THE MANILA TIMES | APRIL 03, 2019

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 2019

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Duterte seeks review of all govt contracts

BY CATHERINE S. VALENTE

Chinese vessels should leave — Palace

CHINESE vessels on Pag-asa Island should immediately leave the area now that the Philippines had decided to file a diplomatic protest, Malacañang said on Tuesday.

Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo said the protest was a testament that the government is

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R E S I D E N T Ro d r i g o Duterte has ordered a review of all government contracts to remove any “onerous” provisions detrimental to public interest, Malacañang said on Tuesday.

The President, who met with his Cabinet on Monday, directed Solicitor General Jose Calida and Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra to study, among others, the arbitration case involving Maynilad Water Services Inc. and the Philippine government, according to Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo.

“He (Duterte) directed the Solicitor General, the Department of Justice secretary, and all legal departments to review, evaluate, scrutinize every contract entered by the government and/or each agency with private corporations and/or countries, and determine whether there are onerous provisions in the contract that will put the Filipino people

SERIOUS BUSINESS

President Rodrigo Duterte presides over the Cabinet meeting at Malacañang on Monday evening, where he issued the order to review all government contracts. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

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Is the Senate, particularly Lacson, out to sabotage Duterte’s reform program?

AM becoming convinced more and more that indeed the Yellows in the Senate, exploiting the chamber’s clubbish nature, are succeeding in sabotaging President Rodrigo Duterte’s reform momentum through its power over determining the national government’s budget. äTiglaoA5

RIGOBERTO D. TIGLAO

n Blocking ‘Build, Build, Build’?

Senate removes from budget P11.3B for right-of-way projects.

What’s inside

LAWMAKERS BLAST SOTTO

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THE WORLD SHUNS DAMS; PH IS ON DAMBUILDING BINGE

SC orders govt to release Govt crafts documents on drug war roadmap to address El Niño

THE Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday denied an appeal filed by government lawyers seeking to recall its order requiring the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) to submit documents on the administration’s war on drugs.

The High Court also ordered the OSG to release or furnish copies of the police reports to the petitioners in amparo cases represented by human rights groups Center Law and Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG).

“The court ordered the Solicitor General to submit to the Supreme Court the police reports, copy furnishing the petitioners,” Brian Hosaka, the court’s Public Information Office chief, said.

Marlen RonquilloA4 JIM PAREDES ON SEX VIDEO: I MADE A MISTAKE, I APOLOGIZE

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THE government has come up with a roadmap to mitigate the effects of a prolonged El Niño and ensure ample supply of water in the country, Malacañang said on Tuesday.

Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo said the roadmap, which was presented when President Rodrigo Duterte met with his Cabinet in Malacañang on Monday, included the proposal to create the Department of Water and Department of Disaster Resilience.

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Times columnist Joseph Holandes Ubalde writes 30

BY EDWIN P. SALLAN REACH US AT: E-mail:

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GIANNIS RETURNS TO POWER BUCKS’ WIN WHILE RAPTORS ROMP

The tribunal gave credence to the motion of the petitioners to be furnished copies of the PNP reports, which was earlier opposed by the OSG. Two petitions seeking to halt the Duterte administration’s anti-illegal drug operations were filed before the High Court.

In its unanimous ruling, the court mandated the OSG to submit police reports and documents involving 3,800 deaths related to the drug war that are under investigation by the Philippine National Police (PNP).

The OSG had said the records should not be released to the petitioners because they did not represent all

TRENDY EXERCISE ROUTINES BARED AT 1ST ARNOLDS ARMY OPEN WORKOUT

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newsdesk@ manilatimes.net Tel. Nos.: 524-5664 to 67 Address: 2/F Sitio Grande, 409 A. Soriano Avenue, Intramuros, Manila 1002

BROADCAST journalist and The Manila Times columnist Joseph Holandes Ubalde passed away on Monday, his sister Shyrl Ann confirmed in a Facebook post.

The exact time of Ubalde’s demise remains unknown, although his last social media post on his Instagram page was

on Monday, April 1. The post showed a photo of himself accompanied by a text that simply said, “Freedom.”

The 33-year-old journalist, who used to be the weather presenter of TV5’s defunct morning show “Good Morning Club,” was found dead in his room at the Shangri-La at The Fort in Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Taguig City at 5:30 p.m.

BGC Police said Ubalde’s body was found after someone asked the hotel’s guest service center to check on him

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WEDNESDAY April 3, 2019

Lawmakers blast Sotto M

BY GLEE JALEA

EMBERS of the House of Representatives continued their attacks against Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto 3rd on Tuesday, blasting him for resorting to name-calling.

House appropriations committee chairman Rolando Andaya Jr.said instead of “name-calling and language engineering,” Sotto

should explain why the Senate slashed the budget for the government’s “Build, Build, Build” projects, pension of uniformed

personnel and retirement benefits of government employees.

Andaya had claimed that the Senate cut P83 billion in the 2019 General Appropriations Bill (GAB).

In return, Sotto called Andaya and other House leaders “delusional” for attempting to convince President Rodrigo Duterte to sign a budget that contained “pork” realignments.

“The Senate president has resorted to name-calling and language engineering in a bid to

divert public attention from the drastic budget cuts imposed by the Senate on the President’s major infrastructure projects and social programs,” Andaya said.

“Now is also the time for him to reveal the names of all senators who made the budget cuts and show the items where these were realigned,” he added.

House Minority leader Danilo Suarez also slammed Sotto for his “delusional” tag.

“Sila ang (It’s them who are)

delusional. Grabe na ‘yung damage. Ang tagal na nga ng budget na ‘yan. Dapat nga December pa lang nagmo-mobilize na tayo (The damage has been grave. The budget has been stalled for such a long time. We should have been mobilizing since December),” he said.

Last week, Sotto signed “with reservations” the printed copy of the money measure and transmitted it to Malacañang for Duterte’s signature. The President is yet to sign the budget measure.

CPA-lawyer appointed as acting Budget chief PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has appointed Budget Undersecretary Janet Abuel as acting secretary of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), Malacañang said on Tuesday.

In a statement, Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo said Duterte announced Abuel’s appointment at the start of the Cabinet meeting in Malacañang on Monday.

Abuel, a lawyer and a certified public accountant, was first named as officer in charge (OIC) of the DBM on March 5, after Duterte appointed then Budget chief Benjamin Diokno as Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas governor.

She was promoted as DBM assistant secretary and, eventually, as undersecretary in 2018.

A Bar topnotcher, Abuel holds a master’s degree in

public administration from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore, and a master of laws degree from the University of Sydney in Australia.

When she was named to lead the DBM as OIC, the Palace said she got the top post for her competence, integrity and expertise.

Among Abuel’s first acts as temporary head of the department was the issuance of National Budget Circular 575, which prescribes guidelines on the release of funds for the fourth tranche of pay increase for state workers.

This is pursuant to the Executive Order 76 signed by the President to use the reenacted 2018 national budget to ensure funding for the salary hike amid delay in the passage of the 2019 General Appropriations Act.

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Chinese against the presence of the ships there.

“We are already complaining, why are they there? Then, effectively, you are asking them to leave,” Panelo said, adding that the Chinese vessels should leave as soon as possible.

The Palace official said he took the issue up with President Ro-

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Govt “We had a serious and productive April Fools’ Day as President Rodrigo Duterte presided a fruitful 36th Cabinet meeting,” Panelo said in a statement.

“The Cabinet discussed the first item on the agenda, which is mitigating the effects of El Niño and water shortage. A roadmap was presented, which included immediate, medium and longterm interventions, such as making an intensive campaign for the conservation of water and energy, creating a Department of Water and a Department of Disaster Resilience,” he added.

PH, US reaffirm ‘enduring’ alliance

was a member of the House of Representatives.

The chamber approved House Bill (HB) 7193, or an act providing for the right to adequate food and penalizing its violation, on third and final reading on May 15, 2018.

HB 7193 aims to make it a state obligation and responsibility to ensure and facilitate access to food, its availability and adequacy.

It was transmitted to the Senate two days later, but it is yet to be approved.

The Senate also penned a number of measures that aims to address hunger in the country.

RALPH U. VILLANUEVA

DEFENSE Secretary Delfin Lorenzana met with acting US Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan in Washington, D.C. on Monday, reaffirming the “enduring” alliance between the two countries through discussion of bilateral issues.

Charles Summers, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, said Lorenzana and Shanahan tackled a “broad range” of defense issues and “mutual steps” that would further strengthen the ties between the Philippines and the US. “They agreed on the need to increase inter-operability between our perspective militaries, through exercises, training and US support for the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ modernization plans,” Summers said in a statement.

He said Lorenzana and Shanahan also affirmed their commitments to fighting terrorism in the southeast Asian region.

Summers thanked Lorenzana for providing continuous support to the alliance “and for his role in

advancing our shared vision for a free and open” Indo-Pacific region.

During an interview after Lorenzana was welcomed to the Pentagon, he said he believed that the relationship between Manila and Washington would “continue to develop” under Shanahan’s leadership at the US Department of Defense.

“Our alliance has remained strong despite the complex dynamics due to environment that is evolving all over the world. This has been made possible due to close engagement that our countries have maintained throughout the years, to ensure that our alliance remains responsive to challenges,” the Philippine defense chief said.

“To keep the momentum, we need to continue assessing the arrangements, we have to ensure that to enable us to attain our mutual interest. My department will continue to work closely with your side in this regard,”

Lorenzana added.

He encouraged defense officials from the US and the Philippines to consult each other through existing dialogue mechanisms “to include but not limited” to the Philippines and the US’ Bilateral Strategic Dialogue and the Mutual Defense Board Security Engagement Board (MDB-SEB), which is being held every year.

Lorenzana cited the “steady progress” of the implementation of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, including the completion of projects in Basa Air Base in Floridablanca, Pampanga.

He mentioned the 35th iteration of the Balikatan (shoulderto-shoulder) exercises between Philippine and American forces, which opened officially on Monday in Manila, encouraging planners to come up with various ways in ensuring drills address training needs of both militaries.

DEMPSEY REYES

drigo Duterte during Monday evening’s Cabinet meeting.

He said the President “just listened.”

“That is what the President does, when you make a report, he listens, he observes. If he will tell you anything later, he will say it. He is not risky with his words,” he said.

Lt. Col. Elpidio Factor of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Western Command earlier said about 600 Chinese vessels were

circling the island.

However, Panelo said on Monday that Vice Admiral Rene Medina of the Western Command reported that only 275 Chinese ships were there.

He added that the vessels were not “circling,” but were stationary.

“If they are circling, they are planning something. But, if you are only stationary, maybe you are just watching,” Panelo said.

The Palace official also clarified

that the diplomatic protest was “on the way.”

Malacañang on Monday said the Department of Foreign Affairs had filed the protest.

“Let us see how they (China) will respond to the diplomatic protest,” Panelo said.

Panelo said that if confirmed, he would “politely ask” Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua to explain and stop the activities.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lo-

renzana also on Tuesday admitted that China’s activities in the South China Sea was “concerning.”

“It’s very concerning. In fact, they have been doing the building of islands [at] reefs since, I think, 2011 [or] 2012. So, it concerns us because they are encroaching our EEZ,” he told reporters in Washington, D.C. RALPH U. VILLANUEVA AND DEMPSEY REYES

The roadmap also involved “dredging of waterways, replacing tunnels and aqueducts, installing water tank systems in all Department of Health hospitals and providing funding for the establishment of water treatment plants.”

The Department of Agriculture (DA) has said damage to agriculture caused by drought had reached P5 billion.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said El Niño had peaked and would start weakening in the next months.

Several parts of Metro Manila have also been hit by water shortage.

Panelo said National Economic and Development Authority Undersecretary Adoracion Navarro

presented a proposed Executive Order (EO) on transforming and strengthening the National Water Resources Board (NWRB).

“The EO will merge the NWRB and the River Basin Control Office into the National Water Management Council,” Panelo said.

“This will streamline and consolidate planning and regulation of all water and river basins in the country. It will also draft a National Water Management Framework Plan,” he added.

manuel Piñol said that while the total damage and losses from El Niño have reached P5 billion, the drought would not cut down the national production for this year.

“In fact, the records will show that our losses in relation to our national production projection for rice would only be 0.63 percent. We are still keeping our [still record-high] production target of 20 million metric tons (MT), lower by about 500,000 MT than our previous target,” he added.

Last year, the country’s total rice output hit 19.07 million MT, which was 1.1 percent lower from 19.28 million MT recorded in 2017 caused by monthly tropical disturbances.

For the corn sector, Piñol

said the DA estimated that the total damage would reach a rate of 1.2 percent.

Meanwhile, he sought an “institutional change” in the way the country handles calamities like El Niño, saying the government should stop its “post-disaster intervention mindset.”

“The only way we can mitigate the damage of drought, dry spell and El Niño is to come up with a viable national irrigation program that would prepare the funds for calamities like this. Unless we do that, we will always be picking up the pieces after every disaster and we will be spending a lot to rehabilitate and assist our farmers,” Piñol said.

CATHERINE S. VALENTE AND EIREENE JAIREE GOMEZ

CATHERINE S. VALENTE

Duterte eyes formation of task force vs hunger THE Duterte administration is considering creating a task force to end hunger in the country once and for all, Malacañang said on Tuesday.

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles presented a draft Executive Order (EO) that would create an InterAgency Task Force on Zero Hunger, Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a statement.

The draft was presented during a cabinet meeting on Monday evening.

Panelo said the task force would be composed of 36 agencies.

Nograles principally authored the Zero Hunger Bill when he

ALLIES

Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana meets with acting US Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan in Washington, D.C. on Monday to tackle ‘mutual steps’ to further strengthen the ties between the two countries. AP PHOTO

Optimistic

The DA, however, is optimistic that the agriculture sector would still be able to hit its production target for rice and corn despite El Niño.

Agriculture Secretary Em-

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Duterte seeks review of all govt contracts in disadvantage or in violation of the Constitution,” Panelo told reporters.

“He reiterated his vow to protect the people of the Republic of the Philippines,” he added.

Panelo said Duterte found out that the contract with Maynilad prohibited the government from interfering or intruding into the terms of the contract.

“That’s why we lost in the arbitration tribunal. And I think we were made to pay P3.5 billion because according to the ruling, the government intervened. And by reason of the intervention, Maynilad suffered damages,” Panelo said.

In October 2018, Maynilad scored a victory at the High Court in Singapore over the P3.44-billion compensation it sought from the Philippine government for revenue losses as a result of the unimplemented water rate adjustment.

The water company said the decision became final after the Philippine government opted not to take the case to the Court of Appeals, the upper division of Singapore’s Supreme Court.

Panelo said the Duterte administration would prosecute those behind the “onerous” contracts between the Ramos government and Maynilad. “ We c a n p r o s e c u t e. T h a t contract was entered into by the government and drafted by lawyers of the government. That could be collusion between the lawyers of the government and the lawyers of the private company. We have to prosecute them,” he said.

“That is a very onerous provision when you prohibit your own government from interfering with the terms of the contract. You cannot even do anything when there are losses.”

Guevarra said the review would focus on “certain provisions of the concession agreement that unduly tie the hands of the Republic.”

Duterte’s order came weeks after parts of Metro Manila and Rizal province were hit with water crisis.

The President’s order to review all contracts came on the heels of Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio’s warning that the country could lose gas in Reed Bank if the Philippine government failed to pay the loan it got from China for the Chico River pump irrigation project.

Carpio said the Kaliwa Dam project also followed a template that sets patrimonial assets as collateral.

Panelo said the review would also include the government’s loan agreements with China.

“Yes, because even if it’s executed, even if it’s in violation of the Constitution, you can rescind it, you can strike it down. Ask the court to rescind,” he told reporters.

“In other words, the President is warning all and sundry that for as long as he is the President, he will not allow anything that will go against the interest of the Filipino people. He will use the Constitution, all the powers given him to protect the Filipino people and to serve them faithfully,” the Palace official added.

Panelo expressed confidence that the review of government contracts would have no impact on potential investors.

“As I have said some time ago, the considerations being looked at by potential investors are one, the peace and order situation; the lack of bureaucracy or bureaucratic red tape; and the business climate,” he said.

“On the contrary, in fact, it will forewarn them that they cannot enter into any agreement that is in violation of the Constitution or public policy.”

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WEDNESDAY April 3, 2019

CBCP denounces drug traders T

BY WILLIAM B. DEPASUPIL

HE Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) denounced drug traders behind the entry of billions of pesos worth of illegal drugs.

CBCP President Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles called on the faithful to shun illegal drugs in his homily at the St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Davao City as the archdiocese launched its anti-drug program.

“In the news we see not just thousands, but billions worth of drugs.

They are satans,” said Valles. He said the entry of more drugs would mean

that more young people and families would be “destroyed.”

“We know very well that it destroys you physically, your future, you may become a murderer, all the darkness of drugs… We know the ending,” he said.

The prelate urged the public not to negotiate with “evil” or become victims of illegal drugs.

Valles stressed that prevention of

More than 113M people suffer ‘acute hunger’ – UN

PARIS: More than 113 million people across 53 countries experienced “acute hunger” last year because of wars and climate disasters, with Africa the worst-hit region, the United Nations (UN) said on Tuesday.

Yemen, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan and Syria were among the eight nations accounting for two-thirds of the total number of people worldwide exposed to the risk of famine, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in its 2019 global report on food crises.

Launched three years ago, the annual study takes stock of the countries facing the greatest difficulties.

African states were “disproportionally” affected, as almost 72 million people on the continent suffered acute hunger, the FAO’s Emergencies Director Dominique Bourgeon said on Tuesday.

Conflict and insecurity remained key factors, along with economic turbulence and climate-related shocks like drought and floods, the report found.

In countries on the verge of famine, “up to 80 percent of the population depend on agriculture. They need both emergency humanitarian aid for food and measures to help boost agriculture,” Bourgeon said.

The report highlighted the strain put on countries hosting large numbers of refugees, including neighboring nations of war-torn Syria, as well as Bangladesh, which has received more than a million Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar.

The FAO said it also expected the number of displaced people to increase “if the political and economic crisis persists in Venezuela,” which was likely to declare a food emergency this year.

Bourgeon said he was concerned by the “important and significative rise” in poverty in Venezuela, as it grapples with dire economic and living conditions worsened by an ongoing political crisis.

Globally, the study noted that the overall situation slightly improved in 2018 compared to 2017 when 124 million people suffered acute hunger.

The drop can partially be attributed to the fact that some countries in Latin America and the Asia Pacific region were less affected by weather disasters that had struck in previous years.

However, the FAO warned that the year-on-year trend of more than 100 million people facing famine was unlikely to change in the face of continued crises.

AFP

Maranao traders vow support for Ejercito LEADERS of Muslim cooperatives in Marawi City signed a “Declaration of Support” for the reelection of Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito during the Alliance of Cooperatives for Peace and Development (Allcoop) held in Marawi City on March 23.

The cooperative leaders said it was Ejercito who pushed for the allocation of P110 million for 50 cooperatives in Mindanao for the implementation of peace and development projects.

They vowed to campaign hard for Ejercito and make him lead in Lanao del Sur in the May elections.

Allcoop leaders presented to Ejercito the signed declaration of support.

Inshallah. Bago po ito (assembly) nangyari ay nagkaroon na ng pagmi-meeting ang mga leaders ng kooperatiba dito sa Marawi City at tsaka sa Lanao del Sur at idineklara na natin noon na tutulungan natin si Sen. JV (Ejercito) nang sa ganoon ay maging No. 1 siya dito sa Lanao del Sur (If Allah wills it. Prior to this assembly, we met and made a declaration that we will help Sen. JV Ejercito to ensure that he will be No. 1 in Lanao del Sur),” Pendatu Desimban, Allcoop spokesman and

peace advocate, said.

The leaders thanked Ejercito for pushing the allocation of P50 million for the Cooperative Development Authority in 2018 and another P60 million this year for the implementation of projects in Mindanao under the Normalization Through Cooperative Development Project.

In return, Ejercito, who served as San Juan City mayor from 2001 to 2010, cited the big contribution of Maranao traders, mostly owners and operators of wholesale and retail shops in Greenhills Shopping Center in San Juan City.

“Salamat sa inyong suporta…Kaya madalas ako dito [sa Marawi City], ‘yung amin pong pag-unlad sa San Juan, malaking bagay ang magandang samahan ng Muslim at Kristiyano (Thank you for the support. This is the reason why I frequent Marawi City, our progress in San Juan, the good relations between Muslims and Christians is a big factor). We can probably say that in San Juan, in Greenhills, the good working relationship of Muslims and Christians produced wonders,” he said.

JAVIER JOE ISMAEL

drug abuse must go hand-in-hand with the rehabilitation of drug victims.

He said the church and other sectors must reach out to drug victims “even if to the world it is impractical.”

“Each person is precious to the eyes of God. That is a teaching that cannot be touched. Life is precious.

No discussion about that,” Valles said.

“This is the mark of the Catholic community, to be merciful and loving.”

The Sagop Kinabuhi (Save Lives) Program was created to help young offenders. It was relaunched in 2016 to help rehabilitate drug users.

Since then, more parishes adopted the program to enhance the spiritu-

ality, morality, skills and educational capacities of drug surrenderees.

ang isang nanay, bakit ho kayo nagtulak? Ang sagot niya para sa pagkain, gamot lang eh (Sometimes when you ask a mother why she peddles drugs, she would answer it is for food and medicine).

So it really boils down to also providing employment and basic services, especially in the poorest communities,” he added.

Manicad said some people were forced into the drug trade because of desperation or blackmail.

“We need to look into these cases too,” he added.

“It’s high time we act on all fronts.

This is something I intend to do if elected in the Senate,” he said.

Rooted on poverty To aspiring senator Rodrigo “Jiggy” Manicad Jr., the illegal drugs trade continues to flourish because of poverty and lack of social services.

The former journalist vowed to push laws that would address the country’s drug problem “on all fronts” if he wins a seat in the Senate.

“The so-called war on drugs should be accompanied by livelihood programs, job opportunities for families,” Manicad said in a statement.

“Minsan kapag tinanong mo

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President Rodrigo Duterte earlier admitted that the illegal drug trade in the country worsened despite the government’s relentless campaign to stop it.

“In the end, we will be like Mexico. We will be controlled by drug cartels. The Sinaloa [cartel] has already entered the country and that is why drugs are being thrown in the Pacific. The same is happening in the west,” Duterte said.

Recently, authorities seized tons of shabu smuggled into the country.

The most controversial cases were the smuggling of shabu worth more than P12 billion.

WITH CATHERINE VALENTE

FACE-OFF

Members of various groups, farmers and their families confront police officers during a protest rally held in front of the national police headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City. The protesters denounced the killing of 14 men in Negros Oriental. PHOTO BY ORVEN VERDOTE

Choose bets pushing social reforms – Aquino SEN. Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino 4th on Tuesday appealed to the public to vote for candidates who would push for economic and social reforms.

The reelectionist senator also reiterated the need to connect workers to the available jobs in the market to address the unemployment problem in the country.

“Napakarami pong isyu at repormang kailangan ng Pilipinas.

Ang iboto po natin ay mga taong may kakayanan na magsulong ng

totoong reporma para sa inyo, hindi lang ‘yung magsasayang ng oras sa Senado (There are a lot of issues and reforms needed in the Philippines. We must vote for people who have the capability to push for true reforms for your welfare and not those who would only waste time in the Senate),” Aquino said on Twitter.

“Maraming reporma pa na kelangan tapusin. Sana po ang iboto natin ay mga taong nagtrabaho para sa inyo (There are many

reforms that should be finished.

Please vote for the people who worked hard for you). We deserve nothing less,” he said.

Aquino is running under the opposition Otso Diretso.

The senator vowed to push for the passage of the Trabaho Center Bill if he wins a second term in the Senate in May. He said the Trabaho Center Bill was the necessary reform after the Free College Law, which he pushed as principal sponsor, to ensure that

all graduates landed jobs.

It seeks to establish Trabaho Centers or Job Placement Offices in public high schools and state universities and colleges to address the skills mismatch, and ensure employability of students upon graduation.

Through the Trabaho Centers, Aquino said college and K to 12 students would be ready for employment by the time they receive their diplomas.

BERNADETTE E. TAMAYO

US MONITORS FLOW OF FUNDS TO PH THE United States government continues to monitor the flow of money to the Philippines from unidentified sources to finance alleged terror groups, according to US Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Sigal Mandelker.

“We continue to monitor terrorist financing related to Manila. But of course this scenario is what we continue to watch closely,” Mandelker said during a teleconference.

Asked if the US had monitored the flow of funds from terror groups in the Middle East to local groups in Southeast Asia, which includes the Philippines, she said, “I can’t go into the specifics.”

“But generally speaking this is something that we monitor very carefully and subject of information and cooperation with regional partners,” Mandelker said.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in February reported that overseas Filipino workers’ (OFW) remittances in 2018 reached $32.21 billion, up by 3 percent from $31.29 billion in 2017.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on March 28 affirmed the Philippines’ commitment to fighting terrorism as he co-sponsored United Nations Security Resolution 2462 on combating terrorist financing.

“Money is the livelihood of ter-

rorism,” Locsin said in a speech before the United Nations Security Council, as he cited the Philippine government’s initiatives to stop foreign groups from funding terrorist groups in the country.

He said that while remittance agencies “have been used as a channel for terrorist financing, the challenge is to balance the requirements of counter-terrorism and the needs of OFWs, as remittances account for 9.8 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.”

Locsin also cited the need to monitor funds going to non-profit organizations and the relationship between terrorism and illegal drug trade.

He said the Philippines had defined terrorist financing as “a separate crime” and was working on amendments to the Human Security Act to address the exploitation of cyberspace to promote terrorism.

The Philippines also adopted the 2018-2022 National Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Strategy.

Locsin said the Philippines’ counter-terrorism efforts were “anchored on respecting human rights because of the country’s overriding responsibility to protect the law-abiding against the lawless and the innocent against those threatening their safety and wellbeing.”

BERNADETTE E. TAMAYO

When ownership is acquired Dear PAO, I have been renting a house and lot from Jake for almost 10 years now.

Last month, Julia gave me a letter demanding that I vacate the property within 15 days upon receipt because she bought the property from Jake. I did not heed her demand; hence, she filed a complaint against me before the barangay (village). During the confrontation at the barangay, Julia presented a conditional sale where she paid a down payment equivalent to 50 percent of the total consideration to Jake, and the remaining amount will be paid after one year.

S,o I told Julia that she had no right to evict me from the land because Jake was still the owner of the property, and ownership passes to her after she pays the total purchase price.

Am I correct?

DEAR PAO

PERSIDA ACOSTA Jansen Dear Jansen, Article 1496 of the New Civil Code of the Philippines specifically provides: “The ownership of the thing sold is acquired by the vendee from the moment it is delivered to him in any of the ways specified in Articles 1497 to 1501, or in any other manner signifying an agreement that the possession is transferred from the vendor to the vendee. Relative thereto, Article 1498 also states that: ‘When the sale is made through a public instrument, the execution thereof shall be

equivalent to the delivery of the thing which is the object of the contract, if from the deed the contrary does not appear or cannot clearly be inferred’”.

There is no legal basis to your claim that Jake still owns the property. The conditional deed of sale did not provide that Jake would retain ownership of the property until full payment of the purchase price; thus, Julia is presumed to be the owner of the land upon the execution of the conditional deed of sale.

In the case of Perez vs Rasaceṅa, et al., (GR 211539, Oct. 17, 2016), the Supreme Court through Associate Justice Diosdado Peralta stated: “Anent respondent’s argument that petitioner had no right to evict them on April 19, 2010 since he became the owner only on July 29, 2010, this court is not persuaded.

Although denominated as conditional, a deed of sale is absolute in nature in the absence of any stipulation reserving title to the seller until full payment of the purchase price. In such case, the ownership of the thing sold passes to the buyer upon actual or constructive delivery. In a contract of sale, the title to the property passes to the buyer upon the delivery of the thing sold.

On the other hand, in a contract to sell, the ownership is, by agreement, retained by the vendor and is not to pass to the vendee until full payment of the purchase price.

“A perusal of the contract readily reveals that there was nothing in the Deed of Conditional Sale which expressly provides for LNC’s retention of title or ownership of the property until full payment of

the purchase price or any provision which would impose payment of the price as a condition for the contract’s entering into force. The condition imposed was only on the performance of the obligations of the parties. As such, there was already a perfected contract, and the ownership of the property already passed to the petitioner as the buyer upon the execution of the deed of conditional sale on Jan. 13, 2010. Thus, petitioner was deemed to have been unlawfully deprived of the lawful possession of the property upon respondent’s failure to heed his demand to vacate on April 19, 2010.”

Applying the above quoted decision in your situation, it appears that the conditional deed of sale presented by Julia is an absolute

deed of sale because it contains no condition that Jake will retain ownership of the property until full payment of the purchase price.

Julia owned the property when she demanded for you to vacate the same. You are already depriving her of the lawful possession of said property when you failed to heed her demand.

This opinion is solely based on the facts you have narrated and our appreciation of the same. The opinion may vary when the facts are changed or further elaborated. We hope that we were able to enlighten you on the matter.

Editor’s note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the Public Attorney’s Office.

Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to dearpao@manilatimes.net

A4

Opinion

wednesday April 3, 2019

˜ The Manila Times

w w w.manilatimes.net

E d i to r i a l Aggressive steps against TB a must

T

UBERCULOSIS (TB) was at one time in history a dreaded, virtually incurable disease. Modern medicine, however, has rendered TB a manageable illness, if not a completely preventable one, just as other once-feared afflictions like leprosy or malaria. With the resources and knowledge available to us, nearly two decades into the 21st century, there is no reason why the Philippines should stand out as a country with a serious TB problem.

Yet that unfortunate and embarrassing situation is exactly what the Philippines is facing, a reality highlighted by the recent annual recognition of World TB Day (March 24) and subsequent comments by senatorial candidate Dr. Willie Ong drawing attention to the crisis.

Dr. Ong, a former Department of Health (DoH) consultant, is running for Senate under the LakasCMD banner. Last week, Ong made the startling assertion that there is a TB “epidemic” in the Philippines, quoting a figure of 8 million Filipinos “affected” by TB, about 1 million of whom are active carriers of the infection.

That figure is way off the mark cited by the World Health Organization (WHO) in a report released on World TB Day. The Western Pacific Regional Office of the WHO headquartered here in Manila in that report shared some worrisome statistics: At any given time, one million Filipinos are infected with TB – not the 8 million claimed by Ong. Nonetheless, the fact is, TB remains a serious problem in this country, because as many as 90 percent of those sufferers reported by the WHO are not being treated. On average, 60 Filipinos die each day from the disease, which affects three times as many males as females. About 573,000 Filipinos each year develop TB; only about half of them are identified and treated.

In 2017 alone, 581,000 new cases were recorded by the DoH, of which 264,000 of the sufferers were unaware they had TB. The Philippines is not “ranked third” in TB severity, contrary to Dr. Ong’s claim, but it is still one of the few countries in the world where TB incidence is rising. The WHO does not “rank” countries, but rather classifies them as having a “high” or “low burden” of TB. The Philippines is among the 20 countries considered at greatest risk in the “high burden” category.

The DoH is well aware of the TB crisis in the country, and in response is carrying out the 2017-2022 Philippine Strategic TB Elimination Plan (PhilSTEP) Phase 1, which seeks to identify and treat 2.5 million cases by 2022, and halve TB deaths from 22,000 to 11,000 annually.

The full PhilSTEP program, however, is yet to be implemented, in part because of lawmakers’ shortsightedness in not providing a budget for key resources the DoH needs. The DoH plan calls for screening 6 to 8 million at-risk people using the fast and reliable Xpert molecular screening system. The department has about half of the 1,100 screening devices it needs, but unfortunately, the budget for the remainder was removed by Congress, allegedly to fund pet infrastructure projects of some representatives.

Half measures are not acceptable, and while we might gently chide Dr. Willie Ong for stating figures that were not double-checked, his point that TB is a serious public health issue is well taken. The government must prioritize the eradication of this easily treatable disease.

wednesday April 3, 2019

~

The Manila Times

VOLUME 120 NUMBER 172

Dante A. Ang, Chairman Emeritus Rene Q. Bas, Publisher Emeritus Nerilyn A. Tenorio, Publisher-Editor Arnold E. Belleza, Executive Editor Felipe F. Salvosa II, Managing Editor Leena C. Chua, News Editor Lynette O. Luna, National Editor Tessa Mauricio-Arriola, Lifestyle Editor Perry Gil Mallari, Sports Editor Lea Manto-Beltran, Supplements Editor Jomar canlas, Chief of Reporters Rene H. Dilan, Chief Photographer Dante F. M. Ang 2nd, President and CEO Blanca C. Mercado, Chief Operating Officer Roda A. Zabat, Advertising Director Vicente P. Cruz, Jr., Circulation Director Denise O. Calnea, Marketing Communications and Services Director Telephone All Departments: 524-5665 to 66; Subscription: 524-5664 Local 222 Advertising: 524-5664 Local 121 Telefax: 310-5895 or e-mail advertising@manilatimes.net www.manilatimes.net • e-mail newsdesk@manilatimes.net Letters to the Editor THE MANILA TIMES is published daily at 2/F Sitio Grande, 409 A. Soriano Avenue, Intramuros, Manila 1002 The owners, managers, publishers and editors do not necessarily share the opinions expressed and the statements made by individual authors of columns, commentaries and other articles published in The Manila Times.

The world shuns dams; PH is on dam-building binge midweek F comments ROM 1990 to 2015, around 900 dams have been removed from across the US, including the two Olympic Peninsula dams, which cost $350 million to demolish. At present, US authorities are removing dams at an inspired pace—at least 50 dams per year—because of the liberating effect of removing dams on the rivers and the marine life that thrives on those rivers.

Even throughout their long drought, Californians have decided to push for an aggressive dam removal policy as water evaporation from many of their dams became all too clear. It was also found that dams made the California region vulnerable to sea-level rise. Safety of the dams is another issue driving the removal efforts. Some private dam owners (yes, there are private dams there) are taking the initiative, even when government does not seem enthusiastic.

Europe is also marching in lock step with the US in the dam decommissioning. Over the past 25 years, some 5,000 small dams, weirs and culverts have been removed from rivers across the continent, with the dam-

marlen V. ronquillo removal activity most active in Spain, France, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The dam removal projects across the continent gained momentum right after the European Union adopted the Water Framework Directive in 2000, which proposed the massive protection and rehabilitation of the continent’s rivers and lakes.

Protests from Japanese fishermen led to the decision to tear down a major dam in Japan, the Arase Dam in Kumamoto Prefecture. China, now an aggressive dam builder overseas, has set aside plans to build a series of dams on the Nujiang river, one of its last free-flowing river systems. In South and Central Americas, groups called Rios Libres (Free Rivers) have emerged to stop the dam-building programs of countries there.

New Zealand has taken river

protection into a new level. It granted constitutional rights to its Whanganui River to prevent dam-building on it.

At the start of the new century, the World Commission on Dams was constituted, with Kader Asmal, then Minister of Water Affairs for South Africa as the main driving force. All serving in their individual capacities—not as representatives of countries and institutions—12 individuals well-versed with water policies and utilization made an in-depth study of large dams and their effectiveness. Some of the findings of the World Commission on Dams, released in 2000, were: • Large dams have demonstrated a marked tendency toward schedule delays and cost overruns.

• Large dams designed to deliver irrigation services have typically fallen short of physical targets, did not recover their costs have been less profitable than expected.

• Large hydropower dams tend to perform closer to, but still below, targets for power generation, generally meet their financial targets but demonstrated variable economic performance relative to targets.

• Large dams generally have a range of extensive impacts on rivers, watersheds and aquatic ecosystems — these impacts are more negative than positive and, in many cases, have led to irreversible loss of species and ecosystems.

“Large inequities” exist in the distribution of the benefits from dams, with the “poor and vulnerable” hardly getting benefits from the large dams.

Where are we in a world animated by the move to free up rivers and stop the building of dams?

The answer will make you weep — still addicted to building useless and costly dams.

Easily the most controversial of the dams being built is the Chico River Pump Irrigation Project in the Cordilleras. The P3.2-billion project, financed by a Chinese bank and with a Chinese engineering firm as contractor, will dam the Chico River to generate irrigation water. The yearly interest rate of close to 3 percent on the China loans—including the principal rate and other levies—is definitely higher than the usual concessional rates from Japan and countries

äRonquilloA5

We’re ready! – Namfrel

N

AMFREL, or the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections, the first in the world, has been at it since 1983. In fact, it started a worldwide movement of watching and observing the conduct of democratic elections.

It has been copied and replicated in many countries. Namfrel has been deploying observers to other countries, sharing its own local experience on election observation.

Election observation has changed and Namfrel has had to re-invent itself to be more responsive. Its traditional activity is the conduct of a parallel quick count. Though the results are unofficial, Namfrel’s tabulation has always been based on official election documents and its volunteers have been requested to participate as resource persons in election disputes.

The major change came when an automated election system was first used in 2010 on a nationwide scale. Still, parallel quick count remains the centerpiece for election observation bodies.

Broadcast companies joined the fray in delivering unofficial tabulation results. If parallel quick count of election results was a contest, then one can say that competition is quite tight.

Technology has invaded people’s lives. This can be seen in ordinary life. As commuters, for example, travel to their places of work or back home at the end of the day, with many of them holding on to their smartphones while in transit either playing games, watching movies, or engaged in social media activities.

Technology has also invaded

elections. Namfrel has posted results of past elections on its website. A number of researchers have actually requested copies of the election results and other election-related data for analysis.

This is where Namfrel finds a new niche. Using available technologies for data analytics, it is now looking at election results to generate new insights into the conduct of Philippine elections.

Automated election system monitoring. Namfrel has been actively engaged in observing election preparations, monitoring activities of the Commission on Elections relating to the automation of the midterm elections, the fourth time that the country is using the same technology that has been used in the last three national elections. Namfrel observers will track and observe activities before, during and after election day. Observation reports from the ground will be conveyed to Namfrel’s operation center via various electronic channels, depending on the availability of technology on the ground.

Random Manual Audit (RMA).

As it did in 2016, Namfrel will likewise be involved in the conduct of the RMA. It is participating in the review of the rules on the conduct of the RMA used in previous elections. The RMA in

the last three elections was done in randomly selected clustered precincts following the close of election operations. A new set of teachers, called the Random Manual Audit Team (RMAT), was tapped for each clustered precinct. It was always a challenge to deploy the RMAT as information on which clustered precinct was chosen comes late on election day, especially if the randomly selected clustered precinct is at a remote location. Another challenge is that the conduct of the RMA was generally not covered by election observers and was far away from observation by media.

The RMA will take a major change in 2019. It will be done centrally. Ballot boxes from the randomly selected clustered precincts will be recovered from the office of the city/municipal treasurer and will be transported back to the central location, which has yet to be identified. The activity will be open for observation by interested groups and media.

Open Election Data. Making election-related data open and accessible is about transparency.

Namfrel plans to collect as much election-related data as it can, subject to approval of its petition for accreditation. Namfrel received electronic copies of the election results via the transparency server. It also received a copy of the certified voters list containing voter statistics and the project of precincts, which provided information on the location of voting centers and voting. In addition to the data that it gets, Namfrel petitioned to get automated election

system-generated data — voter statistics and data from logs of the voting machines, canvassing and consolidation servers at the various levels of canvassing and consolidation, logs of the central server and the various servers at the meet-me-room, and logs from the telecommunications providers’ systems. The identity of all machines deployed for the elections is likewise requested. Namfrel is also asking to have access to the certificates of candidacy and statement of contributions and expenditure (SOCE). The automated election system-generated data as well as Namfrel’s observation and incident reports will be published and made available on its website.

If provided, the automated election system-generated data will provide a whole chain of data for study and analysis. Allegations of early transmissions, for example, can be better explained.

It is also an opportunity for the Commission on Elections to showcase the transparency of operations of the automated election system.

Namfrel has yet to receive approval of its petition for accreditation as of this writing.

The Namfrel team is ready. It held a gathering of chapter leaders in Luzon last March 20-23, 2019 in Makati. The assembly of chapter leaders in the Visayas was held in Cebu last March 27-29, 2019.

Namfrel is holding the assembly of Mindanao chapter leaders on April 4-6, 2019 in Davao City.

Yes, Namfrel is ready to take on another round of challenges as it conducts observation of the midterm elections.

˜ The Manila Times

w w w.manilatimes.net

wednesday April 3, 2019

n tiglao From A1

Is the Senate, particularly Lacson, out to sabotage Duterte’s reform program?

After all of Sen. Panfilo Lacson’s blah-blahs, full of “pork” sound bites, but hardly any empirical proof, the Senate’s interference with the budget approved by the House of Representatives resulted in billions of pesos of funds for the President’s key programs being deleted from the budget for this year.

It is an indication of the Yellows’ hold on media that the statement the other day of Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr., chairman of the House committee that drafts the budget after its submission by the executive department, wasn’t reported at all, or was relegated to the inside pages. The Philippine Daily Inquirer, for example, reduced the issue of delays in the House’s approval to Lacson’s allegations that it was due to a feud between Andaya and his political rival in Camarines Sur, Luis Villafuerte.

The remnants of the Yellows haven’t given up, strategizing that sabotaging Duterte’s reforms at this stage would weaken him politically and thereby increase the opposition’s chances of recovering power in 2022.

Andaya’s press statement the other day explained how the budget has been mangled by the Senate. I am taking this unusual move to publish it in full, verbatim, although I have emphasized certain points through italics.

You decide if his allegations are accurate.

Andaya's statement: “The 2019 General Appropriations Bill [GAB] has been transmitted for the signature of President Duterte, and we expect it to be signed after the Office of the President has wrapped up its review of the veto message.

We respect the veto power of the President, and we are convinced

that he will exercise such authority for the benefit of the nation and of our people. Nevertheless, we wish to clarify allegations from the Senate that the amendments introduced by the House of Representatives in the bicameral conference committee meetings were meant to debilitate the Executive Department in implementing the President’s priority programs and projects.

The House of Representatives never made a move to reduce the 2019 budget for infrastructure projects as appropriated in the National Expenditure Program.

In fact, the House introduced amendments increasing the budget for infrastructure projects without breaching the total amount pegged by the National Expenditure Program. This would allow the Executive Department to spur economic growth through increased public expenditure. We made sure, however, that such amendments will pass the test not only of constitutionality and legality, but also of transparency and accountability.

It is the Senate that may find itself liable to accusations of sabotage when it decided, unilaterally, to cut down the allocation for the President’s Build, Build, Build program and other priority projects. We are confident that the Office of the President would consider these items in their review and find ways on how to restore them in the President’s veto message.

The items taken out of the 2019 GAB by the Senate include, but not limited to, the following: 1. Department of Transportation — P5 billion for right-of-way projects 2. Department of Public Works and Highways — P11.033 billion for right-of-way projects 3. Foreign-assisted projects under

DPWH — P2.5 billion Depriving the government of funds for right-of-way and other infrastructure projects will surely hamper the implementation of the President’s Build, Build, Build program. Construction of priority projects, including mass transit and railway systems, will be mostly affected.

4. Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) — P3 billion for scholarship of rebel returnees, out-of-school youths and rehabilitating drug dependents enrolled under the Universal Access to Tertiary Education. As a result, at least 320,000 students enrolled under the program will lose their scholarships this year.

5. Department of Environment and Natural Resources — P2.254 billion for National Greening Program, which resulted in 50 percent budget cut for all PENROs except Antique.

6. Department of Foreign Affairs — P7.5 billion budget for SEA Games taken out, but P5 billion transferred to the Philippine Sports Commission and P2.5 billion nowhere to be found.

7. Miscellaneous Personnel Benefit Fund — P13.4 billion. The MPBF is one of three sources of money paid to government personnel. The other two are the budgets lodged under each agency and the Pension and Gratuity Fund. Under Special Provision 1, the MPBF may be used for “deficiencies in authorized salaries, bonuses, allowances, associated premiums and other similar personnel benefits of national government personnel….”

8. Pension and Gratuity Fund — P39 billion. This fund covers the payment for the following: • Pension of AFP retirees; war or military veterans of the DND; retired uniformed personnel of the DILG, PC-INP, NAMRIA and Philippine Coast Guard; and other retirees of the

National Government.

• Retirement benefits for optional retirees of the National Government; retired personnel of GOCCs which are financially unable to pay said benefits; and personnel devolved to LGUs. • Separation benefits or incentives of affected personnel pursuant to the implemention of: (i) restructuring of agencies affected by the integration and automation of the Budget Treasury and Management System and the operationalization of the Treasury Single Account; and (ii) rightsizing, merger, streamlining, abolition or privatization.

• Monetization of leave credits of National Government personnel and transferred leave credits of those devolved to the LGUs. The details of these budget cuts were not fully discussed in the bicameral conference committee.

The senators unilaterally decided on the budget cuts and realigned them with other items based on the request of individual proponents.

Up to now, the Senate has yet to make public a detailed report on the proponents who recommended the individual realignments.”

I certainly hope Lacson replies to Andaya’s claim. I will publish his reply in my column — but only if he himself issues it, and not his incompetent yet arrogant office boy who always does the replying for him.

Either Lacson is so insecure as to reply himself, or he thinks responding to columnists himself is beneath someone of his exalted stature.

Email: tiglao.manilatimes@ gmail.com Facebook: Rigoberto Tiglao Twitter: @bobitiglao Order my Debunked book at rigobertotiglao.com/debunked

Must the West beg the world for forgiveness?

PENNSYLVANIA: As the Democratic Party quarrels over reparations for slavery, a new and related issue has arisen, raised by the president of Mexico.

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has written Pope Francis 1st and King Felipe 6th to demand their apologies for the Spanish conquest of Mexico that began 500 years ago with the “invasion” of Hernando Cortez.

Arriving on the Gulf Coast in 1519, Cortes marched in two years to what is today’s Mexico City to impose Spanish rule, the Spanish language and culture, and the Catholic faith upon the indigenous peoples.

“One culture, one civilization was imposed upon another,” wrote President Lopez Obrador: “There were massacres and oppression. The so-called conquest was waged with the sword and the cross. They built their churches on top of the temples.”

He demanded that the king and the pope ask for “forgiveness for the abuses inflicted on the indigenous peoples of Mexico.”

Now no one denies that great sins and crimes were committed in that conquest. But are not the Mexican people, 130 million of them, far better off because the Spanish came and overthrew the Aztec Empire?

Did not 300 years of Spanish rule and replacement of Mexico’s pagan cults with the Catholic faith lead to enormous advances for its civilization and human rights?

Or is there never a justification for one nation to invade another, conquer its people, impose its rule, and uproot and replace its culture and

CREATORS SYNDICATE

patrick j. buchanan

civilization? Is “cultural genocide” always a crime against humanity, even if the uprooted culture countenanced human sacrifice?

Did the Aztecs have a right to be left alone by the European world?

If so, whence came that right?

Which leads to another question: Are all civilizations and cultures equal, or are some more equal than others? Are some superior?

Before recent decades, most Americans were taught to believe the West stood above all other civilizations, and America was its supreme manifestation. And much of the world seemed to agree.

As for the assertion that all civilizations and cultures are equal, that is an ideological statement. But where is the historic, scientific or empirical evidence to support that proposition? How many people really believe that?

Spain’s Foreign Minister Josep Borrell said it was “weird to receive now this request for an apology for events that occurred 500 years ago.”

He wondered if Spain should seek an apology from France for the invasion of the Iberian Peninsula and crimes committed by the armies of Napoleon, or if France could demand an apology from Italy for the invasion of Gaul by Julius Caesar?

Unlikely to get an apology from the king, Lopez Obrador may do better

with Pope Francis who is into begging for forgiveness for crimes committed in the Spanish-Portuguese conquest and rule of South America.

In Bolivia in 2015, the pope declared: “I say this to you with regret.

Many grave sins were committed against the native people of America in the name of God. ... I humbly ask forgiveness, not only for the offense of the church herself, but also for crimes committed against the native people during the socalled conquest of America.”

As The New York Times related in its story on the “chilly response” in Madrid to Mexico’s demand, other Western leaders—not only Barack Obama—are very much into this apology fad.

Justin Trudeau has apologized for Canada’s mistreatment of its indigenous peoples. France’s Emmanuel Macron has apologized for the torture of rebels in Algeria’s war for independence.

The Spanish right, however, is not with the program.

Alberto Rivera, leader of the Ciudadanos, called Lopez Obrador’s demand “an intolerable offense to the Spanish people.”

Rafael Hernando of the Popular Party dismissed it with contempt: “We Spaniards went there (to Mexico) and ended the power of tribes that assassinated their neighbors with cruelty and fury.”

Behind this demand for an apology from Spain and the Church is a view of history familiar to Americans, and rooted in clashing con-

cepts about who we are, and were.

Have the Western peoples who conquered and changed much of the world been, on balance, a blessing to mankind or a curse?

Is the history of the West, though replete with the failings of all civilizations, not unique in the greatness of what it produced?

Or are the West’s crimes of imperialism, colonialism, genocide, racism, slavery and maltreatment of minorities of color so sweeping, hateful and shameful they cancel out the good done?

Is the white race, as Susan Sontag wrote, “the cancer of human history”?

As we see the monuments and memorials to the great men of our past desecrated and dragged down, the verdict among a slice of our intellectual and cultural elites is already in. Thumbs down. They agree with the moral shakedown artist of Mexico City.

Query: Can peoples who are ashamed of their nation’s past do great things in its future? Or is a deep-seated national guilt, such as that which afflicts many Germans today, a permanent incapacitating feature of a nation’s existence?

CREATORS.COM

Patrick J. Buchanan is the author of Nixon’s White House Wars: The Battles That Made and Broke a President and Divided America Forever. To find out more about Patrick Buchanan and read features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators website at www.creators.com.

n RONQUILLO From A4

The world shuns dams; PH is on dam-building binge with the European Union.

Of course, the state has agreed to guarantee repayment and China has practically dictated the repayment terms by embedding the debt service on the loan in the national budget — or rather, in every national budget until the loan is repaid.

But that is hardly the most worrisome thing. China is free to grab any Philippine crown jewel, any choice part of the national patrimony, should the Philip-

pines default on the Chico River loan payments. It can get Rizal Park. It can grab Malampaya. It can get our valuable exports.

Given the history of dams in the Philippines, useless during dry spells and mass killers during the seasons of heavy rains, a default on the Chico River loan and a China grab on one of our crown jewels is always a possibility.

The P12.2-billion Kaliwa Dam in the uplands of Quezon province is a

bigger, more ambitious dam project.

China’s Export-Import Bank will finance 85 percent of the project while state-owned China Synergy will do the actual construction work.

Environmental groups fear that the dam project would displace 30,000 people from the Dumagat tribe and other indigenous communities. About 30,000 hectares of forest areas will also be under threat of massive flooding and destruction.

A total of 51 Catholic bishops

and priests have called for the stoppage of the dam project, citing the mass displacement of tribal people, the physical risks (it will be constructed over the Infanta Fault), and the fact that the loan secured for the project will bury the country deeper into a “debt trap” with China.

But those appeals and pleas are hardly heard by the state, currently on a dam-building frenzy, a global outlier as usual.

Opinion

A5

A baccalaureate: Graduating class of 2019 I

N the Philippines, March marks the end of the school year and the start of summer break. For the college graduates, this interim is the last fling before getting on with the serious business of landing a job. For some, those who have not decided what to do with their lives, they continue with schooling.

Postgraduate is an option; law, a master’s course or a shift to other courses, prolonging a juvenile life they can’t leave behind.

A diploma is a precious key to open doors of opportunities.

Particularly for the poor, it is the culmination of parental sacrifice to escape to a better life through their children, but for many, only vicariously. Peculiar to a Filipino family, it is a filial duty.

March is also the time for commencement exercises where speakers regale the graduates with worn-out anecdotes and dispensing advice for the graduates’ transition to real life from the safe confines of a classroom.

I have never been invited by any notable university to be a commencement speaker. So, this article will be my standard commencement speech to the graduating class of 2019.

Dear graduating class of 2019: First my credentials. I am what is known in literature as the Allegorical Everyman. I am an ordinary person. I finished high school at a seminary where tuition was free in a class of a dozen, ‘ sine laude ’ (without honors), although I excelled in Latin and could orate segments of Marcus Tullius Cicero’s perorations against Catiline’s conspiracy “Quo usqui tandem abutere Catilina patientia nostra?”

(When, O Catiline, do you mean to cease abusing our patience?)

But that was half a century ago.

My college baccalaureate was geared towards teaching which I did not pursue. I did public service instead and after some years, I was fortunate to be accepted at Harvard, for my postgraduate MC/MPA at the Kennedy School. I was voted upon graduation as the top Mason Fellow by my classmates. It was a leadership award, not academic.

Three other Filipinos were in my class: Alejandro ‘Babes’ Flores (PC-INP), Dr. Primo Arambulo, (UN-PAHO) and Christopher Gomez, Central Bank (CB). Yes, it is prudent to cite real witnesses on your having graduated from a prestigious school, unlike some current high government officials’ dubious claims of having finished law and college degrees from UP, Yale or Princeton, or whatever.

Having established my credentials, you graduates will soon establish yours. On May 13, 2019, you get to choose for the first time the ruling elite of this country – senators, congressmen and local government officials.

For those of you who are not lazy, concerned or even patriotic enough to register and vote, this is an opportunity for you to practice what you learned in your civics class. As you will begin to realize, our system of government which is nominally a republican democracy allows its citizens to elect leaders mandated to serve the people; who must fashion good laws and hammer out policies to make our lives better.

Election day is the only time that your power to alter the course of government rests in your hands.

After this one-day exercise, you are powerless.

Many of you are average or above-average students, like I was. Nothing wrong with that.

Maybe a good 10 perecent of you are academically part of the crème-de-la-crème, cum laudes, magna and summa cum laudes.

Nothing wrong with that too.

In this day and age, your many advantages over the youth of two decades ago and beyond are apparent. You are the children of the information age.

The network of networks, the world wide web spawned this

lito monico c. lorenzana period through the development of the internet. Facebook, Google, Apple and internet applications through your cellphone and notebooks are your primary tools. Use them well.

With these devices, data mining is at your fingertips. You have access to quick information. This makes you smarter than a lot of us, but not necessarily wiser.

To be the latter, I give you my first advice; you need to apply critical thinking you learned in school, unlike the term papers you sourced out from Wikipedia that you cut and paste. You need to use your brains to separate the chaff from the grain.

You need to discern from among the list of names offered by the political puppet masters, candidates you can trust and depend on to do good by you.

Many of them are good candidates; but also, many of them are crooks and corrupt, who should not be given another chance to rule over us. Eliminate the members of political dynasties and name brands who keep being elected every three years yet serve only their personal interest or that of their families instead of your welfare and the greater majority of our people.

Remember the people you are voting to ride herd on you now were once like you; believing in the oft repeated romantic notion that the “…youth is the hope of the fatherland.” Not true, it’s overrated — given their track record over the decades.

And with these tools, communication between and among your peers are instantaneous; Facebook gives you friends, hundreds, thousands even but such relationships although not deep are sufficient enough for information to disseminate. But beware of fake news and rumors.

My second advice is to allow yourselves to get angry. Real anger over our situation of decades of government neglect, of stark poverty and injustice besetting our people. Righteous indignation is required to spur us to condemn and correct the imbalances and deficits of our democracy — in our court system, in our dysfunctional institutions, in the continued institutional thievery in the Senate and Congress through pork barrel allocations, resulting in the general malaise pervading our system of government.

And I want to leave you with these thoughts that define who you really are: You are the mainstream, the world’s movers. History’s great dramas are mostly written by ordinary people. You need to internalize this fact. This is not to disparage the academic achievers among you. They have achieved excellence worth emulating. But you are all now in the real world. You all start on equal footing; and it requires a conscious decision by each one of you to make a difference.

Continue to possess the arrogance of youth, that you are the center of the universe and that you have the capability of changing the world. Because, it is true, you are. And this is a myth you have to perpetuate, as long as you can. It ends when you are no longer the youth.

But this arrogance is preconditioned on your understanding right from wrong and acting accordingly.

These are values learned from, or inculcated by, parents, the elders, your peer group and the educational system. The result of this life’s test is simply pass or fail, no ‘cum laudes.’

If you are unable to distinguish the difference, you are a failure.

So, my dear graduates of 2019, we are all ordinary people, capable of extraordinary things.

For comments: lito.lorenzana@cdpi.asia

A6

Opinion

˜ The Manila Times

w w w.manilatimes.net

wednesday April 3, 2019

Looming elections really a way out?

T

HIS year sees a slew of elections and potential changes of government in the region. Thailand has just held its first ever general election after the latest military takeover half a decade ago, albeit with the final vote tally to be further delayed. In the coming months, Indonesia, India and the Philippines (midterm), to name just a few countries, will also face elections. Superficially, this would appear to be both bloom and boom for the democratization process in this part of Asia, and perhaps we should also moderately applaud what has been achieved along the bumpy road to true democracy.

But much remains to be accomplished in many electoral democracies in the region – for one very fundamental thing. In many of these elections, worries are still being expressed whether they would indeed become yet another milestone forward in the respective countries’ progress toward a “healthy” democracy—with rational debates as to the reasonable future trajectories of these countries—as many well-intentioned political observers would like to see. Or would these elections actually and somewhat ironically present themselves as yet another

ei sun oh round of sinister opportunities for the darker forces in these countries which have been lurking sometimes not even in the shadows but openly under the sun, to spring forward and seize power, in some cases once and for all.

There are at least three major, sometimes interrelated streams of such dark forces loitering around the electoral gates. There is the always present, sinister tendency and some would say inexplicable yearning toward authoritarianism and even dictatorship.

I try my best not to mince words in pointing out my long-held observation that there are parts of the world which have undergone, sometimes at a painful price, the belated shower of the philosophical movement of the Enlightenment which started in late 18th century. As Immanuel Kant famously pointed out, the Enlightenment is “mankind’s exit from their self-inflicted unknowingness.” The hitherto unquestioned authorities

of the church and of the state were variously called into reasonable question, and the inalienable dignity of the individuals gradually came to be considered supreme. And so it came to pass that “government of, by and for the people” has become the norm for many increasingly liberal democracies, where citizens would like to make as many decisions for themselves as possible, with governments relegated only to those tasks which are simply too gargantuan for individuals to accomplish, such as national defense.

Otherwise, governments are treated mainly as “necessary evils,” and the powers that governments hold are considered to be inherently corrupt, with absolute powers corrupting absolutely, to paraphrase some American and British political thinking dating back to a few centuries ago.

Then there are those parts of the world which are perhaps not yet engrained with the progressive ideas of the Enlightenment, where feudalistic or semi-feudalistic notions still hold sway over a large swath of the population. Here, the prevalent thinking seems to be that as long as a somewhat benevolent strongman or dictator holding sway over a popula-

tion feeds them adequately (or just somewhat better than before, i.e., such as improving the economy), then it is okay to throw (electoral) support behind such a powerful figure despite his or her dictatorial and even kleptocratic (stealing national wealth, sometimes even legitimizing and systemizing such overt acts) leanings, especially, as is often the case, when the leader figure has consolidated armed support in his or her hands.

There will be those who will point out that this is not only a developingcountry phenomenon but rather a worldwide trend, irrespective of the developmental stage of the countries concerned, giving as an example the undeniably bombastic character of Donald Trump, the US president, who unabashedly brags about his preference for a more authoritarian style of leadership over and above the long-held-to-be-sacrosanct checks and balances of the US Congress and the courts. But the fact that I can write critically and negatively about Trump and America here without fear of official retaliation from the US government, while I also had to use much more space above to write very elliptically with non-spe-

a n a ly s i s

Thai polls show divisions and instability remain n Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha prepares to cast his vote at a polling station in Bangkok, Thailand, on March 24 during the nation’s first general election since the military seized power in a 2014 coup.

AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe

BANGKOK: Thailand’s junta leader looks set to return as prime minister after a general election stacked heavily in his favor, but the process reveals that more than a decade’s polarization in Thai politics is as strong as ever.

Rather than ensuring stability, the sharply divided vote almost guarantees new struggles over power, which could involve parliament, street protests or even fresh military intervention.

A self-declared “democratic front” of seven political parties says a preliminary vote count from the March 24 election shows it will be able to put together a majority in the House of Representatives.

But the junta-appointed Senate also takes part in the vote for prime minister, meaning junta leader and Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha will likely need to win only one-quarter of the elected representatives in the lower house to get his job back.

Prayuth as army commander led the 2014 coup that toppled an elected government, and many people would see his taking power again through a carefully manipulated process as just the latest instance of Thai voters having their choices overruled by legal or extralegal means.

It would still be far from smooth sailing even if Prayuth and his allies in the Palang Pracharath party form a government, while the anti-junta coalition led by the Pheu Thai party holds a majority in the House of Representatives.

A Prayuth-led government “won’t be able to pass laws and pass budgets,” said Pornson Liengboonlertchai, a professor of political science at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University. “There’s a likelihood that they will become an ineffective government because there could be a noconfidence vote which relies on majority votes, and there’s a likelihood that Prayuth will face that, a vote of no confidence.”

With the final election results not being certified until May 9, there’s a good chance the numbers — perhaps whittled down by disqualifications — will not give the anti-junta coalition a majority.

But this runs the risk of appearing that the junta-friendly Election Commission is helping to steal the election, creating a public backlash and the pos-

sibility of street protests.

“If they go the nuclear option and get rid of one of the parties, entirely dissolve them, then I think you may see people getting really, really, really upset,” said Kevin Hewison, a professor emeritus at the University of North Carolina and veteran Thai studies scholar.

In the worst-case scenario, the failure to establish a working government could invite new intervention by the military.

“My big fear is that there’s going to be another coup,” Hewison said. “They’ll say, ‘Look, this hasn’t worked, we’ll set them straight again’.”

The army’s excuse for staging its coup in 2014 was to end political strife that deadlocked the country’s administration.

Aside from the maneuvering to form a new government, the vote showed that what Thailand’s people want is not uniform and perhaps not even clear after nearly half a decade in which political activities were banned and freedoms of speech and assembly were severely restricted.

The preliminary results of the election, though marred by alleged irregularities, paint the picture of a nation deeply divided between those for and against military rule.

Of course divisions are nothing new in Thailand. The country’s politics have been defined by them since the rise of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a telecommunications tycoon who came to power in a populist political revolution nearly two decades ago.

Thaksin was beloved by many in the countryside for policies such as universal health care and farm subsidies, but was loathed by many in the country’s conservative establishment who saw him as corrupt and a threat to the traditional role of the monarchy at the center of Thai society. He was ousted by a 2006 coup and is now in exile.

“The election seems above all to have made clear the depth of continuing divisions,” said Michael Montesano, coordinator of the Thailand Studies Program at Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.

“At the same time, the rhetoric used by some on the Thai right in support of the Palang Pracharath party may have inflamed the concerns of voters worried

about former Prime Minister Thaksin’s continued influence on Thai politics and broader threats to the old status quo.”

But the dominating factor of Thaksin as bogeyman may be fading, with the rise of what some analysts see as a third force, the Future Forward Party which, starting from scratch without the benefit of old-school politicians in its leadership, managed to pull off a third-place finish in the polls, both in terms of popular vote and likely seat total.

The party has a youth-oriented appeal but also a frank anti-military stance, and as more or less amateurs, stands apart from the other major contenders.

Part of the party’s appeal is that it has given those opposed to both military rule and Thaksin a path to express themselves.

Party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit has said he would join a coalition and support a Pheu Thai prime minister.

Yet in a recent interview, when a reporter asked him to say the first word that popped in his head when he heard the name Thaksin, his answer was telling: “History.”

The anti-Thaksin forces may still see the battle as one against the former prime minister and his political machine, but others such as the Future Forward Party and Pheu Thai are trying to move it toward a pro-democracy versus anti-democracy dialogue, said Jacob Ricks, a political scientist at Singapore Management University.

“Thaksin is appearing less important in their discussion, while he remains front and center for the military and their allies,” he said.

Montesano said one of the upsides of the election is that divides in Thailand are no longer so much about Thaksin.

“The downside may be that voter sympathy for or patience with a continuing authoritarian orientation toward politics has become evident,” he said.

He said it was unlikely these divisions can be overcome in the foreseeable future, especially if “Palang Pracharath continues to push to install either General Prayuth or an outsider into the premiership, if Future Forward stays true to its electoral platform, and if meaningful progress in addressing inequality in Thai AP society does not occur.”

cific references to particular regional countries or leaders, admittedly for fear of official, state-sanctioned retribution, speaks volumes, at least in my humble mind, about the sorry state of democratic progress in this part of the world, where sometimes lethal state mechanisms are still often ruthlessly employed by budding dictators to silence critics and opposition alike. And I would have to cowardly leave this subject at that so as not to attract further attention and thus invite potential harm to my person and property.

Then there are also the forces of populism and jingoism. “Smart” dictators and charismatic social figures would often make use of populist polemics and narratives to gain electoral support. The whole nation or the majority race in the nation is summarily described as under siege or beyond repair. The populist figures will then shrewdly present themselves as the savior of the nation or at least summary solver of the nation’s problems.

In such a “toxic” political process, the various communities in a country may be plunged into conflicts or civil wars, and sometimes even outright wars with other countries become

imminent in the horizon, all because some populist leaders rouse up the still immature sentiments of the people to propel themselves forward politically.

And then there are really scary, extremist elements in society who are also biding their time to pounce.

These are those with really fringe religious or ideological convictions.

They aim to seize not just political but also social power in a country and sometimes in a region. And they do this by hook or by crook. The “hook” part is self-evident in the various terrorist attacks in the region in attempts to cow the regional government and population into submission to their version of extremist ideology or religion. The “crook” part is by infiltration and subsequent taking over of not only the official mechanisms (including through elections) but also the hearts and minds of the people in a society and, indeed, in the region. Ironically, sometimes the blunt force of a dictatorship is the most effective counter-measure for this sort of extremist offensive.

So, in a sense we are back to square one, with elections looming, but apparently still no way out of our collective political and social predicament.

2, 4, 8 and ?B People

By Joseph Chamie NEW YORK: Two, four and eight billion people is the extraordinary doubling and redoubling of the world’s population that occurred in slightly less than a century. World population, which had grown to 2 billion by 1927, doubled to 4 billion by 1974 and will reach 8 billion by around 2023.

Is that record-breaking demographic growth of world population likely to be repeated in the 21st century? The short answer is: while a doubling of world population over the course of the 21st century is possible, its quadrupling is not in the cards.

In the late 1960s the growth rate of the world’s population peaked at 2.1 percent and has since declined to approximately half that level, or 1.1 percent. The annual addition to the world’s population also peaked in the late 1980s at nearly 93 million and is now about 82 million per year. The primary reason for lower levels of world population growth is the decline in fertility rates or the average number of births per woman.

At the beginning of the 20th century average global fertility was still about six births per woman. By 1950 world fertility had declined only slightly to five births per woman, with less than a handful of countries having rates below the replacement level. During the second half of the 20th century, however, birth rates dropped relatively rapidly across most countries, resulting in today’s world fertility level of about 2.5 births per woman.

Powerful forces, which continue to operate today, brought about the declines in fertility primarily during the second half of the 20th century. Particularly noteworthy among those forces were lower mortality, increased urbanization, widespread education, improvements in the status of women and modern contraceptives. Survival of the young, migration from rural areas to urban centers, education and employment of women contributed greatly to the desire of couples, especially women, to delay, space and limit childbearing.

Not so long ago, the attempts of women and men to time and limit their number of children were resisted, with some countries having laws preventing the distribution of contraceptive materials and information. Throughout the 20thcentury especially following the Second World War, public attitudes, government policies and personal behavior changed markedly regarding birth control and contraception.

In the early 1960s modern contraceptives, notably the oral contraceptive pill, became available to married women and subsequently to unmarried women. Today nearly two-thirds of women aged 15 to 49 years who are married or in a union are using contraceptives, with close to 60 percent of them using a modern family planning method. However, one in 10 married or in-union women aged 15 to 49 years, or approximately 142 million women, want to stop or delay childbearing but are not using any contraceptive method to prevent pregnancy.

The availability of the oral pill and other modern contraceptive methods permitted couples to gain control over the number and timing of their births. The ability for both women and men to determine the timing and number of births is certainly a major achievement having enormous demographic, social, economic and political consequences.

Although mortality levels continue to play an important role in the growth of world population as it has throughout human history, fertility rates constitute the critical determinant of the future size of world population. If birth rates remain unchanged at current levels, a highly unlikely scenario given recent trends, the world’s population would reach 26.3 billion by the end of the century.

If fertility rates continue their decline and move to the replacement level of about two births per woman, which is the United Nations medium variant, world population is projected to be 11.2 billion in 2100. A half child above and below the replacement level yields the United Nations high and low variants for world population of 16.5 billion and 7.3 billion, respectively, at the close of the century.

While world population is not likely to quadruple in the 21st century, the populations of approximately three-dozen countries, largely in sub-Saharan Africa, are projected to more than quadruple during this century according to the United Nations medium variant. Africa’s largest country Nigeria, for example, is projected to have its population sextuple over the 21st century, from 122 million at its start

to 794 million at its close.

The country with the most rapid rate of projected population growth is Niger. Its population is expected to increase seventeen-fold over the 21st century, from 11 million to 192 million, again according to the medium variant. If fertility were to decline more rapidly, the low variant, from its current 7 births per woman to 4 births per woman by mid-century and to the replacement level of 2 births per woman by the century’s close, Niger’s population would increase nearly thirteen-fold to 144 million during the century. Moreover, even if its fertility rate were to fall immediately to the replacement level, the instant replacement variant, Niger’s population is projected to triple to 37 million over the 21stcentury.

In contrast to the countries with populations that are projected to more than quadruple, the populations of some 50 countries are projected to decline during the 21st century, according to the medium scenario. Moreover, 30 of those countries are expected to experience population declines of at least 20 percent over the current century.

Japan, for example, is projected to have its population decline by 34 percent over the 21st century, from 128 million to 85 million. China, the largest population among this group of countries, is expected to see its population of 1.3 billion in 2000 drop to 1 billion by 2100, a decline of 20 percent. The most rapid population declines during the 21st century of approximately 50 percent are projected for Bulgaria, Latvia and Moldova.

In terms of absolute numbers, 10 countries account for 62 percent of the projected world population growth between today and the close of the century, which is approximately 3.5 billion, according to the United Nations medium variant. Of those countries, the top five contributors to population growth in the 21st century are in sub-Saharan Africa: Nigeria (17 percent), Democratic Republic of Congo (9 percent), Tanzania (7 percent), Niger (5 percent), Uganda (5 percent), India (4 percent), Pakistan (4 percent), Angola (4 percent), Ethiopia (4 percent) and the United States (3 percent).

World demographics of the recent past are explicit, detailed and straightforward. The 20th century was the most rapid world population growth in human history. Although dramatic declines in mortality and fertility levels have taken place, the growth of world population continues but at a slower pace than the recent past.

It is evident that world population will soon reach 8 billion and will continue to increase well after that demographic milestone. As described above, the future growth of world population will largely be a function of the path of future fertility, especially across the high fertility countries of Africa. the United Nations medium variant.

Africa’s largest country Nigeria, for example, is projected to have its population sextuple over the 21st century, from 122 million at its start to 794 million at its close.

Of course, the future of world population remains uncertain and current demographic conditions, particularly mortality and morbidity levels, could change markedly for the worse as has occurred at various times in the past.

Nevertheless, population projections for the 21st century should not be dismissed as merely demographic soothsaying. Demographic projections provide valuable insight into the most likely future course of population growth and what policies and programs may be needed to address changing demographic conditions and their consequences.

A world population of 8 billion people and possibly double that number by the century’s close poses a plethora of critical challenges for humanity as well as the planet’s flora and fauna. Prominent among those challenges, especially relevant for rapidly growing developing countries, are concerns about food, water, housing, education, employment, health, peace and security, governance, migration, human rights, energy, natural resources and the environment.

Unfortunately, in too many instances political leaders have chosen to address those critical challenges with the three Ds: denial, delay and do nothing. In order to deal effectively with the many population-related challenges of the 21stcentury, government policies and programs as well as the efforts of international and national organizations should be guided by the three As: acknowledge accurately, analyze thoroughly and act prudently.

IPS

Joseph Chamie is former director of the United Nations Population Division.

Regions

˜ The Manila Times

w w w.manilatimes.net

WEDNESDAY April 3, 2019

A7

VESSEL WITH CHINESE, INDONESIAN CREW SPOTTED OFF BATANGAS A DREDGING vessel, composed of Chinese and Indonesian crew, was spotted off the waters of Lobo in Batangas, authorities confirmed on Tuesday.

Lt. Gen. Gilbert Gapay, commander of the military’s Southern Luzon Command, said the ship was registered to Sierra Leone, citing reports from the Philippine Coast

Guard (PCG) in Batangas and the Littoral Monitoring Station in Mindoro.

PCG spokesman Armand Balilo identified the ship as M/V Emerald, noting that the vessel came from Singapore before navigating to the coast of Lobo town.

“It will be used for the dredging and desilting of Lobo river and nearby estuaries

ASG gunman killed in Sulu fighting ZAMBOANGA CIT Y: G ove r n m e n t troops clashed with pro-Islamic State (IS) militant groups in Sulu, which killed an Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) fighter and wounded two police officers in separated encounters on Tuesday.

Officials said the fighting simultaneously erupted on Simisa Island off Banguingi town and in Patikul town.

The Marines killed one gunman in Simisa where troops had been pursuing a group of ASG gunmen hiding on the forested island since last month.

Lt. Gen. Arnel de la Vega, chief of the Western Mindanao Command, said members of the 3rd Marine Company recovered the body of the still unidentified bandit, including an M1 rifle, following a firefight that lasted for about 15 minutes.

De la Vega said there was no report of military casualties as he vowed to destroy the ASG. “The Joint Task Force Sulu continuously employ more pressure on the remaining Abu Sayyaf bandits to gain more enemy strongholds and armaments. We believe that a number of the bandits were wounded and probably could have died due to loss of blood after

the encounter especially that our troops are still pursuing them as of this report,” he said.

But while vowing to finish off the bandits group blamed for the series of ransom kidnappings of fishers off Sabah in Malaysia and the spate of terror attacks, de la Vega also called on Abu Sayyaf fighters to surrender peacefully.

“While operations are vigorously undertaken to neutralize the remaining bandits, we still encourage other Abu Sayyaf members to lay down their arms in order to finally have peace in Sulu,” he said.

Security forces also clashed with Abu Sayyaf fighters in the village of Kan Ague in Patikul where two police officers were wounded in the fighting, de la Vega added.

He said soldiers and policemen were escorting a group of teachers when about 10 militants attacked them in the village, triggering a firefight.

He did not say if any of the teachers were wounded in the firefight, while the wounded police officers were rushed to a hospital in Jolo as troops pursued the bandits in Patikul’s hinterlands.

AL JACINTO

Candidates warned vs use of Bangsamoro law COTABATO CITY: The local government minister of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) on Tuesday warned politicians against using the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) in their campaign strategy to win votes in the coming elections.

The warning came after several political groups that voted against the BOL have been spreading stories purporting that candidates who campaigned for its ratification would work out BARMM’s expansion if elected to local positions.

Naguib Sinarimbo, BARMM’s local government minister, said nowhere in the BOL could one find a provision stating that the Bangsamoro region could still be expanded after the January 21 plebiscite in provinces of the now defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Sinarimbo urged candidates to refrain from hitting rivals who campaigned for the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law. “The BOL clearly says that the January 21 and February 6 plebiscites related to the Moro issue were the last, nothing more.

Candidates are advised to focus on sensible campaign platforms

and refrain from using scare tactics,” he said.

The plebiscite for the ratification of BOL or Republic Act 11054 last January 21 paved the way for the replacement of the ARMM with BARMM. There are 63 barangay (villages) in several towns in North Cotabato, under Administrative Region 12, that became part of BARMM territory through a separate plebiscite last February 6.

Quarters that opposed the creation of BARMM are using the social media to scare voters on the possible alignment of more local government units with BARMM if they vote for pro-BOL candidates aspiring for local posts in towns and cities close to BARMM. Legal luminaries in the Bangsamoro Transition Authority appointed to oversee the transition from ARMM to BARMM said it was unfair to use such a campaign discourse to cause division among pro-BOL and anti-BOL camps.

Quirino Esguerra, an election lawyer and counsel of many local executives in BARMM, said the BOL had no “opt in” provision enabling local government units outside to become part of its core territory.

JULMUNIR I. JANNARAL

Nationinbriefs 6 BANGSAMORO POWER CO-OPS TO RECEIVE NEW EQUIPMENT

SIX electric cooperatives in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao will receive new equipment next to help improve power services in the region. The National Electrification Administration and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will lead the turnover ceremony of power distribution equipment and materials on April 10. Materials including boom trucks, transformers, utility poles and electric wires will be distributed to Basilan Electric Cooperative Inc., Lanao del Sur Electric Cooperative Inc., Maguindanao Electric Cooperative, Inc., Siasi Electric Cooperative Inc., Sulu Electric Cooperative Inc., and Tawi-Tawi Electric Cooperative Inc. The equipment was part of the 771 million yen grant extended by the Japanese government through JICA to the government aimed at enhancing power distribution system in the region. In April 2018, the agency and Nishizawa Limited signed a contract for the procurement of equipment and materials for the rehabilitation of the power distribution system of the six power co-ops in Mindanao. Under

covered by an approved contract between Lobo LGU (local government unit) and Seagate Engineering and Build Systems, a Filipino company,” he said in a text message, citing a report from the PCG. Gapay added “pertinent documents” had been submitted to the Maritime Industry Authority central office, as well as to the Of-

fice of the National Security Adviser for the issuance of a “special permit for utilization.”

The presence of the vessel, he said, was also cleared by the Philippine Ports Authority while the coast guard in the area was “closely monitoring” it.

Based on the report of the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and

Quezon) police, the ship was spotted near Lobo since last week with nine Chinese crew, all possessing passports, visas and seaman’s book.

Balilo added that the vessel were issued clearances by the regional office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. DEMPSEY REYES

1,700 flee homes as Army, NPA clash in Negros Occ

B

BY EUGENE Y. ADIONG

ACOLOD CITY: About 1,700 residents of Barangay Quintin Remo and the neighboring villages in Moises Padilla, Negros Occidental were evacuated and several graduation rites were postponed after the encounter between government troops and communist rebels on Monday.

Soldiers of the Philippine Army’s 62nd Infantry Battalion encountered about 30 communist rebels, whose group is believed to be behind the murder of Moises Padilla Councilor Jolomar Hilario on Sunday.

Quintin Remo village chief Felisa Villaflor said in a radio interview on Tuesday that about 900 residents from four sitio (subvillages) stayed overnight at the Guinpanaan National High School-Mamballo extension. They were mostly residents of Sitio Santos-Santos where the encounter took place.

Similarly, about 500 people from Barangay Montilla and 240 in Barangay Guinpanaan fled their homes and were housed in various temporary shelters.

Villaflor added that the municipal government provided food and water to the evacuees.

Brig. Gen. Benedict Arevalo, commander of the 303rd Infantry Brigade, said he directed the troops to complete the clearing operation so that the residents can

return home by Tuesday.

“We don’t want them to be inconvenienced. Within the day, they were expected to return home,” he added.

The encounter, which lasted for about an hour, happened on Monday morning in Sitio SantosSantos while government troops were conducting pursuit operations.

One of the soldiers, Corporal Ryan Quevedo, was slightly wounded during the firefight.

Soldiers recovered several rounds of ammunition, antipersonnel mines and personal belongings of the rebels at the encounter site.

On Sunday, Hilario, 51, a councilor running for releection, was shot dead inside his home in Barangay Inolingan at about 6 a.m. by gunmen who identified themselves as members of the New People’s Army (NPA).

The victim was asleep when about 50 armed men on board a truck arrived and some of them barged into Hilario’s residence and shot him.

Sacked

Meanwhile, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Oscar Albayalde on Tuesday relieved four Negros Oriental police officials, including the provincial director, four days after the killing of 14 farmers who were allegedly communist rebels.

Relieved from post pending investigation were Police Col. Raul Tacaca, Negros Oriental provincial director; Police Lt. Col. Patricio Degas, Canlaon City chief of police; Police Lt. Kevin Roy Mamaradlo, Manjuyod chief of police; and Police Capt. Michael Rubia, Sta. Catalina chief of police.

Albayalde said the PNP-Internal Affairs Service was already conducting an investigation to find out if the operation was conducted properly.

The PNP was slammed by various sectors and lawmakers for the brutal killing of 14 farmers — eight in Canlaon City, two in Santa Catalina, and four in Manjuyod — in separate operations on Saturday.

The slain farmers were identified as Steve Arapoc, Manulo Martin, Sunny Palagtiw, Edgardo Avelino, Esmael Avelino, Rogelio Recomono, Ricky Recomono, Genes Palmares, Eric Acabal, Ano Enojo Rapada, Gonzalo Rosales, Melchor Pañares, Mario Pañares and Franklin Lariosa.

Albayalde earlier said the farmers resisted arrest and fought back police operatives, triggering a firefight. He claimed the farmers, who were mostly peasant leaders, were NPA members.

A police officers was wounded during one of the operations.

The operatives also arrested 12 other farmers based on the search warrants served.

Best legal defense

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, meanwhile, on Tuesday said the Department of the Interior and Local Government would provide the best legal defense to the police officers who were involved in the simultaneous operations in Negros Oriental.

“We stand by our police officers and we will provide them with the best legal defense to help them overcome whatever legal challenges that may arise as a result of several Negros Oriental operations,” Año said.

He insisted that the operation was not a massacre of the farmers, as claimed by the some sectors and their families, but just “part of the typical disinformation and propaganda campaign of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front and their communist front organizations to portray government in the [worst] light even in the face of evidence to the contrary.”

“How can they say there was a massacre when some 12 other suspects were arrested during the operations? It was obvious that the leftists were trying to destroy the image of the government to get sympathy from the masses.” Año said.

WITH A REPORT FROM ROY D.R. NARRA

SC stops clustering of Sulu precincts

EXCELLENT RATING

Secretary Raul Lambino (second from left), administrator and chief executive officer (ACEO) of the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA), receives the audit report from the Certification Partner Global General Manager Melanie Olbita, after the agency passed the Surveillance 1 Audit for compliance to ISO 9001:2015. CEZA has reached greater heights in the recent pursuit for the continuous improvement of its Quality Management System attaining a grand total merit of 125.5 points, or excellent rating. Accepting the report with Lambino are CEZA Special Assistant to the ACEO Raymundo Roquero (left) and Leonardo Cruz, head Technical Assistant and Quality Management representative. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY JOSEPH MUEGO

the deal, the Japanese firm is tasked to provide training focusing on the handling of insulated wire and operation training of the boom trucks.

JORDEENE B. LAGARE

P24-M APPROVED FOR REGION 2 YOUTH SUMMER EMPLOYMENT

TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan: Officials of the Department of Labor (DoLE) in Cagayan Valley (Region 2) said a total of P24.9 million budget was approved for the implementation of the Special Program for the Employment of Students (SPES) in the region. Lawyer Sarah Buena Mirasol, DoLE Region 2 director, said the department aims to employ 6,030 youth beneficiaries for the SPES this year. Isabela province was allotted with 2,370 slots; Cagayan with 1,830 slots and Nueva Vizcaya with 976 slots. The provinces of Quirino and Batanes have 427 slots each. Mirasol explained that the SPES is an employment bridging program usually implemented during the Summer or Christmas vacations. “Under the program, we have been coordinating with employers, intermediaries and local government units for pledges on their counterpart for the payment of the salaries of the beneficiaries,” she added.

LEANDER C. DOMINGO

CUSTOMS CHIEF INTENSIFIES DRIVE VS ZAMBASULTA SMUGGLERS

ZAMBOANGA CITY: The Bureau of Customs (BoC) top official has directed last local agency personnel to further intensify the allout campaign against smuggling, including illegal drugs, in the areas of Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi or ZamBaSulTa. Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero was in the city recently for the arrival ceremony of the Philippine Coast Guard’s (PCG) BRP Malamawi, a modern 24-meter fast patrol boat for use by the BoC in its anti-smuggling and anti-drug trafficking operations. Late last year, Guerrero said, the BoC signed a memorandum of agreement with the PCG and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to strengthen the bureau’s anti-smuggling drive in the country’s southern parts. He also commended Zamboanga BoC district collector Segundo Barte Jr. for his satisfactory performance, particularly in upgrading the bureau’s collection of duties and taxes, as well as the anti-trafficking campaign in their area of operation. Barte was optimistic that BRP Malamawi would greatly assist his office in carrying out the bureau’s objectives, even as he assured that the new fast patrol vessel would go a along way “in eliminating or minimizing entry of smuggled goods in the region.”

ANTONIO P. RIMANDO

THE Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday stopped the Commission on Elections (Comelec) from pushing with its directive in clustering, declustering and transfer of several precincts in Sulu province.

In an en banc decision during its first Baguio Summer Session for 2019, the high court issued a status quo ante order enjoining the Comelec from implementing its resolutions, which ordered the clustering and transfer of precincts in Sulu.

The status quo ante order restores a specific condition to how it previously existed, meaning the Comelec cannot implement its earlier resolutions and the old clustering of 110 precincts shall remain effective.

The high tribunal made the directive in view of the petitions filed by former Sulu Gov. Abdu Sakur Tan and Nurhaipa Berto.

Tan and other petitioners led by Almedzar Hajiri were opposed to the new clustering of precincts claiming that the changes might create confusion to the voters which could lead to electoral fraud.

JOMAR CANLAS

A8

News

WEDNESDAY April 3, 2019

˜ The Manila Times

w w w.manilatimes.net

I made a mistake — Jim Paredes S

BY ARLO CUSTODIO

INGER-composer Jim Paredes of Apo Hiking Society on Tuesday admitted that the man shown in a sex video that circulated on social media was him and apologized for it.

“I have never tried to project myself as perfect. Of all the sins in this world, I believe sex is the most human of all. I am not saying this to excuse what, I regret, was broadcast on social media. I am a flawed person, a human being, much like anyone else. I made a mistake, I was irresponsible.

And I am truly sorry,” he said in a statement released on his personal blog.

He said he did not know how the video became public.

“It was private, and not meant for public consumption. I can only surmise that in this ugly season of toxic politics, muckrakers determined to neutralize my influence by violating my privacy and digging up dirt on me are at work,” he said.

Paredes on Monday dismissed the viral video as “fake.”

He said he was at a quandary on how to react at first, thus he denied it.

“But after mulling and praying over it, I

decided to come clean. There are already too many lies and liars in this world. I do not wish to be a part of that cabal. I have chosen to be truthful because I know that painful as the truth can be, it will eventually set me free.”

Some of the singer’s friends and supporters came to his defense on Twitter.

“Laughing at my friend Jim Paredes and his predicament doesn’t make you, video thieves and sharers, any better than him,” tweeted singer Leah Navarro. “The lengths you went through to reveal his private data are CRIMINAL and you should be charged. You violated his privacy. Karma boomerangs big time.”

“The real scandal here is that someone took his *private* video and uploaded it without his permission,” tweeted lawyer Jego Ragragio. “Aamin kaya yung uploader?

(Will the uploader admit?) Also, what are they trying to distract us from this time?

Ano na namang impending kapalpakan ni Duterte ang lalabas ngayon? (What other issues does Duterte have now?).”

“Let’s stop being a hypocrite here,” tweeted Teta Limtangco. “We all have flaws.

Besides, that was a private video between two consenting adults. Whatever he does in his private life is none of our business.

What’s WRONG is that the video was shared without his knowledge or consent. That is the CRİME.” “I do not like how you criticize the government, but you got my respect when you acknowledged your mistake. Nobody’s perfect. Apology accepted,” tweeted @ rozanneattwit.

“Shame on the people who hacked you.

We shouldn’t be looking over our shoulders, wondering who may have STOLEN private information,” tweeted @MyRizalPH. “I don’t know why it’s such a big deal when we find out that celebrities have sex and masturbate. That their kink is taking private photos & videos of themselves doing it is none of our effing business, tweeted @1nutty_hazel. “I judge the people who watch & share them. They’re the disgusting ones.”

Facebook and Twitter users had a field day, posting their views, some castigating the singer.

DoLE opens hotline for OFWs RESPONDING to President Rodrigo Duterte’s call for improved services to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) has opened a dedicated hotline that will enable the government to immediately address the concerns of 11 million Filipino workers around the world.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello 3rd on Tuesday said his department and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) launched Hotline 1348, in partnership with ePLDT Inc. for faster and more responsive service to the OFWs. Hotline 1348 will attend to calls requesting assistance on various OWWA programs, services and benefits, including issues on em-

ployment contracts, repatriation assistance, and other OFW-related queries and concerns.

“With the Hotline 1348, clients can easily reach the OWWA 24/7 Operations Center that is responsible for monitoring and endorsing OFW-related concerns to appropriate OWWA offices or government agencies for immediate action.

This is our way of adhering to President Rodrigo Duterte’s mandate to improve government programs and services for our OFWs and their families,” said Bello, who also sits as chairman of the OWWA board of trustees.

OWWA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac said that based on reports from the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO), the most common complaints of Filipino

migrant workers were unpaid salaries and maltreatment. Majority of the complainants were from Saudi Arabia, which ha s the largest concentration of workers, and Kuwait and United Arab Emirates.

Hotline 1348 is available 24/7, Monday to Sunday, including holidays. Clients will simply dial 1348 using landline or mobile phone.

Those outside Metro Manila may dial (02) 1348, while international clients may dial 0632-1348.

“We want the OFWs, their families, and the public to be able to connect with OWWA with as much ease as possible. Thus, our Hotline 1348 is staffed by dedicated live agents trained to respond to calls, provide information, and gather requests for assistance from our clients,” said Cacdac.

WILLIAM B. DEPASUPIL

@trendingpolls said, “Sana nga April Fools lang ito! The circulating scandal video or photo looked exactly like Jim Paredes!

Why did he do that?” @joyceching654: “Nakakaloka si Jim Paredes. Akala ko ba disente ka, eh bakit may pa-sex video ka ngayon, ganyan ba ang #DisentengDilawan?”

And @favradio posted: “OMG hindi lang pala si De Lima ang may #scandal pati rin pala si Look at Me? 'Jim Paredes Gurang Scandal' Panoorin.”

Paredes also apologized for the hurt he caused on his family.

“I know many of you have judged me and condemned me, and those who held me in high esteem are disappointed in me, to put it mildly. I apologize for my irresponsibility. But most especially, I stand in bottomless sorrow and contrition before my family who are reeling from the hurt and aggravation, and the embarrassment and shame, that should only be mine. I pray that they be spared any more

wicked trolling by those who would revel in their pain,” he said.

WITH ARIC JOHN SY CUA

n Jim Paredes

Belmonte vows to get rid of corruption QUEZON City Vice Mayor Josefina “Joy” Belmonte on Tuesday vowed to get rid of corruption if she wins the mayoral contest in May. “I survived nine years of being a vice mayor without taking a single cent of the people’s money. And I will prove the cynics wrong. Quezon City is ready to be cleaned up,” she said.

“I did not do anything wrong. You can easily check my track record. I am proud to say that my track record is impeccable,” Belmonte stressed.

In October last year, Belmonte pledged to stamp out corruption in Quezon City in accordance with the “Bantay Korapsyon” advocacy campaign of the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

Belmonte also committed to promote information transparency, accountability and civil society engagements as the city was tapped for the pilot program of the anti-corruption drive.

JAIME R. PILAPIL

n DOCUMENTS FROM A1

SC orders govt to release alleged victims in the drug war.

The Supreme Court ordered the release of documents in relation to the petitions filed by the group of Aileen Almora and Sister Ma. Juanita Daño seeking a list of persons killed in legitimate police operations from July 1, 2016 to Nov. 30, 2017; list of deaths under investigation from July 1, 2016 to Nov. 30, 2017; list of Chinese and Filipino-Chinese drug lords who have been neutralized; drug watchlist in the affected areas; and list of cases under investigation under the PNP’s Internal Affairs Service (IAS).

The Almora and Daño petitions particularly assailed the constitutionality of Memorandum Circular 2017-112 of the Department of the Interior and Local Government that allows the anonymous reporting of alleged criminals and that of PNP Command Memorandum Circular 16-2016 that details PNP Project: Double Barrel, which includes Project Tokhang and Project HVT (High Value Target).

Center Law filed a petition in 2017 with the Supreme Court seeking the issuance of a writ of amparo to protect residents of 26 barangay (villages) in San Andres Bukid, Manila against the government’s war on drugs.

FLAG lodged a petition asking the High Court to declare as unconstitutional the PNP’s “Oplan: Double Barrel,” which it said allows the police to “neutralize” suspected drug pushers instead of arresting and prosecuting them.

The OSG said it believes that the order requiring the production of what it claims as “irrelevant evidence” violates Section 14 (c) of the Rule on the Writ of Amparo.

“This provision limits the production of documents to those that constitute or contain evidence relevant to the petition,” it added.

The OSG pointed out that the documents sought by the Supreme Court involved sensitive information that had national security implications.

It said, “their submission would not only compromise ongoing police anti-drug operations but likewise put at risk the lives of informants who provide such information.”

The OSG fears that the High Court’s order might set a dangerous precedent for pending and future amparo petitions as it would “open the floodgates for the filing of groundless petitions that aim at nothing other than engaging in fishing expeditions.”

JOMAR CANLAS

n UBALDE FROM A1

Times columnist because he had not answered phone calls.

Security supervisors found Ubalde lifeless inside the bathroom.

Shangri-La’s in-house physician declared him dead.

Born Mark Joseph Ubalde, the Muntinlupa City native finished his degree in journalism at the University of the Philippines in 2007. Three years later, he earned his Certificate on Online and Multimedia Journalism from the International Institute for Journalism in Berlin, Germany.

Ubalde started his journalism career in 2009 as senior news producer for GMA News and was awarded that same year for his report on absentee mothers called “When Mom is Away, the Family goes Astray.”

In 2011, he transferred to TV5 first as Multimedia Reporter for InterAksyon.com and won Best Online Report at the Migration Advocacy Media Awards for his report on “Highlights and Lowlights: 38 years of Pinoys Abroad.”

In 2013, Ubalde was a content manager for News5. com.ph and he managed the pioneer team of N5E, as the news site generated a peak of 48 million unique visitors in 2014 under his watch.

He later worked as a consultant to the Asian Development Bank, the Presidential Communications Operations Office and the Department of Information and Communications Technology, where his social media expertise was put to good use.

In his brief government service, Ubalde helped revamp the Press secretary’s website (PCOO.gov.ph) and was instrumental in improving the social media

presence of the Philippine News Agency. He was also part of the technical working group that crafted the social media guidelines for government.

Ubalde helped create the National Government portal’s communication strategy and spearheaded the revamp of the gov.ph website.

As a social media trainor, Ubalde conducted trainings on how to embrace social media in universities, multinational companies and even the Catholic Church.

In 2018, Ubalde started writing his column, “The Digital Nomad” initially for the Business Times and later, the Sunday Business & IT sections of The Sunday Times. Throughout his brief but memorable stint, Ubalde’s columns touched on many relevant issues like how businesses can benefit from a strong social media presence, the hunt for the ideal social media influencer, what people should and should not do on social media and how to combat fake news.

He also briefly worked for media non-profit VERA Files under his former teachers at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City.

Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar, who worked closely with Ubalde at the PCOO and News5, paid tribute to his fallen media colleague in a Facebook post, “Thanks for passing this road. The memories will stay.”

Ubalde’s remains lie at the Loyola Memorial Chapels on Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City.

WITH A REPORT FROM NEIL JAYSON N. SERVALLOS

ASIAN STOCKS: s

s

PSEi

7,879.21 UP 0.50%

P52.44 TO $1

Shanghai 0.20%

What’s inside PH, CZECH REPUBLIC EYE STRONGER ECONOMIC TIES

»BusinessB2

DRIVE FOR WATERWAYS REHAB GETS BOOST

»BusinessB2

SMC GLOBAL POWER’S P60-B BOND ISSUANCE GETS SEC NOD Corporate NewsB3

»

FIRST GEN GETS SEC OK TO RAISE CAPITAL STOCK

»Corporate NewsB3

US MANUFACTURING PICKS UP IN MARCH; EXPORTS EASE Foreign BusinessB4

»

CATHAY ‘FACES REALITY’ WITH BUDGET AIRLINE BUY Foreign BusinessB4

»

www.manilatimes.net

S i n g a p o re 0 . 9 0 %

s

Seoul 0.41%

To k yo 0 . 0 2 %

t

s

Jakarta 0.36%

BY ANGELICA BALLESTEROS

HAKEY’S Pizza Asia Ventures Inc. will be acquiring the Peri-Peri Charcoal Chicken chain in line with plans to expand its casual dining business.

Shakey’s told the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on Tuesday that it had signed an asset purchase agreement with Peri-Peri Chicken operator I-Foods Inc. for assets and intellectual properties including the brand, trade name, and proprietary recipes.

Peri-Peri, whose name is derived from an African chili called “piri-piri”, is known for its mainstay charcoalgrilled chicken.

The transaction cost was not divulged due to non-disclosure agreements but

Shakey’s representative told The Manila Times the price was not substantial relative to the listed firm’s market capitalization.

“Given its small size, [the acquisition] will be financed by a combination of internally generated cash and debt,” the representative said.

The firm plans to close the deal by the middle of the year pending the fulfillment of certain conditions.

Commenting on the deal, Timson Securities Inc. trader Jervin de Celis said

he expected the acquisition to affect Shakey’s 2019 profits but contribute to the bottomline in the long run.

“If the deal is done and when investors see how the acquisition will improve Shakey’s profitability, then we might see the stock crawl up to its resistance near P17.50,” De Celis said.

Philstocks Financial Inc. research associate Japhet Louis Tantiangco also said the addition of Peri-Peri was “a good investment for Shakey’s.”

The firm’s shares ended up 4 centavos or 0.33 percent to finish at P12.14 apiece on Tuesday, tracking a 0.50-percent gain for the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index.

Shakey’s said its focus for Peri-Peri over the next six months would be to integrate and learn the business.

s

B a n g ko k 0 . 4 2 %

Children’s Medical Center, Philippine Heart Center, Philippine Rice Research Institute, Philippine Institute for Development Studies, Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care, People’s Television Network Inc., Southern Philippines Development Authority, Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority, and the Zamboanga City Special Economic Zone Authority.

Year-to-date, government subsidies were down 64.5 percent to P3.564 billion from a year earlier.

State firms with the biggest funding assistance for the two-month period were the NIA, P2.181 billion; SBC, P208 million, and the PCA, P207 million.

The subsidies fell under the national government’s disbursements program.

In February, state spending rose by 21 percent to P278.5 billion, bringing the year-to-date tally to P490.7 billion, 7 percent higher than a year ago but P43.7 billion less than estimated programmed funds of P534.4 billion.

In 2018, the national government gave away a record P136.652 billion in subsidies.

MAYVELIN U. CARABALLO

“The brand now has a strong following and recently gained even more traction — evident in its strong same store sales growth last year amidst the more challenging macroeconomic environment, and the amount of interest in new stores from potential lessors and franchisees,” Shakey’s President and CEO Vicente Gregorio said in the disclosure.

Peri-Peri presently has 23 branches in Metro Manila, of which 60 percent are company-owned and the rest franchised.

“We are excited by the potential of Peri to scale. We expect it to be an important future growth driver for our fast casual chain restaurant business,” Shakey’s Chairman Christopher Po

äChain B2

WTO: Global tensions, uncertainty to force 2019 trade slowdown

Jr., who succumbed to tongue cancer on February 23. His term will end on July 2023.

The new BSP chief has come out in favor of easing policy following last year’s rate hike s p r e e, p o i n t i n g t o e a s i n g inflation, but also said that any decision would be datadependent.

At his first rate-setting meeting on March 21, the central bank’s policymaking Monetary Board decided to keep key interest rates unchanged despite lower inflation.

Most analysts expect rate cuts to be announced before the end of the first semester, with some forecasting adjustments as early as May. MAYVELIN U. CARABALLO

GOCC subsidies down 69% in Feb – Treasury SUBSIDIES received by state-run companies from the national government dropped in February, latest Treasury bureau data showed.

A total of P2.769 billion was provided to 19 government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) during the month, 69.6 percent lower than the P9.126 billion recorded a year earlier.

The National Irrigation Administration (NIA), which is responsible for irrigation development and management, accounted for the bulk or P1.746 billion.

The next-biggest allocation went to the Small Business Corp. (SBC), which got P208 million, followed by the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (P205 million) and the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) (P193 million).

Other GOCCs that received assistance were the Light Rail Transit Authority, Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority, Cultural Center of the Philippines, Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions, Lung Center of the Philippines, National Kidney and Transplant Institute, Philippine

H o n g Ko n g 0 . 2 1 %

B2

Shakey’s PH to acquire Peri-Peri chicken chain S

Diokno-signed bills out in ‘three months’ PESO bills bearing the signature of new Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno will soon be out in circulation.

Diokno told reporters late on Monday that banknotes bearing his signature would be released “in about three months.”

The central bank did not provide further details.

The BSP is currently circulating New Generation Currency Banknotes Series that replaced the decades-old New Design Series banknotes.

Diokno, who was formerly Budget and Management Secretary, was appointed as new Bangko Sentral chief on March 4 to serve the unexpired term of the late Nestor Espenilla

s

SEC MATTERS

t

WEDNESDAY APRIL 3, 2019

Business Times

CURRENCY RATE

B1

GENEVA: Global trade growth is expected to be lower in 2019 than it was last year, the World Trade Organization forecast on Tuesday, citing widespread “tensions” and economic uncertainty.

The WTO had in its preliminary estimates predicted a 3.7 percent expansion of trade for this year but has revised that down to 2.6 percent, marking a decline on the three-percent growth recorded in 2018.

“The fact that we don’t have great news today should surprise no one who has been reading the papers over the last 12 months,” WTO directorgeneral Roberto Azevedo told reporters in Geneva.

In its main annual forecast, the 164-member WTO renewed its concerns about systemic threats that could continue to disrupt the world’s economy, notably retaliatory tariffs between China and the United States.

There are indications that ongoing talks between Washington and Beijing could resolve the bruising tariff battle, but timelines for a possible deal are not clear.

Asked if he saw either side emerging victorious in the trade spat between the world’s two largest economies, Azevedo said “there will be many losers.”

It was therefore becoming “increasingly urgent” that tensions are resolved, he added in a statement.

The projections released Tuesday are based on

BRANDING OPPORTUNITY

This picture taken on April 1, 2019 shows a soft drink bottle with the new era name “Reiwa” label distributed at a station square in Tokyo. AFP PHOTO

äSlowdown B2

PSEi rises on positive US, China factory data THE stock market rallied on Tuesday as investors took heart from positive manufacturing data from the world’s two largest economies, which allayed fears of a global economic slowdown.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose by 0.50 percent or 38.90 points to close at 7,879.21 while the wider All Shares grew by 0.43 percent or 20.73 points to end at 4,844.86.

AAA Southeast Equities Inc. President Matthew Cabangon said market players cheered news of positive US and China factory

output reports.

The US manufacturing sector grew faster than expected in February, according to a survey released on Monday, while China’s Purchasing Manager’s Index for March showed growth for the first time in four months.

Diversified Securities Inc. trader Aniceto Pangan shared Cabangon’s view, adding that bargain-hunting following Monday’s drop also helped buoy the index.

All sectoral results ended in the green with the services index up the most by 0.87 percent.

More than 2.2 billion shares

valued at P4.8 billion were traded.

Losers led winners, 103 to 91, while 46 issues remained unchanged.

Other Asian markets mostly rose Tuesday but gains were tempered by profit-taking after a recent rally. Investors, however, were said to be optimistic over China-US trade talks and the prospect of no hike in borrowing costs.

While stocks were predominantly in the green, the early advances had fizzled by the afternoon.

Hong Kong edged up 0.2 percent — marking a sixth straight rise — but Tokyo finished marginally lower.

Shanghai closed up 0.2 percent after fluctuating through the day, Sydney ended 0.4 percent higher and Singapore rose 0.6 percent.

Seoul climbed 0.4 percent and Wellington jumped more than one percent, while Taipei, Mumbai, Jakarta and Bangkok were also well up.

Traders are now awaiting the start of the next round of toplevel trade talks in Washington,

äData B2

Alfredo C. Ramos and family own Vulcan

I

N Due Diligencer, in this space on March 27, 2019, I wrote: “As chairman, Frank S. Gaisano is not alone in overseeing the store. His children assist him in supervising the family-owned stores that had invaded the Philippines’ major metropolis.”

A reader of The Manila Times wrote to correct the said paragraph, saying Due Diligencer should have identified those who helped Frank S. Gaisano, not by “his children”, but by “his siblings.”

Ma. Divina Kenneth Cavestany wrote: I am Docker Cavestany from EON Inc., communication partner of Metro Retail Store Group, Inc. I am reaching out to

respectfully request for assistance in correcting information that was cited in your column in Manila Times yesterday, 27 March 2019.

In your write-up entitled, The Gaisano ‘invasion’ of Metro Manila, it was stated that: “A s c h a i r m a n , F r a n k S .

Gaisano is not alone overseeing a store chain. His children assist him in supervising the family-owned stores that had invaded the Philippines’ major metropolis. As his understudies,

the patriarch honed the managerial capabilities of his children, namely Jack S. Gaisano, Edward S. Gaisano and Margaret G. Ang, who are also regular directors. “ We wish to clarify please that Jack S. Gaisano, Edward S. Gaisano and Margaret G. Ang are Frank Gaisano’s siblings, instead of children. Their parents are Victor and Sally Gaisano.

We hope for your help in amending this so that readers

äPerez B2

B2

Business Times

˜ The Manila Times

w w w.manilatimes.net

WEDNESDAY April 3, 2019

PH, Czech Republic eye stronger economic ties

BY TYRONE C. PIAD

I

NITIATIVES to improve bilateral trade, investment opportunities and economic cooperation were tackled by trade officials of the Philippines and the Czech Republic during a recently concluded inaugural Joint Economic Commission (JEC) meeting.

The 12-member Philippine delegation was looking into Czech Republic as an “alternative market” as well for products including sauces, seafood, fish products, coconut products, pet foods, processed food and beverages and garments.

“The convening of the JEC is a strategic means to engage individual EU (European Union) member states. The JEC allows us to identify and harness complementation between two of the fastest growing economies in each other’s regions,” Rodolfo said.

“We are both gateways to Asia and Europe and we can also serve as viable markets for each other’s products,” he added.

The Philippines was granted the Generalized Scheme of Preference Plus (GSP+), which outlines the trade incentives of the countries exporting to the EU region. The country has been enjoying zeroduty perks on over 6,000 product

exports to EU since 2014. Last year, total trade between countries amounted to $361 million.

“In the same way that the Czech Republic is one of the Philippines’ strongest supporters in the EU, we invite them to see the Philippines as their friend in Asean,” Rodolfo said.

Recently, the Philippines inked a partnership statement and joint action plan on economic cooperation, trade and investment with the United Kingdom. The economic cooperation focuses on trade and investment, promotion, industry collaboration, innovation, ease of doing business reforms, transparency and development of medium, small and micro enterprises.

The partnership is also aimed at developing anti-corruption initiatives, competition policy, information and communication t e c h n o l o g y, i n f r a s t r u c t u r e, banking, financial technology, education, health and more.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said officials led by Trade Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo attended the JEC meeting in Prague last March 28 to 29.

T h e C z e c h Re p u b l i c wa s represented by its Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Vladimír Bärtl, it added.

Among the key sectors indentified for future cooperation were manufacturing, investments and banking, agriculture and food, energy, transportation, health, tourism, environmental technologies and disaster risk

reduction management, the DTI said.

“The JEC allows the Philippines to capitalize on Czech Republic’s expertise in environmental technologies in water treatment and management, modern agricultural equipment and technologies, and building efficient transportation systems,” the DTI added.

Apart from this, the DTI is aiming to promote investment opportunities in construction, water rehabilitation, aerospace, electronics and automotive in the Czech Republic.

n CHAIN FROM B1

Drive for waterways rehab gets boost

Shakey’s said.

Shakey’s earlier this year said it planned to add 20 Shakey’s branches nationwide, bringing its total store count to 248. It also has three outlets in the Middle East where sales are expected to be supported by a large number of overseas Filipino workers.

Shakey’s owns perpetual rights to the Shakey’s brand for the Middle East, Asia (excluding Japan and Malaysia), China, Australia, and Oceania.

Originally franchised by San Miguel Corp. from the US-based pizza restaurant chain and later sold to the Prieto family, Shakey’s is now controlled by the Po family’s Century Pacific Group, the parent firm of listed Century Pacific Food, and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC.

n DATA FROM B1

PSEi

with China and the US noting progress in a meeting last week in Beijing.

A series of olive branch measures from the Chinese side has lifted hopes the two will eventually reach a deal to end their tariffs row, which dragged on equities at the end of 2018.

This week also sees the release of US March jobs data, which are closely watched for an idea about the state of the economy, with the Federal Reserve also using the figures to map its path for monetary policy.

The Fed’s recent dovish lean has helped propel a rally across share markets this year, with other central banks also looking to ease up on their tightening moves.

“Having the central banks take a step back, with the Fed saying that they’re going to pause and that they’re going to be patient at least toward the end of this year, I think that gives the market a little bit of time” to wait for economic data to turn around, said Victoria Fernandez, chief market strategist at Crossmark Global Investments in Houston.

“Is this a bottom, is this a trend that we’re starting to see — an upward trend? If so that’s gonna be positive for all of the markets,” she added.

However, Vishnu Varathan, head of economics and strategy at Mizuho Bank, told Bloomberg TV that a lot of the upbeat news “is baked in [to prices] and we are really running on fumes beyond this”.

ANGELICA BALLESTEROS AND AFP

A CAMPAIGN to recover waterways in Metro Manila got a boost on Tuesday after the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) signed a memorandum of understanding with the SM Prime Holdings Incorporated for the rehabilitation of the Parañaque River and the Estero de Tripa de Gallina.

The said partnership was made under the DENR’s Adopt-A-River Program, where a company takes charge of the cleanliness and maintenance of a certain part of the river. The program was recently considered as a key strategy to fulfill the Supreme Court’s continuing mandamus to clean up Manila Bay. The DENR has also signed partnerships with the city governments of Pasay and Parañaque to fulfill

the rehabilitation of the Parañaque River and the Estero de Tripa de Gallina, both polluted waterways south of Manila.

“With the adoption

by SM Prime Holdings Inc. [of the waterways], full coordination and participation will now be put in place so that waters of these adopted waterways will be restored to water quality of Class C level,” Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu said.

“The full support and assistance received

by DENR from the city governments of Pasay and Parañaque will strengthen enforcement of environmental laws and regulations in their respective areas of jurisdictions,” he added.

The new partnership aims to lower down the coliform level of the two bodies of water up to 200 mpn (Class C level),

so that it can be used to propagate fish and aquatic resources.

In February, the DENR has also sealed a partnership with the food and beverage giant San Miguel Corp. for the adoption of Tullahan River, one of Manila Bay’s major tributaries.

“I must emphasize that we need to clean and rehabilitate Manila bay; but admittedly, the DENR cannot do it alone.

Cleaning all the 9 rivers and almost 50 esteros in Metro Manila that drain to Manila Bay is not an easy job,” Cimatu said.

The MoU singing was attended by SMPH President Jeffrey Lim, Henry Sy, Jr., Pasay City Mayor Antonio Calixto and Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez represented by Parañaque City Administrator Gernando Soriano.

EIREENE JAIREE GOMEZ

n SLOWDOWN FROM B1

WTO: Global tensions, uncertainty a “relatively smooth” Brexit playing out over the next two years, WTO economist Coleman Nee told reporters.

Britain leaving the European

Union without a withdrawal agreement, or the various other possible Brexit scenarios that remain in play, will impact global trade, Nee added.

“The situation is so fluid. We will have to wait and see what the final outcome is,” before fully understanding Brexit’s influence on world trade, Nee further said. AFP

n PEREZ FROM B1

Corp. explained: “Due to mere oversight, there was error in the amount of paid-up capital indicated in the GIS. Attached is the amended GIS reflecting the updated capital of the company in the amount of P992,500,121.00.”

In an earlier GIS, Vulcan’s Filipino stockholders subscribed t o 1 , 4 30 , 030 , 6 81 c o m m o n shares and paid for 948,225,019 common shares. The foreigners’ subscribed and paid-up common shares stood at 19,969,319 Vulcan common shares.

T h u s, t h e s e s t o c k h o l d e r s owned 968,194,338 Vulcan common shares.

Based on the original GIS, Vulcan’s subscribed common shares totaled 1.45 billion common shares out of the company’s authorized capital stock (ACS) of 4 billion common shares based on P1 par value.

As amended, Vulcan’s GIS showed a total paid-up capital of P992,500,121 out of P1.45 billion subscribed capital. The latter amount is equivalent to 1.45 billion Vulcan common shares computed at P1 par value based on a public ownership

report (POR) as of Dec. 2018 and posted on Jan. 9, 2019 on the website of the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).

On its PSE website, Vulcan also showed having 1.45 billion outstanding common shares, of which 963,944,338 are both listed and issued.

Alfredo

will not be misinformed.

We thank you for taking interest in MRSGI. Sincerely, Docker Due Diligencer and I stand corrected.

I had wanted to publish other emails regarding some of the columns that I had written.

However, I could not access esdperez@gmail,com.

Perhaps, I could come out with these emails reacting to Due Diligencer pieces when I am finally able to open esdperez@ gmail.com. I can’t remember anymore even the password I used in said email address. Is this the result of getting old?

Back to the usual stuffs that I write about in Due Diligencer

Vulcan’s amended GIS In an amended general information sheet (GIS), Vulcan Industrial and Mining

Vulcan’s top stockholder National Book Store Inc.(NBS) is Vulcan’s top stockholder.

It subscribed to 850 million Vulcan common shares and paid P392,457,121.10, according to Vulcan’s amended GIS. In Vulcan’s POR, NBS was listed as the principal stockholder with direct ownership of 850 million Vulcan common shares, or 58.62 percent of 1.45 billion outstanding common shares.

The same POR showed Alakor Securities Corp. as direct owner of 200,000 Vulcan common shares and indirect holder of 3,482,620 Vulcan common shares for total holdings of 4,432,60 Vulcan common shares, or 0.3 percent of 1.45 billion outstanding Vulcan

One person corporation T SEC MATTERS

HE Philippines means business. Recently, the Revised Corporation Code (Republic Act No. 11232), took effect carrying along with it an entire package of innovations geared towards ease of doing business. One of the major developments brought by the Revised Corporation Code (RCC) is the concept of a One Person Corporation (OPC).

Under the said concept, an individual natural person (or a trust or an estate) may, by himself (or itself), establish a one-person corporation (Section 116, RCC) for any purpose allowed by law such as pursuit of a commercial enterprise.

This concept may appear to be similar to the existing regime in the establishment of sole proprietorships. However, a key difference can be found in the extent of an entrepreneur’s exposure to liability. In a sole proprietorship, the sole proprietor’s assets may be held to answer for claims against the sole proprietorship business.

On the other hand, in an OPC, the complete control presently enjoyed by a sole proprietor is complemented by the limitation of liability characteristic of a corporation.

To recapitulate, what makes a corporation special is that it has a personality separate and distinct from the individuals comprising it (Section 2, RCC).

Hence, as a general rule, the obligations of a corporation do not become the obligations of its stockholders. Corollary thereto, in a stock corporation, each stockholder’s liability is limited only to the amount of capital he invested into the corporation. Except, of course, when the corporate vehicle is used for fraudulent purposes, in which case, the courts may step in to pierce the veil of corporate fiction.

The same limitation of liability is also true when it comes to an OPC, which also has a personality separate and distinct from the singlestockholder comprising it.

With this new option of establishing an OPC, an entrepreneur can now singlehandedly manage the affairs of his own corporate business without having to convince into a consensus other individuals w h o m ay o r m ay n o t b e similarly-minded.

For the protection of individuals transacting with an OPC, the RCC has likewise instituted several safeguards to prevent the misuse of an OPC. In addition to the regular filing of reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the RCC imposes upon the single shareholder claiming limited liability the burden of

common shares.

According to Vulcan’s POR, the public stockholders held 584,721,704 Vulcan common shares, or 40.33 percent of 1.45 billion Vulcan common shares as of Dec. 31, 2018. The company’s non-public shares totaled 865,278,296 Vulcan common shares, which were then equivalent to 59.67 percent.

This would mean Vulcan’s public stockholders’ 584,721,704 common shares represent 60.659 percent of the company’s 963,944,338 listed common shares.

Despite this ownership, Vulcan does not allow the public to elect their own men to its 11-person board, which businessman A f r e d o C . Ra m o s h e a d s a s chairman since 1992 and, at the same time, Vulcan’s president, since 1988.

Due Diligencer’s take Listed companies credit the public as either significant or principal stockholders but they are never given a board seat. If they don’t want any outsider inside their boardrooms, they

KELVIN LESTER LEE affirmatively showing that the OPC was adequately financed (Section 130, RCC). Further, if the single stockholder cannot prove that the property of the OPC is independent of the stockholder’s personal property, the stockholder shall be jointly and severally liable for the debts and other liabilities of the OPC (Section 130, second paragraph, RCC).

A single stockholder who, at the same time, appoints himself as the treasurer of an OPC is required to give a bond, as well as to undertake in writing: 1) to faithfully administer the OPC’s funds to be received as treasurer; and 2) to disburse and invest the same according to the Articles of Incorporation as approved by the Commission (Section 122, third paragraph, RCC).

Moreover, the corporate name of an OPC is required to bear the suffix ‘OPC’ (Section 120, RCC) to make the general public aware of the nature of the corporation as such, and allow the public to make appropriate considerations before entering into a transaction with it.

Last March 15, 2019, the commission posted in its website the draft guidelines on the establishment of an OPC and conversion of an existing ordinary stock corporation into an OPC. All interested parties are then allowed to submit their comments and inputs thereto, for the commission’s consideration, prior to the issuance of the official memorandum circulars covering the said topics for the guidance of the commission’s processors and of the general public.

In view of the ease in starting a business brought about by the legal recognition of an OPC, it is expected that more individuals would now be encouraged to establish their own businesses in the Philippines. These new businesses, in turn, are anticipated to contribute towards the country’s efforts on job-generation and economic expansion.

Ke l v i n L e s t e r K . L e e i s a Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). He is the co-chairperson of the SEC Committee on Memorandum Circulars To Operationalize Revised Corporation Code Provisions.

The views and opinions stated herein are his own. You may email your comments and questions to oclee@sec.gov.ph. should tell so to these outsiders.

In short, if the boardrooms are reserved for business owners only, these listed but not public companies should not make them either as significant or principal stockholders. As outsiders, they are investors who only want a good return for their money by choosing the right listed stocks.

Business owners not only nominate and elect their own men to the board; they also appoint their company’s independent directors (IDs). As owners, they have every right to ban outsiders from their board.

This is not addressed to Vulcan alone but also to other listed companies that pretend to be public and whose boards are controlled by the owners.

If the public stockholders of listed companies are in the stock market to earn a little more for their investments, how about the business owners.

Do businesses list either some or their entire outstanding common shares to save money?

Just asking.

Email: esdperez@gmail.com

Corporate News

˜ The Manila Times

w w w.manilatimes.net

First Gen gets SEC OK to raise capital stock FIRST Gen Corp. has secured the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) approval to increase its authorized capital stock to P11.6 billion.

In a disclosure on Tuesday, the Lopez-led renewable energy company said the SEC approved on March 27 the amendment to Article 7 of its Amended Articles of Incorporation that enabled it to raise the stock from P8.6 billion.

The added stock translates to 300 million Series H preferred shares with a par value of P10 apiece or P3 billion in total.

Creating these shares will increase its financial flexibility, First Gen said.

The approval follows the one granted by the company’s stockholders on May 9, 2018 and by

its board of directors on March 15, 2018.

Incorporated and registered with the SEC on Dec. 22, 1998, First Gen has 3,490 MW of installed capacity, accounting for 21 percent of the country’s gross generation capacity.

It operates the 1,000MW Santa Rita, 500-MW San Lorenzo, 414-MW San Gabriel and 97-MW Avion power plants.

The company’s subsidiaries include First Gas Power Corp., FGP Corp., First NatGas Power Corp., Prime Meridian Powergen Corp., FG Bukidnon Power Corp. and Energy Development Corp.

First Gen shares added 30 centavos or 1.40 percent to finish at P21.70 apiece on Tuesday.

JORDEENE B. LAGARE

Ng to invest P192.5B in Transpacific Broadband TYCOON Arsenio T. Ng is set to invest P192.5 million in listed Transpacific Broadband Group International Inc. (TBGI).

In a filing on Tuesday, TBGI said its board of directors gave the go-signal for the planned investment of Ng, president of ATN Holdings Inc. TBGI is an affiliate of ATN Holdings, a listed firm engaged in real estate, energy and health care.

Ng would subscribe to 1.179 billion common shares, with a par value of P0.1632 apiece, from TBGI’s unissued capital stock.

As TBPI owns 30 percent in ATN Philippines Solar Energy Group Inc. (ATN Solar), the investment would be used to help

fund the latter’s capital call.

“The full settlement of the capital call of ATN Solar is intended to prevent and avoid heavy financial losses and irreparable damage [to] ATN Solar,” the firm said.

In late January, the company disclosed a plan to establish a firm to enter the country’s tower-sharing market. To be called Transpacific One Network Inc., this firm would lead the “preparation, consolidation, and deployment of 15,000 sites for its application as a common tower provider,” TBGI told in a disclosure dated January 29.

TBGI’s shares ended flat at 40 centavos each on Tuesday.

LISBET K. ESMAEL

Value

Chg

%Chg

PSEi

7,879.21

38.9

0.50▲

All Shares

4,844.86

20.73

0.43▲

Financials

1,743.06

13.35

0.77▲

Industrial

11,754.70

25.49

0.22▲

Holding Firms

7,719.49

27.5

0.36▲

Services

1,594.22

13.78

0.87▲

Mining and Oil

7,717.38

50.78

0.66▲

Property

4,093.45

11.75

0.29▲

BY ANGELICA BALLESTEROS

T

HE power unit of listed conglomerate San Miguel Corp. has secured the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to issue bonds worth P60 billion.

SMC Global Power told the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. on Tuesday that it received the SEC’s Order of Registration and Certificate of Permit to Offer Securities for Sale on Monday.

The subsidiary plans to ini-

ALL SHARES

tially offer P30 billion — a base size of P25 billion and an oversubscription option of up to P5 billion — to raise funds to partially refinance existing loan obligations, redenominate US dollar loans, and expand

investment in power assets.

The bonds are composed of three-year Series H bonds, due 2022; five-year Series I bonds, due 2024; and seven-year Series J bonds, to mature in 2026. They will yield 6.8350 percent, 7.1783 percent and 7.6000 percent annually, respectively.

Public offer will run from April 1 to 12, 2019. The bonds will be listed on April 24.

BDO Capital and Investments Corp., BPI Capital Corp., China Bank Capital Corp., PNB Capital,

and SB Capital are the joint issue managers, underwriters and bookrunners for the transaction.

SMC Global Power owns several power facilities, including the Limay Greenfield, Sual coalfired, Ilijan natural gas, Davao Greenfield and San Roque hydroelectric power plants.

In a disclosure last month, San Miguel said its power subsidiary saw its revenues jump by 45 percent to P120 billion in 2018 on the back of the additional power generated from the plants.

UnionBank launches virtual currency ATM LISTED Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) announced on Tuesday that it was the first bank in Asia to launch a two-way cryptocurrency automated teller machine (ATM).

In a statement, the Aboitizled lender announced that it recently unveiled the country’s first Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)-compliant, bank-operated virtual currency ATM. The machine allows owners of cryptocurrency wallets to withdraw cash from their accounts, as well

as sell and buy virtual currencies on the spot.

Users only need to have a UnionBank account and a virtual currency wallet, it added.

A virtual currency is any digital unit used as a medium of exchange or a form of digitally stored value created in agreement within a community of users.

“As a bank, our role is to facilitate exchange. So, together with our partners, we have launched this” ATM, UnionBank President and Chief Executive Officer Ed-

win Bautista said.

According to him, UnionBank plans to add more virtual currency ATMs in more of its branches, with the approval of the central bank.

BSP-supervised financial institutions (BSFIs) are required to register ATMs that offer virtual currencies.

The Bangko Sentral earlier reminded BSFIs that ATMs that allow the purchase or exchange of virtual currencies, including bitcoin and other devices with

similar functionality and capability, are considered virtual currency exchanges (VCEs) and, thus, should register with the central bank.

This is in accordance with BSP Circular 944, which defines VCEs as entities offering services or engaged in activities that provide for the conversion or exchange of fiat currency to virtual currency or vice versa.

UnionBank shares remained flat at P61.50 on Tuesday.

MAYVELIN U. CARABALLO

Businessinbriefs

ity (LRA); and provincial, city and municipal assessor’s offices. These offices are responsible for registering and transferring real property and improvements after all taxes and dues are collected, he said.

MAYVELIN U. CARABALLO

Government agencies involved in the the registration and transfer of real and personal properties must use the electronic registration system developed by the tax bureau. “The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), in its effort to improve taxpayer satisfaction and compliance to increase revenues for the government, has developed the Electronic Certificate Authorizing Registration System, [or] the eCar System,” BIR Commissioner Caesar Dulay said in Revenue Regulation 3-2019, issued on March 28. According to him, this system is equipped with barcode verification in order to eliminate errors using manual procedures by the BIR, the Land Registration Author-

KIA Motors Corp. Philippines is stepping up efforts to reach its sales target of 10,000 units this year, with its president Manny Aligada saying recently it was in “catch-up mode.” According to him, he is confident the local unit of the South Korean carmaker would be able to hit that figure, despite selling around 500 units as of end-February. Aligada said Kia was looking into expanding its dealership network to increase sales, and continuing its awareness campaign to promote its brand because it had “been quiet for quite some time.” Kia sales fell by 58 percent to 2,200 units last year from 5,186 in 2017.

TYRONE C. PIAD

BIR: PROPERTY TRANSACTIONS MUST BE DONE ELECTRONICALLY

SERVICES

Stock indices as of April 2, 2019

PSEi

B3

SMC Global Power’s P60-B bond issuance gets SEC nod

HOLDING FIRMS

Index

WEDNESDAY April 3, 2019

MINING AND OIL

KIA IN ‘CATCH-UP MODE’ TO MEET 2019 SALES TARGET

TOP ACTIVE STOCKS No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Security Name Ayala Land, Inc. BDO Unibank, Inc. SM Investments Corporation Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company SM Prime Holdings, Inc. International Container Terminal Services, Inc. GT Capital Holdings, Inc. Universal Robina Corporation Metro Pacific Investments Corporation Jollibee Foods Corporation Ayala Corporation Wilcon Depot, Inc. PXP Energy Corporation Alliance Global Group, Inc. Manila Electric Company PLDT Inc. Megawide Construction Corp.

Philippine National Bank Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation Megaworld Corporation

Last Price 45 130 925 77.3 39.05 128.9 915 152.3 4.71 315 930 15.48 9.96 15.66 385 1,105.00 21.75 56.8 47.9 5.73

Chg 0.1 -3.8 -9 -2.6 -0.85 -1.8 -16.5 0.3 -0.14 -2 -10 0 -2.32 -0.5 5 -45 0.25 -0.2 -1.5 -0.07

%Chg 0.22% -2.84% -0.96% -3.25% -2.13% -1.38% -1.77% 0.20% -2.89% -0.63% -1.06% 0% -18.89% -3.09% 1.32% -3.91% 1.16% -0.35% -3.04% -1.21%

Volume Value(P) ▲ 17,106,900.00 769,517,710.00 ▼ 2,206,740.00 289,511,551.00 ▼ 249,330.00 230,910,615.00 ▼ 2,907,040.00 225,417,978.50 ▼ 5,393,400.00 210,937,750.00 ▼ 1,601,170.00 206,831,684.00 ▼ 217,330.00 198,434,810.00 ▲ 988,100.00 150,173,596.00 ▼ 29,455,000.00 139,206,460.00 ▼ 436,040.00 136,790,566.00 ▼ 129,060.00 119,954,720.00 6,482,200.00 100,463,458.00 ▼ 9,999,100.00 98,889,868.00 ▼ 5,983,300 93,832,466.00 ▲ 243,600 93,354,950.00 ▼ 82,710 91,730,685.00 ▲ 4,011,600 87,569,595.00 ▼ 1,391,770 79,085,145.00 ▼ 1,495,100 72,056,900.00 ▼ 12,059,500 69,250,716.00

*amounts in peso, except for volume, %chg

TOP GAINERS FINANCIALS

INDUSTRIAL

PROPERTY

INDEX HISTORY Date Apr 1, 2019 Mar 29, 2019 Mar 28, 2019 Mar 27, 2019 Mar 26, 2019 Mar 25, 2019 Mar 22, 2019 Mar 21, 2019 Mar 20, 2019 Mar 19, 2019 Mar 18, 2019 Mar 15, 2019 Mar 14, 2019 Mar 13, 2019 Mar 12, 2019 Mar 11, 2019 Mar 8, 2019 Mar 7, 2019 Mar 6, 2019 Mar 5, 2019 Mar 4, 2019 Mar 1, 2019 Feb 28, 2019 Feb 27, 2019 Feb 26, 2019 Feb 22, 2019 Feb 21, 2019 Feb 20, 2019 Feb 19, 2019 Feb 18, 2019

Open 7,923 7,891 7,898 7,916 7,875 7,994 7,957 7,876 7,848 7,864 7,795 7,748 7,742 7,726 7,728 7,815 7,869 7,807 7,675 7,700 7,632 7,712 7,920 7,962 7,996 7,940 7,947 7,849 7,923 7,925

High 7,924 7,921 7,898 7,916 7,911 7,994 8,032 7,955 7,876 7,879 7,873 7,798 7,764 7,766 7,774 7,824 7,884 7,882 7,821 7,735 7,698 7,754 7,920 7,973 7,996 7,962 7,947 7,945 7,939 7,964

Low 7,810 7,887 7,856 7,841 7,869 7,808 7,951 7,869 7,824 7,843 7,761 7,702 7,719 7,725 7,728 7,709 7,797 7,795 7,675 7,667 7,596 7,588 7,705 7,878 7,945 7,895 7,893 7,848 7,831 7,911

Close 7,840 7,921 7,876 7,861 7,907 7,863 8,013 7,955 7,858 7,843 7,873 7,798 7,750 7,766 7,748 7,709 7,797 7,882 7,821 7,671 7,675 7,642 7,705 7,889 7,988 7,962 7,931 7,939 7,834 7,911

CLOSE

No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Security Name SOCResources, Inc. PTFC Redevelopment Corporation Pacifica, Inc. Lorenzo Shipping Corporation Bright Kindle Resources & Investments Inc. Anglo Philippine Holdings Corporation Leisure And Resorts World Corporation Warrants Swift Foods, Inc. - Convertible Preferred Suntrust Home Developers, Inc. D.M. Wenceslao & Associates, Incorporated Max’s Group, Inc. SSI Group, Inc. Marcventures Holdings, Inc. Century Properties Group Inc. Manila Water Company, Inc. Top Frontier Investment Holdings, Inc. Atok-Big Wedge Company, Inc. “A” Petroenergy Resources Corporation DoubleDragon Properties Corp.

Boulevard Holdings, Inc.

Volume 20,465,000.00 1,550.00 109,000,000.00 1,044,000.00 113,000.00 5,116,000.00 153,000.00 7,000.00 366,000.00 4,284,400.00 4,773,600.00 9,647,000.00 102,000.00 17,734,000.00 1,200,800.00 2,400.00 4,000.00 190,000.00 1,510,000.00 39,580,000.00

Value 23,701,610.00 84,080.00 4,633,300.00 998,190.00 151,300.00 4,277,700.00 292,200.00 12,510.00 275,570.00 51,874,076.00 67,412,490.00 23,439,610.00 111,680.00 9,615,330.00 28,621,700.00 642,356.00 50,138.00 800,840.00 35,401,810.00 2,682,760.00

Last Price 1.2 59 0.044 0.98 1.38 0.85 1.93 1.78 0.78 12.06 14.34 2.46 1.1 0.55 23.9 270 12.96 4.28 23.5 0.069

Chg 0.15 5.5 0.004 0.05 0.07 0.04 0.08 0.07 0.03 0.46 0.54 0.09 0.04 0.02 0.85 9 0.4 0.13 0.7 0.002

%Chg 14.29% 10.28% 10.00% 5.38% 5.34% 4.94% 4.32% 4.09% 4.00% 3.97% 3.91% 3.80% 3.77% 3.77% 3.69% 3.45% 3.18% 3.13% 3.07% 2.99%

Chg -2.32 -0.1 -0.45 -8.9 -0.38 -0.09 -0.28 -0.015 -0.09 -0.06 -0.16 -0.44 -0.0001 -0.002 -0.04 -45 -0.1 -0.02 -0.73 -0.05

%Chg -18.89% -9.90% -8.56% -7.49% -6.69% -6.25% -5.77% -5.36% -5.33% -5.17% -5.03% -4.92% -4.76% -4.55% -3.96% -3.91% -3.85% -3.64% -3.54% -3.50%

*amounts in peso, except for volume, %chg

TOP LOSERS

HIGH

No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Security Name PXP Energy Corporation Premiere Horizon Alliance Corporation ISM Communications Corporation Chemical Industries of the Philippines Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corp.

Benguet Corporation “B” Pacific Online Systems Corporation Geograce Resources Philippines, Inc. Philippine Infradev Holdings, Inc. Vulcan Industrial & Mining Phinma Petroleum and Geothermal, Inc. SBS Philippines Corporation Abra Mining & Industrial Corporation Apollo Global Capital, Inc. TKC Metals Corporation PLDT Inc. Victorias Milling Company, Inc. Lodestar Investment Holdings Corporation ABS-CBN Corporation ATN Holdings, Inc. “A”

*amounts in peso, except for volume, %chg

Volume 9,999,100.00 67,625,000.00 13,108,000.00 9,260.00 2,948,700.00 6,000.00 334,000.00 16,470,000.00 4,690,000.00 6,015,000.00 86,000.00 1,000.00 26,000,000.00 10,000,000.00 991,000.00 82,710.00 37,000.00 1,220,000.00 599,500.00 7,495,000.00

Value 98,889,868.00 63,958,460.00 64,260,955.00 1,018,600.00 15,869,088.00 7,970.00 1,486,240.00 4,370,850.00 7,536,010.00 6,435,760.00 259,820.00 8,510.00 52,000.00 421,000.00 971,980.00 91,730,685.00 92,500.00 637,140.00 11,947,029.00 10,450,060.00

Last Price 9.96 0.91 4.81 110 5.3 1.35 4.57 0.265 1.6 1.1 3.02 8.51 0.002 0.042 0.97 1,105.00 2.5 0.53 19.92 1.38

Foreign Business Cathay ‘faces reality’ US manufacturing picks with budget airline buy up in March; exports ease N B4

˜ The Manila Times

WEDNESDAY April 3, 2019

EW YORK: The US manufacturing sector grew faster than expected last month but exports weakened to their lowest level in more than two years, according to a survey released Monday.

Boosted by a strong employment reading, the Institute for Supply Management’s monthly manufacturing index pointed to steady expansion at the end of the first quarter.

The closely-watched index rose just over a point to 55.3, overshooting economists’ expectations but

remaining below the 12-month average. Any reading above 50 indicates growth.

Timothy Fiore, chair of ISM’s manufacturing survey, said the result was an encouraging sign after weakening in recent months amid the US-China trade war.

w w w.manilatimes.net

The survey showed gains in new orders, production and employment while deliveries and inventories fell.

But export activity hit its lowest level since October 2016, falling 1.1 percent from February to just 51.7 percent.

“I think we’re continuing in a steady state,” Fiore told reporters.

“I would like to see the new export order come up. We’re down to recent historic lows and that’s just not a longterm good thing.”

“I think the US is in good shape, especially if we can resolve the trade

issues,” he said.

He noted energy costs remained competitive while the Federal Reserve had confirmed it would hold off raising interest rates in the near-term and Chinese manufacturing showed some signs of recovery.

Sixteen of 18 manufacturing sectors recorded growth for the month while the apparel and paper products sectors shrank.

Respondents said labor remained in short supply, with unemployment at low levels.

AFP

HONG KONG: C a t h ay Pa c i f i c ’s purchase of rival HK Express was an inevitable plunge into the no-frills market as the premier marque belatedly faces the reality that it can no longer ignore the budget sector, analysts say.

Asia’s biggest international carrier has historically eschewed the low-cost sector, even as the region’s rising middle class has fuelled an unprecedented boom in air travel and demand for cheaper routes.

But last week it finally bit the bullet, announcing it was buying HK Express for $600 million from the debt-laden Chinese conglomerate HNA Group.

The move allows Cathay to take over the city’s only budget carrier and gifts it much needed slots at one of the world’s busiest transport hubs -- prompting many to ask why it had taken the airline so long to make such a move.

Analysts say Cathay’s reluctance to embrace the budget model was a result of its conservative way of thinking, in much the same way Nintendo was dragged kicking and screaming into the mobile gaming market after years of weak earnings.

But it is not too late for the airline, they say. “ I t ’s m o r e l i k e c a t c h i n g up rather than changing the landscape,” Jackson Wong, analyst at Huarong International Securities, told AFP, adding that Cathay realised it had to “face reality” that the budget market was something they needed to embrace.

Asia-Pacific is now the world’s largest market for low-cost carriers, accounting for nearly 600 million seats in 2018, according to CAPA Centre for Aviation.

Too good an opportunity And thanks to the region’s booming middle classes, seat capacity has quadrupled over the past decade.

During that time Cathay resisted moving into the low end of the market, even as their rivals did the opposite — Singapore Airlines formed Tigerair in 2003 and Qantas followed up with Jetstar Asia.

Now Asia’s skies are littered with budget carriers: Air Asia, Scoot, Nok Air, IndiGo, Lion Air, VietJet, the list keeps growing.

For a while Cathay’s intransigence worked, it remained an avowedly premier — and profitable — brand.

But as the regional budget scene grew, airlines in China and the Middle East began competing on longer haul flights and the more luxury frills Cathay offered.

By March 2017 Cathay reported

its first annual net loss in eight years and announced a threeyear overhaul to cut costs and improve efficiency.

Under new chief executive officer Rupert Hogg the move appears to have paid off -- last month the airline announced it had swung back into the black after two years of losses.

Brendan Sobie, chief analyst at CAPA, said HK Express was too good an opportunity to pass up once it became clear the troubled HNA Group was looking to sell.

“It’s in their home market, they have to look at it, and quite frankly they’d be silly not to do it,” he told AFP. According to Sobie, structural constraints and limited airport slots made it difficult for Cathay to establish a separate low-cost carrier, which was why it had previously said it would not think about a no-frills carrier until Hong Kong airport’s third runway came into operation in 2024.

Losses ‘woke them up’ He said the lack of space at home was also a limitation for competitors, making the move int the sector less urgent for Cathay, which had opposed budget airline Jetstar’s application to operate in Hong Kong in 2015.

But the purchase was not a financial “slam dunk” for Cathay, Sobie warned, given the small margins of budget airlines in the region and the fact that HK Express reported a net loss of $18 million in 2018, according to Cathay.

Shukor Yusof, the founder of aviation consultancy Endau Analytics, said Cathay’s brief foray into the red changed thinking at the company.

“The losses Cathay suffered in consecutive years woke them up and they realised if they didn’t alter their thinking, they’d be marginalised and become irrelevant,” he said.

“Then they saw how Singapore Airlines changed its strategy and that strategy worked,” he said, adding that Cathay should have moved into the budget sector 10 years ago.

He said turning HK Express around was a “big ask”.

“But if they apply stringent cost cuts and exploit the buoyant Chinese market, profitability is a possibility in two to three years,” he said.

He predicted HK Express may start to price aggressively and target a select group of travellers, with mostly leisure flyers among them.

“I foresee HK Express behaving and exhibiting characteristics similar to Ryanair in Europe,” he said, referring to the notoriously no-frills Irish low-cost carrier.

AFP

Ferrero to buy Kellogg’s biscuit, snack businesses MILAN: I t a l i a n c h o c o l a t e giant Ferrero said Monday it was buying the biscuit and snack businesses of the American Kellogg Company for $1.3 billion (1.16 billion euros).

“The Ferrero Group... will acquire the cookie, fruit and fruit-flavored snack, ice cream cone and pie crust businesses from Kellogg Company,” which generated sales of approximately $900 million in 2018, it said.

The brands Ferrero will acquire include popular Keebler cookies as well as Famous Amos and Murray Sugar Free cookies and fruit snacks such as Stretch Island.

Ferrero, founded as a family business in 1946 and now the third-largest company in the global chocolate confectionery market, has acquired several US brands and businesses since

2017.

T h e c o m p a n y behind Ferrero Rocher and the hazelnut spread Nutella said it would also be buying from Kellogg six food manufacturing facilities across the US, from Washington to Kentucky, as well as two plants in Chicago.

The Kellogg biscuit businesses “are an excellent strategic fit for Ferrero as we continue to increase our overall footprint and product offerings in the North American market,” said Giovanni Ferrero, Executive Chairman of the Ferrero Group.

“We have great respect for Kellogg, its legacy and values, and are proud that Kellogg has chosen Ferrero as a good home for these businesses,” he said in a statement.

The deal is expected to close in the second half of the year. AFP

World

˜ The Manila Times

w w w.manilatimes.net

‘No-deal Brexit likely’

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RUSSELS: The European Union’s (EU) chief negotiator Michel Barnier warned Tuesday it was “day after day more likely” that Britain would crash out of the bloc next week without an orderly withdrawal agreement.

Barnier was addressing a think tank in Brussels the day after British lawmakers again failed to unite behind any alternative to the Brexit withdrawal agreement Prime Minister Theresa May signed last year.

“No deal was never our desired nor intended scenario. No deal was never my intended scenario, but the EU 27 is now prepared.

It becomes day after day more likely,” Barnier told the European Policy Center.

“Let’s not forget first that we have already an agreement, we have already a deal, and it was concluded by Theresa May and the British government and the European Council and European Parliament on November 25 last year, four months ago,” he said.

“We tried to make sure that the UK could leave the EU on March 29, just as the UK had foreseen itself... If the UK still wants to leave the EU in an orderly manner, this agreement, this treaty is and will be the only one.”

Barnier warned that if May cannot get this withdrawal agreement past the House of Commons, then there were only two other options available before London leaves the union on or shortly after April 12.

“If the UK government does not vote in favor of the withdrawal agreement in the coming days, then only two options would remain: leaving without an agreement or requesting a longer ex-

n Anti-Brexit activists demonstrate with a model of Theresa May outside the Houses of Parliament in London as members of Parliament debate alternative options for Brexit. AFP PHOTO tension of the Article 50 period,” he said.

“It would be the responsibility of the UK government to choose between these two options.”

But he warned that such an extension would not automatically be granted by the other 27 EU leaders when they meet at an April 10 emergency summit.

“Such an extension would carry significant risks for the EU, therefore a strong justification would be needed. Many businesses in the EU warn us against the cost of extending uncertainty,” he said.

“There would also be a political cost. If the UK is still a member state on May 23 it will have to organize elections,” he said, referring to the upcoming European Parliamentary vote.

This would mean Britain remains in the union “longer as a member on its way out” and might “pose a risk to our decisionmaking autonomy,” he said, warning Britain’s post-Brexit ties with Brussels could not be negotiated while it remains inside the bloc.

Rejected Members of Parliament (MPs) on Monday once again failed to find a majority on any alternative Brexit plan before them, leaving Britain’s chaotic path towards leaving the EU mired in uncertainty less than two weeks before its departure date.

Brussels has set Britain an April 12 deadline to agree to the divorce terms Prime Minister Theresa May has struck with the bloc, find an alternative or crash out of the EU. MPs have already rejected the Brexit divorce deal three times, shredding May’s authority.

Parliament’s lower House of Commons seized the initiative last week by holding a first round of votes on eight alternative Brexit options but failed to find a majority on any of them.

Refining them down to four, backbenchers voted again on Monday, hoping to find one solution that most of them could agree on.

All four failed to find a majority although the result was close for proposals to hold a second refer-

endum and negotiate a permanent customs union with the EU. Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay hinted the government could now bring its deal back for a fourth vote this week and avoid a longer delay to Brexit that would mean holding European Parliament elections in May. He warned that otherwise “the default legal position is the UK will leave the EU in just 11 days time” without a deal — an option that experts have warned could cause huge economic disruption on both sides of the Channel.

“Cabinet will meet in the morning to consider the results of tonight’s vote and how we should proceed,” Barclay said.

The EU has called an emergency summit for April 10 and warned that without a plan, Britain risks abruptly ending ties with its largest trading partner two days later, causing huge economic disruption.

“With our British friends we have had a lot of patience, but even patience is running out,” European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker told Italian television channel Rai 1 AFP

Venezuela Slain Saudi journalist’s children tightens paid by kingdom – report noose on Guaido CARACAS: Venezuela’s Supreme Court called Monday (Tuesday in Manila) for Juan Guaido to be stripped of his legislative immunity, tightening the noose on the opposition chief just days after authorities announced a ban on him holding public office.

Guaido — recognized as Venezuela’s interim president by some 50 countries — is locked in a power struggle with President Nicolas Maduro that has drawn in neighboring states, as well as superpowers such as the US and Russia.

As the political battle plays out, the country has been hit by a series of devastating blackouts that have left millions without water, prompting the government to replace the country’s energy minister and institute power rationing in a bid to address the outages.

The court ruling cited Guaido’s violation of a ban on his travel outside Venezuela when he visited Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Paraguay from late February to early March.

Three major blackouts hit Venezuela in March, worsening already dire living and economic conditions in the country, and prompting authorities to take steps aimed at curbing the outages.

On Sunday, Maduro announced 30 days of electricity rationing, after his government said it was shortening the workday and keeping schools closed due to blackouts.

With no electricity, pumping stations can’t work, so water service is limited.

AFP

WASHINGTON, D.C.: The children of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi have received multimilliondollar homes and are being paid thousands of dollars per month by the kingdom’s authorities, The Washington Post reported Monday (Tuesday in Manila).

Khashoggi — a contributor to the Post and a critic of the Saudi government — was killed and dismembered in October at the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul by a team of 15 agents sent from Riyadh.

His body has not been recovered.

The payments to his four children — two sons and

two daughters — “are part of an effort by Saudi Arabia to reach a long-term arrangement with Khashoggi family members, aimed in part at ensuring that they continue to show restraint in their public statements,” the Post said.

The houses given to the Khashoggi children are located in the port city of Jeddah and are worth up to $4 million, the newspaper reported.

Salah, the eldest of the children, plans to continue living in the kingdom, while the others, who live in the US, are expected to sell the homes, the paper said.

In addition to the proper-

ties, the children are receiving $10,000 or more per month and may also receive larger payments that could amount to tens of millions of dollars each, according to the report.

Saudi Arabia’s powerful crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, has been accused of orchestrating Khashoggi’s killing, but the kingdom has claimed that the prince was not involved.

Saudi Arabia initially said it had no knowledge of Khashoggi’s fate, but later blamed rogue agents for his death.

Its public prosecutor has charged 11 people over his murder.

AFP

Mick Jagger to undergo heart surgery WASHINGTON, D.C.: Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger will undergo surgery to replace a heart valve, with the band postponing the North American leg of a tour as a result, a report said Monday (Tuesday in Manila).

The iconic British band had announced Saturday it was delaying the “No Filter” tour for the 75-year-old rocker to receive an unspecified medical treatment.

Leading industry magazine Rolling Stone reported on Monday the cause was heart valve surgery, following an earlier report from Drudge Report, which added the procedure would take place on Friday in New York.

“Mick Jagger has been advised by doctors that he cannot go on tour at this time as he needs medical treatment,” the band said in a statement after the postponement.

WEDNESDAY April 3, 2019

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New Zealand lawmakers OK new gun controls WELLINGTON, New Zealand: New Zealand lawmakers on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly in favor of new gun restrictions during the first stage of a bill they hope to rush into law by the end of next week.

The bill would ban the types of weapons a gunman used to kill 50 people at two mosques last month.

The bill was backed by both liberals and conservatives, with only a single lawmaker from the 120 that sit in Parliament voting against it. The vote was the first of three that lawmakers must pass before the bill becomes law.

Police Minister Stuart Nash said far too many people had access to dangerous guns and lawmakers were driven by the need to ensure public safety.

“We are also driven by the memory of 50 men, women and children who were taken from their loved ones on the 15th of March,” Nash said. “Their memory is our responsibility. We don’t ever want to see an attack like this in our country again. We are compelled to act quickly.”

Seemingly drawing a distinction with the US, where gun possession is constitutionally protected, Nash

said that in New Zealand, gun ownership remains a privilege and not a right.

Conservative lawmaker David Seymour voted against the bill, saying it was too rushed.

“Doing it in nine days before politicians go on their Easter break is starting to look more like political theater than public safety,” he said.

Many New Zealanders were shocked at the firepower the gunman was able to legally obtain and favor the legislative changes.

Some are opposed. More than 14,000 have signed a petition filed in Parliament, which says the law changes are “unjust” for law-abiding citizens and are being driven by emotions.

The bill would ban “military-style” semi-automatic guns and high-capacity magazines. It would also ban semi-automatic shotguns that could be fitted with detachable magazines and pump-action shotguns that can hold more than five rounds.

The bill wouldn’t ban guns often used by farmers and hunters, including semi-automatic .22 caliber or smaller guns that hold up to 10 rounds, or shotguns that hold up to five rounds.

AP

Mexican rock star kills self over #MeToo accusation MEXICO CITY: A Mexican rock star was found dead Monday (Tuesday) after tweeting that he planned to kill himself in a “radical declaration of innocence” after being accused of sexual harassment by the country’s #MeToo movement.

Armando Vega Gil, 63, the bassist for veteran rock band Botellita de Jerez (Little Bottle of Sherry), died early Monday, the group said on Twitter. A prosecution source confirmed Vega had been found dead at his Mexico City home, speaking on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to discuss the investigation.

Vega’s death poured new fuel on a fiery debate over #MeToo in Mexico. The movement has triggered a flood of sexual assault accusations against journalists, academics, writers and others in the cultural sphere in recent weeks.

Vega posted a note on Twitter shortly before his death, saying he was taking his own life in reaction to an anonymous accusation that he sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl more than a decade ago.

The accusation was made the previous night on the Twitter account @MeTooMusicaMX, part of Mexico’s nascent, but increasingly powerful #MeToo movement.

“I categorically deny this accusa-

tion,” tweeted Vega, who was also an award-winning poet and writer.

He wrote that he feared the accusation would end his career, and that he would not be able to defend himself on social media, where “anything I say will be used against me.”

He added that he wanted to spare his eight-year-old son from “suffering the effects of this false accusation against me.”

“I must clarify that my death is not a confession of guilt. On the contrary, it is a radical declaration of innocence,” he said.

Vega was a founding member of Botellita de Jerez, a band formed in the 1980s that fused rock with traditional Mexican sounds and slang.

His accuser said he befriended her some 13 years ago, when she was a 13-year-old aspiring musician and he was 50.

She said he invited her to his home and made a series of unwanted sexual advances, including telling her he wanted to teach her to kiss.

She ultimately severed ties with him.

“I’m sure I’m not the only one.

It terrifies me to know that other people probably weren’t as lucky as me and fell into his perverse trap,” she wrote.

AFP

Worldinbrief NATO CHIEF MEETS TRUMP ON ANNIVERSARY

WASHINGTON, D.C.: North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg was due to meet President Donald Trump on Tuesday ahead of celebrations for the 70th anniversary of the alliance, a frequent target of the US leader. The White House visit comes before two days of talks in Washington among the 29 foreign ministers of the NATO, with the specter of Russia again topping the agenda. Trump, in an unlikely role for the president of NATO’s founding member, has long questioned the usefulness of the alliance and characterized fellow members as freeloaders. He has derisively questioned why NATO would defend tiny Montenegro and has been incensed that Germany, Europe’s largest economy, is not on track to meet a NATO target for each country to spend 2.0 percent of gross domestic product on defense.

19 INJURED IN STAMPEDE AT NIPSEY HUSSLE MEMORIAL LOS ANGELES: Nineteen people were injured during a stampede at a memorial service on Monday (Tuesday in Manila) for slain rapper Nipsey Hussle in Los Angeles, the city’s fire department said. Hundreds had gathered in the southern part of the city outside Hussle’s The Marathon Clothing store where the Grammy-nominated musician was gunned down on Sunday in a suspected gang-linked attack that wounded two other people. A stampede started just past 8 p.m. during the service, but it was not clear what triggered it. “Reports of shots fired at the vigil do not appear to be accurate. We do have injured in the chaos and are attempting to restore order,” the Los Angeles Police Department said on Twitter. The Los Angeles Fire Department said in a statement that it transported 19 patients, two of them critical and another two with serious injuries. The rest had “non-life threatening injuries.”

ALGERIA PRESIDENT TO RESIGN ‘BEFORE MANDATE ENDS’

n Mick Jagger

“The doctors have advised Mick that he is expected to make a complete recovery so that he can get back on stage as soon as possible.”

Jagger himself tweeted: “I’m so sorry to all our fans in America & Canada with tickets. I really hate letting you down like this.

“I’m devastated for having to postpone the tour but I will be working very hard to be back on stage as soon as I can. Once again, huge apologies to everyone.”

The band, formed in 1962, were due to play 17 shows in the US and Canada between April and June.

AFP

ALGIERS: Algeria’s ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika would resign before his mandate expires on April 28, his office said, after a succession of loyalists deserted him in the face of massive protests. The 82-year-old, who has rarely been seen in public since a 2013 stroke, has been clinging to power as pressure mounted for weeks over attempts to prolong his 20-year rule. Bouteflika will resign “before April 28, 2019”, after “important decisions” are taken, the presidency said in a statement on Monday, without elaborating. He would take “steps to ensure state institutions continue to function during the transition period”, the statement carried by the official APS news agency said. Algeria has been rocked by huge protests since the veteran president announced in February that he was seeking a fifth term in office.

AFP

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World

˜ The Manila Times

w w w.manilatimes.net

WEDNESDAY April 3, 2019

Diplomats decry Chinese ‘threats’ at UN

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ENEVA: Diplomats and activists denounced intense Chinese lobbying, pressure and even threats to rein in criticism of Beijing during last month’s session of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) charged that the Chinese mission in Geneva had sent a letter to a number of missions urging them to stay away from a US-organized event on March 13 about China’s treatment of Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang province.

The letter, signed by Ambassador Yu Jianhua and seen by Agence France-Presse (AFP), tells countries “not to cosponsor, participate in or be present at this side event... in the interest of our bilateral relations and continued multilateral cooperation.”

HRW slammed these “threats,” with the organization’s Geneva director John Fisher warning that the public outcry over the treatment of Muslim minorities had “sent China into panic mode.”

Chinese officials, he said in a statement, were now “using public as well as private pressure to block concerted international action.”

The Chinese mission did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation and comment.

But several diplomats confirmed that their missions had received the letter ahead of the event.

It took place on the sidelines of the rights council’s three-week session and focused on allegations that upwards of one million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim Turkic minorities are being held in detention centers in Xinjiang.

China maintains instead that the Uighurs and others were at “campuses” for vocational training set up to counter radicalization.

Xinjiang, which shares a border with several countries including Pakistan and Afghanistan, has long seen violent unrest, which China claims is orchestrated by an orga-

nized “terrorist” movement seeking the region’s independence.

On Monday, several diplomats backed HRW’s claim that China had exerted significant pressure on countries to speak on its behalf during the conclusion of a review of its rights record before the council on March 15.

“They were doing their best to stage-manage everything,” a Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP. “When you see how few countries spoke up about Xinjiang, I am sure it did have an effect,” the diplomat added.

“They are not staying idle,” another Western diplomat said.

HRW also charged that China had intentionally pushed friendly states to flood the speakers’ list for the 20 minutes allocated to countries’ concluding remarks.

Nearly 100 countries requested the right to speak — over three times more than usual in this situation — but only 13 were permitted to take the floor.

In advance, the rights council drew the name of the first country, Mali, from a hat, and from there countries were called upon in alphabetical order, through to the Philippines.

This meant that most critical voices from Europe and North America were not called upon, with only Norway speaking up against China’s Xinjiang policies.

Nongovernment organizations were also given a chance to speak, but there too, groups praising China grabbed six of the 10 available speaking slots.

“It speaks volumes that China felt it necessary to twist arms and mount propaganda displays to try to suppress scrutiny of its rights record,” Fisher said.

AFP

CASHING IN

An employee of a department store displays sweets designed with the new era name ‘Reiwa’ in Yokohama, Japan.

AFP / JIJI PRESS

Singapore eyes tough measures vs ‘fake news’ SINGAPORE: Singapore proposed tough new measures to combat “fake news” Monday including a maximum 10-year jail term, saying they were necessary to protect national security but sparking concerns of new curbs on free speech.

The tightly-controlled city-state has long faced criticism for restricting free expression and clamping down on political rights, and is ranked 151 out 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders’ press freedom index.

It has been among several countries seeking to fight the threat of online falsehoods, and ministers argue new powers are needed as fake news could sow divisions in multi-ethnic Singapore.

The proposed new powers, outlined in a bill presented to parliament, would allow the government to order websites to publish corrections for what it considers to be false information and to offer users the option of going to a site showing what authorities deem is the truth.

It can also require “fake news” to be taken down if they believe it could cause serious harm.

Offenders can be punished with jail terms ranging up to 10 years for offenders who use a false online account or “bot” to spread a false statement in Singapore.

The maximum fine in the bill is Sg$1.0 million ($740,000). But officials stress criminal sanctions would be used in the most extreme cases and if a site refuses to follow official directions.

“This legislation deals with false statements of fact,” said K Shanmugam, law and home affairs minister. “It doesn’t deal with opinions, it doesn’t deal with viewpoints, you can have whatever viewpoints, however reasonable or unreasonable.”

But rights groups swiftly condemned the proposed legislation, with Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch, telling AFP that “freedom of expression also involves freedom of opinion and the government has a sorry track record of respecting both when they run contrary to what the government... want.”

Singapore already has a series of strict laws in place covering libel and restricting public protests and dissent.

The proposals may anger tech giants such as Google and Facebook, which have invested substantial amounts in the business-friendly financial hub.

The bill will likely pass easily through parliament, where the long-ruling People’s Action Party has a substantial majority of seats.

AFP

Maritime NYK adopts diversity amid globalization ˜ The Manila Times

w w w.manilatimes.net

BY GENIVI FACTAO

others truly mean are very important skills to keep work flowing smoothly,” he said.

He asked the new employees to accumulate a variety of knowledge and experiences and make a “practice” of considering deeply the essence of any information.

He explained that this habit could reward them with skills of observation and insightful acumen that could benefit their career in the future He congratulated the new members of NYK and sincerely welcomed them in the company.

In closing, he introduced a famous passage by Iwasaki Yataro, the company’s founder — “If we provide one ship, it will bring more convenience to the world, and the profit will benefit many people.”

“I think Iwasaki’s words help us to realize the NYK Group’s significance and social mission.

I hope that you keep his words in mind as you take on the chal-

J

APANESE shipping company Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) Line has adopted cultural diversity and g l o b a l i z a t i o n t o f u r t he r e x p a n d i t s overseas business.

NYK President Tadaaki Naito said there were 897 NYK affiliated companies all over the world and this had changed the composition of the NYK Group employees to only 20 percent Japanese office workers and under 15 percent, if including seafarers.

“This year, NYK will celebrate its 134th year of business. NYK has flexibly adjusted its business for diversity and globalization. NYK Group companies overseas are now the backbone of the Group, and you will work together with colleagues who have diverse nationalities and cultural backgrounds,” he said.

“NYK pursues profits as a

WEDNESDAY April 3, 2019

EDITOR: Carmela I. Huelar

profitable company, but our business is also to support society and life,” he shared.

On April 1, NYK held a ceremony at its head office in Tokyo to welcome 54 employees joining the company immediately after completing their tertiary education, and one employee joining the company in mid-career.

Naito said shipping and logistics business concerns not only the transport of cargo, but also the transfer of information.

“When you work in such environments, communication skills become very important.

Providing clear, accurate information and grasping what

ers responsible for and other low-flashpoint fuels on board NYK Group-operated ships.

NYK was accredited by Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (Class NK).

To enhance safety and minimize the risk of the rising number of LNG-fue l l e d ships, the IGF Code has been adopted by the International Maritime Organization and requires seafarers to receive

lenge to fulfill this mission. You are to build the next generation of the NYK Group. Please keep your mind fresh and maintain your vitality and brilliance so that we can do our best together from today onwards,” he ended.

Meanwhile, NYK was the first Japanese shipping company to be given an accreditation to conduct IGF Code Training.

IGF Code refers to the International Code for Ships Using Gases and Other Low-flashpoint Fuels, is an international safety code that entered into force in 2017.

SOLAS provides a clear legislative framework for ships to install liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuel systems, and the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seaferers (STCW)covers seafarer ability and training programs.

The training program was meant for LNG seafar-

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training certificated by a maritime institution in their own country or the flag state.

Seafarers from the Philippines and India, which make up the majority of seafarers in the industry, struggled to meet the IGF Code requirement.

NYK-FIL Maritime E-Training Inc., is a wholly owned subsidiary of NYK-FIL Ship Management Inc., the company that trains Filipino seafarers on NYK-operated vessels.

n President Tadaaki Naito. PHOTO BY NYK LINES

Harbor Star signs service Japan accedes to ship recycling convention contract with MGC LISTED port operator Harbor Star Shipping Services Inc. on Tuesday said it secured a service contract with Mariveles Grains Corp. (MGC).

In a disclosure, the company said it bagged a two-year contract providing harbor assist services to all vessels calling MGC’s terminal.

MGC’s grains and commodities terminal, located in Mariveles, Bataan, also handles deliveries from Panamax vessels at a rate of 8,000 to 10,000 metric tons each day.

“This is in line with TUGS direction to continually enter into exclusive service contracts, rather than spot contracts, with customers to ensure recurring revenue,” it said.

In February, Chevron Philippines Inc. also awarded a three-

THE Japanese government has acceded to the treaty of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) — Hong Kong Convention for safe and environmentally sound ship recycling and is the 10th country to become a party to the said convention.

This convention covers the design, construction, operation and maintenance of ships, and preparation for ship recycling in order to facilitate safe and environmentally sound recycling, without compromising the safety and operational efficiency of ships.

Under the treaty, ships are required to carry an Inventory of Hazardous Materials, specific to each ship.

Ship recycling yards are also required to provide a “Ship Recycling Plan,” specific to each individual ship to be recycled, specifying the manner in which each ship will be recycled, depending on its particulars and its inventory.

Japanese Ambassador to the United Kingdom and Permanent Representative of Japan to the IMO Koji Tsuruoka met with IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim last March 27 at the IMO Headquarters in London to deposit the instrument of accession.

To help increase international awareness of the importance of the early entry into force of the Hong Kong Convention, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) of Japan, in cooperation with the IMO Secretariat is hosting an international seminar on “Ship Recycling — Towards the Early Entry into Force of the Hong

year contract for tug assist and mooring services to Harbor Star.

The firm had also inked a service contract with GNPower Kauswagan Ltd. Co. to provide the docking, undocking and emergency requirements of vessels for the latter’s Lanao del Norte terminal.

The listed company provides harbor assistance, lighterafe, towage, ship salvage, ship management, diving and underwater marine works, and other specialized services.

Harbor Star has cemented presence in 15 base ports in the Philippines, including the Manila International Container Terminal and the Manila South Harbor.

Shares of Harbor Star slightly up

by P.020 or .69 percent to finish at P2.93 apiece on Tuesday.

LISBET K. ESMAEL

n Harbor Star assists more than 5,500 vessels annually in the Philippines.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

n Japanese Ambassador to the United Kingdom and Permanent Representative of Japan to the International Maritime Organization Koji Tsuruoka (right) and IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim. PHOTO

BY IMO Kong Convention”.

The seminar will be held on 10 May 2019 at IMO Headquarters in London, United Kingdom. The seminar will discuss how to promote sustainable ship recycling and how to move forward for the early entry into force of the Hong Kong Convention.

The contracting states to the Hong Kong convention are: Belgium, Denmark, France, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Panama, and the Republic of the Congo,

the Republic of Serbia and Turkey.

They represent approximately 23.16 percent of the gross tonnage of the world’s merchant shipping.

The combined annual ship recycling volume of the contracting states during the preceding 10 years is 1,709,955 GT, i.e. 0.57 percent of the merchant shipping tonnage of the same States.

The Hong Kong convention will enter into force 24 months after the following conditions are met: 1. Not less than 15 States

have concluded this Convention, 2. The combined merchant fleets of the States Parties constitute not less than 40 percent of the gross tonnage of the world’s merchant shipping, and 3. The combined maximum annual ship recycling volume of the States Parties during the preceding 10 years constitutes not less than 3 percent of the gross tonnage of the combined merchant shipping of the States Parties.

RAFFY AYENG

Stewardship of our seas 7

1 percent of our earth’s surface is water-covered. How have we fared in taking care of it? Have we been good stewards of our seas and oceans? Perhaps knowing a few sobering details about marine pollution can help us with an assessment: it is estimated that 80 percent of marine pollution comes from land-based sources and 20 percent comes from marine activities.

One thing we may tend to forget is that when we throw things “away,” there really is no “away.”

All we have is this, our planet, our home. We must remember that everything we discard will end up returning to us at some point.

Pollution from land-based sources include solid waste falling into sewers and finding their way into our river systems and ultimately our bays, seas and oceans. Agricultural runoffs, which are filled with pesticide and fertilizer residue, also get washed up in our water systems. Oils and sediments from

factories are discharged into our rivers, rendering them unsafe for humans and wildlife alike.

Aside from pollutants from land, marine activities may also result in waste and pollution.

Contributing to this are illegal dumping, marine recreational tourism, fishing, and shipping transport. Litter that find its way to the seas and oceans range from common everyday discards of single-use consumer items like cigarette butts, cotton buds, mineral water bottles, food wrappers, plastic bags and even multiple-use items such as fishing nets. All of these are detrimental to the marine environment. Toxins released by the pollutants destroy our coral reefs and debris from litter can be ingested by marine wildlife. As pollution takes its toll on our seas and oceans, it will inevitably take a toll on us if we don’t do something about it.

A marine pollution problem that

FROM THE DESK OF THE IMO AMBASSADOR CARLOS SALINAS has been in the spotlight recently is the plastics that end up in our waters. Just last March, an emaciated whale was found in Davao Gulf.

Marine experts discovered that the whale had most likely died of starvation as its digestive track was packed with approximately 88 pounds of plastic.

We must remember that plastics, because of the movement of the water currents, break up into smaller and smaller bits, but do not disintegrate. They eventually end up in the water column, which drags them to what has been commonly referred to as the “great ocean garbage patches.”

There are five garbage patches, which have been identified in

our oceans — one in the North Pacific, one in the South Pacific, one in the North Atlantic, one in the South Atlantic, and one in the Indian Ocean. It is estimated that the biggest is the one in the North Pacific. Imagine how much plastic waste that is and what it can do to our marine environment.

While the contribution of shipping to marine pollution is much smaller compared to land-sourced pollution, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has, as early as 1988, taken steps to address the problem of garbage pollution from ships through Annex V of the International Convention on the Prevention of Pollution from Ships or “Marpol.”The convention describes what can and cannot be discharged into the marine environment. It applies to all types of ships and recognizes special measures for particular marine protected areas. It completely prohibits the discharge of

plastics, domestic wastes, cooking oil, incinerator ashes, operational wastes, and fishing gear into the marine environment.

This annex also requires countries to provide adequate facilities in port, which can receive garbage from ships once they dock.

Aside from this, it must be noted that in 2018, the IMO adopted an action plan to address the problem of marine plastic litter from ships. The guidelines recommend that all ship owners and operators should minimize taking on board material that could become garbage; specifically, that ship owners and operators, where possible, should work with their ships’ suppliers, so that the products being considered for procurement can also be assessed in terms of the garbage these will generate.

In addition, ship owners are encouraged to use supplies that come in bulk packaging to lessen garbage.

They are also urged to use plastic supplies that are reusable or recyclable, and are made to avoid the use of disposable cups, utensils, dishes, towels, rags, and other convenience items, whenever possible.

All of these recommendations are fairly simple and easy to follow. These can even be done in households and offices. To save our environment and be responsible stewards, we need to be conscious of what we buy, what we use, and how we dispose of things. Each of us plays a part in saving our marine environment, no matter how small.

As famed cultural anthropologist and scientist Margaret Mead once said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” If even a handful of us would begin to care more for our oceans, surely, there will be positive ripples and our planet will be much better for it.

B8

WEDNESDAY April 3, 2019

Maritime

˜ The Manila Times

w w w.manilatimes.net

EDITOR: Carmela I. Huelar

OSM MARITIME SERVICES PRESIDENT MAILYN BORILLO

Changing Tides: Women leaders in the PH maritime industry

BY YASHIKA F. TORIB

U

NTIL about a decade ago, the maritime industry in the Philippines has always been dominated and led by men — mostly those who used to be seafarers onboard. After all, the thought has always been “who better to lead the industry than those who have experienced life at sea.” In the recent years though, the industry has seen an unprecedented rise in the number of women taking the helm of various manning agencies. One of them is the current President of OSM Maritime Services, Inc. — Mailyn Borillo Redefining the norms

Mailyn is no stranger to beating the odds and redefining the norms. Born to a poor family in Sampaloc, Manila, she took various jobs while studying to be able to send herself to school until she finished a degree in Information Technology from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.

Her first job as a working student in a non government organization has been a profound source of life lessons. “Where the norm for many is to work for a living, I have learned early on from that employment that working for a cause and with a purpose is more fulfilling,” Mailyn explained. “Where the norm for many is to revel in their personal achievements, I have learned early on that it’s not about me; it’s about making

a difference in the lives of other people”, she added.

From Sampaloc to Copenhagen

Mailyn started her career in the maritime industry in 1994 as Cost Controller of Maersk Filipinas Inc. In her 18 years of staying in the group, she has held key roles in Vessel Operations, Finance and Crewing. It was no surprise that her talent and hard work would lead her to an expatriation stint in 2007 at the group’s headquarters in Copenhagen — where she took a role in Finance Management reporting.

In 2009, she moved back to Philippines to head Maersk Filipinas Crewing Inc. “I love the fact that in this industry, we are able to offer gainful employment to a lot of seafarers; and that for every seafarer we employ, there are at least five

other Filipino family members who will benefit”, she highlighted.

In 2012, Mailyn was appointed president of TORM Shipping Philippines, where she led for four years.

Being a woman in the industry

“It was never an easy path to where I am now,” Mailyn expressed. “I once heard this saying that when a man complains he is intellectual; yet when a woman complains, she is emotional,” she candidly added.

Mailyn considers herself fortunate, though, to have worked in companies that fostered an environment where people can have the confidence to fully express what they think, and where performance on the job matters most — regardless of gender, ranks and titles.

“There is a growing appreciation of the leadership style of women in the maritime industry,” Mailyn stated. “On board and in office roles, the nurturing type of leadership, as well as the inclusive style of problem-solving and decision-making of women, has proved to be beneficial in the industry,” she furthered.

The heart of a servant-leader

​ “My role here in OSM is the biggest so far, considering the opportunity to make a difference in other people’s lives. I get to serve around 300 office employees and 6,000 Filipino sea-

n Mailyn Borillo. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO farers,” Mailyn said. “And where in other in-house manning agencies the number of seafarers they can employ depends on the number of vessels their Principal owns, we in OSM can offer limitless opportunities to our seafarers by contributing to our customers’ success through our dynamic services - when our customers grow, we grow. This is an impact I commit myself to making every single day.”

Growth aside, Mailyn also values the fact that in OSM, aside from promoting personal excellence, continuous

MICT receives 4 new RTGs from Japan

n Rubber-tired gantries like these are expected to arrive in Manila soon. PHOTO BY ICTSI INTERNATIONAL Container Terminal Services, Inc (ICTSI) has acquired four new hybrid rubber-tired gantries for its flagship terminal Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) to ensure the gateway remains efficient with the coming of bigger ships.

ICTSI Senior Vice President Christian Gonzalez, Global Corporate head and chief executive officer of MICT said: “The MICT expansion is in full blast,

as new equipment were coming, more berths were being built as well as more yards.”

I CT S I h a s i n ve s t e d m o r e than $80 million for capital equipment in MICT, enabling the country’s largest and most technologically advanced container terminal to meet rising levels of demand in the era of neo-Panamax vessels.

MICT further upgrades the country’s largest fleet of con-

tainer-handling equipment with four new hybrid rubber-tired gantries (RTGs) manufactured

by Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. (MES).

These four RTGS were part of the total 16-unit fleet that runs on a combination of 22kVah Liion battery and a smaller diesel engine, which were expected to reduce terminal emissions by up to 40 percent.

The new RTGs will be deployed

immediately to further increase the MICT’s yard productivity.

Eight more hybrid RTGs, along with another pair of super post-Panamax quay cranes were expected to be delivered before the end of the third quarter of 2019.

On full delivery, the MICT fleet will be composed of 18 quay cranes and 58 RTGs — the largest containerized cargo handling fleet in the country.

GENIVI FACTAO

improvement, automation and innovation, the real magic is having owners, leaders and colleagues who understand that their purpose is to create more jobs — meaningful jobs that improve the quality of countless lives.

“The values OSM upholds are in line with mine. It is a company that does not treat seafarers as a mere product, but as colleagues. Their respective families are OSM’s extended family, we view our 6,300 employees and seafarers as 6,300 families”, she concluded.

When asked for 3 key life lessons she can share with other women, Mailyn has these to say: — (I) never considered coming from a poor family as a handicap; I considered it a motivation.

— “I never thought of the corporate ladder as progressive set of titles; I have always looked at it as opportunities to serve and make a difference.”

— “And lastly, I have never considered my being a woman as a limitation; you are limitless, you can achieve whatever you set your heart and mind to.”

Marina awaits CHEd nod on maritime programs THE Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) has sought for the final approval from the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) en banc on the revised policies on maritime educational programs meant to solve the competency issues of Filipino seafarers.

Marina has been working double-time to improve the policies, standards and guidelines on Bachelor of Science (BS) in Marine Transportation (BSMT) and Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering to maintain the Philippines’ status as one of the top sources of competent seafarers. The two revised policies on educational programs still need final CHEd approval.

Marina Officer in charge Vice Admiral Narciso Vingson Jr. has sought maritime stakeholders’ commitment in establishing a conducive l e a r n i n g e n v i r o n m e n t a n d quality learning experience for aspiring Filipino seafarers for the overall development of the Philippine maritime industry.

“Let us keep our passion burning for the continued improvement of the industry.

Our Filipino seafarers remain to be our prime assets, so we should not waver in our efforts to continually raise their competence,” Vingson added.

Maritime stakeholders deliberated on provisions concerning the authority to operate of maritime higher educational institutions (MHEIs), as well as the application and verification processes, and the minimum requirements prior to the granting of permit and recognition. The sanctions against unauthorized MHEIs

were also provided under the proposed revised PSG. Per Arne Waloen of Norwegian Maritime Authority (NMA) earlier said that ship owners saw some lack of competence and questioned the goodness of the education assessment and certification in the Philippines.

He said many BS graduates, many of them with certificate of competency (COCs), were sailing as Ratings.

“Philippines is the biggest supplier of Ratings with four years’ education and a Bache l o r o f S c i e n c e d e g r e e. S o why there was a problem?” he asked.

“The STCW requires that there shall be a structured and controlled system for education, training, assessment and certification, so that those who could demonstrate competencies as required by STCW would be issued COCs. EMSA audits could not confirm that this was fully in place,” he added.

Stakeholders have discussed the conduct of regular curriculum review and internal evaluation to ensure continued compliance of MHEIs with the Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping for (STCW) Seafarers Convention 1978, as amended.

“There is no better time than now to further promote the welfare and enhance the proficiency of Filipino seafarers as we recognize their invaluable contribution to the national e c o n o m y, ” T r a n s p o r t a t i o n Secretary Arthur Tugade said.

Filipino seafarers contributed approximately P300 billion worth of remittance in 2017.

GENIVI FACTAO

Sports

WEDNESDAY C1 APRIL 3, 2019

Giannis returns to power Bucks’ win while Raptors romp N

www.manilatimes.net

EW YORK: Giannis Antetokounmpo returned from a right ankle sprain to score 28 points and grab 11 rebounds Monday (Tuesday in Manila), powering the Milwaukee Bucks to a 131121 NBA victory at Brooklyn.

The Greek star, who sat out a game due to the setback, lifted an injury-hit Milwaukee squad within one game of clinching the best regularseason record in the league and a home-court edge throughout the NBA playoffs.

“I thought it would be a really good team but to be honest with you I didn’t think we would be the best team in the NBA,” Antetokounmpo said.

Eric Bledsoe added 29 points and reserve George Hill had 22 off the bench for the Bucks, who lead the Eastern Conference at 58-20 and can clinch the best NBA mark with a win Thursday at Philadelphia.

“We know how important that is but we are just trying to get better,” said Antetokounmpo. “We could have played better tonight.”

Antetokounmpo sparked the Bucks as they pulled away late, hitting a 3-pointer and later rebounding his own 3-point miss and driving in for a slam dunk to help seal the Nets’ fate.

“When a team plays zone the whole game it’s hard,” he said. “But we started moving the ball well and knocking down some shots.”

Sitting out a loss against Atlanta forced him to take some time early to regain a smooth flow with teammates.

“Just trying to get back into the rhythm,” he said. “I was trying to wait for the game to come to me. My teammates did a good job finding me.

“I want to play every game -- rest is not in my dictionary.

But I have to do what’s best for the team to win and if that’s rest then I will take a break.”

Danny Green powered Toronto with 29 points and the Raptors stayed in the hunt for the overall top spot with a 121-109 home victory over Orlando, improving to 55-23 with four games remaining.

And the Raptors clinched no worse than second in the East when Philadelphia lost 122-102 at Dallas,

n Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (No. 34) attempts a threepoint basket against Brooklyn Nets center Jarrett Allen (No. 31) during an NBA basketball game, Monday, April 1, 2019, in New York. AP PHOTO

Ateneo risks eight-game winning run vs FEU ATENEO De Manila University will stake its eight-game unbeaten run when it faces the Lycha Ebon-less Far Eastern University (FEU) in Season 81 University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) women’s volleyball tournament today at the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.

The leading Lady Eagles (8-1) meet the No. 3 Lady Tamaraws (6-3) at 4 p.m.

Ateneo swept the elimination round with its eighth straight victory against Katipunan rival University of the Philippines (UP), 25-23, 25-16, 25-23, on Saturday.

Head coach Oliver Almadro wants the Lady Eagles to take the Tams seriously despite the absence of top scorer Ebon who’s nursing a right knee injury.

“With the history of FEU, their winning tradition is really there,” said Almadro. “They are a no-nonsense and a contender team. We have to respect them and show our character.”

Almadro will bank on veteran hitter Kat Tolentino and co-captains Maddie Madayag and Bea De Leon to lead the Lady Eagles’ onslaught.

FEU, despite the absence of Ebon, posted a morale-

Walker hits 47 in loss All five teams battling for the final three playoff spots in the Eastern Conference lost Monday, moving Detroit (39-38), Brooklyn (39-39) and Miami (38-39) nearer the post-season with Orlando (39-40) and Charlotte still chasing and hoping.

Despite Kemba Walker’s 47-point effort, Charlotte lost 111-102 at Utah and slid to 35-42, staying three games behind Miami for the eighth and final playoff position.

Donovan Mitchell led Utah with 25 points while Spanish guard Ricky Rubio had 20 points and 13 assists and French center Rudy Gobert added 18 points and 18 rebounds for the Jazz.

Boston’s Kyrie Irving scored 25 points and Al Horford produced his second career triple double with 19 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in the Celtics’ 110-105 home victory over Miami, which had 30 points from Goran Dragic in a losing cause.

Thaddeus Young and Bojan Bogdanovic each scored 19 points to lead seven players in double figures for Indiana in a 111-102 home victory over Detroit.

Domantas Sabonis had 18 points and 12 rebounds off the bench for the Pacers while Andre Drummond had 18 points and 17 rebounds for the Pistons.

Portland matched Houston for third in the Western Conference at 49-28 with a 132-122 triumph at Minnesota. Rodney Hood scored 21 points and Enes Kanter added 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Trail Blazers. Karl-Anthony Towns had 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Timberwolves.

Luke Kornet’s 24 points led five starters in double figures for New York in a 113-105 home victory over Chicago.

AFP

COACHES GEARS UP FOR DEMANDS OF THE FINAL FOUR

boosting 25-15, 16-25, 12-25, 25-22, 17-15 comeback win over University of the East (UE) also on Saturday.

Ebon injured her knee in a bad fall late in their 3032, 25-20, 23-25, 25-20, 15-13 victory over Adamson University on March 24. The 19-year old spiker needs to recuperate for at least three weeks.

“I’m always reminding my players to do the game plan, follow instructions and be disciplined,” said FEU coach George Pascua. “We already got our tempo. We’re going to do it one at a time and focus first on Ateneo.”

Pascua is pinning his hopes on skipper Jerrili Malabanan and Ivana Agudo to deliver anew along with veterans Kyle Negrito, Celine Domingo and Heather Anne Guino-o.

Ateneo pulled off a come-from-behind 14-25, 19-25, 25-21, 25-18, 15-12 win over FEU in the first round.

In the 2 p.m. curtain-raiser, No. 5 UP (5-4) and No. 7 UE (2-7) are both eyeing a bounce-back win.

The Lady Maroons will play sans star spiker Isa Molde, who hurt her left leg in their loss to Ateneo.

Molde’s injury is not serious but needs therapy and rest to heal.

JEREMIAH M. SEVILLA

Reality check RICKY VARGAS, president of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC), this week was reported to have said that weightlifter Hidylin Diaz and triathlete Nikko Huelgas had called for an end to politics in sports.

No, Virginia, you can tell Diaz and Huelgas that it would not end, at least not in their lifetime if that was even remotely possible, because politics, or “activities concerned with seeking power, status, etc,” is and will be here to stay until she could no longer lift 10 pounds and he could no longer run 10 meters.

Philippine sports, and their global counterpart, are apparently ruled by politicians and other civilians trying to stay as “non-political” as possible if their life depended on it.

A change in the POC leadership, for example, was effected by court-ordered elections last year, with the protagonists being the former congressman Jose “Peping” Cojuangco and Vargas, who now appears to be learning to deal with the headache that is the 2019 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games that the Philippines will be hosting in November-December this year.

The past week or two, congressman Prospero Pichay raised questions about the legitimacy of the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (Phisgoc).

Also this week, order was apparently restored in the interest of the country’s successful hosting of this year’s regional sports extravaganza.

The Phisgoc is to be headed by former senator Alan Peter Cayetano, who incidentally was first choice for the job, until Pichay questioned how the organizing committee was formed in the first place months after the changing of the guard at the POC..

Cayetano, also incidentally, is running for

the 76ers falling to 49-28.

Justin Jackson led the Mavericks with 24 points while Tunisian reserve center Salah Mejri added 16 points and 14 rebounds for Dallas.

The Sixers, playing without Joel Embiid, got 26 points from J.J. Redick, 25 from Tobias Harris and 17 from Australian guard Ben Simmons in the loss.

FREE KICK ROMY P. MARIÑAS Congress, seeking to represent the lone district of Taguig City in Metro Manila.

How the former senator would handle the situation where he is supposed to be full-time Phisgoc chief, on one hand, and politician, on the other, he had better explain to the POC or the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), which has control of the “funding primarily for the training of [Filipino] athletes [who will take part in the Manila SEA Games].”

Meanwhile, the Phisgoc has “control” of the “staging of the SEA Games, including production, marketing and media."

Also, Cayetano is “concerned about the event and will leave nothing to chance in making sure [the Philippine] hosting is a success.”

The question now is who would take over if he won in the race to Congress on May 13, that is if he would resign from the Phisgoc.

So, you see, Virginia, it is always possible for anything to take the backseat to politics, SEA Games or no SEA Games.

If we go by Vargas saying, “We’re delayed in the training of our athletes but we’re trying to make do with less than optimal conditions,” then the last thing the nation would want to see is Philippine authorities blaming each other’s “politicking” if the country’s hosting chores were a dismal flop.

n Xavier Tillman (No. 23) of the Michigan State Spartans celebrate by cutting down the net after defeating the Duke Blue Devils in the East Regional game of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 31, 2019 in Washington, DC. The Michigan State Spartans defeated the Duke Blue Devils with a score of 68 to 67. AFP PHOTO DICK BENNETT’S fingerprints will be all over this year’s NCAA Tournament.

The former longtime coach has ties to three of the four coaches in Minneapolis this week, one by blood.

Bennett’s son, Tony, coaches Virginia. Auburn coach Bruce Pearl used to coach against Bennett while at Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Even bought one of Bennett’s videotapes on defense. Michigan State coach Tom Izzo used to work Bennett’s camps.

In a Final Four where stingy defenses rule, it’s fitting Dick Bennett has such a strong connection.

“His influence on the game, maybe a lot of people don’t know about it, but in the coaching circles has been huge,” Tony Bennett said Monday. “My dad, he’s an open book, as they say. He’s so honest.

He just wants to help the game because the game’s been so good to him.”

Dick Bennett’s coaching career spanned five decades, from his days as a freshman coach at West Bend High School in Wisconsin to leading the Wisconsin Badgers to the 2000 Final Four.

Bennett’s calling card was his “pack line” defense, which his son has utilized and enhanced to turn Virginia into one of college basketball’s stingiest teams.

Relying on his dad’s defense and an improved offense, Virginia bounced back from last year’s historic loss to No. 16 seed UMBC to reach the program’s first Final Four since 1984 this year.

Now that Bennett has finally made it to the Final Four as a head coach — he was a student

manager for the 2000 Wisconsin team — he will again turn to his dad for advice, along with former Badgers coach Bo Ryan.

“I’ve listened to people and when I’ve either read some things or heard things coaches said, it seems like it’s the balance of, you do have to enjoy it, but you do have to remain focused and prepare well because you can get pulled in by so many different obligations,” Bennett said.

Bennett is not alone in feeling his way through the Final Four.

Outside of Izzo, who’s making his eighth appearance, none of the other coaches have led teams to this stage.

The three new coaches have been to the NCAA Tournament in previous years, so they know what to expect from that standpoint.

But at the Final Four, everything ratchets up: demands on time, the pressure, the stage, the attention, little things that become big like demand for tickets.

Pearl has a simple plan for dealing with the whirlwind: change nothing.

“My approach is going to try to be to just do what we do, keep it the same,” he said. “I just think the routine that we try to keep, the pace we try to keep from when we practice, the media, the hotels — you know, you’re busy, and the kids are busy. You just kind of grind like you do all season long.”

Texas Tech’s Chris Beard plans to follow the example set by the coach he’ll face Saturday night: Izzo.

Through his days as a young assistant or small-school coach, Beard always admired the way Izzo handled himself and ran his

program. Beard would go watch Izzo’s teams at their open practices whenever the Spartans were in the Final Four and patterned his program after Michigan State’s toughness under the man he calls an idol.

Beard chatted with Izzo once at an AAU tournament — “I’m sure he doesn’t remember” — and was impressed by how amiable he was to a coach he had never met before. So when Beard saw he would be facing Izzo’s Spartans, he picked up the phone Monday morning.

“Today talking to him on the phone was just really cool,” Beard said. “People talk about Final Four moments, and I’m sure there will be a bunch this weekend, but it’s pretty cool having a chance to talk to Coach Izzo.

We have so much respect for his program.”

Izzo’s previous Final Four experience should certainly help him in the buildup to Saturday’s game against Beard and the Red Raiders. He recalled the first year at the Final Four, in 1999, he was still dealing with tickets just before tip-off and has learned through the years what to do and what not to do.

Izzo hasn’t been to the Final Four since 2015, but he knows the ins and outs of navigating what will be an unfamiliar world for the other three coaches.

“Experience helps some, but I think the excitement of it, everybody handles it differently. I have experience, but I don’t get to play the game,” Izzo said. “I hope the experience helps me on the auxiliary things and yet once the ball is thrown up, I don’t think it helps you as much as I’d like to think it would.” AP

C2

Sports

The Manila Times

WEDNESDAY April 3, 2019

n Jio Jalalon of Magnolia and Shej Roi Sumang of Blackwater battle for the ball during a Season 44 PBA Philippine Cup game recently at the Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo City. PBA MEDIA BUREAU PHOTO

w w w.manilatimes.net

Action heats up on elims’ final day M

BY JOSEF T. RAMOS

AGNOLIA guns for a quarterfinal slot while Northern Luzon Expressway (NLEX) and Northport aim for crucial wins in the last day of the elimination round of Season 44 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup today at the Araneta Coliseum.

The Hotshots (5-5 win-loss record) eyes No. 6 as they face the Road Warriors at 4:30 p.m.

Losing to NLEX would make the Hotshots fall to the eighth and seventh places though still armed with a twice-to-beat disadvantage against No. 1 seed Phoenix Pulse (9-2) and No. 2 team Rain or Shine (8-3) in the quarterfinal.

“We need to get that win in order to secure automatically the sixth spot and face No. 3 Ginebra.

NLEX is also motivated to beat us because if they win, they can also end up at the sixth spot,” said Magnolia coach Chito Victolero, adding that injured Jean Marc Pingris will not return in the playoff round.

“Ping is going to be available I think by next conference.”

A victory by Magnolia over NLEX would boost

ALAB PILIPINAS FACES HK EASTERN ANEW TODAY DEFENDING champion San Miguel Alab Pilipinas fights for life as it tries to tie the quarterfinal series against Hong Kong Eastern Sports Club in Season 9 Asean Basketball League (ABL) tonight at the Southorn Stadium in Wan Chai, Hong Kong.

The second seed Alab Pilipinas and the seventh seed Hong Kong Eastern will face off anew in Game Two of the best-of-three quarterfinals at 8 p.m.

Alab nearly lost the title after suffering an 88-90 defeat to Eastern in Game One on Friday night at the Hoops Dome in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu.

The Filipino ball club wasted away a 15-point lead early in the third quarter of the series opener, resulting in a virtual twice-to-win disadvantage.

Alab and Eastern are knotted at 1-1, with the former winning the first game, 87-75, and the latter the second, 88-83.

Head coach Jimmy Alapag will be counting on Puerto Rican import Renaldo Balkman, who tallied 30 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists in the previous outing.

Balkman’s 7-foot-4 countryman PJ Ramos is tabbed to dominate the paint while two-time Local MVP Ray Parks Jr., who muffed a game-tying jumper, is expected to step up for Alab.

The Long Lions, however, are keen for revenge against Alab who swept them last season.

Spanish mentor Edu Torres will count on American reinforcements O’Darien Bassett, Marcus Elliott and Michael Holyfield.

Bassett had a 29-point, seven-assist, four-board output while Elliott and Holyfield contributed 22 and 14 markers, respectively, in Game One. JEREMIAH M. SEVILLA

Alaska’s playoff chances. The Aces (47) could tie the Road Warriors (4-6) at No. 8 and force a knockout playoff game for the last quarterfinal spot if NLEX lost to the Hotshots.

NLEX can still make it to No. 6 and avoid an early clash with the No. 1 and 2 teams who are both armed with twiceto-beat if they beat Magnolia.

“That’s our main objective, finish at No. 6 and avoid an early clash with twice-to-beat teams if we finish seventh or eighth,” said NLEX coach Yeng Guiao.

“All out effort and preparation to win tomorrow. We know their guards can score and Ian Sangalang will be also there. We are preparing for them.”

Northport is in a must win game at 7 p.m. against an already QF-qualified Barangay Ginebra San Miguel.

The No. 7 Northport (4-6) is on a hunt for a third consecutive win vs Ginebra.

The No. 7 team will automatically face No. 2 Rain or Shine while Top seed Phoenix Pulse battles the No. 8 team in the quarterfinal round.

No. 3 Ginebra will face the No. 6 team in the best-of-three quarterfinals.

n Karolina Pliskova of Czech Republic is congratulated by Simona Halep of Romania after their match during day eleven of the Miami Open tennis on March 28, 2019 in Miami Gardens, Florida. AFP PHOTO

Halep closes in on world No. 1 Osaka PARIS: Simona Halep cut the gap to world No. 1 Naomi Osaka in the WTA rankings on Monday (Tuesday in Manila) after the Romanian made the semifinals at the Miami Open last week.

French Open champion Halep, who last held the top spot in January, would have returned to the summit had she reached the final in Florida following Osaka’s early exit.

Halep reduced Osaka’s lead to 239 points and moved above Petra Kvitova after the Czech fell to eventual champion Ashleigh Barty in the last eight.

Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit climbed to a best of 14th as she jumped five places following her run to the semifinals.

AFP

WTA RANKINGS ON APRIL 1:

1. Naomi Osaka (JPN) 6,021 pts 2. Simona Halep (ROM) 5,782 (+1) 3. Petra Kvitova (CZE) 5,645 (-1) 4. Karolina Pliskova (CZE) 5,580 (+3) 5. Angelique Kerber (GER) 5,165 (-1) 6. Kiki Bertens (NED) 5,050 (+2) 7. Elina Svitolina (UKR) 5,020 (-2) 8. Sloane Stephens (USA) 4,287 (-2) 9. Ashleigh Barty (AUS) 4,275 (+2) 10. Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) 3,595 (-1) 11. Serena Williams (USA) 3,461 (-1) 12. Anastasija Sevastova (LAT) 3,270 13. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) 3,117 14. Anett Kontaveit (EST) 2,845 (+5) 15. Julia Goerges (GER) 2,835 16. Wang Qiang (CHN) 2,812 (+2) 17. Elise Mertens (BEL) 2,800 (-3) 18. Madison Keys (USA) 2,726 (-2) 19. Garbine Muguruza (ESP) 2,525 (-2) 20. Caroline Garcia (FRA) 2,460 (+1)

Denopol steals show in PPS Tangub YOUNG Angel Denopol dished out top form to match Eric Tangub’s two-title romp as they shared the MVP honors in the PPS-PEPP Tangub National age grouper at the Tangub tennis courts in Misamis Occidental on Monday.

The 12-year-old Denopol crushed Eri Dominguez, 6-1, 6-0, to rule her age bracket then the rising star from Kolambugan, Lanao del Norte held off Zeiah Toribio in the semis, 6-2, 3-6, 10-7, before blasting Jamie Insong, 6-3, 6-2, to claim the girls’ 14-U singles title in the Group 2 tournament presented by Dunlop and sponsored by Mayor Philip Tan. Tangub, from Tucuran, Zambo del Sur, recovered from a pair of setbacks in PPS-Ozamiz last week by dominating the top divisions in the full-packed boys’ side, whipping Benne Villanueva, 6-1, 6-1, in the 16-U finals then routing Lex Estillore, 6-1, 6-4, for the 18-U diadem.

FanciedSydneyEnriquezsustainedhertwo-title romp in Ozamiz by winning the 16- and 18-U crowns via a pair of 6-0, 6-0 routs over Carmel Padilla and Gerly Insong but the Salug, Zambo del Sur star had to yield the spotlight to Denopol, who also made it to the finals of the 14-U doubles.

“It’s inspiring to see more and more new

faces emerging and the PPS-PEPP circuit will continue to provide these youngsters, particularly those from the countryside, the venue not only to showcase their wares but also earn ranking points,” said Palawan Pawnshop president/CEO Bobby Castro.

Otherwinnersinthefour-dayevent,sanctioned by the Unified Tennis Philippines made up of PPSPEPP, Cebuana Lhuillier, Wilson, Toby’s, Dunlop, Slazenger and B-Meg, were Dipolog’s Rafael Bandala (10-unisex), local bet Kyne Solis (boys’ 12-U) and Molave’s RJ Cagatan (boys’ 14-U).

Bandala thumped Axi Estillore, 4-0, 4-1; Solis upended top seed Sean Esick, 6-1, 6-0, in the semis then ripped Rowin Cuasito, 6-0, 6-0; and Cagatan turned back No. 1 Zarc Denopol via a thrilling 6-4, 2-6, 10-5 decision.

Meanwhile, action shifts to Molave, Zambo del Sur starting tomorrow (Thursday) with another big field vying for nine divisions titles in the Molave PPS-PEPP JNY Cup with Kapatagan, Lanao del Norte hosting the next stop of the year-long, nationwide circuit put up by Palawan Pawnshop on April 7-10.

Listup is ongoing. For details, call 0915-4046464.

Victorious Hamilton defends rival Vettel

MANAMA: A victorious Lewis Hamilton moved to defend his rival Sebastian Vettel as the four-time champion’s recent form came under scrutiny following another costly spin in Sunday’s (Monday in Manila) Bahrain Grand Prix.

Hamilton, who was gifted the 74th win of his career when Ferrari new boy Charles Leclerc’s engine lost power in the final 10 laps, said Vettel’s achievements dwarfed his disappointments.

As Ferrari packed up to travel home after a bitter-sweet weekend in which they demonstrated dominant pace and the arrival on the grand prix podium of their new star Leclerc, Vettel faced another Italian inquest over his failings.

His spin at the Bahrain International Circuit, where Hamilton led his team-mate Valtteri Bottas home for a second straight seasonopening Mercedes one-two, was his fourth in 10 races.

“I looked at the replay and we didn’t touch,” said five-times champion Hamilton, reflecting on the incident in which Vettel spun while the pair battled for second place. “It was really windy there...”

Sunday’s incident reminded observers of a similar spin at last year’s Italian Grand Prix where Hamilton barged past Vettel on his way to a decisive victory that underpinned his late-season title charge.

In nine races since, he spun in Japan and the United States, drawing fire from Italian critics heralding the arrival of Leclerc, who finished third in the race after becoming the youngest pole-sitter in Ferrari’s history.

“There’s too few of them really to look into it too much,” said Hamilton. “It happens to us all. Just because you are a multiple world champion doesn’t mean you’re not going to have ‘off’ weekends.

“It’s more cumulative. Look at his career. He’s had stunning performances that far outweigh the weaker races.”

Speed and race-craft Vettel has won 52 Grands Prix and four world titles, but has struggled to master Hamilton’s speed and race-craft in the last two seasons despite spells during which he and Ferrari appeared to have a faster car.

At 31, he faces a new challenge with the arrival of new team-mate Leclerc, 21, in place of 39-year-old Kimi Raikkonen, now at Alfa Romeo.

The Monegasque tyro, in only his second race and in his second season in F1, was outstanding in qualifying and the race until his engine failed.

Hamilton, however, suggested his old rival was suffering with set-up problems.

“There are always times when you just happen not to get the right car set-up, which you guys don’t get to see,” he told reporters.

“All these little things that we’re doing, it just doesn’t happen to work that weekend and the differences are so small yet they look so big.

“I don’t know why their car was so different in pace, but I’ve had races (like that)... I remember me and Nico (Rosberg) in Barcelona.

AFP

˜ The Manila Times

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WEDNESDAY April 3, 2019

C3

McIlroy climbs to world No. 3, Johnson retains top ranking P

Wong, Gabasa wrest PH Jr golf lead PAOLO Wong fashioned out a gutsy even par 72 while Junia Gabasa scrambled for a 74 in tough conditions as they took charge in their respective divisions at the start of the Philippine Junior Amateur Open Golf Championships at the Sherwood Hills Golf Club in Trece Martires, Cavite on Tuesday.

Wong hit two birdies against a bogey at the front but wavered in the last nine holes, dropping a stroke on the par-3 16th to settle for a 35-37 card and a one-stroke lead over Paolo Barro, who matched Wong’s frontside card but stumbled with back-to-back bogeys from No. 12 for a 73.

Unlike Wong and Barro, Carl Corpus bounced back from a woeful 41 start with a sizzling 35 to save a 76 but lay four shots off the pace in the 72-hole stroke play tournament serving as the third leg of this year’s PLDT Group National Amateur Tour and organized and conducted by the National Golf Association of the Philippines.

The rest of the bidders in the centerpiece Albatross division (15-18) also struggled in hot, windy conditions with Sean Ramos limping with a 77 and pre-tournament favorites Aidric Chan and Josh Jorge hobbling with 78 and 81, respectively.

Gabasa, on the other hand, launched her drive for a follow-up to her victory in WExpress RVF Cup in Canlubang, coming through with two birdies against the same number of bogeys and a double-bogey, her 37-37 card proving enough to drive her past Maria Tee in the event sponsored by the MVP Sports Foundation, PLDT Group, Cignal and Metro Pacific.

Tee actually wrested control with a 37 after nine holes, went 2-up with a birdie on No. 10 but bogeyed the last three for a 75 with Korean Kang Da Yun in joint third with Kayla Nocum at 77 and Mafy Singson making a 78.

Meanwhile, Wiggam Tapdasan stumbled with an 81 but still posted a 14-shot lead over Gerrard Park (95) in the Ace category (19-andabove) of the four-day tournament which also features the Eagle division for boys and girls.

Korean Kim Tae Soo turned in a 78 to seize a one-stroke lead over Leandro Bagtas, Zachary Castro and Jet Hernandez, who all carded 79s, while Miguel Ilas stood four shots adrift with 82 in boys’ play of the 12-14 age category.

Rianne Malixi, meanwhile, took command in girls’ category with a 74 for a big four-stroke lead over Arnie Taguines and Eagle Ace Superal, who both had 78s, with Samantha Dizon and Laurea Duque groping for an 81 and 82, respectively.

Blanco, Isabela Tee, Kayla Nocum and Korean Kang Da Yun. Meanwhile, listup for the MVPSF Visayas Regional Golf Championship is ongoing with another huge field expected to clash for top honors in the fourth staging of the event on April 8-12 at Cebu Country Club.

Fees are pegged at P3,000 (men’s and ladies division) for local players and P4,000 for foreign entries and P2,500 (local) and P3,500 (foreign) for those competing in the Mid-Amateur Open category. Fee for club members is P1,500, according to NGAP.

Sports

ARIS: Rory McIlroy continued his rise up the world rankings on Monday (Tuesday in Manila) as the fourtime major champion jumped one spot to third, while Dustin Johnson retained his narrow lead at the top.

Northern Irishman McIlroy, who started the year ranked eighth, was beaten in the last 16 of the WGC World Matchplay by Tiger Woods but still moved past Brooks Koepka into third.

Johnson secured an 81st week as world number one despite a group-stage exit in n Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays his shot from the 15th tee in his match against Tiger Woods of the United States during the fourth round of the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Country Club on March 30, 2019 in Austin, Texas.

Austin, as his closest rival Justin Rose also fell at the first hurdle.

Woods climbed two spots to 12th place, while Matchplay winner Kevin Kisner rose from 50th to 25th.

Jordan Spieth’s freefall down the rankings continued, as the three-time major champion slipped out of the top 30 despite posting his best finish of 2019 by finishing tied-24th in Texas.

AFP

WORLD TOP 20 1. Dustin Johnson (USA) 9.54 average pts 2. Justin Rose (ENG) 9.51 3. Rory McIlroy (NIR) 8.38 (+1) 4. Brooks Koepka (USA) 8.29 (-1) 5. Justin Thomas (USA) 8.13 6. Bryson DeChambeau (USA) 7.34 7. Francesco Molinari (ITA) 7.07 8. Rickie Fowler (USA) 5.96 (+2)

AFP PHOTO

9. Jon Rahm (ESP) 5.93 (-1) 10. Xander Schauffele (USA) 5.92 (-1) 11. Paul Casey (ENG) 5.55 12. Tiger Woods (USA) 5.37 (+2) 13. Tommy Fleetwood (ENG)

5.13 (-1) 14. Jason Day (AUS) 4.96 (-1) 15. Tony Finau (USA) 4.94 16. Matt Kuchar (USA) 4.71 (+8)

17. Bubba Watson (USA) 4.51 (-1) 18. Patrick Reed (USA) 4.44 (-1) 19. Marc Leishman (AUS) 4.31 (-1) 20. Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) 4.22 Selected: 22. Phil Mickelson (USA) 4.02 (-1) 25. Kevin Kisner (USA) 3.81 (+25) 27. Sergio Garcia (ESP) 3.62 32. Jordan Spieth (USA) 3.34 (-2) AFP

Fiery duel up as Solaire PH Open unwraps Perpetual A POWER-PACKED cast headed

by Asia’s former No. 1, a slew of aces from Thailand, Australia, the US and 10 other countries, and a crack local crew sets out for what promises to be a slam-bang start in the Solaire Philippine Open beginning today (Wednesday, April 3) at The Country Club in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

Juvic Pagunsan, who clinched the top ranking in the region with a sterling campaign in 2011, is brimming with confidence coming into the $500,000 event sponsored by Solaire Resort & Casino, his shot at the crown missing in his vast trophy cabinet boosted by his runaway victory in last week’s Philippine Golf Tour Asia’s ICTSI Riviera Challenge.

“I like my chances coming off a win in Riviera,” said Pagunsan, who drew an explosive pairing with Thai Poom Saksakin and Malaysian Nicholas Fung at 12:20 p.m. on No. 1 when weather and wind conditions are expected to get tougher.

Pagunsan actually reigned here three times in the TCC Invitational but didn’t see action in the Open in recent past owing to his campaign in the Japan PGA Tour.

But back in the hunt for the elusive crown, the smoothswinging Filipino shotmaker is looking forward to emerging on top again on a course that could play longer than its 7735-yardage with the buffeting winds expected to blow from various directions in all four rounds.

Two local top guns also gun not only for a breakthrough Open victory but also for redemption after missing the cut at Riviera with reigning PGT Order of Merit champion Jobim Carlos slugging it out with PGT Asia Luisita Championship winner David Gleeson

of Australia and Taiwanese Chiu Han-Ting in a flight ahead of Pagunsan and company.

Clyde Mondilla, the country’s top player in 2017 who also failed to advance in the penultimate leg of the PGTA 2018-19 second season, drew an earlier start at 8 a.m. but against a pair of tough rivals in Aussie Simon Vitakangas and Thai veteran Wisut Artjanawat.

The duel in the 7:20 a.m. flight is also expected to be fierce with three-time PGTA winner Jhonnel Ababa facing off with Aboitiz Invitational titlist Damien Jordan of Australia

and Thai Prom Meesawat, who lost the Open crown to Miguel Tabuena in a playoff last year.

Tabuena, however, withdrew from defending the crown due to back injury he sustained during the pro-am of the Maybank Championship in Malaysia three weeks ago.

Despite his absence, the same wild finish is seen on Saturday with the likes of former champion Angelo Que, also a three-time winner at TCC Invitational, PGT leg winner Nicolas Paez, Sam Gillis and Brett Munson of the US, Thais Chawalit Plaphol and Puk Pradittan, Spain’s Marcos Pastor

and Englishmen Grant Jackson and Joshua Grenville-Wood all primed up for the event sanctioned by the National Golf Association of the Philippines and backed by ICTSI, PLDT Enterprise, Meralco, BDO and PGT Asia official apparel Pin High.

Korean-American Micah Shin, who became the first non-Filipino to win the TCC Invitational last year, and compatriot and PGT leg winner Kim Joo Hyung are also expected to figure in the title race as spearheads of the young guns out to steal the thunder from the veterans in Asia’s oldest National Open organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc.

n Thai Prom Meesawat out to complete an unfinished business. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Help bets ready for chess meet

UNIVERSITY of Perpetual Help System Dalta standouts Jerome Aragones, Eric labog, Jr. and Carl Zirex Sato will be the players to watch for when the Gov. Amor Deloso National Age Group Chess Championships grand finals unfolds on April 4 to 9 at the Zambales Sports Complex in Iba, Zambales.

Sato made it through by topping the premier boys Under-20 division while Aragones and Labog reigned supreme in the Under-16 and Under-18 sections in the Luzon qualifiers held in Dasmariñas, Cavite last week.

Joining the three are Perpetual Help teammates Ma. Angela Illustre, who won the girls’ U20 plum, and John Marx Anastacio, who wound up third in the boys’ U20 class.

Interestingly, Labog will represent Calabarzon in the Palarong Pambansa set April 27-May 4 in Davao City.

The six-day tournament has drawn 168 participants, who all made it through the qualifying stages.

Gov. Deloso, Rep. Cheryl Deloso, National Chess Federation of the Philippines President Butch Pichay, Philippine Sports Commission Chairman Butch Ramirez, Asia’s first Grandmaster Eugene Torre and the country’s first Woman GM Janelle Mae Frayna are gracing the opener.

The top three in each divisions— boys and girls’ U20, U18, U16, U14, U12, U10 and U8—will represent the country in the Asean Age Group Championship in Myanmar in June where FIDE Master, International Master and GM norms are at stake.

RIZAL MEMORIAL SPORTS COMPLEX RENOVATION BEGINS THE Rizal Memorial Sports Complex and two other major venues to be utilized in the country’s hosting of the 30th Southeast Asian Games will start undergoing renovations for the November 30 to December 11 meet.

Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman William ‘Butch’ Ramirez made the announcement Tuesday following the appropriation of a total of P842 million by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) for the repairs of 11 other facilities, including the Ninoy Aquino Stadium, Philsports Arena, the Baguio training center, among others.

“We are making sure that there are 10-

12 government sports facilities ready to assess, help the preparations of the PHISGOC (Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee),” said Ramirez.

“We are hoping that all of these will be finish by September.”

Ramirez made the statement in the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at the Amelie Hotel-Manila, stressing the government agency has not been re-missed in its role of extending major support to help Filipino athletes in their quest to win anew the overall title of the SEA Games.

Other than the game venues, also part of the PAGCOR appropriation is the refurbishment of the athletes’ dormitory,

construction of a new medical building with eight to 10 medical doctors, two nutrition halls, and an ecumenical chapel.

“The sports facilities, dormitories, venues, halls, before the SEA Games bago na ang itsura ng Rizal, Ultra, and Baguio.

So as chairman and leader of the (PSC) Board), I’m very happy to announce it before you (PSA),” Ramirez said in the session presented by San Miguel Corporation, PAGCOR, Tapa King, and Amelie Hotel-Manila.

Ramirez is confident PACGOR through Chairman and CEO Andrea Domingo, would be able to release the amount as soon as possible.

“Nakikiusap kami sa PAGCOR that

SEA Games is coming na matulungan naman kami para masimulan na ‘yung construction,” said the PSC chief, who nonetheless understands where PAGCOR is coming from.

“Of course it’s not easy asking for P842 million,” he added.

During the same session, Ramirez also disclosed holding a general assembly with athletes and coaches on Wednesday to explain everything the PSC have been doing to ensure a better showing for Team Philippines in the SEA Games.

“Pag nalaman nilang resolved ‘yung mga needs ng mga bata at tsaka yung kaunting problema na hindi namin nacommunicate, lalakas ang loob nila na

tumutulong pala ang gobyerno,” he said.

“Kasi there’s always that nuisance na ang gobyerno ay wala.”

Ramirez said national athletes under the PSC care at Rizal Memorial and Philsports numbered at 1,452, with 578 of them composed of junior development.

They are classified as platinum, class A, class B, class C, training pool, and junior development.

Platinum is composed of eight sports namely, billiards, bowling, taekwondo, weightlifting, wind surfing, and three PHILSPADA. “Ito ‘yung malaking chance na magmedal sa SEA Games until the Olympics,” said Ramirez.

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WEDNESDAY April 3, 2019

Football

AC Milan push to keep Champions League hopes alive against Udinese

M

ILAN: AC Milan host Udinese on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila) in the first of a crucial Serie A double-header before taking on titleholders Juventus in Turin four days later in a week which could be crucial for their Champions League ambitions.

Gennaro Gattuso’s side have slumped to consecutive defeats for the first time since December 2017 with losses to Inter Milan (3-2) and Sampdoria (1-0).

Milan remain fourth two points behind Inter who also fell to a 1-0 home defeat against Lazio at the weekend, with Roma dropping out of the European places with a 4-1 defeat to Napoli.

The hunt for Champions League spot is tight with just six points separating AC Milan in fourth on 51 points and Torino (45) in ninth position.

In between there are Lazio, Atalanta, Roma and Sampdoria in the running.

“I’m not seeing a team that is completely off its game,” insisted Gattuso.

“But one fact still remains: we’re standing here talking about another defeat.”

Lazio have a chance to move into the Champions League places as they host strugglers SPAL. Holders Juventus travel to 13th-placed Cagliari nurturing a 15-point lead on Napoli as they warm-up for their European quarter-final clash against Ajax next week.

Cristiano Ronaldo remains absent as he recovers from a thigh injury but coach Massimiliano Allegri showed he has options at his disposal with

The Manila Times

w w w. m a n i l a t i m e s. n e t

n Juventus’ Italian forward Moise Kean shoots to open the scoring during the Italian Serie A football match Juventus vs Empoli on March 30, 2019 at the Juventus stadium in Turin. AFP PHOTO

teenager Moise Kean stepping up to score the winner against Empoli at the weekend.

“Four victories remain, but on Tuesday we’ll go to Cagliari against a team who will try to cause an upset,” said Allegri.

Carlo Ancelotti’s second-placed outfit travel to Empoli after their confidence-boosting win over Roma at the Stadio Olimpico, before hosting Genoa next Sunday.

Ranieri’s Roma nightmare New Roma boss Claudio Ranieri’s dream job has quickly turned to a nightmare.

Ranieri, who memorably guided outsiders Leicester City to the 2016 English Premier League title, has returned to a club which he coach for 18 months from 2009 to 2011.

But he has managed just one win, against Empoli, since taking over from Eusebio Di Francesco with defeats to SPAL as well as Napoli.

“We need to isolate ourselves and focus on Fiorentina,” urged Ranieri.

“When you look at the team from the outside, you understand certain things.

“When you’re on the inside, you understand them better and try to put things right and help the lads.

“It’s a bit of everything: the physical level,

the mental level and the injuries. Technically the team has quality, it’s just that when it suffers defeats it’s unable to pick itself up.”

Despite conceding “it’s tough”, Ranieri has no regrets.

“Do I regret having accepted Roma? Never.

I could never regret Roma.”

Roma have dropped out of the European places and play direct rivals Sampdoria, two points below them, on Saturday.

Inter Milan travel to Genoa, followed by Atalanta, with the situation surrounding Argentine striker Mauro Icardi still uncertain, as he has not played since February 9 amid a contract dispute.

AFP

Ceres Negros aims to keep group lead PHILIPPINE champion Ceres Negros FC seeks to keep the group top spot when it faces Indonesian titlist Persija Jakarta FC in the 2019 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup tonight at the Panaad Park and Stadium in Bacolod City.

Meanwhile, the Yellow Busmen battle an Indonesian club—the Kemayoran Tigers—for the first time at 7:30 p.m.

Ceres Negros stands atop the fourteam Group G with six points following a two-win start while Persija Jakarta trails behind with four markers.

Only the top finishers and the best runner-up from the four Southeast Asian groups will advance to the zonal semifinals.

The Bacolod-based booters kicked off their campaign with a 3-2 home win over Myanmar’s Shan United FC on February 26 then routed Vietnam’s Becamex Binh Duong FC, 3-1, at the Go Dau Stadium three weeks ago.

Spanish striker Bienvenido Marañon and diminutive forward OJ Porteria are expected to fuel the Busmen’s attack anew.

Marañon leads the tournament with

four goals after firing a hat-trick in Ceres’ win over Becamex and a penalty kick against Shan United even as Porteria hit a brace in the first game.

Head coach Risto Vidakovic will also bank on Philippine Azkals stalwarts Stephan Shrock, Kevin Ingreso and Alvaro Silva in their bid to post a third straight victory.

But Persija is eyeing to snatch the No. 1 spot with a second consecutive win.

After a goalless draw with Becamex, the Tigers roared to a 3-1 away triumph over Shan United on March 12.

Brazilian midfielder Bruno Matos, who struck a brace in the last outing, is tabbed to lead Persija’s offense along with French center-back Steven Paulle, who scored the final goal.

The Ivan Kolev-mentored squad will also rely on former Indonesian national squad standouts Bambang Pamungkas and Ismed Sofyan and current midfielder Riko Simanjutnak.

JEREMIAH M. SEVILLA

No point resting Messi, says Valverde BARCELONA: Lionel Messi will probably play against Villarreal in La Liga this week, because “there’s no suitable scenario for resting” the Argentine superstar, Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde said on Monday (Tuesday in Manila).

Barcelona are 10 points clear at the top of the Spanish League ahead of Tuesday’s away game, followed by a home tie with second-place Atletico Madrid on Saturday and then Manchester United away in a Champions League quarterfinal next Wednesday.

“We attach great importance to this game,” Valverde said of the Villarreal game before acknowledging that “many people have their sights on the Champions League and also the Atletico game.”

“We’ll see tomorrow about Leo,” Valverde said of his 31-year-old forward who

has 31 league goals so far this season.

“The three points tomorrow are worth the same as those against Atletico,” Valverde said.

“It is a perfect match to win,” he said, when asked about rotating his squad. “It does not escape me that our rivals are waiting for a slip to feed their hopes of catching us. We don’t want give it any opportunities.”

“There are nine games, if we win six we are champions,” he added. “But having to win six games does not mean we have the league won, we have a lot of work to do.”

Valverde said he did not think renewed rumours that Antoine Griezmann was going to leave Atletico for Barcelona would not destabilise either club.

“It’s the usual stuff, we’re used to it,” said Valverde.

AFP

Little people, big ambitions: China trials football kindergartens SHANGHAI: President Xi Jinping has vowed to make China a footballing force and is prepared to go to great lengths to do it, sending thousands of toddlers to “football-focused” kindergartens.

China, which has a population of 1.4 billion but has continually underachieved in football, will start trialling the kindergartens this year, state media said.

Citing the ministry of education, Xinhua news agency said that “each provincial-level region” will have 50 to 200 football-centric kindergartens.

“The pilot programme aims to cultivate interest in football in children through popular football games and create an atmosphere favourable for football culture to grow,” Xinhua said, citing a ministry directive.

“Various physical activities tailored for kids will be held, during which children are encouraged to run, jump, climb, throw and shoot balls.”

Li Jianli, director of a kindergarten in the Chinese capital, told the Global Times: “We have soccer coaches for kids who are over five and many other kindergartens in Beijing run soccer programs too.”

In October, the Chinese Football Association announced plans for 10,000 kindergartens across the country.

Football-fan president Xi has expressed ambitions for China to qualify for, host and win the World Cup. So far China have qualified for the World Cup only once, in 2002, when they failed to win a point or score a goal.

They languish at 72nd in the FIFA rankings, stewing between Macedonia and El Salvador, and have lost their last three matches on the spin.

The government is throwing resources at grassroots football, but Agence France-Presse recently revealed how the game was awash at lower levels with unqualified coaches. AFP

WEDNESDAY APRIL 3, 2019

Lifestyle

D1

www.manilatimes.net

n Actor Michael de Mesa was spotted sweating it out, here with Eric 'Eruption' Tai.

n The release of adrenaline makes for a happy fitness buff.

n Arnold's Army Open Workout advocates health and fitness via trendy workout sessions.

Trendy exercise routines bared at 1st Arnolds Army Open Workout S PORTS retailer Toby’s Sports hosted the first Arnold’s Army Open Workout at the Bonifacio High Street Amphitheatre which bared Celebrity coach Arnold Aninion’s trademark group exercises with a free live workout session.

Toby’s head of marketing and communications Andrea Tan, affirmed said at the opening that they have always advocated healthy and active lifestyles among millions of Filipino consumers, thus the fitness event. Noting that more people have become increasingly health conscious, Tan disclosed that Toby’s Sports seeks to connect with them — and other fitness enthusiasts — by holding complimentary trendy workout sessions.

As such, the first to lead these

workout activities was Aninion, an eminent fitness coach who trains celebrity clients such as Anne Curtis, Isabelle Daza, Solenn Heussaff, and Georgina Wilson, among others. He is also credited for social arbiter Raymond Gutierrez’s dramatic transformation.

“The enthusiastic response we received from the public and industry influencers was overwhelming. We were just looking

to holding a walk-in event. But after posting about it online, it generated so much interest that we had to do pre-registration a couple days before the open workout.

The event likewise drew attention from local celebrities like Michael de Mesa and Eric ‘Eruption’ Tai, among others,” Tan enthused.

Tan averred that being trained

by A r n o l d Aninion, or becoming part of #ArnoldsArmy for a day at least, is a distinct privilege. “We hope that our participants will walk away with some workout tips from Arnold, himself—those that they can do at home or in the gym, even without a trainer,” she announced at the onset of the event.

»seen@thescene

n Activate your core muscles and enhance body coordination with this gym ball.

True enough, the workout participants had an intimate exercise session with the popular trainer, who appeared thoroughly engaged as he encouraged them to work out beyond their perceived limitations.

Tan happily noted that the event’s success was due to the fact that people are more stimulated when exercising with a group — and using a variety of workout styles — because of the social atmosphere and community vibe. “With group exercise,” Tan pointed out, “you are likely to work out harder than you would if you were on your own.”

Apart from the workouts, information on fitness recovery strategies was likewise underscored.

“That is something you should know when you kick-start

n Quorum International Inc. President Toby Claudio joins Toby's Sports #ArnoldsArmy Open Workout.

n There are many reasons why people exercise – others like to lose weight, get moving or to manage stress — and they're all good. your fitness journey,” Tan related as she acknowledged that people exercise for a variety of reasons: to lose weight, to lead a generally healthier lifestyle, to manage stress, and much more.

To be sure, Arnold’s Army Open Workout was just the beginning.

“This wonderful workout experience merely set them on the

path to a consistently active lifestyle and improved their overall health,” Tan said.

For his part, Arnold Aninion, who has acquired iconic status for his revolutionary and lifechanging workouts, assured his students that they will get closer to their workout goals “when they train with me.”

n Strengthen your core and build tighter abs this summer with abdominal wheel.

n (From left) Ma. Lourdes Garganera, UNILAB Assistant Vice President of the Office of Regulatory Affairs; Dr. Jinky Bornales, MSU-IIT Vice Chancellor for Research and Extension; Sukarno Tanggol, DPA, MSU-IIT Chancellor; Atty. Jose Maria Ochave, UNILAB Senior Vice President; Dr. Mylene Uy, MSU-IIT Acting Director of the Premier Research Institute of Science and Mathematics (PRISM); and Elaine Munsayac, Unilab Director of for Business Development.

Get fit this summer with fashionable workout essentials

n Improve your lower body mobility and gluteal firing with resistance loop band.

SUMMER is the best time to try new workout routines, engage in various physical activities and aim for six packs and beach ready bodies.

To stay fit and fab, Miniso suggests a wide range of items that will aid everyday fitness routines and make for fashionable and affordable workouts at your very own home gym.

Bands and wheels Rebuild strength and increase balance with various resistance bands like loop bands, Pro-8 Shape resistance bands, and yoga

stretch bands. These help in improving strength, flexibility and mobility in the glutes, knees and hips areas.

For core-strengthening exercises, there are abdominal wheels that allow core muscles to work together and sculpt tighter abs. Push up bars, on the other hand, also help strengthen core, chest, arms, shoulders and back in just one single motion.

Meanwhile, hula hoops are fun and exciting when used for aerobic activities. These can also help burn fats and achieve a firm and toned body.

Other workout essentials and accessories like foldable yoga mats, gym balls, sports waist packs and armbands are also available to make workouts more fun and efficient this summer. n Grab these fashionable and colorful sports waist packs perfect for your outdoor activities.

n Stretch those tight muscles after a high intensity workout with this yoga stretch band.

n Increase your hand strength, endurance and grip with these hand grippers.

Unilab, MSU-IIT ink MOU on nutraceuticals R&D LEADING Southeast Asian pharmaceutical company Unilab, Inc. has forged an agreement with Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) for joint undertakings on the research and development of nutraceuticals and dietary products.

The signing of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) is a major milestone for the Philippine pharmaceutical sector as it signals the start of a strong collaboration between the academe and industry players.

“There has been no real collaboration between the industry and the academe yet.

According to USAID, there seems to be a mutual mistrust between the industry and the academe,” said Sukarno D. Tanggol, DPA, chancellor of MSU-IIT. The MOU which Unilab and MSUIIT signed on February 6 at the Unilab Corporate Center in Mandaluyong City effectively broke the said mistrust. The MOU is the beginning of a partnership, not just between the two entities, but more so between the industry and academe.

Unilab, being the leading pharmaceutical company in Southeast Asia, has been vigorously pursuing social partnerships, and Unilab Senior Vice President Atty. Jose Maria A. Ochave stressed that he strongly believes the industry and the academe could work together.

“Many things can happen outside Manila, that’s why Unilab chose MSU-IIT for this partnership,” Ochave said.

He also said that they are looking for more R&D-focused universities outside of Metro Manila whose products or services they can help develop so these

can be utilized by the people. “We need more industry-academe collaborations so that the results of government-funded researches do not end up simply gathering dust in the cabinets,” Ochave said.

MSU-IIT, through its Premier Research Institute of Science and Mathematics (PRISM), is engaged in researches and studies on dietary products, nutraceuticals, and Mindanao’s flora and fauna.

Nutraceuticals are food products or parts of a food that help treat or prevent certain diseases. Through this partnership, Unilab and MSU-IIT will collaborate in the review and evaluation of research studies with potential commercial benefit.

“We are grateful that Unilab deemed MSU-IIT as a worthy partner. It has been my dream as a chancellor for the university to be known internationally, and this partnership signals that Mindanao has institutions which can be tapped for the development of the country. In particular, PRISM is now envisioning to go over natural products. Through this partnership, not only is Unilab helping MSU-IIT in data, but we are also going to be able to help the communities in Mindanao, because there are many researchable products in MSUIIT and in the areas nearby,” Tanggol said.

Tanggol is optimistic that this partnership will also provide more space for MSU-IIT researchers to spread their wings.

“This partnership also aims to show that there is a productive and prosperous career in science and technology. And in Unilab, there is a big need for science and tech graduates,” ends Ochave.

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Funtimes

WEDNESDAY April 3, 2019

˜ The Manila Times

w w w.manilatimes.net

Solution to puzzle

» CROSSWORD

BY EUGENE SHEFFER

»HOROSCOPE Today’s Birthday (04/03/19). Take the road less traveled this year. Grow professionally through persistent practice. Catch the silver falling at your feet. Beautify your home this summer, inspiring professional renewal. Your career surges forward next winter, leading to domestic relocation or changes. Explore uncharted terrain.

To get the advantage, check the day’s rating: 10 is the easiest day, 0 the most challenging.

ARIES (MARCH 21-APRIL 19) -- Today is a 9 -- You know what you need to do. Win through disciplined efforts, rather than luck. If overwhelmed, narrow the focus to one task at a time.

TAURUS (APRIL 20-MAY 20) -- Today is a 6 -- You’re especially imaginative and creative. Make plans, and organize. Lay low, and avoid overspending. Finish old tasks to make space for what’s next.

GEMINI (MAY 21-JUNE 20) -- Today is an 8 -- Consider all options with a team effort. Coordinate and communicate to avoid redundancy or errors. Money saved is money earned. Build solid structures together.

CANCER (JUNE 21-JULY 22) -- Today is a 7 -- Review your professional dreams, visions and intuition before diving into action. Consider your desired outcome, and plot different routes in that direction.

LEO (JULY 23-AUG. 22) -- Today is a 6 -- Your travel or study plans could get deviated. Don’t get distracted by time-sucking temptations.

It’s possible to get too much of a good thing.

VIRGO (AUG. 23-SEPT. 22) -- Today is an 8 -- Let your partner and team know what you need. Work out the budget, and make sure that the numbers align. Self-discipline matters. Minimize risks.

» SUDOKU

BY NANCY BLACK LIBRA (SEPT. 23-OCT. 22) -- Today is a 7 -- Don’t let a partner’s crazy ideas get you into trouble. Trust your own sense. Some parts may be valuable; keep the good stuff. Stay positive.

SCORPIO (OCT. 23-NOV. 21) -- Today is a 7 -- Consider your dreams, goals and ambitions with health, fitness and physical labors. Success takes focused work, rather than fortune. Work with a good coach.

SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22-DEC. 21) -- Today is an 8 -- Prioritize fun and romance. Share a dream with someone special. Invite entertaining collaborations. Keep an optimistic view. Avoid overspending or overindulging. Relax and enjoy.

CAPRICORN (DEC. 22-JAN. 19) -- Today is a 7 -- Family comes first. Decisions made now could last. Keep your objective in mind, and use trusted methods to attain it. Home matters require attention.

AQUARIUS (JAN. 20-FEB. 18) -- Today is an 8 -- Writing and research projects engage you. Analyze the basic structure. Build solid foundations before you add creative flourishes. Patiently make your case.

PISCES (FEB. 19-MARCH 20) -- Today is a 9 -- The next two days could be good for business. Work could interfere with playtime. Heed advice from experts, even when you don’t agree.

(Astrologer Nancy Black continues her mother Linda Black’s legacy horoscopes column. She welcomes comments and questions on Twitter, @LindaCBlack. For more astrological interpretations like today’s Gemini horoscope, visit Linda Black Astrology by clicking daily horoscopes, or go to www.nancyblack.com.)

NANCY BLACK. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

BY ROGER SEVILLA

Complete the grid so that every row, column and 3x3 square contains the digits 1 to 9 with no repeats.

Solution from yesterday’s puzzle.

Public Square

˜ The Manila Times

w w w.manilatimes.net

wednesday April 3, 2019

d3

CGBP to host special program Toyota partners with Mapua for first HEV campus tour on 2019 Revised Corporation Code THE 2019 Revised Corporation Code (RCC) of the Philippines that took effect on February 21 will have tremendous impact on all corporations in the Philippines.

To educate corporations about this, the Center for Global Best Practices will host a special program entitled 2019 Revised Corporation Code of the Philippines to be held on April 11, at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel in Mandaluyong City.

This program is designed to help in compliance, in structuring deals and to avoid the legal pitfalls when making decisions in board and management meetings or when doing business and investing in the Philippines.

This program is Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)-Accredited for corporate governance.

Board directors and top management attending this training will greatly benefit from this learning event.

This one-day training will comprehensively discuss not only the new law and its interpretation but will also cover updates on all the essential SEC regulations issued from 2017 up to the present.

Participants will learn what are still relevant or have become irrelevant, and the recent jurisprudence affecting different corporations.

This program will feature former SEC chairperson, lawyer Teresita Herbosa, who championed the cause for the passage of the Revised Corporation of the Philippines which is now signed into law as Republic Act 11232.

For more information, visit www.cgbp.org.

Experience Songkran in Manila AN exciting Songkran experience awaits at Dusit Thani Manila in celebration of the Thai New Year on April 13.

Cool off and refresh with water-splashing activity and entertainment as we give life to the famous water festival in Thailand right at the heart of the Metro.

Make the party last from late afternoon ‘til evening with food, drinks and ear-catching music from its guest band and disc jockey. Get soaked and be armed with complimentary Songkran survival kit which includes water gun and waterproof pouch to make the most out of the pool fun.

Take advantage of the early bird rate until March 31 only.

In-house guests on April 13 availing of the Songkran room package get complimentary access to the Songkran party.

Meanwhile, stay in Dusit Thani during the most vibrant time of the year from April 1 to 30 and experience the beautiful Thai culture right at the heart of the Metro.

Celebrate the Songkran with a special room package inclusive of 20 percent off on Bed and Breakfast Plus (25 percent for Dusit Gold members); daily breakfast for two; food credit worth of P800 at The Pantry per stay.

OYOTA Motor Philippines (TMP) jumpstarted its Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) campus tour series by forging a partnership with Mapua University’s Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering (MME) Department.

The first leg of the educational caravan, held at the Mapua school grounds in Intramuros, Manila, offered both students and faculty a firsthand look on the benefits of HEV technology through a symposium and an all-day test drive activity.

The experiential event coincid-

ed with the MME Department’s 79th anniversary, making the Toyota Prius and Toyota Prius C units the centerpieces of its Engineering Week’s opening day.

During the ceremonial ribboncutting with student council leaders, TMP First Vice President Cristina Arevalo stated: “Our goal is to raise public awareness on the advantages of using HEV technology. There is no better way to start the advocacy than with our future engineers and craftsmen, who will shape our tomorrow.”

Toyota Motor Philippines

brought in technical experts from its manufacturing plant in Santa Rosa, Laguna to conduct three sessions of a one-hour symposium discussing the environmental impact of emissions from various energy sources, and how fuel-efficient but powerful hybrids like the Prius contribute to minimizing the automotive industry’s carbon footprint.

A dedicated test drive area also welcomed students for a short route with the Prius C hatchback. Accompanied by a Toyota technical representative to answer their questions,

the test drive activity was enjoyed by almost a hundred student-drivers.

Mapua University is currently the first Toyota partner in its series of HEV campus tours, with University of Santo Tomas (UST) and De La Salle University (DLSU) to follow in the coming months. This TMP effort is aligned with the Toyota Environmental Challenge 2050, posed by Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda to promote a sustainable approach to the future of mobility.

For more information, visit www.toyota.com.ph.

Go Negosyo, in partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), will bring a special leg of Mentor Me On Wheels which will highlight negosyo mentorship on creativity and innovation this April 8 at the Fashion Hall, SM Megamall, in Mandaluyong City.

“With the right mindset and level of creativity and innovation, most of you will shine and persevere in the business community. The government, with the help of DTI, Go Negosyo and the private sector, will be here to mentor you especially in areas on how to use and source money to grow your business and on how to reach more markets for your products and services,” emphasized Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship and Go Negosyo Founder Joey Concepcion.

This leg will present panel discussion on tips on building a successful brand, Bernie Liu, CEO and presi-

dent of Golden ABC Inc.; Rajo Laurel, fashion designer and founder of House of Laurel; Jay Jonathan Aldeguer, president of Island Souvenirs Group, among others.

There will be mentors on different creative categories such as Performing Arts (Acting, Music, Dance), Visual Arts (Graphic Design, Painting, Film and Photography, Architecture, Sculpture), Fashion and Lifestyle (Clothing,

accessories, hairstyling, make­up, shoes, bags), Events (Wedding, Corporate events, Parties, Concerts), Crafts (Handicrafts), Culinary Arts (Catering, baking, sweets and pastries, cooking), Digital Arts (Animation, Web, Game, App and Software development Development,) and Advertising and Publishing.

MMOW on Creativity and Innovation is a mentorship discussion with aspiring and existing MSMEs

in the creative industry. It aims to elevate the level of creativity with the help of mentorship and conquering the world through design and innovation and turning creativity to a successful enterprise.

The roster of panelists and mentors includes digitalization that will give wider access to the market for their products and talents.

For more information, visit www. tinyurl.com/MMOWCreatives2019.

New power tools now in the Philippines

is Le Salon which exudes a more intimate yet elegant atmosphere, perfect for a gathering of up to 200 guests in a reception setup.

The Love Wins Ceremonial package is available for a minimum 50 guests. This package comes with exclusive benefits including an overnight stay in a City Bay View room with breakfast buffet at Market Café for two persons.

For wedding inquiries and reservations, email to weddings.manilabay@newworldhotels.com.

Grocery and cooking tips every practical mom should know FOR practical moms out there, Jolly Claro Palm Oil shares budgetconscious secrets that won’t only focus on the health of the whole family but also boost your savings: Create a meal plan. Meal planning won’t only save time and money, it can also reduce daily stress of thinking about what dish to prepare for the day. In addition, it’s also a great opportunity to delve into cookbooks, collect recipes online, and build library of recipes.

Prepare a grocery list. With a bit of creativity and planning, make exciting and delicious meals by ensuring to have a grocery list on hand. So the trick is to keep a pen and a notepad and clip it in front of your fridge and pantry. Next, allot time in jotting down a list of everything that you have inside. Every time you use something up, immediately cross it off the list.

Compare prices for different groceries and brands. In addition to making a list, checking groceries and supermarkets about their latest

T

Turn your creativity to a successful enterprise

Love wins at New World Manila Bay Hotel CELEBRATE love and diversity at New World Manila Bay Hotel with its “Love Wins” ceremony and celebration package. This package is specially designed to commemorate a union of love in an intimate setting coupled with modern and stylish facilities, delectable cuisines and dedicated service.

Couples may choose from a variety of venues that can cater cozy or grand ceremonies. Standing at the core of the hotel’s banqueting facilities is the ballroom. Guests will be drawn to its contemporary design, high ceiling, spacious foyer and an ample holding capacity of up to 400 guests in a round table setup.

Situated at the hotel’s third level

n TMP First Vice President Cristina Arevalo (center) at the ribbon cutting ceremony alongside Mapua University’s Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering student council leaders. Behind them is the Prius on display.

promotions would help in scoring the best deals and discounts.

Keep a regular stock of musthave items in your kitchen. Cheese, eggs, and butter, are some of the dairy mainstays because of the many dishes that can be cook out of it. Chicken is one of the staples that can be prepared in a variety of ways, so stocking up different parts for later use from legs, breast, and wings can save you from lastminute grocery runs. Lastly, we’re big proponents of items that don’t need refrigeration, and are versatile to use in many dishes—like rice, pasta, canned tomatoes, and palm oil. Using cooking oil that has a high smoke point such as Jolly Claro Palm Oil, one can prepare a variety of flavorful recipes and dishes for the whole family.

Buy in bulk and cook at home. A well-stocked pantry of kitchen essentials won’t only encourage you to cook exciting and relevant dishes, it’s also a winner to wallet.

WITH over 50 years of experience in the power tools industry that is guaranteed to be the best of its kind, Kress finally sets foot on the Philippine market.

The launch of the German brand, Kress, happened on March 6 at the Grand Hyatt Manila. This event incorporated power and style, making it an establishing image of Kress power tools in the Philippine market. Equipped with 90 years of experience in the field of electric motors research and development and production, Kress has continued to provide the best quality power tools in the market. Its designs have continuously become the standard for power tools and with its innovative,

n Kress executives during the launching, from left: Marvin Lim, Ian Dalziel, Eric Fei, Joseph Santiago, Belle Santiago and Virgie Lim powerful and high quality products, mizes its own route while effortlessly also promotes the health of your lawn.

Kress has gained a notable world- controlled using the special app on a The temperature, precipitation, and smartphone. This is a huge leap for- sunlight are important factors that keep wide reputation as a brand.

Its latest product is the innovative ward from the traditional lawnmower the growth of the lawn. With this kind change up of a traditional mower into a where one wastes a lot of time and of advance technology, Kress’ robotic robotic lawnmower. This latest robotics effort in mowing the lawn, especially lawnmower keeps mowing of your design exactly knows its way and opti- the edges. This robotics lawnmower lawn easy and effortless.

Fresnedi holds dialogue with NBP residents Muntinlupa Mayor Jaime Fresnedi (right) meets Kadamay Munti President Bella Diaz (left) during a protest rally staged by National Bilibid Prison (NBP) Reservation residents at Muntinlupa City Hall, Putatan on March 25.

Kadamay Munti and other militant groups trooped in front of the City Hall to call for action against the NBP Master Development Plan and demolition of settlers. Fresnedi told the group that the National Government has jurisdiction over NBP. However, the local executive said the city government and the Office of Congressman Ruffy Biazon will coordinate their concerns to authorities.

Hi-Precision Diagnostics’ 50th branch opens Hi-Precision Diagnostics (HPD) recently opened its 50th branch in Ayala North Exchange, Ayala Avenue corner Salcedo St., Makati City.

Now, there are more HPD branches to go to for high quality laboratory tests using advanced medical technology coupled with exemplary service at reasonable rates. With over 1,000 tests available in its labs, the ISO certified medical diagnostic facility has been trusted by doctors for quality

results for over two decades.

Fully automated lab exams, X-ray, ECG, ultrasound, home service, multi-specialty doctors’ clinics, mobile on-site services, and online results are among the services offered at HPD Ayala North Exchange.

HPD Ayala North Exchange is open Mondays to Saturdays from 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

For more information visit www.hi-precision.com.ph.

n At the opening of Hi-Precision Diagnostics’ 50th branch in Ayala North Exchange, from left: Vannessa Ongsue, Selwyn Cu, Fr. Joseph Tan, Rachel Uy, Dr. Zenel Padilla Yap and Paul Mike Tan

WEDNESDAY APRIL 3, 2019

Entertainment

D4

www.manilatimes.net

The heart of ‘Shazam’ H

ERE are some highlights from the San Diego Comic Con's Q & A sessions with cast and director of the newest film in the current DC cinematic universe, “Shazam.” The movie has been getting fantastic reviews so far.

The one phrase that was often repeated at the DC panel and international press session? “Wish fulfillment.”

Asher Angel, who plays Billy Batson said, “It’s all about wish fulfillment.

It’s this kid that went from just wanting a family and finds his family and somehow gets these amazing superpowers.”

Zachary Levi who plays Batson’s alter ego, Shazam, also kept echoing the phrase, “The movie is about wish fulfillment, personal wish fulfillment. I think all children grew up wishing they could be a super hero of some kind. Today, as an adult, I still kind of dream that I could wake up and find I have genes that have mutated and I could teleport or something…Don’t we all?

“There are very few characters in all of comi-dom, DC or Marvel or otherwise, that are super stoked to be super powered that aren’t sitting around going, ‘Oh no, I’ve got to save the world again.’

“I get to save the world? That’s so much fun! If you were 14 and someone just gave you a switch and you could go fly, come on guys you’d love it, you’d love it!”

Here are more highlights from the interview: Why is this the right time for

Shazam?

Zachary Levi: Have you seen the news recently? There’s so much craziness in the world, right? But there’s a lot of good too. I think stories like this are always necessary. There are stories that are full of hope and optimism and wish fulfillment and I think it’s really cool that DC has made such incredible movies up to this point, and with Wonder Woman finding levity and heart and seeing the world kind of explode with love for Gal and for that franchise, I think that Shazam is choc-full of heart and levity and David is such an artist and painted a lot of really incredible frames to capture all of that optimism and hope. These really talented young men in Jack and Asher bring to life the heartbeat of the whole movie.

Jack Dylan Grazer: It’s a very unique story and it does have that “Big” essence. It’s lighthearted and it’s not as dark as a normal superhero movie would be. It’s got levity and it’s beautiful.

FAN GIRL KAREN KUNAWICZ

Are you sticking to the same story in the DC comic book?

Where does Shazam fit in?

David Sandberg: We stick to

n Zachary Levi as Shazam (left) and Jack Dylan Grazer as Freddy Freeman in New Line Cinema’s action adventure “Shazam!,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. PHOTO COURTESY OF WARNER BROS. PICTURES the same origins so it’s the same gods — Solomon, Hercules, Atlas and all those guys.

It takes place in that same universe, that same world — Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, they’re all real.

And you get the character Freddie who is a big fan of all those characters and is like an expert on them.

What do you think is the message of the film?

Jack Dylan Grazer: When you find your calling, life becomes a lot easier. Billy found that he was a superhero and he felt like that was his calling. And he found himself. He was a kid on the street and then when he found us, the foster home and then he discovered his true power at around the same time, it was like, ‘Wow, my life is coming together.’

David Sandberg: It’s very much

about family, sort of the adoptive family. Family isn’t necessarily about blood but who you choose to be your family with.

(An 11 year-old asked Zachary): What’s it like to play a superhero different from the normal DC? So childish.

Zachary Levi: Like going home.

It’s so much fun.

I love that I get to be that child, that there’s still an optimism in him which is why Shazam the wizard picks him, he sees his heart.

I used to be in a TV show called “Chuck” and that character also had a lot heart. I find these characters and they find me. I like playing them and maybe now, more than ever, we need heroes like that. People who genuinely care about other people.

Shazam opens today at cinema and at IMAX theaters.

»lightscameraboto!

Starry, starry campaign kick-off (Last of two parts)

BY IZA IGLESIAS PICKING UP from yesterday’s round-up of celebrity campaign kick-off events, today’s second and final part goes back to Sunday when “FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano” lead star Coco Martin threw his support for senatorial reelectionist Grace Poe, daughter of the late action star and one-time presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr. and veteran actress Susan Roces. The 37-year-old actor who has succeeded in remaking the King of Philippine Movie’s most iconic roles has become very close to the Poes and happily joined Sen. Grace in a motorcade around the towns of Dumanjug, Santander, Tuburan and Danao City in Cebu.

Martin also endorsed the senatorial bid of Lito Lapid, who recently exited from the role of “Pinuno” also in Ang Probinsyano.

Back in the metro, Vico Sotto, son of comedy veteran Vic Sotto and seasoned actress Coney Reyes started his campaign for mayor of Pasig City. Vico holds the record as the youngest councilor of the city

where he chaired the Public Relations and Information Committee.

He is running the under Aksyon Demokratiko party, and kicked off his campaign with a motorcade with his dad and the ace comedian’s wife and fellow “Eat Bulaga” host Pauline Luna-Sotto.

Meanwhile, Toni Gonzaga was spotted with the PDP-Laban candidates in San Juan City; Jose Manalo at QC mayoralty candidate Joy Belmonte’s rally; and Vice Ganda, at a sortie of reelectionist Makati Mayor Abby Binay. The “It’s Showtime” host also showed his support co-host Jhong Hilario who is running anew for city councilor.

Finally, Comedy Queen Ai-Ai delas Alas was spotted at the Quezon City rally of Belmonte’s rival Bingbong Crisologo.

To conclude, the rest of the movie and television personalities gunning for government positions this year are: Former action star Jinggoy Estrada, TV host Dr. Willie Ong, and GMA Network reporter Jiggy Manicad for senator;

n Coco Martin joins senatorial candidate Grace Poe and party list hopeful Ang Probinsyano around Cebu.

»popcornmatch

TV’s ‘Andy Mack’ is cinema’s “Shazam” TEEN actor Asher Angel (TV’s “Andy Mack”) stars as Billy Batson, a cynical foster kid struggling to find his place in the world and knows nothing about super heroes, let alone how to be one bagged the lead of New Line Cinema’s actionadventure “Shazam!”

“His power comes from magic,” explains director David Sandberg.

“He’s just a kid, but because he’s pure of heart and strong in spirit, he’s the chosen one. He’s the champion.

That was really interesting to me.”

Sandberg adds, “Shazam has the best secret identity of all. He becomes a totally different person, a young boy. So, if he needs to blend in or get away, he can say ‘Shazam!’ and turn into Billy, just a normal kid.”

That normal kid is Philadelphia teen Billy Batson, who, long before he’s granted any superpowers or a Super identity, has run from foster homes in six Pennsylvania counties, convinced he doesn’t need anyone but his real mom. He’s been searching for her since they were separated in a crowded carnival years ago and finding her, his only family, is Billy’s sole focus and greatest wish.

The staunchly self-reliant Billy is played by Asher Angel, who had not heard of the character nor his counterpart before reading for the role. But the young teen quickly did his homework, stating, “As soon as I got the part I rushed to the comics store with my parents, reading more and more and realizing how great this character was. I just thought, ‘This is crazy! I’m gonna be in this movie and be a part of the DC family

now.’ It’s incredible, especially for my first movie!”

In addition to admiring the hero his character would become, Angel found a lot about Billy to appreciate. “Billy’s had a hard life but he’s a smart, street-savvy kid.

And yeah, he’s a little sneaky, too, but he’s had to be. He’s been his own guardian, he’s had no one, which has kind of been his choice because he just wants to find his mom. So, he’s had to do everything for himself in order to stay alive and look for her.”

Opening in cinemas today, Shazam is distributed by Warner Bros, a Warner Media Company.

n 'Shazam' has the best secret identity of all.'

»what'sonwhere

Sinag Maynila film fest begins today

Kidlat Tahimik, Brillante Mendoza and Lav Diaz’s ‘Lakbayan’ is opening salvo THE fifth year of Sinag Maynila film festival unfolds today at The Podium cinemas in Ortigas Center with “Lakbayan” — a three-part omnibus film by National Artist Kidlat Tahimik, Brillante Mendoza and Lav Diaz, all of whom have made their marks in international film festivals as well as individual winners of the prestigious Berlin International Film Festival.

Sinag Maynila 5 promises to continue showcasing quality and thought-provoking full length movies, documentaries and short films from young, nonmainstream Filipino filmmakers through April 17 at selected SM Cinemas.

Moreover, this year will see three competition sections, noteworthy international exhibition films and a variety of cinema-related activities.

The roster of Sinag Maynila finalists presented was handpicked by Sinag Maynila CEO and Founder Wilson Tieng and world-renowned and the internationally acclaimed film director Brillante Ma Mendoza. These include full-length five features: “Akin ang Korona” by Zig Dulay, “Jesusa” by Ronald Carballo, “Jno To Mari’ by Joselito “Jay” Altarejos, “Pailalim” by Daniel Palacio, and “Under-

ground” by Ralston Jover.

The finalists for the Documentary category includes “At Home: by Arjanmar H. Rebeta, “Entablado” by Lie Rain Clemente and Nori Jane Isturis, “Hope Sports” by Joseph Dominic Cruz, “Hyatt: Mga Kwento, Lihim at Katotohanan”

by Jayvee V. Biscuit, and “Tata Pilo” by Dexter Macaraeg.

Competing in the short film category are “Bisperas” by Raph Quincena, “Dana Jung” by John Rogers, “Dude Pare Bro” by Lora Cerdan, “Kiss” by HArlene Bautista, “Kilos” by Marjon Santos, “Marian” by Patrick Lim, “Memories of the Rising Sun” by Lawrence Fajardo, “Nagmamahal, Sal” by Jeff Subrabas, “Ngiti ni Nazareno” by Louie Ignacio, and “Panaghoy” by Alvin Baloloy.

Winners of the competition will be announced at the Gabi ng Parangal to be held on April 7.

Finally, Sinag Maynila closes with the film “Journey,” an Asian Three-Fold Mirror project by the Japan Foundation on April 8 at The Podium.

A joint project of Solar Entertainment, Centerstage Productions, and SM, the festival seeks to inspire, educate and enlighten the viewing public.

n Vico Sotto (third from left) kicks off his campaign for Pasig City mayor via motorcade with his dad Vic Sotto and the ace comedian's wife Pauline Luna-Sotto.

n Vice Ganda at a sortie of reelectionist Makati Mayor Abby Binay.

PHOTOS FROM FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM

Sexy singer, actress and former Presidential Communications Operations Office Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson as first nominee of AA Kasosyo party-list; Rommel Padilla running for representative of the first district of Nueva Ecija; Comedian Long Mejia for Camarines Sur 1st district representative; and Yul Servo as Manila 3rd district representative; and Alfred Vargas as Quezon City 5th district representative; And for local positions, Dominic Ochoa as Parañaque councilor; singer-actress Sheryl Cruz as Manila councilor, former Viva

Hot Babes Andrea del Rosario for reelection as Calatagan vice mayor and Jaycee Parker-Aguas as councilor of Angeles, Pampanga, TV host and the President’s son Sebastian “Baste” Duterte as Davao City vice mayor alongside his sister and reelectionist Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, Roderick Paulate versus Senate President Tito Sotto’s son Gian Sotto for Quezon City vice mayor, Monsour del Rosario as Makati vice mayor, Vandolf Quizon and Jomari Yllana as councilors in Parañaque, Imelda Papin as vice governor of Camarines Sur, and Gary Estrada as vice mayor of Cainta.

n The Sinag Maynila Team. Award winning filmmaker Brillante Mendoza; SM Senior Vice President for Marketing Communications Millie Dizon; Solar Pictures General Manager Butch Ibañez; and Solar Entertainment Marketing Director Kate Villena, with Fiona Faulkner (leftmost).

n Sylvia Sanchez and Ynez Veneracion

n Mendoza and Allen Dizon