Philippine Canadian Inquirer Issue #9

PHILIPPINE CANADIAN

DENTASERV DENTAL CLINIC Dr. Lorene Balmaceda Lederer, Inc

VOL. 4 NO. 9

TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2012

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CANADA NEWS BC Premier Clark plans second Jobs and Trade Mission to Japan, Korea and the Philippines ( On page 17 )

Optimism grows among Canadian firms, expectations for hiring positive ( On page 17 ) Leonardo “Ding”

Photo by Marianne Bermudez

Cunanan: From Poverty to Prominence ( On page 20 )

McGill student’s run in with U.S. border agents prompts lawsuit ( On page 21 ) President Aquino greets passengers waiting for their rides to the provinces at a bus terminal in Cubao, Quezon City.

Prices pull down P-noy

Ratings drop to ‘good’ from ‘very good’ in latest survey

BY LAWRENCE DE GUZMAN, Inquirer Research AND CHRISTINE O. AVENDAÑO Philippine Daily Inquirer

SHARP INCREASES in fuel prices that inevitably push up the cost of living may have pulled down public satisfaction with the performance of President Aquino from “very good” to “good,” a lawmaker and a labor leader said.

Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone said the past quarter saw a series of fuel price increases that was beyond the control of the President, but the lawmaker added the people did not want to accept any explanation justifying the spike.

“Of course, people won’t accept the fact that prices of oil are being dictated by international market forces. So this can be the main reason for the drop,”

Evardone said.

Except among the upper and middle classes, public satisfaction with Mr. Aquino’s performance dipped in the D and E socioeconomic groups and across geographic areas in the first quarter, according to results of a nationwide survey by Social Weather Stations (SWS).

Net public satisfaction (satisfied minus dissatisfied) with the President’s performance dropped 9 points from a “very good” rating of 58 points (71 percent satisfied, 13 percent dissatisfied) last December to a “good” 49 points (68 percent satisfied, 19 percent dissatisfied) in March.

The results of the survey, conducted from March 10 to 13, were first

published in Businessworld newspaper.

It used face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adults and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points for national percentages and plus or minus 6 percentage points for area percentages.

Governance “Governance should not be surveydriven,” Mr. Aquino told reporters after he inspected Holy Week preparations at the Araneta Center bus terminal in Quezon City.

He said his current ratings may have been affected by the moves taken by some groups to make a big issue out of the recent oil price increases.

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Feds create new immigration program to get skilled trades people to Canada ( On page 22 ) If a disaster hits right now, are you prepared? ( On page 27 )

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Fears aired coco fund would go to Luisita

BY KRISTINE L. ALAVE Philippine Daily Inquirer MILITANT GROUPS urged President Aquino to certify as urgent a bill that would establish a trust fund for coconut farmers, fearing the disputed shares of stock of San Miguel Corp. (SMC) worth some P85 billion acquired with the use of a coconut levy would be used to finance the distribution of his family’s Hacienda Luisita.

Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) and the national organization of coconut farmers, Koprahan, said House Bill No. 3443 filed by Anakpawis Rep. Rafael Mariano would wrest control of the funds from San Miguel Corp. chair Eduardo Cojuangco, the President’s uncle.

Similar measures are pending in the Senate.

“If the President is really serious in returning the funds to its real owners, all he has to do is command Congress to enact the small coconut farmers’ trust fund bill,” said KMP deputy secretary general Willy Marbella in a joint statement.

“Declaring the coco levy funds as public funds and setting up a small coconut farmers’ trust fund through HB 3443 is still the best option to free the funds from the control of the President’s uncle,” Marbella said.

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad and Administrator Euclides G. Forbes of the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) earlier said Malacañang could not issue an executive order directing the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) to free up interests worth P9 billion on the SMC shares for use in the modernization of the coconut industry pending the court’s resolution of the case.

Marbella admitted that he did not expect Mr. Aquino to certify HB 3443 as urgent, saying “Malacañang has a different agenda on the coco levy funds.”

He cited the statement by the National Anti-poverty Commission (NAPC) that the funds would be used for a so-called antipoverty road map which included “agrarian reform, agro-enterprise development and social protections.”

Hacienda Luisita The Aquino administration, in preparation for a favorable ruling on the coco levy funds, is thinking of using the money to rehabilitate the coconut industry and ease the lives of some 3.5 million coconut farmers and their families comprising a quarter of the country’s population described as the “poorest of the poor.”

KMP and Koprahan have opposed the plan.

“The Malacañang-NAPC agenda on the coco levy funds is now out in the open, and that is to use our money as payment for the lands of big landlords like Hacienda Luisita of the President’s family,” Marbella said.

He cited reports that following the unanimous decision of the Supreme Court last Nov. 22 calling for the distribution of the 5,000-hectare Hacienda Luisita to its 6,000 farm workers, the CojuangcoAquino family was asking the court for P10 billion as “just compensation” for its sugar plantation.

“Using our money to pay landlords is an added insult to the injury inflicted by the government to small coconut farmers,” Marbella said.

‘Sham’ agrarian reform “[NAPC] Secretary Joel Rocamora should be the first to know that the coco levy funds cannot be used for the government’s sham Carper (Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program), for payments of so-called just compensation to big landlords, for graft-ridden support services and to finance agri-businesses under the guise of agro-enterprise development,” he said.

“Using the coco levy funds for the anti-peasant Carper is highly unacceptable to small coconut farmers.

The Aquino government is only inciting small coconut farmers to rise up,” Marbella said.

“We cannot entrust our money to Aquino’s haciendero regime and its cronies who don’t even know how to climb a coconut tree.”

The 700 million SMC shares of stocks comprising 24 percent of the highly diversified food and beverage giant were acquired in 1983 using proceeds of a coconut levy collected for nine years during the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship. The shares were sequestered following the ouster of Marcos in 1986 and an investigation into alleged ill-gotten wealth of the dictator and his cronies.

In January, the court ruled that the shares belonged to the government, which now must use the funds for the benefit of the farmers beset by poor harvests as a result of aging trees, lack of fertilizers and the impact of climate change.

Hands are tied Interests and dividends on the fund are deposited in the state-operated United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB), which has a history of granting questionable loans to San Miguel. In 2009, the financially troubled UCPB secured a P30-billion rehabilitation package from the government.

Recovered ill-gotten wealth of the Marcos and his associates under the law is to be used to fund the agrarian reform program. Since the investigations were conducted, the PCGG had recovered P93.5 billion in alleged illegally acquired assets of the Marcoses and their cronies.

Rocamora, in a phone interview yesterday, said the government had no choice but to defer any action on the ownership of the coco levy funds.

Echoing the position of Abad and Forbes, he said the Aquino administration’s hands are tied until the Supreme Court decides on the issue with finality.

“It can’t move until the Supreme Court makes a final decision,” Rocamora said.

He also stressed that the money from the coco levy funds would not be used for the conditional cash transfer scheme critics described as an outright dole that could not lift beneficiaries from poverty in the long term. The plan of the government is to funnel it back to farmers and coconut-growing regions, Rocamora said.

With a report from Delfin T. Mallari Jr., Inquirer Southern Luzon ■

P-noy sees 5M tourists this year

BY NORMAN BORDADORA Philippine Daily Inquirer

PRESIDENT AQUINO raised the possibility of the country playing host to almost five million tourists this year—on track to meet his administration’s target of 10 million foreign visitors when his term ends in 2016.

The President’s pronouncement was inspired by Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr.’s report that there were more than 400,000 tourist arrivals in the country in January—a 17.5-percent increase from the almost 350,000 visitors in the same month in 2011.

Mr. Aquino made the remarks while stressing the need to quickly process information for effective governance during the launch of Hewlett-packard’s one-of-a-kind and state-of-the-art mission control center and executive briefing center in Taguig.

“We get about three million tourists every year. Four hundred thousand per month—and I am told that the first half of the year is not where the peak comes in, it’s in the second half—translates to 4.8 million tourist arrivals for this particular year,” the President said.

“When we started our administration, the common figure or the figure on average that we get as tourist arrivals is just three million. So we are actually on target to reach the 10 million figure by the time we get to the end of our term by 2016,” he added. ■

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TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2012 2

PHILIPPINE CANADIAN

Publisher Philippine Canadian Inquirer Head of Editorial Melissa Remulla-Briones Editorial Consultant Maria Ramona Ledesma Contributors Jeffrey J.D. Andrion Gigi Astudillo Dr. Rizaldy Ferrer Marietta Pangan-Dutkoski Stella Reyes Jenn Torres Frances Grace H. Quiddaoen Laarni de Paula Rodel J. Ramos Felichi Pangilinan Buizon Graphic Designer Victoria Yong Illustration Danvic C. Briones Photographer Art Viray Angelo Siglos Ryan Ferrer Solon Licas Sales and Operations Laarni de Paula Dominador Masakayan MaryAnn Roque HINGE INQUIRER PUBLICATIONS CUSTOM PUBLISHING GROUP Managing Editor Maita de Jesus Asst. Creative Director Bong Sevilla Graphic Artist Reggie Goloy Editorial Assistant Phoebe Casin Associate Publisher Lurisa Villanueva Jr. Associate Publisher Millicent Agoncillo Project Coordinator Lychelle Ang In cooperation with the Philippine Daily Inquirer digital edition PHILIPPINE CANADIAN INQUIRER is located at Suite 400 North Tower 5811 Cooney Road, Richmond B.C. Canada Tel No. 778-3836090 / 778-383-3203 • Email us at : info@ canadianinquirer.net or inquirerinc@gmail.com

News-Phils

3 TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2012

PH, Japan pleased with Jpepa so far

BY JERRY E. ESPLANADA Philippine Daily Inquirer

BOTH Manila and Tokyo are pleased with the results of the 2008 JapanPhilippines Economic Partnership Agreement (Jpepa), a “framework for enhancing economic relations between the two countries.”

In a joint statement issued, the Department of Trade and Industry and the Japanese Embassy said it was “still premature to make an overall evaluation [of] the full impact of Jpepa.”

Both sides said, however, that “recent figures related to trade and investment have been very encouraging despite difficult

situations the two countries faced, particularly last year.”

They reported that the trade volume between the Philippines and Japan increased in 2011. Philippine exports to Japan rose from P335.4 billion in 2010 to P382.7 billion last year. On the other hand, the Philippine imports from Japan slightly decreased from P290.2 billion in 2010 to P279.5 billion in 2011.

Japan remains the biggest investor in the Philippines, with total investments of P77.4 billion last year, P19.1 billion more than P58.3 billion in 2010.

Concrete progress The two sides held the fourth meeting of the Jpepa Subcommittee on the Improvement of the Business Environment, which aimed to “ensure a steady and concrete progress on the resolution of specific issues regarding the business environment.”

Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Toshinao Urabe and Trade Undersecretary Adrian Cristobal cochaired the meeting, where they cited the “increasing interest shown by

Japanese investors in the Philippines, as well as the expanded investments

by Japanese companies” in the country.

“This was clearly the case with the recent visit to the Philippines of officials of the Keidanren (Japan Business Federation) and other economic missions from Japan. Both sides agreed that this is an opportune time to invite further investments in the Philippines and that “it is essential to continue dialogues with business communities.”

The private sector was represented in the meeting by Nobuya Ichiki, president of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Philippines, and Guillermo Luz, chair of the National Competitiveness Council of the Philippines.

Significant strides The next subcommittee meeting is scheduled for next September.

Kenji Hirai, embassy media officer, said the Jpepa had made “significant strides” since its introduction in 2008.

Hirai told the INQUIRER that the Japanese government “expects the smooth and effective implementation of Jpepa will lead to enhanced trade

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and investment relations [between the Philippines and Japan].”

Japan “hopes the economic relations between the two countries will continue to develop in 2012 based on the recent positive trend of expansion in both trade and investment under Jpepa,” he added.

The embassy also had said it was confident that Tokyo and Manila would work toward full implementation of the agreement, which was signed on Sept. 9, 2006 in Helsinki, Finland, by Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-arroyo and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

Two years later, the Jpepa was ratified by the Philippine Senate.

At one point, however, the agreement became controversial because of its provisions prohibiting the transport of toxic waste to either country and on the deployment of Filipino health-care workers to Japan.

The Jpepa aims to, among other things, liberalize trade in goods and services between the two countries, increase investment opportunities, enhance protection of intellectual property, and establish a framework for further bilateral cooperation. ■

News-Phils

TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2012 4

Green groups urge gov’t to push long-delayed policy on renewable energy

BY KRISTINE L. ALAVE Philippine Daily Inquirer ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS are urging the government to make up its mind on the long delayed feed-in-tariff (FIT) policy, claiming it would be the key to attracting more investments in renewable energy development that would lead to cheaper power rates in the long run.

The feed-in-tariff scheme has been on the drawing board for three years. Under the proposed scheme, companies that invest in developing renewable energy sources are guaranteed returns on their investment through long-term contracts and price certainty in the form of a fixed cost rate (the FIT) to be levied on electricity consumers.

Under the scheme, distribution utilities would be required to buy electricity generated from renewable energy sources at prices that are determined as a percentage of the prevailing retail price of electricity. The government would set a fixed rate that consumers would pay for the power generated by renewable energy generators over a set period.

“Talks about the FIT have been dragging on for a year. There is no new renewable energy project that is being implemented,” said JP Agcaoili, a campaigner for Greenpeace.

Locked in with coal “While the discussions on [FIT] drag on, the coal [plants] proposals are coming in and are approved. While the rest of the world is moving to renewable energy, we are locked in with coal,” Agcaoili said.

“What’s stalling them?” asked Eric Alvia, director of the Center for the Advancement and Utilization of Sustainable Energy, referring to the Energy Regulatory Commission, the power regulatory body.

A FIT system for electricity produced from renewable energy sources is mandated in the Renewable Energy Act of 2008. The ERC, in consulatation with the National Renewable Energy Board, was supposed to formulate and promulgate the rules for a FIT system in 2009.

The proposed feed-in-tariff rates are P7 per kilowatt hour (kwh) for biomass, P17.65 per kwh for ocean technology, P17.95 per kwh for solar power, P6.15 per kwh for run-of-river hydropower and P10.37 per kwh for wind power. The rates are estimated to add roughly P0.12 per kwh to consumers’ electricity bills.

Lower rates Alvia believes an FIT policy regime would attract renewable energy investors to the Philippines, and thereby boost the country’s supply of “green” power and reduce the demand for coal and fossil-based fuels.

It would also lure businessmen into rehabilitating aging geothermal and hydro-

power plants in Mindanao, which is currently experiencing rotating power outages.

He claimed an FIT regime would have the same effect as the laws that liberalized the airline and telecommunications industries.

“The prices for the fares and the rates went down, the penetration rates for cell phones went up, the demand for landlines went down,” he said.

“I’m sure if they do that, people will have an incentive to shift their energy needs from coal,” Alvia added.

The DOE has already approved a 760-megawatt (MW) installation target for renewable energy projects under the FIT scheme. It is composed of 250 MW each for hydroelectricity and biomass, 200 MW for wind power, 50 MW for solar energy and 10 MW for ocean technology.

the first few years as the technologies are relatively new compared to coal-fired plants.

However, the clean technologies would be cheaper in the long run because it has a minimal impact on the environment and is not dependent on the movement of fossil fuels in the world market, they said.

The price of coal and fossils fuel will always increase, and the latest price hike announced

by Meralco reflected that, Alvia said.

Abundance of green energy According to the environmental groups, there is an abundance of green energy sources in the Philippines. They said the country can harness energy from the sun, the wind and the tides and from geothermal and biomass sources to meet the power demands of its growing population.

The Philippines also has vast tracts of agricultural land as well as sunny and windswept coasts for power where renewable energy installations can be built, they said. In its energy roadmap, Greenpeace said Mindanao, whose power at present comes mainly from geothermal and hydropower plants, has great potential to harness wind energy.

According to the Department of Energy, about 35 percent of the country’s energy comes from renewable sources.

Greenpeace said the Philippines can increase its renewable energy capacity to 50 percent by 2020. ■

Cheaper in the long run But Greenpeace, which sits on the National Regulatory Energy Board, complains that the installation target set by the government is too low, well below what renewable energy investors would be interested in developing.

There has been a lot of opposition to the FIT scheme as it would substantially add to the cost of power in the country, which already has one of the highest electricity rates in the world.

According to the green energy advocates, renewable energy would be expensive in

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TUESDAY MARCH 20, 2012 10

A

him as serving the middle class (69 A public thata government grows pooreragency. and more percent dissatisfied) lastourDecember a own providetotheir security guards and CCTV cameras.

He also planned to take over and the rich (61 percent). hungry by thesmall day would unable German to “good” 21 percent) Dr. Enrique Tolentino Jr., vice chancellor for farm inbe Quezon,” said.45 points (67 percent satisfied, Among those who were dissatisfied Labog added. percent dissatisfied, correctly rounded) in But the President noted that prices of stomach such claims, Ray was the second UPLB student killed near the community affairs, said the recent events might also with the President’s performance, 28 “In the end, UPLB peoplecampus. will believe whatstabbed March. basic goods and commodities did not He was dead by unidentified justify the university’s need for a higher budget to put up percent said they viewed the President guts, in their stomachs, jump when there were sharp increases in they feel in their more dormitories inside the campus. robbers.

BY DUMLAO to be serving the rich, followed by more than what they are being told by the Poor’s dissatisfaction theDORIS globalC.price of oil.

A few days before, high school student Rochel Philippine Daily Inquirer those who thought he was serving the said.

Laroza also noted the President’s net Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), a militant government,” he Geronda, 14, was raped and killed in the same vicinity. In Ray of hope Mr. Aquino said people were seeing satisfaction rating among Class D middle class (17 percent) and the poor labor saidLAGUNA—Ray the dip in Mr. Aquino’s LOS group, BAÑOS, Bernard Peñaranda’s October last year, UPLB computer science student Given “UPLB is a very beautiful place, but I think it’s the how government was working for dropped 12 points from a “very good” 58 (14 percent). net satisfaction ratings was due to his last conversation with his family was in a the phone local officials’ responsibility to keep it safe. We really Grace Cebanico was raped and killed.

Mr. Aquino’s net satisfaction rating their benefit, “but we also cannot avoid points (72 percent satisfied, 13 percent inaction over the people’s problems, conference the night before he was killed.

“Ray was a very sweet son. He would often give his hope to find justice so we can move on,” German said. statistically remained unchanged that sometimes those being interviewed dissatisfied) last December to a “good” such the was constant fuelhim price “His as sister telling thatincreases they should graduate mother a massage and a manicure and would sometimes On Friday, police arrested Carl “Dactil” de Guzman, in surveys were people that we have not 46 points (67 percent satisfied, 20 percent among Class ABC, where it was up by and the in continued the ifprices together 2013. I dorise notin know it wasof a premonition or sleep with us in our room,” German said. “He was also 27, in Daraga, Albay, and on Thursday, Tyrone one point from a “very good” 61 points taken care of properly.” dissatisfied) in March. basic commodities. something, but Ray said he might not be able to do so,” very close to Anna because she was his idol.”

Kennedy Terbio, 19, surrendered to broadcaster This was Mr. Aquino’s second “good” last December to 62 points in March.

A youth dubbed said Ray’s group father,has German, 56.this inaction Raffy Tulfo and Philippine National Police Director Those who said the President served No specific reasons net rating since he assumed office in June “Noynoying,” play on the President’s At that time,a German thought that Ray was again Outposts, CCTVs General Nicanor Bartolome. Terbio, the one who He said governance should not come from 2010, according to SWS data. He got his the poor sharply declined by 13 points nickname. teasing his sister, Anna, 23, who was taking a master’s On March 12, student organizations led an indignation allegedly stabbed Peñaranda in the chest, was held surveys but from what was right against first “good” net rating of 46 points in June to 35 percent in March. degree at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, rally. Ray’s classmates shared testimonies about their lost at the detention cell of the Laguna police office in Those who said he was serving the what was wrong. “We will push for what 2011.

Low wages, Quezon City.joblessness But the next call the family received on friend.

Sta. Cruz town, said Laguna police director Senior Since he assumed office, the President rich increased by 4 points to 27 percent.

“Despite the spectacle of the impeachment is right,” the President said.

Sunday was from Ray’s friend, telling them about his “We condemn these tragic and senseless deaths. Superintendent Gilbert Cruz on Friday. De Guzman The survey only covered public had posted mostly “very good” net ratings, trial (of Chief Justice Renato Corona), death.

We will not stop until justice is served no matter how allegedly drove the suspects’ motorcycle. it became clearer to the public that the satisfaction and dissatisfaction and could getting his record high of 64 in November Drop expected German, an agricultural engineer and like his wife, long it may take,” said chancellor Dr. Rex Cruz at the Terbio and De Guzman were named by confessed Evardone said the drop in the President’s President is not doing anything to provide not explain specific reasons behind 2010.

Flordeliza, 53, a professor at University of Rizal System rally attended by around 200 students. lookout Joseph Beltran, who earlier surrendered to satisfaction rating was expected as most people with relief from the high prices the responses given by respondents, in Tanay, Rizal, said Ray did good in his academics and Another rally was set with Bayan Muna the police. All three suspects now faced robbery with leaders had suffered the same fate as of oil and basic goods and services, low Leo Laroza, survey research and For whom was a candidate for cum laude in agriculture at UP Los Representative Teddy Casiño, a UPLB alumnus, as homicide charges at a court in Calamba City, said Cruz. wages, joblessness and the demolition of communication specialist at SWS, told The respondents were also asked they approached the second half of their Baños (UPLB).

Geronda’s remains were buried at a public guest. whether they thought the President terms. poor communities,” KMU chair Elmer the INQUIRER in a phone interview.

In fact, Ray was supposed to be awarded his During the meeting of the multisectoral Peace and cemetery in Barangay (village) Anos in Los Baños on Still, the lawmaker said the President’s Laroza noted, however, that “Mr. was “serving the interests of the rich, Labog said in a statement. certificate as a college scholar (dean’s lister) during the Order Council, the municipal government of Los Baños Wednesday, while Ray’s burial took place Sunday at He said the administration’s upbeat Aquino’s net rating was pulled down middle class or the poor.” They were 49-point rating was still very high 103rd founding anniversary of the UPLB College of approved proposals to install 100 more lampposts, police Haven of Rest Memorial Park in Tanay. compared with the ratings of his pronouncements over record highs in largely by his net rating in Luzon outside allowed to give multiple responses.

Agriculture. The dean instead delivered Ray’s certificate and village outposts at every entry and exit point in all “Maybe Ray had died for a reason. His death will Among those who said they were predecessors. the stock market, improved investor Manila, where he posted a 15-point drop.” to his family in Tanay at the wake. not be put to waste if only this will protect and give villages, and security cameras in strategic locations.

He said Mr. Aquino should continue to In Luzon outside Metro Manila, the satisfied with Mr. Aquino, 78 percent confidence and credit rating upgrades, “He had many options after college. He planned to There were also plans to impose a liquor ban from 12 hope to other students that none of these will happen would be for naught unless it addressed President’s rating slipped from a “very viewed him as serving the poor. This capitalize on this to introduce unpopular pursue higher education abroad or work in a company or midnight to 8 a.m. and for private dormitory owners to again,” German said. ■ good” 60 points (72 percent satisfied, 12 was followed by those who viewed but necessary structural reforms. ■ hunger and poverty.

To Los Baños community, a Ray of hope Prices pull... Page 1

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News-Phils

TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2012 6

worldswildlifewonders / Shutterstock.com

Allies come to Pacman’s defense

BY CATHY YAMSUAN, With reports from GIL C. CABACUNGAN AND MARC ANTHONY REYES Philippine Daily Inquirer TAXMAN’S ‘HARASSMENT’ IS THE BUREAU of Internal Revenue (BIR) harassing Saranggani Rep. Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao because, unlike 188 of his colleagues in the House of Representatives, he did not sign the articles of impeachment against Chief Justice Renato Corona?

Sen. Joker Arroyo raised the question yesterday after learning that Pacquiao was not among the 188 members of the House who signed the impeachment complaint against Corona on Dec. 12 last year.

“One disturbing aspect is that Pacquiao did not sign the articles of impeachment against CJ Corona. Can there be any connection?” the senator asked in a phone interview with INQUIRER. “You look at the articles of impeachment.

Pacquiao’s name is not among those who signed,” Arroyo said in English and Filipino. “When I first read the news that he is being investigated by the BIR, I immediately checked with the Senate officers who have a copy of the complaint.

He was not a signatory. Probably he was absent that day or whatever.”

‘Ridiculous’ House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte said Arroyo’s suspicion was ridiculous. “Some [lawmakers] did not sign [the articles of impeachment] even if they were there.

And it’s okay,” he said in a text message to the INQUIRER. “Pacquiao was not there at all during the signing.”

Pacquiao texted the INQUIRER and confirmed that he was not there. But he said that he hoped the case that the BIR brought against him was not related to his failure to join the House majority in impeaching Corona.

Pacquiao, who holds world titles in eight boxing divisions, was training for his bout with Mexican Juan Miguel Marquez late last year, when the BIR demanded to see his tax returns after its regional office in Central Mindanao filed a complaint against him for failure to submit complete tax records for 2010.

Pacquiao could face up to two years in prison for the omission. He beat Marquez in a lackluster performance that lasted all of 12 rounds.

Pacman’s demand Pacquiao, who won his congressional seat as a candidate of the Nacionalista party,

had already called President Aquino for help after a follow-up squeeze from the BIR. More specifically, he asked the President to fire BIR Central Mindanao Director Rozil Lozares for harassing him.

“Supposing Pacquiao was appraised of the problem during his training and before the bout, that would have shaken his morale and mental make-up,” noted Arroyo, who said he had not met the boxer.

Arroyo said the timing of Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima’s pronouncements reiterating the necessity of the BIR investigation was suspect and insensitive since Pacquiao was deep in training for his fight against American Timothy Bradley.

Bradley will challenge Pacquiao for his welterweight crown on June 9.

Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. echoed Arroyo’s sentiments. “I am certain it is not part of the [BIR’S] job description to shame people publicly and make circuses out of their circumstances,” Revilla said in an emailed statement.

“What makes this so disturbing is that [BIR] officials are acting like credit card collectors who threaten, humiliate and consider all sorts of methods just to collect,” he said. “What if they [are] wrong? Would sorry be enough?” asked Revilla, president of the Lakas party.

Revilla said the BIR could have taken the high moral ground by just filing the charges and making no public announcements. “This is not the way to treat someone who we all consider as a contemporary hero [who] has brought great honor and pride to the country.

Every time Manny steps in the ring, he carries on his shoulders the name and honor of the nation. Every punch he delivers and takes is not for himself alone but also for the Filipino people.”

No VIP treatment But Sen. Francis Escudero urged Pacquiao to surrender the documents being demanded by the BIR if only to dispel perceptions that he was asking for VIP treatment.

“Pacman can file a case against the BIR official who he thinks is harassing him,” Escudero said. “But he still has the obligation to submit the documents being asked of him. As a public official, he has the obligation to show the people that he can comply with government requirements. If the BIR committed an error, at least his documents would become strong evidence that he is really being harassed,” Escudero said in Filipino.

“Let it not be said that just because he is a congressman, just because he is preparing for a fight, he [is] exempt from BIR requirements.

This is a good opportunity for Pacquiao to show that everyone is equal under the law,” Escudero added.

Also yesterday, Rep. JV Ejercito of San Juan and party-list Rep. Mark Sambar (Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta) appeared at a news forum and denounced the BIR’S action against Pacquiao as “malicious and untimely,” as it came at a time when Pacquiao was preparing to defend his welterweight title.

Ejercito accused the BIR of “crab mentality” for trying to pull down Pacquiao, which, he said, was damaging not only to the boxing champion but also to the Philippines and the Filipino people. ■

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7 TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2012

News-Phils

China will not use force in Spratlys, says new envoy

BY JERRY E. ESPLANADA Philippine Daily Inquirer

CHINA DOES not intend to invade or use its military might to interfere in the affairs of any of its neighbors, including the Philippines and four other countries claiming ownership of the Spratlys in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), Beijing’s new ambassador to Manila said.

“We have no ambition or ability to pose a threat to other countries ... What we want to do is to protect China’s interests, protect its borders and sovereignty. That’s all,” Ambassador Ma Keqing told a news conference held at her residence in Dasmariñas Village, Makati City.

Asked about the US plan to increase its military presence in the region, Ma said “China has responded very calmly” to the issue.

“The Asia-Pacific is wide enough to accommodate (both) the US and China,” she said.

Ma, who assumed her post only two months ago, noted the 11.2-percent increase in China’s military budget this year might have “aroused suspicions” among other countries about its real intentions. She emphasized that China’s military policy was “purely defensive in nature.”

She pointed out that the growth in China’s military budget had been “very minimal” for a long time. “We increased the growth just to compensate for the previous years of neglecting the military budget,” she said.

Ma said the bulk of military expenditures had been used “for logistics, for improvement of the officers’ well-being, to increase wages and so on. It was only in the last few years we used the increase in budget to purchase hardware for the military.”

The military budget was “only 1.3 percent of the total (government) budget,” she stressed, pointing out that it was much lower than that of the United States, United Kingdom, Russia, India and Brazil.

“So with such a military budget, I believe the Chinese Army will not pose any threat to other countries,” she said.

Alarm bells Early this month, Beijing announced that its defense budget would increase to 670.27 billion yuan (about $106.41 billion) this year. The amount marks a slowdown from 2011 when its budget rose by 12.7 percent but still set off alarm bells across Asia and the United States.

In January, Washington disclosed a defense strategy focused on countering China’s rising power.

In her first news conference in the country, Ma expressed hopes the Philippines and China could “finally find a way to start the negotiations” on the joint development of areas in the West Philippine Sea. “As Chinese, we are patient. But with patience and wisdom and goodwill, we can finally find a way,” she said.

“Our thinking is that pending the final resolution of (the Spratlys dispute), we should shelve and put aside our differences and have a joint cooperation (agreement).”

“The resources are there to tap,” Ma said, adding that economic development “is our priority” for China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei, which are claiming ownership over the Spratlys.

than (Unclos). Even according to this treaty, we can find some arguments to support China’s stance. There’s a little bit of misunderstanding that China does not abide by international rules and only to historical facts. Unclos is just one treaty. There are other treaties,” she said.

Del Rosario has repeatedly asserted that a rules-based approach is the “only legitimate and viable way to address disputes in the West Philippine Sea.” The Philippines has been pushing for the availment of the dispute settlement mechanisms under Unclos.

No longer Cold War She expressed hopes the United States “will take a constructive and positive role to make this region more peaceful and stable.”

“We believe and hope that there is a possibility for China and the US to

Joint development “But since it’s in the disputed islands, no one can take action unilaterally. So the proper way to do that, or the starting point is to shelve differences and disputes and have joint cooperation,” she said.

Earlier, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario told the INQUIRER that the joint development of areas in the West Philippine Sea that “are clearly ours is not a viable option” to the country’s problem with China. But he said the Philippines “is open to considering joint development in the disputed areas.”

Del Rosario said he “reiterated our position that we are open to inviting China to the Recto Bank (Reed Bank) as an investor to be governed by our laws” during a recent meeting with Wang Yingfan and Wang Chunqui, two former Chinese ambassadors to the Philippines whowere here on a goodwill visit.

The Recto Bank is an “integral part of the Philippines and, as such, cannot be jointly developed,” he said.

During the news conference, Ma said China “is not against the rulesbased interpretation of the dispute.”

“We also endorse international norms that we should abide by. But one cannot side only with few clauses of the (UN Convention on the Law of the Sea or Unclos) and neglect other clauses,” she said.

Other treaties “There are more international norms

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have cooperation in this region rather than confrontation, I like to believe that based on this argument this is not anymore Cold War. We are living in a new world. We are living in a global village, and we are so interdependent,” she said.

At the same time, she expressed optimism that “all countries in this region can develop their economies and improve the well-being of their people.”

“China has its own interests. Being an Asian country, it’s only natural. We hope our interests will be respected by others, including the US, the Philippines and other countries. At the same time, we respect the interests of other countries. In that way, we can have mutual trust and enhanced cooperation. At the end of the day, economic development will determine the development of a nation,” she added. ■

News-Phils One-man rule, warns Corona; ridiculous, says Malacañang

BY JEROME C. ANING Philippine Daily Inquirer

SAYING HE was fighting for judicial independence and the rule of law, Chief Justice Renato Corona warned that under President Aquino the country was heading toward “one-man rule”.

Malacañang, however, dismissed as “ridiculous” Corona’s warning in a speech in Manila before the Philippine Women Judges Association (PWJA).

“Democracy in this country has never been as vibrant as in the last decade,” presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda told reporters.

“Recent events point out that the nation is now in great peril of teetering toward one-man rule, where executive action aims to shield, to shackle judicial independence undermining the rule of all and erode the systems of governance, particularly the principle and the

mechanism of checks and balances,” Corona said in his speech.

Corona, who is on trial before the Senate impeachment tribunal for alleged culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust, said the foundations of modern Philippine democratic society were being undermined by “transient power-holders of government who are solely mandated and obliged to preserve and implement them.”

“We are fighting for judicial independence to shield the judiciary from improper influence and pressure in our review of any grave abuse of discretion committed by any unit or agency of the Philippine government as well as in settling disputes between and among private and public groups and vested groups,” he said.

Popularity surveys The Chief Justice said the judiciary should be isolated from “political pressures, popularity surveys, lobbyists, private partisan interests, undue influence and outright coercion from the executive and legislative departments or from major

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private stakeholders who are advancing their shared sociopolitical and economic interests.”

“Even if the executive and legislative departments are constitutionally mandated within certain reasonable equalities and privileges guaranteeing their balance of powers with the judiciary, the Philippine Constitution did not leave to the whimsical discretion of the transitory political holders the implementation and preservation of judicial independence,” he said.

Corona reminded the gathering that as magistrates “the credibility of courts is largely dependent on our independence.”

Cecilia Muñoz-Palma “Fear has no place in our hearts. After all, our only must-have is a balm of a good conscience where we dispense justice correctly and administer it in an orderly fashion,” he said.

“Justice can only be effective if those who seek it from our courts leave our courts will full satisfaction that justice has been served and done. The task of maintaining the trust of the people in constitutionalism and the rule of law is a responsibility we all share,” Corona added.

He recalled that the country’s first female Supreme Court Justice Cecilia Muñoz-Palma, who was appointed to the high tribunal by President Ferdinand Marcos in 1973, became a staunch dissenter in rulings that affirmed the decrees and actions enforced by the martial law regime.

Corona paid tribute to “21st century Cecilia Muñoz-Palmas” in the PWJA “who have all raised their voices in expressing unequivocal support for the supremacy of the Constitution and the judicial independence of the Supreme Court.”

Injustice Present in the gathering were Supreme Court Justices Estela Perlas-Bernabe and Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, who is also the PWJA president; executive vice president and Court of Appeals Justice Remedios Salazar-Fernando; retired Supreme Court Justices Ameurfina Melencio-Herrera, Carolina GrinoAquino and Minita Chico-Nazario; and Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim. Corona was applauded several times by about 300 female judges and justices who attended the 25th anniversary of the association with the theme “Women Judges: 25 years of Upholding Judicial Independence, the Rule of Law and Women’s Rights.”

“An injustice to one of us is an injustice to everyone,” De Castro said in her opening statement.

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TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2012 8

‘Ridiculous,’ Part 2 In a news conference, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. also branded as “ridiculous” Corona’s warning.

He pointed out that Corona’s impeachment trial was provided under the Constitution.

“Knowing how probably difficult it is, still that’s provided in the Constitution.

That’s the right way, that’s the only process and I think that we should say that’s not oneman rule. That is adhering to what the Constitution says,” Belmonte said. ■

Pagasa as tourist spot: Why not? says Gazmin

BY DJ YAP Philippine Daily Inquirer DEFENSE SECRETARY Voltaire Gazmin said he supported a plan to develop Philippine-occupied Pagasa Island into a tourist destination despite the protestations of China which is staking a competing claim to the island located in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

“Yes, why not? It’s our territory,” Gazmin told reporters in a briefing in Camp Aguinaldo.

“Since we have a mayor there, why should we need to ask for permission from another country?” he added.

Gazmin said he saw no reason to fear a Chinese invasion of Pagasa despite a statement issued last week by that country’s foreign ministry reiterating its claim of sovereignty over the island it referred to as Zhongye and saying that it opposed any illegal activities there.

“I hope [any intrusion or harassment] will not happen but like the United States said, there will be a strong presence in the Pacific and we will be having a lot of exercises with them in these areas,” he said.

The joint US-Philippine exercises, Gazmin said, should serve as a “deterrent” to others so “we will not be pushed around anymore by the strong countries.”

Asked how the Philippines should respond to China’s protest over the plan to develop the island, he said: “Well, it will go through a process, this protest of theirs.

Then we can easily answer that because that is part of our territory.”

Us-Philippine military exercises have been expanded from the annual Balikatan joint training to include more troops on both sides and more activities. The governments of the Philippines and the United States, however, have denied the stepped up exercises had anything to do with the conflict in the West Philippine Sea with China.

Pagasa is located in the municipality of Kalayaan under the province of Palawan in the Spratlys island chain which is being claimed wholly or in part by the Philippines, China, Taiwan, Brunei, Vietnam and Malaysia. ■

News-Phils

9 TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2012

Palace: Increased US presence not because of China

BY NORMAN BORDADORA AND DJ YAP Philippine Daily Inquirer

MALACAÑANG DENIED the disputes with other countries over territories in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) were the reason for the increased US presence in the Philippines that was announced by President Aquino.

Secretary Edwin Lacierda, Mr. Aquino’s spokesperson, nevertheless acknowledged that the rise in the numbers of US troops and vessels visiting the country would contribute to the stability of the region, as well as improve the Philippine military’s capability to protect the country.

Military ‘updates’ Lacierda said the beefed-up US presence was not related to the territorial disputes with China and other claimant-countries to the Spratlys and other potentially rich islands in the West Philippine Sea. “No, it’s in line with the belief of the President [that] we have to update our military training and capability,” he

said during the daily Malacañang news briefing.

“As you know, our military hardware are not quite up to date with [that of] our neighbors. So it’s imperative for us to update our military hardware and that’s for purposes of the protection of our country as well. But this is primarily to improve our military training and capability,” he said.

As for whether an increased US presence would contribute to stability in the West Philippine Sea, Lacierda said: “It will certainly”.

He reiterated, however, that the primary reason for expanding the joint military exercises with the United States was the expected improvement in the capability of the Philippine military.

“What we can say for certain is that the acquisition of military

hardware and the training of our Philippine troops would certainly improve our capability to protect our borders and to protect ourselves from any threat from without,” he said.

“So that is our position. That’s the reason we’re getting training, not only from them (US), by the way,” he added.

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin described plans to hold more joint military training exercises with the United States as an “expanded VFA (Visiting Forces Agreement), but definitely with no bases” involved.

He said the “high value” and “high impact” exercises would benefit the armed forces of both the Philippines and the US—which would be sending over more troops—although he could

not say how many servicemen would be participating on both sides.

“I cannot be definite on the numbers but definitely there will be more participation of forces from both the US and the Philippines,” Gazmin told reporters during the 115th anniversary celebration of the Philippine Army at Fort Bonifacio.

New exercises He said the exercises would be different from those conducted in Mindanao, which American forces traditionally visit as part of the annual Balikatan joint training exercise.

“We are looking at exercises that will be of value to both countries, those high-impact exercises that can help us in a lot of areas,” said Gazmin.

He cited among these exercises at sea to help the Philippine Navy improve its emergency and disaster response skills.

President Aquino earlier said the Philippines was looking to the United States for help in building up its defense capability in the midst of maritime tensions with China in the West Philippine Sea and other security concerns. ■

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News-Phils

11 TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2012

Pork release tightened

Misuse of funds seen in 2013 elections

BY GIL C. CABACUNGAN Philippine Daily Inquirer

THE AQUINO administration has tightened the release of pork barrel to senators and representatives to stem its misuse especially in the run-up to the campaign in next year’s midterm elections, according to the Department of Budget.

The pork barrel, called the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), provides funding for the pet projects of congressmen and senators. It has been known to be a source of enrichment for certain legislators who receive kickbacks from private contractors handling their projects.

Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad Jr. said the administration had “fine-tuned” the list of eligible projects for the P24.89-billion PDAF allocation this year and the release process as part of efforts to prevent abuses in the use of the pork barrel.

“The House of Representatives and the Department of Budget and Management have agreed that only one realignment will be allowed. We foresee a lot of requests for changes as we approach [the] 2013 elections with expected political alignments and realignments taking place,” said Abad in a text message. [A PADF allocation is realigned when its use is changed.]

The release of the pork barrel has been delayed because of requests by senators and representatives to change the projects they had submitted for funding “sometimes even after the special allotment release order (Saro) has already been issued,” Abad said.

A Saro is released by the DBM to advise lawmakers that funds have been allocated for their PDAF and public works funds.

A senator is entitled to P200 million and a member of the House is allocated P70 million in PDAF yearly.

Same implementing unit In a DBM order issued early this year, the secretaries of education, health, social welfare, interior and local government, environment and natural resources, energy, and public works and highways

GMA allies welcome in new party

BY CHRISTIAN V. ESGUERRA Philippine Daily Inquirer

FORMER PRESIDENT Joseph Estrada is open to accepting allies of ex-president Gloria MacapagalArroyo in a new political coalition formed for the 2013 midterm elections and to jumpstart Vice President Jejomar Binay’s presidential run three years later.

But Estrada said applicants to the United Nationalist Alliance

have been allowed to approve the realignment as long as infrastructure projects fall under the same implementing unit and category as the original purpose.

The DBM has even deleted the provision allowing lawmakers to use up to 10 percent of their PDAF as quick-response fund (QRF) for relief operations in calamity areas.

Lawmakers were previously allowed to realign the unused balance of the QRF at the end of each year for other projects.

Abad said another major cause of delay in the processing of the PDAF was the “failure of processed projects to stay within the menu of eligible projects listed in the GAA (General Appropriations Act).”

Pre-screening To ensure strict compliance, especially by the House, the budget secretary said he had asked the committee on appropriations, chaired by Cavite Rep. Joseph E.A. Abaya, to “pre-screen” all submissions before the DBM started the approval process.

Abad said this was aimed at avoiding delays. Both Abad and Abaya are top officials of the ruling Liberal Party.

Stricter ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio acknowledged that the processing of PDAF had become stricter under the Aquino administration, especially this year.

Tinio said that under DBM guidelines, projects submitted by lawmakers for pork barrel funding should conform with a priority list or standard design prepared by implementing agencies.

He said the DBM also had given priority to fourth to sixth class municipalities and the poor identified by the national household targeting system of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin said the new PDAF rules were affecting both administration and opposition members in the House.

“The DBM wants us to give more details, not only what projects are to be funded and who the beneficiaries are, but also a specific program with objectives,” said Garin.

(UNA) should have “no connection to whatever anomalies” during the nine-year regime of Arroyo.

Arroyo is now detained on electoral sabotage charges. She is also facing graft charges.

Zambales Rep. Milagros “Mitos” Magsaysay, an ally of Arroyo, earlier claimed that Binay had asked her to join the coalition. Estrada also said he was open to getting Magsaysay.

“She’s okay,” he told the INQUIRER in a phone interview.

Estrada said admission of Arroyo allies would “depend on whether they have a good record as public officials.”

Scope, equipment Instead of just indicating the location and cost of projects for construction, lawmakers are now required to show the scope of work and type of equipment to be used.

For housing projects, lawmakers should indicate the number of units to be built and produce a certification “that there is an existing site or lot for the housing construction.”

For electrification projects, lawmakers must report the name of the recipient local government unit and obtain a certification from the National Electrification Administration that a target barangay was on its priority list.

Engine displacement For the purchase of fire trucks, multi-cabs and vans for prisoners, lawmakers should indicate the type of vehicle to be purchased, its engine displacement, the number of units and the names of the recipients.

For health and education projects, members of Congress are required to list down the number of their scholars and health beneficiaries as well as the name of schools and hospitals.

But Tinio remained skeptical whether these reforms would achieve their desired effects.

Patronage politics “It may be an incremental improvement over previous practices but it does not fundamentally change the nature of the PDAF or pork barrel as the basis for patronage politics at the ground level,” he said.

Tinio added that the PDAF was still the executive’s main instrument for influencing the legislature.

He said the changes did not eliminate opportunities for corruption.

In 2011, the government released a total of P19.305 billion in PDAF of which P17.563 billion went to members of the House.

As of April 8, the DBM had released P1.965 billion worth of pork barrel of which P949.543 million went to House members. ■

“It will also depend on how connected they were to GMA. If they were involved in any anomaly, I would be the one to the block their entry,” he added.

Estrada said he was also willing to include former Rep. Juan Miguel Zubiri in UNA’S senatorial ticket next year despite objections from Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III. Pimentel won his election protest against Zubiri, who was erroneously declared the winner of the 12th and final slot in the 2007 senatorial election.

Pimentel missed four years of his six-year term and was able to

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assume office only in August last year after Zubiri stepped down.

“As they say, there is such a thing as politics of addition but we have to make sure that those that we will be adding will not be a liability,” he said.

Asked if Zubiri could be considered an asset to the UNA, the former president said: “I believe so.” He noted that Zubiri was not implicated in the electoral sabotage case against Arroyo even if he was a perceived beneficiary of the purported cheating in 2007.■

World News

TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2012 12

Powerful earthquakes cause panic in Indonesia, but no tsunami or major damage

Ruins after the tsunami which hit Aceh Indonesia in 2004

BY FAKHRURRADZIE GADE THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia - Cries of panic and fervent prayers rang out Wednesday as Indonesians rushed toward high ground after two strong earthquakes raised fears of a killer tsunami.

Alerts were raised as far away as Africa and Australia but this time the big waves didn’t come.

In western Indonesia, distraught women ran into the streets clinging to crying children as back-to-back tsunami warnings revived memories of the 2004 disaster that claimed 230,000 lives in nearly a dozen countries. Others screamed ``God is great’’ as they poured from their homes or searched frantically for family members.

“God! What have we done to deserve this?’’ one mother screamed as residents around her piled into cars and onto the backs of motorcycles.

“What sins have we committed?’’

Two deadly tsunamis in the last decade - the most recent off Japan just one year ago - have left the world much better prepared.

Sirens sounded along coastlines and warnings spread like wildfire by mobile phone text messaging. Though often chaotic, evacuations began immediately, with streets clogged with traffic, especially in Aceh province,

where 170,000 people were killed in 2004.

Patients were wheeled out of hospitals, some still lying in their beds with drips attached to their arms. And at least one hotel guest was slightly injured when he jumped out of his window.

Countries all along the Indian Ocean - from Australia and India to as far off as Africa - received alerts from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii saying they should prepare for the possibility of seismically charged waves.

Hour later the tsunami warnings were lifted, and damage from the tremors was minimal - something experts attributed to the unique nature of the fault line.

The only wave to hit was less than 30 inches (80 centimetres) high, rolling to Indonesia’s emptied coastline.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the first 8.6-magnitude quake was a shallow 14 miles (22 kilometres), striking in the sea 270 miles (435 kilometres) off Aceh’s coast - making it the sixth-largest temblor in the last half-century.

Just as the region was sighing relief, an 8.2-magnitude aftershock followed, again causing only slight damage.

Experts said that’s because both tremors were what are known as ``strike slip’’ quakes, where friction and shaking along the fault line

occurs horizontally, creating more of a vibration in the water.

In contrast, mega-thrust quakes - like the one that hit off Aceh in 2004 and off Japan just over a year ago _ cause the seabed to rise or drop vertically, displacing massive amounts of water and sending towering waves racing across the ocean at jetliner speeds.

Roger Musson, a seismologist at the British geological survey, said initially he’d been “fearing the worst.’’

“But as soon as I discovered what type of earthquake it was ... I felt a lot better.’’

The tremors were felt in neighbouring Malaysia, where highrise buildings shook, and Thailand, India, Singapore and Bangladesh.

Buildings and beaches emptied out, also in Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

But it was Aceh where the real chaos broke loose.

“I’m so scared, I don’t want to lose my family again,’’ cried Aisyah Husaini, whose parents and a son were killed in the 2004 tsunami. She clung to her two children in a mosque in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, where hundreds of people sheltered.

Sitting nearby was 52-year-old Nasir Djamil, who said he and his family weren’t taking any chances they planned to spend the night.

“For sure, this has reawakened all those horrible nightmares,’’ he said. “But I do feel like we learned

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something, that we know much better now what to do.’’

The World Meteorological Organization agreed, saying communication systems set up after the 2004 tsunami appeared to have worked well.

“Our records indicate that all the national meteorological services in the countries at risk by this tsunami have received the warnings in under five minutes,’’ said Maryam Golnaraghi, the head of WMO’s disaster risk reduction program.

The alert was sent out by the U.S. National Weather Service, which operates a tsunami warning station in Hawaii, she said.

Indonesia, a sprawling archipelagic nation of 240 million people, straddles a series of fault lines that makes it prone to volcanic and seismic activity.

Aceh accounted for nearly threequarters of those killed in the giant 9.1-magnitude quake and tsunami of Dec. 26, 2004.

Aftershocks from Wednesday’s quake are likely to persist for weeks or months. Subsequent earthquakes can be as strong or stronger than the initial temblor, but they mostly weaken over time. ■ ___ Associated Press reporters Margie Mason in Hanoi, Muneeza Naqvi in New Delhi and Frank Jordans in Geneva contributed to this report.

Opinion

13 TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2012

THERE’S THE RUB

Healers

BY CONRADO DE QUIROS Philippine Daily Inquirer POPE BENEDICT XVI had an interesting image to drive home his message about humanity’s need to find its way amid the darkness of our times.

“Today, we can illuminate our cities so brightly that the stars in the sky are no longer visible. Is this not an image of the problems caused by our version of enlightenment? With regard to material things, our knowledge and our technical accomplishments are legion, but what reaches beyond, the things of God and the question of good, we can no longer identify.”

There is only one true light, Pope Benedict said. That is faith.

That was his homily last Easter Sunday.

Before that, he had come out with guns blazing, metaphorically speaking, against detractors within the Church calling for an end to the ban on priests marrying and women becoming priests.

Well, first off, I rather thought Cat Stevens put the contrast between how far we have gone toward taming the universe and how little we have gone toward taming ourselves more poetically in a song called “Where Do The Children Play?” It goes: “Well I think it’s fine, building jumbo planes/ Or taking a ride on a cosmic train/ Switch on summer from a slot machine/ Yes, get what you want to if you want, ’ cause you can get anything./ I know we’ve come a long way/ We’re changing day to day/ So tell

me, where do the children play?”

That was of course before Cat Stevens became Yusuf Islam, and deprived the world of his songs. Talk of the day the music died.

Pope Benedict’s stance on married and women priests was of course no different from Pope John Paul II’S, however the latter was hailed as the pope of modern times. But I don’t know that it doesn’t sound more jaded at this time. Unfortunately, the same technology that has made possible the illumination of the world without the illumination of the self has also made possible the illumination of the darker chapters of Christianity.

One recent TV series, entitled “The Borgias,” which has gained a good audience, has done that. In fact the atrocity of married clergy, if not female ones, that Pope Benedict rails against has a historical precedent not in priests but in popes.

Pope Alexander VI was one such. Technically of course, he wasn’t married, he had mistresses.

The longest being Giovanna who bore him four children, Giovanni, Cesare, Lucrezia, and Goffredo, all of whom he acknowledged openly.

He even made Cesare a cardinal. If this version of history is to be believed—a thing Filipino politicians should particularly find interesting— rodrigo Borgia (Jeremy Irons in the series) became pope by spending more than the other candidates to buy the cardinals’ votes. And poisoning a rival to boot.

The Borgias would go down in history as being corrupt, but that appears to be the handiwork of

their enemies—the Roman oligarchy—rodrigo having Spanish origins. In any case, what that oligarchy violently objected to, and found scandalous, was not that the pope had a family but that he had the nerve to subvert them.

As to the darkness surrounding the world, a bit of self-examination, as shown by Pope Paul II when he apologized to the world for Christianity’s own atrocities, might be more what the Great Healer ordered. I just finished reading Hilary Mandel’s “Wolf Hall” (Booker winner for 2008), which is a retelling of Henry VIII’S reign, particularly the period of his marriage to Anne Boleyn and break with the papacy. A retelling which we would be at pains to recognize. It takes a sympathetic view of that break. Thomas More doesn’t come off here anywhere near Robert Bolt’s man for all seasons, he comes off as an inquisitor, sending heretics (Luther’s influence was beginning to spread to Europe) to the torture chambers.

It gives you a great feel of how it was to live in those times. How excommunication was as powerful as an invading army, if not more so, kings cowering at the thought of it. (A thing you find too in Ken Follett’s “Pillars of the Earth,” set in an earlier, more benighted, time, the awesome, often tyrannical, earthly powers of the Church.)

Until the first editions of the Bible translated in English reached England, the owning of which was seditious, most folk hadn’t even heard of St. Paul or the miracles of Christ. What they knew of the Bible, which was in Latin anyway (which

made it inaccessible to them), they got only from the Church. Knowledge is power, and absolute knowledge is absolute power. It was Luther’s heresy to insist that Christians had the right to know what they believed in.

The irony in any case is that Pope Alexander VI, the presumably corrupt pope, left a legacy of statesmanship (apart from support for the arts), with his refusal to go to war when diplomacy would do, while Pope Clement VII, the pope in Henry VIII’S time, left Christendom in disarray with bad alliances and a policy of evangelizing by the force of arms.

None of this is to disparage Christianity or Pope Benedict’s message. Every faith has skeletons in its closet, some more than others. All of this is to encourage more introspection, from Christians above all. Two things flashed in my mind upon reading about the Pope’s homily, neither of which gave me insights into resurrection. One was an image of us as schoolchildren praying during Mission Month for the lost souls of those who lived in dark Africa and those who lived in the even darker non-free World. And two was the thought of the same bishops who gave Gloria MacapagalArroyo a lease on life, or power, picking up the tune and telling the rest of us not to live in the darkness but find the light in their teachings.

Thankfully, there is a passage found in St. Luke’s, and the Bible being available now in all languages, including Italian and Filipino, there is no reason not to know.

It says, healer, heal thyself. ■

AT LARGE

Of gardens, traffic and saviors

BY RINA JIMENEZ-DAVID Philippine Daily Inquirer THERE IS a new “scented garden” in the bigger Sonya’s Garden in Alfonso, Cavite. Located just behind the “Sunflower” pavilion for weddings and big parties, it is, says constant gardener Sonya Garcia, designed to be “the place for proposals.”

Only one couple at a time may use the “scented garden,” planted to lavender, roses, fragrant herbs and pots of orchids. A table for two, covered with a white lace tablecloth and set with a tea time setting in Sonya’s patented “shabby chic” style, stands in one corner. In a far corner, safe from prying eyes, is a divan laid out in white linens. “This is the place for the proposal,” says Sonya, “and I guarantee you, no one can say ‘no’ in this setting.”

Once, an ardent swain even hired a string quartet to serenade his lady love, filling the air with romantic tunes the minute the pair entered the scented garden. “No one can say ‘no’ after such preparation,” concedes Sonya. “But the girl can always change her mind once they leave here.”

There may be no guarantees for love everlasting, true, but it doesn’t hurt to provide the right setting for its blossoming and beginning. “Happy ever after,” or “happy even after” takes more time and effort.

Maybe that explains the huge crowd that converged at Sonya’s that Black Saturday afternoon when we came to visit the scented garden. Despite signs explaining that Sonya’s Garden “is not a public park” and is open only to paying guests,

diners and customers of Sonya’s “panaderia,” spa and country store, “uzis” came in droves, posing for pictures at the many arbors and cozy nooks that dot the estate, and exploring the gardens and paths that wend their way through the cottages and pavilions.

So full was “Sonya’s” most of Holy Week that Sonya herself was driven out of house and home, giving way for guests even in her personal living space. Instead she camped out in the smallest cottage, the original retreat she had built in the 1990s when she first took up residence in Barangay Buck Estate. *** This was where she entertained us for merienda, a leisurely, meandering affair that took many hours and many additions to the menu, from cheese and nuts, cranberries and olives to chocolates, macaroons and buko juice, tarragon tea and mango tarts. She might even have served us her famous salad if we hadn’t protested that dinner was waiting for us back home.

But would you believe that it took us an hour to cover the four- or five-kilometer distance from Sonya’s Garden to Garden Hills Subdivision where our weekend home is? Where before we would make it in 10 minutes even at a leisurely pace, we crawled at an agonizing pace, joining a long line of vehicles that stretched as far back as Batangas.

Making matters worse were cars, jeeps and motorcycles that would take the counterflow, speeding past those of us patiently waiting our turn, only to come to a screeching halt on either

of both shoulders when other vehicles met them head-on. *** I am told that traffic was horrendous along the main Tagaytay-Nasugbu highway. (We had a taste of it on the way down to Manila.) We had driven up late Wednesday evening, and fortunately found no hitches. But as we glanced out our windows the next day affording us a view of the highway, traffic gradually built up to the point that we would see vehicles in a stationary line.

Indeed, the traffic in Tagaytay and environs was one of the main topics of our conversation with Sonya. On Thursday, said Sonya, so many reservations were canceled simply because customers were caught in the crawling line from as far away as Sta. Rosa.

The traffic is fairly manageable most days, even if on Sundays vehicles are backed up for kilometers especially in such notorious choke points as Residence Inn, Bag of Beans and Lourdes Church. Signs also suggest alternative routes, although you will find, when you take these back roads, an awful lack of directional signs, which almost guarantees your losing your way.

I wonder what Tagaytay officials—along with LGU managers in surrounding towns like Sta. Rosa, Silang, Mendez and Alfonso—plan to do about the traffic situation. I mean, if a very popular and accessible tourist destination like Tagaytay, already on the radar of most government officials (especially MMDA Chair Francis Tolentino who was formerly Tagaytay mayor and whose brother

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Bambol is the present mayor) is allowed to deteriorate because of horrible traffic conditions, how will other tourist sites fare?

If we want to meet our fairly ambitious tourism goals until 2016, we need to work immediately on the infrastructure that will guarantee the arrival of tourists and their accessibility to sites both popular and yet undiscovered. But if even Tagaytay—so near to Manila, so popular among foreigners and locals alike—is neglected, how will more remote and less known destinations fare? *** In fairness to MMDA officials, though, they showed they cared for travelers even outside of their jurisdiction by fielding roadside assistance teams along major expressways and routes patronized by many tourists.

We were fortunate that there was an MMDA team stationed in Tagaytay this last Holy Week because we ourselves faced a road emergency shortly after our arrival.

Many thanks to Edward Gonzales, head of the MMDA Road Emergency Group, who responded promptly and eagerly to our call for help to tow our stalled vehicle from Alfonso.

His team, consisting of Gilbert Trinidad, Dennis Bagunu, Neptali Medina, Jonathan de Leon and Roberto Lacsamana, were quite professional, extending assistance above and beyond the call of duty.

To all who extended help—you know who you are—you made us realize the reality of Easter, filling our hearts with gratitude and joy. ■

Opinion

TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2012 14

ANALYSIS

Mindanao power shortage ‘remains grim’

BY AMANDO DORONILA Philippine Daily Inquirer ELECTRICITY USERS in power-strapped Mindanao are up in arms against government plans to build more coal-fired plants to relieve the critical energy shortage, warning that these would lock the island into a polluting source of power. The warning was sounded ahead of the energy summit in Davao City at the weekend by the environmentalist foundation, Greenpeace Southeast Asia, which claimed that contracts had been prepared to allow the construction of coal plants which are reported to be “more expensive, dirty, and nonrenewable power.”

The summit has been convened to seek short- and long-term solutions to the energy shortage. Press reports quoted Greenpeace Southeast Asia as claiming that environmental compliance certificates had been “hastily approved” for the new plants.

At a pre-summit forum last week, according to newspaper reports, Energy Undersecretary Josephine Patricia Asirit told businessmen, local executives and officials of power cooperatives that preparations were underway to build more coal-fired plants to generate 700 megawatts of base-load power and to revive the 100-watt Iligan diesel plant owned by the Alcantaras. The power barges deployed in Mindanao would produce an extra 120 megawatts since the Agus Pulangui plants,

which produce 180 megawatts, would be shut down, with repairs starting on April 17, according to news reports. She said using the Iligan diesel plant and power barges would mean that power rates in Mindanao would go up by 50 to 80 centavos per kilowatt hours.

Asirit said Mindanao had a daily demand of 1,200 megawatts and a shortfall of 100 megawatts, and that demand was growing at 50 megawatts yearly. Some 1,400 megawatts would be in the pipeline for Mindanao from October 2012 to 2014. With these costs, the government was in effect leaving the public only two options—bite the bullet of high electricity costs or suffer the consequences of worsening electricity shortages. Rep. Teddy Casiño of the party-list group Bayan Muna said: “It appears that there is enough power supply in Mindanao. The problem is that it is too expensive, so the power distributors are not buying for fear of going bankrupt.”

Greenpeace Southeast Asia criticized the government for insisting on using coal. It said: “The government has obviously used the power crisis and created an emergency situation to ram down the throat of the people of Mindanao the dirty and coal-fired power plants.” It said it would remind President Aquino at the Davao summit that he promised during the 2010 presidential election campaign to phase out the coal-fired power plants. “This is a complete turnaround,” Greenpeace said, adding that it “would lock the country to harmful fossil fuel.”

Press reports from Davao City contradicted claims by the Department of Energy (DOE) that Mindanao had experienced only 30 minutes to two hours of power outages a day. Undersecretary Asirit has accused the media of blowing the power shortage out of proportion, claming during the pre-summit forum that there were no 10-, 12- or 14-hour blackouts on the island. She refused to call the shortage a “crisis,” and called it a mere “situation.”

The electric cooperatives in Mindanao opposed the planned privatization of the power plants and barges. They also asked for the deferment of the planned privatization of the Agus and Pulangui hydroelectric plants, as it would help ease the power crisis without resulting in a drastic spike in electricity prices. All these proposals to relieve the shortage were mainly shortterm measures, and no long-term plans have been proposed so far.

According to a report from Davao City by Businessworld, the DOE estimates that more than 50 percent of Mindanao’s supply of electricity comes from hydropower sources, the bulk from the Agus power complex in Lanao and the Pulangui IV plant in Bukidnon.

The Agus plants are already 30 years old.

Among the island’s major generation plants, only STEAG State Power Inc. in Misamis Oriental was built in the last 10 years.

Still according to Businessworld, it has

been underscored in various forums that the inability to build power plants over the last two decades was a major factor in the current problem. “To a certain extent, this was influenced by the grid’s dependence on hydropower, where the generation cost is below P2 per kilowatt hour or less than half the estimated cost for coal-fired plants,” the report said.

The short-term prospects of making up for the shortage in electricity appeared grim, as powersector leaders in Mindanao remained pessimistic. “Even if we comply with the latest circular from the Department of Energy, the effect will not be significant in terms of making up for the power shortage in South Cotabato and the entire Mindanao,” said Santiago Tudio, the general manager of the South Cotabato Electric Cooperative.

He was referring to a DOE circular of last month, directing distribution utilities to comply with the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001.

The law provides sanctions that include disconnection from the grid if the customer fails to comply with a load-to-main level.

In Zamboanga City, power availability expectations remained low. “We expect that late April will be the worst,” with the daily outage in the city likely to be longer than six hours by that time, said Jesus Castro, the acting general manager of the Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative. ■

VIEWPOINT

‘Lazarus moments’

BY JUAN L. CRUZ Philippine Daily Inquirer “YOU’RE VERY another na,” youngsters sometimes quip. This quaint “Taglish” expression resonates in Easter, notes Catalino Arevalo of the Loyola House of Studies.

After the resurrection, Jesus passes through barred doors then vanishes, Luke and John recount. Few recognize Him immediately. Time and space no longer constrain Jesus, Luke and John observe. “He had become another.”

Traumatized disciples lock themselves inside the Upper Room. They recoil in fright when Jesus appears. “Touch me. And see for yourself that a ghost has no flesh and bones,” He says, displaying nail-pierced hands and side. “You’re very another na.”

Mary Magdalene is weeping outside the empty tomb. She thinks it is the gardener asking, “Who are you looking for?” After Jesus calls “Mary,” she “turns and (says)… Master.” In Emmaus village, Jesus vanishes after two disciples recognize him in the “breaking of the bread.” “You’re very another na.”

Would you know it is Easter from the newscasts? Chief Justice Renato Corona demands that his unexplained dollar accounts remain unexplained. Fugitives Jovito Palparan and Joel Reyes thumb noses at the cops. One out of three kids go hungry, Unicef reports.

North Korea prefers nukes over wheat for its food-short people. UN estimates over 9,000

civilians have been killed since Syrians demanded greater liberties a year ago. Iran and its allied Lebanese force, Hezbollah, cheer the slaughter.

Like Syria’s president Bashar Al-Assad, few of us think of our deaths—and what lies beyond. Yet, Easter offers a “Lazarus moment” to all, whether buried in a pauper’s grave or in an air-conditioned mausoleum.

“Lazarus, come forth,” Christ cries into a Bethany grave, two miles from Jerusalem. The tomb’s stone cover had been rolled away on his insistence. “I am the resurrection and the life,” Jesus tells Lazarus’ sisters Martha and Mary.

“Whoever believes in me, though he die, shall live.”

Lazarus emerges, after being entombed for four days. “His hands and feet (were) bound with linen strips and his face wrapped in a cloth,” John records. “Untie him and let him go,” Jesus commands.

We, too, will be untied from our inevitable burial shrouds and let go. All will have our “Lazarus moment.”

“The hour is coming when all those lying in the tombs will hear my voice and come out,” Christ says. “Those who’ve done good shall rise to live, and those who have done evil shall be condemned.”

Coconut levies, overpriced police helicopters, even Liechtenstein bank accounts, won’t matter then. But mercy will, Matthew teaches. Easter’s bottom line is about sharing our food with the hungry, clothing the naked, soothing the sick, and

reaching out to prisoners. “Whatever you did to the least of my brothers, you did it to me.”

For Christ, the deepest hurts were those delivered from his own select group: Judas’ betrayal with a kiss, and Peter’s trio of denials, says a note from Alfredo Roces in Australia. “We have all felt the sting of betrayal from the trusted.”

Yet, Christ’s first request after rising is: “Tell Peter….”

“There are many Easter stories,” writes Irish theologian Eammon Bredin. “But they all express the same message: God did not allow Him to be held in death.” This is not some kind of “[H]is cause goes on.” Rather, it is asserted that Jesus has been brought, through death—into God’s future.

That experience “brought Peter the Rock out of Simon the betrayer and a crucified Paul out of a crucifying Saul.” It also forged a church of martyrs from scattered disciples.

The roll includes Lorenzo Ruiz of Binondo, martyred on Japan’s Nishizaka Hill in 1637 and Pedro Calungsod of the Visayas. In 1672, Calungsod was hacked to death in Guam while protecting his co-missionary: the Jesuit Diego Luis de San Vitores. He will be canonized at Piazza San Pietro on Oct 21, 2012.

In the Easter appearances, Paul and others use a different language. They do not say: “We’ve seen Jesus again,” but “we have seen the Lord and worshipped Him.” Those who proclaim Easter in their lives, like Mother Teresa of Calcutta or Blessed John Paul II, sometimes stammer to articulate its meaning.

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After Easter, Christ was “seen by some, but not by others,” notes Oblate columnist Ron Rolheiser.

The Resurrection accounts form “an almost perfect parallel” along those of the first Christmas.

The Child was real, not a ghost. The shepherds saw Him, “experts of the law” did not. Some got the meaning and this changed their lives. Thus, the Magi “returned to their home country by another way.” Others massacred every child below two years of age in Bethlehem.

Many passed by Calvary only to mock the crucified. The good thief asked merely “to be remembered,” and Christ gifted him with a quarter-of-midnight entry into the kingdom.

Herod and Caiaphas “hardened their hearts.

What enables some to see but not others? Mary Magdalene and some women go to the tomb at the dawn of Easter. Peter and John race to the tomb when told it is empty. “Others remain as they are, locked inside their own worlds.”

“Whether we see or not, depends upon what’s going on inside our own hearts,” Rolheiser adds.

“The miraculous doesn’t force itself on us.”

In Easter 2012, one can reach out across thousands of years to a man who spoke of the resurrection as itaga sa bato. Deaths had decimated Job’s family and flocks then. His friends had vamoosed. And skin cancer gnawed at him.

“I know that my Redeemer lives,” Job insisted.

“And in the end, He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God.” ■ *** Email: juan_mercado77@yahoo.com

Business-Phils

15 TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2012

Power companies urged to put up more facilities Gov’t must compel firms to meet rising demand

BY TINA ARCEO-DUMLAO Philippine Daily Inquirer

THE GOVERNMENT must encourage power generation companies to put up new facilities that will generate the much needed additional electricity whether by “incentive or compulsion” to help ease the country’s tight supply.

Manuel V. Pangilinan, president and chief executive officer of power distributor Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), stressed the need for developers to build new and more power plants to enable the country to meet the increasing demand for electricity.

This goes not only for Meralco, which is currently building a $2.3 billion 1,500-megawatt power portfolio over the medium term, but for all other players as well.

According to Pangilinan, having more facilities will bode well in Meralco’s goals of helping the government bring down power rates.

As it is, Meralco has found ways to negotiate for power supply contracts with generation companies that will benefit the customers. However, the utility can only negotiate so much given the tight power supply.

Pangilinan has already said that Meralco expects electricity supply to be “fairly tight” in two to three years’ time should the growth in demand continue for a prolonged period.

The sales volume in January this year rose by 8 percent compared to the same month last year, driven mainly by new connections from the commercial and

industrial sectors, and from organic growth.

Meanwhile, Pangilinan said that incentives like the feed-in-tariff (FIT) mechanism are not expected to “move the needle” because renewable energy sources are expensive and will not be able to provide large baseload capacities that are instead needed to provide stable and adequate power supply to the country.

“How large a wind farm or a solar plant can you build? It’s small, say 50 MW to 90 MW? We need more (capacity) than that. It’s not gonna solve the power supply problem, but it will sort of help. But it will be expensive,” Pangilinan explained.

He noted that there is a premium that comes with using environment-friendly renewable energy resources. While he does not have a problem with RE, Pangilinan noted that consumers must be willing to pay for higher rates should they want power generated from renewable energy sources.

The feed-in-tariff scheme, a much-awaited mechanism provided under the Renewable Energy Law, is among the most critical considerations in a renewable energy project. The scheme will determine if a project is economically feasible and viable.

These will likewise assure developers of future cash flows since electricity end-users will be charged fixed amounts to cover production of energy from renewable sources.

“Are they willing to pay for it? The FITS are higher than traditional fuel source. If they’re wiling to pay for more expensive power, then the country can build more solar plants and wind farms. That’s not a problem. But you have to build a lot of these facilities to address the needs of the country. There’s also a price for protecting the environment and this is it. So this country’s got to make up its mind,” Pangilinan further said. ■

Energy agency pushes approval of RE projects

BY AMY R. REMO Philippine Daily Inquirer

CONTRARY TO critics’ claims, the Department of Energy has not been remiss in its mandate to boost the local renewable energy (RE) sector as it even targets to sign at least 15 service contracts every month or a total 180 contracts for this year.

However, Mario Marasigan, director of the DOE’S energy utilization and management bureau, admitted in an interview that the department did not meet its quota for January and February this year. He expressed confidence that the DOE would be able to meet the total quota set for 2012.

Marasigan explained that the DOE was swamped with documents to evaluate as those developers who have been granted service contracts back in 2009 and 2010 were now coming back to the DOE either to apply anew and proceed with the development stage or give up the area.

This was on top of the new applications being evaluated by the agency.

As of Jan. 9 this year, there were 222 pending applications for renewable energy service contracts. These proposed projects were expected to generate as much as 3,234.54 megawatts.

According to Marasigan, the DOE was also kept busy with other preparations as it targets to bid out by the third or fourth quarter this year as many as 50 new and untapped potential run-of-river hydro sites in Luzon and the Visayas for exploration and development.

Energy Undersecretary Jose M. Layug Jr. earlier explained that the government has decided to use the bidding model in granting renewable energy service contracts—as against the “first come, first served” scheme—in a bid to ensure a more level playing field for investors. ■

BSP has room to cut rates to boost growth, BPI says

BY DORIS C. DUMLAO Philippine Daily Inquirer

BANGKO SENTRAL ng Pilipinas officials may want to reconsider adopting a “neutral” monetary stance in the second semester, economists from Bank of the

Philippine Islands said.

In a commentary dated April 4, Emilio Neri Jr. of the BPI Financial Markets Group research team said that although headline inflation had declined below the full-year target range, markets are seen to continue pricing based on a neutral policy stance for the rest of the year.

“However, policymakers may realize that a 5-percent growth rate for the Philippines is not only unexciting, vis-à-vis our Asean neighbors, but also well below the country’s growth potential,” the research said.

The commentary was issued after last week’s report that March inflation had further decelerated to 2.6 percent—lower than the consensus of 2.8 percent, the February figure of 2.7 percent and well below the BSP’S full-year

target of 3-5 percent for second month in a row.

But one factor that may lead the BSP to reconsider its policy stance in the second half, the report said, would be the release of the first quarter 2012 GDP report by end May, noting that this could provide a fairer picture of the true health of the domestic economy.

“Benign inflation prints for April and May would provide even more impetus to cut policy rates as an assurance against another mediocre growth performance for the Philippines this year,” the report said.

“Besides the manageable inflation path, recent economic reports show continued improvements in the economy, and most analysts who have been very pessimistic about the outlook for the Philippines are

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now raising their forecasts for full-year growth to closer to 5 percent.”

At the same time, the report said, uncertainties remain about the country’s growth, and doubts remain whether the Philippines can grow to its potential levels.

For one thing, it said, elevated oil prices remained a threat to the Filipino consumer.

“Higher crude prices have led to an increase in local pump prices, public transportation costs, and plans to jack up electricity prices. These [may] force the ordinary Filipino to spend less on consumer durables and other items that may jumpstart the country’s industry sector,” the report said.■

Sports Pacquiao using Hoya-like style versus Bradley

BY ROY LUARCA Philippine Daily Inquirer MANNY PACQUIAO has started strategizing so he could punch through Timothy Bradley’s defenses when they tangle for the World Boxing Organization welterweight championship on June 9 at the Mgmgrand in Las Vegas.

The Filipino eight-division world champion said he intends to apply the same tactics and techniques he used in stopping Hall of Fame-bound Oscar De La Hoya after eight lopsided rounds on Dec. 6, 2008.

In that career-defining fight, Pacquiao used lateral movements, went in and out, side to side, and exploited awkward angles to confound De La Hoya, whowas 1/2 inches taller at 5-foot-10, and eventually force the former Olympic and six-division champion to quit on his stool.

Bradley, at 5-6, is half an inch shorter than Pacquiao and five years younger at 28. And even though he’s the WBO light welterweight king, the American walks around at 160 pounds.

The unbeaten Bradley (28-0 with 12 knockouts), notorious for his headfirst lunges, is no plodder.

Bradley’s broad body Though familiar with Bradley’s antics, Pacquiao said he may still engage him at short range and attack his foe’s broad body to break him down.

Pacquiao revealed his fight plan to broadcaster Snow Badua of Teleradyo Sports.

Heeding trainer Freddie Roach’s advice of a longer training period in the United States, Pacquiao said his Baguio camp will end on May 5.

Team Pacquiao then heads to Los Angeles a day or two later for the final phase of his training at Roach’s Wild Card Gym in Hollywood.

To prepare for the tough grind ahead Pacquiao has been jogging in the early morning at Brentville International in Mamplasan, Laguna.

The ring superstar also did sprints, limbering exercises and light training when he visited his constituents in Sarangani province.

Pacquiao is coming off an unimpressive majority decision victory over Juan Manuel Marquez last November and admittedly wants a better performance against Bradley.

Though he has been installed a heavy favorite by Las Vegas oddsmakers, Pacquiao said he is not taking the American lightly. ■

Canucks’ Daniel Sedin out for Game 1; Willie Mitchell feels for former teammate

BY MONTE STEWART THE CANADIAN PRESS

VANCOUVER - Willie Mitchell could relate to Daniel Sedin’s plight Wednesday.

The Kings defenceman, sidelined by a concussion two seasons ago, empathized with his former teammate after Sedin missed Vancouver’s morning skate, ruling him out for Game 1 of the Western Conference quarter-final with Los Angeles.

“It’s a stressful situation, a brain injury,’’ Mitchell said. “It’s an unfortunate situation for him, for sure.’’

Sedin has been out with a concussion since taking an elbow to the head from Chicago Blackhawks defenceman Duncan Keith last month.

Canucks coach Alain Vigneault refused to comment on a Swedish media report that quoted Sedin’s father saying the winger experienced a headache after skating earlier in the week.

Sedin practised with the team Monday for the first time since he was injured.

While he didn’t speak to the media, his teammate and twin brother Henrik said he was “100 percent.’’

Henrik Sedin declined to say Wednesday whether his brother had suffered a setback after Monday’s practice.

Daniel Sedin led the Canucks in goals during the regular season with 30 while adding 37 assists. He missed nine games, eight of which the Canucks won.

Mason Raymond is expected to take Daniel Sedin’s spot on the first line alongside Henrik Sedin and Alex Burrows in Game 1.

The Canucks, who finished first overall in the NHL for the second straight season, are looking to return to the Stanley Cup final after losing in seven games to Boston in 2011.

Mitchell was injured in January 2010 while playing for the Canucks on a check from behind by Pittsburgh Penguins star Evgeni Malkin. He missed the rest of the regular season and playoffs and his future was in doubt before he was deemed healthy in the summer and signed with the Kings as an unrestricted free agent.

The NHL has cracked down on head shots in the past two seasons, and Mitchell believes the tougher stance and increased knowledge of concussions, will improve players’ health - during and after their careers.

“I’m happy that it’s evolving,’’ said Mitchell of the NHL’s attitude on concussions. “I really do believe that our generation of players is the evolution of,

Magsanoc takes over as San Beda head coach

BY CEDELF P. TUPAS Philippine Daily Inquirer

FORMER PBA star Ronnie Magsanoc is taking over as coach of NCAA champion San Beda, replacing Frankie Lim. The appointment of Magsanoc, a veteran of 15 PBA seasons and currently an assistant coach of the Meralco Bolts, comes a few days after Lim stepped down as coach of the Red Lions after five seasons.

Magsanoc called his appointment a “privilege,” having played high school ball at San Beda. “I am thankful for the privilege to mentor the Red Lions,” said Magsanoc, who takes over a program that has ruled the last two seasons of the league and five of the last six.

“I likewise acknowledge the winning programs of coach Koy Banal and coach Frankie Lim dating back to 2006.”

Lim stepped down in the wake of the two-year suspension slapped on him and on San Sebastian coach Roger Gorayeb by the NCAA for their role in a brawl on the sidelines hopefully, minimizing concussions in the game. Unfortunately, it’s our health that’s at risk while it’s happening. But if you look, our generation can be a big part—whether it’s myself speaking out (Sidney Crosby) speaking out, or other players speaking out—about (reducing) them.’’

Mitchell said Crosby’s two concussions, which caused the Pittsburgh captain to miss almost a year of action, forced the league to take action. NHL brass also had to look at the concussion issue at a much higher level because of the scrutiny that Crosby’s health woes brought.

“Unfortunately, it happened to him,’’ said Mitchell. “I don’t wish that on anyone. But fortunately for the rest of his peers in the game, it did happen to him, because now they’ve looked at it a little bit more and acted on it.’’

An evolution, he added, is also occurring in the league office with chief disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan doing a better job of handing out punishment.

A move to smaller shoulder pads next season will also reduce risk in shoulderto-head hits.

Mitchell said it will take time to end the concussion problem. However, the league must still ensure that players can still play the game at high intensity and at a high level.

“We don’t want to change that,’’ said Mitchell. We love that. That’s why we play. But do it in a safe environment.’’ ■

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TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2012 16

of an NCAA women’s volleyball match.

The incident started when Ola Adeogun, the Lions’ center, felt that members of the San Sebastian men’s volleyball team shouted racial slurs at him while the players were doing warmups outside the gym.

The volleyball players said they were just doing routine chants, but the confrontation spilled over into the gym, triggering the fight.

Magsanoc, named one of the top 25 greatest players of the professional league, said he looks forward to sustaining the winning tradition of the Red Lions.

“It’s like going full circle for me after studying in San Beda and playing for the Red Cubs and now going back to serve the school,” said Magsanoc. ■

Manotoc new NGAP head

BY MUSONG R. CASTILLO Philippine Daily Inquirer TOMMY MANOTOC, the former national team mainstay who became a Grand Slam winning PBA coach on the side, was yesterday elected as the new National Golf Association of the Philippines president.

The 62-year-old who used to chair the NGAP’S youth development program said he will be a “working president” as he vowed to continue “promoting golf development by putting up quality tournaments all over the country.”

Representing Canlubang, Manotoc, who first joined the board in 2010, topped the voting with 46, the same number of votes garnered by former president Rod Feliciano.

Feliciano earned another term as chair, while Caloy Coscoluella, representing Alabang, was elected vice president after getting 43 votes in the polls at the Manila Yacht Club.

Jun Galindez, the former Alabang GC president, is the new secretary-general.

Abe Rosal, another representative of Canlubang, was named treasurer with Pueblo de Oro’s Alice Andrada as the new auditor.

Philip Ella Juico, the former Philippine Sports Commission chair and current president of Wack Wack, was elected to the board together with Armed Forces GC’S Gen. Bonifacio de Castro, Eastridge’s Erwin Temeña, Baguio CC’S Federico Agcaoili, and Raymond Bunquin of Sherwood Hills.

One of Manotoc’s programs before joining the NGAP was the National Caddies’ Open, which produced former PH team mainstays Jonel Ababa, Mark Fernando, Jessie Balasabas and Rufino Bayron.

Manotoc, individual champion in the Seniors division of the PAL Interclub, was also chiefly responsible in giving Jobim Carlos and Rupert Zaragosa the exposure needed to boost their amateur careers.

“It’s really good that premier clubs have started to come back,” said Manotoc, citing the entry of Sherwood while adding that Apo has also promised to rejoin the country’s golf body.■

17 TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2012

News-Canada

BC Premier Clark plans second Jobs and Trade Mission to Japan, Korea and the Philippines

BY MELISSA REMULLA-BRIONES PHILIPPINE CANADIAN INQUIRER NORTH VANCOUVER, B.C. - Premier Christy Clark will be in Asia for another trade mission to promote BC as a safe harbor for trade and business.

The new mission aimed at protecting and creating jobs in BC will take Clark and her entourage to Japan, Korea and the Philippines.

While in Japan and Korea, Clark will meet with government and business officials to discuss business prospects on natural gas, mining, clean technology, forestry, food

products, transportation, and Asia’s huge demand for bio mass products.

While in the Philippines, Clark will be meeting with government officials to discuss labor mobility and skilled workers. Clark is the first BC Premier to ever visit the country.

According to Clark, “We have a large and industrious and hugely successful Filipino community here in BC. We are blessed by the people from Asia who over the last couple of centuries have immigrated and settled here, strengthened our community, made it better, created jobs, brought new citizens many workers to our shores.”

Clark said it will be an opportunity for her to get to know the Philippines, which is “a country which we have forged a newer, but very deep, and no less rewarding, friendship over the years.”

When asked about the potential problem of credential recognition new immigrantrecruits from the Philippines might face, Clark said, “You know credential recognition is something that largely sits in the area of the Federal Government so we are working really hard with the Federal Government. I have raised it with the Prime Minister and with the Immigration Minister every opportunity that I’ve had and we are going to keep doing

Optimism grows among Canadian firms, expectations for hiring positive

BY JULIAN BELTRAME THE CANADIAN PRESS OTTAWA - Business optimism in Canada is rising sharply as the gloom of the winter months appears to be giving way to better expectations for sales, hiring and investment, a new Bank of Canada survey suggests.

The quarterly survey of senior management from 100 representative firms, conducted over four weeks in February and March, found the outlook for future sales among the most positive since the recession.

It showed 58 of the respondents expected higher sales in the next 12 months, as opposed to 23 that expected fewer.

That put Bank of Canada’s important measure of business confidence at a positive 35, a big turnaround from the negative four balance of opinion in its January report.

It follows an unexpectedly strong employment report last week from Statistics Canada, which said 82,000 jobs were added in March, reversing what had been a few months of modest employment reversals.

“The good Canadian news just keeps rolling,’’ said Derek Holt, an economist with Scotia Capital.

The snap-back in business confidence, while encouraging, raises the risk of the central bank moving to hike interest rates later this year, although there is no urgency, added Bank of Montreal’s deputy chief economist Douglas Porter.

For that to happen, he said, “firmer business sentiment has to translate into firmer growth.’’

In last month’s federal budget, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty adopted the consensus forecast of 2.1 per cent growth this year,

followed by 2.4 per cent in 2013—both modest for a recovery period.

The improvement in confidence follows months of mildly positive economic data and waning risk, particularly in respect to the European debt situation. The U.S. recovery has picked up steam of late, although Friday’s 120,000 new jobs number as considered a setback.

“The results of the spring survey point to more optimism among firms,’’ said the central bank’s report Monday.

“With modestly improved expectations for near-term U.S. economic growth and fewer concerns about the global economic and financial situation, some of the dampening effects on sales expectations have subsided, and more firms report that recent indicators of future sales activity, such as order books and new contracts, have improved compared to a year ago.’’

Canadian firms are also reporting positive spillover effects from strong commodity prices for natural resources that Canada sells the world, the Bank of Canada said.

The central bank’s latest survey, which was conducted between Feb. 21 and March 15, found 43 percent of firms saying they will add employees over the next year, about the same as in January.

As well, more firms said they will increase their level of investment in machinery and equipment - a good signal for productivity and economic growth over the next 12 months.

The central bank calls the plus-24 balance of opinion - the difference between positive and negative responses on this question “solidly positive.’’

Meanwhile, firms are not reporting significantly greater capacity pressures or

labour shortages, and believe both input costs and inflation will be moderate.

As well, the executives say credit conditions have eased over the past three months, which should make it easier and less expensive to fund operations and expansion.

A separate survey of senior loan officers also found that both the price and conditions for lending to firms have improved.

The business survey is one of many indicators that are likely to be considered in the Bank of Canada’s new outlook for the economy, which will be published next week.

In a recent interview, governor Mark Carney described economic conditions as “a bit firmer than we had anticipated in January,’’ and has said that the slack in the economy has tightened.

Although prospects for growth are improving, economic opinion is unanimous that there is virtually no chance Carney will lift his foot off the pedal on stimulative interest rates next week, the central bank’s next policy setting date.

The bank’s trendsetting interest rate has been fixed at one per cent since September 2010, even though Carney continues to express concern such easy lending conditions are luring many Canadians into high levels of borrowing.

Analysts note that the alternative would likely be worse raising rates would slow down domestic economic activity and boost the Canadian dollar, making Canadian exports less attractive.

“We retain our expectation that the Bank will wait until next year before raising interest rates,’’ said Leslie Preston, an economist with TD Bank. ■

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that. [Richmond-Steveston MLA] John Yap has headed up an immigration task force that includes Stockwell Day and they are coming forward with their recommendations very soon.”

Clark added, “I think it [the report] is going to include some comment about credential recognition because you know the thing is—we are blessed with the population that comes to British Columbia with their credentials already in place when we are short of people in many of the different areas of expertise. So we need to make it a little easier. If other countries have gone to the trouble and expense of educating people, we should make the most of that education when people get here.”

Clark and her entourage leaves for the mission on May 12. ■

Fed cheques will no longer be in the mail as government moves to direct deposit THE CANADIAN PRESS OTTAWA - The federal government won’t be able to use that time-honoured stalling tactic—the cheque is in the mail—much longer.

It’s phasing out the use of government cheques to deliver payments to Canadians over the next four years.

It will rely instead on direct deposit, saving some $17.4 million a year and reducing paper consumption and greenhouse-gas emissions while it’s at it.

The government estimates that it costs about 82 cents to issue a cheque, whereas a direct-deposit payment costs only 13 cents.

The federal receiver general issues about 300 million payments each year, almost 77 per cent of which are already made by direct deposit.

The government is aiming to stop issuing cheques altogether by April 2016 - except for Canadians in remote locations with no access to a nearby financial institution or other similar “exceptional circumstances.’’

“The government of Canada is committed to using taxpayer dollars wisely,’’ Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose said in a news release.

“Increasing the use of direct deposit will contribute significant savings through the reduction in the use of paper and related cheque-printing and delivery costs.’’

Citizens and businesses currently receiving federal government cheques have the next four years to register to receive payments by direct deposit.

Information on enrolling for direct deposit payments can be found at http:// www.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca/recen/txt/ index-eng.html. ■

News-Canada Leonardo “Ding” Cunanan: From Poverty to Prominence TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2012 20

A Filipino Diaspora Story

San Pablo, the executive director desk that I used to dust was already mine.”

Ding with son Leo, who now manages Dahong Pilipino

BY MELISSA REMULLA-BRIONES PHILIPPINE CANADIAN INQUIRER WHAT WOULD the future have in store for a shoeshine boy and an orphan?

Many good things, as Ding Cunanan, patriarch of Dahong Pilipino and prominent figure in the PhilippineCanadian society of Vancouver, found out.

“When I was 9 years old, I had to wake up at 4:00 in the morning para kumuha ng pandesal sa bakery (to get bread from the bakery). Nagrarasyon ako ng pandesal sa kapitbahay (I deliver bread to our neighbors)... shoeshine boy, nagtitinda ng ice drop, naging kunduktor pa ako sa jeep (I was a shoeshine boy, sold ice pops and became a caller for jeepney passengers),” he explains. When he was 14, the YMCA invited him to participate in a summer camp in Los Banos, Laguna along with other underprivileged children. “At the end of the camp they selected me as the most outstanding,” his eyes twinkled as he reminisced.

This started his career at the Y (short for YMCA) where he became the errand boy, dusting chairs and tables and delivering messages, and when he was older, writing reports. Little did he know that what started as a chance encounter would last 14 years and take him to Canada. “When I left the Y in

Life in Canada: Starting all over again In 1971, Ding went to Canada as national program director of YMCA Philippines to observe YMCA programs in Vancouver. He fell in love with Canada and decided to stay, but it was not yet a haven of diversity as it is now, and Ding found himself faced with challenges along the way.

He told of a story of how he failed – four times – to get at least an interview with ICBC’s public relations department for the Information Writer vacancy. At that time, he was already with ICBC’s mail room, where he sorted and distributed mail to the staff, but he wanted to go back to writing, which is his passion.

At his fifth attempt, he told the lady receiving the applications, “You know what? This is my fifth time to apply and I never got interviewed. I only got a letter that more qualified people have been selected. I expect to have at least an interview so you can find out if I am qualified or not. If I don’t get any interview, I will file a grievance with the union. Failing on that, I’m prepared to go on the human rights commission because I don’t know if it has something to do with the color of my skin or my accent.”

He got the interview and the job.

From being an Information Writer, Ding was promoted to the post of Supervisor but this led to more hardship.

“If we have irate callers at the ICBC, the

staff gives it to the supervisor. If they are irate, by the time I get the call, they are more irate especially if they notice that I have an accent. There were lots of bigots asking me – what are you doing here? How come you have a job here [when] we cannot have the jobs you are having? Give me to somebody who speaks English.” He developed high blood pressure and although he loved his job, he thought it was probably time to change careers.

Opportunity presented itself when Ding was appointed to the Immigration and Refugee Board in Vancouver. Of this job, he had this to say: “You know I never expected that someday I would be in Canada making decisions on persecuted people because I had a sad childhood, [and] grew up in poverty.”

Ding found himself sitting in a one- or two-person tribunal making lifealtering decisions for refugee-claimants, with experienced Canadian lawyers appearing before him.

His decisions had farreaching implications, as he found out, when he was ordering at the neighborhood Tim Horton’s and the cashier said to him, “Sir, I recognize you, you were the judge in my refugee hearing. That was

a few years ago but I cannot forget you.

I was a refugee from Africa and you accepted me. You saved my life.”

It was this work that has given him the greatest satisfaction.

Dahong Pilipino In the midst of his climb up the corporate ladder, Ding was also very active with the Filipino-Canadian community and was the only Filipino community journalist. The writer in Ding allowed him to conceptualize a Filipino newspaper that delivers news about the Filipino communities in Vancouver. He started Philippine Chronicles which opened several doors for him. After one year of operations and the stress of dividing his time between news gathering and his regular job, he sold Philippine Chronicles to the Watcos. He then felt he needed to do something about the fact that there was no Filipino directory.

“I wanted to improve the image of Filipino Canadians here...

Akala basta Filipino, nanny or caregiver (They think if you are Filipino you are either a More on page 21

“If I still don’t get a job interview for this position, I will file a grievance with the union.

Failing on that, I’m prepared to go on the human rights commission because I don’t know if it has something to do with the color of my skin or my accent.”

CALL FOR

STORIES

If you are part of the Filipino diaspora and would like to share your Canadian experience to inspire Filipinos in Canada and around the world, please e-mail your articles to info@canadianinquirer.net or inquirerinc@gmail.com.

Please also include a short bio and a headshot photo.

Chosen articles will be published. www.canadianinquirer.net

21 TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2012

McGill student’s run in with U.S. border agents prompts lawsuit

BY BENJAMIN SHINGLER THE CANADIAN PRESS MONTREAL - A Montreal university student was detained at the U.S. border, held for several hours, interrogated, had his personal belongings searched and saw his computer confiscated for over a week.

What caught the authorities’ attention?

His doctoral research on Islamic studies, he says.

In a case that has attracted media attention in the U.S., Pascal Abidor has become embroiled in a drawn-out legal battle with the American government - and a poster child for civil-rights advocates defending the right to privacy and due process.

Abidor, a 28-year-old American and French dual citizen, was returning by train to Brooklyn in May 2010 when a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent stopped him at the border in Champlain, N.Y. The agent turned on Abidor’s computer and found photos of rallies by the Hamas militant group. He says he explained that he had downloaded them from Google as part of his McGill University doctoral dissertation on the modern history of Shiites in Lebanon.

News-Canada The agent also saw stamps in his passport that showed he had travelled between Jordan and Lebanon.

Abidor said the agents handcuffed him, took him off the train and kept him in a holding cell for several hours. He was grilled over his interest in Islam and past trips to the Middle East, before he was let go at the border. He was able to catch a ride on a bus passing through the border and continue to Brooklyn.

When Abidor’s laptop was returned 11 days later, there was evidence that many of his personal files, including research, photos and chats with his girlfriend, had been opened, he said.

Abidor, who isn’t Muslim, said the experience was eye-opening. It was the first such incident in the many times he had passed through the Canadian-American border.

In the days that followed, he had trouble sleeping and developed an ``unhealthy mix of rage and fear,’’ Abidor said in a recent interview in Montreal.

“Ridiculous and absurd are the words that come to mind,’’ he said of the episode. ``I thought to myself, ‘I’m going to at least try to do something to make a stink out of this.”

Civil rights groups, led by the American Civil Liberties Union, took up his case, and filed a lawsuit on his behalf in September 2010.

Ding with wife Marilyn

nanny or a caregiver) – nothing wrong with it – it is a noble profession pero I want to show na meron tayong mga doctor, meron tayong mga lawyers, engineers, businessmen ganon (But I wanted show we had doctors, lawyers, engineers, businessmen).”

He found that starting a Filipino

directory was hard. But this did not deter him and he tapped his contacts— community leaders and advertisers— and found the support he needed for Dahong Pilipino. He found that there was no money in the directory, however, as he proclaimed himself not a very persistent collector. He has since

The lawsuit contests policies adopted

by U.S. government agencies permitting the search of all electronic devices that contain information, including laptops, cameras, mobile phones and smart phones.

More than 6,600 people had their electronic devices searched as they crossed U.S. borders between October 2008 and June 2010, according to the ACLU. Some 22 per cent of those people —1,477 of them—were Canadians, the most of any nationality besides American.

“We’ve received many complaints over the years about people having their electronic devices searched and even seized at the border, and in some cases held onto for a very long time,’’ Abidor’s lawyer Catherine Crump said in an interview.

“The government asserts that when it comes to electronic devices, people who cross the border have no rights. They argue that they can take your cell phone or laptop and keep them as long as they like.’’

Matthew Chandler, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, has said inspections of electronic media are used only ``in limited circumstances to ensure that dangerous people and unlawful goods do not enter our country.’’

Chandler said the department “has been transparent about these searches,’’ with the policies and a privacy impact

assessment of them available on the department’s website.

But Crump argues that the practice violates the U.S.’s first amendment right to free speech, because laptops ``contain so much protected, expressive material,’’ and also violates the fourth amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures.

With the amount of data stored on laptops and other electronic devices, Crump said the practice is a major intrusion.

“You shouldn’t have to risk that the government is going to go through your family photographs and financial information just because you choose to cross the border,’’ she said. ``They (border guards) have to have some reason to think that a search will turn up evidence of a wrongdoing. It doesn’t mean that they have to have an airtight case, but they do have to have something.’’

A federal judge heard arguments in July 2011 by the U.S. government for throwing out the lawsuit.

While Abidor’s lawyers argued the search was unconstitutional, the government said it has the right to search belongings at the border without cause.

The judge has yet to rule on whether he will dismiss the case. ■

passed the reigns to his son, Leo Jr., whom, Ding said, is doing a great job.

“He was able to operate it differently, more businesslike. Kami mahirap maningil sa tao, puro abono, [they say] ‘di bale ‘yan naman si Ding di naman maghahabla yan (We had a hard time collecting because people say I won’t sue them anyway),” he said laughing.

“Maganda ang support even now, and it helped that meron tayong na-elect na Filipino MLA (The support is good even know and it helped we had a Filipino MLA elected - Member of the BC Legislative Assembly, referring to Hon. Mable Elmore).”

‘from poverty to prominence’ because people might get the wrong impression – I am still poor) but I was told it is the author’s prerogative and they explained to me I have attained some degree of prominence, and that they did not say ‘from poverty to wealth’,” he laughingly added.

Of the many—and sometimes discordant—Filipino-Canadian organizations around, Ding had this to say: “What makes it rewarding for me despite of this disunity, I have managed to make Dahong Pilipino some sort of unifying [factor]. Nandyan lahat sila sa Dahong Pilipino, even the media and newspapers, nandadiyan sila lahat (They are all there in Dahong Pilipino, even the media, they are all there). I think I was able to maintain an impression among all them na ako ay ‘di sumasama (I do not take sides), I was friends with everybody.”

According to Ding, and as quoted in his book, “A man’s true measure is derived not from his physical attributes but from what he does to serve his fellow men.” With what his life and what his friends had to say about him – and from the good words the Filipino-Canadian community has for his dedication to their cause – the shoeshine boy and orphan, whose fate has led him to Canada and to service, has come a long way. ■

Life Ahead So Ding has passed the reins to his son and is enjoying retirement – with Dahong Pilipino, service to the Seven Lakes (San Pablo) Association of British Columbia and a Lingkod sa Kapwa Pilipino award given by no less than the late President Corazon Aquino herself and other achievements under his belt. He also has a book entitled Leonardo “Ding” Cunanan, An Immigrant’s Journey: From Poverty to Prominence authored by Eleanor del Rio-Laquian and Aprodicio A. Laquian—to celebrate his life.

Talking about the book, he said, “Ayaw ko pa ngang ipalagay ‘poverty to prominence’ eh kasi mahirap pa rin ako (I did not want to indicate

www.canadianinquirer.net

Immigration

The Giant Mural of Stories

BY MELISSA REMULLA-BRIONES PHILIPPINE CANADIAN INQUIRER A woman’s profile is turned away from that of a young boy’s. Both of the eyes are enigmatic, speaking volumes, speaking of a history of struggles. They are the faces of what is called the Giant Mural located on the streets of Homer and Cordova, and formally known as The Belonging Action Project. The faces represent those who have come to Canada —and their stories.

According to Marjorie Eda, one of the mural creators and a member of the Philippine Migrante B.C., her mother left her at age two—and the Philippines—to become a nanny in Singapore and then later in Canada. When she was reunited with her mother, she was 11 years old

and, in her words, “a stranger to my own mother.”

Albert Lopez, another Migrante B.C. Youth member, opined that the mural is, “a strong symbol of the need for immigrant women, our mothers, to be empowered.” His mother also migrated to Canada through the Live-In Caregiver Program.

According to the Filipino youth participants in the project, “The economic situation in the Philippines has forced the Filipina to leave her family and seek a better future in Canada …. But the reality is that she has to juggle two to three low wage jobs to provide for the family she left behind and [this] keeps her in the grips of poverty she thought she had escaped. In the face of marginalization, she is determined to overcome the struggles in the hopes that soon she will be reunited with her family.”

The Belonging Action Project is a community-based art project that involved 10 independent Vancouverbased artist-facilitators of all ages, cultures and backgrounds. ■ With a report from E. Maestro, Migrante BC.

TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2012 22

Feds create new immigration program to get skilled tradespeople to Canada

BY LAUREN KRUGEL THE CANADIAN PRESS CALGARY - Ottawa has announced a new immigration program that it says will make it easier for Canadian business to hire the workers most urgently needed—skilled tradespeople.

The new stream for workers in fields such as construction and manufacturing should be set up later this year, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said Tuesday in Calgary, the financial heart of Canada’s oil and gas industry and a city all too familiar with skilled labour shortages.

“In Canada we’ve been welcoming historic high numbers of immigrants, partly to help us fuel our prosperity in the future and fill growing labour shortages,’’ Kenney said at the construction site of The Bow, a 58-storey downtown skyscraper that’s close to completion.

“But, to be honest, our immigration programs haven’t been effective in addressing a lot of those shortages. Our immigration programs have become rigid and slow and passive.’’

The labour market in the West is especially tight, thanks in large part to a bevy of multibillion-dollar oilsands projects on the go in northern Alberta. The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers forecasts the energy industry will spend some $55 billion this year on major projects, said spokesman Travis Davies.

The Petroleum Human Resources Council of Canada said in a recent report the oilsands sector will need 21,000 additional workers by 2021—more than double the number it employed in 2011—to compensate for both the gap left by retiring baby boomers and fill the needs of new projects. And that doesn’t account for turnover in an ultra-competitive labour market.

It also doesn’t include the ripple effects of that growth on the wider economy - like the need for new homes and offices to be constructed, or demand for more service industry staffers.

There are some avenues for newcomers to become permanent residents, like the Provincial Nominee Program and the Canadian Experience Class. Kenney said those have been helpful, but insufficient.

“There are still huge gaps. We’re talking about tens if not hundreds of thousands of shortages in the skilled trades predicted in the next decade alone.’’

Skilled tradespeople make up a small percentage of immigrants coming to Canada under the current program, even though the resource and construction sectors are clamouring for welders, pipefitters, electricians and other skilled trades.

Criteria required to enter Canada under the existing program put tradespeople at a disadvantage because the rules are geared toward professionals, said Kenney.

“Let’s be honest—we don’t need more people coming to Canada with advanced degrees that end up driving taxi cabs and end up working in convenience stores. That’s a waste of human capital,’’ he said.

Businesses know better than the government what sorts of skills are needed and should have the flexibility to head- hunt workers

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overseas or even just south of the border where unemployment is high and the skillsets are a good fit for Canada, he added.

“Frankly, we’ve been selecting a lot of people through our skilled worker program who end up unemployed and underemployed while businesses have skill shortages,’’ Kenney said.

Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour, said the new program is an improvement from the tendency to use temporary foreign workers to back-stop labour shortages.

But he said he remains “deeply troubled’’ that there are some 1.5 million unemployed workers within Canada that could fill the gap if they had the right training.

“There’s a gap that needs to be bridged between the demand for workers in areas like the oilsands and the supply of workers in places like Ontario and Quebec,’’ said McGowan.

“Instead of abandoning those unemployed workers, we feel very strongly that our government should look first at new and creative ways to train unemployed Canadians to fill the job vacancies as opposed to reverting to what I would describe as a short-sighted Band-Aid solution like the one they’ve announced today.’’

Cheryl Knight, CEO of the Petroleum HR Council, agrees more training and better outreach to students is needed, but she said that’s not enough to fill the gap.

“The bottom line message is that we also need foreign workers, skilled foreign workers.’’

The measures to bring more skilled tradespeople into Canada is welcome, but there is also a shortage of skilled workers that fit into neither the trades nor professional categories.

For instance, workers with experience in drilling complicated horizontal natural gas or oil wells won’t necessarily have educational credentials. But they’ll have plenty of valuable experience they learned on the job, Knight said.

Davies, the CAPP spokesman, said skilled tradespeople are badly needed in the oilpatch, but there are shortages in the engineering and financial industries, too.

“When you look out there, the labour challenge is very real and it’s very imminent.

And it’s not just oil and gas. It’s all industries in this country, and especially in the West,’’ Davies said.

The oil and gas industry believes in hiring Canadians first, and supports training and apprenticeship programs, he added.

“We also think we’re going to have to look beyond our own borders and take some steps to increase economic immigrants to our country,’’ he said.

The changes are part of a broader set of immigration reforms laid out in last month’s federal budget.

Alberta government officials consulted with Kenney in the days leading up to the federal budget, said Premier Alison Redford.

“And what we saw was some real flexibility in terms of trying to create labour strategies that could compliment immigration policy, that would allow us to get more workers here faster,’’ she told reporters while campaigning in Calgary ahead of the April 23 provincial election.

“So I’m very pleased to see some success with respect to that.’’ ■ With files from Bill Graveland

Lifestyle-Phils Puey Quiñones–from runway to redemption

23 TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2012

BY PAM PASTOR Philippine Daily Inquirer

That moment, which came six months after the scandal, was pivotal.

“Doon ako nagkaroon ng strength ulit. I said to God, I am willing to lose everything, just give me back my peace. I was ready to give up fashion. I was ready to go home or go to another country and start a new life. When I surrendered, gumaan ‘yung pakiramdam ko. I said, Lord, Ikaw na bahala sa akin. Just give me the right direction, give me what you think is best for me.”

IT WAS a scandal of epic proportions.

In February last year, fashion designer Puey Quiñones was caught trying to pass off a department store-bought jacket as his own creation. Shea Gamboa, the furious bride-to-be whose groom Jhon Maala commissioned the suit for their wedding, tweeted about what people soon referred to as “a fashion scam.”

Within hours, the tale of retagging had become a fullblown controversy that brought the designer to his knees.

Rewind Growing up in Samar, Quiñones did not dream of becoming a fashion designer.

“I didn’t even know what fashion was. I grew up in a small town. I was older than 10 when we got our first TV.” He had visions of being on the center stage but he wasn’t sure how.

“I tried singing, I joined contests. But puberty hit and my voice changed. So I tried dance. Then I said, this is it. I’ll become a teacher, I’ll teach dance.”

But his father, a policeman, had other plans for him.

“He asked me to take up Political Science.

I think he was hoping na magiging straight pa ako.”

After three years of Political Science at University of Eastern Philippines, Quiñones wasn’t happy at all. He heard that his aunt, who was based in Manila, was going into partnership with fashion designer Dennis Lustico.

“I asked her, can I just work for you? You don’t have to pay me. Gusto ko lang lumayo.”

He made the big move to Manila and started earning money by volunteering to wash his aunt’s car. Soon, he started working for Lustico.

“I was his assistant. I was very happy doing that—working on the finishing touches, sewing the buttons, answering the phones.”

Although he was starting to feel the urge to create his own designs, at first, Quiñones resisted. “I always thought fashion was only for rich kids.” But then he started to sketch. “I sketched every day tapos nilalagay ko sa table ni Dennis para makita niya.”

When Bergamo CEO Mel Meer was looking for a designer, Lustico told Quiñones that he was ready.

“I submitted my sketches and Mr. Meer loved it. I was so happy but nervous,” Quiñones recalls.

It was 2000 and he was only 20.

Fame Quiñones was just starting. He joined competitions and won over clients and fashion editors with his bold, dramatic and unorthodox designs. His clientele, who included celebrities, grew exponentially. Ironically, it was the fame that he worked hard for that led to his downfall.

“I went overboard. I felt untouchable. Hindi ako babagsak. I was having a great time, I had a fabulous life. Lahat kaya ko. Nasusunod lahat ng gusto ko. Anywhere I wanted to go, I could go. Anything I wanted to eat, I could eat. I felt the power. I abused it. I came from nothing, then I had so much. I was living beyond my means. I didn’t know how to control it anymore.”

Perhaps with that power came the feeling that he could get away with anything. Then, the scandal.

Damages At the height of the controversy, Quiñones issued a public apology. He paid Shea and Jhon almost P200,000 in refunds and damages.

But his troubles were only beginning. “I lost a lot of clients. I lost a lot of money. I lost projects. Brides canceled their orders and asked for refunds. I said I’ll try to refund as long as I can. I did it and I was willing to face the consequences.”

Quiñones’ mother, a teacher, came to his aid. “She was the one who produced money to refund my clients. She took out loans. I realized, wala talagang tutulong sa ’yo kundi family mo.”

It was his family and his closest friends who kept him afloat. “‘Yung mga real friends talaga, mabibilang ko lang sa aking kamay. My family and si Dennis Lustico, whom I call “mother,” never siyang tumalikod sa akin; si Ronald Magalang whom I call “father”; si Ivarluski Aseron, Pia Campos, Carmina Sanchez.”

Quiñones says practically everything he’s earned has been used to pay off debts. “The whole year, I had no income. But I’m dealing with it. I’m not running.”

The scandal took a toll on him. “I got depressed. I couldn’t design. For months, I couldn’t go out of my room. I couldn’t eat. I was just crying and praying every day. I couldn’t afford to see people. I couldn’t go to the mall. I kept thinking, what about my fabulous friends?

My fabulous lifestyle? What about the parties?

Hindi na ako maiinvite sa social gatherings.”

But after weeks of reflection, Quiñones’ priorities changed.

“Before this happened, I was not a religious person. I was very modern. Pero sobrang nag-iba ‘yung mundo ko. One day, I went to church and said, ‘Okay, Lord, pagod na ako.’

I was tired of dealing with the controversy, the criticisms, the people bashing me. I deserved it, I accepted it. I didn’t blame anybody. But I was ready to face a new life. I wanted to surrender.”

The documentary “After that, something good happened—my documentary.”

Quiñones didn’t think it would push through, given the scandal.

When director-producer Chun Kit Mak and producer Tom St. John Gray called Quiñones to express their desire to continue filming, he thought they hadn’t heard about the controversy.

“We met and I told them, I want you to know I’m going through something. And they said, we know.”

Mak and Tom first got in touch with Quiñones two years ago. They wanted to film his work with the maximum security inmates at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa.

For four years now, Quiñones has been spending Tuesdays teaching inmates about fashion, dressmaking and tailoring. It was his uncle’s missionary friends who first invited him.

“They gathered mostly gay inmates. They were older than me and the only designer they knew was Pitoy Moreno. They were probably thinking, ‘Sino tong baklang maliit na to?’ But when I was leaving, when they were saying goodbye, nung nakita ko yung mga mata nila, may kumirot. Hindi ko ma- explain. Pero ang bigat-bigat nung palabas ako ng Bilibid.

Parang meron akong calling na bumalik doon.”

He kept coming back, spending the entire day with the prisoners, teaching them about fabrics, how to sew.

“It felt like a vacation for me. I was so relaxed there. ‘Yung takot ko turned into peace.”

Over the years, he developed a close relationship with his students. “They feel more like family. I always bring them food. They love my pasta. I bring them scampi or my pasta aligue. I bring them my famous humba or adobo.”

Every year for the past three years, Quiñones has held Project Bilibid Runway, the fashion show-slash-competition that showcases the inmates’ design prowess.

“I look for sponsors, I ask my model friends to join and they do it for free. These models, they tell me, “Next year, kunin mo kami ulit ha.”

Quiñones’ visits to Bilibid stopped when he was trying to recover from the scandal. His return to the prison months after was emotional.

His eyes welled up with tears as he shared, “They knew what happened but they never asked and they never judged. Meron silang letters na binasa in front of me. Hindi ko ineexpect yun. Naiyak talaga ako.”

The prisoners treated Quiñones like he had treated them. “I never asked about their crimes.

I am not a judgmental person. Ayoko malaman.

I didn’t need to know, as long as walang ginagawa sa aking masama. I was happy making them happy. Sabi ko nga, feeling ko it’s

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safer inside (the prison) than outside. Kaibigan ko sila.”

His Bilibid project has gotten a lot of attention from media here and abroad and has been run on BBC, Al Jazeera and CNN. The documentary, titled “The World’s Most Fashionable Prison,” was filmed late last year and has already started making the rounds of film festivals abroad.

Last week, it was declared as one of the best documentaries at the 2012 Gold Kahuna Awards in Honolulu. It’s getting a lot of buzz and has been pegged as one of 2012’s mustwatch documentaries.

“The World’s Most Fashionable Prison,” conceived to chronicle the inmates’ redemption through fashion, became Quiñones’ story of deliverance as well.

“I can relate to the inmates more now because nagkasala rin ako. Mas naging close ako sa kanila. We all need the same thing—a second chance.”

Food Aside from his work in Bilibid, Quiñones has found solace in food.

“Food is my life. Kahit wala akong damit basta meron akong food. I traveled for food, not for fashion. I can make fashion, I create fashion.

But food feeds me, food feeds my soul.”

Quiñones, who has always loved cooking for his family and friends, has decided to launch a food business with his business partner Andrew Rivera.

“We’ve started catering. Our first food client was Bonnie Tan. We did lunch for Maureen Disini, lunch for Candy Dizon, dinner for Kate Torralba. We will soon be offering Samar food at Mercato Centrale.”

He is also accepting reservations in his home in Makati. “I want people to experience Puey’s Penthouse—I want my friends and clients to experience the food, the music. They’ll book, come here and I’ll surprise them with good food.”

He is also busy with fashion. “Para akong grade one ulit, para akong nag-start ulit. I love it. Parang love at first sight... And now that I have no sewers, I’m the one designing, cutting the pattern, draping, sewing.”

Quiñones says the past year has taught him a lot of lessons. “We are the master of our own life, we make our own life, good or bad. We are responsible. I learned to face my mistakes and I’m moving on.”

Although it was hard, Quiñones says he has learned to treasure everything he’s gone through.

“It made me a real person and a better person.

I’m stronger now. Kahit anong mangyari sa akin, I’m not scared. I’m free, finally. Every day I feel excited. It’s a new day, a new life.

Kung anong darating sa akin, kailangan kong maging kuntento. I don’t want to ask for anything. I may not have enough money but I’m happier now.

“I have a favorite quote from ‘Eat Pray Love.’ ‘Ruin is a gift. Ruin is the road to transformation.’ This is me. Kinailangan kong masira para umayos ulit ako.” ‘I lost a lot of clients. I lost a lot of money and projects.

Brides canceled their orders and asked for refunds. I said I’ll try to refund as long as I can. I did it and I was willing to face the consequences.” ■

Lifestyle-Phils existing specimen of warp tie-dye textile in Southeast Asia.

Legarda’s personal collection is included in the exhibit, among them a black crepe de chine baro’t saya that belonged to her great grandmother, Agapita Torres Bautista.

There are other traditional women’s outfits, like the intricate T’boli blouse with appliques and beads that the senator herself has worn at public events.

A PH museum first: Every weave tells Filipino story

BY CATHY C. YAMSUAN Philippine Daily Inquirer THE FIRST permanent exhibit of Philippine fabrics is now open at the National Museum and behind it is Sen. Loren Legarda, who has merged her advocacy for the environment with her passion for fashion to put up “Hibla ng Lahing Pilipino: Traditional Philippine Textile Gallery.”

Although National Museum director Dr. Jeremy Barns and technical adviser Dr. Ana Maria Theresa P. Labrador were receptive to the senator’s idea of a textile museum and offered her the museum’s own textile collection, Legarda said she was “frustrated” when she learned that everything was in a bodega (warehouse).

Using her contacts from the Fiber Development Authority (FIDA), Philippine Textile Research Institute, Nayong Pilipino and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, Legarda started putting her idea to work.

The fabric collection was classified according to geographical source, with each clothing or textile tagged with information as to its source, material, the tribe that produced it, and those who wear it. Most of the country’s indigenous fabrics are made from any or a combination of the following: abaca, cotton, piña (pineapple), silk, tree bark and bast that, Labrador said, is a “type of mulberry tree.”

While Barns takes pride on the exhibit’s being the first of its kind in the country, Labrador said the story behind each piece of fabric and cloth is more important.

“The Bontoc people, for instance, start collecting textiles for their own funeral once they have grandchildren. Being a grandparent means they could already transcend this life. They’ve already left their legacy,” she explained.

What to wear “We can also talk about how textiles are used in everyday life and special occasions. The question of ‘what do I wear’ is a daily issue. We are always thinking of what to wear because we are social beings. It doesn’t necessarily mean people want to use textiles for rituals,” explained Labrador, an anthropologist who earned her doctorate at Cambridge University.

She added: “We’re talking about indigenous people but we always see and analyze what they’re wearing from the point of view of function. Sometimes we forget that they wear this simply because they want to look good like we do.”

Best dressed Legarda, one of the best dressed in the Senate, said the plan to put together the exhibit began “long, long ago when I started visiting textile museums of different countries.”

She cited the textile gallery in Luang Prabang, Laos, and a similar exhibit in Hanoi, Vietnam. “I figured, we are so rich in terms of our resources from our indigenous peoples, so why can’t the Philippines have one?” Legarda recalled.

The exhibit, she added, could revolutionize the Philippines’ dormant indigenous textile industry, put the country on the global fashion map and reap economic and environmental benefits as well.

“Textile is relevant because it means livelihood,” she explained. “When we wear clothes made of pineapple or banana fiber, abaca or cogon (grass), we provide livelihood to agriculture workers and our farmers. (When) we use the lowly regarded water lily to create fabric, we utilize objects that we thought had no use or value.”

Showpiece The exhibit features fabrics of traditional materials and from various ethnic groups.

Among them is a naturally dyed salual or underpants made from abaca worn by Bagobo males in the Davao region. There’s also a cotton and silk blend pis siyabit or headcloth-cum-sash worn by Tausug warriors from Jolo, Sulu, as well as a pamokan or woman’s blouse made of abaca and cloth woven by the Tagakaolo (a tribe in Davao). Also in the exhibit is an owes or a blanket woven through a technique called sinankusilos, that is unique to the Tingguian of Abra.

The museum’s showpiece, however, is a death shroud made of Bonton cloth retrieved from a cave in Romblon. Made of abaca and colored with natural dyes, it is known as the oldest existing textile in the country and is considered the earliest

Gut issue “People will say textile is irrelevant (malayo sa bituka). No, this is actually a gut issue.

Every weave, every fabric tells a story. This is the soul of who we are as a people. We have to preserve that,” she said.

And the senator, apparently, meant that literally.

Many of the tribes or indigenous people producing fabric the traditional way are dwindling, she said, because the lack of support from consumers and neighboring communities has made the enterprise unviable.

Poverty and the lure of overseas jobs also mean that the next generation expected to carry on the tradition is lost.

But compared to the requirements of big business, Legarda said that the capital needed by most traditional weavers is niggardly. “The women (weavers) who did not receive formal education can purchase a P5,000handloom or backstrap loom.

Though the industry and artistry are dying, P5,000 can keep them alive,” she noted.

And the government can help a lot, she said. “When I went to Banaue, the women’s cooperative in the center of town had a P180,000 existing loan with the [Department of Science and Technology].

Every month they pay installment to sustain their livelihood,” she said.

“I asked the old Ifugao lady how much she earns and it is P180 a day. That would be enough to raise her family and allow her to weave 5 yards or 5 meters of fabric a day.

This is sustenance. So textiles and fabrics are a gut issue,” she stressed, adding that “textile is linked to agriculture. It means jobs for farmers, livelihood for rural women and food on the table for their families.”

One issue that needs to be dealt with would be copyright and the protection of intellectual property, she continued.

“Equally important is the promotion of the textiles and protection of [cultural] traditions through patents to restore, protect and preserve our culture.”

Intellectual property The senator maintained that treating the traditional fabric designs, patterns and weaving techniques as the country’s intellectual property is nonnegotiable.

“Unless we do this, the future generations would not know what is inabel from Ilocos or ikat worn by the B’laan. Or the T’boli’s colorful beadwork and natural dyes. And what about the malong of the Maranao and the looms of the Yakan tribe? All would be gone if we do not have documentation of our textiles.”

“These are designs that go way back to our ancestors. It’s not something we are inventing. We’re just reinventing ourselves and going back to the past and rediscovering it,” she said.

“In my speeches, I insist we patent and

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TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2012 24

protect the copyright of the art of our indigenous peoples including the designs of malong and ikat. These are easy to pirate and I don’t want to mention countries capable of doing so,” Legarda added.

Global focus on tribals The senator’s excitement about the fabric exhibit is fed by global fashion’s current focus on tribal patterns and artisan fabrics.

She believes the Philippines’ indigenous fabrics can indulge this trend.

The senator said businessman Ricco Ocampo attended the Paris Fashion Week recently and reported that a famous couturier had used jusi (banana silk fiber) in a gown with a $2,000 price tag.

“He asked whether I could find (jusi) suppliers. Of course! We have them all over the country, not just of jusi but of piña.

Lumban [in Laguna] hosts very skilled calado embroiderers. So do Tibiao in Antique and Barangay Arevalo in Iloilo,” Legarda said.

“We have a limited supply (of jusi) because the demand is also limited. But when there’s greater awareness, we (would) need to help (the suppliers) become more efficient to meet the demand. We also encourage businessmen to invest in this as a business so we don’t need to outsource the processing requirements and import it again. It would be ideal if we had the manufacturing here,” the senator added.

Legarda noted that the Philippines already has the “plant resources and human resource in terms of idle labor, talented artistry and creativity in terms of design.”

“Imagine all these small coops, women’s groups and backyard industries of women, men, youth, rural folk. If we empower them, you are subtracting from unemployment.

This is the key to jobs in agriculture. It can revolutionize our agricultural sector and our labor sector in terms of rural women,” she said.

Laws in place Legarda believes the plan should be easy to execute since the necessary laws are in place.

“We already have the Solid Waste Management Act, which encourages the use of fibers like water lily, which only goes to waste, and the Tropical Fabric Law, filed during my first term as senator, which mandates government officials and employees to use Philippine tropical fabric for office wear. And the Department of Agriculture, through the FIDA, should promote our agriculture by promoting the use of Philippine textile,” she said.

“Why don’t we make our indigenous textiles as prosperous and economically viable as call centers? Perhaps, that’s a good comparison and I want to be the engine to speed it up,” she said.

Counter toxicity Legarda said she often visits the textile museum before she goes to the Senate for the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona.

“I come here before the trial,” she said.

“It makes me whole as a person and it inspires me so when I go to the Senate where I will spend five hours of toxicity; there’s enough positive energy to counter the negative.” ■

25 TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2012

Lifestyle-Phils

Silence is the opposite of boring

BY EMMIE G. VELARDE Philippine Daily Inquirer BECAUSE WE are surrounded by a world of sound, we are not always aware of all the noise that we generate in our minds,” says meditation teacher and international speaker Anthony Strano in his book “Seeking Silence.”

Silence is Strano’s prescription for almost everything that upsets a person’s equilibrium and therefore, undermines one’s capacity for happiness. He has conducted “silence retreats” around the world.

By silence, Strano means not just the absence of literal noise, but most especially calmness in the heart and mind—no desires, no regrets. “When the mind is uncluttered by the urge to prove, to claim or to display, everything becomes clear in that stillness.”

Subtitled “Exploring and Practicing the Spirituality of Silence,” the book discusses the whys and wherefores of quieting down, “detoxing” the mind of anger and its pesky relatives, and generally taking control (gently) of one’s mental processes. “You can choose your thoughts,” Strano says.

The good news is that silence, in Strano’s orbit, is the opposite of boring. In fact, he says, it is the foundation of a dynamic spirituality that applies itself to all aspects of life.

He is visiting Manila to give a series of lectures on this

broad subject. On April 23, he talks about “The Resilient Mind in the Workplace” in a public program at the Asian Institute of Management in Makati. The next day, he will discuss “Karma” in another public program, at the Gateway Mall in Cubao.

In two invitational programs, he is meeting 50 VIPS for a lecture on “Becoming Spiritually Smart” and 50 CEOS for “Spirituality in Daily Life.” All these are being undertaken by the Brahma Kumaris Spiritual University, where Strano has been a teacher “and also a student” for 35 years.

Born of Italian parents in Australia, Strano is the director of the BK meditation centers in Greece, Hungary and Turkey. Aside from “Seeking Silence,” he wrote “Eastern Thought for the Western Mind” published in 2006 in at least five languages in London.

Of six multilingual audio books he has recorded, the biggest seller so far is “The 8 Principles of Spiritual Living,” a virtual manual on how to direct one’s thoughts toward freedom of “expression” which, again in Strano’s universe, means the full blossoming of the awareness.

Here are some exquisite excerpts: Principle 1: Observe, Don’t Absorb Observation is a silent skill we need if we are to access positive changes. To be a detached observer means to keep the mind clear and free and, therefore, open to new perspectives.

Being able to observe enables us to be creative, productive and effective because we have made space for true and better understanding. If we fail to learn this skill, we are likely to be absorbed in the negativity of any given circumstance. We get lost in the quicksand of “What’s wrong?”

This prevents us from putting things right.

Principle 2: Be aware, not judgmental There is an Indian saying, “See but d o n ’ t see! Hear but don’t hear!” This means to remain aware of all realities, including the negative, but not to focus on them.

We get caught up in the negative because reactions manifest themselves as judgments, accusations, criticisms or labeling.

As soon as we judge or criticize, we put everything into convenient boxes and

mentally seal the fate of another person or of a situation.

Our vision and attitude remain judgmental or critical if there is no input to encourage a positive change. There cannot be a positive output when there is a negative input. We want others to be better but, instead of helping, or having faith in them and seeing their good qualities, we concentrate on their past, weaknesses and mistakes!

Principle 3: Focus and flow The example of the sun and earth illustrates a basic and fundamental law of function we can learn from, and that is of paramount significance in the accurate movement of all of life’s aspects. The sun gives life to the earth in the form of light; the earth continually moves in repetitive cycles around the sun.

The phenomenon of time is a direct result of the earth’s balanced and harmonious cyclic rhythms.

We need focus—a concentration of thought, will and understanding—to reach depth and newness. However, when we become over-focused, rigidity and pressure set in. This leads to an imbalance that makes us lose creativity and openness.

A person needs to move gracefully between focus and flow. And then the flow of expression and experimentation will become natural.

Principle 4: Stepping in, stepping out For any activity or relationship to remain harmonious and successful, we should know how far to step in, and then how far to step out—like a gardener who sows seeds at the right time, steps in to water the plant, and then steps out of the picture to allow nature to carry out her work.

The wise gardener does not step in too much; that would be called interference.

After planting the seeds, he does not dig them up the next day to see if roots have sprouted. Nor does he withdraw too much.

If he did, the plants would die from lack of care.

In the same way, we have the privilege of planting seeds of good intention, respect and tolerance, at the same time allowing others and the forces of the universe the space to work according to their nature.

Very often we plant those seeds and want immediate results. We become attached to what we do, so there is no space for things to happen in their own appropriate time. It is an art to know when to step back and when to step forward, and a very necessary one.

Principle 5: Complement, don’t compete Harmony, well-being and the fulfillment of individual purpose are possible only when our consciousness is inclusive, rather than exclusive. This means a consciousness recognizes and appreciates the purpose of all things in life.

When people, individually or collectively, become exclusive—that is, when the foundation of their identity is based on prerogative and privilege—harmony, peace and certainly love, are lost. While it is healthy and necessary to value whowe are, it becomes most unhealthy and violent to become attached to our special qualities, making others feel inferior because they do

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not possess those same qualities.

Almost always, the reason for conflict on any level is this sense of right to dominate or suppress because we feel we are better than others in one way or another.

When we learn to complement rather than compete, there will be peace and, better still, self-respect.

Principle 6: The individual and the collective A person who wishes to live fully as a human being needs to understand that the collective has to be acknowledged as much as the individual. One cannot exist without the other, although many people have explored both extremes, with very damaging results.

Individuals who are evolving spiritually develop a clear sense of personal value.

Because they don’t succumb to false humility, they recognize and accept their uniqueness and embrace the realization that they are free to be whatever they choose to be. Simultaneously, their sense of independence allows them to come close to others without prejudice and successfully work with them because they have found fulfillment within themselves.

Principle 7: Faith What we believe comes true. What we believe is the reflection of our deepest-held thoughts, which, in one way or another, are present at every moment of our lives.

Faith is the energy of understanding that enables us to realize that anything is possible—even if it is not within our line of vision and, most especially, even if it is not within the bounds of reason.

With faith, it is not necessary to analyze and know everything in detail before doing something. All that is needed are a few basic facts, then we can take action. When we drive a car, do we insist on knowing beforehand how the engine works?

In the modern world, there is a tendency to over-think, to want to control and direct every outcome. Such a life lacks spontaneity and simplicity. Although we do need a framework, it must be flexible enough to allow space for the unexpected, the unpredictable and the great surprise.

Principle 8: The Unconditional Source There is One Being in the universe who is not conditioned by any need or desire. Since He does not want anything, everything belongs to Him, but not in the sense of owning and controlling.

Rather, all things gravitate to this Unconditional Source simply because He gives pure love freely to all and selflessly serves. Like a radiant magnet beyond the limits of time and matter, beyond give and take, beyond measurement and calculation, the Source attracts all because He desires nothing and gives everything He has.

The love of the Source is like spiritual sunlight that reveals to us our forgotten realities, hidden potential and original goodness.

In silence, the human being finds a personal and benevolent friendship with the Source—God, who listens and helps and, best of all, is always just there. ■

Lifestyle-Canada

TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2012 26

Photography is fun...and easy

BY BERT QUIBUYEN UPAAABC

Digital cameras have progressed to a point where it’s actually hard to take a “bad shot.”

- Digital PhotoPro Magazine IN THE past, photography was quite intimidating. Things like f-stop, shutter speed, depth of field, exposure value, film speed, film type, exposure metering, lighting, lens type, camera type, flash synchronization, focusing, etc. had to be learned in order to come up with a “good shot.” But now, anyone with a modern digital camera doesn’t have to know all these things. One just needs to be creative.

Modern digital cameras include a variety of settable parameters designed to optimize shooting conditions. Hundreds of possible conditions are programmed into the camera, which the camera recognizes once it is aimed at a particular scene. This is the manner in which point-and-shoot cameras work, and that’s the reason point-and-shoots account for more than 90 percent of digital cameras sold worldwide. Nowadays everyone has a camera.

Even cell phones have cameras. To get a good shot, all one needs to do is to point and shoot.

That’s how easy it is.

Good photography, however, is not simply pointing the camera and shooting. A very important element is required, and that is CREATIVITY. Anyone can take a technically good photograph but not anyone can take an aesthetically good photograph. There are five elements of good photography: 1. Good composition. That includes framing, rule of thirds, lighting, and balance of shapes.

2. A good photograph is well exposed.

No longer a problem with modern digital cameras.

3. It should evoke feelings. Mood can be expressed in photography.

4. It should tell a story. A baby in the family, a wedding, a family vacation, a portrait, etc.

5. It should say something about life. A good example of this is photojournalism.

Any one of these elements will make a photograph a step away from “that’s nice.”

Use more or all of these elements and a photographic masterpiece is created -- a photograph with the 10-second factor. If it takes at least 10 seconds to look at a particular photograph, it is a good one.

Portraiture This type of photography aims to portray a person. It should tell a story about the subject, his mood, his interests, perhaps even his job. The ideal lens is a 105-135 mm lens.

A medium telephoto lens takes the camera farther away from the subject and therefore is less intrusive. It also flattens the face and eliminates unflattering distortions when a normal 50 mm lens is used close up. The medium telephoto lens also has a narrow depth of field making the background blurry and less prominent, and therefore making the subject stand out. It helps to use props when taking portraits. For example: if the subject is a doctor hang a stethoscope around his neck, if he likes to golf make him hold a golf club, if he’s a photography buff have him hold a camera, etc.

People photography We take a lot of people pictures, as you’ll

notice in social events and gatherings.

Traveling also involves taking pictures of the local people. A wide-angle lens is useful in indoor settings and whenever there’s a big group of people to be included in a single frame. A normal and telephoto lens is recommended when taking pictures of people on the streets. Make sure your subjects do not freeze when you squeeze the trigger. Here’s one neat trick you can do: aim the camera at the subject or subjects, count one, two, three, cheese BUT don’t press the shutter right away. Wait a split second after before pressing the shutter. This way your subjects have already relaxed and no longer stiff.

Candid shots of people are also interesting and sometimes even funny. Take as many shots as you can. After all, you’re not buying film and the memory card can take hundreds of photographs.

Babies I’ve always advised new parents to get a good digital camera and take pictures of their babies from the time they were born up to the present. These are priceless images that your family will enjoy looking at forever.

The best lens for this type of photography is a telephoto lens.

Animal photography Many people have pets and pets are just like family. Take pictures of anything your dog or cat does, whether sleeping, eating, licking your hands, catching a frisbee, riding in your car, anything. Animals have a short lifespan and when they’re gone, only those beautiful pictures you took are left to remember them by.

Landscape photography Next to taking pictures of people like family, friends, and ourselves, landscape photography is the most popular. This is because a beautiful scene will always make a good photograph. The ideal lens for this type of photography is a 24-28 mm lens, commonly called a wide-angle lens. A wide-angle lens has a deeper depth of field and therefore anything near and beyond will be in focus. A polarizing filter helps in defining clouds and in saturating the sky. Some point-and-shoot cameras have built-in creative filters that can be used for this purpose. Composition is important in landscape photography. Make

sure to “frame” your photograph with a tree or a rock for a better visual impact.

Close-up or macrophotography Most digital cameras have a close-up setting (it’s the flower icon on your settings). You can’t go wrong with macrophotography.

Find a rose or any flower, even an insect, and you’ve got a picture.

Travel photography A 24 to 28 mm wide-angle lens is ideal. A very common mistake of travelers is taking too many pictures of themselves in front of popular tourist landmarks. One or two pictures taken in front of the Pyramids, Taj Mahal, Tower of Pisa is enough just to show that you’ve been there. Don’t forget to take pictures of the local scenery, the people, the street corners, vendors, anything not in the tourist brochures. These photographs will remind you of that particular place later and you’ll be glad you took those pictures. By the way, if you’re shooting the locals in a foreign country, ask permission. It’s just common courtesy.

Wedding photography For advanced amateurs and professionals, this is a profitable activity. An advanced point-and-shoot camera like the micro four thirds types can be used but a DSLR is better suited for this type of photography. For convenience, a zoom lens from wide- angle to telephoto can be used, like having three lenses in one. Many lens manufacturers make this type of zoom lenses. A good example is the Nikkor 28-200 mm zoom. For a wedding photo album to stand out, it must contain interesting photographs of the wedding, plus those of the bride and groom, family, and their friends. The usual photos taken at the altar with the priest as well as photos taken with the guests are a must. However, being very creative will make the photo album stand out.

Use lots of imagination. Wedding albums are keepsakes and people tend to look at them many years later to bring back that special day in their lives. A good photographer will make it worthwhile.

Photojournalism This is the type of photography where content or message is more important than composition. Remember the little Vietnamese

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girl running in Saigon, the Vietcong prisoner being shot in the head by a police captain, the GI kissing a nurse in New York after D Day, the raising of the US flag in Iwo Jima? These are all examples of good photojournalism.

When the photographers were shooting these pictures they didn’t have time to make sure composition was good, exposure was correct, shutter speed was right. All they wanted to do was FREEZE that particular moment in time. And they did it so well that they won the Pulitzer Prize in photography.

Most digital point-and-shoot cameras have built-in zoom lenses. Make sure the one you buy has one.

If you want to really get serious in photography, there are several items you need to have. You’ll need a tripod.

Tripods ensure that the camera won’t move and therefore you get a sharper image regardless of shutter speed. They’re also useful in landscape photography and macrophotography. Another important item is a camera bag. As you progress in your chosen hobby, you’ll probably be adding a bigger DSLR, a couple of lenses, an additional electronic flash, a light meter.

You’ll also need some lens cleaners and Q-tips. A good sturdy camera bag will give you many years of service, as well as protecting your equipment.

Here’s a tip on how to clean your camera lens: DON’T ever use lens cleaning tissue, paper napkins, or your shirt to wipe out dirt or a smudge on your lens.

These could damage the coating on the front element of your lens. If your lens is dirty, simply breathe on it and wipe with a Q-tip. Breathing on it puts some moisture on the lens and the Q-tip is to wipe off the moisture.

Practical uses for a camera: For insurance purposes, take pictures of the interior of your home showing all your furniture, appliances, and anything valuable. In the event of a robbery or fire, it’s much easier to process your insurance claim if you have visual proof of what you’ve lost. Also, in case of a vehicular accident, take pictures of the accident scene, the vehicles involved, and even plate numbers of cars around. These pictures should be taken BEFORE the vehicles are moved.

Photographic proof is better than your word when dealing with ICBC. Your photographs can be winners too.

If there’s a photo contest, submit your photographs. The judges might like your entry and you can be the winner.

Photography is a personally rewarding hobby. And it’s no longer expensive like it used to be. You can get a fairly good digital camera for less than $200 and you don’t have to buy expensive film anymore. No more waiting for a week to process film.

The photograph is simply downloaded into a computer and can be sent out to all your friends without charge. Prints can be made right from your home printer. The SD card or memory card can be reused many times over and can take hundreds of images.

If you enjoy photography, go out and take pictures. It’s spring and flowers are starting to bloom. Tulips and daffodils are in their full splendor. Plenty of photo opportunities out there. You also get fresh air and exercise as an added bonus. And it’s FUN and EASY, absolutely! ■

Lifestyle-Canada

27 TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2012

What if a disaster hits right now? Are you prepared?

BY ISSA VANCOUVER, BC

In the wake of the earthquakes in Indonesia and Mexico, and the tsunami scare, we remember Ketsana.

It was a dark night.

But the Filipinos have had many a dark night, and have had endured many a storm.

But the storm that one Saturday night was different.

It started out like ordinary rainfall, just a drizzle, in fact. There was wind, yes, slight howling, barely noticeable, dark night eclipsing the dark clouds. Just your ordinary night. Two nights prior, the resident storm-forecaster PAGASA issued storm warnings, but in those warnings, they have relegated Ondoy’s (international codename: Ketsana) category to that of a minor storm.

Nothing to worry about.

No one was prepared.

The rains came. A deluge.

It was a different kind of rain.

It was harsh, it was hard, it was constant. And the constancy was alarming. Filipinos are no strangers to storms. We fear them, yes, but we have known no other life than a life with storms. We would build our lives around them, and welcome the majestic sunsets that was their peace offering. Our storms would come in gusts, but then fade into light rain, and then pummel us again, accompanied by aggressive winds, great lightning, and even greater thunder.

Oddly, there was no thunder and no lightning and just slight winds that day. But there was rain, continuous rain, and dark clouds that drove more rain.

A month’s supply in six hours, they say. Those six hours of rain claimed 171 lives and billions of pesos in damages.

Why? How? Some said it was the fault of the government, inefficient and buckling at the weight of disasters (although the government has had much practice). Some said it was because PAGASA was underfunded and archaic. Some said the flood was enhanced by the waters in the two dams that were released without warning, which swelled the canals and the rivers, which swelled into streets and finally into homes— climbing to the first floor, then the

Timothy Medrano / Shutterstock.com

SAFETY MATTERS

BETTER BE PREPARED THAN SORRY. Essentials you need in case of a disaster.

PHILIPPINES - A car is left useless in Marikina City circa September 2009. Typhoon Ondoy left hundreds of families displaced and killed hundreds of people.

second, and then swallowing houses whole. Some said it was the garbage problem. Some said that global warming said hello and delivered a wake-up slap.

Devastation could be seen everywhere.

Cars were on top of each other.

A refrigerator posed precariously on electric wires. Snakes were seen slithering in murky streets, along with janitor fishes (plecostomus), stout branches, boulders, sofa sets, television sets, slippers, microorganisms, people. Debris, they say. They belonged to someone, to something, somewhere, once.

Helicopters flew the day and the night, looking for survivors, people to rescue. Boats plied what used to be streets. People waded in neckdeep waters, what remained of their possessions hoisted above their heads. Wanting only to escape. To wake up.

And then there are the bodies.

Those who lived to tell their tales could only utter with placid acceptance: We are back to zero.

But there is lightness there, there is hope, there is faith. If you look even closer, you can see that they cannot wait to be alive again, to stand again, to start again. After having lost everything. Such is the spirit of the Filipino.

The message is clear – then and now and in the wake of the tsunami in Japan and the recent earthquakes in Indonesia and Mexico – we have to be prepared. Preparedness is key.

Disaster Preparedness Disaster Preparedness has been the cornerstone of many a government and used carelessly as a mantra, with no one taking it seriously, and people

mumbling half-apprehensively, It will not happen to me.

But it has. Places never before touched by furious floods were engulfed by it. Neighborhoods, both rich and poor, have given up many of their denizens and billions of their properties to it.

But panic, also, is useless. Here are some things that you can do: 1. Get a Rescue72 bag (functions as a vest, floater and a bag – with a tent! – www.rescue72.com, Canadabased 604-358-0533) and hang it in an easy-to-see, easy-to-get spot, with the following inside (you will need to replace the perishables every 6 months): Food (crackers, dried fruit, canned goods and can opener) and water (at least 2 liters) Bedding and clothing Flashlight (with extra batteries), flares (if possible), candles, match/ lighter, whistle, compass Pocket knife or Swiss knife, rope, duct tape (in case of bleeding or other emergencies) Personal supplies (toiletries – toilet paper, sanitary napkins, mini-soap, shampoo, toothbrush) and medication Personal documents (photocopies of legal documents – passport, birth/ marriage certificates, contracts, wills) and cash (place in water-proof container) Pre-paid phone/SIM cards (all cellphone companies, if possible) Pen and paper 2. Some additional tips if the threat is flooding, which is becoming more frequent: Remove the car battery, jack it up so it is elevated, which, hopefully, will help it get out of the reach of flood waters, even if only a little. If the roads

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are still passable, drive your car/s to a mall with upper level parking (go to the highest level that has a roof).

Waters may reach your safe/cabinet where you put your documents or other valuables. To be on the safe side, put your documents in Ziploc storage bags or containers. Or you can inquire from your local bank if their safe deposit boxes are waterproof and fire proof but put your original documents in Ziplocs anyway.

A rope to tie yourself to your family members and to latch on to something solid, if necessary.

Close the doors and windows of your house or board it up (if you are leaving or going to the roof) so that if and when the water gets inside, your belongings will not easily flow out of every open door or window and it will serve as a thief-deterrent too.

Have insurance for your car and properties with Acts of God coverage; have life insurance for yourself.

3. Insurance It is an interesting time for insurance companies because of the many disasters and the many claims that are laid at their doorsteps. The peril that they carefully prepared for and calculated into their premiums is happening, and at such a grand, devastating manner. The net effect may be that (1) people will now have a hard time getting an Acts of God clause into their auto and property insurance (waiting period may be 2-3 months) and (2) premiums will increase.

But now, more than ever, the importance of protection and preparation are paramount. These are what you set up and prepare for, with the hope that you will never, in your lifetime, see a situation where you will have to use it. ■

28 TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2012

Entertainment www.canadianinquirer.net

The long road to Hollywood Yam Laranas’ latest film gets theater run in the US and Canada

Photo courtesy of Ervin Santiago

“Although it was shown in Europe, Asia and South America, I got depressed when ‘ The Echo’ wasn’t released in theaters in the US,” he says.

BY BAYANI SAN DIEGO JR. Philippine Daily Inquirer FILIPINO FILMMAKER Yam Laranas admits that he feels like the lead character in a romantic-comedy film.

“It’s like a typical love story. You look everywhere for something, only to find out that what you were searching for was in front of you all along.”

He was referring to his big dream of penetrating the Hollywood scene.

Laranas almost did when he got the chance to remake his 2004 thriller “Sigaw” as “The Echo,” which was topbilled by Hollywood stars Jesse Bradford and Amelia Warner (with Filipino actress Iza Calzado) in 2008. Alas, “The Echo” was hit by the economic downturn in the United States.

Wish fulfilled Laranas felt he would have grabbed the brass ring with a US run.

Little did he know that his wish to have a film of his shown in US cinemas would be fulfilled with his latest work. Locally produced by GMA Films, “The Road” has been picked up by Freestyle Releasing for distribution in the US and Canada.

The movie stars Rhian Ramos, Marvin Agustin, Derek Monasterio, Luis de los Reyes, and Alden Richards.

The Los Angeles-based firm is eyeing at least 50 commercial moviehouses for “The Road,” beginning May 11. “The film will be shown at the AMC chain, Loews, Regal, Landmark,” Laranas relates. “These are mainstream cinemas. If we do well, the number can go up to 100 screens.”

The film will hold its grand premiere at LA Live on May 9, Laranas says. “It’s in the same complex as Staples Center and Nokia Theater, where they hold the Grammys, the Emmys and the ‘American Idol’ finals. I am definitely going to be there because I want to see the audience’s reaction.”

Producer Annette Abrogar, who will also grace the event, says: “GMA Films is excited and honored to have the premiere at the LA Live. This news is significant because it’s a full-fledged commercial distribution deal.”

Laranas recounted that three distribution firms expressed interest in “The Road,” but Freestyle offered the “best deal matched with a sensible plan.”

Apart from the theater run, Freestyle will release a digital home video simultaneously. “The movie will also

be available on other distribution platforms: video-ondemand (VOD), iTunes, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, as well as Facebook, Youtube, xbox, and PS3.”

Laranas feels it’s vital to pursue other revenue streams apart from the theater route. “At present, 20 to 30 percent of revenues comes from theater, and 70 to 80 percent from VOD,” he explained.

Laranas thinks this development is a good beginning for local cinema.

Although there have been other Filipino films that have been screened in art houses and cinemas abroad (from the time of Gerry de Leon, Cirio Santiago and Eddie Romero, to Kidlat Tahimik and Lino Brocka, and now Brillante Mendoza), “The Road” is the first local film in the age of itunes and Netflix to have a commercial theater run in the US. Meeting world standards Laranas says that all the hard work and insistence on meeting world standards have paid off: “It was a smart decision to shoot on 2K resolution, to use Dolby 5.1, and to have it subtitled from the outset.”

He reports that “The Road” is in the official competition section of the 30th Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival, set in Belgium from April 5 to 17.

It was also in Brussels where Laranas won the Orbit Award for “Sigaw” in 2006.

“The Road” will likewise compete at the 8th Fantaspoa International Fantastic Film Festival in Porto Alegre, Brazil, from May 4 to 20.

GMA chair and CEO Felipe L. Gozon remarks: “This will show the world that Filipinos excel not only in boxing and singing, but in filmmaking as well, and hopefully will inspire other local artists to aspire to greater heights.” ■

‘Idol’s’ Jessica already a winner in her own right

BY POCHOLO CONCEPCION Philippine Daily Inquirer THE RUNUP to the finals of “American Idol” season 11 has become more interesting with the exceptional showing of Jessica Sanchez— who is by far, the most exciting singer of Filipino heritage to make it to the Top 10 of the highly popular TV talent search.

The 16-year-old—eldest of three children of a Mexican-american Navy veteran and a Filipina from Bataan province—safely made it to the top eight with a ballad version of Beyonce’s 2008 technopop hit single, “Sweet Dreams.”

They want more The performance left the show’s three judges raving. Again.

“I look forward to hearing you every night. I think you’re one of the best singers I’ve heard in many years. Unbelievable, sensational,” said Randy Jackson.

“You left all of us wanting more. That’s what great performers do. They leave you wanting more,” gushed Jennifer Lopez.

“I think you’re a star no matter what. You did it again tonight...you really know your notes,” declared Steven Tyler.

The judges have given Jessica four standing ovations since the Hollywood rounds began.

A video of Jessica’s performance was uploaded on the homepage of Beyonce’s official website.

A quick review of Jessica’s previous outings (highlights of which are compiled as “Jessica Sanchez American Idol Concert HD” on Youtube) explains why she seems poised to take it all the way to the contest finale.

Right from her audition piece, Carole King’s “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” Jessica had bowled the judges over.

At the show’s Las Vegas round, she stood out in a group performance of Buddy Holly’s “It Doesn’t Matter Anymore.”

In the Top 25 round, Jessica’s personal choice to sing Jennifer Hudson’s “Love You I Do” from the film “Dreamgirls” merited the only standing ovation that night from the judges.

Although she was criticized for her choice of Vicki Sue Robinson’s disco tune “Turn the Beat Around” in the Top 11 round— with the judges commenting that she shone best in ballads—jessica actually pulled through without much difficulty.

Indeed, the beauty of her voice has been manifested in slow songs, especially when she sang “The Prayer,” “I Will Always Love

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You” and “Everybody Has a Dream” in separate episodes. In those songs Jessica exhibited an uncanny ability to balance power and restraint—her tone and volume just right, her vibrato and falsetto never straying too far.

She won over Billy Joel fans by interpreting “Everybody Has a Dream,” an obscure gospel track from Joel’s 1977 album, “The Stranger.”

Fabulous losers Even if her dream of becoming this year’s “American Idol” champion doesn’t come true, there’s a big chance that her young career will take off on its own—such as those of previous contestants Katharine Mcphee, Adam Lambert and Jennifer Hudson, now winners in their own right. ■

29 TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2012

Entertainment

Rugby player hunk relishes controversy

Photo courtesy of Ervin Santiago

He didn’t score “Mr. Amity” points for being aggressive, particularly in one full contact challenge in which he practically bulldozed over and trampled on another hunk in the mud.

Despite ruffling a few feathers on the island, he remains unrepentant.

“I’m not a jerk,” he insisted. “I’m quite friendly in real life.”

He conceded, however, that the nature of the game demanded a certain level of wiliness and guile.

He describes himself as a “villain with hero-like tendencies.”

BY BAYANI SAN DIEGO JR. Philippine Daily Inquirer

IS PHILIPPINE Volcanoes team member Arnold Aninion a hero or a heel?

PHILIPPINE Volcanoes member Arnold Aninion clearly relished being portrayed as a bad guy in the just-concluded GMA 7 reality show “Survivor Philippines: Celebrity Doubles Showdown.”

Undaunted by intrigues that pitted him against the other hunks on the island, the competitive athlete said that he’s willing to join the reality show again, should it come up with an “All-stars” or “Heroes versus Villains” edition.

“That would be exciting,” he asserted.

Some female castaways boxed him as a flirt, while the male contestants felt threatened because he was unstoppable in the challenges.

Would Arnold be cast as a hero or a villain in the followup show?

His girlfriend, Mara Yokohama, said, “He’s a good guy. He stood by me ‘til the end when he voted for me in the finale, in spite of pressure to do otherwise from the other jury members.”

Although there was tension between him and the other contestants including fellow rugby player John Odulio, Arnold stuck to his guns.

Mara and Arnold (or Arnie to friends) topped the Great Davao Amazing Race Celebrity Edition.

They were dubbed Team Marnie in the contest, held in conjunction with the Davao Summerfest.

But as far as the other castaways were concerned, however, he was a heel.

Combative Arnold “I can’t help being a villain,” he admitted. He insisted that it would have been difficult to win the game if one remained a good guy throughout, despite the contrary example set by Albert “Betong” Sumaya, the eventual winner and the island’s resident clown and gofer during the show.

He tried to justify his attitude by explaining that if he had rubbed fellow contestants the wrong way, especially the guys, it was only his competitive streak kicking in. “I looked at it as a battle of alpha males,” he said defensively.

A fan of the show’s US edition, he admires the strategic games played by past contestants Boston Rob Mariano and Russell Huntz.

“I look up to guys who speak their mind and are unafraid. I don’t believe nice wins this game,” he persisted.

“I haven’t missed a single episode of ‘Survivor (US)’ for the past 24 seasons,” said Arnold, who is based in New Zealand.

In spite of doing his homework, the local edition still caught him by surprise. “It was challenging, a lifechanging experience. It enhanced my ability to zone out,” he continued. “I hope people understand that it’s just a game. I don’t hold any grudges.”

Man of many talents?

Surprisingly, the rough-and-tumble sportsman also runs an IT company and has dabbled in classical and musical theater in Auckland.

“I would like to join show business.

I appeared in plays like ‘Hamlet,’ ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’ and ‘Godspell’ when I was younger.”

Who would have known? ■

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Travel-Phils Favorite ‘secret’ summer destinations

Chichen Itza

COMPILED BY CHECHE V. MORAL, ALEX Y. VEGARA AND STEF CABAL Philippine Daily Inquirer Fave secret getaway would be our rest house in Pililia, Rizal. It is the only house on a hill, and is not publicly accessible.

It can be a place for solitude or could be a party place with a group of friends or my family.—MICHELE SISON, fashion designer *** I love surfing in Maui, Hawaii. It’s where surfing started. The waves are the perfect size for surfing. It’s nice to surf with a lot of champion surfers in Maui. I learn faster, and I have more fun when I surf with the

best.—RICHIE SANTOS, VP and group manager, Cinderella *** There’s only one secret hideaway for me and my friends, and I keep going back.

It’s in Alfonso, Tagaytay. It’s a house, a big loft owned by two balikbayan friends.

They fixed and designed this home for comfort. You can just laze around all day and eat to your heart’s content—wine and cheese all day long, and all the gossip and conversation! I’m already missing the fun just thinking about it. It’s really a great way to unwind, away from all obligations, and to bond with my closest BFFs. We try to do this at least three times a year. Can’t wait for our next one!—HENRI CALAYAG,

creative director, Henri Calayag Salon *** Dicasalarin in Baler, Aurora. The moment you reach the entrance, you will fall in love.

The vista is breathtaking. You have to meander through the mountain and its lush vegetation to get to a little private cluster of cute cottages.

Once you get there, you have a choice of going to the ocean or just hanging out by a cool freshwater stream. The shoreline is long, and you can check out little coves or climb up a hill and take the view in.—FERDI SALVADOR, TV host *** Chichen Itza and the cenote in Mexico.

Chichen Itza is just amazing, from the structure to its history. It’s just so inspiring. As for the cenote, it is an underwater cave where you can either dive or snorkel. It’s a nice cave with free hanging stalactites. It’s a different experience to be snorkeling inside a cave, with clearance of just one or two feet, and above you are the amazing stalactites.—MONETTE BATA GARCIA, co-owner, IORA Phils. *** Capari, San Vicente, Palawan. It’s a modest boutique resort in a private cove, offering serenity, privacy, great food, great beach, conveniently located near the country’s longest 14.7-km. white beach cove called Long Beach. Deserted beaches, waterfalls and captivating viewpoints. Perfect getaway from the big city.—NJ TORRES, PR manager, Marie France/Facial Care Centre *** Hands down, Amanpulo in Palawan, Philippines. Confession: I was never a beach person until two years ago, when I

Refreshing summer at Summit Ridge Just an hour and a half drive from Manila via Sta. Rosa, Summit Ridge Hotel is strategically located on Tagaytay’s main road and is connected to a promenade that hosts a number of establishments including a supermarket, where one can take a stroll, have a drink or grab a bite, Ang Ley explained.

BY THERESA S. SAMANIEGO Philippine Daily Inquirer THERE AREN’T any sand to leave one’s footprints, no mystique caves to explore and discover, no waves to ride and lull you to sleep.

Yet, Tagaytay continues to enthrall and charm the tired and weary urbanite, and for a good reason: the cool weather in the south remains the easiest and most convenient escape from Manila’s sweltering summer days.

So it’s not a surprise to see how Tagaytay over the past decade has been transformed from a sleepy, laidback town to a bustling commercial city, offering tourists the charm of provincial life infused with modern conveniences. More establishments, such as hotels, restaurants and malls, have also began mushrooming in this summer getaway to cater to the steady influx of local and foreign tourists.

One of those developers who found a home in Tagaytay would be Robinsons Land Corp., which opened in 2009 Summit Ridge Hotel and Promenade.

A 108-room first-class hotel and convention center, Summit Ridge Hotel and Promenade offers and provides all the vacation essentials and premier amenities that could make one’s stay in Tagaytay more memorable and enjoyable.

“The property sits at the coldest and highest point of Tagaytay and can give vacationers the best panoramic view of Taal,” noted Cora Ang Ley, general manager of Summit Ridge Hotel and Promenade.

TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2012 30

What makes it stand out But what makes Summit Ridge stand out from other hotels in the area, according to Ang Ley, are the rooms that offer an excellent, panoramic view of the serene Taal Lake and Volcano.

“All our rooms provide the luxury of space and come with a balcony that gives each guest the rare pleasure of gazing at the best view of Taal Volcano. Rooms at Summit Ridge are also lined up on single-loaded, breezeway corridors that allow passive cooling and cross ventilation, which brings in pleasantly airy ambience into the rooms,” she explained.

Guests can choose between an Asian tropical style standard room and two-bedroom suite which are all equipped with individually controlled air-conditioning units, LCD cable TVS, personal refrigerator, in-room safes, coffee- and tea-making facilities and free Wi-Fi. “Our suites come with a living and dining area, it also has a kitchen complete with kitchen implements and dinnerware so guests if they want can actually cook their own meals,” Ang Ley added.

Ang Ley further pointed out that aside from having scenic rooms, the two-year-old Summit Ridge Hotel also provides a range of facilities and amenities that can be had during one’s stay.

Facilities, amenities “We have health and recreational facilities to help keep our guests fit and relaxed during their stay. Also, Summit Ridge is equipped with first-rate amenities and function rooms, thus making it an ideal venue for meetings, conventions and events,” Ang Ley added.

These health and recreational facilities include the Seriasia spa, which offers an array of treatments; the infinity pool where one can take a refreshing dip while enjoying the serene beauty of Tagaytay

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Palawan

first went to Amanpulo. I have since been transformed and have been going back when I need to unwind. While I would undoubtedly enjoy the vibe of Boracay, I choose to go with the quiet and calm, the serenity and privacy, as they give me that chance to relax and completely detach myself from the “real” world without compromising modern amenities that we’ve all grown accustomed to (hello, Internet! The island is “wired”!). El Nido, Palawan comes a close second as it’s also more “budget-friendly” and allows for more inter-island exploration.—INGRID GO, “bag hag” and Inquirer columnist *** The Monastery of the Transfiguration in Malaybalay, Bukidnon, is a tranquil retreat for urbanites who seek spiritual renewal and inner reflection. Its chapel’s unique pyramid-shaped architecture is indeed a sight to behold, surrounded by the picturesque terrain of Bukidnon and the calming breeze. Basked in serenity, the monastery is definitely one summer destination worth visiting.—ROSEVI GAETOS, Citem executive director ■

Ridge; a fully equipped gym built with a view deck for fitness enthusiasts; indoor-playing courts with taraflex sports flooring for the basketball and badminton enthusiasts; and the Summit Learning Center, a firstrate “Harvard” auditorium-style learning center.

Likewise, guests can use function rooms and ballrooms for occasions, receptions, exhibits and conferences.

“We have the grand, well-designed Raintree Ballroom that can be divided into three separate ballrooms, as well as small function rooms that are designed for intimate cocktail parties and break-out meetings,” Ang Ley mentioned.

For wedding receptions, birthday celebrations and other memorable social events, Ang Ley recommends the use of the event lawn, which is an outdoor-garden venue designed to allow guests to indulge in the cool Tagaytay weather.

Tours If guests want to explore the rest of Tagaytay City, Summit Ridge also conducts and arranges these tours: The “Tour Tagaytay,” which would allow vacationers to marvel at the refreshing sites of Tagaytay; “Island Adventure,” which is actually a boat trip to Taal Volcano where one can explore Taal’s crater after a hike; and, The “Take a Swing tour,” which would allow guests to play and practice their swing at the picturesque Splendido Taal Golf Club.

What further makes this getaway even more convenient for the busy urbanite is that Summit Ridge now offers a convenient booking engine for reservation.

“We have put the power and convenience of online booking at our guests’ fingertips. They can now reserve directly through the hotel’s official website (www. summitridgehotel.com) and with this simple and secure online reservation system guests can book in advance to enjoy even better rates,” Ang Ley explained.

Indeed, Summit Ridge, even without the three staples of summer (sun, sand and sea), can be the perfect venue for couples looking forward to that easy romantic escape and for families and “barkadas” longing for that refreshing summer getaway. ■

31 TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2012

Travel-Canada

Jasper National Park of Canada

Angle Glacier Ice Cave

Jasper National Park

Whitewash rafting

Jasper National Park is the largest of Canada’s Rocky Mountain Parks and part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Jasper spans 11,228 square kilometres (4335 square miles) of broad valleys, rugged mountains, glaciers, forests, alpine meadows and wild rivers along the eastern slopes of the Rockies in western Alberta. There are more than 1200 kilometres (660 miles) of hiking trails (both overnight and day trips), and a number of spectacular mountain drives.

Jasper joins Banff National Park to the south via the Icefields Parkway. This parkway offers unparalleled beauty as you travel alongside a chain of massive icefields straddling the Continental Divide. The Columbia Icefield borders the parkway in the southern end of the park.

Large numbers of elk, bighorn sheep, mule deer and other large animals, as well as their predators make Jasper National Park one of the great protected ecosystems remaining in the Rocky Mountains. This vast wilderness is one

of the few remaining places in southern Canada that is home to a full range of carnivores, including grizzly bears, mountain lions, wolves and wolverines.

Park Highlights In such a large and spectacular area, there are many sights to see and plenty of stories to be told. A few of the highlightes are listed here: • The highest mountain in Alberta (Mt. Columbia, 3747 metres); • The hydrographic apex of North America (the Columbia Icefield) where water flows to three different oceans from one point; • The longest underground drainage system known in Canada (the Maligne Valley karst); • The only sand-dune ecosystem anywhere in the Four Mountain Parks (Jasper Lake dunes); • The northern limit in Alberta of Douglas-fir trees (Brûlé Lake); • The last fully protected range in the Rocky Mountains for caribou (Maligne herd);

Athabasca Falls

Maligne Lake

Talbot Lake

Edith Lake

• The most accessible glacier in North America (the Athabasca).

Did you know?

Jasper National Park protects over 10,800 square kilometres of the Rocky Mountain ecosystem which includes a diversity of wildlife, plants, rivers, lakes, glaciers, and magnificent mountains.

Jasper National Park offers over 1,200 kilometres of hiking trails, with scenery ranging from cascading waterfalls to alpine meadows carpeted in wildflowers.

Jasper National Park is one of four national parks (Jasper, Banff, Yoho and Kootenay) and three B.C. provincial parks (Mount Robson, Hamber and Mount Assiniboine) that make up the Rocky Mountain World Heritage Site.

On September 14, 1907, the Dominion Government established Jasper Forest Park (later called Jasper National Park), setting aside an area of about 13,000 square kilometres.

The National Parks Act was passed in 1930 and Jasper was officially established as a national park, with a final area of just

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over 10,000 square kilometres.

The Icefields Parkway, Highway 93, stretches for 230 kilometres (130 miles) between Jasper townsite and the town of Lake Louise, following the shadow of the Great Divide.

The Icefields Parkway crests two passes; Sunwapta Pass at 2035 metres and Bow Summit at 2069 metres. These passes take visitors to the very edge of the treeless, alpine tundra.

In the Canadian Rockies there are 69 naturally occurring species of mammals.

It is very common to see elk, deer, bighorn sheep, coyote and black bear throughout Jasper National Park.

The largest glacial fed lake in the Canadian Rockies is found in Jasper National Park. Maligne Lake is 22 kilometres long and 97 metres deep.

In 1916 Mount Edith Cavell was named to honor the heroic British nurse executed during World War 1 for assisting prisoners of war to escape German-occupied Belgium. ■ Source: Parks Canada website: www.pc.gc.ca

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PCI’s Melissa and Laarni with Victoria Young of Times Telecom

Canada: Seen and Scenes

Consul General Pedro O. Chan (2nd from left) is shown in photo together with (L-R) Fe Paca Taduran, Irene Cabo Chan Go de los Santos, and Angel Gonzaga during a despedida party hosted by the Philippine Canadian Charitable Foundation (PCCF) held at the Prestige Restaurant, Toronto.

On April 1, the Philippine Canadian Charitable Foundation (PCCF) presented a cheque to Temi Pangilinan, President of ANCOP Canada, a donation of $2,500 for the housing project fund that ANCOP has started. For more details visit www.philippinecanadianfoundation.com.

Toronto, Ontario - The Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for Science and Technology, delivers remarks at the Economic Club of Canada.

Lutchie Lirio on her 65th birthday celebration.

Photo by Eugene Deocareza, PPCO

Photo by Angelo Siglos

Photo by Dindo Orbeso, St. Jamestown News Servie

SUCCESS teams up with PCI. On April 11, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by PCI’s CEO Alan Yong and SUCCESS’ CEO Thomas Tam. Also present were PCI President Terry Bahar, SUCCESS COO Kelly Ng and the SUCCESS team, composed of Eileen Lao, Effie Garcia, Eliza Chang, Manilyn Corpuz and

Photo by Gloria Rafanan

PCI partners with CNM Communications. On April 12, PCI’s Alan Yong signed an agreement with CNM Communications’ Zeala Cortes.

TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2012 34

Philippine Ambassador Leslie B. Gatan (left) and Consul General Pedro O. Chan.

PCI and the team in charge of the Philippine Independence Day celebration in Vancouver with Lara Honrado, Director of Community Relations-Office of the Mayor and Consul Anton Mandap.

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Canada: Seen and Scenes

Congregation at the Man of the Shroud Exhibition at St. Mary’s.

Dennis Marsden, Liberal Party MLA candidate for Port Moody-Coquitlam Distrct visited a group of Filipinos to campaign for the April 19

Photo by Angelo Siglos

Photo by Art Viray

Holy Friday celebration at the Our Lady of Assumption Catholic Church in Toronto.

Our Lady of Mercy Easter Vigil Mass.

Photo by Angelo Siglos

Photo by Art Viray

Photo by Solon Licas

Photo by Angelo Siglos

Photo by Angelo Siglos

35 TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2012

Ringo, Mon (bass), Johnson, Leo (drums) and Francis at the Mistral Storm CD Release.

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Nicole on her 5th birthday, with parents Theresa and Ryan Ferrer.