholding the NBI agents’ passports.

The NBI team wants to examine

Twenty-four of the hits were on the boat’s cabin, suggesting the coast guards aimed high, although the high hits could be explained by the two vessels’ alternating movements over crests and out of troughs.

The NBI agents also want to interview the fishing boat’s crew and do a new autopsy to determine how Hung died.

In an interview with the INQUIRER on Friday, Hung Tzuchen, a daughter of the slain fisherman, said her family would not allow a new autopsy.

Information from the Taiwan phase of the probe will complete the NBI’s investigation of Hung’s death.

Eleven coast guards and two Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources employees have been relieved while the government awaits the results of the investigation.

Taiwan has demanded, among other things, the punishment of the shooters, compensation for Hung’s family and a formal apology from the Philippine government. ■

The Newcomers’ Centre presents

‘New requests’

A source who had knowledge of the negotiations between Meco and Teco said Taiwan had “new requests,” but these had already been acted upon by the DOJ. The source, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to journalists, said the DOJ sent a parcel to the Meco office in Manila on Saturday afternoon. The parcel contained the DOJ’s reply to the “new requests” of Taiwan.

Asked what the “new requests” were, the source said, “I have no idea.”

The source said Taiwan’s new requests had not been resolved, but the Taiwanese government gave clearance to the NBI team to travel to Taipei just the same.

The source said the NBI team was expected to arrive in Taipei before noon today.

Taiwanese Minister of Justice Chen Ming-tang will meet with Filipino journalists in Taipei this afternoon.

He is expected to discuss the “new conditions” or “new requests” set by the Taiwanese government for cooperating in the NBI’s investigation of Hung’s

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Philippine News

FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013 4

Of 6 incumbents, Cayetano, Trillanes, Pimentel are the biggest gainers

BY NORMAN BORDADORA Philippine Daily Inquirer ALL SIX re-electionist senators got a fresh mandate from the electorate in the just concluded midterm elections but it was Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano who gained most in terms of political capital after the recent campaign, a political science professor told the INQUIRER. Prospero de Vera, a member of the faculty at the University of the Philippines, said two other incumbents who figured in the lower half of the winning circle in the 2007 elections— Antonio Trillanes IV and Aquilino Pimentel III—also gained a significant increase in their support base.

“The biggest gainer was Alan Cayetano. He was No. 8 and now he’s No. 3,” De Vera said in a telephone interview.

“He didn’t raise a new issue but the reason was because there was no more FG or GMA [First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo and former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo].

Before, [Cayetano’s] moves were suppressed,” he added.

Cayetano had only 11.787 million votes in 2007. His number increased to more than 17.4 million votes in the 2013 elections to put him third behind top vote-getter Grace Poe and erstwhile topnotcher Sen. Loren Legarda.

The top two in 2007—Loren Legarda and Francis Escudero— saw their political stock fall with the rise of newcomer Poe, who unexpectedly topped the midterm elections with more than 20.1 million votes, the highest votes garnered by any senatorial candidate in Philippine elections.

Escudero’s total votes also

Dick tells Comelec: Don’t remove PCOS

BY JEROME ANING Philippine Daily Inquirer SENATORIAL candidate Richard Gordon and his party, the Bagumbayan Volunteers for a New Philippines have asked the Supreme Court to stop the Commission on Elections (Comelec) from removing the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines that were used in the May 13 elections from the polling precincts where they were stationed for the recent poll exercise.

In an urgent omnibus motion with a prayer for the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO), Gordon asked the high tribunal to direct Comelec Chair Sixto Brillantes Jr. to comply with the latter’s earlier commitment to provide the petitioners or their designated representatives or information technology experts with a “complete compilable digital copy” of the source code for the automated election system that was used in the May 13 polls.

Gordon also asked for the issuance of a TRO to stop

the poll body from removing the PCOS machines from their respective precincts, schoolhouses or present whereabouts and transferring them to the Comelec warehouse to prevent any tampering with the components, contents and software encoded into the gadgets.

The former senator, author of Republic Act No. 9369, or the Automated Elections System Law, said the issuance of a TRO would preserve the petitioners’ legal right to determine whether or not the source code encoded or loaded into the PCOS machines is identical to the source code to be provided by the Comelec to the petitioners.

Gordon is apprehensive that if the evidence represented by the software actually embedded in the PCOS machines is not preserved through an order of the court, the Comelec may just remove the actual source code loaded into the PCOS machines “and erase whatever anomaly that it or other unscrupulous individuals may have committed to corrupt the automated election system

saw a decline with his more than 18.265 million votes in 2007, falling to just 17.332 million votes in the Commission on Elections’ tally before all 12 senators-elect were proclaimed last week.

Escudero, who was No. 2 in 2007, fell to No. 4 in the last elections.

Legarda, who had 18.501 million votes to top the 2007 elections, had 18.482 million votes when the Comelec proclaimed all the senatorselect. Legarda, who has topped all her senatorial elections in the past, fell to second place this year behind Poe. “Their stock decreased because of Poe,” De Vera said.

“Whenever a newcomer comes out of nowhere and gets more votes than you, there will always be comparisons,” he added.

De Vera observed that Legarda and Escudero weren’t

quite visible in campaigning with the Team PNoy slate.

The controversies raised against them—the ire of Heart Evangelista’s parents in Escudero’s case and the alleged non-disclosure of a New York property against Legarda—also made a dent on their respective campaigns, De Vera said.

“Towards the end, when they came up with more ads, it was not so much that they were going down but that the others were surging. Grace Poe was surging. Alan Cayetano was surging,” De Vera said.

He said the other gainers were Pimentel, who climbed from No. 12 in 2007 with more than 10.9 million votes to No. 8 in 2013 with more than 14.5 million votes; and Trillanes, who was No. 11 in 2007 with over 11.1 million votes and No. 9 in 2013 with more than 13.9 million votes.

Pimentel managed to take his Senate seat only in 2011 after Juan Miguel Zubiri resigned due to alleged electoral fraud in 2007.

“They significantly enlarged their base of supporters,” De Vera said. He adverted to “better labeling” and “new advocacies” as the reasons for the rise of Cayetano, Pimentel and Trillanes.

“Koko’s antifraud campaign was significant while Trillanes’ actions—his fighting stance against Angie Reyes and Enrile worked significantly,” De Vera said.

The only other reelectionist, Sen. Gregorio Honasan, didn’t move much either way, De Vera said.

“He has always been in the [lower rungs of the winning circle]. In 2001, he was No. 13 and in 2007, he was No. 10,” De Vera said. ■

and subvert the true sovereign will of the people during the 13 May 2013 national and local elections.”

He said the high court’s intervention “would serve the overriding need for the electorate in general, acting

through interested political parties, to review the source code and ensure their integrity.”

“Doing so would likewise serve as an effective deterrent against the respondent as well as its present and future leadership from violating their

constitutional oath to strictly enforce and faithfully observe Philippine election laws,” he said.

The Supreme Court held oral arguments last May 8 in response to Gordon’s earlier petition for mandamus asking the high tribunal to compel the Comelec to allow the political parties to examine and review the source code, underscoring the importance of the review to ensure honest, clean and credible elections.

Gordon said RA 9369 required the Comelec to promptly make available the source code of the automated election system technology to be used, and make it open to any interested political parties or groups which may conduct their own examination.

During the oral arguments, Brillantes committed to make available to, and allow Gordon and other interested parties to inspect, review, test and examine the source code of the automated election system for the May 13 elections.

“However, Brillantes appears to be reneging on his commitment after he failed to respond or act on (our) request to review the source code that was made after the oral argument,” Gordon said, adding that he sent Brillantes a text message and a letter reminding the Comelec chair about his commitment. ■

PHOTO FROM WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

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5 FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013

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Philippine News

FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013 6

Taiwan to insist... ❰❰ 1

“There is no deadline and the investigators will bring here the evidence they collected, like the slugs. The investigation will take time,” she said.

Investigators from both countries started their parallel investigation on Monday into the killing of a Taiwanese fisherman by the Philippine Coast Guard off Balintang Island at the northernmost part of the Philippines.

Asked about Taiwan’s suspension of the hiring of Filipino workers imposed following the May 9 incident, she said, “Our demands remain the same and we insist on the punishment of those who shot the boat.”

Pingtung County inquiry

In an earlier interview, labor attaché Rey Conferido of Manila Economic and Cultural Office expressed confidence that the crisis would be over by July when most of the Filipino workers were to renew their

contracts.

During the inquiry in Pingtung County Tuesday presided by local chief prosecutor Choi Zong Zong, a team of the National Bureau of Investigation questioned the three crew members of the Taiwanese fishing boat allegedly fired on by the Philippine Coast Guard.

Based on accounts of an informant who had access to the investigation room of the county justice hall where the probe was being conducted, the NBI team was seated near the door facing Choi, who was seated in an elevated area, just like court judges.

In the middle of the room were the family of the slain fisherman and the three crew members, including the Indonesian fisherman identified as Imam Buchaeri, 35. It was the first time the Indonesian was seen by media.

The inquiry started past 2 p.m. and as of press time no one had come out from the investigation room.

The NBI team headed by lawyer Daniel Daganzo

arrived at the Pingtung County Prosecutor’s Office before noon and immediately met with the prosecutors.

Based on an earlier account How can we convince the Taiwanese of our sincerity? By offering our deepest sympathies to the family and showing our resolve to determine the circumstances behind the encounter and ensure justice is done and proper accountability is meted out.

—Chen Wen-chen, director general of the International Cross–Straits Legal Affairs

on Friday, the captain of the Taiwanese fishing boat whose father was shot and killed in the May 9 shooting claimed that he and his men were fired upon without provocation, and his family accused the Filipinos of murder.

Denying that his boat had encroached on Philippine

L L A C

waters, the fishing vessel’s captain, Hung Yue-chien, 39, insisted at a press conference that the incident occurred in a “public fishing area.”

Probe in Manila

In Manila on Tuesday, members of the Taiwanese investigative team watched a two-hour video of the incident.

NBI officials later accompanied the team to the port area to inspect Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) vessel manned by PCG personnel that was involved in the incident.

The Taiwanese probers completed the ballistics test on Monday, firing the weapons for cross-matching, according to NBI deputy director Virgilio Mendez.

“I think it’s helpful, of course, for both sides,” Andrew Lin of the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office later told reporters. He added that he could not comment further because the investigation was continuing.

He said the inspection of the vessel was a technical issue and that the investigators would depend on the assistance of the NBI and the Coast Guard.

It took the investigators 80 minutes to investigate the BFAR vessel. They were escorted by Commodore Eduardo Guingona, PCG fleet commander.

The Taiwanese investigators were also scheduled to interview BFAR and Coast Guard personnel on Wednesday.

The slugs and shells will be matched with those recovered from the Taiwanese vessel to determine if the firearms turned over by the Coast Guard to NBI are the same weapons used in the May 9 incident.

The NBI team in Taiwan also brought samples of the slugs but the results of the comparison cannot be divulged at the moment, Mendez said. ■ With reports from Erika Sauler and Jerry E. Esplanada in Manila

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Philippine News

7 FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013

Committees in play in new Senate

BY CATHY YAMSUAN Philippine Daily Inquirer IN ANTICIPATION of Sen. Franklin Drilon’s ascent to the Senate presidency, a colleague has warned holdover senators who would find themselves in the minority to expect “less important” assignments in the 16th Congress.

“The new minority members who are holdover senators, if they used to be with the majority, may have to settle for less important committees,” Sen. Sergio Osmeña III told the INQUIRER in a solicited text message.

Observers believe Osmeña was referring to the “macho bloc” composed of incumbent Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada, majority leader Tito Sotto and Gregorio Honasan.

Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr., titular head of the once powerful LakasCMD, is usually listed with this group.

Senate insiders are especially wary of Revilla being forced to relinquish the highly coveted public works committee, a post he “inherited” from his father, Sen. Ramon Revilla Sr., who led the committee during his two Senate terms from 1992 to 2004.

Asked to comment, Revilla Jr. indicated in a text message that he would not put up a fight if the public works post is given to someone else.

“No senator can insist on any committee. While we can express our preference, the decision lies with the leadership and the majority,” he said.

Apart from public works, the two other most-desired committees are finance and accountability or the blue ribbon, which went to newbie Sen. Teofisto “TG” Guingona of the Liberal Party when the 15th Congress opened.

Based on expertise

Revilla’s committee was top of mind last week when Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, currently the minority leader, proposed that committee assignments be given “based on expertise.”

Drilon’s follow- up statement was that assignments would be distributed based on “strengths.”

The Senate has 35 regular committees and 39 ad hoc or oversight committees.

By tradition, the bloc that composes the new majority assigns preferred committees to its members before giving away the “dregs” to minority senators.

As it is, senators seen to be joining either the majority or minority bloc under a Drilon leadership anticipate a major reshuffle in committee assignments.

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, who has just won a second term, said he expected “a major reshuffle because of the leadership change, the entry of new senators and the exit of retiring ones.”

Sen. Loren Legarda said changes “are inevitable. In my past two terms, changes in committee chairmanships and memberships occur upon the opening of the new Congress.”

Osmeña agreed, saying “there is always some movement of committee chairs, especially ( with) five departing senators vacating theirs.”

Enrile’s two allies, Honasan and Estrada, exhibited a waitand- see attitude when asked their opinion.

“All issues—the Senate presidency, committee assignments, etc.—will be resolved by the vote of the majority,” Honasan said.

Estrada said their group was simply waiting for the two-day session in June to pass before discussing the matter. ■ PHOTO BY ROMY BUGANTE (SENATE.GOV.PH)

Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares.

PHOTO BY VICTOR VILLANUEVA

Form panel for claims now, Marcos victims urge

BY LEILA B. SALAVERRIA Philippine Daily Inquirer SAYING the victims of martial law abuses have waited long enough, human rights groups are urging Malacañang to form immediately the panel that would process their claims for compensation.

Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares said there was no reason for the administration to delay the appointments to the nine-member Human Rights Victims’ Claims Board.

Colmenares, one of the authors of the Human Rights He noted that every year, many victims of abuses during the Marcos dictatorship had been dying. Further delaying the process would deny them the chance to receive the compensation themselves, although their heirs could apply on their behalf.

Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at sa Aresto (Selda), which earlier lamented the nonimplementation of the measure, said that in the two and a half months after the measure was signed, some of the victims had died due to illnesses without seeing the law take effect.

“Martial law victims cannot afford to be disenfranchised, much more neglected again.

The law was a victory for the victims. We cannot allow our efforts to go down the drain,” Selda national coordinator Roneo Clamor said in a statement.

Selda earlier also submitted nominees to the board. Its www.canadianinquirer.net

nominees included martial law victims who were involved in the filing of the class suit— around 9,000— against the Marcoses and in pursuing the enactment of the law to compensate the victims, as well as members of human rights organizations.

Selda is one of the organizations that may submit nominations to the President.

“I don’t know why after we’ve all fought for it, the appointment of the board has not yet been done. Selda is correct to press that matter,” Colmenares said. Victims Reparation and Recognition Act, said the government did not have to wait for any implementing rules or regulations to be formulated before naming the board members.

The board will draft the implementing rules for the compensation process, which is why its completion is crucial for the law to take full effect, Colmenares explained.

President Aquino signed the compensation measure into law on Feb. 25, the 27th anniversary of the Edsa People Power Revolution that led to the ouster of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

The law was intended to recognize the struggles of the people who fought the dictatorship and provide them remunerations for their sufferings. The money would come from a P10-billion fund out of the ill-gotten wealth recovered from Marcos.

“Until the board has been completed, the application period [for the victims’

compensation] could not begin,” Colmenares said in a phone interview.

Requirements

He also conceded that the Aquino administration must name to the board people with sufficient knowledge and background on human rights issues and should not make any appointments for political accommodation.

The law itself states the requirements for the board members: persons of known probity, competence and integrity; must have a deep and thorough understanding and knowledge of human rights and involvement in efforts against abuses during the Marcos regime; and must have a clear and adequate understanding and commitment to human rights protection, promotion and advocacy.

At least three board members must be lawyers who have been practicing for at least 10 years.

Once all the appointments are complete, the board would have 30 days to organize itself. Within 15 days from the date of its organization, it must promulgate the rules and regulations for the implementation of the law.

The rules would take effect 15 days after its publication in two national newspapers of general circulation. The martial law victims have six months from the effectivity of the rules to file applications for reparation.

The claims board has two years to complete its work of determining the amount of compensation for each victim. ■

Philippine News

FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013 8

Church revenge: Buhay says Catholic vote was key

BY CHRISTIAN V. ESGUERRA AND PHILIP C. TUBEZA Philippine Daily Inquirer A GROUP of dejected Catholics filed out of the plenary hall of the House of Representatives one early morning last December.

The legislators had just passed the controversial reproductive health (RH) bill on second reading, the beginning of the end for the faithful followers of the Catholic Church, who fought the proposal for 10 years.

The bill would eventually clear both houses of Congress and would be signed into law

by President Aquino four days before Christmas.

But Church leaders and their followers vowed revenge: The legislators who voted for the bill and who would run for reelection or other offices in the May midterm elections would fall at the polls.

The supporters of the bill scoffed at the threat. There was no such thing as a “Catholic vote” in the Philippines, they said.

They might have been right, as the winners of the senatorial race were a mix of supporters and opponents of the RH law.

But for incoming partylist Rep. Lito Atienza, it was the Catholic vote that carried Buhay Hayaang Yumabong (Buhay) to victory in the partylist election.

Buhay, which campaigned against the RH law and other bills allegedly promoting a “culture of death,” finished the race at the head of the party-list winners. That, Atienza said, is proof that the Catholic vote is “alive and well.”

“The message is loud and clear; it’s a clear manifestation of the Catholic vote,” he told the INQUIRER shortly after the Commission on Elections proclaimed his group’s victory on Friday.

Buhay polled more than 900,000 votes, assuring the group three seats in the House of Representatives.

El Shaddai clout

“That’s El Shaddai. They have the numbers [to carry Buhay to the head of the] party-list election,” a leader of the Catholic lay movement El Shaddai said.

The lay leader, who asked

not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak on behalf of the group, said El Shaddai chief Bro. Mike Velarde mobilized the movement’s reported six million members in the country and two million members abroad to make sure Buhay made it to the top of the partylist election.

It did, proving once again the El Shaddai clout that makes the group, like the influential Iglesia ni Cristo sect, a regular stop on the campaign trail for politicians during elections.

But unlike Iglesia ni Cristo, whose followers vote as a bloc, El Shaddai’s influence is most palpable only in Buhay, the movement’s party-list organization.

The Buhay campaign concentrated on traditional strongholds, such as Metro Manila and Cebu. Metro Manila produced nearly half of the group’s total votes while Cebu delivered more than three times the 10,000 votes Buhay polled there in 2010.

Other provinces with strong Catholic influence also generated additional votes, according to Atienza, former mayor of Manila.

Atienza, who is making a political comeback as Buhay’s second nominee to the House, claimed part of the credit for Buhay’s strong showing.

“I presented myself to voters,” he said, noting that many other party-list organizations opted not to publicly disclose their nominees.

Besides Atienza, the other Buhay nominees are Velarde’s son, Michael Velarde, and William Tieng.

Double-edged strategy

The strategy was doubleedged. In the RH debate, taking a stand was risky, even for a longtime politician like Atienza, who also served in the Cabinet of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and helped organize Buhay in 1999.

It ran the risk of losing those on the other side of the RH debate.

Atienza said he had been with the prolife movement even before he joined politics in 1992. As mayor of Manila, he was roundly criticized by RH campaigners for refusing to provide free contraceptives.

Instead, he campaigned strictly for natural family planning

Supporters of BUHAY in Lanao del Sur. PHOTO FROM BUHAYPARTYLIST.COM.PH

methods.

After the RH bill was passed into law came the perception that politicians who swam against the current had become unpopular. Buhay defied the perceived odds and Catholics came out in full force for a group whose name denoted “life.”

But the overwhelming victory of Buhay appeared to had come at the expense of allied partylist organizations far more active on the prolife front.

Among them was Ang Prolife, whose nominees consistently opposed the RH law. But its first attempt at representation turned out to be disappointing (it garnered only more than 100,000 votes), in part because of Buhay’s aggressive drive.

Running over others

The lay leader from El Shaddai said the political officers of Buhay became overzealous in the push for the top and campaigned as if the organization were running alone.

“In their drive to be No. 1, they ran over other groups, like Ang Prolife party-list, when the objective after the RH law was passed was to get as many prolife party-lists [elected to] Congress,” the lay leader said.

“There was no coordination in the campaign. When they campaigned in one place, it was like it was theirs already. They even approached an archbishop www.canadianinquirer.net

to ask that [he urge his province to go for Buhay only],” the lay leader said.

The leader said El Shaddai divided its mass base, with members in southern Manila being asked to vote for Buhay while those in northern Manila were asked to go for Pacyaw (Pilipino Association for Country-Urban Poor Youth Advancement and Welfare), whose first nominee was Buhay Rep. Rene Velarde, also a son of the movement’s leader.

“He is building a dynasty,” the lay leader said.

The political officers’ actions strained the relationship between El Shaddai and other prolife groups during the campaign, the source said.

“The election results could have been better [for the prolifers]. But because of what happened, our relationship is strained right now. But we’ve had differences like this before.

We will be able to patch things up,” the source said.

“By 2016, you will see a more powerful and better coordinated movement that would champion the prolife cause,” the source added.

Aquino support

Activist priest Fr. Joe Dizon, a leader of the election watchdog Kontra Daya, said Buhay landed at the top probably because of support from the Aquino administration.

Dizon noted that Velarde endorsed two administration senatorial candidates, including a supporter of the RH law, Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV, President Aquino’s cousin.

“You can credit this to the political [acumen] of Mike Velarde. You can say they are a party-list of the administration,” Dizon said.

“Even during the time of [Arroyo], the government used other groups to sideline progressives in the party-list [election],” he added.

In a separate interview, John Carlos de los Reyes, president of the Ang Kapatiran Party, alleged that the Velarde campaign worked to corner three congressional seats, leaving other prolife groups with nothing.

De los Reyes, who lost the race for the Senate, recalled that the Archdiocese of Lipa in Batangas was asked to support only Buhay.

Velarde’s fielding of Pacyaw did not sit well with others in the prolife movement, as it was aimed at expanding Velarde’s clout in the House, De los Reyes said.

“If you’re prolife, you are prolife across the board. You are also against corruption, political patronage and political dynasties. And Mike Velarde isn’t like that. You can quote me on that,” De los Reyes told the

Philippine News

9 FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013

DOST’s Project NOAH adopts Indonesian DENR starts 15-year technology for disaster mitigation plan for C. de Oro New Technology” conducted by Project NOAH. Abigail Baca, disaster and risk management officer of the World Bank East Asia and Pacific Region reported that InaSAFE proved effective during the recent floods in Jakarta and Indonesia.

Dr. Alfredo Francisco Mahar Lagmay of Project NOAH disclosed that InaSAFE will be integrated into Project NOAH to supplement existing technologies used to mitigate, if not totally prevent, massive destruction caused by strong typhoons similar to Sendong in 2011and Pablo in December 2012.

During his presentation, Dr. Lagmay said, “It is important to develop information tools that will help centralize risk information at the NOAH website and make them available to a wider community.”

Since its launch in July 2012 in Marikina City, Project NOAH has continuously upgraded and strengthened its capability through the installation of weather forecasting equipment

in disaster-prone areas in the country.

Among these are the Hydromet water level sensors and Doppler radars used to measure the amount of rainfall in a specific area.

To date, there are 525 Hydromet sensors installed in different river systems, including those in Tullahan River, Marikina River and San Juan River in Metro Manila.

Likewise, Project NOAH has put up billboards in Pampanga showing flood maps to inform residents of the high-risk areas in their communities.

Further, Dr. Enrico C. Paringit, project leader of NOAH’s DREAM LiDAR (Disaster Risk and Exposure Assessment for MitigationLight Detection and Ranging) said, “Since November 2012, we were able to do threedimensional or 3D mapping of the Pampanga river basin, Agno River, Cagayan de Oro and Iligan. By the end of May this year, 3D mapping for Iloilo will be complete and next in line is the Panay river basin.” ■

INQUIRER. “The bottom line is greed for power to the detriment of principles,” he said.

Marwil Llasos got the call, leaving him and Rizalito David out, he said.

Cracks acknowledged

Adding insult to injury, he said, was Velarde’s decision to endorse two known backers of the RH law—Bam Aquino and Ramon Magsaysay Jr.—in addition to the 10 candidates previously endorsed by WVM. Velarde and De los Reyes apparently have a history.

Three years ago when he ran for President, De los Reyes said he went to see Velarde to ask for El Shaddai’s support, a move he deemed right because El Shaddai was a Catholic group.

But he was rebuffed, ignored and insulted, he said.

“He did not even look at me and as he signed checks he even asked sarcastically why I [was] running,” De los Reyes said in an e-mail, explaining why Kapatiran should skip a WVM gathering called by Velarde at his Amvel Complex in Parañaque.

“He’s an arrogant demagogue,” he said.

Despite the knocks on it, Buhay has a solid legislative track record that dates back to 2001. Its proposals were among 11 important measures passed by the 13th and 14th Congresses. Among them were the AntiBoso law, Tourism Act and Helmet Safety Act.

BY KATHERINE MARFAL-TEVES

Philippine Canadian Inquirer

THE Department of Science and Technology’s (DOST) Project NOAH (Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards) is adopting the disaster mitigating technology called InaSAFE from Indonesia.

InaSAFE is an acronym for Indonesia Scenario Assessment for Emergency. It is an open source technology, which means it is free, readily accessible from the internet and may be modified by users.

With this technology, data from weather scientists, local government units and communities are gathered and consolidated to provide accurate information on future disaster events.

NOAH adopted Indonesias’s InaSAFE as it has a lot in common with the Philippines, especially in topography and natural hazards.

This was disclosed during the multi-stakeholder assembly titled “Enhancing Community Resilience Through the Use of

Atienza acknowledged the cracks in the prolife movement.

“We fought as allies but the reality was we [divided] the vote,” he said, adding that Buhay could have doubled its votes had other prolife groups not run.

De los Reyes doubted the sincerity of Velarde’s group in promoting prolife legislation.

During the voting for third reading on the RH law, he said Buhay representatives were “nowhere to be found.”

De los Reyes said he was also disappointed when the White Vote Movement (WVM), an umbrella organization cofounded by Velarde, endorsed only one of three Kapatiran candidates for the Senate.

Of the 33 senatorial aspirants, only the Kapatiran candidates fully met the criteria set by WVM, he said. But only lawyer

Insult to injury

Pending bills

In the current 15th Congress, Buhay has four pending bills, including a proposal that would require drivers of public utility vehicles to take a seminar in driving and another one that would impose speed limits on drivers.

In the 16th Congress, Atienza said Buhay would work for enough numbers to amend or repeal the RH law.

He said the group would also block efforts to introduce divorce, same-sex marriage and euthanasia in the country.

“Our promise is to continue fighting against antilife measures,” he said. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

BY DJ YAP Philippine Daily Inquirer A 15-YEAR master plan is in the works to rehabilitate the 137,418-hectare Cagayan de Oro River Basin in a bid to shield riverside communities from calamity, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said on Wednesday.

Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said the integrated master plan would serve as an “indispensable planning tool” to guide the rehabilitation and development of one of the biggest watersheds in the country.

“We want to come up with a blueprint that is designed to save lives, property and the environment,” Paje said in a news release. “We don’t want another disaster as damaging as ‘Sendong’ to happen again,” he said.

In December 2011, Tropical Storm “Sendong” spawned deadly flash floods after rains caused Cagayan de Oro River to spill into low lying areas of the city. The storm left more than 1,200 people dead and destroyed P1.3 billion in crops and property in Cagayan de Oro and nearby Iligan City.

The DENR has created a five-member team, led by river basin management expert Diomedes Racelis of the Center

for Environmental Studies and Management Inc., to draw up the master plan and ensure its completion by October 2014.

The team would also conduct a series of public consultations about the long-term plan, especially in identifying the root causes of flooding in the area, the DENR said.

“The study and the corresponding public consultations would help authorities undertake an integrated management of the river basin to better address problems such as flooding, soil erosion and pollution,” said Paje.

He said flooding in the area was aggravated by heavy rainfall and other extreme weather events.

The Cagayan de Oro River Basin is one of the 18 major river basins in the country, straddling most parts of Cagayan de Oro City and Bukidnon province. It plays a central role in the economic and ecological viability of Northern Mindanao.

Paje earlier announced that a validation team has been formed to identify areas to be covered by the massive reforestation program in Cagayan de Oro City, as mandated by Republic Act No. 10452.

That law requires DENR to plant trees on 3,000 hectares of public land in Cagayan de Oro City. ■

Philippine News

FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013 10

Court of Appeals stops field trials of genetically modified eggplant

BY DJ YAP AND JEROME ANING Philippine Daily Inquirer GREENPEACE Southeast Asia (Philippines) welcomed a ruling issued by the Court of Appeals (CA) to permanently put a stop to the field trials of genetically modified eggplant, which the environmentalist group believes is harmful to humans and the environment.

In a 26-page decision dated May 17 but released only yesterday, the appellate court granted the petition sought

by Greenpeace and other groups against the planting of Bt ( Bacillus thuringiensis) talong (eggplant). Bt is a soil bacterium inserted into crops to develop insecticidal properties.

The trials were being jointly conducted by the University of the Philippines in Los Baños and various government and private agencies.

At the time of the filing of the suit, field testing had already been done in Pangasinan, Laguna and Camarines Sur provinces while others were still being conducted in Kabacan, North Cotabato province. The respondents in the case were: the environment department’s Environmental Management Bureau; the agriculture department’s Bureau of Plant Industry and Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority; the University of the Philippines Los Baños Foundation Inc.; the UP Mindanao Foundation Inc.; and the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech ApplicationsSoutheast Asia Center.

Protect, preserve

The court directed the respondents to “protect, preserve, rehabilitate and restore the environment in accordance with the foregoing judgment of the court.”

“It is clear that there is no full scientific certainty yet as to the effects of the Bt talong field trials on the environment and the health of the people,” said the appellate court’s Special 13th Division, speaking through Associate Justice Isaias P. Dicdican.

“Consequently, the field trials of Bt talong could not be declared by this Court as

safe for human health and our ecology, with full scientific certainty, being an alteration of an otherwise natural state of affairs in our ecology.”

Appellate Associate Justices Myra V. Garcia-Fernandez and Nina G. Antonio-Valenzuela concurred in the decision.

The court said even the local and foreign experts presented by proponents of the purportedly pest-resistant eggplants all agreed that aside from the fact that there are no laws regulating the field testing of genetically modified plants, their safety cannot fully be guaranteed.

“We commend the Court of Appeals for living up to its constitutionally mandated role as protector of constitutional rights,” said Daniel Ocampo, Greenpeace Southeast Asia’s sustainable agriculture campaigner.

“This landmark decision reflects that there are indeed flaws and lapses in the current regulatory process for genetically modified organisms (GMOs) such as Bt eggplant which exposes our environment and health to unknown longterm consequences and does not establish their safety in any way,” he said in a statement.

Damages to man, nature

In its petition, Greenpeace claimed the Bt eggplants could endanger consumers as it was found to cause damages to internal organs. With its built-in insect-resistance gene, Bt eggplants can also create aggressive weeds that may wreak havoc to local agriculture and natural habitats.

The group was joined by former senator Orlando Mercado, Puerto Princesa City Mayor Edward Hagedorn, Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño, lawyers Harry Roque and Maria de la Paz, singer Noel Cabangon and various farmers and agricultural scientists under the Magsasaka and Siyentipiko sa Pagpapaunlad ng Agrikultura (Masipag).

The groups brought the suit on April 26 last year before the Supreme Court under its new environmental protection procedures. The writ of kalikasan is a legal remedy under the new rules of procedure for environmental

PHOTO BY NELLIEMCS (FLICKR)

cases.

The Supreme Court issued the writ of kalikasan on May 2, 2012, directing the respondents to answer the petition.

The petitioners were represented in the suit by lawyers from the Roque and Butuyan Law Offices.

Greenpeace lauded the CA for ruling in favor of the petitioners based on compelling grounds, including the “irreversibility” of releasing GMOs into the environment even during field trials, and the fact that current field-testing protocols “look at efficacy and agricultural performance and not safety for human consumption or environment.”

Lawyer Zelda DT Soriano, Greenpeace Southeast Asia’s regional political advisor, said the respondents were unable to show that the benefits of conducting the field trials outweighed the risks.

“The respondents could not prove wrong the fact that Bt talong field testing is an environmental case where scientific evidence as to the health, environmental and socioeconomic safety is insufficient, inconclusive or uncertain and preliminary evaluation indicates that there are reasonable grounds for concern, that there are potentially dangerous effects on the environment and human health,” she said.

Ocampo said the CA decision www.canadianinquirer.net

would have a resounding impact on the future of agriculture in the Philippines and on how food production was being done in our country.

He added that the court’s decision was an affirmation of what Greenpeace has been saying for years about the flaws in GMO regulations in the country.

Constitutional violations

“These flaws in the government regulations have led to the sad state we are in—62 GMOS are imported and fed to Filipinos without their knowledge and consent.

While the environment and our farmers are exposed to eight kinds of GMOs that are allowed for propagation without knowing their longterm impacts,” Ocampo said.

The petition argued that the field trials violated the constitutional right of the people to a balanced and healthful ecology because of the danger of contamination the technology posed to indigenous genetic resources of the country.

The petitioners cited results of the 90day laboratory tests conducted by proponents of genetically modified organisms on mice fed with the new Bt eggplant, which showed signs of toxicity in the liver and kidneys of the test subjects.

In 2002, the Bureau of Plant Industry began approving

GMOs for importation as food, feed and processing as well as for propagation. The proposals for GMO approvals used studies conducted by the GMO proponents themselves, instead of independent risk assessments.

Greenpeace claimed GMOs have never been proven safe, which is why they are highly regulated and even banned in many countries and regions. It urged government regulators to instead focus on sustainable agriculture instead of loosely allowing the conduct of field trials and commercialization of such crops for eventual human consumption.

It would be recalled that in December 2010, the Davao City government uprooted Bt eggplant from the field where they were being tested by the UP Mindanao Foundation.

Experts presented by the respondents, including some of the country’s top scientists at the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, argued that the Bt talong technology is safe and does not cause harm to the environment.

However, on questioning by the court, they admitted that the overall safety of the Bt talong remains to be unknown.

The court also found that other than administrative issuances, there is no law that regulates field testing of GMOs in the country. ■

Philippine News

11 FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013

UNA wants explanation of ‘60-30-10’ pattern

BY CHRISTIAN V. ESGUERRA Philippine Daily Inquirer INSTEAD of telling the opposition to concede defeat in the senatorial election, the administration should ask the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to investigate the supposed “60-30-10” pattern in the returns so the public will know what really happened, the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) said.

Information technology (IT) experts called attention to the supposed returns pattern on Wednesday, though they made clear they were not suggesting a manipulation of the May 13 vote, which the administration Team PNoy dominated, winning nine of the 12 Senate seats at stake.

Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco, secretary general and spokesperson for UNA, said that even before the elections, he had received e-mails informing him that the returns would come in during the count in a pattern similar to the IT experts’ findings.

Tiangco said he paid little attention to the information because of the highly technical nature of the subject of the e-mails sent to him.

He said one such e-mail came from a supposed expert connected with Ateneo de Manila University.

But he changed his mind, he said, when Sen. Franklin Drilon, campaign manager of Team PNoy, began to ask UNA to accept defeat to quell speculations that the election

a “coincidence” and could not have happened everywhere.

The results of the current review of the source code used in the ballot scanners will show no such pattern as detected by the IT experts, he said.

For a “final evidence,” all the ballot boxes could be opened, he said, suggesting a handcount of the votes.

“I’m willing to make a bet that 98 (or) 99 percent of the ballots and the PCOS (precinct count optical scan machines) would have the same results,” he said.

No real pattern

Navotas Rep Toby Tiangco.

had been rigged.

“Now why would he suddenly say that? Why is he now being defensive? If I were in his place, the prudent thing to do is to ask the Comelec to investigate to put the matter to rest,” Tiangco told the INQUIRER. Tiangco said he had asked his informants to give him a “layman’s explanation” of the supposed returns pattern to help UNA decide whether it should take action.

“We want to understand what really happened and we want to know what to do about it,” he said.

Consistent

IT experts working with election watchdogs announced on Wednesday that they had observed the vote count always going 60 percent for Team PNoy

PHOTO FROM WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

candidates, 30 percent for UNA candidates, and 10 percent for the other candidates in many canvassing centers.

They said the pattern was so consistent that the Comelec should look into it to see whether there was a “conspiracy.”

The UNA had no role in the IT experts’ going public with the supposed returns pattern, but Drilon said the UNA, which won only three Senate seats, should concede defeat to erase doubts about the results of the election.

Tiangco said Drilon had “no business telling UNA what to do.”

Coincidence?

Comelec Chair Sixto Brillantes Jr. on Thursday said the supposed pattern could be

The Comelec’s citizen arm Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) said it had observed “no real pattern” that would indicate the election results had been predetermined.

PPCRV communications director Ana de Villa Singson said on Thursday that the supposed pattern implied predetermined results. But after an initial analysis of the results by the PPCRV, “it doesn’t appear to be that way,” Singson said.

The PPCRV has assembled a team of mathematics, statistics and computer technology experts to study the election results and see whether there is anything to the supposed pattern.

Singson said the team’s findings would be stated in lay language so the public would understand the issue.

Truth commission

Some

leaders

of

the

Taiwan un-invites Gilas Pilipinas to Jones Cup

BY KATHERINE MARFAL-TEVES

Philippine Canadian Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine national basketball team, Gilas Pilipinas, has just been un-invited by the host country, Taiwan, in the upcoming Jones Cup to be held on July.

This was confirmed by Gilas head coach Chot Reyes via tweet on May 27. “Just got word from the organizers that we have been un-invited to d Jones Cup.” Even before the un-invitation

issue came out, Reyes already suspected that their international bid would be affected by diplomatic tensions between the two countries— tensions that stemmed from the death of a Taiwanese fisherman in northern Philippine waters last May 9.

Gilas Pilipinas is also concerned about the safety of its players following reports of Filipinos assaulted in Taiwan.

Last year, the Philippine team defeated the United States, 7675 in the championship round

to bag the country’s first Jones Cup title since 1998. Point guard LA Tenorio reigned as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the tournament.

The un-invitation would greatly impact the national team’s preparations for the upcoming FIBA Asia tournament, which will be held in August in Manila.

In a tweet last May 18, Reyes said, “I will not lie. With only 71 days left, we are way, way behind. But our spirits are not dampened. Undaunted, we will find a way.” www.canadianinquirer.net

Reyes added that they will look for other international competitions that they can join. "We now have to find a replacement tournament as d Jones Cup is such an integral part of our preparation," he tweeted.

Gabe Norwood, one the ace players of Gilas was likewise disappointed. “No go on Jones Cup . . . was looking forward to defending our title. But praying some good comes out of this, on and off the court,” he said in a tweet. ■

Catholic Church joined a call for the creation of a “truth commission” to resolve the doubts about the integrity of the election.

Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, Cubao Bishop Honesto Ongtioco and Malolos Bishop Jose Oliveros told reporters that they favored a truth commission for an investigation of the supposed returns pattern and other alleged irregularities in the election.

The allegations must be dealt with, Oliveros said. “An independent body different from the Comelec would have more credibility,” he said.

Oliveros said a 70-30 pattern in favor of Team PNoy had been observed in Bulacan province.

“Here in Bulacan, the results are similar to the national report. It’s almost statistically improbable,” he said.

“I’m in favor of a truth commission to investigate the [alleged] irregularities [so that] justice may be achieved and honesty promoted,” Lagdameo said.

“I think it would be good to have a truth commission to investigate the issue to maintain the credibility and integrity of the electoral process,” Ongtioco said.

On Tuesday, preacher Eduardo Villanueva, who lost the race for the Senate, urged the Aquino administration to create an independent investigative body to look into the complaints about “glitches” and other defects of the ballot scanners used in the country’s second automated elections. ■

Philippine News

FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013 12

Philippine communist rebels ambush truck carrying police, kill 7, wound 7

BY TERESA CEROJANO The Associated Press MANILA, Philippines— Communist guerrillas set off a roadside bomb and opened fire on a truck carrying police in the northern Philippines on Monday, killing seven and wounding seven officers.

The members of the elite police Special Action Force were en route to a hospital for a regular medical test when the rebels, hiding in the bush along the road, detonated the explosive device and sprayed the vehicle with gunfire, said the regional police director, Chief Superintendent Rodrigo de Gracia.

Such hit-and-run attacks are common throughout the 44-year rural-based Marxist insurgency, which has claimed an estimated 120,000 lives.

Philippine security forces have been stretched thin by fighting communist rebels while also battling Muslim militants in the south. On Saturday, al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf guerrillas killed seven

marines in a clash on Jolo Island in an operation aimed at rescuing six foreign and Filipino hostages.

The government recently suspended peace talks brokered

by Norway after the communist rebels rejected an immediate cease-fire.

De Garcia said the police commandos returned fire but were overpowered by the rebels, who later fled with weapons from the slain officers.

The seven wounded managed to escape on foot and were rescued by government troops in the Ballesteros Municipal Hospital in Cagayan province, more than 400 kilometres (250 miles) northeast of the capital, Manila.

Troops set up roadblocks and dispatched reinforcements to track down the assailants, police spokesman Generoso Cerbo said in Manila.

The New People's Army rebels accuse successive Philippine administrations of subservience to U.S. interests and failing to improve the lives of the poor. Their numbers have dwindled to an estimated 4,000

fighters amid battle setbacks, surrenders and factionalism.

They are listed as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and European Union.

Chief government negotiator Alexander Padilla said early this month that the exiled rebel leader, Joma Sison, had himself proposed to fast track the talks by establishing a cease-fire and a committee with the government to discuss political and economic reforms.

But Sison later backed off and blamed the government for the impasse.

In Saturday's clash in the south, seven guerrillas also were killed. Six marines and about 10 gunmen were wounded, marine Col. Jose Cenabre said Sunday.

Government troops backed by assault helicopters were hunting down the fleeing militants, who were believed to be led by Jul-Aswan Sawadjaan, an Abu Sayyaf commander accused in the kidnappings of a Jordanian journalist and two European bird watchers who are still being held by the militants. ■

PHOTO BY THE US MARINE CORPS

Call center agents advised to practice ‘SEX’

BY KATHERINE MARFALTEVES Philippine Canadian Inquirer MANILA, Philippines—SEX for call center agents.

The misleading acronym actually for Stress-free, Eat the right food and eXercise—a joint program by the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

SEX aims to correct the unhealthy lifestyle of these employees who are working at night.

In an interview with TV Patrol (ABS-CBN news program), DOH Assistant Secretary Eric Tayag says they hope call center agents won’t be offended as they launch the SEX project.

“Tinawag namin itong SEX kasi madaling tandaan, pero di namin sinasabi na mahilig sa sex ang mga call center agents.

Gusto lang naming i-introduce ang healthy lifestyle sa kanila,”

reports Tayag. (We called it the SEX program because it’s catchy, but we don’t mean to imply that call center agents are intent on having sex. We simply intend to introduce them to a healthier lifestyle.)

Why call center agents?

Ethelyn Nieto, chair of the technical working group of the SEX project, says that they developed the project after a “bio impedance analysis” in 2012. Sixty percent of 1,500 call center agents were found to have higher metabolic age than their current age.

Nieto explains: “That means they look older, or their body is older than their actual age.

They are very stressed out.

There is an index to know if you look your age or if your body is older than your actual age. That is how we will be assessing the risk of these call center agents.”

Tayag says that despite higher salaries compared to employees from other industries, call center agents are more prone

PHOTO FROM GETTY IMAGES

to a sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy diet which can lead to illnesses such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and hypertension.

Call center agents are considered as the secondwww.canadianinquirer.net

largest class of wage earners in the Philippines, receiving 20,000-50,000 pesos or more monthly.

Implementation

For three months, 30-minute

lectures on healthy living and ways to relieve stress before going to work will be conducted by teams of experts from the DOH. The project, in coordination with the Business Processing Association of the Philippines and the Call Center Association of the Philippines, and sponsored by Century Tuna, Asia Brewery and United Laboratory’s RiteMed. RiteMed is set to provide for vitamins for up to 200,000 call center agents from 30 BPO companies in Metro Manila (70% of the total call center industry is in the country’s capital). The project will expand later in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, according to Nieto.

Nieto adds: “We’ll make sure that this will not be just a ningas kugon (something that does not last) because after three months, we’ll go back and assess the agents. And then after six months and then one year, we’ll go back again [toreassess].” ■

Philippine News

13 FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013

Now, Taiwanese show they care

78 massacre suspects face charges over 58th victim

BY CHRISTIAN V. ESGUERRA Philippine Daily Inquirer

BY JULIE M. AURELIO Philippine Daily Inquirer

TAIPEI—After badmouthing and hitting them with baseball bats two weeks ago, Taiwanese on Sunday tried to tell Filipino migrant workers they didn’t really mean to hurt them and that, in fact, they cared about them.

To show they really did, they threw a concert in a park here for the migrants and offered them free food and drinks and T-shirts bearing a slogan that they thought the Filipinos were familiar with: “You’re not alone.”

Well, not all, as most Filipinos know the slogan in their own language: “Hindi ka nag-iisa.”

It is language from the Filipinos’ struggle against the oppressive rule of dictator Ferdinand Marcos and it refers to the continuation of that struggle after the assassination in 1983 of opposition leader Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., father of President Aquino.

But those who recognized the slogan were glad to receive the T-shirts and more so the food and drinks from Taiwanese students and employees of Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs who sought to ease the Filipinos’ fears and assure them that they were safe on the island.

Three Filipino migrant workers were attacked on the streets of Taiwan two weeks ago as Taiwanese exploded in anger over the fatal shooting of Taiwanese fisherman Hung Shihchen, 65, by Filipino coast guards in overlapping Taiwanese and Philippine waters.

One migrant worker, identified as Joey de Leon, was hit with a baseball bat.

His attackers later apologized and paid him P164,000 in compensation.

OK with Pinoys

In the park on Sunday, Filipinos said they approved of the use of the slogan as long as the Taiwanese government protected them.

Taiwanese artists peformed for the Filipinos during the concert and local residents came to the park wearing armbands marked with the slogan to show that they, too, cared about the migrant workers.

“This never happened before. We hope they will always give us food,” a migrant worker said in an interview with the INQUIRER. Cynthia Lee-ling Hung, chief of the foreign correspondents section of the press office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the event was intended to show “Taiwan gently cares for the migrant workers.”

Earlier, the mayor of Kaishung City was reported as being seen at Mass held at St. Christopher Church, one of two churches in Taipei attended by Filipino migrant workers.

Improved situation

Fr. Leonilo Mantilla, St. Christopher parish priest, said the situation had improved and no more attacks on Filipinos were reported in recent days.

Early in the crisis, he said, a priest and his companions were turned away when they tried to buy ice cream from a grocery store in Taipei.

“The Taiwanese refused to sell ice cream to them and shouted at them, calling them bad names,” he said.

Mantilla said a santacruzan was held in the parish on Sunday but without the traditional procession of queens.

“Due to the situation, though it had calmed down, we deemed it safe not to have the procession and just held a march inside the church,” Mantilla said. ■

A QUEZON City court hearing the 2009 Maguindanao massacre case has ordered the arraignment of 78 suspects for the 58th murder case filed recently on behalf of a slain photojournalist whose remains were never recovered.

Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of QC Regional Trial Court Branch 221 ruled that there was probable cause to continue with the case for the murder of photojournalist Reynaldo “Bebot” Momay.

The court set the arraignment of Andal Ampatuan Sr., former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan, and 76 others on Wednesday at the Quezon City Jail Annex in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City.

The court, however, deferred the arraignment of former Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. and five other Ampatuan family members who still have unresolved motions.

Last year, the Department of Justice found probable cause to file the 58th murder count for Momay, who was among the victims of the Nov. 23, 2009, Maguindanao massacre who included

The town of Ampatuan in Maguindanao.

PHOTO FROM GOOGLE MAPS.

32 journalists.

The body of Momay, a photojournalist for the Midland Review, was never found after the carnage although a forensic team recovered parts of his dentures.

In the same five-page order, Reyes also dismissed the 58th murder case filed against PO1 Johann Draper, who was released from detention after the court dropped the original 57 cases against him for lack of merit.

The court also issued new arrest warrants for 92 suspects still at large. ■

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Philippine News

Source code still useful–Brillantes

BY JOCELYN R. UY Philippine Daily Inquirer THE REVIEW of the source code may still come in handy for groups and losing candidates planning to file complaints over the results of the May 13 polls, according to the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

No less than Comelec Chair Sixto Brillantes Jr. is offering to various groups the use of the review results in challenging the outcome of the elections in court.

“They are saying that it’s too late. Why is it too late when you can use it precisely to question the validity of the elections,” Brillantes told reporters.

Earlier, Solidarity Philippines and Kontra Daya said they would file a complaint in the Supreme Court and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights against the Comelec for allegedly committing lapses during the elections, making the results dubious and questionable.

Bring it on

A former election lawyer himself, Brillantes said that parties questioning the validity of the elections may raise issues involving the source code with the review in place.

The source code is the humanreadable representation of the instructions that regulate the operation of the computer that

scans and counts the ballots, among other things.

According to the Poll Automation Law, a source code review should be conducted on the automated elections system prior to the elections and the source code reviewed should be the same as the one used by the precinct count optical scan machines.

Ongoing court case

The Comelec had a difficult time obtaining the source code from its owner, Dominion Voting Systems Inc., which has an ongoing legal dispute with its former corporate partner, Smartmatic, in the United States.

The source code was only handed over to the Comelec a few days before Election Day, giving political parties and other interested groups only two days to look thoroughly into it.

On May 9, the Liberal Party, Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino and the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan, and election watchdog Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting looked into the source code for possible “malicious entries.”

Brillantes said the source code review may continue even if the elections are over.

“If they want to continue, it’s OK with us. That is up to them and we are making the source code available for review,” he added. ■

PHOTO BY NIKKA CORSINO

FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013 14

‘P-noy unhappy with speeches, not writers’

BY TJ BURGONIO Philippine Daily Inquirer HE HAS junked the speeches but not the speech writers.

While President Aquino has been candid about his badly written speeches, his spokespersons have seen no displeasure on the part of their boss, or so they say.

Abigail Valte, deputy presidential spokesperson, said she meets with the President every day but has never heard him air any dissatisfaction with the Malacañang Communications Group.

“I have seen the President on a daily basis for the last week and he hasn’t mentioned anything to that effect,’’ Valte said over government-run radio.

Valte said the President was very honest and frank so that

if he felt there was something that had to be improved, he would say so immediately.

“Actually, I don’t know where that particular observation came from,” she said.

When Mr. Aquino addressed a prayer assembly in Pasig City last Friday, he discarded a prepared speech in favor of a hastily crafted personal one.

“I am not actually happy with the speech. I don’t know if it’s becoming a tradition that every time I appear before you, I find that the speech prepared by my normally gifted speech writers was inadequate,’’ Mr. Aquino told the 2013 Care for Philippines Prayer Assembly at the Global Discipleship Congress in Pasig City.

Secretary Edwin Lacierda and Valte alternate every week in briefing reporters on the goings-on in Malacañang.

Strategic Communications Secretary Ricky Carandang talks to the media on certain issues. Lacierda is on a twoweek leave. Interestingly, Carandang, who usually joins the President at regional summits, was not part of the presidential delegation that attended the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit in Brunei in late April. He kept a low profile for a time, fueling rumors he was on the way out, but he reappeared after the May 13 elections.

While they continue to enjoy the President’s confidence, the spokespersons always try to introduce something new, Valte said.

“We are always looking to improve strategies that we can employ, and there is always room for improvement as far as we are concerned,’’ she said. ■

Palace: It’s Drilon for Senate helm

BY TJ BURGONIO Philippine Daily Inquirer AFTER playing it coy for some time, Malacañang confirmed that Sen. Franklin Drilon was the administration coalition’s candidate for Senate President in the 16th Congress.

And given that the administration now enjoys a “substantial majority” in the chamber, Drilon’s assumption of the third highest government post seems as good as done.

The United Nationalist Alliance ( UNA) bloc led by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile is expected to put up a “pro- forma” candidate for the top post. This would simply be to indicate who the standardbearer of the minority bloc would be in the next Congress.

“He ( Drilon) is the only aspirant from the majority coalition who is being considered for that position... he’s the most logical candidate,” Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, senior political adviser to President Aquino, said in a phone interview.

But to say that Drilon has the Senate presidency in the bag “is an absolute statement that is not advisable” and could www.canadianinquirer.net

only be said after the votes are counted, Abad said.

After the victory of nine of the 12 Team PNoy candidates in the May 13 elections, the administration coalition is poised to regain the leadership of the Senate with the support of at least 16 senators.

NP on board

Drilon has already reportedly talked to the Nacionalista Party, which has its own bloc of senators, into agreeing to back a common candidate for the Senate presidency. NP member Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano had earlier been mentioned as a possible contender, but he has since declared his support for Drilon.

More than 13 senators have agreed to back a common candidate, Abad said.

“The way it’s developing, he (Drilon) seems to be the candidate who can rally the majority for the Senate presidency,” he added.

Abad said that UNA, led by current Senate President Enrile, was expected to put up its own candidate, but so far the group has not floated any name.

Not a contender

“I’m sure the minority, to be

PHOTO BY CESAR TOMAMBO (SENATE.GOV.PH)

considered a minority, they will have to put forward a name, not necessarily a contender. It’s a pro-forma action on the part of whoever wants to carry the banner of the minority. I’m sure there will be one,” he said.

UNA took the role of the opposition in the recently concluded midterm elections.

Abad said the Senate President would play a crucial role in pushing the President’s legislative agenda in his remaining three years in office.

“Of course it’s a high profile position. You’re the third in line to succession. But three years is a long time,” he said, when asked what role the new Senate President would play in the 2016 presidential elections. ■

Philippine News

15 FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013

Lawyer, students join fight for RH

BY CHRISTINE O. AVENDAÑO Philippine Daily Inquirer A LAWYER and two law students are the latest to petition the Supreme Court to allow them to intervene in court hearings on 10 Church-backed petitions opposing the implementation of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act or the RH law.

Lawyer Joan A. de Venecia and law students Korina Ana Manibog and JanRobert Beltejar, in a motion filed last week, sought “leave to intervene” or present comments in the RH cases.

In their motion dated May 20, the petitioners said they would argue to dismiss the 10 petitions against the RH law and seek the lifting of the court’s status quo ante order.

Last March, the high court suspended the implementation of the RHlaw for four months and set the matter for debate on June 8. The high court was acting on the 10 petitions—which echo the Catholic Church’s opposition to the law that requires government health centers to promote family planning, including the use of artificial contraception, and for schools to teach sex education.

So far, five petitions to intervene have been filed by parties opposed to the anti-RH petitions. Seeking to intervene in the case are: Former Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros; three former health secretaries—Esperanza Cabral, Jaime Galvez Tan and Alberto Romualdez Jr., and Sen. Pia Cayetano.

In seeking to intervene, De Venecia, Manibog and Beltejar said they were practicing Catholics and wanted to prevent the anti-RH petitioners “from misrepresenting the views of the vast majority of Catholics who do not share their, or the Catholic Church hierarchy’s antipathy towards RA 10354.”

They said they could offer a different perspective from that of the other petitioners.

In their 43-page petition, the three said they reviewed four of the 10 petitions against the RH law and found the arguments raised to be “confused, contradictory and factually baseless.”

“Whilethosepetitionsattempttoconstruct constitutional arguments against RA 10354, it appears that they are all ultimately underpinned, not by a genuine conviction as to the existence of any constitutional flaws in the law, but by personal religious beliefs that are then packaged and presented as ersatz constitutional arguments,” they said. ■

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Prosecutors oppose SC rule waiving witnesses’ appearance

BY JEROME ANING Philippine Daily Inquirer STATE prosecutors have expressed their formal opposition to the Supreme Court’s judicial affidavit rule (JAR) that would allow witnesses to submit written testimonies instead of having to appear in court.

The JAR should be revoked, Prosecutor General Claro Arellano said in a May 23 letter to Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno, citing the inadequate number of prosecutors and the possible dismissal of cases due to technicalities.

“While the National Prosecution Service (NPS) is aware that case congestion and delays should be addressed to hasten the delivery of justice, the implementation of the JAR is not the solution to these problems,” Arellano said in his letter.

“On the contrary, the JAR will only add to these concerns. Not only will it unjustly burden the prosecutors, defense lawyers and private practitioners but criminal cases will be resolved not on the basis of the evidence brought forth by the parties but rather due to mere technicalities,” he said.

Arellano pointed out that prosecutors would have very limited time to prepare judicial affidavits since they are already burdened by heavy workloads, such as trial work, including criminal and special proceedings, the conduct of preliminary investigations and inquest proceedings.

Many prosecution offices are also inadequately staffed, Arellano said. He said that in 2012, the plantilla positions for prosecutors numbered 2,412 but only 1,850 were filled, equivalent to a vacancy rate of 23 percent.

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In 2012, he said, the case load for preliminary investigations of the NPS was 352,523 with an average of 191 cases per prosecutor. On the other hand, the case load for trials in lower courts alone was 391 cases per prosecutor.

“The preparation of judicial affidavits consumes more time than the conduct of direct examinations. A single affidavit cannot be completed in two hours, particularly when the witness is a child. The JAR will result in numerous dismissals of cases due to technicalities.

Judges also cannot observe the demeanor or credibility of witnesses,” he said.

The JARwas promulgated by the high court in September last year and was supposed to take effect on Jan. 2 this year. Its implementation was suspended, however, because of an objection from the Prosecutors’ League of the Philippines and the high court’s decision to defer it for one year under certain conditions.

Under the JAR, when a party, whether plaintiff or defendant, questions his own witness, he no longer would need to place the witness on the witness stand.

As a substitute, the party or his lawyer merely submits the written sworn statement of his witness in a question-and-answer format. It also requires each party to the case to attach all his documentary evidence to the judicial affidavit which, in turn, must be submitted at least five days before the pretrial or preliminary conference in the case.

The JAR was said to be effective in reducing the time used for presenting the testimonies of witnesses by about two-thirds in a pilot program in the Quezon City courts. ■

Opinion

FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013 16

THERE’S THE RUB

Inferno

By Conrado De Quiros Philippine Daily Inquirer THE STORY found itself in Google and Yahoo. The Yahoo story came from AP. “Dan Brown’s description of Manila as ‘the gates of hell’ in the American novelist’s latest book has not gone down well with officials in the Philippine capital,” it said. And goes on to note MMDA chair Francis Tolentino’s protestations over it.

The Google story was written by someone who obviously hadn’t read the book, identifying the two main characters, Robert Langdon and Sienna Brooks, as having experienced the ordeal. In fact, it was just Sienna. It quoted Tolentino’s letter to Brown thus: “While we are aware that yours is a work of fiction, we are greatly disappointed by your inaccurate portrayal of our beloved metropolis.

We are displeased of how you have used Manila as a venue and source of a character’s breakdown and trauma, much more her disillusionment in humanity.” Manila isn’t “the gates of hell,” he said, it is the “entry to heaven.”

Brown hasn’t written Tolentino back if only to say that he is displeased with the latter for using “of” and not “with” after “displeased.” A minor lesson in needing to be a little more careful with

grammar, particularly when berating an author even of pulp fiction.

I don’t know if Tolentino has read “Inferno” or if somebody merely drew his attention to its apparently offending, or offensive, passages. It did strike me as amusing that the head of the MMDA and not the tourism secretary took up the cudgels for the city, notwithstanding that it also involves traffic. Brown’s character’s experience of Manila is to be found in the latter part of the book: “(W)hen the group settled in the city of Manila—the most densely populated city on earth—she could only gasp in horror. She had never seen poverty on this scale. For every one person Sienna fed, there were hundreds more who gazed at her with desolate eyes. Manila had six-hour traffic jams, suffocating pollution, and a horrifying sex trade whose workers consisted primarily of young children.... All around her she could see humanity overrun by its primal instinct for survival. When they face desperation... human beings become animals. “‘I’ve run through the gates of hell.’” Yes, I’ve read the book.

I read everything from Dan Brown to David Mitchell and F. Scott Fitzgerald, whose “Cloud Atlas” and “The Great Gatsby” respectively have recently been turned into movies, as doubtless “Inferno” will be. I confess I was quite

taken aback when I got to the part—it gets worse by the way. Some months ago, I had also read Neal Stephenson’s “Cryptonomicon,” which is set in great part in Manila—the character is trying to set up a giant communications hub in Corregidor and lives in Manila Hotel—and has a more sympathetic view of the city amid its squalor.

(Somebody told me Stephenson, a truly brilliant writer, was a denizen of Ermita while he was here).

For crying out loud, “Inferno” is just a potboiler.

It’s there to amuse—and supply a better guide to Florence, Venice and Istanbul than a brochure. Just strap yourself to the seat and enjoy the ride.

But, well, that’s Brown’s view, and the way things are, it’s not an entirely skewed one, give or take an exaggeration or two—Manila’s traffic doesn’t get snarled for six hours, only five-and-a-half. I’ve described the slums in Manila along the same lines, paraphrasing Fitzgerald who said “the rich are different from you and me” by saying “the poor are different from you and me.” True enough, there

are scales of deprivation that are as incomprehensible or inconceivable as the scales of plenitude. Look at the ratholes that pass for habitation in any of the slums of the city—and they’re right in the middle of us, they do not just exist in the fringes—and you’ll be horrified too. Look at the mass of huddled humanity begging outside the Quiapo Church, without light, without help, without hope, and you’ll recoil too.

The fact that we no longer do so, having become inured to it, only makes it worse. In fact, the fact that we are, well, displeased when others do so and attempt to conjure a vision of the pearly gates where others see only the sign “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here” only makes it worse.

But the really more interesting thing here is this: I never quite thought Tolentino would be the first to object to the book, I thought the Catholic Church would. Brown has a way of stepping on its toes, and he’s done so this time around over something pretty close to its heart. Indeed over something the local Church has just been embroiled in.

Which is RH. I beg your indulgence for this bit of a spoiler, but the Inferno in this book is plain overpopulation. It’s been growing alarmingly exponentially over the last decades, which the kontrabida believes

will wipe out humanity in the next 100 years. The extinction event will not come from a pandemic, or nuclear war, or a cataclysm, it will come from— people. More people than the planet can possibly support, a mass of humanity, their flesh entangled in confined space, weeping and teeth-gnashing, turning into animals in the face of hopelessness.

A scene straight from Dante.

A thing that has become inevitable— or so the villain believes, though that will be attributed to Brown himself—not least because of religious institutions that will brook no impediment to going forth and multiplying.

Well, it’s just a couple of weeks since the book came out, that protest might soon be forthcoming.

Which in the end is rather silly.

For crying out loud, “Inferno” is just a potboiler. It’s there to amuse—and supply a better guide to Florence, Venice and Istanbul than a brochure.

Just strap yourself to the seat and enjoy the ride. It has more twists than a daang baluktot, plunging headlong at a pace that’s meant to not make you pause to think of plausibility and real life. I spent a sleepless night doing it last week, staggering up to real life next day having to write, the fumes of sleep still roiling in my head.

A real inferno, work. ■

PUBLIC LIVES

The return of traditional politics in Pampanga

By Randy David Philippine Daily Inquirer FROM THE moment we first beheld the unique magic of people power in 1986, we have scanned the political horizon for signs of its recurrence.

The possibility that it will appear again gives us eternal hope. Its unpredictability, however, keeps us guessing when and in what form it will happen again. Its elusiveness tells us that while it can catalyze reform, it doesn’t linger long enough to form the basis for enduring change.

What we don’t realize is that for every euphoric moment that people power brings, there is a corresponding price that we pay whenever we are unable to build on its foundation— cynicism and despair. Every letdown weighs so heavily on those who trust in its redemptive powers that they lose their taste for long struggles.

Nothing perhaps illustrates this cycle more vividly than the debacle that followed the extraordinary rise to political power of the Catholic priest Eddie T. Panlilio, who, in 2007, ran as an independent candidate for governor of Pampanga, offering himself as the alternative to the two entrenched dynastic forces of traditional politics in the province—

the Lapids and the Pinedas. The Commission on Elections declared him the winner by a very slim margin in that three-cornered fight. His improbable victory, which the mass media romanticized as a small version of Cory Aquino’s iconic run against Ferdinand Marcos in 1986, was reversed by the same Comelec a few months before the election of 2010.

When the Comelec ordered Panlilio to turn over his office to Lilia “Baby” Pineda, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s long-time friend, no people-power outrage exploded in his behalf. In the almost three years he served as governor of Pampanga, “Among Ed” had managed to alienate most of his followers. The latter saw a side of him they did not notice before—a self-righteousness that is given to preaching rather than to listening. His aura as someone anointed by people power vanished so quickly that soon the staunchest of his supporters were joining his enemies in filing cases against him.

When they saw that his own leaders were deserting him, his enemies began bombarding him with cases and petitions that virtually made it impossible for him to govern. Having entered the provincial government with no other elected official by his side to help him wage the arduous struggle for

reform, he found himself beleaguered by a provincial board and a mayors’ league that could not see anything positive in what he was doing. Instead of reaching out to them, he, in turn, became more hostile toward them, seeing their attacks as a confirmation of their moral bankruptcy.

Panlilio’s archenemy, Lilia Pineda, the wife of Bong Pineda, Central Luzon’s alleged king of “jueteng,” marshaled all her forces and kept the

What we don’t realize is that for every euphoric moment that people power brings, there is a corresponding price that we pay whenever we are unable to build on its foundation—cynicism and despair. pressure on to prevent his reelection in 2010. Even as she waited for the results of the electoral protest she filed, her group, known as “Kambilan,” launched a recall campaign against the sitting governor that produced more than 200,000 signatories. This far exceeded the percentage required to bring the process to its logical end— the unseating of the incumbent and the holding of a new election.

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As anyone could see, the forces of traditional politics were busy organizing, while the adherents of reform were kept occupied parrying the blows that came their way. Pineda treated all this as a dress rehearsal for the decisive return bout in 2010, a presidential election year. She knew, as a veteran politician, that the presidential contest could shape the outcome of local contests. Panlilio entered the gubernatorial race of 2010, not as a reelectionist, but as someone who had been wrongly declared the winner in the previous election. He had, by this time, all but lost the support of his middle-class base. His candidacy would have been dismissed as inconsequential had he not been designated head of the Liberal Party, whose standard-bearer was the popular Benigno S. Aquino III. But, not even P-Noy’s phenomenal dash for the presidency could help revive the spirit of people power that swept Panlilio into office in 2007.

While P-Noy took Pampanga by a huge majority in 2010, Panlilio trailed Pineda all the way in the gubernatorial race. For every vote he received, Pineda got two.

As a Kapampangan himself, P-Noy wanted to alter the terrain of Pampanga politics during his presidency so as to diminish the pernicious hold of the Arroyo-Pineda

alliance on the province. But he could not go very far in Pampanga as long as Panlilio remained his main organizer.

On the other hand, prominent figures like former San Fernando Mayor and now Representative-elect Oscar Rodriguez were hesitant to challenge the political and economic clout of the Pinedas. The 2013 elections proved them right. Pineda won almost 80 percent of the vote. But more telling as an indicator of the retreat of people power was the number of votes that Among Ed received—a measly 125,407 votes. This was substantially less than the 242,367 votes he got in 2010.

Pineda felt secure enough in her post that, rather than wait until the end of her term, she positioned her son Dennis for succession by fielding him as her candidate for vice governor. Yet, like a pragmatic politician of long standing, she knew how to play her cards. She dropped her Lakas-Kampi affiliation, and ran and fielded candidates under the banner of her local group, Kambilan.

She supported P-Noy ally Rodriguez against a former staunch Arroyo ally, Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales Jr., in the congressional race of Pampanga’s third district.

That is how traditional politics sustains itself over the long haul. ■

Opinion

17 FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013

AS I SEE IT

Fish is at root of rows with Taiwan, China

By Neal H. Cruz Philippine Daily Inquirer THE PHILIPPINES is being bullied by two neighbors: China and Taiwan.

China is sending its navy to protect its fishing vessels while poaching in Philippine fishing grounds. And Taiwanese are harassing Filipino workers in Taiwan in retaliation for the accidental killing by a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) patrol member of a Taiwanese on board a fishing vessel caught poaching in the seas around the Batanes isles. The PCG said the Taiwanese fishing boat tried to ram the PCG vessel so it fired warning shots. A fisherman was fatally hit by one of those shots and that started the diplomatic row between the two neighbors.

Taiwan has found a hostage to use against the Philippine government: the Filipino workers, mostly domestics, in Taiwan. The Filipinos are being harassed by Taiwanese citizens. They are denied service when trying to buy supplies from stores. They cannot walk or bike anywhere because they are harassed by Taiwanese goons. The Filipinos are forced to stay indoors.

In fairness to the Taiwanese government, it is not tolerating these acts of harassment. In fact, it has ordered the police to accompany

Filipinos while going to and from their jobs or while doing errands for their employers, and to arrest Taiwanese citizens who harass them.

But the Taiwanese government is itself erratic in dealing with the controversy. It has demanded an apology from the Philippine government, compensation for the family of the slain fisherman, the arrest and punishment of the coast guards involved, and a joint investigation of the incident.

But while the Taiwanese investigators were allowed to come here to investigate the incident without any problems, Taipei is imposing one condition after another on investigators of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) who want to go to Taiwan to look at the damaged fishing boat and to interview witnesses.

On such a simple matter as issuing visas to the NBI personnel, Taipei put one roadblock after another. When the visas were finally issued, Taipei imposed another condition which it refuses to divulge to the press.

What’s with Taiwan? It demanded an apology from the Philippine government, but when President Aquino formally apologized, it rejected the apology. It wants a joint investigation of the incident but while the Taiwanese investigators have already come here and gone without any problems, it is

not giving the same easy access to NBI investigators who want to go to Taiwan to inspect the fishing vessel, interview its crew, and have a second autopsy of the victim. It wants the guilty PCG personnel punished, but how can the Philippine government do that when Taipei is blocking the entry of Filipino investigators to Taiwan?

We do not yet know what the new demands of Taipei are. If I were asked to guess, I would say it has something to

We do not yet know what the new demands of Taipei are. If I were asked to guess, I would say it has something to do with fishing rights. Yes, the common denominator in the present rows with Taiwan and China is fish. do with fishing rights. Yes, the common denominator in the present rows with Taiwan and China is fish. It is greed for fish in the rich Philippine fishing grounds that is at the root of the problem.

It is no secret that the fishing grounds of China and Taiwan have been depleted by their fleet of fishing boats. But there is still plenty of fish on the other side of the fence: the

Philippine seas. Our fishing grounds are rich with the highly coveted and high-priced tuna. Philippine waters are the migration route of this fish.

Our coral reefs are the homes and breeding places of millions of fish.

(In fact, I suspect that that Chinese fishing boat that ran aground on Tubbataha Reef was not there by accident. It was probably poaching in the rich waters of the reef.)

That is why one of the conditions of Taiwan to settle the row over the killing of its fisherman is to have bilateral talks with the Philippines on fishing rights. Taiwan will probably offer to forgive and forget if the Philippines will allow its fishing boats to fish in waters within the Philippine economic zone.

In return, Taiwan may allow Filipino fishing vessels to fish in its territorial seas, but what good will that do when its fishing grounds are already overfished?

The other day, Taipei issued a statement welcoming the start of fisheries talks between the two countries. It was like throwing the turtle into the river.

It is as if Taipei, with the innocent Filipino domestics in Taiwan as hostage, is demanding: “Give me a plane to fly me out of here or I will shoot this girl.” But what have the Filipino domestics got to do with fishing rights?

How would Taiwan and China

react if Filipinos start harassing their citizens here and stop the importation of their products? Tit for tat.

But that is the problem with poor countries like the Philippines, which have little military and economic might.

More powerful neighbors find it fun to bully them. There was Malaysia which killed scores of Filipinos in Sabah who went there to claim their birthright.

Then there is China which is claiming islands and islets within Philippine territorial waters because the seas around them are also believed to be rich in oil and natural gas. Now comes Taiwan which wants to fish in our seas. *** KAPIHAN NOTES: There will be no Kapihan sa Manila at the Diamond Hotel this morning. The penthouse has been reserved today for another private function. Kapihan will be resumed next Monday. *** Alumni of the Daily Express newspaper will have a reunion on June 1 at Annabel’s Restaurant on Tomas Morato Avenue, Quezon City. If you had worked in any department of the newspaper, you are invited to attend the reunion and see old friends and faces. *** Myther Bunag of Myther & Friends is inviting his friends to his birthday bash at his pad in Ermita, Manila, on May 30. “Don’t bring gifts,” he says, “but cash will be accepted.” ■

AT LARGE

Making (and keeping) friends

By Rina Jimenez-David Philippine Daily Inquirer IN PREVIOUS years, the observance of Philippine Independence Day usually involved the hosting of a program for overseas Filipino workers in Taipei and other cities hosting OFWs. There would usually be a formal reception to which Taiwanese officials, business people, and prominent Filipino residents were invited.

The workers’ program usually involved an exhibition basketball match among various workers’ organizations or even professional players invited from the Philippines, or else the viewing of a Pacquiao boxing bout, a talent show featuring entertainers “imported” from Manila as well as Taiwan-based groups, a raffle sponsored by telecom, remittance and shipping companies, with the entire program preceded by the celebration of a Mass.

This year, though, says Amadito Perez, chair of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office which serves as a de facto “embassy” in Taiwan, the Meco officials are planning a much more low-key observance, with a focus on fostering unity and camaraderie among the thousands of Pinoys employed on the island.

Perhaps the focus on unity and

unanimity among Filipinos is needed now in Taiwan more than ever, what with the still-simmering sentiments between Filipino and Taiwanese officials over the “encounter” off Batanes between a Taiwanese fishing boat and a vessel of the Philippine Coast Guard-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources. *** THE latest news, says Perez, is that the twocountries have each agreed to send an investigative team to look into the incident that resulted in the death of an elderly Taiwanese fisherman.

A Filipino resident in Taipei says he and other members of the community personally do not feel any tension or stress regarding the surge of antiFilipino sentiment there. But in other cities, notably Kaohsiung, where a good number of OFWs are based, incidents of “snubbing” of Filipinos by restaurant workers and vendors and of street harassment of “Filipino-looking” pedestrians have been reported.

At the building housing the Meco offices, the news is that the owner and the other tenants have begun complaining about the “vigil” being carried on by Taiwanese media, with anyone entering or exiting the building, even those not remotely resembling Filipinos, hounded and harried by news people hungry for a sound bite.

*** THERE may indeed be a “political” back-story to the rather heated rhetoric emanating from Taiwanese officialdom.

But while it makes sense for Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou to squeeze as much political capital out of the incident as he can, all in the effort to boost his falling popularity rating, Filipino officials would do well to stop boasting about our own P-Noy’s high popularity and trust ratings.

How can we convince the Taiwanese of our sincerity? By offering our deepest sympathies to the family and showing our resolve to determine the circumstances behind the encounter and ensure justice is done and proper accountability is meted out.

One thing has nothing to do with the other. A man has died, after all, and all our commiserating and the offer of restitution to his family will mean nothing if we posture as if this all boils down to popularity or political convenience.

How can we convince the Taiwanese of our sincerity? By offering our deepest sympathies to the family and

www.canadianinquirer.net

showing our resolve to determine the circumstances behind the encounter and ensure justice is done and proper accountability is meted out.

As pointed out in an earlier column, the Philippines and Taiwan have had decades of good relations, and despite the “One China policy,” we have managed to establish mutually beneficial relations while respecting concerns about sovereignty and national dignity. We need all the friends we have made in the world, and keeping them is important. *** YOU can have your (cup)cake and eat it, too!

The daughter of a good friend, Sandra Castro Puno, has started a cupcake business that produces goodies that are good for you (healthwise) while satisfying not just your sweet tooth but even your aesthetic sense.

Steph Puno, the new cupcake mistress in town, is an Ateneo graduate who used to work in a bank but shifted her interests when she went to New York to take a course at the Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts.

The school, says Steph, “is dedicated to a more nutrition-centered and health-supportive style of cooking.”

The cuisine and style of cooking taught at the Institute are “mostlyplant-based (though not limited to it) and trains chefs

to cater to the individual’s dietary needs.”

While at the Natural Gourmet Institute, Steph trained with a number of progressive chefs and also did recipe testing for vegan chef Chloe Coscarelli in her recent desserts cookbook “Chloe’s Vegan Desserts” which came out last month. Credited for her work on the recipes, Steph says, “I was so happy to find my name in her cookbook!”

Coming home recently, Steph has started her own line of sweet and savory products. The bestsellers are her Salted Caramel and Espresso Walnut Cupcakes, as well as her pies like S’mores, Apple Pie, etc. “I offer gluten-free or vegan products upon request,” she says.

Steph also specializes in theme cupcakes for a more personal touch for your family feasts and special occasions.

I really like the cupcakes she made on the occasion of the “birthdays” of their family dogs, and they are the bomb!

(You can send a photo of your dog/s or whatever subject you prefer, and Steph can replicate it in her cupcakes.)

Steph retails her cupcakes at P55 each for “regular” flavors, and P70 each for “special,” including vegan, glutenfree, refined-sugarfree, etc. She accepts a minimum order of six, preferably one day in advance. Send orders by e-mail to steph.puno@gmail.com or message her on Facebook. ■

Canada News

FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013

18

NDP, Liberals bombard Harper on Senate scandal... ❰❰ 1

the prime minister or anyone else in his office.

NDP Leader Tom Mulcair showed off his skill as a lawyer, peppering Harper with 14 pointed questions: “When did the prime minister first speak with Nigel Wright about Mike Duffy’s expenses?” he asked.

“How many times did he speak with Nigel Wright in the week preceding his resignation?”

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau followed suit.

“Will the prime minister commit to releasing all records, emails, documents and correspondence relating to any arrangement between Mr. Wright and Mr. Duffy?”

Trudeau asked.

“Will the prime minister commit to having everyone involved in this affair, including himself, testify about their involvement in a public forum, under oath?”

Harper committed to nothing and offered little new information.

He insisted he first learned on May 15 that Wright had cut a personal cheque to pay for Duffy’s invalid expense claims.

“Until the morning of May 15, when Mr. Wright informed me that he had written a personal cheque to Mr. Duffy so that he could repay his expenses, it had been my understanding that Mr. Duffy had paid from his own personal resources,” Harper told the Commons.

He added that there was no legal agreement between Wright and Duffy, “to my knowledge.”

Opposition leaders weren’t buying it.

Mulcair pointed out that Duffy ceased co-operating with external auditors who were examining his expenses as soon as the $90,000 was paid and that he sent an email suggesting he “stayed silent on the orders of the Prime Minister’s Office.”

“Who told Mike Duffy to remain silent?” Mulcair demanded.

“These are not matters I am privy to,” replied Harper. “This is an email from Mike Duffy, who is

no longer a member of our caucus and certainly never conveyed that information to me.”

Mulcair further noted that the Conservative majority on the Senate’s internal economy committee “whitewashed” its report on the audit of Duffy’s expenses, deleting references that the rules on housing allowances are clear and unambiguous..

He pointed out that Sen. Carolyn Stewart Olsen, Harper’s former press secretary, moved the motion to delete the damning paragraph from the Duffy report—although the same paragraph featured prominently in the committee’s reports on two other senators’ expenses claims.

Harper insisted he had no conversation with Stewart Olsen about Duffy’s expenses and maintained his office had nothing to do with the Senate committee’s report.

“It is the author of its own report. That report mirrors the recommendations of an independent audit,” the prime minister maintained.

Harper’s version of events was dismissed as implausible.

“This is what the prime minister would have Canadians believe,” said Trudeau. “The chief of staff walks into the Prime Minister’s Office Wednesday morning, looks him in the eye and said that, unbeknownst to him, he had secretly paid a sitting legislator $90,000 to obstruct an audit.

“If that were true, the prime minister should have fired Nigel Wright on the spot. Instead, he spent five days defending him and calling him honourable (before accepting Wright’s resignation).”

Trudeau also noted that the first news report about Wright’s involvement surfaced on the evening of May 14 and included a statement from the PMO assuring Canadians that no public funds had been used to repay Duffy’s claims.

“Is the prime minister not aware, so completely, about what is going on in his own office that he did not know the night

before when the news broke?”

Down the hallway during question period in the Senate, the opposition was grilling the government on a related topic.

Liberal Senate leader James Cowan—also a lawyer— wondered why a report on Duffy was edited to remove references to “clear” and “unambiguous” rules on residence expenses, while the words stayed in reports about two other senators, Mac Harb and Patrick Brazeau.

Sen. David Tkachuk, the Conservative chairman of the committee studying the expense debacle, said it’s because Duffy repaid the $90,000 he owed.

“How can the fact of Sen. Duffy’s repayment affect your opinion or the committee’s opinion as to the clarity or lack of clarity or the unambiguity or ambiguity of the language? said Cowan.

“The two are completely unrelated. What’s the connection here? What am I missing?”

Tkachuk bristled at the implication of a whitewash.

“You know what, you have a narrative, and you insist on that narrative. The narrative is wrong,” he fumed.

“Sen. Duffy said he may have been mistaken, and he delivered a cheque, which is exactly what you and Sen. (Marjory) LeBreton asked us to do, which was to collect the money with interest.”

Tuesday’s grilling took place shortly before the start of a meeting of the secretive Senate committee studying Duffy’s expenses, a meeting that Conservatives on the committee agreed to hold in public.

Liberals in the Senate—as well as Duffy himself—have been lobbying for the committee to open the meeting. They’ve also suggested that Tkachuk should step down as chairman of the committee.

Tkachuk has disclosed that he discussed the review of Duffy’s expenses with Wright, who resigned five days after his involvement in the affair came to light. ■

PHOTO BY DANIEL PAQUET

Saskatchewan premier no longer believes Senate can be reformed The Canadian Press SASKATOON—Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, once a staunch supporter of a reformed federal Senate, has given up the fight.

Wall says he now believes it would be easier to scrap Parliament's chamber of sober second thought than try to change it.

“I think it is time to abolish the Senate. I think it is reflective of what Canadians are saying,” he said Friday at a news conference in Saskatoon.

“I don't think reform is possible. I think abolition is also difficult, but it is ... more doable than reform.”

The push for a Triple-E Senate—equal, elected and effective—goes back to the days of Preston Manning and the western-based Reform party.

Wall said it's a dream that has to be let go.

“I guess we all had hoped in Western Canada that it might be reformed—that would be the first preference. I just don't think it can be.”

The Senate has been rocked recently by an expense scandal.

Senate Speaker Noel Kinsella has said the RCMP is examining the claims of senators Mac

Harb, Mike Duffy and Patrick Brazeau.

Duffy left the Conservative caucus after it was revealed that the prime minister's chief of staff, Nigel Wright, wrote Duffy a $90,000 cheque to repay the senator's disallowed housing expenses. Wright resigned last weekend.

One of the senators from Wall's province also has been drawn into the controversy.

Last week, former journalist Pamela Wallin “recused” herself from the Conservative caucus over questions about her expenses.

Saskatchewan's Opposition New Democrats have pushed for abolition, but Wall's government passed a law for electing senators-in-waiting from the province, although no vote has been held.

Alberta elects potential senators and some of them have been appointed to the upper house.

Wall's change of heart was applauded by federal NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair, whose party has also been pushing for abolition.

“Great to hear,” Mulcair tweeted. “Looking forward to working with him to scrap the unelected Senate.” ■

Canada News

19 FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013

One Pinay becomes the most beautiful in Canada

NEWS BRIEFS

Philippine Canadian Inquirer

CONVICTED KILLER ESCAPES POLICE CUSTODY DURING MONTREAL HOSPITAL VISIT

FILIPINOS are the largest group of immigrants in the country, said statistics last month. Now, Pinoys have also turned into the face of beauty in North America—or, at least, in the case of Miss Universe Canada.

The pageant crowned a face already familiar to many Pinoys.

The new Miss Universe-Canada, Riza Santos, is a reality TV star—a former "housemate" from the second celebrity edition of "Pinoy Big Brother". Santos has also made appearances in TV shows "Palos", "ASAP", and "I Love Betty La Fea" (among others) on leading Pinoy network ABS-CBN. Santos was originally the competition's First Runner-Up. The coveted title went to Denise Garrido from Bradford, Ontario. Pageant masterminds Beauties of Canada later realized that there was an error (allegedly due to a typo) that miscalculated the final scores.

Beauties of Canada apologized for the mistake and issued the following statement on their website:

“During the validation of the computerized scoring results (which occurs the following day), a typo was discovered in the top 5 entries, which significantly impacted the final results of the competition. This is the first instance of this type of error in the 11 years that Beauties of Canada has produced the Miss Universe Canada pageant.”

“This is an unfortunate circumstance where a human error was made, and in such a situation, as difficult as it is, it is only right to correct the error.”

Garrido was demoted to third runner-up (this, after Taekwondo black-belter beauty had been congratulated and announced the winner in a press release and video interviews). Beauties of Canada offered their apologies to Garrido; then, the crown, to Santos.

Santos hails from Calgary, Alberta. Her parents—both Pinoys— come from Bulacan (father Ruel Santos) and Bataan (mom Dina Buenaventura).

Santos has also won in two previous pageants: Miss Earth 2006 and Miss World 2011. Beauties of Canada

MONTREAL—Police are searching for convicted killer Jean Pierre Duclos who escaped custody during a hospital visit. Duclos, who is 56, has been serving a life sentence since 1992 for a first-degree murder committed the previous year. He is five-foot-seven, about 150 pounds and was last seen wearing a white short sleeved shirt, blue jeans and a green coat.

REPORT ON TRANSIT TOLLS CALLS FOR TAX HIKES

PHOTO BY BERT MORELOS

congratulated Santos and "looks forward to working with her as she prepares to represent our country at Miss Universe 2013."

Santos will compete in December’s Miss Universe pageant side-by-side with Ariella Arida, the Philippines’ candidate. ■ Source: ABS-CBN News; Yahoo! News Canada.

TORONTO—The average household in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area may end up paying $477 more a year in taxes to expand public transit and shave five minutes off the current average daily commute, Ontario’s transportation agency said Monday. Most of the $2 billion a year needed to fund transit will fall to taxpayers under the Metrolinx plan, which calls for a five-cent a litre fuel tax and one percentage point hike in the HST for residents in the region.

OK TO PRAY AT CITY HALL: QUEBEC COURT QUEBEC—A Quebec municipality has won a highprofile battle to begin council meetings with a prayer.

The provincial appeal court has reversed the decision of a lower tribunal in the case of Saguenay, Que.

Kami po sa Manila Express ay nagbibigay ng Abot-kaya at Maasahang Serbisyo sa lahat.

Mula pa noon hanggang ngayon.

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Canada News

FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013 20

Royal Bank releases supplier code of Fees, fundraising increase gap between conduct after outsourcing backlash

Ontario’s have, have not schools: report

The Canadian Press

BY PAOLA LORIGGIO The Canadian Press

TORONTO—The Royal Bank (TSX:RY), which faced a fierce backlash earlier this year over an outsourcing arrangement involving the use of temporary foreign workers, said Friday it won’t send work offshore just to save on salaries.

The bank, which released a new supplier code of conduct, said it will only send work to offshore suppliers when their scale, technology or knowledge provides capabilities the bank cannot duplicate.

“For example, RBC’s Canadian client call centres are located in Canada, supporting RBC’s domestic and U.S. business, and they will remain in Canada despite the trend in many industries to offshore them,” the bank said in a statement.

The supplier code of conduct was part of a package of promises made by RBC chief executive Gord Nixon in April following a controversy over the bank’s decision to outsource the work of about 45 employees to iGate, which used the temporary foreign worker program.

IGate brought its own employees into Canada under the federal program so they could be trained for the services they would be providing to Royal Bank.

The bank’s new supplier code says its suppliers adhere to human rights, labour and employment standards legislation.

It also says suppliers must not hire foreign workers from outside of Canada when performing services on behalf of RBC when a worker eligible to work in Canada is available.

The United Steelworkers union said it welcomed the decision.

“Public pressure and solid campaigning by the labour movement on the corporate abuse of the temporary foreign worker program has led RBC to make these changes to its supplier code,” said Ken Neumann, USW national director.

PHOTO FROM WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

“This action by RBC should be a strong message to all employers who exploit temporary foreign workers or try to use the program as a source of cheap labour,” added Stephen Hunt, USW Western Canada director.

“Now it’s time for our federal and provincial governments to abandon their low-wage strategy and require all corporations to follow suit. We will continue to press for meaningful reform.”

The controversy over the temporary foreign workers program spilled over into the political arena, prompting federal Human Resources Minister Diane Finley to ask officials to review documents submitted by iGate after apparent discrepancies appeared between public statements made

by RBC and information previously provided to the government by iGate.

Last month, the government announced changes to the program, including an end to a rule that allowed businesses to pay foreign workers up to 15 per cent below average wages for a job.

The Conservatives also put a hold on a program that fast-tracked the ability of some companies to bring in workers from outside Canada through what’s known as an accelerated labour market opinion.

In 2012, some 213,516 people entered Canada via the temporary foreign worker program, more than three times the number admitted a decade ago. ■

TORONTO—The reliance on fees and fundraising in Ontario public schools is creating a two-tier system that limits poorer students’ access to special programs and extracurriculars, despite the province’s efforts to level the playing field, a new report says.

The annual report released Monday by the independent advocacy group People For Education says there’s still a big difference between what’s offered at schools in wealthier areas and those in less affluent ones—something that can affect students’ chances in the future.

The average family income at a school influences students’ odds of participating in gifted and French immersion programs, extracurricular activities and even some classes, such as academic-level math, the document says.

“Those are all core components of that broader education that really makes a difference to students ... not just when they’re in school, but in their lives,” says Annie Kidder, People For Education’s executive director.

“They’re more likely to be engaged, for one thing, which means they’re more likely to do better, but it also gives them a deeper kind of learning,” she says.

In Ontario elementary schools, the average family income is about $82,000, but that number drops to just under $44,500 in low-income schools, according to the findings. That’s less than a third of the norm in richer schools, where the average family income comes close to $152,800.

And though schools aren’t allowed to charge for materials required for the core curriculum, the report says imposing fees and fundraising for other activities “increases the gap between ‘have’ and ‘have-not’ schools.”

Schools with a richer student body can collect more money, which translates into more sports, arts and other programs, it says.

“The majority of schools charge fees—for everything from field trips to sports—and the majority provide some form of subsidy for students who can’t pay,” the study reads.

“But there is no overall system in place to ensure that fees don’t prevent students from fully participating in school life,” it says.

In some cases, educators rely on “quiet conversations” with parents to arrange subsidies for poorer students, while others force recipients to complete volunteer work in exchange for financial help, it says.

www.canadianinquirer.net

Since the province barred fees for mandatory courses in 2011, the number of high schools collecting lab or material fees has dropped to 41 per cent from 68—a “dramatic decrease,” Kidder says.

“Where there was a kind of grey area left in the policy is that you can charge fees for so-called enhanced materials,” which aren’t clearly defined, she says.

Roughly a quarter of schools continue to charge for art, health and physical education, while nearly 20 per cent do so for design and technology courses, music classes and family studies, the report says.

Five per cent charge for science and a handful report fees linked to business, English and math courses.

At the elementary level, 91 per cent of schools ask students to pay for field trips and 52 per cent for extracurriculars, it says.

Education Minister Liz Sandals says she expects school boards to “develop programs that allow the opportunity for all students to participate and minimize fees as much as possible.”

When it comes to fundraising, boards have the authority to pool donations across their properties and redistribute as needed, which could narrow the gap between richer and poorer schools, she says.

Sandals also says the province offers financial assistance based on family income through the Learning Opportunities Grant, but the report says the money is going to programs for all students.

It recommends the creation of a new grant focused on programs proven to “mitigate socio-economic and ethnoracial factors affecting disadvantaged students.”

The report, titled “Mind The Gap: Inequality in Ontario’s Schools,” is based on a survey of more than 1,100 elementary and high school principals across the province. That represents nearly a quarter of Ontario’s public schools.

It also includes demographic data from Ontario’s Education Quality and Accountability Office, an independent agency that administers provincial standardized tests. ■

PHOTO BY DAVID HILLS

21 FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013

Recognition Pink Pearl Restaurant, 1132 E Hastings St., Vancouver, BC Tickets $60 Table of 10 - $600 For more information call Jim @ 604.355.5795 www.explorasian.org

Gala

Saturday, June

1, 6pm

explorASIAN 2013 Recognition Gala will shine a Scott McIntyre, through his firm, D & M Publishing Inc., has had a long-standing and continuing commitment to publish Asian Canadian works. During their 40 years, Scott and D & M produced pioneer publications such as Saltwater City, the first illustrated coffee table book on the history of the Chinese in Vancouver. Scott and editor, Saeko Usukawa were both instrumental in the production of the seminal ManyMouthed-Birds, a ground-breaking anthology of Chinese Canadian writing, both publications were instrumental in sparking a wider interest in Asian Canadian topics and a more diverse and inclusive voice in multicultural Canada. Many published authors under the D & M banner such as David Suzuki, SKY Lee, Wayson Choy, Paul Yee and others have gone on to receive national attention and acclaim by winning the Governor General Award, BC Book Prize and Vancouver Book Award and others prizes.

spotlight on the importance of print medium in our society and have singled out two outstanding community leaders for recognition - retired publisher, Scott McIntyre and Georgia Straight editor, Charlie Smith. We are very pleased that both Scott and Charlie have accepted our nominations and during the course of evening, they will receive our inaugural explorASIAN Community-Builder Award in gratitude and recognition of the significant contribution they have brought to the diverse social and cultural

Charlie Smith grew up in Victoria and studied a University of Victoria before moving to Vancouver and graduating from BCIT’s broadcast journalism program. He worked in private radio and at CBC Radio and CBC TV. He wrote for numerous publications before joining the Georgia Straight in 1994. He became the editor of the paper in 2005. As an editor and writer, Smith has tried to educate readers about diversity within B.C.’s many communities of Asian Descent.

He credits the owners of the Georgia Straight, the McLeod family, and the editors and writers at the paper for supporting his vision of community representation and awareness. He gives special thanks to the editorial staff of Asian descent – Carolyn Ali, Michelle da Silva, Stephen Hui, Carlito Pablo and Craig Takeuchi – for enhancing his sensitivity to the day-to-day issues that impacts the diverse citizens in our community.

fabric of our Pan-Asian community.

The evening will be hosted by CBC Radio personality, Margaret Gallagher and Chinatown chef and historian, Bob Sung and includes a 10 course Chinese dinner presented by the famous cuisine chefs of the Pink Pearl Restaurant.

Check our website www.explorasian.org to find out how to explore the Asian-Canadian community, history and cultural landscape in Metro Vancouver throughout the year. www.canadianinquirer.net

World News

FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013 22

Japan mayor says his lack of sensitivity about US image of prostitution caused outrage

BY MARI YAMAGUCHI The Associated Press An outspoken Japanese mayor who outraged many with remarks about Japan’s wartime and modern sexual services stood by his comments Thursday, but said he may have lacked “international sensitivity.”

Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto said his lack of sensitivity to America’s perception of prostitution might have caused outrage after his suggestion earlier this week that U.S. troops based in southern Japan should patronize legal adult entertainment establishments to reduce sex crime there.

Hashimoto, co-leader of an emerging nationalist party, also has angered Japan’s neighbours by saying the Japanese military’s wartime practice of forcing Asian women into prostitution was necessary to maintain discipline and provide relaxation for soldiers.

He claimed Thursday that the practice was widely used by many other countries during World War II and that Japan was being unfairly singled out.

The U.S. State Department called Hashimoto’s comments “outrageous and offensive.”

Historians say up to 200,000 women, mainly from the Korean Peninsula and China, were forced to provide sex for Japanese soldiers in military brothels. While some other World War II armies had military brothels, Japan is the only country accused of such widespread, organized sexual slavery.

Hashimoto’s comments added to recent anger in neighbouring countries that suffered from Japan’s wartime aggression and have complained about the lack of atonement for atrocities committed during that time.

Hashimoto said Thursday that he had no intention of retracting any of his earlier comments. But he said his remarks might have seemed inappropriate to people outside Japan with different

values.

“If there is one big mistake I made, that might have been my lack of understanding of culture behind the U.S. sex industry—if you mention adult entertainment in the U.S., everyone thinks of prostitution,” Hashimoto said during a live TV talk show from Osaka, in western Japan.

“I admit that my international sensitivity was quite poor when I had to operate beyond national borders.”

The ruckus started Monday when Hashimoto commented on the wartime “comfort women” who had to provide sex to Japan’s Imperial Army.

Hashimoto said that on a recent visit to the southern island of Okinawa he suggested to the U.S. commander there that the troops make use of the legal sex industry.

More than half of about 50,000 U.S. troops based in Japan under a bilateral security pact are on Okinawa, where base-related crime has long triggered anti-U.S. military sentiment.

U.S. officials rejected his proposal. “That goes without saying,” Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said Tuesday in Washington.

In a tweet Wednesday, Rep. Mike Honda, a Democrat who has urged Japan to take responsibility for wartime sex slavery, called Hashimoto’s remarks that “comfort women” were necessary “contemptible and repulsive,” and demanded Japan’s government “apologize for this atrocity.”

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the trafficking of women for sexual purposes during that era was “a grave human rights violation of enormous proportions.”

“We hope that Japan will continue to work with its neighbours to address this and other issues arising from the past and cultivate relationships that allow them to move forward,” Psaki told reporters Thursday.

Hashimoto said Thursday that his comments were not intended to justify or whitewash Japan’s use of prostitution for its wartime

Tōru Hashimoto, incumbent mayor of Osaka, Japan.

military and that Japan should apologize to the women whether or not they were forced into it.

Hashimoto’s comments came amid continuing criticism of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s earlier pledges to revise Japan’s past apologies for wartime atrocities. Before he took office in December, Abe had advocated revising a 1993 statement by then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono acknowledging and expressing remorse for the suffering caused to the sex slaves.

Abe has acknowledged “comfort women” existed but has denied they were coerced into prostitution, citing a lack of official evidence. He also said recently that the definition of “aggression” was still not established, inviting criticism from Japan’s neighbours.

On Monday, a photo published in Japanese newspapers showing Abe posing in a fighter jet with the number 731—the number of a notorious Japanese unit that performed chemical and biological experiments on Chinese in World War II— caught attention in Beijing, triggering criticism about a lack of sensitivity. www.canadianinquirer.net

The series of remarks and actions by Japanese political leaders could affect the way the world views Japan, experts say.

“I think it’s really damaging.

These are people who are noted and known. If this is the only way the Japanese news gets attention, instead of saying something groundbreaking or setting an example for humanity, that’s not good for the country,” said Koichi Nakano, a political science professor at Sophia University in Tokyo.

“Japan’s far-right politicians have lost their minds,” South Korea’s JoongAng Daily said in a Thursday editorial, saying Abe and Hashimoto “have unabashedly brought up the ghosts of Japan’s wartime past and irked neighbours that still bear bitter memories of its military aggression.”

“Their misbehaviour resembles that of Nazi Germans who were swept up by militarist fervour under Adolf Hitler,” the paper said.

Hashimoto’s follow-up Thursday provided little help to relieve anger among women in Japan. “(His comment) has violated women and our human rights,

PHOTO FROM WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

and tarnished Japan’s image and national interest,” said opposition lawmaker Makiko Kikuta, demanding Hashimoto retract what he said and apologize. “It’s extremely regrettable.”

Hashimoto, 43, is co-head of the newly formed Japan Restoration Party with former Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, who is a strident nationalist.

Hashimoto refused to step down as mayor or party executive.

His fellow party members were sympathetic to Hashimoto, but his remarks dealt a blow to the new party when it desperately needed public support ahead of this summer’s national elections.

Politicians from other parties were not so measured in their response.

“Now his lack of human rights awareness is world-famous.

What an embarrassment to Osaka!” said Kiyomi Tsujimoto, a liberal-leaning lawmaker representing the region. ■ Associated Press writers Malcolm Foster in Tokyo and Matthew Pennington in Washington contributed to this report.

Immigration

23 FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013

Statement—Minister Kenney Commends RCMP on Immigration Fraud Charges Laid OTTAWA, May 23, 2013—The Honourable Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, ImmigrationandMulticulturalism, made the following statement today upon learning that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Immigration and Passport Special Investigation Section has laid charges against a suspected “ghost” immigration consultant and his accomplice for defrauding nearly 400 people from China.

“I commend the RCMP for their thorough investigation in this case.

Crooked immigration consultants pose a danger not only to their victims but to the integrity of Canada’s immigration system.

“That is why the government introduced and implemented the Cracking Down on Crooked

Consultants Act, which makes it a crime for anyone other than an accredited immigration representative to conduct business at any stage of an application or proceeding and doubles the penalties and fines for anyone who breaks the rules.

“I encourage Canadians to report immigration fraud by calling the Border Watch Tip Line at 1-888-502-9060.”

The Cracking Down on Crooked Consultants Act makes it a crime for anyone that is not a member of the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council, a provincial or territorial bar, or Quebec notaries to advise, represent or consult clients on immigration matters before the Government of Canada for a fee.

Do you complain that your neighbor is an immigrant?

BY APRIL SESCON Philippine Canadian Inquirer UPWORTHY posted this photo on their Facebook page. Within four hours, the post hit almost 43,000 Likes, 28,000 shares.

Five days later the Likes are at 148,000, the shares almost 170,000. (They cited the photo’s source as Seismologik Intelligence, another website.)

A left-leaning website that aims to make social and political issues go viral, Upworthy shares videos and photos on a variety of topics from women’s rights, gay rights, global warming, anti-capitalism and more.

Their headlines hook and reel you in instantly: “The World’s Greatest Boyfriend Died at Age 18—Then The Internet Made Him Immortal”; “Would You Rather Be a Nobody Or A Jerk To Everybody? This Graduation Speech Makes It Really Obvious”; “Why We Need More Adult Films in Theaters”; “BAM! Nurses

Explain Obamacare In 90 Seconds”; “I Bet You Wouldn’t Let Aliens Treat Your Mother This Way”—and the list goes on.

Check out www.upworthy.com.

Upworthy was launched only in March 2012. Their thrust: to be that “place to find awesome, meaningful, visual things to

share.” They want memes that matter. They currently have about 1.8 million likes on their Facebook page. Late last year, the website announced that it had raised $4 million from global investment firm New Enterprise Associates and angel investors. ■

Government of Canada Launches the New seniors.gc.ca Calgary, Alberta, May 16, 2013—The Honourable Alice Wong, Canada’s Minister of State for Seniors, along with the Honourable George VanderBurg, Alberta’s Associate Minister of Seniors, were in Calgary today at the West Hillhurst Go-Getters Association to announce the launch of the newly revamped seniors.gc.ca, a central source of information for seniors, their families, and caregivers.

The Government of Canada continues to work with provincial, territorial, municipal, and other partners to provide seniors information on services and benefits from all levels of government. As part of this effort, seniors.gc.ca now features a new Information for Seniors section that provides an interactive map with quick links to programs, benefits and services, and includes 2-1-1 services where available.

“Our Government is committed to helping seniors maintain a high quality of life and continue to be active members of their communities,” said Minister

PHOTO FROM MOREPIXELS

Wong. “That is why today we are launching Seniors.gc.ca, including the new Information for Seniors section, which provides information about relevant programs and benefits, and resources to help seniors stay active, engaged and informed.”

“Seniors, families and caregivers are increasingly going online for information about government programs and services,” said Associate Minister George VanderBurg.

“This newly revamped website

from the Government of Canada provides easy access to the information people are looking for, including helpful links to provincial government resources and websites.”

“We are very pleased to be collaborating with the Government of Canada and provincial counterparts on new initiatives such as the ‘Information for Seniors’ section at seniors.gc.ca. All across Canada, United Ways, Centraides and our partners are working to improve access to www.canadianinquirer.net

community services for seniors and all Canadians through the 2-1-1 phone service and www.211.ca,” said Dr. Jacline Abray-Nyman, President and CEO, United Way Centraide Canada.

Seniors.gc.ca, including the Information for Seniors section, which has been well received by seniors and stakeholder organizations, also provides information on a range of key initiatives like the New Horizons for Seniors Program, which supports projects led or inspired by seniors who want to make a difference in the lives of others and in their communities. Measures to increase awareness of elder abuse are also included on the site.

“CARP members welcome the new Seniors.gc.ca. It certainly covers the questions we get all the time and more important, helps people navigate the various programs and initiatives. Increasingly, people want to be able to handle their own affairs and access their government directly and this website will help them do

that. We will let our 300,000 members across the country know about Seniors.gc.ca.”

Susan Eng, Vice President, Advocacy, CARP. “Through seniors.gc.ca, the Government of Canada is providing high-quality information to older Canadians in a clear and concise way.

That’s a key ingredient in supporting informed decisionmaking, something we’re committed to at McMaster University and which is driving the design of the McMaster Optimal Aging Portal.” John N. Lavis, MD PhD, Professor and Director, McMaster Health Forum, and Member of the McMaster Optimal Aging Portal Development Team.

Minister Wong noted that as part of Economic Action Plan 2013, the Government of Canada proposes to better protect seniors in a variety of areas, including financial services, financial literacy and health.

Visit www.seniors.gc.ca for easy access to governmentrelated benefits, programs and initiatives for seniors. ■

FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013 24

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Seen & Scenes

FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013 26

WORLD FINANCIAL GROUP

MOTHER’S DAY ROAD SHOW Two seasoned performers belched out heart-warming hits and classics in a Mother’s Day concert held last Saturday.

Both mothers, Lirio Vital and Josie de Leon were the stars of “A Song for You, Mom,” a Mother’s Day Tour Concert that started in Niagara Falls, then Mississauga, followed by Toronto; and which wrapped up in Windsor. The show was put together by Studio Six Productions. It featured, as well, the likes of Shy Garrido, Bea Cerbas, Monarie Ocray and Rita Tabago, all “divas-in-the-making” from the Josie de Leon School of Performing Arts.

MABUHAY 2013 Pinoy Pride Vancouver celebrated their 3rd anniversary at Vancouver’s hottest gay club, Oasis Ultra Lounge. The song “True Colours” was chosen for the fundraising event to emphasize the Pinoy Pride vision: “to empower Filipino Canadians who identify as Queer.” Local Filipina singer/songwriter/visual artist Kim Villagante a.k.a. K!m Possible kicked off the night with her soulful voice. International songstress Joey Albert and the ManilaBand Vancouver got everyone up on their feet dancing to new and old hits alike.

The funds are set to support the organization’s float for the Pride Parade to be held on August 4th, as well as their visibility outreach programs.

www.canadianinquirer.net

WFG-WSB EVC Liz Zetazate visits her team in Metrotown and Henning Drive offices in Burnaby, British Columbia.

Seen & Scenes

27 FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013

OUR LADY OF CAPE The Rosary Apostolate of the Schools presented the historical icon of Our Lady of Cape (Cap de Madeleine), the Queen of Canada and conducted a Living Rosary with the 300 students of St. Aidan Catholic School in Scarborough.

Rosary Volunteers Nick Barillaro, Sir George and Lady Dolly Poblete, School Principal AnneMarie Muir; Daphne Lee and Espie Cosme with the historical icon.

Presentation of roses to the school teachers, with the school Principal AnneMarie Muir and Sir George R. Poblete, after the Presentation of Our Lady of Cape story in St. Aidan Catholic School.

“PORTRAITS OF AN ARTIST IN B/W”

BY ZAK SARWARI VANCOUVER, May 23, 2013—Mel Tobias (extreme right), director of the recent production in Vancouver of award winning play “Portrait of an Artist as Filipino”, pose with some guest of B/W photographer Zak Sarwari (center) during the opening of his photo exhibit at Again Gallery, West Broadway. Also seen in photo are artist Kelly Huang ( 2nd from right), and Danvic and Melissa Briones of PCI (extreme left ). The B/W photo exhibit opened last Thursday, May 23, 2013. Among the other guests during the opening were Ding and Marilyn Cunanan, Dr. Miguel Tecson, Dorothy Uytengsu, Marissa and Pocholo Insua, Bev Nann, Jane Agustin Drazic, Anna Pansacola, Wilbur and Evelyn Victoria, and the entire cast of “Portrait.”

WESTSIDE CHILDREN’S CHOIR Westside Children’s Choir has been called Calgary’s most family-friendly choir. It’s a fun and inviting learning environment—the choir has Junior and Senior divisions, and requires no previous experience or auditions. All are dedicated to instilling the love of music and singing in their members, while working to achieve excellence in choral sound.

Westside performs a variety of music in a range of styles and from different periods. The choir will be competing in Choralfest and the Kiwanis Music Festival this year. (For more information, contact choir director Jean Czaja at 403.271.7925 or jczaja@shaw.ca.)

MAMA CHING QUEJAS’ GRAND 89TH BIRTHDAY President of Kalayaan Community Center Mama Ching Quejas celebrated her birthday with over two hundred friends at the KCCC Banquet Hall.

Attendees include Consul General Junever Mahilum-West, her KCCC Board, and her Rizal friends, to name a few.

The occasion was organized by Mama Ching’s daughters, Lou Salazar, Melanie Suzara and Lala Purificacion. Vangie Alcasid spoke about the life of Mama Ching, and her role in building the Kalayaan Community Center. Musicians played their bandurias for dinner music. Imelda Papa and her famous PCSM (Philippine Choral Society of Mississauga) sang to entertain the guests and birthday celebrant. Mama Ching herself complemented them with a rendition of her favorite song, the “Lambingan”. The Filipino Seniors group also offered asong, while children performed a Hawaiian dance and others yet breakdanced to hiphop.

www.canadianinquirer.net

FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013

Safety

28

Top Tips for Safe Travels

BY ANGIE DUARTE Philippine Canadian Inquirer

or two, so it is best to keep this oddnumber (17???) of safety, unsavoryevent busting tips top-of-mind:

THE expectation of exploring lands far and near. The call of a half-packed duffel; ready to go at moment’s notice. A welllaid out itinerary; the labour of months of careful planning, saving. The giddy excitement as departure date draws nigh; comparable more to pterodactyls than butterflies in your tummy. Travel , and its seamless pleasures Hans Christian Andersen, well-loved literary figure, captured the essence of travel rather nicely: "TO MOVE, TO BREATH, TO FLY, TO FLOAT, TO GAIN ALL WHILE YOU GIVE, TO ROAM THE ROADS OF LANDS REMOTE: TO TRAVEL IS TO LIVE. " Few things, however, spoil the joys of travel quite like an unsavory experience

1. Learn to look back; literally.

Humans are unfortunately not equipped with rear-view mirrors. Tourists tend to get very distracted, taking in the sights and sounds of a new place. And this is to be expected. An occasional glance cast over your shoulder will help you be more aware of your surroundings, and—for practicality’s sake—will help you keep track of your belongings.

Check restaurant or coffee shop tables you just vacated; cabs from which you just alighted for items you may have left behind.

2. Do NOT leave valuables and money in your back pocket. Nothing says “pick me!” more than a bulging back pocket.

PHOTO BY MARIN HEADLANDS

3. Do not keep your eggs in one basket. The eggs here being money and credit cards; and the basket, wherever you keep your money. Keep at least one card a bit of cash in a separate (safe) place. Imagine losing all access to finances while on a remote island. Not a pretty picture at all.

4. While on the topic of money, remember that low-key IS key when travelling abroad. Flaunting your wealth is akin to drawing a target on your forehead. Fly underneath the radar of scam artists and thieves by being discreet with your bling and your things.

5. Do your research prior to departure.

Know the area by taking a virtual trip online. There is a wealth of information at your fingertips, including info on commonly-employed ruses versus the hapless tourist. When you get to your destination, seek out a hotel staff member and ask for more tips. It also pays to know a bit about the local culture—You do not want to be that obnoxious, offensive tourist, now do you?

6. Whilst not being overly paranoid, do be street smart! Do not trust every Tom, Dick, Harry, Juan or Juana you meet on the street. “Stranger Danger” applies to tourists, too.

7. Be smart when it comes to luggage, as well. Do NOT, under any circumstance, allow anyone to put anything in your luggage, no matter the sob-story. Keep your cases securely locked. Do not give your baggage allowance to strangers, should you be traveling sans check-in items. Lest you find yourself a mule for someone’s illegal drugs.

8. Do not leave your belongings unattended. Sounds elementary, but you’d be amazed at how many travelers forget this simple rule. Hotspots for unattended belongings? Underneath the table, on the floor, on the seat next to you, or even the bag hook behind the toilet cubicle door. Keep belongings as close to you as possible.

9. Have copies of all your important/official documents. Keep

photocopies of your passport, tickets, id’s, etcetera. Or scan these and email them to yourself.

10. On the subject of important documents, acquiring travel insurance prior to departure is always a wise decision.

11. Get all required vaccines before leaving. You know what they say about an ounce of prevention. Bring first-aid meds and any specific meds you require.

12. Be careful—very careful—where you use your credit and bank cards. It is best to inquire at your local bank before you depart for tips to avoid credit card or ATM fraud; both very popular scams these days.

13. A spirit of adventure is a great travelling buddy, within the confines of sensibility. If you are to try a new thing—especially in the case of extreme activities – do so under supervision of a trained professional. Case in point, on a 7-day trip to the island of Boracay in the Philippines, a friend decided to go motocross trail biking the day after our arrival: no safety gear, no trainer. A bad spill, fractured bone and many gashes later left him in pain and in envy of us all for the next 5 days.

14. If you ARE mugged, give it away; give it all away. Do not attempt to fight back. Your life is worth far more than whatever you may be giving up. And if you did take out a policy for travel insurance, giving your things up shouldn’t be too much of an issue.

15. Carry with you the details of your hotel, embassy in the country you are visiting, and other important info.

16. Street food is integral to the travel experience; at least in my opinion. However, you know your stomach better than anyone else. Keep an eye out for clean street food stands, whenever possible.

17. When traveling at night, try to keep to well-lit areas. Unless you are hunting vampires, of course. In which case, none of these tips apply to you (smile!)

Bon voyage! And a safe one, too! ■

29 FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013

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Safety

FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013 30

Better Business Bureau’s 2013 Top Scams TOP ADVERTISING SCAM: ADVERTISING TROLLS

Consumers posting ads to free online listings to sell a vehicle are the target of unlicensed telemarketing companies. These companies are trolling through online ads to find someone to make a quick buck from. Companies often guarantee to sell vehicles quickly and promise a moneyback guarantee. Problem is that these guaranteed vehicle brokers rarely sell your vehicle, rarely provide refunds, and only post your own ad to other free online listings – charging you a $500 fee for things you probably could do yourself for free.

• Don’t let promises of guaranteed sales persuade you into a costly ad • Never give in to verbal promises, and do not provide credit card information until you have a contract that lays out all the terms and conditions • Check the company out on www.bbb.org TOP LOVE SCAM: ONLINE ROMANCE SCAMS

You meet the person virtually through a social networking or dating site. Your online romance scammer builds a relationship, sometimes spending several months in building a rapport online with the intention of making you feel that you are in a romantic relationship. The person you met online turns out to be criminal who typically says that they are in a far-away country and that they eventually want to meet the victim in person.

Around this time, the criminal will note that they can’t afford to travel and will seek assistance from you in covering travel costs. Sometimes there’s an emergency, a sick family member for example, and that they need financial help from you to visit the sick individual.

Of course, the requests for help are all a scam and the money wired by the victim, often in very large amounts, is now in the hands of the criminal.

Warning signs of a romance gone wrong: • Someone has claimed to have fallen in love with you quickly • That person wants to immediately leave the dating site to use instant messaging or

email • They claim to be from the U.S. or Canada but they are working overseas • They’ve asked you for money or to cash a cheque • They are coming to visit you soon but an event prevents them from visiting • They have no close family or friends to turn to when they need help TOP ONLINE SCAM: INTERNET INVESTMENT FRAUD

When a scam artist targets a group of people who know each other, it is called an affinity fraud. The investment schemes they promote may change or vary over time, but the methods they use to target groups are often the same. To be successful, scam artists need to earn the trust of an influential person in a group, family, or workplace. Once they establish this bond (and this can take time), they use this connection to get their hands on the money of other people in the group. In some cases, they may even pay the influencer to help them out, never telling the person that the investment is really a scam.

Warning signs include: • A new group member starts talking about wealth-building investments • The person pitching the investment uses your ethnicity, religion, occupation, or anything else they claim to have in common with you to gain your trust • Request to keep quiet about the investment because it is exclusive or only available to “those in the know” • An investment that seems too closely tied to a particular religious or group belief • Go to www.investright.org to learn more investment red flags TOP SALES SCAM: CURBERS

Curbers, or unlicensed usedcar “traffickers,” often acquire junk cars and then sell them from parking lots or curbsides.

They advertise through local newspapers and online ads.

Later, the used car you bought privately may turn out to have a lien against it, the VIN (vehicle identification number) number switched, or the odometer rolled back. In some cases, the car turns out to be stolen.

• Spot a curber when they have the same phone number listed for many cars and asks, “Which car?” when you call • The price seems too good to be true • The person is selling for a friend or has a sad story, and tries to rush you into buying • A curber will not meet at their home and insists on cash • Also, look to see if the name or location on the vehicle documents does not match the curber’s ID • Be wary of any person who wants you to lie on the transfer form • Report the curber and find a licensed dealer at www. vehiclesalesauthority.com TOP HOME IMPROVEMENT SCAM: ROGUE DOOR-TO-DOOR CONTRACTORS

While some door-to-door salespeople have legitimate offers for you, beware of the rogue doorto-door operators who come unsolicited and promises deals that are too good to be true. These types of offers include: a deal to seal or repave your driveway, a roofer with leftover material from a previous job, a furnace repair that you didn’t schedule or a gas fireplace “inspection.”

These fraudulent “contractors” use high pressure sales tactics and offers of a onetime deal to entice or frighten consumers into expensive and often unnecessary home repairs.

• Remember to take the time to do your due diligence • Ensure you get the company, name, address and all verbal promises are available in a written contract • Be leery if you are asked to pay in cash or a cheque with an offer to c o m e back at another time to finish the job (you w i l l probably n e v e r see them or your money again) • Direct sales www.canadianinquirer.net

(door-to-door) contracts are regulated in BC and you have 10 days to cancel by advising the company • For more information on direct sales, contact Consumer Protection BC at 1-888-564-9963 or visit www. consumerprotectionbc.ca TOP COMPUTER SCAM: COMPUTER VIRUS FIXING SCHEME

This scam starts when you receive a call with a warning that your computer has been infected with a virus and an offer to clean your computer.

What is really happening in this computer virus fixing scheme?

The scammer is trying to gain remote access to your computer and get your credit card information. The scammer will say they need remote access to provide the supposed services, and will ask for your computer passwords and related information. They will also ask for your credit card information, so they can be billed for the supposed services.

Recognize the con: • If you receive an unsolicited call offering anti-virus services, requesting access to your computer or asking for credit card information, hang up!

• Do not click on pop-up advertisement offering antivirus services • NEVER give an unsolicited caller access to your computer • Always buy this software from a

legitimate vendor you trust SCAM OF THE YEAR: BBB FAKE COMPLAINT EMAIL

Yep, it’s us—the BBB phishing scam. Hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of people have gotten emails that very much look like an official notice from BBB. The subject line says something like “Complaint Against Your Business,” and the instructions tell the recipient to either click on a link or open an attachment to get the details. If the recipient does either, a malicious virus is launched on their computer…a virus that can steal banking information, passwords and other critical pieces of information needed for cyber-theft.

BBB is working with security consultants and federal law enforcement to track down the source of these emails, and has already shut down dozens of hijacked websites. Anyone who has opened an attachment or clicked on a link should run a complete system scan using reputable antivirus software. If your computer is networked with others, all machines on the network should be scanned, as well.

BBB and partners will be using the Twitter hashtag #justincase to provide helpful tips to arm you with the knowledge on how to spot scams. Add your own tips using the same hashtag #justincase.

For more information and resources, go to: www.mbc.bbb. org/top-tenscams. ■

Safety

31 FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013

Safety Tips against Tornadoes

BY KATHERINE MARFAL-TEVES Philippine Canadian Inquirer THE tornado that killed 24 people, injured 377, and damaged about 12,000 homes in Moore, Oklahoma on May 20 is “the most powerful of a spate of 76 twisters that touched down in 10 states from May 18 to May 20,” said disaster modeling company Eqecat.

TV meteorologists also warned schools, neighborhoods, and businesses in the twister’s path to take extra precautions. Warning systems worked, and saved hundreds or even thousands of lives, but some students from an elementary school died, and people from nearby areas were left injured and killed.

The Storm Prediction Center of Oklahoma believe that the first step in order to avoid the adversity that happened in Moore, Oklahoma, is to equip people with useful knowledge about various tornado signs.

Thunderstorms often occur, but the good thing is only a few of them create tornadoes. Still, experts and officials strongly recommend people to be wary.

Here are some signs that a tornado is fast-approaching: • strong rotation visible in the cloud base • greenish, dark sky • large high wall of clouds • large hail • a visible funnel shaped cloud • a loud roaring sound, stronger than the consistent wind • very calm wind during an ongoing storm • small, bright flashes at ground level under a thunderstorm in the distance could be a tornado snapping power lines Tornado zone

Moore in Oklahoma is considered as a tornado zone. Residents are always at risk of being struck by a disaster. Here are some safety tips that can be of great help for anyone in a tornado zone.

• Devise an action plan for the whole family and make sure that everyone knows it by heart.

• Install a tornado shelter in your home or designate a room (ie. the basement or cellar) as the shelter. Stock it with canned food, water, a First Aid kit, a portable toilet, flashlights, and other necessities.

• Never put heavy furniture or appliances on the floor directly above your shelter location.

PHOTO BY JUSTIN HOBSON

• Know where your community’s tornado shelters are located if your home doesn’t have a suitable shelter.

• Backyard tools, outdoor furniture and lawn toys like tricycles should be placed in a sturdy shed or garage.

Safety tips amidst a tornado occurrence

If the tornado is right in front of your area, here are some safety tips you can consider.

• Get an emergency kit for your family. Proceed to a place in your house where you can be safe.

• In order to protect yourself from debris and glass, cover yourself with a mattress or thick blanket.

• The simplest tip during tornado occurrence: using your arms, cover your head.

• Be patient and wait.

When in a vehicle, these are some safety precautions you should follow: • Take note of this fact about a tornado’s direction: “If the tornado is a ways away, take some time to monitor it to see if it is coming right at you or angling to your right or left. If it appears to be standing still but possibly growing larger, then it is coming right at you and you need to drive out of its path. If it is moving to left or right, then you should move the opposite direction or keep monitoring.”

• Search for a shelter in a wellbuilt building.

• Never stay inside your car for shelter.

• Do not stay under a bridge or overpass.

In the event that you find yourself outdoors with no possible means to reach shelter, here are solutions that you can put into use.

• Stay away from cars, trees, and other large objects that may be blown into your path.

• Look for low ground.

• Practical safety tips: “Lie flat face down and cross your forearms over the back of your head for protection

against flying debris.”

After the tornado

You still need to take extra precautions even after the tornado has come and gone. Here are some helpful tips.

• Check your surroundings for hazards. Secure your family by bringing them to a safe place.

• In case of system damage, shut off gas, electricity, and water.

• Stay away from wires and standing water.

www.canadianinquirer.net

• Keep away from buildings that don’t seem structurally sound.

• Do not use candles in case of gas leaks; instead, use flashlights.

• Keep updated with the news.

Use your radio.

• Communicate with your insurance representative immediately.

Make sure that all your insurance documents are secured. ■ Sources: Tornado Safety, Storm Prediction Center; Meteorologist website

Entertainment

FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013

FOR YOUR ENTERTAINMENT, CANADA!

32

Gang rape’s not a joke—Jessica Soho Philippine Canadian Inquirer VICE GANDA recently stepped on toes with a joke that went “too far.”

The comedian held a packed concert in Araneta Coliseum last May 17. He ripped into local celebrities in a comedy segment.

Wearing a sequined one-piece and platinum blonde wig, like an Old Hollywood star, the cross-dressing comedian asked the crowd: “Pa’no kaya . . . kung nag-bold na rin si Jessica Soho?” The crowed laughed.

He quipped that the launch should be called “Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Sobra,” a jibe on the reporter’s weight and alluding to “Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang,” a 1974 classic by Lino Brocka.

“I could let the fat jokes go,” said Soho, a news anchor and GMA 7’s vice president for news programs.

“But he had to go so far,” she said. Vice Ganda called Soho a “lechon” (whole roasted pig) in a gang rape scene.

“Ang hirap nga lang kung si Jessica Soho magbu-bold. Kailangan gang rape lagi. Sasabihin nung rapist: ‘Ipasok ang lechon!’ Sasabihin naman ni Jessica: E,

nasa’n ang apple?’”

According to Soho, she had “moved on rather quickly, but other people have started speaking out in my defense.”

In a text to the Inquirer, Soho stated: “I thank all those who shared my hurt and expressed their support...this should [no longer] be about me but about rape victims who suffer tremendously from this horrible crime.”

On Wednesday, Vice Ganda apologized to the award-winning reporter on ABSCBN's “Showtime”.

“Buong puso kong gustong humingi ng tawad ke Jessicca Soho,” he announced.

He tried to call the reporter earlier that day to personally say sorry, but Soho brushed him off saying she wasn't in the mood to talk to him, he claimed.

Vice Ganda promised henceforth to exclude Soho from future punchlines. He clarified that he didn't mean any offense to rape victims.

“I’m not a perfect comedian. I’m sure not all my jokes are funny. But it actually depends on people hearing those jokes how they will take it.” ■

TFC’s One Kapamilya Go Canada 2013: Be Careful With My Heart World Tour Floating through the fest

BY BABES NEWLAND babescastronewland@ gmail.com

Sunday, May 19th was one festive day. All roads led to Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The venue was up to its full capacity with FilipinoCanadian families converging and who all eagerly lined up for this event at the crack of dawn. What a sight to behold! A revelation of the kind of stuff that TFC customers can indulge themselves in to address loneliness, abuse, depression and even those afflicted with serious illnesses.

Dubbed as “Heart World Tour”, the thick euphoria was created by longrunning teleserye-- Please Be Careful With My Heart’s uniquely concocted onscreen chemistry between lead starrers Richard “Ser Chief” Yap and Jodi “Maya” Sta Maria. And it won’t be complete without supporting powerhouse cast

of Aiza “Cute” Seguerra, Mutya “Abby” Orquia, Tart “Doris” Carlos, and Vivieka “Sabel” Ravanes.

"Aside from a truly entertaining production, the event got very good, warm reception from our customers,” quipped Marco Amoranto, TFC Canada’s Managing Director. “The event was a strong indication of the Filipinos’ penchant for family values, zest for life, fun, laughter and anything that could remind them back home and that’s what’s been making them loyal to us,” Mr. Amoranto further added.

It was also “Ser Chief’s” birthday celebration a day before the event.

The whole cast of the TV series was treated to sumptuous food and musical entertainment by prolific singer/ songwriter Aiza Seguerra with equally iconic songwriter/musician, Louie Ocampo. TFCkat Canada’s 2012 Grand Champion, Russel Figueroa, delivered the opening with his trademark of compelling song numbers to the delight of his fellow Filipino-Canadians who voted for him at the Pilipinas Got Talent (PGT). ■

Source: Inquirer.net

Rousing reception for Filipino’s two films

BY BAYANI SAN DIEGO JR. Philippine Daily Inquirer CANNES—There she was, strolling down the world-famous Boulevard de La Croisette, a petite Filipino woman in a “princess” gown with gold embellishments.

Foreigners could not help doing a double take, as she crossed the street.

Their expressions said it all: Who’s that girl?

But the Filipino contingent knew this particular glamour girl very well: She was Angeli Bayani—the Pinoy actor with two films in the world’s biggest festival (compatriot Lav Diaz’s “Norte, Hangganan ng Kasaysayan” in the Un Certain Regard section and Singaporean Anthony Chen’s “Iloilo” in Directors’ Fortnight).

Bayani’s two films received a rousing reception during their respective premiere presentations at Cannes,

which concluded Sunday, and the actor was ecstatic, somewhat.

“I’m still floating,” Bayani, in her Boy Domingo ball gown, told the Inquirer after the “Norte” screening at Salle Debussy of the Palais on Thursday.

If the fest was a blur, it was because she almost did not make it to the “Iloilo” gala held a day earlier at the Theater Croisette of JW Marriott. “I missed my plane and had to dress up in the train (from Paris to Cannes).”

The “Iloilo” gala was crazy as she was worried that her Santi Obcena dress would reveal more than what was necessary.

Watching the film was a struggle for her, too. “I’m short so I couldn’t read the subtitles. So I just focused on the visuals.” Even without understanding the predominantly Chinese dialogue, “I got the film’s message. I ended up watching the film not just as an actor, ❱❱ PAGE 34 Floating through

Entertainment

33 FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013

Willie Revillame to retire in October

BY KATHERINE MARFALTEVES Philippine Canadian Inquirer MANILA, Philippines—On May 21, controversial noontime host Willie Revillame made an announcement that shocked his live audience on the show.

Retirement.

According to the 52-yearold host, he is set to retire once his contract expires on October 15, and that October 12 could be the last edition of “Wowowillie”.

In a text message to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Jay

Montelibano, business unit head of Will Productions, said: “The staff has always been supportive of whatever decision Kuya (Revillame) will take and in this case, he needs a much-deserved rest so he can attend to his health after our TV5 contract ends, then we’re there for him.”

Revillame revealed that he sent a letter on May 17 to TV5 chairman Manny V. Pangilinan, requesting for a vacation.

As for the reasons of his impending retirement, Revillame expressed that it’s due to personal matters, which he would like to keep private at

the moment.

And as for how long he plans to be out of the entertainment scene, he said that it could be from a few months to a year.

In a separate text message to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Peachy Guioguio of TV5’s corporate communications department said, “We respect the decision of Mr. Willie Revillame to retire upon the expiry of his contract with TV5. We wish him well in his new pursuits.”

Before Revillame announced his retirement, there were news saying that TV5 doesn’t have plans of renewing his

PHOTO BY MAXI ADRIAN SAN AGUSTIN

contract and Will Productions.

In a press conference, ABS-CBN president and chief executive officer Charo Santos-Concio refuted rumors that Revillame will return

to the Kapamilya network.

“That’s not true. We’re not in talks with Willie Revillame.

We’re very happy with the ratings of ‘Showtime’. We’re very happy with ‘Showtime.’” ■

PH cineastes celebrate in the French Riviera

BY BAYANI SAN DIEGO JR. Philippine Daily Inquirer CANNES—Delegates from all over the world toasted the Philippines in a party held in a tent set up beside the home of former Givenchy model Teresita “Tetta” Agustin and her French husband Dr. Christian Baverey in the très upscale Isola Bella area in this resort city in Cote d’Azur (the French Riviera).

Although it was drizzling, the party was packed and red-hot, a certified hit among cineastes.

Indeed, there was a grand reason to celebrate.

Earlier that day, trade paper The Hollywood Reporter’s Clarence Tsui pointed out: “With three new features and one restored classic this year, the Philippines has emerged as a filmmaking force to reckon with.”

Lav Diaz’s “Norte, Hangganan ng Kasaysayan” and Adolfo Alix Jr.’s “Death March” were competing in the Un Certain Regard section. Meanwhile, Erik Matti’s “On the Job” was featured in the Directors’ Fortnight.

Lino Brocka’s digitally restored 1975 film “Maynila sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag” was unveiled in the Cannes Classics section, too.

Standing ovation

Diaz and the rest of the “Norte” team, led by actors Angeli Bayani (in a Boy

Daily Inquirer that the FDCP invited different producers, distributors, festival programmers and film commissioners from various countries to the Philippine party.

“We had guests from Egypt, South Africa, Turkey, Taiwan, Cambodia,” Santos said.

“We are currently exploring co-production deals with countries that the Philippines has not worked with before like Jordan.”

Prior meeting

A scene in Adolf Alix Jr.’s “Death March,” a retelling of the Bataan Death March with Sam Milby and Gerald Anderson. The film competed in the Un Certain Regard section of the competition along with “Norte”.

PHOTO MARK LOCSIN AND CHE VILLANUEVA VIA FESTIVAL-CANNES.FR

Domingo gown) and Archie Alemania (in a barong), received a standing ovation.

The 66th Cannes fest is a landmark year for the country, said Briccio Santos, chairman of the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP).

“This year, we have the most number of Filipino participants not just directors, but actors, producers and film crew members like scriptwriters (Michiko Yamamoto), producers (Raymond Lee, Evelyn Vargas-Knaebel, Dondon Monteverde), cinematographers (Albert Banzon, Larry Manda) and editors (Benjamin Tolentino) as well.”

There are also several Filipinos in the other sections of the world’s biggest fest: Marche du Film, Fabriques de Cinema du Monde and Short Film Corner.

Santos told the Philippine www.canadianinquirer.net

Six days before the party, Santos also met with Eric Garandeau, president of FDCP’s counterpart in France— the Center National du Cinema et de l’Image Animée or the CNC—to discuss possible areas of cooperation.

“France will share technical expertise in our planned construction of the National Archive. French companies can also extend incentives to Filipinos in purchasing film equipment, for example,” Santos said.

At the event, Santos announced that next year, the FDCP hopes to set up a Philippine pavilion—which is considerably bigger than its present booth at the Film Market.

Santos added that the FDCP plans to set up a “short film cubicle” in next year’s Philippine pavilion. “It will be a 10-seater that shows short films on a media player.”

The pavilion, Santos explained, “will strengthen our presence in the international scene.”

His announcement was greeted by cheers from guests which included Pierre Rissient, the man credited for bringing Brocka to Cannes in 1978, film fest stalwarts Roger Garcia of Hong Kong, Salvatore Leocata of Brussels, Jean-Marc Therouanne of Vesoul, Sabrina Baracetti of Udine, among others.

Wine and food flowed freely at the bash.

FDCP also handed out certificates of appreciation to the Bavereys, honorary consul to Monaco Patricia Zobel de Ayala and the Cedo-Villones family for welcoming the Filipinos to Cannes this year.

Loremi Cedo-Villones and her family have been opening their flat to Filipino participants in Cannes since 2009.

Cannes-based Filipinos performed folk dances to the delight of the members of the Philippine contingent, led by Diaz, Alemania and Bayani, among others.

Alix, actor-producer Jacky Woo and the “Death March” team also graced the occasion.

“On the Job” was represented by actors Gerald Anderson and Rayver Cruz. Anderson also met up with filmmaker Tikoy Aguiluz, director of the actor’s coming movie “El Brujo,” in what the Bavereys described as the fest’s “splashiest” party. ■

Entertainment

FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013 34

Lesbian romance 'Blue is the Warmest Color' wins Palme d'Or at Cannes Film Festival

BY JAKE COYLE AND THOMAS ADAMSON The Associated Press CANNES, France—The tender lesbian romance “Blue is the Warmest Color: The Life of Adele” won the hearts of the 66th Cannes Film Festival, taking its top honour, the Palme d’Or. The jury, headed by Steven Spielberg, took the unusual move of awarding the Palme not just to Tunisian director Abdellatif Kechiche, but also to the film’s two stars: Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux. The three clutched each other as they accepted the award, one of cinema’s greatest honours.

“The film had a beautiful French youth that I discovered during the long time filming the movie,” said Kechiche at the festival closing ceremony Sunday. “It taught me a lot about the spirit of freedom.”

Exarchopoulos stars in the French film as a 15-yearold girl whose life is changed when she falls in love with an older woman, played by Seydoux.

The three-hour film caught headlines for its lengthy, graphic sex scenes, but bewitched festival goers with its intimate coming of age story.

“The film is a great love story that made all of us feel privileged to be a fly on the wall, to see this story of deep love and deep heartbreak evolve from the beginning,” said Spielberg.

“The director didn’t put any constraints on the narrative, on the storytelling. He let the scenes play in real life.”

Spielberg, who called Kechiche (“Games of Love and Chance,” “The Secret of the Gran”) a “sensitive, observant filmmaker.”

Cannes feting of “Life of Adele” comes just days after France legalized gay marriage.

Thousands of protesters marched against the new law Sunday in Paris. But jury member Cristian Mungiu, the Romanian director, said current events had no bearing on the decision.

“We were giving awards to cinema,” said Mungiu. “Not for political statements.”

Floating through... ❰❰ 32

but as an audience member, too,” Bayani recalled.

Chen described the ovation as “surreal,” because he also had to “recover from the trauma of the technical glitches (during the screening).”

“But it soon became clear to us that the audience really loved the film,” Chen said.

“There were tears in their eyes.

It spoke to them.”

Audition

“Gay marriage is something that many brave states in America are resolving,” said Spielberg. “This film actually carries a wry, strong message, a very positive message.”

The Palme d’Or, which the jury selected from the 20 films in competition at Cannes, had been viewed as a relatively wide-open race ahead of Sunday’s awards. The festival audience embraced the jury’s choice, giving Kechiche and his two stars a standing ovation.

“Life of Adele” had ranked highest in critics polls at the French Riviera festival.

The jury otherwise spread the awards around.

The Coen brothers’ 1960s folk revival “Inside Llewyn Davis” earned the Grand Prix, Cannes’ second most prestigious award.

The film’s breakout star, Oscar Isaac, accepted the award for the Coens, who won the Palme in 1991 for “Barton Fink.”

Best actor went to 76-yearold Bruce Dern for Alexander Payne’s father-son road trip “Nebraska.” Berenice Bejo, the “Artist” star, won best actress for her performance as a single mother balancing a visiting exhusband and a new fiance in Asghar Farhadi’s “The Past.”

The jury prize, Cannes’ third top award, went to Kore-eda Hirokazu’s gentle switched-at-

birth drama “Like Father, Like Son.” Mexican filmmaker Amat Escalante took best director for his brutal drug war drama “Heli.”

Singaporean director Anthony Chen won the Camera d’Or, the award for best first feature, for his “Ilo Ilo.” Set during the Asia financial crisis in 1997, the film is about a Singaporean family and its new maid.

Spielberg, whose jury also included Ang Lee, Nicole Kidman and Christoph Waltz, said the group bonded immediately, joking: “I wanted to take them all home with me.”

The Palme d’Or can catapult a filmmaker to international renown, and significantly raise the profile of a film. “Life of Adele” was picked up for U.S. distribution during Cannes

by IFC’s Sundance Selects.

Last year’s winner, Michael Haneke’s “Amour,” went on to win best foreign language film at the Oscars, as well as land the rare best picture nomination for a foreign film. In 2011, Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life” topped Cannes.

Sunday’s awards encompassed films from France, Japan, the United States, Mexico and Singapore.

Said Spielberg: “We crossed the world through these films.” ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

In casting Bayani’s role as a nanny, he flew to Manila and auditioned 50 Filipino actors.

“Some of those actors worked with notable directors like Diaz and Brillante Mendoza,” Chen recounted. “I eventually chose Angeli because she exuded fragility (due to her diminutive) height.”

He also believed that her personal story would enrich his film’s narrative.

“I thought her being a single mother would be very useful for the character,” Chen explained. “She is very close to her son. So I thought that the idea of her having to come to Singapore for a month’s shoot will stir up a lot of emotions.

She would miss her child, which was very similar to her character’s dilemma, too.”

For the other Filipino characters in the film, like the next-door maid and the beauty salon employees, Chen scoured Singapore for real OFWs (overseas Filipino workers).

“We went to Lucky Plaza, a mall frequented by Filipinos and found real people for the roles.”

Just as memorable for Bayani was the “Norte” ovation, especially because it was for a Filipino film made by frequent collaborator Diaz.

She described the “Norte”

screening, thus: “It was heartening. It was humbling.”

Standing ovation

Said Diaz, “(The standing ovation) was not just for me. It was for Philippine cinema.”

“Words cannot express how I felt. I am simply thankful,” said Bayani.

“Norte” merited glowing reviews, too—leaving Bayani in tears.

Screen Daily’s Jonathan Romney pointed out, Diaz’s “musings on guilt, will and modern Filipino history … have grace, humanity and narrative verve aplenty, along with intellectual clout.”

Great novel

Grantland’s Wesley Morris remarked, Diaz’s film “has the title of a war epic and the soul and scope of a great novel.”

There was talk after the Thursday screening that “Norte” should have been included in the main competition, according to its producer Raymond “Moira” Lee. This was confirmed by Morris’ review, “This is the sort of masterpiece the main competition has yet to produce, an astonishing work of life, death and art that isn’t bluntly political, vapidly violent or completely self-obsessed. It’s a crime for the directors on the jury—Steven Spielberg, Ang Lee … not to have the opportunity to see it. (It) speaks to their reasonably divergent cinematic concerns.”

Cinematographer Larry Manda told the Inquirer that the Coen brothers (Ethan and Joel) and actor Frances McDormand watched “Norte” and stayed for the whole four hours. ■

The cast and director of Cannes’ critical hit “Norte, Hangganan ng Kasaysayan”.

Lead actress Angeli Bayani (third from the right) wore a Boy Domingo gown on the red carpet.

FACEBOOK PHOTO

Entertainment

35 FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013

Japanese actor featured in Cinemalaya film

BY BAYANI SAN DIEGO JR. Philippine Daily Inquirer TOTALLY committed to his craft, Hollywood-based Japanese actor Yuki Matsuzaki would go to great lengths to transform himself for each new role.

True to form, Matsuzaki altered his look to play Eugene Domingo’s lover in Leo Abaya’s “Instant Mommy,” an entry in the New Breed section of this year’s Cinemalaya.

“I lost 15 pounds because I thought my character should look sharper. Good thing, Leo and I were on the same page,” Matsuzaki told the Inquirer.

“Leo also asked me to grow a beard so that I’d look older. I was supposed to be 42, over a decade older.”

He pointed out: “I know I look older than my age and I often get cast as someone more mature.”

In Clint Eastwood’s 2006 war drama “Letters from Iwo Jima,”

he portrayed a World War II soldier who was also 11 years older than he was then.

Eastwood “shoots with ‘zero-take style,’” Matzusaki explained.

“That means that he rolls the camera on rehearsal and sometimes doesn’t shoot the actual take,” he related.

“Shooting was fast, as a result.

He said he preferred the first performance because the actors didn’t know what to expect yet.”

The performance is thus more spontaneous and natural.

Abaya worked in the same way as Eastwood, he said. “Leo is big on the first take as well.

The other day, I heard Leo say something Clint had said to me, too: ‘The first take is always the best.’”

Matsuzaki also had a blast working with funny girl Domingo. “Most of my scenes are with Eugene. She’s absolutely fantastic.”

Four years ago, he got to work

with Hollywood comedians Steve Martin, John Cleese and Lily Tomlin in “Pink Panther 2.”

“It was such an educational experience to work with experienced Hollywood actors,” he said. “They were sincerely friendly and treated me with utmost respect. I realized that no matter how famous you are, an actor is just an actor. (Big stars) are people, too.”

He also guested on the HBO series “Newsroom.”

“Since it was an Aaron Sorkin show, the lines of dialogue went extremely fast,” he recounted.

He admitted that he felt uneasy playing a spokesman for the beleaguered Tokyo Electric Power Company, which was devastated by the earthquake-tsunami of 2011, on the Sorkin series. “My character had to announce false reports to the world even though he knew the truth. At first, I wasn’t sure if I wanted

to play the part.”

He did not want to undermine the efforts of the people of Fukushima in rebuilding the prefecture after the disaster. “But I knew that the character had to be portrayed responsibly.”

After doing the role, he decided to send his paycheck to Fukushima “as an act of atonement.”

Being an Asian actor in Hollywood could be an uphill climb, he said.

“Even though the situation is getting better, I don’t think the Asian presence in Hollywood is strong enough. That needs to change.”

studios will recognize our presence.”

He accepted “Instant Mommy” precisely because he wanted to do an Asian film after 13 years in Hollywood. “I wanted to be part of a film that would strengthen the bond of Asian countries,” he said.

To prepare for his role, he studied Filipino, picking up words like galing (good) and masaya ako (I’m happy).

He hopes to attend the Cinemalaya fest in July. “I saw (Domingo’s Cinemalaya film in 2011) ‘Ang Babae sa Septic Tank’ (on video) and it was hilarious.”

Bigger promise

After working on the set of “Instant Mommy,” he has experienced first hand “that Filipino filmmakers are very passionate about their craft.

They love making films for the audience. I hope they would receive enough support from the government and the people.” ■

He explained that the power and promise of Asian artists were “much bigger than we think.”

“It’s vital for Asian governments to support our films in the global scene. If our profile improves in the world’s film market, then Hollywood

Passionate filmmakers

DAHONG PILIPINO 21st EDITION GOES TECH-SAVVY Dahong Pilipino, the only Filipino Canadian Community and Business Directory, announced that its new marketing strategy starting in 2014 with its 21st annual edition will combine digital and print editions to increase the exposure of advertisers in a technologysavvy market. As with other publications, supplementing printed copies with online releases, Dahong Pilipino’s new strategy will strengthen its business directory section and expand exposure while still printing copies with editorial contents helpful to the community.

By purchasing a print ad in the 2014 directory, advertisers will receive printed copies of Dahong Pilipino as well as a one year free online advertising at its website www.dahongpilipino.ca. Two products for the price of one! With online advertising, their ads are automatically linked to Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter and are accessible through search engines like Google and Yahoo, thus bringing their presence to a much wider audience.

For the past 20 years, Dahong Pilipino has served as a useful reference and guide to Filipino enterprises and other businesses and services of interest to Filipinos and other residents in BC. Every year, people searching for names, addresses and phone numbers of Filipino businesses, professionals and community organizations have turned to the pages of the directory for assistance. It has become an institution in the local Filipino community and has served as a force for unifying Filipino Canadians. Competing business interests, media groups, rival organizations and other aggrupations find common ground by being seen together on the pages of Dahong Pilipino.

By emphasizing its utility to people in need of a guide to business and professional services and its focus on community activities, the dual-track 2014 edition of Dahong Pilipino will provide a special opportunity to reach more than 135,000 Filipinos in BC and thousands more in other ethnic communities. The next edition will offer a wide ranging opportunity for advertising products and services. For further information, call Leo Cunanan, Jr. at (604) 737-8074 or email him at dahongpilipino@telus.net. www.canadianinquirer.net

FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013

Lifestyle

36

Manila: “the Gates of Hell,” says Dan Brown Pinoy soul leads to

BY KATHERINE MARFALTEVES Philippine Canadian Inquirer MANILA, Philippines—the “gates of hell,” if Dan Brown were to be believed.

In 1999, while shooting the movie “Brokedown Palace,” Hollywood actress Claire Danes said Manila “[smelled] of cockroaches.’ There’s no sewage system in Manila, and people have nothing there.

People with, like, no arms, no legs, no eyes, no teeth.’”

In 2012, actor Taylor Kitsch—on Letterman, no less—allegedly pertained to the Philippines when it comes to his “airport nightmare.”

He claimed that a Filipino immigration officer attempted to steal his iPhone. (It turned out that Kitsch was referring to Indonesia, though he did nothing to correct the Philippine connection.)

And now: Dan Brown. An American best-selling author made controversial due to “The Da Vinci Code,” Brown described Manila as the “gates of hell” in his newest novel “Inferno”.

The book

“Inferno” details the latest forays of Robert Langdon, Harvard symbology professor and mainstay main character in four of Brown’s books to date.

In the fourth part of “Inferno,” one of the characters—one Dr. Sienna Brooks—goes through “the gates of hell” in Manila.

Brooks traveled to the Philippines for a feeding program for poor fishermen and farmers in the countryside.

The doctor initially thought that the Philippines was a “wonderland of geological beauty, with vibrant seabeds and dazzling plains.”

But then the book narrates that Brooks “had never seen poverty on this scale,” and she could only “gape in horror.”

The book reads: “her dark

depression flooded back, with pictures of poverty and crime flashing through her eyes.”

“For every one person Sienna fed, there were hundreds more who gazed at her with desolate eyes.”

Other descriptions for the Philippines in the novel include: “six-hour traffic jams, suffocating pollution, horrifying sex trade.”

The novel also cited that young children are actively involved in the sex industry.

The children “had been sold to pimps by parents who took solace in knowing that at least their children would be fed.”

“All around her, she could see humanity overrun by its primal instinct for survival . . . When they face desperation . . . human beings become animals.”

It was also told in the novel that Brooks was almost raped if she wasn’t saved by another character.

After her misadventures in the Philippines, Brooks left without even saying goodbye to the people from Manila, saying she “ran through the gates of hell”.

A letter

Manila as the “gates of hell”: with one phrase, the controversial Brown solicited even more controversy, albeit among Filipinos in this case.

Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman Francis Tolentino expressed his disappointment over the negative depiction of the country’s capital.

His letter to Dan Brown, dated May 23, reads: “While we are aware that yours is a work of fiction, we are greatly disappointed by your inaccurate portrayal of our beloved metropolis.”

“We are displeased of how you have used Manila as a venue and source of character’s breakdown and trauma, much more her disillusionment in humanity.”

“More than your portrayal of it, Metro Manila is the center of

gates of Heaven, says Paolo Coelho

BY ANGIE DUARTE Philippine Canadian Inquirer

PHOTO BY PHILIP SCALIA

Filipino spirit, faith and hope . . . Manila citizens are more than capable of exemplifying good character and compassion towards each other, something your novel has failed to acknowledge.”

“Truly, our place is an entry to heaven,” he added.

“We hope that this letter enlightens you and may it guide you the next time you cite Manila in any of your works.”

Others yet

Named by Time Magazine in 2005 as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World, having published his novels in 52 languages with 200 million copies in print, Dan Brown has, indeed, a vast audience. It was pointed out that the book’s less-than-desirable excerpts of the country might dissuade tourists from setting foot on Philippine soil.

On the other hand, Brown has never ranked high in terms of critical acclaim. Brown, in fact, is often the poster boy of bad writing, in spite of the big bucks his books bring in.

Online reactions might have their share of outrage over the “gates of hell” comment, but many also claim that it’s accurate (“totoo

THE heat of American novelist Dan Brown’s recent fiery statement about Manila being the “gates of hell” has been doused a tad by another statement from an author of equal fame and stature.

Popular Brazilian novelist Paolo Coelho somewhat assuaged the angry Pinoys by sending a message via Twitter: “Dear Filipinos, your souls lead to the gates of heaven,” with the hash tag “#fact.”

A second tweet from the author read, “My tweet to Filipinos: another author, I am sure unintentionally, described Manila as ‘the gates of hell’ in his new successful book.”

In these recent tweets, Coelho—best-known for his naman, eh”), and that many Filipinos complain about—or experience—the same things themselves.

Others yet, of better reading tastes, purportedly, say that it’s best to just ignore an author like Brown.

Just a week ago, in France, three Filipino films were screened in the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. Among the triad is Erik Matti’s “On the Job,” a crime thriller which, naturally, sinks its teeth deep into the seedy underbelly of the city within the gritty confines of a prison and out there, in the slums, in the streets. Lino Brocka’s “Maynila, Sa Kuko ng Liwanag” was also (and once again) shown in Cannes. The classic follows the story of probinsiyano Julio who tries to find and win his lover back amid the harsh urban reality of the capital. Said lover, Ligaya,

novel “The Alchemist”—was referencing the description of Manila made by Dan Brown in his rent novel “Inferno”: Brown described Manila as a city infested by poverty, crime and sex slavery.

Brown’s portrayal of Manila as such has drawn quite the hullaballoo of mixed reactions from citizens, netizens and fans alike: anger, ire, disappointment, and weary acceptance or begrudging acquiescence among others.

After all, Manila is far from perfect.

Then there are those netizens whose tweets fuelled a Twitter trend: replace the word “Manila” (as part of names, movie or book titles, quotes, famous statements, what-haveyou) with the phrase “gates of ❱❱ PAGE 38 Pinoy soul

was a simple countryside maiden who was tricked and spirited away to work as a prostitute. The city transforms the innocent and kind-hearted probinsiyano into a cynical and hateful man. Brocka is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential Filipino filmmakers.

No fanfare at all on the “negative” portrayals of the city in these cases.

Not that bad

In spite of the “bad press” the book might put out there for the Philippines, the country has enjoyed some famous-person praise recently, namely from Jeremy Renner and Rachel Weisz, who visited Manila to film “The Bourne Legacy”; from Vin Diesel, who was seen enjoying a jeepney ride a week ago; and Sarah Jessica Parker, who opened SM’s newest mall in Taguig last week. ■

Lifestyle

37 FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013

a tug-of-war between a mysterious woman with silver hair and a secretive, wealthy organization with secrets to spare.

“Inferno” keeps true to the other Langdon books in that it mixes science with history, and here it is cutting-edge DNA design that is part of the plot. The hidden circles of “Inferno” uncoil and Langdon attempts to find out what has happened in those missing 36 hours.

His head swims with strange dreams and half-remembered words. “Seek and find… if I fail, then all is death.”

Brown draws from his bag of arcane tricks with several interesting puzzles for the reader and a chase that goes from city to city as the stakes get higher and the secrets come one after another.

Langdon jumps through the expected literary and historical hoops. Masks and money, deception and devotion: All these come to play in “Inferno,” which boasts a possibly world-ending threat.

Non-spoiler revelation: Manila makes an important, if thoroughly unflattering appearance.

Fuirious page-turner

Dan Brown’s new literary conspiracy

BY RUEL S. DE VERA Philippine Daily Inquirer LIKE any would-be symbologists, readers encountering the cover of Dan Brown’s newest novel “Inferno: A Novel” (Doubleday, New York, 2013, 463 pages) for the first time should examine its elements.

They will notice a depiction of the Italian poet Dante Alighieri with the city of Florence in the background. They will find Latin words corresponding to some of the Seven Deadly Sins. They will also note that Brown’s name is set in a bigger font than the book’s title, something that was not true for Brown’s previous books.

That is important because it implies that Brown is a much bigger attraction for readers than the plot behind “Inferno.”

This was not always the case. For the 2000 novel “Angels & Demons,” he introduced Robert Langdon, the dashing professor of symbology who was summoned by the Vatican to deal with a shadowy conspiracy called the Illuminati.

It was the next Langdon book, 2003’s “The Da Vinci Code,” that made Langdon a sensational and controversial figure, as it featured the symbologist with an eidetic memory dealing with the alleged truth behind the lineage of Jesus Christ.

The third Langdon book, 2009’s “The Lost Symbol,” dealt with the secrets hidden in America’s capital, Washington, DC. By that time “The

Da Vinci Code” was an international publishing phenomenon and Ron Howard had helmed two movies with Tom Hanks as Langdon.

In the process, Brown has become a divisive literary presence, with fanatical followers who adore his intricate conspiracies and spirited critics who dislike his uninspiring prose. All this makes a new Dan Brown book an object of note for both his fans and haters.

“Inferno” has all the elements of a Langdon book, meaning, there will always be a secret passage that leads to freedom, and a historical puzzle that leads to the next clue. The prose may be pedestrian but “Inferno” is, in many ways, Brown’s most accessible novel.

Catchiest beginning

The book’s title refers to Dante’s famously disturbing poem of the same name, the first part of “The Divine Comedy.” Much like Leonardo Da Vinci was the key to unraveling the plot in “The Da Vinci Code,” clues related to Dante’s work help solve the mystery in this one.

The book immediately establishes the fact-and-fiction premise that Brown employs for the Langdon books: “All artwork, literature, science, and historical references in this novel are real.”

“Inferno” certainly has the catchiest beginning of any Langdon book. Shortly after an unknown man kills himself by jumping into the River Arno, Langdon wakes up in a hospital in Florence, Italy, with a head wound and no memory of most of the last two days. He finds himself on the run with a doctor named Sienna Brooks, with armed soldiers and a black-clad woman on a motorbike hot on their heels.

As Langdon plunges into Florence’s corners, he discovers he is trapped in www.canadianinquirer.net

That’s an important distinction because the dense chapters full of exposition made “The Lost Symbol” dull and almost unreadable. For “Inferno,” Brown has simplified the historical elements, though you will still leave the book with more information about Dante and Florence than you may want.

Encyclopedic details still abound.

Instead of philosophical arguments, he has loaded “Inferno” with viciously head-turning twists and a whopper of a red herring. In effect, Brown has written the most conventional Langdon thriller yet, so conventional that it practically cries out for a movie; you can almost hear the Hans Zimmer score in the background.

That said, “Inferno” is a furious pageturner, leading the reader through city streets and action sequences. It is much better than the clunky “The Lost Symbol,” and probably as good as “The Da Vinci Code,” though it lacks that book’s hot-button urgency.

It still falls short of Brown’s best book, the superior “Angels & Demons,” but “Inferno” is an entertaining book that balances the modern and the Middle Age elements in an adventure that works just well enough to deserve the attention it’s getting.

It’s also enough to keep Robert Langdon a worthy franchise character and Dan Brown’s name in such a large font size. ■

Lifestyle

FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013 38

Manila’s elegant darkness featured in Jessica Hagedorn-edited volume

BY RUEL S. DE VERA Philippine Daily Inquirer AS young children, many Manila-dwelling Filipinos were allowed by their elders to play in the afternoons. But as soon as the light fades, they are called back in, as if there was something dangerous lurking in the night.

That is the same chilling sensation one feels when reading “Manila Noir” (Anvil Publishing, Mandaluyong City, 2013, 240 pages), the new collection of noir fiction edited by “Dogeaters” author Jessica Hagedorn. The Philippine iteration of Akashic Books’ worldwide Noir series (Anvil possesses the Philippine rights), “Manila Noir” features stories of the city humming with subterfuge, violence, crime, sex and mystery. For this edition, Hagedorn has gathered work from an unusually good lineup of suspects: Gina Apostol, F.H. Batacan, Rosario Cruz-Lucero, José Dalisay, Lourd de Veyra, Eric Gamalinda, Angelo R. Lacuesta, R. Zamora Linmark, Sabina Murray, Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo, Lysley Tenorio, Marianne Villanueva and Jonas Vitman.

“Manila is where I was born, a city of heat and shadow and secrets, perfect for this genre we call noir,” Hagedorn writes in her introduction. “Manila’s a city of survivors, schemers, and dreamers.” The book is a Hagedorn-curated walk on Manila’s wild side, a journey through the sharp corners and hidden pathways of the city’s underbelly. It is a wonderful collection, balanced between its three chapters, “Us Against Them,” “Black Pearl of the Orient” and “They Live By Night.”

Wounding fiction

Held closely to their breasts by the stories are messy, edged lives flaring out in seemingly random directions. But the 14 stories themselves are all elegant and smooth, like a bladed weapon concealed in a jacket. They strike suddenly but thoroughly, leaving you wounded. Embedded in each story is a deep acceptance of

the fantastically flawed life in the big city and a step out of the ordinary.

Tenorio’s “Aviary” is a riotously subversive exploration of a high-end mall that works very well as a stunning first strike. Batacan’s “Comforter of the Afflicted” is a perfectly paced procedural featuring the welcome return of forensic anthropologist Fr. Augusto Saenz, the protagonist of her novel “Smaller and Smaller Circles.” What starts as a routine drug deal goes off into tragicomically unexpected territory in De Veyra’s “Satan Has Already Bought U.” In his story “Darling, You Can Count on Me,” Gamalinda pieces together, “Rashomon”style, the puzzle pieces of the controversial 1967 killing of the original, so-called “Chop-Chop Lady,” Lucilla Lalu. Dalisay deftly connects a secondhand car to a fallen university professor in “The Professor’s Life.” Lacuesta recalls the hazy images of a late-night smashup in “After Midnight.” Murray’s “Broken Glass” follows a young girl’s day after a home invasion goes bizarrely wrong.

The most conspicuous offering is also the most inspired addition to the collection, one that Hagedorn herself dubs “the surprise centerpiece of this

anthology.” Tan and Baldisimo’s acclaimed comic book series “Trese” is represented here by the new story “Thirteen Stations,” where paranormal investigator (and investigator of the paranormal) Alexandra Trese investigates a series of frightening hauntings on various stations of the train system that runs right through the city’s skeleton, the same way this story runs through the nerve system of “Manila Noir.”

Not to be overlooked is Hagedorn’s brilliant, colorful introduction, titled “Femme Fatale.” Its poetic and powerful observations about the sublime contradictions of Manila ring both true and otherworldly.

“All the fabulous and fearless writers gathered here, whether they are living in Manila, the US, or elsewhere in the evergrowing Philippine diaspora, have a deep connection and abiding love for this crazymaking, intoxicating city.

There’s nothing like it in the world, and they know it,” Jessica Hagedorn reminds readers.

“Manila Noir” is a masterfully crafted anthology that reminds us that, if you truly love your city, you embrace its darkness as much as—if not more than— its brightness.

Available in paperback at leading bookstores. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

Pinoy soul... ❰❰ 36

hell.” Some examples being, Metro Gates of Hell Development Authority, Gates of Hell Hotel, Gates of Hell Zoo (ringing too close to truth for comfort?) and other such gems of Pinoy selfberating humour.

Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman Francis Tolentino was among those who initially spoke up about the hellish rendition, saying he was “disappointed” by the author’s statement.

Socio-cultural activist Carlos Celdran—best known for his off-the-wall, non-traditional yet highly informative Manila city tours, and his impassioned pro-RH bill efforts (including the Damaso stint)—noted on Friday that while the collective Pinoy anger at Dan Brown is understandable, we need to come to terms with the reality the Manila “needs fixing.”

“Considering the pagkapikon (easy to offend) ng mga Pinoy, I can’t blame them also because the reason why they’re so pikon is because they’re helpless in changing our city,” Celdran said.

“Ang gulo talaga ng Maynila (Manila is indeed chaotic).

Kung may confidence ang mga Pilipino or Manilenos in changing our city, I don’t think we’d be so pikon (If Filipinos or

Manilenos had confidence in changing our city, I don’t think we’d be so easily offended),” he said.

Celdran added that the condition of Manila is “nothing to defend, it’s just what we are. If wanna change it, that should come from us.” He also cited that “fixing” Manila is perhaps one of newly-elected Mayor Erap Estrada’s biggest challenges.

Meantime, Coelho’s tweet, read by almost 8 million people across the globe, has enabled some Pinoy netizens to lick their wounds for the moment, with some even responding to the author’s kind message.

Among them was Celdran, who tweeted “We love you Paulo. #fact,” on Saturday.

Coelho, who is himself no stranger to the challenges and plight of developing nations, has spoken kindly of the Philippines before.

Some time back, he tweeted: “I woke up thinking about the Philippines. I must visit the country...”; a statement that fuelled a Twitter frenzy among Pinoys online, with messages expressing the desire to see Coelho soon.

Heaven or hell? Angels or Demons? Perhaps the reality lies somewhere in between. ■

Brazilian novelist Paolo Coelho assuaged the angry Pinoys some by sending a message via Twitter: “Dear Filipinos, your souls lead to the gates of heaven.”

PHOTO BY PAOLO COELHO

Dining

39 FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013

CANDICE’S CUSINA

Finger Lickin’ McCormick Adobo Chicken Wings

BY CANDICE MACALINO

IT’S safe to say adobo is the national dish of the Philippines.

For me, like many other Filipinos living abroad, chicken adobo is comfort food I crave and enjoy throughout the year.

I have fond memories of family gatherings ladling tender pieces of savoury and tangy adobo chicken with its braising juices of vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, bay leaves and peppercorns on top of pillowy white rice. I would be immediately rushing to the nearest table to wolf down my first helping before sneaking back to the buffet table for seconds.

Did you know? Adobo is a borrowed Spanish word meaning marinade or seasoning.

When I moved out of my parents' house, my Mom, aware of my affinity for chicken adobo and sensitive to my thenlimited knowledge in cooking, shared a few of her tried, tested and true recipes. One of them was her beloved chicken adobo recipe which was the first dish I learned mainly because of its versatility, simplicity, short ingredient list and deliciousness!

This one-pot wonder of stewing your choice of meat, vegetables or seafood in some combination of soy sauce, vinegar, bay leaf, garlic and peppercorns encourages variations. So naturally most Filipino households have their version of a coveted family adobo recipe.

Did you know? In the 1500s, it was the Spaniards who introduced vinegar to Filipino cuisine as a way to preserve food due to lack of refrigeration.

To offer convenience and consistency, McCormick recently launched a line of Filipino spice mixes so you can recreate and experience the familiar flavours of homecooking from the Philippines to your home.

I’m thrilled to announce that Candice’s Cusina is partnering with McCormick (also known as Club House in Canada) to

develop convenient, fusion dishes by using their Filipino recipe mixtures.

I do appreciate the cooking process and making dishes from scratch.

However, sometimes my schedule calls for easy, fast and tasty meals. I found the McCormick Filipino recipe mixes are versatile and can be easily incorporated into meals you know and love.

Did you know? McCormick Filipino recipe mixes (except pancit canton for now) do not have any added MSG. For these upcoming summer social-gathering months, a

tasty appetizer wins the hearts of many. I created a healthy but scrumptious McCormick baked adobo chicken wing recipe that skips the braising process, making it a much simpler recipe and the end product is highly addictive.

Masarap!

Did you know: McCormick developed 2 flavour extensions for their adobo recipe packs including Classic (original salt & peppery tartness), Pula (added peppery achuete seasoning with orange colouring) and Puti (minus the soy sauce but more tart & peppery). ■

Baked Adobo Chicken Wings Ingredients:

2½ pounds chicken wings, wing tips removed, drumettes and wings separated 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 1 pack (30 g) of McCormick Classic Adobo Seasoning Mix 3 tbsp Billy Bee* Honey 1/2 cup Kitchen Basics® Chicken Stock 1 tbsp sliced green onions Method:

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF (200˚C).

2. Rinse wings and drumettes and pat dry. Mix 1/2 pack of McCormick Classic Adobo Recipe Mix, 1 tbsp of Billy Bee* Honey and vegetable in a large bowl. Then toss wings in adobo mixture.

3. Position wings on a parchment lined baking racks in a single layer ensuring that wings aren't touching. Then bake, rotating pan half-way through, until fully cooked, 45 to 50 minutes.

4. While the wings are baking, whisk the other 1/2 pack of McCormick Classic Adobo Recipe Mix, Kitchen Basics® Chicken Stock and 2 tbsp of Billy Bee* Honey in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook until adobo sauce reduces in half and thickens, 15-20 minutes. www.canadianinquirer.net

5. Remove wings from oven and transfer to a large bowl then drizzle wings with sauce, tossing until well coated. Sprinkle with green onions and enjoy!!

Serving: 2 servings Total Prep Time: 45 minutes Candice Macalino is a Filipina born in Singapore and raised in Vancouver. She developed Candice's Cusina as her journey to share her festive, fun and friendly Filipino heritage through food. To learn more delicious Filipino recipes & YouTube foodieos, visit Candice's Cusina at www.candicescusina.com.

Business

FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013 40

PH seen missing Millennium Development Goals

BY MICHELLE V. REMO Philippine Daily Inquirer THE Asian Development Bank said Asia-Pacific countries, including the Philippines, are expected to miss several of 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

In a report, ADB said the Philippines and its neighbors had succeeded in leading global growth through robust expansion of their economies, but this was not enough

for them to stay on track to meeting all eight MDGs by the 2015 deadline.

“In Asia Pacific, several MDGs will not be met, and others will require significant commitment and effort to come close to attainment,” ADB said in a report titled “ADB’s Support for Achieving the Millennium Development Goals.”

The Philippines, ADB said, was not on the way to meeting the second goal, which is “universal access to primary education.”

Based on ADB’s assessment, the Philippines has a score of nearly 4 out of a scale of 1 to 5, which means “no progress.”

A score of 1 indicates “early achievement” of the goal, 2 means “on track” to meeting the goal, 3 means “slow pace of progress” toward the goal, 4 reflects “no progress,” and 5 means “regression.”

According to government data, net enrolment ratio among primary-school aged children in the Philippines was relatively decent at over 94

percent in 2004, but there was little indication that the level would increase soon.

The Philippines is said to have the “poorest capability” to meet the MDG goal on primary education together with Nepal and Pakistan, which also have a score of nearly 4 points.

The Philippines also scored poorly on the first MDG, which is to reduce poverty.

According to the first MDG, poverty incidence should be halved by 2015 from the level in the 1990s and that extreme

poverty should be eradicated.

In the case of the Philippines, poverty incidence should fall to about 18 percent two years from now.

However, latest official estimate showed that poverty rate stood at 27.9 percent as of the first semester of 2012.

Moreover, about 10 percent of Filipinos were estimated to be living in extreme poverty (in the Philippines, people living in extreme poverty are defined as those belonging to households with less than P5,458 a month). ■

BSP monitoring ‘shadow’ Asia stocks erratic, Europe shares banking in property sector steady day after global selloff

BY MICHELLE V. REMO Philippine Daily Inquirer MANILA, Philippines—The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas seeks to engage other regulatory bodies in addressing potential risks of a price bubble in the real estate sector, acknowledging that threats of excessive credit extension could be posed not only by banks but also by property developers.

BSP Deputy Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. said the central bank was set to bring up the issue of risks of an asset price bubble to the Financial Sector Forum (FSF), which is composed of various government agencies that regulate members of the financial sector.

The BSP said that based on preliminary assessment, risks of an asset price bubble in the

country remained insignificant but it acknowledged the need for close monitoring of lending activities.

Rising household incomes, which are driven partly by remittances from the more than 10 million Filipinos working overseas and the rising employment in the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector, was credited for boosting demand for real properties over the last few years.

Economists, however, suspected that the growing demand for real properties in the Philippines could also be driven by foreign investments in housing. They noted that real estate regulations in neighboring countries have significantly tightened, making the Philippines vulnerable to inflows of speculative real estate investments. ■

BY PAMELA SAMPSON The Associated Press BANGKOK, Thailand—Asian shares traded erratically Friday but European markets found their footing, a day after global stocks were routed by unexpectedly weak Chinese manufacturing and fears the Federal Reserve will start withdrawing its monetary stimulus.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index, which plummeted more than 7 per cent Thursday, posted a big morning gain and then took investors on a dizzying ride into negative territory before closing 0.9 per cent higher at 14,612.45. The benchmark swung more than 1,000 points between the day’s high and low.

But calm prevailed in early European trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 was nearly unchanged at 6,695.82. Germany’s DAX rose 0.3 per cent to 8,378.07.

France’s CAC-40 gained 0.5 per cent to 3,988.59.

Wall Street looked set for a muted open ahead of the release of durable goods data for April. Dow Jones industrial futures were slightly higher at 15,292 and S&P 500 futures slipped to 1,648.40.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea’s Kospi added 0.2 per cent to 1,973.45. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng bobbed between slight gains and losses before falling 0.2 per cent to 22,618.67.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 tumbled 1.6 per cent to 4,983.50, www.canadianinquirer.net

hit by losses in banking and mining shares. Benchmarks in the Philippines, Taiwan and New Zealand also fell. Mainland Chinese shares rose, with the Shanghai Composite Index gaining 0.6 per cent to 2,288.53, while the smaller Shenzhen Composite Index rose 1.5 per cent to 1,029.3. Biotechnology and media stocks led the gains.

The Nikkei’s dramatic fall Thursday was attributed on the spike in the interest rate on the country’s benchmark 10-year bond to above 1 per cent for the first time in a year, which came after Fed meeting minutes showed some of its policy makers want the U.S. central bank to start scaling back its monetary stimulus.

The swing in Japanese bonds unnerved investors at a time when Japan’s already overburdened government finances are vulnerable to rises in interest rates. The interest rate, or yield, later slipped back to about 0.9 per cent.

The sell-off is a reminder of Japan’s vulnerability as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe tries to end two decades of stagnation with unprecedented monetary easing, increased government spending and reforms to make the world’s No. 3 economy more competitive.

Abe reassured Japan’s parliament Friday that the government was closely monitoring financial markets and would “proceed with measures to secure sustainable fiscal structure, and secure

market confidence.”

Mixed messages from the Federal Reserve about when it might start scaling back its bond-buying program also stirred investor anxiety.

The Fed is buying $85 billion worth of bonds every month as part of its stimulus program.

That has kept interest rates low and encouraged investors to put money into stocks and other risky assets. If the Fed slows down its bond purchases, investors fear it could lead to an outpouring of money from stocks.

The release Thursday by HSBC of a survey showing a decline in Chinese manufacturing for May hurt Australian miners, which have boomed on the back of raw material demand from the world’s No. 2 economy. Mining giant BHP Billiton fell 1.6 per cent. OZ Minerals lost 0.7 per cent.

“The China data looking like it’s hitting a soft patch is hitting resources,” said Stan Shamu, market strategist at IG in Melbourne.

Benchmark oil for July delivery was down 2 cents to $94.23 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 3 cents to close at $94.25 per barrel on the Nymex on Thursday.

In currencies, the euro rose to $1.2978 from $1.2932 late Thursday in New York. The dollar weakened to 101.68 yen from 101.91 yen. ■

Sports/Horoscope

41 FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013

Women’s volleyball rises in PH

BY FRANCIS T.J. OCHOA Philippine Daily Inquirer MANILA, Philiippines—Football owes its resurgence to the posterboy-heavy national team Azkals, whose collection of chiseled demigods created shrieking interest in the sport. Volleyball never had a flagship game or a popular ambassador to rally around—until now.

The women’s game changed the outlook for volleyball. It created pinup girls for the sport, fan favorites who draw as much public attention as other sporting stars.

“If people recognize the players, then it means they watch the game,” said Ateneo’s Fille Saint Cainglet, easily one of the most recognizable faces of the V-League.

Much of the rise in the popularity of women’s volleyball comes from the V-League, the brainchild of a group called Sports Vision, whose

main founders—Ricky Palou, Moying Martelino and the late former Philippine Basketball Association commissioner Jun Bernardino—ironically had deep roots in basketball.

The Shakey’s V-League gave collegiate stars, who already had their own cult following in their respective schools, a mainstream audience to showcase their skills to.

“It was Shakey’s that showed faith in women’s volleyball,” said Gretchen Ho, Cainglet’s equally popular Ateneo teammate.

The players felt the tournament’s impact immediately.

“I was surprised when people came to watch us play,” said Suzanne Roces, the former star of the San Sebastian volleyball varsity program, speaking of her early days in the V-League.

“Before, the only people who would watch us play were our schoolmates.”

Roces, Cainglet and Ho are

just part of the stable of stars that the V-League has produced.

University of Santo Tomas’ Mary Jean Balse and Angeli Tabaquero, Ateneo’s Charo Soriano and Alyssa Valdez, Far Eastern University’s Rachel Anne Daquis, La Salle’s Michelle Carolino and Adamson’s Angela Benting have also crossed over to mainstream consciousness because of the Shakey’s tournament.

Daquis, for instance, is slowly making her own name in the modeling world.

And where these girls go, so goes women’s volleyball.

While the V-League gave the collegiate stars and the sport even more popularity, it was a college game that amplified that popularity.

It was a no-bearing match of the University Athletics Association Philippines (UAAP) but the fact that the sport’s rise collided with the country’s fiercest rivalry created a

Ateneo vs Adamson.

supernova of sorts. La Salle and Ateneo battled in front of 19,000 screaming fans at MOA Arena on March 7, producing even more stars, especially from the La Salle side.

La Salle eventually won the UAAP crown.

The likes of Michelle Gumabao, Abi Marano, Ara Galang and the spunky Mika Reyes became household names and really helped the sport orbit into uncharted territory in terms of popularity.

“The rivalry really helped add to the hype for women’s volleyball,” Ho said in a television interview.

On Sunday, volleyball received another boost when National University scored a vengeful 26-24, 25-23, 25-22 victory over Ateneo at MOA Arena, to force a sudden death for the Shakey’s V-League Season 10 First Conference crown.

In a way, it’s like a circle of life for the sport. The V-League harnessed the skills of the players after college, marketed the sport and raised the level of interest in the sport. College leagues continue to manufacture stars to feed the V-League machine.

All that makes women’s volleyball the newest sporting sensation in the country. ■

HOROSCOPE ARIES

(MARCH 21 - APRIL 19) A surge of inner power and intuition could have you thinking about embracing an unusual profession.

Your desire for independence is strong now, Aries, so you might be thinking about working on your own, perhaps in an artistic field or a service profession. You have the power to do wonders today. Be practical and move forward with caution, but follow your heart!

TAURUS

(APRIL 20 - MAY 20) Today you might channel one final, powerful burst of energy into completing a goal that means a great deal to you. Your courage and determination are high, and you have the ability to accomplish a lot at this time, Taurus. If you’ve been considering projects that others think are impossible, this is the day to act.

Move forward with caution, but go for the gold!

GEMINI

(MAY 21 - JUNE 21)

CANCER

LIBRA

(JUNE 22 - JULY 22) You may desire freedom today, Cancer. Projects involving partnerships could get a strong push forward because you’re feeling especially motivated to get things done. Your partners could be inspired to get the ball rolling, and all of you may feel courageous enough to try the impossible.

Don’t confuse courage with foolhardiness. Caution is always called for in tricky situations.

(SEPT 23 - OCT 22) Minor ailments may awaken a new determination to improve your health. You feel especially energetic today, Libra, so you might go to the gym. Just don’t overdo it. You might also be considering several changes you’d like to make in your home or workplace. Give them careful thought before moving ahead.

SCORPIO

LEO

(OCT 23 - NOV 21)

(JULY 23 - AUGUST 22) You may have been working on projects that make you feel good over the past few weeks, Leo, particularly projects that relate to attaining more independence in your career. In the process, you’ve probably developed some new skills and now feel confident enough to use them. Today’s one last burst of determination and inner power could complete the process and reach the goals you want.

CAPRICORN

(DEC 22 - JAN 19) Your mind is especially acute today, Capricorn. You may come up with ideas for new projects. You’re feeling especially motivated and courageous.

Don’t be surprised if you try to achieve the impossible. Friends or groups could play a strong role in whatever you try. Move ahead cautiously, but move ahead. Don’t let the day’s advantages pass you by.

AQUARIUS

(JAN 20 - FEB 18) The desire to bring important personal projects to a close might have you focusing a lot of energy on them, Scorpio. You might need to run several errands before you can finish. Your energy is high, so consider playing some sports or getting a good workout at the gym. Push yourself, but not beyond your limits, Scorpio. “No pain, no gain” is a fallacy!

SAGITTARIUS

VIRGO

(NOV 22 - DEC 21)

Strong intuition concerning ways to generate extra income might pop into your head all day. Some of them may seem off the wall, but don’t let that stop you. Look into the possibilities. They might not be that outrageous.

This is definitely a day to move your interests forward, Aquarius. You have the energy and motivation to do wonders. Make the most of today!

PISCES

(FEB 19 - MAR 20)

(AUG 23 - SEPT 22) Determination could advance career and money matters today. If you’ve been thinking about striking out on your own, Gemini, this is the day to start. Some in-depth research might be required. Your need for independence in career matters is high, as well as the courage to go for what you want. Use caution and discretion, but move ahead anyway.

Don’t let the day’s advantages pass you by!

A surge of romantic passion could move you to rendezvous with a lover no matter what obstacles bar your way. Take care to notice what your partner wants!

Enterprises that you may have been pursuing with business colleagues could take a giant step forward, as both you and your partners are feeling especially strong and motivated. Move forward with caution, Virgo, but move forward.

The desire for independence may have some family members thinking about breaking out on their own. Others could desire to make some extra money for their own projects. Your house could be busy today, if you’re in it at all. Don’t be surprised if everyone spends most of the day somewhere else.

www.canadianinquirer.net

Group activities or projects you’re working on with friends could prove inspiring today. Your enthusiasm is high, Pisces, as is your energy, so you’re likely to want to channel your personal power into whatever goals you have. Today you have the courage to focus on matters that others wouldn’t even attempt. Move forward with caution, but go to it!

FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013

Travel

42

With everyone a critic, hoteliers struggle to cope

BY JOE SHARKEY The Associated Press Since people began travelling, everyone has shared opinions about hotels, but until fairly recently the evaluations were spread by word-of-mouth or through the august evaluations of recognized guidebook authors.

Now there are scores of major online travel and social media sites sprouting hundreds of thousands of customer reviews. And the hotel industry is frantically trying to stay on top of the commotion.

What appeared to be one such effort by a hotel executive drew attention last week. Tnooz. com, a site that specializes in travel technology, reported that an executive based in Sydney, Australia, with the worldwide hotel chain Accor, had anonymously posted more than 100 reviews on TripAdvisor. com, the consumer travel site that features millions of customer reviews of travel services, including hotels around the world.

The reviews of various Accor hotels were positive. A few took shots at competing hotels.

Tnooz said that the executive, Peter Hook, admitted posting the reviews in a statement in which he explained that most of his reviews were for tourism activities and restaurants rather than just hotels. I could not reach Hook for comment.

Accor hotels around the world include the brands Sofitel, Novotel, Pullman, Mercure and Ibis. Kerrie Hannaford, an Accor spokeswoman, told me Friday she was unaware of the controversy involving the anonymous reviews. She did not respond to further calls for comment.

Knowing how busy most hotel managers are, I’m somewhat sympathetic to the pressures they have come under in recent years because of the tsunami of online reviews. Many hotel

companies expect managers to respond personally to negative reviews, a time-consuming chore.

Olery, a company that offers brand reputation management for hotels, said in a report that about 78 per cent of travellers used online reviews to help decide which hotel to book.

As the importance of online customer evaluations grows, an increasing number of hotel reviews are suspect. Big travel review sites like TripAdvisor say they try to monitor reviews to weed out the ones from customers clearly acting in bad faith, or from competitors simply out to torpedo a rival.

One global hotel company, Small Luxury Hotels of the World, not long ago created its own review system open to members of its loyalty program, called The Club. It allows review privileges only to members who have had more than one stay at a given hotel. Still, the reviews are open to honest evaluation, including criticism, said Paul Kerr, chief executive of Small Luxury Hotels, which represents more than 520 boutique luxury hotels in about 70 countries around the world.

Members overwhelmingly say that reviews are an important consideration in booking a hotel, he said. But for his group’s hotels, which do about 25 per cent of their trade in business travel, it is important to cull the rampaging herd, he added.

“I didn’t believe that TripAdvisor provides a necessarily very good indicator of quality for high-end hotels because some of the people writing reviews may have only been to a luxury hotel once or twice, and don’t really know what they are talking about,” he said.

That can cut both ways, because an uninformed rave has minimal value to a discerning customer. “Someone might say, ‘Oooh, it’s so great; they have these fluffy towels’—but that’s

PHOTOS FROM GETTY IMAGES

the sort of thing you expect in a luxury hotel,” he said. “On the other hand, you can get some unfair and unfounded criticism from people who don’t understand what a luxury hotel is about.”

He added: “We have about 450 reviews at about 250 of our hotels now. The customers love it. The hotels don’t. Some hotels don’t understand that it’s so important to have these reviews because it increases your rankings in Google. Your search-engine utilization is much better when it’s honest and transparent.”

I compared online reviews, chosen at random from the TripAdvisor and Small Luxury Hotels websites, for two of the

group’s high-end hotels, the Huntington in San Francisco and Le Pavillon de la Reine in Paris.

Both hotels got mostly rave reviews, many using the word “superb.” The few criticisms were similar, but different in tone.

A review of the Huntington on the group’s website said, “I didn’t enjoy that Wi-Fi was charged ... really? Also, I thought the room could have used fresh paint, and the furniture looked a bit tired.” On TripAdvisor, an otherwise favourable review of Pavillon said, “Our room was in need of a thorough update.” It added, “The bathroom makeup mirror was held to the stem by duct tape.”

Kerr said that there was genuine value in providing reliable reviews, including those with criticism, for discerning and knowledgeable customers—even on a website managed by an organization that represents hotels, not the general public. “Our customers are not stupid people at all.

They know what it’s all about,” he said.

On the other hand, he added, there is a desire for perspective.

“If a hotel has only one review and it’s not a great one, that’s really not fair to that hotel,” he said. “So to make sure there are balanced reviews, we’ve got to have at least five reviews of a hotel before we put it all up on the system.” ■

FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013

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www.canadianinquirer.net

Travel

Genting: Cool mountain playground

PHOTOS BY CHEE HONG AND PRATEEK BAHADUR

BY POCHOLO CONCEPCION Philippine Daily Inquirer GENTING HIGHLANDS—It’s Baguio weather up here in the mountains between the states of Pahang and Selangor in Malaysia, where stands Resorts World (RW) Genting—the mother of all RW properties that include one in Singapore (Sentosa Island), another in the New York (soon in Miami), and the Philippines (Pasay City).

We were in Genting four years ago, but only to cover the MTV Video Awards show held in its amphitheater, Arena of Stars, where we saw The Script, OneRepublic, Leona Lewis and Super Junior perform.

This time we’re on a media familiarization trip around the 6,000-ha resort complex which was developed by Genting Group founder Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong.It opened in 1971.

It’s overwhelming to learn that as many as 20 million people come here annually— Singaporeans, Koreans, Indians, among Asian nationalities, and locals wanting to escape the hot and humid Kuala Lumpur, which is about an hour’s drive away.

A horde of guests

The first thing we notice upon arriving: A horde of guests coming in from all directions.

Many of them are probably headed to the casino.

In 1969 the Malaysian government granted Genting an exclusive license to operate a casino on the condition that Muslims—who comprise the majority of the country’s population—are not allowed to engage in any form of gaming.

The casino has several access points within the complex, with strict security measures that also bar minors and cameras.

But Genting is not just a casino but a fully integrated tourist destination that has something for everyone—lots of rides and games in two (outdoor and indoor) theme parks, retail shops, restaurants, bars, beauty salons, health spas, among others.

6 hotels

Staying here for a few days is

no problem, with six hotels— Genting Grand, Highlands, Resort, Theme Park, Awana and First World—having more than 10,000 rooms whose rates vary according to low and peak seasons.

The three-star First World, where we are billeted, used to be the world’s largest hotel in 2006 with 6,118 rooms.

It has modest, functional accommodations and doesn’t need air-conditioning because of the cold weather which averages 18°C.It gets chilly especially at dawn when fog envelopes the surroundings.

that RW management has taken a proactive stance to preserve its natural beauty and conserve energy.

Not far from the resort and within Genting are other scenic attractions. The Chin Swee Caves Temple, whose land was donated by the Genting Group, is a Taoist temple which has the Sky Terrace—a vast observation square on the 15th floor where we appreciate the virtues of silence and contemplation while looking at a gigantic statue of Buddha, a nine-story pagoda, and the lush forest cover all around.

There’s also a strawberry farm on a 5-acre land. KC Chung, who runs the place which also has a bee farm, says he leases the property from Genting. He teaches us how to properly pick a strawberry fruit from the stem; we sample a few, but they’re not as sweet as the ones from Baguio.

Pinoy band members

Yield to temptation

The food choices from over 100 dining outlets are so varied and mouthwatering that those on a diet would surely yield to temptation.

Buffet dinner at Maxims Genting’s Coffee Terrace, for instance, overflows with Malaysian, Chinese, Japanese, Western and Asian gustatory delights—almost like what Spiral in Sofitel Philippine Plaza offers.

The set lunch at Genting Palace Restaurant boasts Prawn Platter, Schezuan Hot and Spicy Soup, Almond Chicken, its signature dish Braised Pork Spareribs, topped with a dessert called Glutinous Ball with Mango and Cream.

We spend almost half a day exploring the outdoor theme

FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013 44

park, where the adventurous among our colleagues get to enjoy some of the rides like Corkscrew and Flying Coaster.

Only one among us is willing to try out the Space Shot, whose rapid vertical ascent and descent is not for the fainthearted. www.canadianinquirer.net

Exhilarating ride

But the cable car ride on the Genting Skyway is exhilarating, giving us an aerial view of the thick rainforest around the resort. We are told that only 4 percent of the forest’s 10,000 acres has been used for the development of Genting, and

At night we hang out at The Patio, a bar in the indoor theme park, where a band plays pop hits. A guessing game ensues on which of the band members are Filipino; turns out that the lead guitarist and bassist are, indeed, Pinoy.

We order San Miguel Pale Pilsen, which unfortunately is not available; the waiter offers us Heineken instead.

Yet no amount of beer can match the exciting buzz of watching “Freeze 2,” an ice magic show of eye-popping acrobatic stunts, illusion tricks and ice-skating maneuvers by an international cast from Armenia, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Australia and China.

Heart-stopping is the sight of a 12-year-old Chinese girl doing a balancing act on a high stack of chairs.

We make a brief visit to a “winter downtown” inside SnowWorld, until it gets too cold for comfort.

While having dinner at Bubbles and Bites, where champagne is served, we realize that three days are not enough to enjoy the cool mountain playground that is Genting, especially for those with money to burn. We also imagine that Filipinos won’t feel envious of it, if only Baguio were just an hour’s drive from Manila.

Back in Kuala Lumpur for our return flight to Naia, the weather gets hotter than hell. ■

FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013

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FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013 46

Chief Constable David Jones: New Westminster’s face of law and order

BY ANGIE DUARTE Philippine Canadian Inquirer

Publisher Philippine Canadian Inquirer Editor Melissa Remulla-Briones editor@canadianinquirer.net

SUPERHERO. Fireman. Doctor. Nurse.

Policeman: the typical answers to the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

The answers are reflective of the innate idealism we possess before we actually do grow up. They also reveal a deeply-rooted, almost instinctive desire in most individuals to make a difference; to live a life of impact. Most of us possess this desire, but not all act on it.

Chief Constable David Jones of the New Westminster Police Department is among those who have.

Letter of the law

We all have to abide by the law: a set of guidelines that dictate the manner of our interaction with each other in a civilized society; a written understanding of how we are supposed to behave, and what is or is not acceptable, within a group of people. “Do’s and Don’ts” of civilized living, if you will.

This is the letter of the law, and there are those people set in place to help enforce it.

A society devoid of law and sans law enforcers is (very presumably) one in which chaos, discord, anarchy reign supreme. Unless, of course, you speak of a race so advanced that the letter of the law is imprinted within—almost like genetic code—with no other option but compliance. Of course, no such race exists; not on our planet, anyway.

Hence, the need for law. And for those who enforce it.

Spirit of the law

The spirit of the law, at its very core, is simple. Laws exist to benefit people.

At the heart of every law, is the welfare of the individual and groups thereof.

Chief Constable Jones has an astute understanding of both the letter and the spirit of the law.

“I know it sounds corny, but a fascination with helping people, this is why most people go into law enforcement,” he says.

“Law enforcers have a good sense of right and wrong, and care for individuals in terms of it,” he adds.

Of course, there is also that side that appeals to the thrill-seeker in us all; that element of unpredictability and excitement that comes with the territory of the job.

“It’s never the same thing every day; there are unique challenges. Almost like an adventure,” Chief Constable Jones admits.

Associate Editor Laarni de Paula Editorial Assistant April Sescon

Whether doing paperwork behind the desk, or responding to the unpredictable and unique challenges of policing; or perhaps coaching a soccer team or two, Chief Constable David Jones brings a dedication and commitment to what has become a successful career of helping people.

Correspondents Lizette Lofranco-Aba Gigi Astudillo Angie Duarte Maria Ramona Ledesma Katherine Marfal Frances Grace Quiddaoen Agnes Tecson Graphic Designer Victoria Yong

PHOTO: THE PHILIPPINE-CANADIAN INQUIRER

Upward climb

Way before he was Chief Constable, David Jones was a practicum student with the New Westminster Police Department. This was the first rung on what has since become a very successful career ladder. Then he became a reserve with the department, after which, he passed though all possible ranks; promotion after promotion, slowly but steadily working his way up to his current posting.

This was an upward climb that came with opportunity, time, perseverance.

And a whole lot of teamwork. According to the Chief Constable, police work is a lot about teamwork. And the success of the individual is the success of the team; vise-versa.

“When a person succeeds internally, from any organization, that’s a sign of a good organization. A person’s success in an organization is not as an individual.

The organization has to be supportive of you, and you of them,” he reveals.

Hallmarks of success

Chief Constable Jones’ admirable efforts have not gone unnoticed.

He has been accorded the Order of Merit; only the 2nd to receive the award within the New Westminster Police Department.

W hat made this accolade more special, perhaps, was that the nomination came from someone outside of the law organization. Chief Constable Jones does a lot of work on his own time with community sports group, specifically the soccer community. It was from this arena that the nomination came.

The nomination and eventual recognition with the Order of Merit

was the bow that tied his policing and community work together. For this reason, the recognition means a lot to him.

Chief Constable Jones candidly admits that though he doesn’t go out seeking the acclaim, it’s always nice when someone acknowledges you for a job well done. After all, what human being does not thrive on a healthy dose of praise and approval? And this is something he surely pays forward within the team: “Leading people is not just about telling them what to do; it’s challenging them, motivating them,” he says.

He considers himself very fortunate, career wise, and takes the time to point out some other hallmarks of his success; these trophies are more unusual, but just as valued.

An aerial night shot of four soccer fields, all lit-up, testifies to 10 years of community work. Chief Constable Jones has done a lot to further the improvement of parks and recreation/ sports facilities within the community, and the soccer fields are the culmination of these efforts. The photo was taken and given as a token of thanks; something he holds in high regard.

Gold medals from various soccer teams he has coached; these too are sources of pride and joy. For these represent lives impacted and benefitted by his efforts.

Chief Constable Jones is the face of law and order in New Westminster. And his is a face that beams with the joy and satisfaction of a dream being lived out, and a job well-done.

With reports from Laarni Liwanag and Gigi Astudillo

www.canadianinquirer.net

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