THE MANILA TIMES | APRIL 16, 2019

OFW remittances hit 5-month low in Feb

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•• 6 SECTIONS PAGES • VOL. 120 NO. 185 32

TUESDAY, APRIL 16, 2019

SWS, Pulse Asia pre-election surveys are junk OBSERVER YEN MAKABENTA First word HIS column should be treated as companion reading to the shattering column of my colleague Al Vitangcol last Saturday, “Stop the cheaters in the Senate, gag the surveys,� (Manila Times, April 13, 2019).

With his article, Al exposed the fundamental error and fraudulence that lie at the heart of the SWS and Pulse Asia pre-election surveys, namely the minuscule and erratic sampling of the national electorate. This, he wrote, rendered their results “erroneous, slanted and totally false or bogus.â€? ÂłMakabentaA4

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Trusted since 1898

Duterte OKs budget, vetoes P95B in pork

BY CATHERINE S. VALENTE

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FTER months of the government operating on a reenacted budget, President Rodrigo Duterte has signed into law the 2019 General Appropriations Act, but vetoed P95.3 billion worth of programs and projects not part of the Chief Executive’s priorities, A 0ALACE OFkCIAL SAID ON -ONDAY

DRAMATIC COMEBACK Tiger Woods celebrates with the Masters Trophy during the Green Jacket Ceremony after winning the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club. AFP PHOTO

P1.07T a year from Chinese tourists RAMON T. TULFO

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ANY companies in China are falling all over one another in a mad scramble to invest in the Philippines, which they see as a potential source of food on the table for its 3.5 billion people, a market for its products and a manufacturing hub.

I know whereof I speak. Since I was appointed special envoy to China late last year, I’ve been talking with many prospective investors from the Mainland who want to: – Lease vast farmlands to plant vegetables and tropical fruits for export to China. ³TulfoA5

FR. RANHILIO CALLANGAN AQUINO

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OMMEMORATE — that is the most apt term in liturgical language for the rites of Holy Week. It certainly is remembering, but is as certainly also more than remembering. Often the awkward phrase “making present� is made to convey the power of the celebration. It is essentially what happens at the Eucharist, or so we Catholics believe. As once Jesus, the obedient man from Nazareth, offered himself

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COURT REJECTS RESSA’S PLEA TO JUNK LIBEL CASE A MANILA court has rejected an appeal of Rappler chief and Executive Editor Maria Ressa and former researcher Reynaldo Santos Jr. to junk a cyberlibel case against them for lack of merit.

Judge Rainelda Estacio Montesa of the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 46 on April 12 ruled that there were enough elements of libel claimed by the

Department of Justice (DoJ) on its charge sheet, as provided under Section 4(C)(4) of Republic Act (RA) 10175, that the prescription period for cyberlibel is 12 years, not one year, as provided under RA 3326.

Section 2 of RA 3326 states that: “Prescription shall begin to run from the day of the commission of the violation of the law, and if the same be not known at the

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MILITARY WELCOMES NEW PANEL FOR PEACE TALKS

NewsA2

BIGOTRY IN A UNIVERSITY Antonio ContrerasA5

BUCKS, TRAIL BLAZERS DELIVER MESSAGES IN PLAYOFF OPENERS

SportsE1

Govt on top of power situation – Palace

Âł PowerA2

What’s inside

INTRAMUROS BRACES FOR 900,000 PILGRIMS NewsA8

ÂłBudget A2

MALACAĂ‘ANG on Monday assured the public that the government was on top of the situation amid a power supply crunch.

Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo made the assurance after the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) on Monday placed the Luzon grid under red and yellow alerts for the fourth time this month, as power reserves remained thin because of nonfunctioning units of several power plants.

Speaking to reporters, Panelo said Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi told him the Department of Energy (DoE) was keenly monitoring the situation.

In its advisory, the NGCP on Monday

IN MY LINE OF SIGHT

The rites of Holy Week

Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea said Duterte signed the much-delayed P3.757-trillion national budget for this year on Monday. “Yes. [It was] signed,� Medialdea told The Manila Times in a text message when

MAJA SALVADOR DANCES HER WAY TO NCCA AMBASSADORSHIP

EntertainmentF1

time, from the discovery thereof and the institution of judicial proceeding for its investigation and punishment.�

Ressa and her co-accused, through Free Legal Assistance Group’s Theodore Te, their legal counsel, used as reference to challenge the DoJ’s position a Supreme Court decision in 2014, which said cyberlibel was

ÂłLibel A2

POWER TALK

Energy Undersecretary Felix Fuentebella listens as Fidel Dagsaan, head of the Power Network Planning Division of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines, explains the power situation in a news briefing in Taguig City on Monday. PHOTO BY ORVEN VERDOTE

Tagle to wash feet of 12 young people LUIS Antonio Cardinal Tagle, archbishop of Manila, will wash the feet of young people to highlight their role in the midterm elections on May 13, 2019.

On Holy Thursday, the archbishop will perform the religious ritual, which symbolizes Jesus Christ’s humility and servanthood, during the evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper at 5 p.m. at the Manila Cathedral.

The cathedral chose 12 young people led by Nicole Anne Perez — who was appointed by Pope Francis to be the rep-

resentative of the Philippines in the 2018 Synod of Bishops on Young People — to represent the 12 apostles whose feet Jesus Christ washed during His last few hours on earth in the ceremony.

They were chosen based on different kinds of realities that the youth experience, according to Fr. Reginald Malicdem, rector of the Manila Cathedral.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines last year said it would dedicate 2019 as the “Year of the Youth.�

Perez, 23, is a call center agent and

an active member of the Parish Youth Ministry of San Roque Parish in Mandaluyong City.

She will be joined by Rafael Villegas, 22, an economics student at the Universidad de Manila and a volunteer of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting of the National Shrine of Saint Michael and the Archangels in San Miguel, Manila; and Luna Mirafuentes, 18, who WILL VOTE FOR THE kRST TIME IN -AY Mirafuentes is also a member of the

ÂłTagle A8

Overseas absentee voting turnout low

VOTERS’ turnout remained low in the ongoing overseas absentee voting (OAV) in 83 posts around the globe, according to the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

But Comelec spokesman James Jimenez on Monday said there was nothing to be WORRIED ABOUT BECAUSE IT WOULD DEkNITELY improve in the coming days, considering that the OAV would run for 30 days, from April 13 to May 13.

Jimenez explained that normally, voters’ turnout was historically low during midterm

ÂłVoting A8

PIOUS DEBATE

Should the practice of doing penance during Holy Week continue? This was the topic discussed by panelists of the TMTTV’s Face Off on Monday. They were (from left) Chris Beltran, Michelle Tagacay, Dr. Laila Celina of the Department of Health, Bro. Jun Copada, lay minister of Quiapo Church, and Lou Cris Allen Miranda. Mario Garcia (3rd from left) was the forum moderator. PHOTO BY ENRIQUE AGCAOILI

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News

˜ The Manila Times

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TUESDAY April 16, 2019

Military welcomes new panel for peace talks

BY DEMPSEY REYES

A

S the Armed Forces of the Philippines !&0 ON -ONDAY WELCOMED THE IDEA OF President Rodrigo Duterte forming a new panel that would negotiate peace with communist REBELS #OMMUNIST 0ARTY OF THE 0HILIPPINES #00 FOUNDER *OSE -ARIA g*OMAu 3ISON REJECTED THE proposal. “The AFP welcomes all efforts of the government towards attainment of the peace we have always been longing for. Fifty years of deception, lies, exploitation of the IP (indigenous peoples) and extortion is enough,� Col. Noel Detoyato, military public affairs chief, said in a statement.

Detoyato added that Sison should show “sanity and coherence.� “He must also accept the fact that there are many roads towards

peace but the road he has taken is not one of them,� Detoyato said.

Detoyato stressed that the talks should be held in the Philippines instead of Europe, since “the problem is here� and not in The Netherlands, where the negotiations had been held.

Sison said the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), as well as the Filipino people should remain “alert� with pronouncements made by the President, describing these as for

“militarist purposes.�

(E ALSO LASHED OUT AT THE /FkCE of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) for being A gMILITARIZED OFkCE u UNDER THE leadership of former AFP chief Carlito Galvez Jr. “The NDFP does not want to be baited into accepting a war panel of the Duterte regime, whose purpose is merely to seek the impossible, such as the surrender of the revolutionary forces, especially the New People’s Army (NPA),� Sison said in a separate statement.

He also raised two “prejudicial questions� for Duterte, asking him why he terminated the peace talks and canceled all agreements since The Hague Joint Declaration of 1992; and why the government panel of the monitoring committee under the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law was dismantled.

“The NDFP must remind Duterte that he cannot dictate the terms of whatever kind of negotiations he seeks from the revolutionary movement of the people,� Sison pointed out. “By all indications, Duterte is merely play-acting in the name of peace, while carrying out an all-out war and scheming to rig the May 2019 elections in order to pave the way for a fascist dictatorship through charter change to a bogus federalism,� he claimed.

In a speech on Saturday night in Bukidnon, Duterte said he was inclined to form a new panel that would be composed of two civilIANS AND THREE MILITARY OFkCIALS In March, Duterte terminated the peace talks “permanently,� even after his earlier cancellations of the peace talks in 2017.

The government had declared the CPP and NPA as terrorist organizations.

‘No need to unmask ‘Bikoy’ – Palace THERE is no need to unmask “Bikoy,â€? the man who released a number of videos tagging people close to President Rodrigo Duterte to illegal drugs, MalacaĂąang said on Monday.

The mysterious Bikoy, who claimed that he, himself, was involved in recording the transactions of the drug syndicates, released a series of videos linking the President’s son, former Davao City vice mayor Paolo Duterte; Waldo Carpio, sibling a Paolo’s brother-in-law Manases Carpio; former special assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence “Bong�

Go; and other individuals to drugs.

In a chance interview, Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo said Bikoy need not to be dared to disclose his identity. “He has been repudiated. What he is saying is not true. Ever since, we have said that it is black propaganda,� he said. “My goodness, how can you chal-

Q POWER FROM A1

Govt on top of power said the grid was on red alert, the highest warning, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

A red alert means there is insufkCIENT POWER SUPPLY AND AUTHORIties may implement rotational brownouts in some areas. A yellow alert was also raised from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

During a yellow alert, power reserves are below the minimum 647 megawatts (MW), but does not necessarily mean there will be power outages.

The NGCP said the alerts were RAISED BECAUSE OF INSUFkCIENT OPerating reserves due to the forced outage of multiple power plants.

DoE to report to Duterte

SECURITY CHECK

Brig. Gen. Joselito Esquivel, Quezon City Police District head, boards a bus at the Araneta Bus Terminal in Cubao to check on passengers. PHOTO BY RUY MARTINEZ

Q LIBEL FROM A1

Court rejects Ressa’s plan “not a new crime, but is one already punishable under Article 353 [of the Revised Penal Code or RPC].�

Article 353 of the RPC provides that libel or other similar offenses shall be prescribed in one year, which means one cannot be sued for the offense one year after a purportedly libelous story is published.

Montesa dismissed this argument. g4HE INSTANT CASE WAS kLED IN court on 5 February 2019, which is well within the period of 12 years, negating the assertion raised by the accused that the offense already

prescribed,� she said.

The charge stemmed from a resurrected complaint of businessman Wilfredo Keng in connection with a supposedly libelous article by Rappler on May 29, 2012, titled “CJ using SUVs of ‘controversial’ businessman,� posted four months before the law was enacted.

Keng filed the complaint in 2017, which was dismissed, but revived less than a week later by the National Bureau of Investigation.

Montesa also rejected the argument in the motion to quash, which said the law was under

Q BUDGET FROM A1

with “strong reservations.�

The government has been running on a reenacted 2018 budget since January.

Earlier, Duterte threatened to veto the entire budget if it turned out to be problematic and riddled with pork barrel.

The passage of the spending bill was hampered by the mudslinging among members of the House and the Senate and between some House members and the Budget department.

A reenacted budget until April would bring down a full year economic growth to 6.1 to 6.3 percent, according to the National Economic and Development Authority.

Duterte OKs asked if Duterte had signed the 2019 budget. “The President, among others, vetoed P95.3-billion items of appropriations in the Details of DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) Programs/ Projects, which are not within the programmed priorities,� he added.

Duterte apparently sided with the Senate, which had recommended that the President veto THE 0 BILLION BUDGET FOR SPECIkC projects and programs of the Local Infrastructure Program, funded through realignments made by the House of Representatives after BOTH CHAMBERS RATIkED THE VERSION approved by a bicameral conference committee.

Senate President Vicente Sotto 3rd had said the items were unconstitutional and signed the bill

House respects veto, Senate declares victory Capiz Rep. Fredenil Castro, the House majority leader, said in a statement: “We welcome the President’s signing of the 2019 budget.� “We respect his decision to veto

temporary restraining order (TRO) from Oct. 9, 2012 continuously until April 22, 2014, thus “there was effectively no Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012,� meaning no statute could be applied retroactively.

The DoJ used “republished� to apply the Cybercrime Prevention Act on the article, but Te said minor corrections did not equate to “republication,� because “to treat the changes as republication would be inappropriate and defeat the purpose of the single publication rule,� citing court decisions from the United States.

The alleged republication was done on Feb. 19, 2014, when the TRO was still in effect, the appeal said.

The judge said the TRO “merely suspends the implementation and enforcement of RA 10175 so that crimes committed during the said period cannot be prosecuted. However, it did not suspend its effectivity.� “So, while crimes committed during the said period cannot be prosecuted during the effectivity of the TRO, they may be prosecuted after the lifting of the same just like what is done in this case,� she added.

Montesa said Rappler’s corporate liability could be proven in court.

Because of the dismissed plea, Rappler, Ressa and Santos’ arraignment is set to push through on April 16 at 8:30 a.m. at RTC Branch 46.

CATHERINE A. MODESTO

some items in the budget. We will abide with the President’s decision and respect the thorough study made by his team after all factors were considered,� he said. “With the signing, we can all buckle down to work and start implementing the President’s priority projects for the Filipino people.

The House of Representatives will continue to work in harmony with the President’s desire to create a better life for every Filipino,� he added.

Sotto, who was in Bangkok, Thailand on Monday, said he was delighted with the news, and declared victory in the chamber’s months-long tussle with the House.

3EN 0ANkLO ,ACSON WHO WAS among those who challenged the House stance on the 2019 budget, said he needed to see the veto MESSAGE kRST Even if “P20 billion-plus insertions made by some senators were included as well‌it is victory for the Filipino taxpayers,â€? Lacson added.

He also commended the President and his economic managers for coming up with “pork-free� national budget.

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate economic affairs committee, said he was relieved that the 2019 budget had been signed, primarily because further delay would have caused adverse effects on the macroeconomy. “I also appreciate that the President has chosen to veto the changes made by the Lower House to the RATIkED VERSION OF THE 'ENERAL !Ppropriations Bill. The veto is proof that the Senate was right all along in saying that the changes made were unconstitutional,� said Gatchalian. “With the General Appropriations Act now enacted, the government can kNALLY FOCUS ON CATCHING UP WITH THE implementation of pending projects that were delayed because of the budget impasse,� he added.

WITH GLEE JALEA AND JAVIER JOE ISMAEL

lenge a black propagandist? He will not be believed,� he added.

The spokesman also said the claims would hardly make a dent on the popularity of Duterte.

Panelo said the video might even result in a higher approval rating for Duterte.

Earlier, the President’s son said it was opposition Sen. Antonio Trillanes 4th who was behind the Bikoy videos.

This, however, was denied by Trillanes, who said he could only wish he was behind the videos.

Trillanes had linked the President’s son to the smuggling of P6.4 billion worth of methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu into the country in 2017.

Last year, the Office of the Ombudsman cleared Manases Carpio and the younger Duterte.

RALPH U. VILLANUEVA

The DoE said it would raise the power supply crunch that struck the entire Luzon grid to President Rodrigo Duterte. “This is what we can only assure everyone, all the information we will gather, we will endorse it to the ERC (Energy Regulatory Commission), PCC (Philippine Competition Commission), Congress, especially to the President,� Energy Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella said in a PRESS BRIEkNG ON -ONDAY “At the end of the day, we will remain answerable to all these and we will try to leave you with as many updates, as transparent and as timely as we can,� Fuentebella told reporters.

The power plants that went oflINE OR ON UNSCHEDULED SHUTDOWN had a total capacity of 1,367 MW. These were: Sual Unit 1 of TeaM Energy Corp. (647 MW); Limay Unit 2 of SMC Consolidated Power Corp. (150 MW); Unit 2 of Southwest Luzon Power Generation Corp.

(150 MW); and Pagbilao Unit 3 of Pagbilao Energy Corp. (420 MW).

Limay Unit 2 and Pagbilao Unit 3 will resume operations on Tuesday, while Sual Unit 1 will be back online on Thursday. Unit 2 of Southwest Luzon Power will be back to normal operations on April 21.

Also, the Calaca Unit 2 of SEMCalaca Power Corp. was operating at a de-rated capacity of 100 MW.

Solutions underway Following the rotating brownouts, a group of industry stakeholders proposed solutions to achieve energy security in the Philippines.

In a statement on Monday, the Petroleum Association of the Philippines (PAP) said the country possessed existing indigenous energy SUCH AS THE -ALAMPAYA GAS kELD IN northwest Palawan, which helps in ensuring a stable power supply. “Supply from the Malampaya remains stable. Production from the Malampaya platform has even been above its normal average due to the increased demand resulting from the outage of the other power generators,� PAP said. “The fact is that Malampaya has stepped up and responded to the increased demand for electricity. Otherwise, the power shortage would have been much worse, and the brownouts would have been longer and more frequent,� PAP #HAIRMAN 2UkNO "OMASANG SAID The natural gas platform fuels power stations with a total generating capac-

ity of 3,200 MW. It effectively supplies electricity to the Luzon region.

Power deals Aside from the Malampaya gas facility, Fuentebella said the Energy department could invoke Section 23 of Republic Act 7638 or the “Department of Energy Act of 1992� to prompt the approval of pending power supply agreements (PSAs).

He mentioned a Supreme Court ruling, stating the ERC should act upon on or resolve the matter WITHIN DAYS AFTER kLING “Upon request of the department or any of its bureaus, all government agencies with functions relative to the approval of the projects of the department or its duly authorized and endorsed entities, whether government or private, shall act upon and resolve the matter within 10 calendar days. Toward this end, the secretary, with the approval of the President, may establish an interagency secretariat for the purpose of expediting the approval of said projects,� the law states.

Millennium Energy Inc. has signed a PSA with Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) to supply the power utility with 70 MW. Therma Mobile )NC IS ALSO kNALIZING 03! NEGOTIAtions with Meralco to provide the LISTED kRM WITH -7

Penalties pushed For, Infrawatch PH, an infrastructureoriented thinktank, all power generating companies (gencos) involved in the recent unplanned and forced outages that caused unexpected rotating brownouts within the Luzon power grid should be penalized. “The public demands an explanation how in the world was it possible that major generating plants suddenly become unavailable in such a short window of time. More importantly, the public should not be made to pay for these unplanned shutdowns. It should be these gencos (generation companies) that should pay the costs of higher power rates in the spot market,�

James Mark Terry Ridon, Infrawatch PH convenor, said in a statement. “We note that these generating plants are operated by country’s leading conglomerates, and thus, all the more should they be made to explain why their plants went out, and whether they are making a commitment to bear the costs of higher power prices from the spot market,� the former youth partylist representative said. “Should the gencos refuse to make a voluntary commitment, government should initiate penalty proceedings, similar to its intervention in the water sector,� Ridon said. “The main concern of the public during these times is more on the higher costs due to the unplanned shutdowns. We can more ably bear rotating brownouts than higher power rates for reasons we have absolutely nothing to do with,� he added.

On Saturday, Sen. Sherwin “Win�

Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, called for an investigation into the unexpected brownouts that hit several towns and cities in Luzon. CATHERINE S. VALENTE, JORDEENE B. LAGARE AND JAVIER JOE ISMAEL

˜ The Manila Times

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TUESDAY April 16, 2019

DepEd to integrate drug education into curriculum THE Department of Education (DepEd) plans to integrate the government’s drug education program into the curriculum in the coming school year.

During the 1st 2019 Balik Eskwela orientation on Monday, Glene Basio, supervising education program specialist of the Bureau of Curriculum Development, presented the drug education program that President Rodrigo Duterte has been pushing since the start of his term.

The program is based on RA 7624 of 1992 or “an act integrating drug prevention and control in the intermediate and secondary curricula as well as in non-fornal, informal, and indigenous learning systems and for other purposes� and RA 9165 or the “Comprehensive Dangerous Drug Act of 2002.�

Basio explained that the department preferred to integrate the drug program in appropriate classes rather than introducing it as a subject.Â

News Pinay worker fired in HK awarded damages H

The drug program would be implemented in different stages. Kinder to Grade 3 pupils will learn about healthy habits, safety practices, correct use of medicine and personal wellness. Grades 4 to 6 pupils will have lessons on how to be healthy and drug-free by understanding the consequences of substances that threaten health and safety. Grades 7 to 10 students will be taught the consequences of using substances based on drug control laws, policies and programs, while those in Grades 11 to 12 will be taught life skills to sustain a healthy and drug-free life and to promote wellness as a way of life. At present, the DepEd is developing an updated comprehensive supplemental drug program in cooperation with the Department of Health, the Dangerous Drugs Board and other experts.

OFELYN DATUIN

ONG KONG: A domestic worker sacked after a cancer diagnosis was awarded damages by a Hong Kong COURT ON -ONDAY IN A CASE THAT HIGHLIGHTED exploitation of foreign women toiling as MAIDS IN THE WEALTHY kNANCIAL HUB Baby Jane Allas of the Philippines was diagnosed with stage three cervical cancer in January AND WAS kRED THE FOLLOWING MONTH by her employer, who cited the illness as the reason for termination.

The 38-year-old single mother OF kVE INSTANTLY LOST THE RIGHT TO healthcare and has had to regularly apply for visa extensions as she navigated Hong Kong’s legal and immigration systems while

battling cancer.

She has been undergoing raDIATION THERAPY kVE DAYS A WEEK

along with chemotherapy once a week.

Allas and her former employer — who was absent from Monday’s proceedings — reached a settlement of 30,000 Hong Kong dollars ($3,800) at the country’s labor tribunal for sickness allowance, medical fees and wages in lieu of notice.

Aquino only opposition bet in SWS Magic 12 SEN. Paolo Benigno “Bam� Aquino 4th was the only opposition candidate in the “Magic 12� of the Social Weather Stations (SWS) Senate survey.

The reelectionist senator placed 12th in the poll conducted from March 28 to 31, with 29 percent. The survey had 1,371 respondents.

He placed eighth in the Magdalo survey with 34.5 percent.

This was a slight improvement from his ninth place finish in Magdalo’s March 5 to 7 survey, where he garnered 32.6 percent preferential rating.

Aquino thanked Filipinos for their continued trust and support. “I get inspiration from our supporters and volunteers who do everything they can to help in my campaign and fight the

fake news being thrown at me,� he said. “ Lalo tayong sumisigla kapag nakikita natin na sila na mismo ang nagbabahay-bahay para sabihin ang katotohanan (I become more energized whenever I see them going house-to-house to tell the truth),� he added. !QUINO SAID HE WAS CONkDENT THAT his standing in the surveys would improve in the coming weeks.

If he wins a second term, the senator promised to work for the passage of the Senate B i l l 1 2 7 8 o r t h e “ Tr a b a h o Center Bill� that seeks to help ensure job availability for K to 12 and college students once they graduate.

The senator said the measure would help ease the burden of GRADUATES IN kNDING EMPLOYMENT

“ Sa tulong ng Trabaho Center Bill, maso-solusyunan na ang mahirap, matagal at magastos na proseso ng paghahanap ng trabaho (With the help of the Trabaho Center Bill, the burden and struggles of looking for employment will be eased and resolved),� said Aquino, who authored the said bill.

The reelectionist senator said the bill aims to solve the problem of jobs mismatch and high unemployment rate in the country.

The measure seeks to establish Trabaho Centers or job placement offices in public high schools and state universities and colleges. “Sa tulong ng Trabaho Centers, pagtatagpuin ang mga kompanya na naghahanap ng trabaho at mga estudyanteng naghahanap

ng trabaho (With the help of the Trabaho Centers, companies looking for workers will meet with students who are looking for jobs), Aquino said.

The senator described the Trabaho Center Bill as the next step to ensure employment for all graduates who benefitted from the Free College Law, which he pushed as principal sponsor. “Itodo na natin ang tulong sa mga estudyanteng nakinabang sa libreng kolehiyo sa pamamagitan ng pagtiyak na mayroon silang magandang trabaho pagtanggap nila ng diploma,� (Let’s give all the help we can provide to students WHO BENEkTTED FROM FREE COLLEGE by ensuring that better jobs await them after receiving their diplomas), said Sen. Aquino.

JAVIER JOE ISMAEL AND BERNADETTE E. TAMAYO

Drafting of universal health law IRR on track – Ejercito SEN. Joseph Victor “JV� Ejercito was delighted over the completion of “preliminaries� in the drafting of the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Universal Health Care Law (UHC).

Ejercito, who earned the nickname “Mr. Healthcare� for spearheading the UHC, disclosed that discussions on four main components of the law had been completed at the Technical Working Group level. These are local HEALTH SYSTEMS HEALTH kNANCING

governance, and regulations and service delivery.

“I am happy because things are going well in the drafting of the IRR. As soon as the document is kNISHED AND THE LAW IS OPERATIONAL OUR PEOPLE WILL kNALLY BE FREED FROM kNANCIAL STRESS WHEN SEEKING primary, curative and palliative services,� he said in a statement. “I hope we can have the IRR by June or July at the latest.�

The next stage is the consolidation of the components and REkNEMENT OF THE kNAL DRAFT FOR approval of the Department of Health and the Philippine Health Insurance Corp.

“Then, the IRR will be published, and that’s it. Mararamdaman na ng taumbayan ang Universal Health Care na ating pinagsikapang maibigay sa ating mga kababayan (The people will be able to enjoy the Universal Health Care that we worked on),�

Ejercito said.

President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law Republic Act 11223, otherwise known as “Universal Health Care Act,� in February.

The law ensures that all Filipinos will have access to quality and affordable healthcare.

“Sa UHC, libre na ang check-ups at piling laboratory tests. Sa UHC, basta Pilipino, automatic covered ng National Health Insurance Program. Sa UHC, magaan na sa bulsa ang pagpapagamot at palalakasin din ang primary care para sintomas pa lang ay maaagapan na at hindi na lalala ang sakit (Under the UHC, check-ups and selected laboratory tests are free. Filipinos are automatically covered by National Health Insurance Program and medication is cheaper and primary care is stronger),� Ejercito said.

JAVIER JOE ISMAEL

Boundary dispute Dear PAO, I initiated a complaint against Fe before the barangay (village) because she built sometime in 2015 a house within the area of my land, which is covered by a #ERTIkCATE OF 4ITLE &E CLAIMED that the land where her house was built was part of her land, which is also covered by another 4ORRENS 4ITLE 4HE BARANGAY OFkcials suggested that we conduct a relocation survey for both properties, but the same did not MATERIALIZE FOR LACK OF FUNDS 4HE CONCILIATION PROCEEDING was eventually terminated and THE PROBLEM WAS NOT RESOLVED /NE OF THE BARANGAY OFkCIALS SUGGESTED THAT ) SHOULD kLE AN EJECTMENT CASE AGAINST &E -AY I know if I can still recover the land from Fe? Arly Dear Arly, An ejectment case, which may either be Forcible Entry or Unlawful Detainer, is a remedy available for any person who was deprived of possession of a certain property. This is in consonance with Section 1, Rule 70 of the 1997 Revised Rules of Court, which states that: “xxx a person deprived of the

DEAR PAO

PERSIDA ACOSTA possession of any land or building by force, intimidation, threat, strategy or stealth, or a lessor, vendor, vendee, or other person against whom the possession of any land or building is unlawfully withheld after the expiration or termination of the right to hold possession, by virtue of a contract, express or implied, or the legal representatives or assigns of any such lessor, vendor, vendee or other person, may, at any time within one year after such unlawful deprivation or withholding of possession, or any person or persons claiming under them, for the restitution of such possession, together with damages and costs.�

The above-mentioned provision of the rule is available in cases where the only issue to be resolved is mere possession of the land. Hence, you cannot resolve your conflict with Fe by filing a case for ejectment against her. It is important to

emphasize that the legal remedy when there is a dispute, with respect to the boundaries of two adjoining properties covered by two different Torrens Title, is an accion reivindicatoria. 4HIS kNDS support in the case of the Heirs of Johnny Aoas vs As-il (GR 219558, Oct. 19, 2016), where the Supreme Court through Associate Justice Jose Mendoza stated: “Settled is the rule that a boundary dispute, as in this case, can only be resolved in the context of an accion reivindicatoria, and not in an ejectment case. In Manalang vs Bacani, the Court held that boundary dispute cannot be resolved in ejectment proceedings as it involves different issues, to wit: The boundary dispute is not about possession, but encroachment, that is, whether the property claimed by the defendant formed part of the plaintiff’s property. A boundary dispute cannot be settled summarily under Rule 70 of the Rules of Court, the proceedings under which are limited to unlawful detainer and forcible entry. In unlawful detainer, the defendant unlawfully withholds the possession of the premises upon the expiration or termination of his right to hold such possession

under any contract, express or implied. The defendant’s possession was lawful at the beginning, becoming unlawful only because of the expiration or termination of his right of possession. In forcible entry, the possession of the defendant is illegal from the very beginning, and the issue centers on which between the plaintiff and the defendant had the prior possession de facto.�

Applying the above-cited decision in your situation, the real issue to be resolved in your dispute with Fe is encroachment or boundary dispute because there is an overlapping of the boundary of your property and that of Fe. In ejectment, the only issue to resolve is mere possession of the land. Thus, the appropriate legal REMEDY FOR YOU IS TO kLE AN ACCION reivindicatoria.

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 /FkCE 1UESTIONS FOR #HIEF Acosta may be sent to dearpao@ manilatimes.net.

“I am standing here right now to encourage more workers to come out if they have these kinds of cases,� Allas said.

Allas added that she hopes to kND ANOTHER EMPLOYER gWHO CAN really understand my situation and treat me well.�

3HE HAS SEPARATELY kLED CLAIMS with the Equal Opportunities Commission for wrongful termination and loss of earnings, which could be brought to the city’s District Court.

Allas was accompanied to Mon-

A3

day’s hearing by supporters and family, including her eight-year-old daughter, who clung to her waist.

Her plight has generated widespread sympathy in Hong Kong and a fundraising campaign organized by her sister’s employer, Jessica Cutrera, has so far raised more than 900,000 Hong Kong dollars for her treatment.

A large part of Allas’ medical bills had been covered by hospital charities, but expensive surgery would likely be needed to operate on her tumors, said Cutrera. AFP

A4

Opinion

TUESDAY April 16, 2019

˜ The Manila Times

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E d i to r i a l US lawmakers posturing with nonbinding resolutions

I

T must be thrilling for the American lawmakers (from the US Senate and the House) to learn that their call for the release of Sen. Leila de Lima from detention has caused a war of words in the Philippine Senate.

7HEN THE 53 LAWMAKERS kLED (OUSE 2ESOLUTION AND 3ENate Resolution 142 in the US Congress, they were only indulging the Filipino lobbyists in Washington D.C. These lobbyists have made it their principal preoccupation these days to express token calls on behalf of the detained Philippine senator and beleaGUERED 2APPLER #HIEF /PERATING /FkCER -ARIA 2ESSA AND TO LOB criticisms against the government of President Rodrigo Duterte.

The US resolutions condemn the Duterte administration for the detention of Senator de Lima on one hand, and seek the withdrawal of all charges against Ms. Ressa on the other.

Why would some evidently sane legislators assume a naĂŻve position that is completely contrary to the expressed legal position of our government? /NE COULD kND VALID REASONS TO AGREE WITH THE DECISION OF 3ENATE 0RESIDENT 6ICENTE 3OTTO RD AND SENATORS 'REGORIO (ONASAN AND 0ANkLO ,ACSON TO kLE IN REPLY THEIR OWN RESOlution in our Senate. We can understand the urge to rebuke the US lawmakers for the affront to the sovereignty of the Philippine Republic and their undue interference in the Philippine judicial process.

After studying, however, the nature of the House and Senate resolutions in the US Congress, we believe it is wiser to ignore them than to get keyed up over them.

The US resolutions are what are called in congressional practice “non-binding resolutions,� which means they are not legally enforceable.

According to the book Congress and Its Members (CQ Press, Washington D.C., 2008), “Every recent congress has apPROVED ON AVERAGE MORE THAN kFTY SUCH SIMPLE OR CONCURRENT resolutions. These pronouncements may lend support to the executive branch, advance certain policies, signal assurances or warnings to other nations. Occasionally nonbinding resolutions put forward fresh policy ideas; at other times, they are little more than posturing.� “Posturing� is what the US lawmakers appear to be doing.

Their effort is not likely to affect the substance of the Philippines-US relations.

The Duterte administration is not likely to allow itself to be stampeded into releasing Senator de Lima on the basis of those resolutions.

There is no indication the government would drop the CHARGES AGAINST -S 2ESSA WHICH HAVE ALREADY BEEN kLED AND are close to being heard in court.

US lawmakers often hector us about the importance of the rule of law and due process. These two cases exemplify how the law works in our judicial system.

Sen. de Lima was detained in February 2017 at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center on drug charges, while Ms. Ressa is facing charges for violating the Cybercrime Prevention Act, the National Internal Revenue Code, as amended, and the Anti-Dummy Law. Appearing to be transfixed by the stateside label and MISSING THE RELATIVE INSIGNIkCANCE OF THE 53 CONGRESSIONAL resolutions, Sen. Risa Hontiveros lectured her fellow senators, “We should not confuse international solidarity with foreign intervention.�

International solidarity? That had prompted Sotto to react on Twitter and exclaim, “Solidarity my foot! Did they do that for former SP [Senate president Juan Ponce] Enrile and Senators [Ramon ‘Bong’] Revilla Jr. and [Jose ‘Jinggoy’] Estrada?� The three senators had been detained on plunder and graft charges.

Have the US lawmakers scrutinized the individual merits OF THE CASES kLED BY THE 0HILIPPINE GOVERNMENT AGAINST DE Lima as to act in her defense?

Hontiveros should argue on the basis of law, not on sentiment. ~

TUESDAY April 16, 2019

The Manila Times

VOLUME 120 NUMBER 185

DANTE A. ANG, Chairman Emeritus RENE Q. BAS, Publisher Emeritus NERILYN A. TENORIO, Publisher-Editor ARNOLD E. BELLEZA, Executive Editor FELIPE F. SALVOSA 2ND, Managing Editor LEENA C. CHUA, News Editor LYNETTE O. LUNA, National Editor TESSA MAURICIO-ARRIOLA, Lifestyle Editor PERRY GIL MALLARI, Sports Editor DINO RAY V. DIRECTO 3RD, Motoring 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, #HIEF /PERATING /FkCER 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 XXX NBOJMBUJNFT OFU t F NBJM OFXTEFTL!NBOJMBUJNFT OFU 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.

T

China owes it to the world to solve its succession problem

HIS year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China and major celebrations are planned. But, as the lifting of term limits for president last year underlines, China still hasn’t resolved a problem that isn’t an issue in most capitalist countries: that of political succession.

-AO :EDONG THE COUNTRY S kRST leader, served until his death in 1976. Mao’s rule was turbulent, and succession became an increasingly important issue as time went on.

He named — and discarded — one successor after another.

Mao kept the country in turmoil with endless political campaigns, which had dire consequences. The Great Leap Forward led to the starvation of tens of millions. By the time of Mao’s death, China was one of the world’s poorest countries.

But decades of disaster should not be blamed on Mao alone. Mao and his comrades had embraced Marxism-Leninism, which preached the “scientific� virtues of social-

FRANK CHING ism. In this connection, it is worth noting that the only countries in modern times to adopt the feudal practice of mummifying leaders are communist ones, including Lenin, Stalin, Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam, Kim Il-Sung and his son Kim Jong-Il in North Korea and, of course, Mao. After Mao’s death, China’s new strongman was the reformer Deng Xiaoping, who focused on economic development. Forty years later, China is the world’s second largest economy and a leading player on the world stage.

Deng, in his wisdom, noted that China’s problem lay not with Mao but with the system. In a speech in 1980, at age 75, he called for reform of the system of party and state leadership. “We must,� he said, “solve the problem of the succession in leadership.�

Lifetime tenure of leaders, he said, is LINKED TO FEUDAL INlUENCES Ironically, Deng quoted Mao as having criticized Stalin for not solving the Soviet succession problem.

But then, Deng said, Mao himself did not solve the succession problem in China. People will ask, Deng said, why the socialist system cannot solve problems that the capitalist system has solved, in countries like Britain, France and the United States.

Deng was only partly successful in solving China’s succession problem.

He got rid of his first two chosen successors, Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang, because they didn’t crack down on student protesters.

He then anointed Jiang Zemin as his successor and picked Hu Jintao as Jiang’s successor. For 20 years, it seemed, Deng had resolved the succession problem.

Jiang and Hu served out their designated terms and stepped down.

It looked like the institutionalization of a succession mechanism, with the power-holder in effect

designating his own successor after one five-year term, and stepping down after a second. Clearly, that wasn’t Deng’s preferred system since he told the Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci that “for a leader to pick his own successor is a feudal practice.�

But after the massive Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 and the military crackdown, which was opposed by then party leader Zhao Ziyang, Deng evidently decided to live with a less than perfect system.

After getting rid of Zhao, Deng decided on Jiang as his successor and Hu as the successor’s successor. Other party leaders acquiesced.

Deng at one time argued against the concentration of too much power in one man, but he accepted Jiang wearing three hats at the same time: party leader, military chief and president. Since then, that has been true of each new leader.

When Xi Jinping became the new leader in 2012, it was generally assumed that he would follow

ÂłChingA5

Q MAKABENTA FROM A1

SWS-Pulse Asia pre-election surveys are junk the same for a long, long time.

The reason for the rethinking and restructuring was the industry4HIS WAS THE kNDINGS OF VARIOUS WIDE MISkRE IN THE 53 PRESIstatistical researchers, who found dential elections. the following shortcomings in the In the 2016 presidential elecSWS and Pulse Asia surveys: tions, US pollsters completely 1. With an effective base of 49, missed the mark. Nearly everyone 659, 419 voters, or roughly 50 mil- consistently projected Hillary Clinlion, the sample size should be at ton as defeating Donald Trump. least 16,572.

They put Clinton’s chance of win2. Social Weather Stations and ning at anywhere from 70 percent Pulse Asia Research use sample to as high as 99 percent, and sizes ranging from 1,200 to 1,800, pegged her as the heavy favorite to which is minuscule beside the sup- win. Instead, Trump won the vote. posed 16,572 sample size.

Across the board, polls underes 4HE SAMPLE POPULATION timated Trump’s level of support. should not be chosen randomly. With few exceptions, the final SWS failed to use the proper strati- round of public polling showed kCATION BASED ON THE DATA PRO- Clinton with a lead of 1 to 7 vided by Open Data Philippines. percentage points in the national 4. SWS did not take into ac- popular vote. State-level polling count the male-female ratio in the was more variable, but there were population. few instances where polls over5. A survey should also take stated Trump’s support. into account the demographic of the economic classes in the Misfire in US elections Philippines.

On the whole, SWS failed to fol- How could the polls have been so low the proper and correct way of wrong about the state of the election? conducting election surveys. SWS uses The fact that so many forecasts probability-based sampling to select were off-target was particularly norespondents, which is not preferred table given the increasingly wide OVER STRATIkED SAMPLING METHODS variety of methodologies being Thus, Al concluded, the Commis- tested and reported via the mainsion on Elections should stop the stream media and other channels.

SWS and Pulse Asia election surveys. The traditional telephone polls of recent decades are now joined Polling industry by increasing numbers of highis restructuring profile, online probability and nonprobability sample surveys, My own research has taken me into as well as prediction markets, all a different line of inquiry that is of which showed similar errors. also of major interest and imporPew Research Center has done a tance — and this is the fact that full analysis on why the 2016 electhe global polling industry today tion polls missed their mark, which is undergoing a period of massive was published on Nov.9, 2016. It soul-searching and restructuring. concluded the study with this note: Startling changes have started to “Pollsters are well aware that the take place. Some are quitting the profession faces serious challenges kELD %LECTION POLLING WILL NOT BE that this election has only served

Improper and incorrect conduct of surveys

to highlight. But this is also a time of extensive experimentation and INNOVATION IN THE kELD 4HE ROLE of polling in a democracy goes far beyond simply predicting the horse race. At its best, polling provides an equal voice to everyone and helps to give expression to the public’s needs and wants in ways that elections may be too blunt to do. That is why restoring polling’s credibility is so important, and why we are committed to helping in the effort to do so.�

Gallup gives up the horse race What is truly startling, however, is the dramatic decision of Gallup to pull out of horserace election POLLING BECAUSE OF DIFkCULTIES IT HAS encountered in its surveys. Gallup is the biggest name in the business.

Steven Shepard wrote for Politico a report on Gallup’s decision that explains in great part what is happening to US polling today.

Shepard wrote: “Gallup has been the country’s gold standard for horse-race election polling ever since its legendary founder, George Gallup, predicted Franklin Roosevelt’s LANDSLIDE REELECTION IN "But after a bruising 2012 cycle, Gallup won’t commit to tracking the general election next year.

"It’s a stunning move for an organization that built its reputation on predicting the winners of presidential elections. But it comes at a time of unusual tumult in the polling world. Other toplevel brands like the nonprofit Pew Research Center have yet to poll the horse race, and still others have expressed concern about the accuracy of polling at a time when fewer people are reachable or willing to talk to pollsters.

"Gallup had vowed to examine its methods closely after 2012. And after a lengthy postmortem, Gallup editor-in-chief Frank Newport promised to be ready ‘when the next presidential election’ arrived.

But so far, Gallup hasn’t been willing to put its methods to the test.

"Newport told Politico that Gallup has shifted its resources into understanding issues facing voters — and won’t be following the primary horse races, other than asking about how Americans feel about the individual candidates. "‘We believe to put our time and money and brainpower into understanding the issues and priorities is where we can most have an impact,’ he said.�

Poll survey skepticism With these developments in the polling industry, combined with THE PERCEIVED lAWS IN THEIR SAMpling of the electorate, SWS and Pulse Asia must now contend with a high level of skepticism about the usefulness of their election surveys.

Because of the complicity of mainstream media in publicizing their survey results, they have created a false picture of the election situation and the state of voter preferences.

Candidates eagerly buy into their surveys, for a hefty fee, in order to get into their so-called “magic 12� lineups.

Propaganda and advertising will TRY TO CONkRM THESE DECEPTIVE SURVEYS But the reality may be something else.

With 27 days still to go before Election Day, most voters have not really decided yet whom they will vote for. There are, in truth, no frontrunners;there are only candidates with better name recognition.

yenmakabenta@yahoo.com

˜ The Manila Times

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TUESDAY April 16, 2019

Bigotry in a university

W

HEN a university or any institution of higher learning begins to endorse a particular view of history, and not to look at history as a subject matter for critical analysis, then it abandons its covenant with society. It becomes nothing but a partisan ideologue, or an apologist for one preferred narrative.

This is what Ateneo de Manila University may have committed when the school administration, through its president, practically endorsed the politics of its student leaders condemning the presence of Irene Marcos-Araneta, the youngest daughter of former president Ferdinand Marcos, in an art exhibit sponsored by the university. The student leaders argued that Ms Marcos-Araneta’s presence was grossly inappropriate considering that the Marcoses systematically used art “as a tool to blind the people from their violence and corruption.�

Ateneo President Fr. Jose Ramon Villarin, S.J. agreed that Ms Marcos-Araneta’s presence, even in a personal capacity, has put into doubt the Ateneo’s solidarity with Martial Law victims. And for this, he expressed his sincere apologies for whatever hurt her presence at the Ateneo event may have caused.

Apparently, the backlash was so strong and the pressure so great that it even led to the resignation of Yael Buencamino, the director of Ateneo’s creative hub, who had personally invited Ms Marcos-Araneta.

It is a fact that if pressure was exerted on Ms Buencamino to resign from her post for simply inviting Ms Marcos-Araneta, that it is in fact

Law. But this stance is not supposed to be privileged by an objective scholar, ONE WHOSE WORK ETHIC IS DEkNED BY a healthy form of skepticism, and whose work is driven by the rubrics OF SCIENTIkC OBJECTIVITY AND NOT BY pregnant with civil liabilities. Any political partisanship. pressure, whether overt or otherwise, When the Ateneo president encould be construed as constructively dorses the partisan biases of its kRING HER FROM HER POST NOT FOR VIOLAT- student leaders, expressed in their ing any school rule, and not for any outrage over the presence of Irene misconduct, but simply for invit- Marcos-Araneta in an art exhibit, and ing the daughter of Ferdinand and similarly when Danilo Concepcion, Imelda Marcos to an artistic event. the president of the University of the Any brilliant lawyer can easily argue Philippines, endorsed the biases of that this is bullying or, at the very those who were outraged when Imee least, political persecution.

Marcos set foot in UP, they abdicated This is precisely the problem with their commitment to lead their uniAteneo in this entire Irene Marcos- VERSITIES TOWARD AN OPEN QUEST FOR Araneta affair. It abandoned its obliga- the fair truth, devoid of partisan bias. tion to become an enabler of critical So now, we see the spectacle of critithinking, and to provide space for an cal thinking being diminished by the open discussion about martial law. It very institution expected to uphold it.

HAD ALREADY DECIDED WITH kNALITY AS Irene Marcos Araneta was only if it is a settled dogma that Marcos’ 12 years old when Martial Law was Martial Law was totally evil, that declared. She was a minor. And yet, anyone associated with it is tainted, she is treated as if she committed a and that Irene Marcos-Araneta, for the crime by people who now rise up in mere fact of her surname, is certainly outrage over the proposal to make guilty beyond reasonable doubt, children criminally liable. This is not such that merely inviting her to an critical thinking but partisan bigotry.

ART EXHIBIT CAN COST AN EFkCIENT ARTISTIC Even if it were true that Ferdinand director—one on whom the Ateneo and Imelda Marcos robbed the counpresident Fr. Villarin had even heaped try’s coffers, it is still a fact that there is accolades—her job as if she commit- no single criminal conviction against ted a grave misconduct.

Irene Marcos-Araneta, and whatever To label any attempt to even just is lodged against her are civil cases INQUIRE INTO THE PERIOD OF -ARTIAL which is not about guilt in a crime, Law with an objective, fair lens as but about civil liabilities. One of the a form of historical revisionism is fundamental rights enumerated in understandably a prerogative of a the Universal Declaration of Human political activist, or of those who felt Rights is that which is stipulated in victimized by Marcos and his Martial Article 11(1) that, “Everyone charged

ON THE CONTRARY ANTONIO CONTRERAS

with a penal offense has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defense.� It is now ironic that Irene Marcos-Araneta is denied this very basic right. Her guilt is already presumed to be established enough for her presence to be considered as offensive by people who have repeatedly defended the human rights even of known drug criminals. This is not critical thinking, but pure and unadulterated partisan bigotry.

And if indeed Ateneo is bent on doubling down on this stance, it behooves us to ask why it has not embarked on a complete purge of its students, faculty, staff and donors who are descendants of persons who, directly or indirectly, participated in the IMPLEMENTATION OF OR BENEkTED FROM Martial Law. Focusing only on the Marcoses is patently a selective kind of bigotry, and not critical thinking.

And if Ateneo is truly after ethical public conduct, it behooves us to ask if it is as passionate in holding its ALUMNI WHO BENEkTED FROM -ARTIAL Law accountable. Failing to do this can only raise the accusation that this is not critical thinking but selfserving partisan bigotry.

Ateneo demands that Ms MarcosAraneta apologize for the sins of her family. We need to know if it has demanded an apology from two of its own alumni, Andy Bautista for his alleged corruption and Jim Paredes for his perversion. Failing to do so is not critical thinking but instead renders Ateneo guilty of turning its partisan bigotry into hypocrisy.

Q TULFO FROM A1

 P1.07T a year from Chinese tourists? — Lease thousands of hectares OF kSHPOND WHICH HAVE NOT BEEN USED OR SEQUESTERED BY THE BANKS for nonpayment of mortgage. — Build or operate fishports complete with ice plants so Chinese vessels could carry the seaFOOD AND OTHER AQUATIC PRODUCE to the Mainland fresh. — Buy river sand and gravel, and lahar sand to be used as construction materials. Most of our rivers are silted with sand and gravel which cause lOODING DURING THE RAINY SEASON — Set up steel plants in the country or revive the existing ones, which have not been operating for years. — Set up factories in our economic zones because many factories in China have closed down due to the trade war with the US. — Bring in big-spending Mainland tourists.

One of my mandates as special envoy is to draw Chinese investments into the Philippines. ) HAVE RENTED AN OFkCE SPACE AT 'LOrietta 4 at the Ayala Center in Makati City’s commercial district to receive potential investors and discuss their plans to set up business in the country.

I’ve had my hands full meeting with prospective Chinese investors or their representatives and having THEM MEET WITH OFkCIALS OF THE AGRICULTURE kNANCE TRADE AND INDUSTRY

public works, environment, natural

resources and tourism departments.

The world of diplomacy is entirely different from the world of journalism.

Diplomacy is an exciting job, and I always look forward each day to meeting new prospects.

As special envoy to China for public diplomacy, I can’t tell you how much I’ve done to help solve our problem with our big neighbor over the land outcroppings in the South China Sea. Let’s just say that I have disCUSSED WITH SOME #HINESE OFkCIALS the problem in the South China Sea — West Philippine Sea to us — over many rounds of moutai, their national drink. ) kND THESE PEOPLE VERY AMIABLE

courteous and straight talkers.

I’m also helping China’s police track down some fugitives from their country by connecting them with ofkCIALS IN THE $EPARTMENT OF *USTICE

Philippine National Police, and National Bureau of Investigation.

In one drinking session with Chinese police officials, they made me an honorary member of China’s national police just for that night (ha!ha!). **** The Chinese investors who have become close to my heart — no offense MEANT TO THE OTHERS ‡ ARE OFkCIALS OF Travelzen Worldwide Co. Ltd. Travelzen promises to bring into

the country millions of rich, bigspending Chinese tourists.

Right now, visitors from the Mainland end up working in online gaming tables and construction sites.

Some come to play in our casinos.

Travelzen, one of the biggest tour and travel agencies in China, volunteers to set up tourist and investment information centers in key cities in the Mainland — free of charge.

The centers aim to promote travel to the Philippines and assist Chinese tourists, most of whom don’t speak English, with their application for travel visas to the country.

I’ve learned that our embassy in Beijing and consulates in other parts of China are undermanned and can’t cope with the processing of visa applications to the Philippines.

This company will be helping our embassy and consulates in facilitating the issuance of tourist visas to the Philippines.

Travelzen proposes to screen applicants for tourist visas with the help of its country’s ministry of state security and ministry of public security even before the applications are submitted to the Philippine emBASSY AND CONSULAR OFkCES IN #HINA Thomas Kwok and Donny Yeung, 4RAVELZEN OFkCIALS BELIEVE THAT AFTER coming to the Philippines, more Chinese businessmen will be encouraged to invest in the country.

Secretaries Berna Puyat of tourism and Ramon Lopez of trade and industry were very happy to receive +WOK AND 9EUNG IN THEIR OFkCES From their end, Puyat and Lopez wanted the tourist and investment centers set up immediately to start the ball rolling.

However, the two departments are awaiting the approval of Foreign Secretary Teddyboy Locsin FOR THE CREATION OF THE kRST CENTER to be located in Shanghai where 4RAVELZEN HAS ITS MAIN OFkCE Travelzen invites tourism, trade and foreign affairs personnel to oversee the operation of the centers.

If its proposal is approved, Travelzen will also open Philippine information centers in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Hong Kong and Macau.

The travel agency, which is partly owned by the Chinese government, says that with the creation of the centers an estimated 7 million Mainland tourists will eventually come to the Philippines every year.

If each of these rich, big-spending Mainland tourists spends a minimum of $3,000, the country will earn $21 billion a year.

You know what that means?

That’s a staggering P1.071 trillion a year coming into the Philippines from Chinese tourists alone!

And that’s only a minimum.

Riveting hypocrisy

T

HIS is a riveting tale of how one of Facebook’s two factcheckers in the Philippines PROVES TO BE UNkT FOR THE JOB )N THE kRST WEEK OF THIS MONTH

a series of videos was circulated by anti-Rodrigo Duterte Facebook Pages, amplified by traditional media. The video once again implicated Paolo “Pulong� Duterte in the illegal drugs trade. Besides Pulong, President Duterte’s 15-year-old daughter, Kitty, was also accused of receiving payout from syndicates. The senatorial candidate and Duterte’s long-trusted aide, Bong Go, was also not spared from this black propaganda.

The video featured “Bikoy,� an anonymous informant who claimed to possess records of drug payouts of an unnamed illegal drug syndicate. Bikoy presented a so-called “tara list,� containing the names of recipients and the amounts that should be distributed to them; and a bank statement. This drug syndicate

FOR THE MOTHERLAND

SASS ROGANDO SASOT is so organized. It’s run like an ordinary business. It kept a paper trail of all its activities, people sign documents to prove their authenticity, and one document even had a bar code.

The tara list featured several signatures that were obviously photoshopped. Perhaps in the rush to release it, the graphics designer didn’t notice that some of the lines of two signatures were behind the table’s row. It could have been remedied by a simple “send to front� command.

These signatures were also mirror images of each other. In other words, they were the same signaTURE lIPPED HORIZONTALLY And it turns out, that signature was, indeed, obtained from somewhere else. Zamzamin

Ampatuan claimed that it was his signature. Zamzamin is a career government bureaucrat AND A WELL RESPECTED kGURE IN THE Muslim community in the South.

Then Bikoy showed a “bank statement� allegedly belonging to Waldo Reyes Carpio, an undersecretary at the Department of Agriculture. The alleged bank statement had no bank name. To convince the public that it was authentic, Bikoy said it had the SIGNATURE OF A BANK OFkCIAL The bank statement was from Dec. 31, 2017 to Dec. 31, 2018.

The account number is a series of alphanumeric characters: 00201-11950-1-LSB1. Which bank in the Philippines has this kind of account number format?

The bank statement had 14 transactions, either deposits or withdrawals. No bank fees and interests earned. What an amazing bank, right?

4HE STORY OF THIS BAD kCTION didn’t end there: five of the multi-million-peso deposits in

the transaction happened on a weekend or a bank holiday, all in 2018 — March 31 was a Black Saturday; June 30, a Saturday; September 30, a Sunday; November 30, Bonifacio Day; December 31, New Year’s Eve. How is this possible?

One of my readers pointed out to me that LSB1 might be Legazpi Savings Bank of Albay.

So, I wrote an open letter addressing that bank asking if their bank statements look like the one presented in the video. Someone working for the bank responded in the comment section of that post, informing us that their bank statements don’t look like the one in the video and their account number series doesn’t have the same format.

Strangely, that open letter was deleted by Facebook for violating A NON SPECIkED COMMUNITY STANdard. And when I informed my readers about what Facebook did, my posting ability was suspended

ÂłSasotA6

Opinion

A5

China’s turn to de-escalate diplomatic flare-up D FLIPSIDE RAWING the red line for China, President Rodrigo Duterte gave this “adviceâ€?: “Let us be friends, but do not touch Pagasa Island and the rest‌ If you even touch that place, then that’s another story. I will tell my soldiers, ‘Prepare for [a] suicide mission’.â€? “This is not a warning; this is just a word of advice to my friends, since we are China’s friend. So, I ask of you. I will not plead or beg, but I’m just telling you that lay off Pag-asa because I have soldiers there,â€? the President added.

President Duterte’s strongest rebuke of China comes on the heels of a report by the Armed Forces of the Philippines that more than 600 Chinese vessels have been recorded “swarming� the sandbars of PagASA )SLAND FOR THE kRST QUARTER OF 2019 alone. The highest number of Chinese vessels recorded in a single day was 87 last February 10. “These vessels are considered as Chinese maritime militia that are occasionally complemented by the Chinese Coast Guard to sustain China’s assertive presence in the vicinity of the sandbars,� said Marine Lt. Col. Elpidio Factor, AFP Western Command’s ASSISTANT CHIEF FOR 5NIkED #OMMAND Staff for Intelligence.

According to intelligence reports, THE lEET OF #HINESE SHIPS AROUND Pag-asa was dispatched from China’s newly built Subi Reef facility, and includes navy and coast guard VESSELS ALONG WITH DOZENS OF kSHING boats. Among them are a Chinese navy Jianghu V-class frigate and a People’s Liberation Army navy Type 056 corvette, which are typically armed with anti-ship missiles and surface-to-air missiles, including a Zhaoduan-class coastguard cutter.

China’s large deployment of military and militia vessels began soon after Philippine defense officials started construction of a beaching ramp in Pag-asa Island. “We need the beaching ramp because without THAT WE CANNOT BRING IN EQUIPMENT We cannot bring in the bulldozers, the graders plus the materials to rebuild the runway,� said Defense 3ECRETARY $ELkN ,ORENZANA g.OW the target for building the beaching ramp is December of this year so that for the whole of next year [we will be] repairing the runway. So, by the end of 2019 we can bring the C-130s there any day,� he added.

The swarm of vessels mobilized

by China is clearly meant to hamper the construction work on Pagasa Island, if not pressure Manila into stopping the improvement and repair of the existing structures in the country’s biggest West Philippine Sea outpost.

Pag-asa — or Thitu, as it is known internationally — is the second largest island in the Spratly chain and the largest of the nine features occupied by the Philippines. It is home to around 180 civilians, along with a small military garrison.

China’s reaction to the Philippine construction activity in Pag-asa is in stark contrast to the “upgrade� being undertaken by another Spratlys claimant.

Since early last year, Vietnam HAS BEEN QUIETLY BEEFING UP AND expanding its island outposts in Spratly Island, Pearson Reef, Petley Reef and South Reef without inviting any military response from China.

Hanoi, for instance, created about 40 acres of new land at Spratly

ATTY. DODO DULAY )SLAND USING CONSTRUCTION EQUIPment to dredge up part of the reef surrounding the island and cover it in sand. Developments in other Vietnam-occupied features include an extension of runway, four hangars believed to host maritime surveillance aircraft, and intelligence and communication facilities. Recruiting ITS OWN kSHERS AS A MARITIME MILITIA force similar to what China has been doing, Vietnam managed to make modest upgrades in 21 of its 49 outposts in the Spratlys in recent years.

By targeting Pag-asa Island with its gCABBAGE STRATEGYu ‡ kRST COINED BY Chinese general Zhang Zhaozhong to describe the tactic of deploying a swarm of vessels around disputed island to deny access to a rival – while leaving Vietnam’s expansion works LARGELY UNIMPEDED #HINA kRED THE kRST SHOT ACROSS THE BOW SO TO SPEAK

turning the thawing relations between Manila and Beijing on their head.

Since taking over MalacaĂąang, President Duterte has shifted the country’s foreign policy — from the openly antagonistic stance of his predecessor to a more conciliatory approach — in an effort to foster closer relations with China. “China has been a friend of the Philippines and the roots of our bonds are very deep and not easily severed,â€? the president said. Backing his rhetoric with action, President Duterte has, on several occasions, shelved plans that he felt might aggravate Beijing, despite growing restiveness over what many folks see as unwarranted Chinese aggression.

Yet, China has not reciprocated in a similar fashion. Chinese Coast Guard vessels are still reportedly blocking access to, and driving away Filipino kSHERMEN FROM THEIR TRADITIONAL kSHing grounds off the coast of Zambales while Beijing’s marine militia continue to swarm Pag-asa Island.

To the mind of ordinary Filipinos, Beijing appears to be taking advantage of the Duterte administration’s rapprochement with China. Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., however, views China’s cabbage strategy differently. “What is disappointing is that despite our friendliness and uninterrupted friendship, China continually embarrasses our government by swarming all over our exclusive economic zone,� Locsin tweeted.

Stated otherwise, friends shouldn’t put each other on the spot.

Perhaps Beijing is concerned that the US could use the military facilities on Pag-asa that are currently being repaired and upgraded to surveil China and compromise China’s island reef outposts in the Spratly islands. But that fear appears speculative and unfounded given President Duterte’s personal dislike for the US. On the other hand, by testing the limits of Manila’s policy of accommodation, China risks returning to the confrontational approach adopted

by President Duterte’s predecessor and opening the door for the US to get involved in the dispute.

It would therefore be more prudent for Beijing to immediately de-escalate the tension between China and the Philippines by easing up on its maritime militia in the West Philippine Sea, in time for China’s Belt and Road Forum later this month.

Q CHING FROM A4

China the same pattern and unveil his own successor in 2017, who would take over in 2022. But Xi didn’t act according to the script. Instead, last year he lifted the presidential term limit put in the constitution

by Deng and is undoing other Dengist political reforms.

Now, China again faces the succession problem. In fact, no autocratic society has developed a system to ensure a succession process that is peaceful and transparent, such as democratic elections.

This isn’t China’s internal affair.

As Deng said, turmoil in China will have a serious impact on other

countries. “If the political situation in China became unstable,� Deng said, “the trouble would spread to the rest of the world, with conseQUENCES THAT THE WORLD WOULD kND hard to imagine.�

Thus, every country has a stake in China’s stability. The Communist 0ARTY SPECIkCALLY ITS LEADER 8I HAS AN obligation to establish a system for an orderly transfer of power.

If this is not done, the Communist Party might end up paying a very high price. After all, Deng warned back in 1980 that China may abandon socialism entirely if it is shown to be less progressive than capitalism.

Frank.ching@gmail.com Twitter: @FrankChing1

A6

Opinion

˜ The Manila Times

w w w.manilatimes.net

TUESDAY April 16, 2019

Q AQUINO FROM A1

The rites of Holy Week in perfect humility and uncompromising obedience to the Father, so too, at every Eucharistic celebration, that perfect oblation of self is “made present� — not repeated, for what is eternal is not repeated. Such celebrations are necessary and bear the ponderousness of “commemoration� precisely because the eternal, although it does not coincide with human historicity, nevertheless has irrupted into it and how punctuates it.

The rites of Holy Week were then never meant to be spectators’ fare — and it is, to me, sacrilegious to make of these sacred events “tourist attractions,� shows put on to draw gawking, curious but unbelieving audiences. If tourists join the crowds that mass into our churches, or line the streets of a procession’s route and take pictures, as long as they are neither loud, boisterous nor disrespectful, they can be tolerated, in much the same way that votaries of other faiths tolerate the presence of nonbelievers in sacred precincts (though not all!). But to package Holy Week services as tourist attractions is unpardonable commercialization of that which has made the difference between salvation and eternal perdition. For the same reason, I do not look with favor

on “bringing� the liturgical rites to resorts, hotel lobbies or even beaches so that vacationers pause from their revelry, put on the affectation of devotion and piety for some minutes, before returning to fun, perhaps even debauchery. One for whom the rites mean what they ought to mean will kND HIS WAY TO CHURCH AND THERE JOIN the community of the faithful!

The veiled images — veiled since Passiontide — have not really donned the vesture of lamentation. It is the Church’s way of directing attention TO SPECIkC SYMBOLS ‡ THE #ROSS FOREmost of these. So it is that on Good Friday, there is just a solitary cross in the Sanctuary that has been unveiled and that all devoutly venerate. One of the littlest known rites, because it usually takes place on a working day and principally involves members of the clergy, is the Chrism Mass. While it really should take place on the morning of Maundy Thursday, the distances between the parishes and the Cathedral Church make it necessary to transfer it to some other date, as close as possible to Holy Thursday. There are two important events at this Mass: the priests of the Archdiocese renew their priestly COMMITMENT ‡ SIGNIkCANTLY THE LAY PERSONS ARE SPECIkCALLY ASKED TO PRAY

for their priests; and the sacred oils — #HRISM FOR BAPTISMS CONkRMATIONS

ordinations, as well as the Oil of the Sick, that oil that brings comfort to the seriously sick, and in some places, the Oil of Catechumens that candidates for adult baptism receive — are consecrated by the bishop, with the priests of the diocese surrounding him.

When anyone then is anointed with Chrism, whether at baptism, at conkRMATION OR THE CONFERRAL OF /RDER IN the presbyteral or episcopal rank, he is anointed with the oil of gladness on which the bishop has invoked the Holy Spirit, over which the priests collectively have raised their hands. And it is a most comforting thought to those who are ill that the oil brought them in the midst of their weakness, suffering, pain — and even fear of death — comes with the prayers and supplications of the priests of Jesus Christ and the assembled laity!

The evening Mass of Maundy Thursday brings Lent to a close — something not too many people know. In fact, for many, it is when Lent “really� begins. But the preceding long DAY PERIOD OF ,ENT WAS A PREPARATION FOR WHAT IS OFkCIALLY KNOWN AS the Solemn Paschal Triduum — the holiest three-day commemoration

of the Lord’s Passover and our passover with him. The Mass has a joyful character: the Gloria is sung, bells are rung — and then fall silent. The presider ceremonially washes the feet of selected lay persons as a reminder to all, the priest included, that the genuine badge of the disciple of Christ is the servanthood that makes him a foot-washer. Peter had to be reminded that only they who had their feet washed in so humbling a manner could have any part in Jesus’ heritage, because this was his legacy — a community of humble service, that makes no capital out of it. And no matter that great pomp attends the transfer of the Blessed Sacrament to what used to be known as the “monumento,� now more correctly called “The Altar of Repose,� the point is to leave the altar bare, really “stripped.� And because Holy Thursday celebrates the institution of the Eucharist, it is proper to pay it not only attention but adoration in the evening hours that follow till midnight.

There is no Mass on Good Friday. There are distinct phases of the RITES HOWEVER 4HERE IS kRST THE CHANTing of the Passion — and for Good Friday, it is John’s account that all get to hear. This used to constitute the apex

of the Good Friday commemoration in the earliest days of the Church, under the scorching heat of Mount Calvary. And then there follows the Veneration of the Cross — “This is the wood of the Cross on which hung the Savior of the World� — a poignant, dramaturgical event that constitutes the most salutary and the supreme irony – that which brought about death is exalted as the source of life’s renewal!

There is no dismissal — Go in peace! — at the end of the Maundy Thursday Mass, neither at the end of the Good Friday liturgy. The ministers “depart in silence.� There is a beautiful reason for this. In the days that Christians were really more Christian, Thursday evening till Easter Sunday was a prolonged period of fast, prayer, remembrance, chanting and contemplation. It was one prolonged service — and so the people were not dismissed. These days, what nominal HEIRS OF THE kRST #HRISTIANS WE HAVE BEcome is clear from the glaring fact that on Holy Saturday, business resumes, silver changes hands, and the unscrupulous resume their dastardly trade of selling the innocent down the river!

Everything reaches its climax on the evening of Holy Saturday, before which, nothing took place at all in the

But to vote straight eight is the huge roadblock that Otso failed to explain clearly. In its success in rebranding the LP, Otso forgot to understand that the Senate kGHT IS A TOP OF MIND BATTLE )T got Otso in the mind of voters campaign trail. Two Mindanaoans but no voter can vote for Otso of different generations, hues and because it is not in the ballot. persuasions. They are like shadows Otso is not even a good mneto each other, like father and daugh- monic to the MaBaGoKoTo of ter. Where HnP starts, PDP follows PDP. Clearly, Otso committed a barnstorm strategies that started in cardinal sin in political manageLuzon, passing to Visayas and today, ment. Otso Diretso is not a party or a coalition. And when Roxas hitting Mindanao.

Both have captured the hearts LEFT EARLY AND !QUINO LEFT AFTER and minds of voters what with days, framing became more dethe huge crowds the caravan has structive and no longer contrastattracted. PDP showed presiden- ing. Was Otso designed to build tial machinery at work while HnP A WALL TO PROTECT THE TWO !QUINO is sheer local machinery. Both AND 2OXAS )NTERESTINGLY /TSO BY Dutertes are being attacked but iteration at best campaigned for both are not candidates in the the No. 8 in the ballot, reelecnational elections. From five tionist Sonny Angara!

If you look at survey results candidates, PDP now has 12, with PRRD endorsing as guest there are four clusters among candidates the following: Cyn- THE 4OP 4HE kRST CLUSTERS ARE thia Villar, Sonny Angara and those in ranks 1 and 2, which at JV Ejercito, Taguig City Rep. Pia this stage are a sure thing unless Cayetano, Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee there is a huge meltdown in their Marcos, and folk singer Freddie conversion strategies or a crisis of Aguilar and Raffy Alunan. And epic proportions that will shake in all the sorties, one can see the standings in the homestretch.

The second cluster are those from three names consistently pushed: Go, Bato and Tolentino. Go was ranks 3 to 6, with candidates sepaPUSHED kRST WITH HIGH FREQUENCY rated by 2 percent points. Ranks 7 TV ads; Bato followed suit and to 9, separated by an average of 3 now, Tol is being helped more. percent, form the third cluster. Ranks You can also see the presidential ARE TIED OR SEPARATED BY daughter changing campaign t- PERCENT 4HIS MEANS ONLY THE 4OP shirts in areas where some Senate are stable going to the last 30 days candidates are weak. She literally of the campaign.

Still there is no signed budget became a walking billboard of certain candidates. Will the last and PRRD has issued a warning DAYS REDEkNE THINGS )NTEREST- to operators if there is wide-scale ing to watch how the Davao City cheating, a revolutionary governmayor will end the 90-day push ment will be declared. A warning and whether there will be one fired in a terrain where both Two PRRD parties big rally for both PDP and HnP. national and local candidates Otso Diretso lost its “magic� are reminded often of the war There are two parties of PRRD in play. when it failed to connect with on drugs (narcolist is a tool to One is PDP-Laban which he used in voters on what it plans to do in control the locals), federalism, 2016; the other is Hugpong ng Pag- the next three years. Yes, it was Build Build Build and China. Of babago (HnP), a regional party based successful in dropping the Liberal LATE WE HAVE THE INEFkCIENCIES in the Davao peninsula, which has all Party (LP) tag but its commu- of utilities, telcos, airlines and THE NATIONAL PARTIES AS AFkLIATES SAVE nications shared the same bias airports affecting consumers. for the Liberal Party. PDP-Laban has and contortions as LP. Worse, it kVE CANDIDATES FOR THE 3ENATE AT THE carried the same positioning and Both tactician start. HnP has 13 candidates (voter had the same cast of characters and strategist votes for a max of 12 names). PDP associated with LP. Otso would has PRRD leading the barnstorms have had a good traction because Observers should not miss the and HnP has presidential daughter, RESEARCH SHOWED THAT VOTERS kLL clear fact that PRRD came to Mayor Sara Duterte, heading the up rate is down to eight names. OFkCE WITH NARY A POLITICAL SUP-

ZILCH

MA.LOURDES TIQUIA

port save for a handful. The 17th Congress did not have winners owing their victories to presidential candidate Duterte. The 17th Congress was said to be a supermajority when in truth and in fact, most of those who joined Duterte’s party were political butTERlIES )F 022$ HAD A HOLD THEN the two Mindanaoans in Speaker Bebot Alvarez and Senate President Koko Pimentel would have STAYED AND kNISHED THEIR TERMS as institutional leaders. They did not. They went out as leaders almost at the same time which led to the bleeding of PDP Laban.

Today, we see how the Dutertes are shaping the 18th Congress.

From the get go, you would see that the remaining three years will not be a lame duck period. After May

WE WILL SEE DEkNITIVE LINES FOR the Speakership (with four already named: Alan Peter Cayetano, Lord Velasco, Martin Romualdez and Tonyboy Floirendo) and the Senate President (Tito Sotto or Cynthia Villar) and with both houses having de facto centers of powers in the First Son at the House of Representatives and the former SAP in the Senate, respectively.

Truly Clausewitzian, PRRD has again unleashed strategies not seen in the traditional political playbook. He is both tactician and strategist; player and shadow; wise man and ruthless warrior. And then there is the heir to the throne who has come out clear re her future plans and in the bruising game of politics in this May 2019 elections; she has showed to the voters who she is, how she is as a leader and a Filipino and in the process has cured her awareness rating. If we get a sweep (10-2; 2 being Poe and Binay), HnP will be the party of the future. If Go, Bato and Tolentino make it, PRRD has converted his coattail effectively; mind you, such coattail was built for only three years. Mindanao will continue to lord over the agenda in the remaining three YEARS AND IT WILL DEkNE 3OME SAY 022$ IS CHAOS PERSONIkED BUT if you follow the latent and the shadows, the smoke and mirrors, carrot and stick, indeed “the parts can only be studied in the context of the whole, as a gestalt.�

RANNIE?AQUINO CSU EDU PH RANNIE?AQUINO SANBEDA EDU PH RANNIE?AQUINO OUTLOOK COM

s

Gestalt moves DAVAO CITY: Reading and interpreting political plays are both a science and an art. It is a science because you do several analyses before you can make clear interpretations. Mostly foresight methodologies, these analyses can be any combination of scenario planning and horizon scanning. Some would interchange these as terrain analysis or environmental scanning or scoping. Then there is political history, and when it comes to elections, demographics and psychographics matter. Numbers are not just plain numbers; they tell you a story. They can be the basis for various strategies. There is also trajectory analysis which tells you whether a candidate is plateauing or increasing over time or, worse, losing traction.

Reading political plays is not mere speculation. It is not for “analysts� who do not do their work before talking. Or when they talk, it’s like a shallow interpretation of events and when drilled are totally erroneous about facts and antecedent facts. One must remember the wise counsel of one leader: “In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way.�

And it is from this vantage point that one can see the shadow plays at work in the May 2019 elections. Yes, a midterm election and yes, a referendum on PRRD’s last three years, but it has achieved much, much more just by watching the shadows and performing a lateral reading of the political events unleashed in the run-up, actual campaigning and the E-Day itself.

NATURE OF OFkCIAL WORSHIP Non dies est‌Saturday is not a day. Do not blame priests if they cannot perform weddings or funeral masses on Holy Saturday. It just cannot happen. At the Easter Vigil, however, the theme is baptism, and the primary symbols ARE WATER AND kRE )T IS BAPTISM THAT IS THE EXISTENTIAL CONSEQUENCE ‡ FOR each Christian — of Christ’s rising to new life. A person is born amid an abundance of water from his mother’s womb. A Christian is reborn from a heritage of sin and darkness in the waters of baptism. One of the “compulsoryâ€? readings is the Exodus story of the journey through the Red Sea. The Christian takes the same route through waters to freedom that God’s people took. But the flaming Paschal Candle is the constant reminder that this rebirth is not the result of performing arcane rites correctly, or intoning the correct formulas. Rather, the solidarity of Jesus with our humanity is also the pledge of our solidarity with him in his Resurrection.

A Blessed Easter to you all!

THE MEANING OF EVERY GRADUATION EVERY graduation day, almost everyone talks about the job prospects of students, but only a few among us know what the young go through in their college lives. The pressure that these young people have felt since day one has been tremendous. Their parents dictate the program they should enroll in, without even asking, for instance, if it can make their child happy. Parents have many dreams, ambitions and desires for their children. The child, in turn, goes to school to realize such things.

Education, therefor, is narrowly measured on the basis of achievement. We forget that education has intrinsic value, because human freedom flourishes the moment a child learns what it means to be human by being in school. Yet, the child is forced to think that success is everything. For this reason, the school becomes his or her means to self-realization, and as an individual, the student is the product that society tries to manufacture.

The same individual, after graduation, will become another instrument that society will use, judge and exploit. In turn, this individual will also use other people. Thus, our students carry a huge moral burden. They are young, careless, immature and afraid, and yet, the future depends on them. But I tell them that while any society can choose to believe its own truth, no one can take away from the person his or her self-worth and sense of purpose.

There are many young and eager minds who deserve to be in school but are not because their parents cannot afford it. Education makes us more. It is tough to explain what life means to young people. After college life, the hard part will always be that cycle in which they will graduate and work for multinational firms, and yet forget about the poor and malnourished children around them.

Even inside the classroom, politics is at work. Politics, indeed, is present in the academe. This involves the process of appointing people, choosing administrators, or even selecting who will represent the school in some event. But politics, as originally conceived by the Greeks, is about responsible citizenship.

To be a citizen, one must be able to speak and act. However, fear hovers in the horizon. Politics in school, in the end, is about who has the eyes and ears of those who are in positions of authority.

There cannot be any meaningful engagement in the state and society without freedom and equality. The same holds true inside the classroom. The school mimics the real world. Teaching, in this way, has a double task. First, there is that analytic part in which we teach student how to make judgments. Second, there is that integrative part in which we help form students by means of right values.

But every graduation must have a solemn meaning. Graduation is about the expansion of the freedom of the human being. It is a commencement precisely because the young adult is sent forth into the world to explore new frontiers.

This individual should be, in the ideal sense, strong and ready to face whatever life throws at him or her. But college graduation, at the same time, is not just about individual achievement. It is also about communal values and our vision for a better future for the generations ahead of us. Life is difficult, but this person, having been equipped with the necessary implements for mature judgment, should find joy in helping those who have less in life achieve greater freedom by serving them well.

The meaning of every graduation cannot be limited to its material value. The education of our children cannot be viewed, from a moral perspective, as some form of investment. Parents never lose when they send their children to school.

Indeed, if the life of a student is changed, then a school must have done its function. On the part of teachers, if the student also changes the life of a poor man, then we must have served our purpose.

Cristopher Ryan Maboloc PhD Associate Professor of Philosophy Ateneo de Davao University.

Q SASOT FROM A5

Riveting hypocrisy

by Facebook for three days. / N ! P R I L

% L L E N Tordesillas, president of a local journalist organization called Vera Files and one of Facebook’s two fact checkers in the Philippines, wrote a commentary on the video, which circulated on Facebook. The article was titled “Battle of narcolists,� published on the website of Vera Files. In-

stead of doing her fact-checking duty, she praised the video as “professionally done,� and ended the article with more praise, “this is riveting.�

The vanguard of facts on Facebook got riveted rather than gutted by this fake news. This is as disgusting as the “I will marry !QUINOu STORY 4ORDESILLAS WROTE in 2012, decried by its subject

Grace Lee as “fake news.� **** The arrest of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has revealed the riveting hypocrisy of some Americans personalities decrying the tax evasion and violation of the anti-dummy law case against Rappler’s CEO Maria Ressa.

Chief of them is Frida Ghitis of CNN who wrote on April

12, 2018 (“Julian Assange is an activist, not a journalist�) that Assange “should face justice.�

Assange’s prosecution, Ghitis said, “should result in the development of a functioning definition of what a journalist is, depriving propaganda outlets and government agents of using the label to take cover.�

Then Ghitis mentioned that in

a particular incident she called the “Rich case,� Assange “deliberately [lied]� and because of that “he is not a journalist and therefore not entitled to the protections of the law — and democracy — demand for legitimate journalists.�

Perhaps Ghitis isn’t aware of the fact that Rappler declared under oath in its Securities and

Exchange Commission case that it is not a mass media entity, HENCE IT S NOT REQUIRED TO FOLLOW the constitutional ban against 0HILIPPINE MEDIA OUTkTS BEING controlled and funded by foreigners. Is this behavior worthy of the title of “legitimate journalist�

ACCORDING 'HITIS DICTIONARY

SRSASOT GMAIL COM

Regions

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Escudero faces disqualification AN urgent petition seeking the DISQUALIkCATION OF 3ENATOR &RANCIS “Chiz� Escudero, who is running for governor of Sorsogon, and three others for alleged violation OF ELECTION LAWS WAS kLED BEFORE the Commission on Elections (Comelec) by a cause-oriented group.

In a 10-page petition, Bayan at Mamamayan (BM) alleged that %SCUDERO WHO IS THE OFkCIAL CANdidate of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), violated the expressed provision of the Omnibus Election Code (OEC) when he donated P50,000 to Our Lady of Peùafrancia Seminary (OLPS) for the use of its premises for a political proclamation rally last March 31, or two days after the start of the 45-day campaign period for local candidates.

Also named in the petition were Escudero’s running mate

Mayor Manuel Fortes, his mother, Sorsogon First District Rep. Evelina Escudero and NPC Second District congressional candidate Ditas Ramos.

BM lead convenor Revor Lasay claimed that giving of a donation violated Section104 of the OEC and is prohibited pursuant to Comelec Resolution 10429.

The petition said the Diocese of Sorsogon, through its spokesman Fr. Philippe Gallanosa, admitted that OLPS received a rental payment from NPC for the venue even as he said the diocese had no permit to rent out its premises for public use.

The petitioner also noted that THERE IS NO EXISTING CERTIkCATION for NPC-Sorsogon to show that it submitted a statement of expenditure of the event in violation of Section 88 of the OEC. WILLIAM B. DEPASUPIL

A historic Visita Iglesia in Rizal and Bataan LOCATED east of Manila, Rizal Province has several historic churches that pilgrims and tourists can visit for their traditional Visita Iglesia, a Philippine Lenten tradition of visiting and praying in seven churches on Holy Thursday and Good Friday.

The Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage Cathedral in Antipolo enshrines the 17th century wooden image of a Black Madonna that represents the Immaculate Conception. Millions of devotees from nearby towns and cities flock the city traveling on foot for the Alay Lakad (walk offering) during Holy Week.

The Our Lady of Light Parish Church (Cainta) is a stone church constructed in 1707. It was damaged by an earthquake in 1853 and burned down during the Filipino-American War in 1899. In 1966 it was rebuilt, keeping the original facade untouched. The National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) declared the church a historical site in 2007.

Saint John the Baptist Parish Church (Taytay) is made from light materials which was built

by Franciscan missionaries in 1579. Jesuit missionaries took over its administration in 1591 and relocated it from the flood-prone shores of Laguna de Bay to its current location, a hill called San Juan del Monte.

The church was damaged by a typhoon in 1632, burned down in 1639 and fell into ruins during Filipino-American war in the late 1800s.

The Sta. Urusla Parish Church (Binangonan) was founded by the Franciscan priests in 1621.

The church was built from 1792 to 1800 and was renovated in 1853. Parishioners and visitors from nearby towns visit the church for its mystic aura and rustic ambiance.

T h e S a i n t J e r o m e Pa r i s h ( M o r o n g ) wa s b u i l t u n d e r forced labor during the Spanish colonial era. Men, women and children had to dig stone from Kay Ngaya Hill, lime stones from Kay Maputi Mountain and sand and gravel from a river. It was built in 1586 and burned down in 1612. The church was built again after three years on elevated ground opposite Morong River to ensure its safety from flood and fires. It was declared a historical site in 1939.

Saint Joseph Church (Baras) was first built in Boso-Boso, Antipolo in 1595. It was transferred in 1636 to escape the hostilities of Aetas who burned the church down in 1635. The second site was located southeast of the first site but was also affected by hostilities of Chinese rebels in 1639, who

torched the church in 1639 together with other churches in neighboring towns. The church was moved to its present site in 1682.

San Ildefonso de Toledo Parish Church (Tanay) encases a relic of a piece of bone of Saint Ildephonsus of Toledo. The NHCP declared the church as a historical site in 1939, as well as a National Cultural Treasure by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts in 2001. It is considered as one of the five Jubilee churches of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Antipolo.

7 Pilgrim churches Similarly, busloads of visitors headed to Bataan for the Visita Iglesia where seven of the oldest churches are located.

Known as the 7 Pilgrim Churches situated in seven towns in the peninsula, the first church is the 263-yearold St. Peter de Varona Church in Hermosa.

There is also the 309-yearold Virgen Milagrosa del Rosario Church in Orani and the 423-year-old St. Catherine of Siena Church in Samal.

The next stop of pilgrims will be the Sto. Domingo Church in Abucay, which is 431 years old. It is the oldest church in Bataan and one of the oldest in the country.

The 305-year-old Saint Joseph Cathderal in Balanga City and the 18-year-old Virgen Milagrosa del Pilar Church in Pilar town is the 6th pilgrim church comes next.

The seventh is the 352-yearold St. Michael de Arcanghel Church in Orion.

The churches have undertaken various renovations but have one common material — sturdy bricks known as batong SILYAR lINT STONE VISIBLE IN ITS inner and outer walls. All the churches were built under the supervision of the Dominican priests.

There are two major road networks in Bataan — the Roman Highway and the MacArthur Highway. The 7 Pilgrim Churches are located along the MacArthur Highway.

The first visitors this year were 500 pilgrims from San Pablo City in Laguna who came in 12 buses.

Fr. Emil Urriquia, San Pablo City parish priest, said they had made their Visita Iglesia to the 7 Pilgrim Churches so many times. “We return here in the spirit of pilgrimage. This is for the yearly Lenten activity of our parish.�

Most recent visitors were from Valenzuela, Bulacan and Lipa City in Batangas.

GABRIELA BARON AND ERNIE B. ESCONDE

TUESDAY April 16, 2019

A7

Zambo power crisis prompts DoE probe Z

BY AL JACINTO

AMBOANGA CITY: The Department of Energy (DoE) is now looking into the power crisis here after mounting complaints about the power outages and public criticism of the Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative (Zamcelco).

Energy Assistant Secretary Redentor Delola arrived here over the weekend and met with Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco Salazar to discuss the power crisis.

Salazar, exasperated by the daily power outages, demanded that Zamcelco pay its overdue accounts to Western Mindanao Power Corp. (WMPC) and resolve the crisis. She also brought the matter to the attention of the DoE and the .ATIONAL %LECTRIkCATION !DMINISTRAtion (NEA). “The Department of Energy is here because Secretary Alfonso Cusi assigned me to look into the power situation in Zamboanga. We were made aware of the long standing issue we were having here, especially with the power outages of about two to three hours per day,� Delola said.

He said they went around the

CITY AND TALKED TO PEOPLE TO kND out about the problem, the mayor and some members of the Regional Development Council. “When we reviewed the entire thing, we found out that what we have right now is a dispute between the Investment Management Team which recently came in to manage Zamcelco and one of the power suppliers WMPC,� he said.

Delola said the power problem in Zamboanga had worsened, adding that Cusi instructed him to kND A SOLUTION TO THE POWER CRISIS He said a team of lawyers and engineers were also expected to arrive here soon to conduct an audit and REPORT THEIR kNDINGS It was not known whether former :AMCELCO OFkCIALS HAD KNOWLEDGE of the overbilling or not, but NEA kRED MANY EXECUTIVES ON ALLEGATIONS

of corruption, although no one has been criminally charged.

With Zamcelco and WMPC locked in a legal battle, electric consumers and businesses here continue to suffer from power outages and poor utility services. Zamcelco also stopped buying electricity from WMPC and is now scouting for new power suppliers.

WMPC, operated by Alto Power Management Corp., cut off power supply to Zamcelco, now under the management of Crown Investments Holdings Inc. and Desco Inc., after it reportedly refused to pay its overdue account now amounting to P460 million from P235 million in February.

Crown Investments Holdings Inc. and Desco Inc. took over Zamcelco in January this year after bailing out the heavily-indebted electric cooperative for P2.5 billion. But Zamcelco claimed that WMPC had been over billing the electric cooperative since 2015 by P440 million and was demanding a refund.

Salazar said rotational power outages, which began in February, had already affected the local economy with many business establishments spending more on fuel to run their generators for hours on a daily

basis. The daily brownouts also put a heavy burden on residents since many of them rely on Zamcelco for power supply because they cannot afford to buy their own generators.

Salazar wrote a strongly-worded letter to Zamcelco demanding that it pay WMPC so that normal electricity supply can be restored in Zamboanga. A copy of the letter dated April 1 and addressed to lawyer Jomar Castillo was also posted on Salazar’s Facebook page.

It reads: “This has reference to the current power situation in our City. As you know, Zamboanga City plays a key role not only in trade and commerce, but in national security as well. Residents and businesses are complaining of longer and more frequent outages since February 4 that adversely affected our local economy prompting me to write this demand letter.�

Aside from power outages, Zamcelco’s irregular supply of electricity resulted in low voltage most of the time and residents blamed the UTILITY kRM FOR DAMAGE TO THEIR APpliances. Amid this Zamcelco and WMPC have been trading accusations in the media as consumers continued to suffer.

Bong Go urges Bukidnon youth to fight vs drugs MALAYBALAY CITY, Bukidnon: Former special assistant to the President (SAP) and 2019 Senate candidate Christopher Lawrence “Bong� Go urged the youth to help in the campaign against illegal drugs, criminality and corruption. “Stay away from drugs. These have chemicals that destroys the brain. If a member of the family gets involved in drugs, the whole family is affected, crippled,� Go told the youth leaders.

Instead, Go urged the youth to study well and engage in sports and other productive activities to develop their potential and selfdiscipline. “If we have no discipline we will not succeed,� he said, adding that taking part in sports was one way of developing discipline, sportsmanship, perseverance and hard work.

As part of his legislative agenda for the youth, Go is pushing for long-term sports development, starting at the grassroots level through the establishment of sports and youth development centers in every local government unit nationwide TO HELP kGHT CRIMINALITY CORRUPTION and illegal drugs.

In addition to free sports training and equipment, he said the youth would also be offered free mentorship on entrepreneurship and other important life skills.

Meanwhile, Go’s Senate bid received another boost after Sen.

Juan Miguel Zubiri and his father, Bukidnon Gov. Jose Maria Zubiri Jr. endorsed him to their constituents in Bukidnon.

The senator and his father raised Go’s hand to rally the people of the province to back his candidacy when the former SAP graced the Kaamulan Festival at the capitol grounds here recently.

Zubiri noted that Go helped push for the planned airport in the province, the establishment of the P500million drug rehabilitation center and other big-ticket projects of the Duterte administration.

The Bukidnon Airport Development Program is a P408.8-million project for the construction of an international airport in Marayma ray, Don Carlos, Bukidnon. Once completed, it is expected to boost economic and tourism activities in the region.

In August last year, President Rodrigo Duterte inaugurated the drug rehabilitation center composed of three-patients’ dormitories with a training center, medical service building, staff dormitory, visitors building, gymnasium, mini amphitheater, basketball courts, courtyards, gardens, and kitchen and central supply building.

Also in the pipeline for Bukidnon is the $800-million 250 megawatt (MW) capacity hydropower plant envisioned to add 250 MW capacity in Mindanao by 2021.

Nationinbriefs BROWNOUTS TO HIT PARTS OF RIZAL ON HOLY WEEK SOME areas in Rizal Province will experience brownouts during Holy Week because of scheduled maintenance works. The Manila Electric Company announced that rotating brownouts would start this Tuesday until Saturday, April 20. Affected areas will be parts of Taytay and Angono on April 16 to 17 to give way to line reconductoring works.

GABRIELA BARON Â

COUPLE GUNNED DOWN IN CEBU UNIDENTIFIED gunmen shot dead a couple who were on-board a motorcycle with their daughter in Barangay Ibabao-Estancia, Mandaue City, Cebu on Sunday. Police Maj. Aldrin Villacampa, chief of Mandaue City Police Station 1, said Michael Canes, 27, and his wife Fraldane Kate, 29, of Barangay Umapad, and their daughter, 9, were on board their Yamaha motorcycle on their way home. When they stopped at a red light along A.C. Cortes Street at past 11 p.m., the motorcycle-riding assailants who were tailing them fired successive shots. The couple died from multiple gunshot wounds, while their daughter was unharmed. The girl told investigators that the assailants opened fire at her parents first and then took her father’s sling bag which contained P200,000 cash. Villacampa said they were looking into business-related and illegal drugs as the motives behind the couple’s murder. “They have a clothing over-run business at the Pacific Mall in Mandaue City.�

RHEA RUTH ROSELLÂ Â

NURSE SHOT DEAD IN BAGUIO BAGUIO CITY: An unidentified gunman shot dead Joan Lee Japson Arca, 34, a nurse, as she was about to leave her residence at Purok 2, BarangayGabriela Silang on Sunday morning. The assailant fired at Arca several times. Relatives rushed her to the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC) where she was declared dead on arrival from two gunshot wounds in the body. Recovered from the crime scene were a disassembled magazine of a calibre .45 pistol, nine live bullets and two spent shells of the same firearm.  DEXTER A. SEE

Q Former special assistant to the President and 2019 Senate aspirant Christopher Lawrence ‘Bong’ Go treats a young girl to hotdog during one of his sorties in the regions.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

A8

News

TUESDAY April 16, 2019

˜ The Manila Times

w w w.manilatimes.net

Intramuros braces for 900,000 pilgrims

BY CATHERINE A. MODESTO

S

OME areas in Intramuros, Manila will be closed starting on Wednesday in observance of Holy Week.

The Intramuros Administration (IA) expects more than 900,000 pilgrims and tourists to visit the Walled City as Christians commemorate the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The IA will close the General Luna Street to all vehicles on Wednesday night until Good Friday.

Stations of the Cross will be set up from Beaterio Street to Muralla

Street near the Pamantasan ng Lungson ng Maynila.

Several cultural sites and museums will also be closed, including Casa Manila and Baluarte de San Diego from April 18 to 19.

The San Agustin Museum, Rizal Shrine, Bagumbayan Lights and Sounds Museum, Instituto Cervantes and the National Commission for the Culture and the Arts Gallery will be closed from April 18 to 20.

The Fr. George J Willman SJ Museum and the Destileria Limtuaco Museum will be closed from April 18 to 21, while Bahay Tsinoy will not be open from April 18 to 22.

However, nine places of worships, some located inside schools AND GOVERNMENT OFkCES WILL OPEN from April 18 to 20 for the Visita Iglesia, a tradition where the faithful visit seven churches or chapels.

These are the Manila Cathedral, San Agustin Church, Fr. Wilman Chapel, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila chapel, Mapua University chapel, Lyceum of the Philippines chapel, Colegio de San Juan de Letran chapel, Bureau of Internal Revenue chapel and Fort

Santiago chapel.

On regular days, only the Manila Cathedral and San Agustin Church are open to the public.

The Manila Cathedral has asked the Manila Police District to secure the area. “After the Jolo cathedral bombing, we were warned by police to tighten security of churches.

Around February, the big churches in Manila, especially Quiapo, Cathedral, Baclaran began tightening security,� Fr. Reginald Malicdem, rector of the Manila Cathedral, said.

The priest urged the faithful to “travel light� and avoid bringing large bags.

Lawyers’ group seeks court protection THE National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) asked the Supreme Court on Monday for protection after the group was linked with the Communist Party of the PhilippinesNew People’s Army (CPP-NPA).

In their petition, NUPL Chairman and Senate candidate Neri Colmenares and the association’s President Edre Olalia slammed the alleged harassment by the military of their group and its members.

In a 23-page petition for writs of amparo and habeas data, the group asked the high court to stop the Armed Forces of the Philippines from threatening and harassing its members. “In the instant case, the pattern is crystal clear: Petitioners are harassed not for their individual actions as lawyers per se, but for being members of the NUPL and the cases, clients and issues they take on. Given the context, history and contemporaneous statements and events, Petitioners have a well-founded belief that the respondents herein and their agents are responsible in many ways for the attacks against NUPL and its members,� the group said.

It urged the military to disclose, submit and destroy all information gathered about members of the group, citing

specific incidents where their officers and members were “tagged, threatened, vilified or subjected to surveillance.� “A number are tailed, some receive threatening text messages, some are publicly vilified in radio programs and still a few were even included in a shotgun petition to declare the CPP-NPA as terrorist organizations, maliciously labeling them as members of these rebel organizations,� the petitioners said. “It is evident from the facts and the circumstances of this case, that petitioners, who are members of the Philippine bar, are targets of an orchestrated plan to sow fear and intrigue among their ranks and membership,� they added.

Named respondents to the case were President Rodrigo Duterte, National Security adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr., Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Armed Forces chief Benjamin Madrigal Jr., Deputy Commander for Intelligence Brig. Gen. Fernando Trinidad, Chief of Intelligence Service Gen. Erwin Bernard Neri, Deputy Chief of Staff for Civil Military Operations Brig. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr., and Philippine Army Commanding Maj. Gen. Macairog Alberto.

JOMAR CANLAS

Cost of gas Abu Sayyaf member falls in QC up by P1.05 per liter OIL companies implemented a bigtime price hike on Tuesday, April 16.

The cost of diesel went up by 75 centavos per liter, gasoline by P1.05 per liter, and kerosene by 60 centavos per liter.

Caltex adjusted its pump prices at 12:01 a.m., while Flying V, Petro Gazz, Phoenix Petroleum, Pilipinas Shell, PTT Philippines, Seaoil and Unioil followed at 6 a.m.

This week’s upward adjustment brings the price of diesel to P41.94P49.70 per liter, gasoline to P52.40P58.51 per liter, and kerosene to P44.83-P55.70 per liter.

Last week, the price of diesel went up by 20 centavos per liter, gasoline by 25 centavos per liter, and kerosene by 10 centavos per liter.

JORDEENE B. LAGARE

AN ALLEGED Abu Sayyaf Group member charged with kidnapping and serious illegal detention was arrested in Quezon City (QC) on Sunday.

Abuhair Kullim Indal, alias Annual Dasil, and Abu Khair were arrested in the former’s residence in Barangay Culiat.

Indal is facing seven criminal cases, including kidnapping for his alleged participation in the abduction of 15 workers of the Golden Harvest Plantation in Lantawan, Basilan on June 11, 2001.

Brig. Gen. Joselito Esquivel Jr., Quezon City Police District director, said authorities were investigating why Indal, a native of Basilan Province, was in Quezon City.

Esquivel said they had been monitoring )NDAL FOR kVE WEEKS Indal was reported to be one of the trusted aides of Abu Sayyaf leaders Furuji Indama and Nur Hassan Jamiri.

Philippine National Police chief Oscar Albayalde said Indal would be presented before the Regional Trial Court Branch 1 in Isabela City, Basilan. ROY D.R. NARRA

Q Philippine National Police chief Oscar Albayalde (left) questions Abuhair Kullim Indal.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Q VOTING FROM A1

Overseas absentee voting polls compared to presidential elections like in 2016, saying they expected at least a 30- to 31-percent turnout. “We expect a much higher turnout, but we have to temper our expectation. But the higher [the turnout], the better,� he told radio dzMM. Jimenez said the results of the overseas voting would not be known until counting started at the end of the voting period on May 13.

A total of 1,822,173 overseas Filipinos registered in the OAV. The Comelec has suspended voting in Syria, Iraq and Libya to ensure the safety of Filipino voters there.

Based on Comelec Minute Resolution 18-1124, automated elections will be held in 41 Philippine posts abroad — Agana, Calgary, Chicago, Honolulu, Los Angeles, New York, Ottawa, San Francisco, Toronto, Vancouver, Washington, Brunei

Darussalam, Canberra, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Macau, Kaohsiung, Taichung, Taipei, Osaka, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, Wellington, Athens, London, Madrid, Milan, Rome, Abu Dhabi, Beirut, Doha, Dubai, Jeddah, Kuwait, Manama, Muscat, Al-Khobar, Riyadh and Tel Aviv.

Postal voting, on the other hand, will be used in 29 posts. These are Brasilia, Buenos Aires, Mexico, Santiago, Bangkok, Beijing, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Hanoi, Islamabad, Port Moresby, Yangon, Ankara, Berlin, Berne, Brussels, Budapest, Geneva, Lisbon, Moscow, Oslo, Paris, Prague, The Hague, Vienna, Warsaw, Abuja, Cairo and Pretoria.

Personal voting will be used in 13 other posts located in Dhaka, Dili, Jakarta, Manado, New Delhi, Phnom Penh, Shanghai, Vientiane, Xiamen, Vatican, Amman, Nairobi and Tehran. WILLIAM B. DEPASUPIL

Q TAGLE FROM A1

Tagle to wash feet of 12 Parish Youth Ministry and the Ministry of Greeters and Collectors at the San Fernando de Dilao Parish, Paco, Manila.

Completing the diverse group of young people were: – Carlito Sapunto, who is a church volunteer at the Saint Dominic Savio Parish, Mandaluyong even as a he suffers from cerebral palsy. m *EFFREY 2ANOLA

WHO JUST kNISHED HIS undergraduate studies at the Universidad de Manila and is a member of a youth ministry. – Sister Antonisa, 26, a nun of the Missionaries of Charity, who has been serving poor and abandoned children at the Alay ng Puso House IN $ELPAN "INONDO -ANILA IN THE PAST kVE years. She came from Bangladesh. – Joel Obreo, 23, is from India. He has been staying in Manila for 10 months as a missionary under the Ligaya ng Panginoon Community and Christ Youth in Action. – Janrey Nevado, 20, who graduated summa cum laude from the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde with a degree in business admin-

istration, major in computer applications, with specialization in business analytics.

Jenezis Caliwag, 25, a staff of the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene or Quiapo Church. Caliwag is also a campus youth animator in the Saint Joseph the Worker Parish in Novaliches, Quezon City.

Daisy Jane and Ferdinand John Azogue, both 31, are a newly married couple. Ferdinand John works as a medical representative in Alabang, Muntinlupa City, while Daisy Jane is a hotel employee.

Jinky Pelopero, 21, a college student at Colegio de San Juan de Letran and an active member of the Ministry of Greeters and Collectors of the Manila Cathedral.

Other liturgical activities for Holy Week at the Manila Cathedral to be led by Cardinal Tagle are the chrism Mass at 7 a.m. on Thursday, the commemoration of the Lord’s passion on Friday at 3 p.m., and the Easter Vigil Mass on Saturday at 8 p.m.

CATHERINE A. MODESTO

ASIAN STOCKS: W S h a n g h a i 0 . 3 4 %

W S i n g a p o re 0 . 1 8 %

PSEi 7,787.98 DOWN 1.18%

P51.64 TO $1

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DOUBLEDRAGON’S 2018 PROFIT UP 194% TO P7.42B

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COSCO CAPITAL NETS P8.80 BILLION IN 2018

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ONEY sent home by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) fell to a five-month low in February, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported on Monday.

Personal remittances — comprising OFWs’ net compensation, personal transfers whether in the form of cash or in kind, and capital transfers between households — totaled $2.557 billion, 1.2 percent higher than the $2.528 billion posted a year earlier, but 6.8 percent lower compared to the $2.745 billion booked in the prior month. )T WAS ALSO THE LOWEST SINCE 3EPTEMber 2018.

The result brought year-to-date remittances to $5.302 billion, 2.3 percent higher than the $5.182 billion registered in the comparable 2017 period. “Personal remittances from seabased and land-based workers with work contracts of less than one year rose by 8.5 percent to $0.57 billion in February 2019 from $0.53 billion in February 2018,� central bank Governor Benjamin Diokno said in a statement.

same period last year. “The double-digit growth during the month of March compared to the same month last year is a strong indication that the automotive industry is well on its way to recovery,� Campi President Rommel Gurierrez said in a statement. “We are optimistic that this trend will be sustained in the coming months,� he added.

Automakers ended 2018 with A PERCENT DECLINE ‡ THE kRST contraction since 2011 when sales fell by 4 percent due to parts shortages caused by an earthquake and tsunami in Japan and massive lOODING IN 4HAILAND Passenger car sales, which managed to grew by 3.5 percent in February, dropped by 15.7 percent

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Understanding the China ‘debt trap’

O

NE of the biggest fears of people in developing countries including the Philippines, so we are told, is that of the Chinese “debt trap.� The simplest explanation of the idea is that China, in its aggressive push to develop its intercontinental “Belt and Road Initiative,� is lending money to poor countries under UNFAVORABLE TERMS TO kNANCE BADly-needed infrastructure projects.

When the countries are unable to pay these loans, China then takes control of the leveraged assets, in effect carrying out a gradual, bloodless invasion.

That, at least, is what Western interests would like the rest of the world to believe. A more realistic explanation of the “debt trap,� however, is that the tale is utter bullshit, an example, and a rather unsophisticated one at that, of propaganda run amok.

A report by Agence France-Press (AFP) over the weekend is a typical example. Under the headline, “IMF, World Bank air China loan warning,� the story grimly announced that� Increased lending

by China to developing nations is increasingly under the spotlight amid concerns that growing debt burdens and onerous conditions could sow the seeds of a crisis.�

The story then explains how the two multilateral lenders are indeed worried about the global debt load generally, and quotes David Malpass and Christine Lagarde, the heads of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, respectively, sharing

B a n g ko k ( c l o s e d )

ROUGH TRADE BEN KRITZ their concerns about the expansion of debt in the developing world in particular.

Despite neither official uttering a word about China, the AFP story forges ahead with its thesis, noting that “China has been lending throughout the developing world as part of its ‘Belt and Road Initiative,’ especially focusing on resource-rich nations “But the loans have come under increasing scrutiny. Mozambique has been engulfed in scandal over $2 billion in fraudulent loans that were hidden from the public.�

The government of Mozambique is indeed up to its eyeballs in a very African sort of corruption scandal involving illicit loans, but despite the clumsy implication of the AFP story, China has nothing at all to do with it.

The case involves the government-guaranteed debt of three semi-public entities controlled

BY A SENIOR OFkCIAL OF THE 3)3%

Mozambique’s security service $1.157 billion in outright loans FROM THE ,ONDON OFkCES OF #REDIT 3UISSE AND 64" "ANK A 2USsian bank), and $850 million in bonds sold on the European market. The scandal was first uncovered in 2016, and a leaked

ÂłChina B4

“This compensated for the 0.43-percent decline in the personal remittances from land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more to $1.93 billion from $1.94 billion,� he added.

Nicholas Antonio Mapa, ING Bank Manila senior economist, said remitTANCE lOWS REMAINED HEALTHY “The steady stream of dollars help fund peso purchasing power, almost assuring that household consumption continues, while also augmenting the sustained struggles of the export sector,� he pointed out.

Cash remittances, which only count money coursed through banks, rose by 1.5 percent to $2.301 billion in February from $2.267 billion a year earlier. It fell by 7.3 percent, however,

from the $2.484 billion recorded in January 2019.

Year to date, cash remittances grew by 3.0 percent to $4.784 billion from $4.647 billion last year.

Remittances from both land-based ($3.73 billion) and sea-based ($1.06 billion) workers rose by 1.0 percent and 10.5 percent, respectively, and were said to have supported the year-to-date tally. g"Y COUNTRY SOURCE THE 5NITED 3TATES registered the highest share of overall remittances for the period at 35.5 percent,� Diokno said. )T WAS FOLLOWED BY 3AUDI !RABIA 3INgapore, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Japan, Canada, Qatar, Hong Kong, and Germany, accounting

ÂłLow B4

More taxpayers filing ITRs electronically – BIR

Vehicle sales up 14%; automakers optimistic AUTOMOBILE sales continued to recover in March, growing by double digits and raising manufacturers’ hopes of a turnaround from last year’s plunge.

Data released by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines (Campi) and the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) on Monday showed total sales of 32,173 units for the month, up 14 percent from a year earlier.

It was a marked improvement from February’s 0.6-percent upTICK WHICH WAS THE kRST TIME THAT car sales had turned positive after a year-long decline blamed on the imposition of higher sales taxes AND RISING INlATION Year-to-date sales, however, remained down 0.8 percent at 85,388 units compared to the

W Hong Kong 0.33%

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OFW remittances hit 5-month low in Feb

BY MAYVELIN U. CARABALLO

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TUESDAY APRIL 16, 2019

Business Times

CURRENCY RATE

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MORE taxpayers have switched filing their income tax returns (ITRs) by electronic means, a senior Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) official said as the agency marked the annual April 15 deadline. “Based on our data, most of our taxpayers now are availing of the e-filing or online filing for convenience,� BIR Deputy Commissioner Arnel Guballa said in a press conference on Monday. Filing using Electronic BIR Forms has been mandatory since 2014 for all tax returns. “In terms of the totality of the whole taxpayers for the BIR, we estimated those who filed only comprise 30-40 percent,� Guballa noted.

ZERO DAY

Taxpayers line up during the April 15 income tax return filing deadline at the Bureau of Internal Revenue office in Intramuros, Manila. PHOTO BY DJ DIOSINA

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PSEi drops ahead of Holy Week break SEC unveils THE stock market kicked off a shortened trading week by dropping to the 7,700 level on Monday, ignoring positive leads and snapping expectations of muted trading ahead of a Holy Week break.

The bellwether Philippine 3TOCK %XCHANGE INDEX 03%I p l u n g e d by 1 . 1 8 p e r c e n t or 92.84 points to close at 7,787.98 while the broader All 3HARES LOST PERCENT OR points to end at 4,817.15.

All sub-sectors closed in the red with holding firms and services sustaining the biggest losses, dropping by 2.17 percent and 1.15 percent, respectively.

More than 1.182 billion shares valued at P7.868 billion changed hands.

Losers outmatched winners, 107 to 87, while 47 issues remained unchanged. “Investors avoided Philippine shares today as the Holy Week begins and instead focused on other regions,� said Luis Limlingan, head of research and sales at Regina Capital Development Corporation.

Gabriel Jose Perez, sales associate at P2P Trade Online, said: “With the index’s weak close, support area ... would be around 7,560-7,590.�

0HILIPPINE kNANCIAL MARKETS will be closed on April 18 and 19 as the country marks Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.

Trading will resume Monday, April 22.

4HE 03%I S PLUNGE CAME ON A

day of mixed results for the region, with early rallies in some cities pared but investors said to be still upbeat thanks to a HEALTHY START TO THE 53 EARNINGS SEASON AND HOPES FOR #HINA 53 trade talks.

Traders raced out of the blocks as they put last week’s stutter behind them, boosted by data last week showing a sharp jump in credit growth in China as easing measures kick in, while exports beat expectaTIONS AND INlATION PERKED UP New York’s three main indexes provided a positive lead AFTER 7ALL 3TREET TITAN *0 -ORGAN RECORDED A PICK UP IN PROkTS

suggesting the economy remains in rude health and fuelling optimism for upcoming corporate reports. “The environment of easier kNANCIAL CONDITIONS IS BEGINning to have an impact on the broader economy,� Binay Chandgothia at Principal GlobAL )NVESTORS TOLD "LOOMBERG 46 “If that is the case and growth does pick up, you’ll see an uptick in analyst expectations and earnings as well, which should help continue the rally.�

Tokyo added 1.4 percent, 3INGAPORE AND 3YDNEY WERE flat, while Wellington added PERCENT 3EOUL -UMBAI

Taipei and Jakarta were also higher.

H o w e v e r, p r o f i t - t a k e r s stepped in as the day wore on, leading Hong Kong and 3HANGHAI TO END WITH LOSSES

3INGAPORE ALSO SUFFERED A SELL

off. Investors are now looking ahead to the release of Chinese GROWTH kGURES 7EDNESDAY In early trade London dropped 0.1 percent, but Paris and Frankfurt each rose 0.1 percent.

Investors were back in a buying mood after last week’s gyrations that came on the back of concerns about a possible new TRADE WAR BETWEEN THE 53 AND the European Union as Donald Trump threatened to hit the bloc with tariffs over subsidies to aviation giant Airbus.

Buying was also being supported by comments from 4R E A S U R Y 3 E C R E T A R Y 3 T E VE N Mnuchin, who said at the weekend that he was “hopeful we’re getting close to the final round of concluding issues� on the China trade talks.

The remarks were picked up as another positive sign that the trade war between the world’s top two economies, which helped hammer global markets last year, could be nearing an end.

The International Monetary Fund said the world economy should start to bounce back towards the end of the year, AS LONG AS #HINA AND THE 53 resolve their differences.

53 OFFICIALS ARE ALSO KICKing off two days of trade talks with Japan later in the day in Washington, with both sides previously saying they wanted to reach an agreement quickly.

FROM REPORTS BY JORDEENE B. LAGARE AND AFP

sustainability reporting guidelines THE 3ECURITIES AND %XCHANGE #OMMISSION 3%# RECENTLY LAUNCHED THE 3USTAINABILITY Reporting Guidelines for Publicly Listed Companies (PLCs) as part of initiatives to encourage improved business practices.

The case for sustainability reporting was made during a conference last week with the Philippine 3TOCK %XCHANGE 03% AND IN PARTnership with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. )N A STATEMENT THE 3%# SAID THE GUIDELINES RElECTED FOUR GLOBALLY accepted frameworks: the GRI’s 3USTAINABILITY 2EPORTING 3TANdards, the International Reporting Council’s Integrated Reporting &RAMEWORK THE 3USTAINABILITY !CCOUNTING 3TANDARDS "OARD S 3USTAINABILITY !CCOUNTING 3TANDARD and recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure.

The sustainability reports will detail the economic, enviromenTAL AND SOCIAL IMPACT OF A kRM S ACTIVITIES 4HE 3%# WANTS 0,#S TO submit these, in addition to their REGULAR ANNUAL kNANCIAL REPORTS

on a “comply or explain� basis beginning 2020.

3USTAINABILITY REPORTING IS GROWing among companies worldwide, with 93 percent of the world’s larg-

ÂłGuidelines B4

B2

Business Times

˜ The Manila Times

w w w.manilatimes.net

TUESDAY April 16, 2019

NPC: Asean privacy framework possible

BY TYRONE C. PIAD

C

RAFTING a regional privacy framework for the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) before the year ends is not far from reality as efforts to protect information and raise data security awareness continue, the National Privacy Commission (NPC) said.

in hand,� he explained.

Liboro said there was a nice synergy among member-states about the regional privacy framework, saying “Everyone is really looking forward that Asean member-states could actually even provide the best practices in coming up with a regional framework for crossborder data.� “What we are excited about is we are contemplating now on a regional approach, which could actually set a global trend,� he added.

The International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners (ICDPPC) — which promotes information protection and security among 122 privacy authorities worldwide — has no Asean counterpart, Liboro said.

The Philippines is currently part OF THE kVE MEMBER )#$00# EXECUtive board along with Australia, Canada, Burkina Faso and the United Kingdom. ICDPPC has only three sub-units at present—Ibero-American Network, Common Thread Network and African Network.

There is no Asean ICDPPC unit, HE SAID (E SAID THE !SIA 0ACIkC Privacy Authorities (APPA) is the nearest group to what the NPC chief envisions, but it is only comprised of members of Asia0ACIkC %CONOMIC #OOPERATIONS

excluding other Asean countries.

The APPA will be conducting its second forum on data privacy this year in Cebu City on December 2 TO 4HE kRST ONE WILL BE HELD IN Tokyo, Japan on May 29.

“[T]he ambition is quite clear— for Asean to get its act together and come up with a framework that is globally recognized. We see it becoming a possibility,� NPC Commissioner Raymund Liboro said at the sidelines of an event in Baguio last week.

With the establishment of a

regional framework, cross-border investigations could be conducted to further the enforcement of data privacy laws and policies, Liboro said. “Any cross-border data flow framework must be accompanied by cross-border privacy enforcement arrangement. That must come hand

Banana coop to supply E. Europe

Dogs tapped for swine fever watch

THE country’s small banana farmers cooperatives and associations have been tapped by the government to supply Cavendish bananas in Eastern European (EEU) countries, especially Russia.

This development came following a meeting between Agriculture 3ECRETARY %MMANUEL 0IĂ„OL AND OFkCIALS OF BANANA FARMERS COOPERATIVES OF #OMPOSTELA 6ALLEY IN Davao City.

0IĂ„OL SAID THE !GRICULTURE department would provide support to the identified cooperatives in consolidating their banana production to access the Eastern European market, including production support such as solar irrigation facilities and fertilizers. “This would include a longterm marketing agreement which would assure them of a market WITH A kXED PRICE FOR THEIR PRODUCE u 0IĂ„OL SAID IN STATEMENT OVER the weekend.

He noted that the EEU market had an estimated 180 million consumers. “The market in the Russian Federation alone needs 150,000 boxes every week, according to an executive of the -AGNIT 3UPERMATKET ONE OF THE biggest supermarket chains in Russia with 12,500 outlets,� he explained.

He said that while the country awaited the development of a 7,000-hectare banana farm in the Bangsamoro Area initiated by a group of Eastern European investors, the group will be buying from small independent farmers to supply their market requirements.

The Russian market alone has an annual expenditure of $5 billion for tropical fruits, mainly bananas.

-EANWHILE 0IĂ„OL SAID THE Agriculture department would also lobby Japan to lift stricter tests for chemical residue and ensure faster access of Philippine banana exports to the neighboring Asian country.

The Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association, Inc. (PBGEA) has asked the department to convince Japanese officials that Philippine banana exports comply with Japanese standards for maximum chemical residue levels following the institution of new protocols and assessment processes by the Bureau of Plant Industry. g) HAVE TALKED WITH OFkCIALS of PBGEA to assure them that I will personally handle efforts TO RESOLVE THE ISSUE u 0IÄOL SAID About 50 percent of the PBGEA’s bananas are exported to Japan annually.

EIRERENE JAIREE GOMEZ

NEARLY P100 million is being spent by the government on trained sniffing dogs to detect meat and meat products in all major Philippine airports as part of its campaign against the entry OF !FRICAN 3WINE &EVER !3& INTO the country.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) has already spent P27 million for a one-year contract for 15 trained dogs from provider Great #HIEN 6ENTURES #ORP !GRICULTURE 3ECRETARY %MMANUEL 0IÄOL SAID 3TARTING ON !PRIL THIS YEAR AN initial K9s will be deployed in the country’s major airports, including Ninoy Aquino International Airport and Clark International Airport.

“Fifteen trained dogs will be stationed in major airports of the COUNTRYw WITH INTERNATIONAL lIGHTS COMING FROM #HINA AND ;OTHER !3& HIT COUNTRIES= u 0IĂ„OL SAID IN A RECENT interview. &OURTY MORE MEAT SNIFkNG DOGS are also being trained to boost the WATCH AGAINST THE THREAT OF !3&

which recently hit Cambodia and 6IETNAM %RRING TOURISTS WILL BE PENALIZED WITH A kNE OF NOT LESS THAN 0

0IĂ„OL SAID !3& IS A HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS HEMorrhagic disease of domestic and wild pigs of all ages. There are no effective preventive vaccines or cures. The mortality rate is as high as 100 percent.

To protect the local swine industry, all quarantine groups in seaports and airports across the country were instructed since October last year to heighten monitoring and surveillance, ensure footbaths in all entry points and hang streamers to raise public AWARENESS ON THE !3& The multiple outbreaks and rapID SPREAD OF !3& IN #HINA HAS LED to the spread of the virus among 3OUTHEAST !SIAN NATIONS ! BAN on the importation of domestic and wild pigs and their products including pork meat and semen is currently imposed on 15 countries WITH UNRESOLVED CASES OF !3& EIREENE JAIREE GOMEZ

Q OPTIMISTIC FROM B1

in March with a 40.20-percent SHARE )TS SALES kNALLY TURNED POSItive, growing by 13.4 percent to 12,936 units from a year earlier.

3ECOND PLACED -ITSUBISHI -Otors Philippines Corp., with 17.72 percent of the market, sold 5,701 units during the month, down 15.3 percent from March last year.

Rounding up the top three was Nissan Philippines Inc., which extended its run of positive monthly results via sales of 4,616 units, up 133.8 percent and accounting for

14.35 percent of the market.

Year-to-date, Toyota remained on top with sales reaching 33,554 units, 39.30 percent of the market and down 2.6 percent in volume terms from a year ago.

Mitsubishi, with a market share of 18.90 percent, sold a total of 16,140 units, also down by 17.5 percent from a year ago, while Nissan (13.16 percent market share), sold 11,239 units, up 94.3 percent from 2018.

ANNA LEAH E. GONZALES

Vehicle to 9,214 units in March from a year ago.

This was offset by a 32.8-percent increase for the bread and butter commercial vehicle segment, where sales totaled 22,959 units year on year.

Toyota Motors Philippines Corp. remained the market leader

Thinking about the poverty line

L

!34 WEEK THE 0HILIPPINE 3TATISTICS !UTHORITY 03! SAID THE poverty threshold (also known as the “poverty line�) or the average amount needed “to meet both basic food and non-food needs of A FAMILY OF kVE IN A MONTHu DURING THE kRST SEMESTER OF WAS EQUAL TO 0 5SING THIS kGURE THE 03! ESTIMATED THE POVERTY INCIDENCE among Filipinos during the same period at 21 percent. This is lower by 6.6 percentage points from the poverty incidence of 27.6 percent in 2015.

National statistics announcements have sparked controversy in the PAST 7HEN THE .ATIONAL 3TATISTICAL Coordinating Board under Dr. Jose 2AMON !LBERT RELEASED POVERTY kGURES in 2013, showing that the poverty incidence from 2006 to 2012 hardly changed, then President Aquino exPRESSED DOUBTS ABOUT THE kGURES !LBERT CLARIkED THE INTERPRETATION OF THE kGURES DURING MEDIA INTERVIEWS BUT many remained confused.

Already, some are suspecting that the incidence of poverty is being deliberately underreported because of the new poverty line. We need to be careful. Interpreting the poverty incidence can be tricky unless we keep two things in mind: it is a national average and an estimate. &IRSTLY THE kGURE IS AN ESTIMATED national average covering the whole population of Filipinos. Thus, it doesn’t refer to the situation of individual Filipinos. If we were to draw conclusions from a national average to individual members of the population, we are committing a logical error called the fallacy of division.

This error in thinking is familiar to all

range allowing a doubling of value.

Clearly, we need to be careful not to read too much into poverty staBut more fundamentally, we BENITO tistics. need to think about the substantive TEEHANKEE question behind these statistics: What INCOME DOES A FAMILY OF kVE REALLY of us from our student days: bringing need to subsist? Is P10,481 a month home an average grade of 91.6 did not or about P950 per day even close? mean our individual grades were all The new poverty line has been great. We could have had a couple of questioned widely online. Busi79s in there. And it certainly didn’t ness leaders I know have wondered mean that any of our grades equaled whether the government officials 91.6. The only way for our parents to involved have any idea about the reknow how we were doing in individ- ality of poverty. The emotion around ual subjects was to see all our grades. THE kGURE IS EASY TO UNDERSTAND )T More meaningful interpreta- represents a wretched existence by any TIONS OF THE 03! POVERTY kGURES standard of decency. Also, it comes only begin to emerge when we drill at a sensitive time and easily stokes down to see statistics at provincial political arguments. and city levels. Even then, such The poverty line is used as an input lower level statistics have little in determining the minimum wage meaning in terms of individual in the country. I notice that even big Filipino’s lives in these provinces businesses are happy to simply pay and cities. For one thing, the arith- the minimum required by law. metic mean as an average is easAn important question for business ily pulled by extreme values. The leaders is whether they are paying distribution of income is known their employees enough to have deto have extreme values at the high cent lives. Certainly, if they think that end which tend to increase average the government poverty threshold incomes. is too low, isn’t it their duty to pay 3ECONDLY THESE kGURES ARE BASED much more than the minimum wage? on a sample survey and have error After all, labor productivity has been margins. That’s why they’re called es- increasing in the past years while real TIMATES 3O BASED ON THE 03! REPORTS WAGES HAVE BEEN STAGNANT 3HOULDN T online, the estimated national poverty workers get a higher share of this proincidence of 21 percent can mean an ductivity increase? actual incidence of as low as 20.6 percent to as high as 21.4 percent. The Dr. Benito Teehankee is the Cuisia error margins become wider as we Professor of Business Ethics and a go down to the provincial or city lev- Full Professor of Management and ELS &OR EXAMPLE THE 03! S ESTIMATED /RGANIZATION AT THE 2AMON 6 DEL poverty incidence of 7.5 percent for Rosario College of Business of De Manila can, in reality, be as low as 5 ,A 3ALLE 5NIVERSITY %MAIL BENITO percent to as high as 10 percent — a teehankee@dlsu.edu.ph

MANAGING FOR SOCIETY

Why call yourself a guru when you’re not?

G BEYOND

59 +!7!3!+) IS RIGHT g$ON T call yourself a guru or an expert. If you are a guru or an expert, people will know it. If you aren’t one, no one is going to believe you� from that point onward.

However, in the management consulting industry, this basic principled rule is often violated by many consultants who have that shameless feeling to lie in their website and other marketing peripherals simply to fool clients and ultimately to secure deals. But they get many disapprovals. If this PERSON CAN LIE ABOUT HIS QUALIkCAtion, then what more about his promise to do something for your organization? Take the following excerpt from a website of one consultant: Mang Gorio (obviously, not his real name) “is a Lean Consultant, Kaizen Expert, and Bestselling Author based in Manila, Philippines‌â€? When you do a little fact-checking here and there, you’ll discover nothing to prove that he’s “a Kaizen Expert and a Bestselling Authorâ€?.

The best you can probably accept is he’s a “Lean Consultant�

LIKE EVERYONE ELSE IN HIS CLASS 3O what’s his basis for saying that he’s a “Kaizen Expert and a Bestselling Author?� Nothing. I wish I could ask him direct to the point to validate his claim, but I’m worried he may take it badly. The trouble is that potential customers don’t do background checks in the same manner when employers hire people as part of the regular workforce.

Who says Filipino voters from developing areas of our society are naïve to elect fools, grafters and thieves? Corporate managers are the worse kind. Many of them with post-graduate degrees who read hundreds of management articles a year are also naïve. They don’t bother to check the veracity of a consultant’s claim. Why is this happening at all? One might have more followers on social media, but can’t he always cheat by buying the numbers at around $10 for 1,000 followers?

Geoff Pilkington, who humbly proclaims himself a “social media expert� says: “Buying social media followers teaches a valuable lesson. That lesson is that in today’s world we are admired because of our developed skills, our talent, our values, and most importantly for the value we provide and our willingness to help others. Not by phony labels.You are not going to BECOME 3TEVE *OBS -ERYL 3TREEP OR Oprah Winfrey because you have 10,000 fake followers. What will get you “followers� as we like to call it today is hard work, grind, consistency, talent, timing and a bit of luck. But most importantly, being true to yourself and others.�

Even with 20,000 or 30,000 fake followers, how could you turn THEM INTO SOMETHING PROkTABLE Are you sure you can get at least 10 consistent likes for your every posting on Facebook? How about via LinkedIn that are populated with business professionals, many of whom don’t want to be seen on the populist Facebook?

Q BIR FROM B1

More He did not provide further details but Deputy Commissioner Marissa Cabreros has said that individual taxpayers registered reached 19.2 million in 2018 alone. Cabreros earlier told The Manila Times that the BIR was hopeful of exceeding its P232.6-billion take in April last year, which was 24 percent or P44.9 billion better compared to a year earlier. “We are hopeful for increased collection because more are complying as filing had been simplified because of Train,� she said, referring to the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law that took effect last year.

Salaried employees and

BUZZWORDS

REY ELBO No one tells people around that he’s handsome, intelligent or smart. That compliment is bestowed by your admirers and followers. If you’re truly handsome, intelligent or smart, then you don’t have to call yourself that because people will immediately notice as they gravitate towards you. Therefore, stop calling yourself as an expert or bestselling author. g3TOP CALLING YOURSELF A 'URU

*EDI 2OCK 3TAR AND .INJA UNLESS YOU RE A 'URU *EDI 2OCK 3TAR

and Ninja),� says personal brand maker Marc Ensign. And if I’m to add to that list, stop calling yourSELF A 3ENSEI *APANESE FOR A GREAT teacher).

Business writer Paula Ann Dwyer says: “In business, being called a ‘guru’ by others can be considered a compliment - but leave the praise to others to lavish upon you. It is wise not to call yourself a guru or an expert for a number of reasons: When you are humble people are more likely to feel comfortable in your presence. This is better for business, because building rapport is based on mutual understanding rather than you appearing superior. Mutual respect will get you far, and this is not cultivated when someone feels intimidated by you.�

Bestselling author Jim Collins who wrote the 2001 book “Good to Great� has introduced the socalled Level 5 leadership concept.

He says: “Level 5 leaders display a powerful mixture of personal humility and indomitable will.

They’re incredibly ambitious, but THEIR AMBITION IS kRST AND FOREMOST for the cause, for the organization and its purpose, not themselves.

While Level 5 leaders can come in many personality packages, they are often self-effacing, quiet, reserved, and even shy.�

Collins’ thesis was supported by 3USAN #AIN IN HER BOOK g1UIET The Power of Introverts in a World 4HAT #AN T 3TOP 4ALKING u 3HE POStulates: “There’s a whole database of studies showing that introverted leaders often deliver better outcomes THAN EXTROVERTED LEADERS 4HAT lIES in the face of what we normally think because we assume a strong leader is somebody who’s bold and charismatic. And while those can be fantastic traits, there is another constellation of traits that makes for great leadership.�

My point is this: Let your clients do the assessment for you. Allow them to put the crown on your head if you deserve it. If not, work hard to get to the point where you want to be under a stretch target you can only create.

Rey Elbo is a business consultant specializing in human resources and total quality management as A FUSED INTEREST 3END FEEDBACK TO elbonomics@gmail.com or via https://reyelbo.consulting other individuals were given personal income tax exemptions for the first P250,000 in taxable income and significant tax cuts for those earning above P250,000 under the new law. The perks, Cabreros claimed, are expected to prompt more taxpayers to file their ITrs. The BIR, which has a P2.339trillion collection target for this year, has rolled out options and facilities to enable taxpayers to transact by electronic means. “We should try to hit that figure as much as possible ‌ Hopefully we should go above P2 trillion this 2019,â€? BIR Commissioner Caesar Dulay said.

The bureau missed its P2.044trillion collection goal last year, only netting P1.961 trillion despite higher sales taxes implemented under the Train law.

MAYVELIN U. CARABALLO

˜ The Manila Times

w w w.manilatimes.net

Corporate News DoubleDragon’s 2018 profit up 194% to P7.42B TUESDAY April 16, 2019

Businessinbriefs AC ENERGY’S PHINMA ENERGY SHARE PURCHASE APPROVED THE Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) has approved AC Energy Inc.’s planned acquisition of Phinma Inc. and Phinma Corp.’s combined 51.48-percent stake in Phinma Energy Corp. In a statement on Monday, the Ayala Corp.’s energy platform said it would acquire the stake by buying secondary shares worth about P3.42 billion, based on the agreed valuation date of Dec. 31, 2018 and subject to adjustments. This involves AC Energy subscribing to approximately P2.632 billion worth of primary shares of Phinma Energy at par value. This will result in AC Energy’s stake rising to about 68 percent. This is subject to the tender offer for the shares of Phinma Energy’s minority shareholders. A quasi-judicial body established in 2016 under Republic Act 10667, or the “Philippine Competition Act of 2015,� the PCC is tasked with reviewing mergers and acquisitions for possible adverse effects on competition. It is also tasked with investigating anti-competitive practices. TYRONE C. PIAD

APEX MINING EARNINGS DOWN TO P257M APEX Mining Co. Inc. reported on Monday that its consolidated net income fell by 53 percent to P257 million in 2018 from P429 million the year before. The listed mining firm told the Philippine Stock Exchange that its net profit attributable to the parent company also dropped by 40 percent to P332 million last year from P503 million in 2017. Its revenues, however, rose by 13 percent to P4.7 billion, driven by the record output of 70,564 ounces of gold and 328,797 ounces of silver from the company’s Maco mine in Compostela Valley province. This despite lower metal prices last year, which averaged $1,260 per ounce of gold and which fell by 9.4 percent to $15.49 per ounce of silver. Apex Mining shares added 2 centavos or P1.54 to end at P1.32 each on Monday.

EIREENE JAIREE GOMEZ

SSI GROUP NET PROFIT UP 121% TO P608M SSI Group Inc. saw its net income jump by 121 percent to P608 million in 2018 on the back of strong sales growth. In a disclosure on Monday, the luxury brand retailer said total sales hit P20.2 billion last year, a 10-percent increase from the 2017 figure. It posted the growth despite a 7-percent decline in its total floor area. During the fourth quarter of 2018, total sales reached P6.4 billion, up 7.7 percent from the same period last year. Improved sales pushed revenues to grow by 10 percent to a record P20.2 billion. Recurring net income stood at P725.3 million, up 11 percent from a year earlier. SSI Group shares rose by 9 centavos or 3.59 percent to finish at P2.60 each on Monday.

EIREENE JAIREE GOMEZ

BY LISBET K. ESMAEL

D

OUBLEDRAGON Properties Corp. said on Monday its net income hit P7.42 billion last year on the strong performance of its core business. )N A kLING THE LISTED REAL ESTATE developer said the amount was a 193.57-percent increase from P2.53 billion in 2017.

Revenues also surged to P14.34 billion in 2018, 117 percent higher than P6.61 billion a year earlier.

Recurring revenues grew by 132.10 percent to P3.03 billion from P1.3 billion.

Rental income reached P2.49 billion last year, a 173.86-percent increase from P909.2 million in 2017.

Total assets climbed by 28.27 percent to P82.51 billion in 2018 from P64.33 billion.

The company’s total equity improved by 47.38 percent to P32.89 billion from P22.32 billion.

DoubleDragon remains optimistic about this year after completing a portfolio of 603,000 square meters of leasable space in 2018, which it expects to contribute an estimated P5.4 billion to its rental income.

Chairman Edgar Injap Sia compared this to “having 603,000 recurring revenue machines spread out in prime strategic areas across the country.� g!S THESE PROPERTIES PRODUCE revenues, the underlying hard assets also continues to appreciate,� he was quoted as saying in THE kLING DoubleDragon currently has 77 buildings, both completed

B3

AND UNDER CONSTRUCTION OFkCE buildings, eight hotels, 51 shopping malls and eight warehouse buildings.

4HE kRM TARGETS TO COMPLETE A leasable portfolio of of 1.2 million sqm by next year. Of these, 700,000 sqm would come from 100 CityMalls; 300,000 sqm, from DD Meridian Park and Jollibee Tower; 100,000 sqm, from the 5,000 hotel rooms of Hotel101 and Jinjiang Inn Philippines; and 100,000 sqm, from various CentralHub sites nationwide.

DoubleDragon shares rose by 45 centavos or 1.94 percent to close at P23.70 apiece on Monday.

Cosco Capital nets P8.80 billion in 2018 COSCO Capital Inc. reported on Monday that its consolidated net income grew to P8.8 billion last year on the back of the Philippines’ continued economic growth and increased consumer spending.

In a disclosure, the listed holding company said the amount was a 12.4-percent increase from P7.83 billion in 2017.

Net income attributable to equity holders of the parent firm rose by 12.7 percent to P5.5 billion in 2018 from P4.9 billion a year earlier.

Consolidated revenues jumped by 15.53 percent to P168.39 billion last year from P145.75 billion in 2017.

Cosco’s grocery retail businesses, Puregold Price Club Inc. and S&R Membership Shopping Club, contributed 60 percent of the firm’s total income; commercial real estate segment, 19 percent; liquor distribution business, 13 percent; and specialty retailing segment, made up of Liquigaz Philippines Corp. and Office Warehouse, 8 percent.

Puregold and S&R grew its consolidated

revenues and net income by 13.2 percent and 11.6 percent to P140.9 billion and P6.52 billion, respectively, last year.

The commercial real estate segment’s revenues increased its revenues and net profit by 10.6 percent and 10.4 percent to P2.4 billion and P1 billion, respectively, in 2018.

Cosco’s liquor distribution unit saw its revenues rise by 31.3 percent to P8.7 billion in 2018, thanks to a 32-percent increase in sales volume last year.

Liquigaz revenues surged by 30 percent to P17 billion in 2018 on the back of improved sales velue and the recovery in global liquified petroleum gas prices.

Its net profit grew by 33.5 percent to P626 million.

Office Warehouse Inc.’s revenues rose by 15.5 percent to P2 billion last year.

Cosco Capital shares ended down by 7 centavos or 0.91 percent to P7.60 apiece on Monday.

ANNA LEAH E. GONZALES

Century Properties raises P3B from bond offer, cites strong demand CENTURY Properties Group Inc. (CPG) has generated P3 billion in fresh funds from its bond offering.

In a disclosure on Monday, the listed property developer said strong investor demand had prompted it to increase the issue size from the initial P2 billion.

The oversubscription, it added, also allowed the bank to price the

bonds, due in 2022, at the tighter end of the indicative credit spread at an interest rate of 7.82 percent.

Proceeds will go to “partially kNANCE DEVELOPMENT COSTS FOR ITS affordable housing and townhome projects.� “It was the first corporate peso bond deal to price for 2019 and CPG’s

kRST CORPORATE DEBT CAPITAL DEAL SINCE 2014,� Century Properties Chief OpERATING /FkCER -ARCO 2 !NTONIO WAS quoted as saying in the statement. g4HIS MARKS A SIGNIkCANT MILEstone for CPG as it continues to expand into various asset classes and diversify its funding sources toward becoming a bigger and more

HOLDING FIRMS

Index

Value

Chg

%Chg

PSEi

7,787.98

-92.84

Ĺş

All Shares

4,817.15

-46

Ĺş

Financials

1,727.20

-6.04

Ĺş

Industrial

11,631.68

-125.75

Ĺş

Holding Firms

7,497.96

-166.33

Ĺş

Services

1,586.10

-18.5

Ĺş

Mining and Oil

7,593.01

-75.87

Ĺş

Property

4,132.32

-2.05

Ĺş

SERVICES

Stock indices as of April 15, 2019

PSEi

ALL SHARES

MINING AND OIL

PROkTABLE COMPANY u HE ADDED China Bank Capital Corp. was the issue manager, lead underwriter and bookrunner for the transaction.

Last month, Century Properties reported that its net income rose by PERCENT TO 0 BILLION ‡ THE kRST time it reached this level in three years — from P650 million in 2017.

cover the acquisition of more land banks across the country. Funds would come from a mixture of debt and internally generated cash, it added.

Century Properties shares fell by CENTAVOS OR PERCENT TO kNISH at 50 centavos on Monday.

LISBET K. ESMAEL WITH A REPORT FROM ANGELICA BALLESTEROS

It credited the increase to its incity vertical developments business and expansion to affordable housing and commercial leasing.

The company also allotted up to P10 billion in capital expenditures (capex) this year as it plans to boost its recurring income and residential portfolios.

It said a portion of the capex would

TOP ACTIVE STOCKS No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Security Name Ayala Land, Inc. San Miguel Food and Beverage, Inc. Jollibee Foods Corporation SM Prime Holdings, Inc. Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company BDO Unibank, Inc. Philippine National Bank Ayala Corporation

Last Price Chg 46.8 0.2 112.7 0.7 310 0 38.95 -0.05 77 -0.9 132.2 0.2 53.5 -3.15 908 -5

9 10 11 12

Alliance Global Group, Inc. International Container Terminal Services, Inc. Bank of the Philippine Islands SM Investments Corporation

14.98 127 80.7 922.5

13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Puregold Price Club, Inc. Bloomberry Resorts Corporation SSI Group, Inc. San Miguel Corporation GT Capital Holdings, Inc. Universal Robina Corporation 0HWUR 3DFLÂżF ,QYHVWPHQWV &RUSRUDWLRQ Megaworld Corporation

46 12 2.6 173.7 857 151.4 4.55 5.79

%Chg 0.43% 0.63% 0% -0.13% -1.16% 0.15% -5.56% -0.55%

ź ź Ÿ ź ź

Volume 25,336,300.00 4,404,170.00 1,037,610.00 6,793,300.00 2,849,710.00 1,524,720.00 3,834,030.00 206,780.00

Value(P) 1,184,186,390.00 493,301,711.00 320,423,108.00 265,525,410.00 223,243,138.00 201,913,137.00 198,530,157.50 188,673,910.00

-0.42 -0.3 -0.8 -20.5

-2.73% -0.24% -0.98% -2.17%

Ĺş Ĺş Ĺş Ĺş

11,692,200.00 1,276,840.00 1,987,080.00 166,070.00

176,489,632.00 161,424,552.00 161,035,201.00 153,791,640.00

-1.7 -0.42 0.09 -7.7 -13 -5.6 -0.05 0.02

-3.56% -3.38% 3.59% -4.24% -1.49% -3.57% -1.09% 0.35%

ź ź Ÿ ź ź ź ź Ÿ

2,955,000.00 9,421,300 43,108,000 624,860 110,780 583,540 19,162,000 14,391,500

136,532,105.00 113,221,956.00 113,054,280.00 111,104,091.00 95,679,505.00 89,320,969.00 87,802,040.00 82,947,440.00

Ÿ Ÿ

*amounts in peso, except for volume, %chg

TOP GAINERS FINANCIALS

INDUSTRIAL

PROPERTY

INDEX HISTORY Date Apr 15, 2019 Apr 12, 2019 Apr 11, 2019 Apr 10, 2019 Apr 8, 2019 Apr 05, 2019 Apr 04, 2019 Apr 03, 2019 Apr 02, 2019 Apr 01, 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 07, 2019 Mar 06, 2019 Mar 05, 2019 Mar 04, 2019

Open 7,888 7,971 7,991 7,976 7,879 7,866 7,893 7,880 7,854 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

High 7,915 7,980 8,000 8,009 7,955 7,887 7,898 7,895 7,894 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

Low 7,788 7,881 7,956 7,953 7,879 7,866 7,836 7,861 7,854 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

Close 7,788 7,881 7,956 8,009 7,916 7,873 7,854 7,895 7,879 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

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. Oriental Petroleum And Minerals Corporation “A�

Mabuhay Holdings Corporation Arthaland Corporation Synergy Grid & Development Phils., Inc. PH Resorts Group Holdings, Inc. Boulevard Holdings, Inc. Suntrust Home Developers, Inc. Petroenergy Resources Corporation SFA Semicon Philippines Corporation Italpinas Development Corporation Abacore Capital Holdings, Inc. SSI Group, Inc. SBS Philippines Corporation Manulife Financial Corporation I-Remit, Inc. Metro Alliance Holdings & Equities Corp. “A�

Waterfront Philippines, Inc. Zeus Holdings, Inc. Col Financial Group, Inc.

Volume 3,418,000.00 6,500,000.00 111,000.00 2,000,000.00 6,290.00 48,000.00 100,860,000.00 61,000.00 459,000.00 1,491,000.00 88,000.00 2,069,000.00 43,108,000.00 41,200.00 10.00 66,000.00 79,000.00 7,209,000.00 9,500,000.00 23,600.00

Value 3,331,060.00 78,300.00 61,350.00 1,607,010.00 3,672,950.00 211,220.00 7,499,070.00 45,130.00 2,072,560.00 2,022,550.00 420,970.00 1,130,020.00 113,054,280.00 370,552.00 8,245.00 91,680.00 136,260.00 5,276,620.00 3,574,750.00 448,940.00

Last Price 1.01 0.013 0.58 0.82 598 4.7 0.074 0.76 4.58 1.35 4.9 0.56 2.6 9 824.5 1.43 1.8 0.73 0.375 19

Chg 0.08 0.001 0.03 0.04 29 0.2 0.003 0.03 0.18 0.05 0.18 0.02 0.09 0.3 24.5 0.04 0.05 0.02 0.01 0.5

%Chg 8.60% 8.33% 5.45% 5.13% 5.10% 4.44% 4.23% 4.11% 4.09% 3.85% 3.81% 3.70% 3.59% 3.45% 3.06% 2.88% 2.86% 2.82% 2.74% 2.70%

*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 Pepsi-Cola Products Philippines, Inc. GMA Network, Inc. (Common) GMA Holdings, Inc. (PDR) Philex Mining Corporation Premium Leisure Corp.

Centro Escolar University NOW Corporation Cemex Holdings Philippines, Inc. D.M. Wenceslao & Associates, Incorporated Century Properties Group Inc. Philippine National Bank MRC Allied Incorporated Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc. BDO Leasing & Finance, Inc. Harbor Star Shipping Services, Inc. RFM Corporation San Miguel Corporation LT Group, Inc. Benguet Corporation “B�

*amounts in peso except for volume, %chg

Volume 6,909,600.00 36,223,000.00 1,090,300.00 147,400.00 4,019,000.00 12,911,000.00 1,000.00 2,575,000.00 27,542,000.00 1,560,600.00 51,590,000.00 3,834,030.00 20,650,000.00 1,215,110.00 24,000.00 2,866,000.00 3,000.00 624,860.00 4,610,500.00 18,000.00

Value Last Price 48,538,457.00 6.84 46,297,050.00 1.26 5,807,955.00 5.3 801,595.00 5.23 12,914,660.00 3.09 10,672,590.00 0.8 8,008.00 7.03 6,019,310.00 2.27 51,717,510.00 1.82 17,582,080.00 10.98 26,074,110.00 0.5 198,530,157.50 53.5 7,127,050.00 0.34 70,022,381.50 56 52,010.00 2.16 8,257,190.00 2.81 13,600.00 4.5 111,104,091.00 173.7 73,003,920.00 15.62 22,500.00 1.25

Chg -0.78 -0.14 -0.5 -0.45 -0.26 -0.06 -0.47 -0.15 -0.12 -0.72 -0.03 -3.15 -0.02 -3 -0.1 -0.13 -0.2 -7.7 -0.68 -0.05

%Chg -10.24% -10.00% -8.62% -7.92% -7.76% -6.98% -6.27% -6.20% -6.19% -6.15% -5.66% -5.56% -5.56% -5.08% -4.42% -4.42% -4.26% -4.24% -4.17% -3.85%

B4

TUESDAY April 16, 2019

Foreign Business

Democrats challenge titans of Wall Street W

ASHINGTON, D.C.: On the campaign trail and in Congress, Democrats are challenging the titans of Wall Street, proclaiming a “new day� as they seek to channel the anger of their party and voters that has raged since the kNANCIAL CRISIS

CEOs of America’s biggest banks were summoned for the kRST TIME SINCE THE CRISIS BY a congressional committee on Wednesday, raising their hands as they swore their oaths ahead of their testimony.

It was a powerful image that underscored the recent change in control of the House of Representatives, which came under Democratic control in January after eight years of Republican rule. “This is a new way and it’s a new DAY u SAID -AXINE 7ATERS THE kRST WOMAN AND kRST !FRICAN !MERICAN to chair the powerful House FiNANCIAL 3ERVICES #OMMITTEE 4IM 3LOAN THE FORMER #%/ OF 7ELLS &ARGO TESTIkED AT A PREVIOUS hearing in March.

This time, it was the turn of the heads of Citigroup, JP Morgan #HASE #O -ORGAN 3TANLEY "ANK OF !MERICA 3TATE 3TREET #ORPORAtion, BNY Mellon and Goldman 3ACHS Waters had previously tangled with some of them at the peak of THE CRISIS WHEN THE GLOBAL kNANcial system was imperiled.

The current round of crossexaminations has less to do with THE STABILIZATION OF THE kNANCIAL system and more the social impact OF 7ALL 3TREET “You, captains of the universe, are smart enough and creative

Q In this file photo taken on April 10, 2019 Citigroup Chief Executive Officer Michael Corbat (left), JP Morgan Chase & Co. Chairman & Chief Executive Officer James Dimon (second from left) and others are sworn in before they testify before the House Financial Services Committee on accountability for mega banks in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on April 10, 2019. AFP PHOTO

enough and understand this business enough to see what you can do about these citizens, these young people,� said Waters.

3OME OF THE $EMOCRATS ON THE committee have focused on spotlighting the gap between these executives, all male, white and fabulously wealthy, and the rest of society — a tactic criticized by the panel’s ranking Republican as headline-seeking.

In one probing exchange, Nydia 6ELAZQUEZ A $EMOCRAT OF .EW York, pressed Citigroup Chief Executive Michael Corbat to justify his 2018 pay of $24.2 million, an estimated 486 times that of the average employee.

Corbat said his pay was set by the board of directors and that, if he were an average employee who observed the yawning gap, “I would be hopeful that there’s the opportunity to continue to advance.� “This is why people who live in a bubble and in an ivory tower cannot understand the anger out there, especially among millenniALS u 6ELASQUEZ SHOT BACK

Counter attack It is this groundswell of anger, DESPITE SOLD GROWTH kGURES AND plentiful employment, that Democrats are hoping to tap not only to keep their House majority in 2020 BUT ALSO TO SEIZE THE 3ENATE AND the White House.

7ALL 3TREET AND ITS BIG BOSSES are already a key part the of the presidential campaigns of several candidates vying for the Democratic nomination, spearheaded by ULTRA PROGRESSIVES "ERNIE 3ANDERS and Elizabeth Warren. “Our campaign is about taking on the powerful special interests that dominate our economic and POLITICAL LIFE u VOWED 3ANDERS A socialist.

The independent senator from 6ERMONT ‡ WHO VOTES WITH THE Democrats — introduced a bill in October “to break up the nation’s biggest banks.�

Ten years ago, Warren was deeply involved in the rescue and reforms that took place after the kNANCIAL CRISIS MAKING REGULATION

OF 7ALL 3TREET HER DEkNING ISSUE 3HE HAS ALREADY INKED OUT DEtailed proposals for dismantling tech giants, raising taxes on huge COMPANIES AND TIGHTENING kNANcial regulations.

Warren is already a powerful VOICE FOR THESE ISSUES IN THE 3ENate, though her party remains in opposition there.

But she is delighted to see her colleagues in the House on the offensive. “The Republicans have been trying as hard as they can to reduce oversight over the biggest banks AND THE $EMOCRATS ARE NOW kGHTing back,� she told AFP. “The too big to fail banks are bigger than ever and they are up to their old ways of trying to hide risks on their balance sheets and at least some of them have been caught repeatedly cheating their own customers. “That’s how we got into a big mess in 2008 that nearly broke the worldwide economy and that’s why they should be better regulated today.�

AFP

emergency funds.

They had planned to strike from Monday but postponed the action until after the bankers’ meeting.

4HE 3TATE "ANK OF )NDIA LED LENDers took control of Jet last month, pledging to give $218 million of “immediate funding support� as part of a debt resolution plan.

But most of the funds have not been released and Jet, which is now operating a skeleton service, needs the money desperately or could go bust within days, Indian media reports say.

Jet has been in a tailspin for MONTHS !LL OF ITS INTERNATIONAL lIGHTS have been suspended until at least

Tuesday, with Europe and North America particularly badly hit.

Hundreds of staff protested in New Delhi and Mumbai over the weekend demanding to be paid and calling for the company to be rescued.

The Mumbai-based firm has defaulted on loans and repeatedly failed to pay staff and lessors in recent months.

4HE 3") LED CONSORTIUM IS TRYING TO kND A BUYER FOR *ET WHICH was until recently India’s secondbiggest airline by market share.

A deadline passed Friday for prospective bidders to express an interest in acquiring a 75 percent

Q LOW FROM B1

Q PEREZ FROM B1

OFW remittances

Understanding the China ‘debt

for 77.3 percent of total cash remittances for the two-month period.

OFW remittances hit $32.21 billion last year, the “highest annual level to date� according to the central bank.

Q GUIDELINES FROM B1

SEC unveils sustainability est 250 companies doing so based on a 2017 KPMG survey.

In the Philippines, however, only 22 percent of PLCs had published SUSTAINABILITY REPORTS AS OF THE 3%# SAID 3%# #HAIRPERSON %MILIO !QUINO SAID THE ISSUANCE OF 3USTAINABILITY Reporting Guidelines would not only make PLCs aware of sustainability but make it a part of their priorities. “We hope we would all be reminded that the responsibility of creating a sustainable environment is an obligation so basic and imperative that it precedes any kind of law. It is a call for the preservation of humankind, of our generation and of the generations to come,� he added.

03% 0RESIDENT 2AMON -ONZON SAID COMPANIES HAD THE gINHERENT responsibility� of adopting sustainability as part of good governance. “We must accept the moral and social accountability to be at the FOREFRONT IN ACTING ON AND UPHOLDING THE 3$'S SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPment goals) relevant to us,� he said. “To realize this, sustainability should be at the core of our corporate culture and ingrained in the organization’s mindset from the board of directors to our newest hire, even the interns.� EIREENE JAIREE GOMEZ

audit report in 2017 that indicated multiple laws were broken caused the IMF and 14 other major deVELOPMENT kNANCE INSTITUTIONS TO suspend their programs for Mozambique.

The whole “Chinese debt trap� fable got its start in December 2017 with a New York Times report that THE GOVERNMENT OF 3RI ,ANKA HAD been forced to hand over a Chinesefunded container port to its creditors after being unable to pay its loans.

The implication of the story was that #HINA HAD MANEUVERED 3RI ,ANKA

WHICH WAS ALREADY IN kNANCIAL STRAITS as a result of excessive borrowing, into a deal it couldn’t possibly manage, thereby securing a key node in its Belt and Road network at a bargain price. The story of the Hambantota Port has since become Exhibit A in the evidence of China’s nefarious intent.

A closer examination of the cir-

w w w.manilatimes.net

Indonesia elections push China deals center stage JAKARTA: Indonesia has become the latest election battleground for Beijing’s soaring economic clout, as the opposition warns pro-China policies are saddling the mineral-rich archipelago with bad debt as it is sold off piecemeal to foreign interests.

Business links with top trade partner China have been thrust into the spotlight by ex-general Prabowo 3UBIANTO WHO IS CHALLENGING )NDOnesian leader Joko Widodo for the PRESIDENCY OF 3OUTHEAST !SIA S LARGEST economy on Wednesday.

Trailing by double digits in the POLLS 3UBIANTO HAS LEANED ON A kERY nationalist ticket and pledged to reevaluate Chinese investment, even as Jakarta courts huge contracts from Beijing’s $1.0 trillion Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). “All (BRI) initiatives should be reviewed,� Irawan Ronodipuro, forEIGN AFFAIRS DIRECTOR FOR 3UBIANTO S campaign, told AFP. “Blindly embracing these projects can compromise the national interest.�

Pushing back at China’s globespanning project has proved successFUL ELSEWHERE IN !SIA INCLUDING IN 3RI Lanka, the Maldives and Malaysia, as the trademark infrastructure push to link Asia, Europe and Africa is used to whip up fears about eroding sovereignty. “China’s growing economic power has become a key election issue in many Asian countries ... with opposition politicians winning the elections after they criticise incumbents for their ‘pro-China’ policies,� Deasy 3IMANDJUNTAK A VISITING )NDONESIAN RESEARCHER AT THE 3INGAPORE BASED )NSTITUTE OF 3OUTHEAST !SIAN 3TUDIES

told AFP.

Ports and power plants

stake in the carrier.

Etihad Airways, which owns a 24 percent stake, has submitted an expression of interest to buy a controlling stake of up to 75 percent, according to media reports.

Naresh Goyal, who founded the airline but quit as chairman last month, has also lodged a bid, as have several private equity groups, newspapers said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, for whom a collapse of Jet would be a blow as it seeks a second term in a national election, convened a crisis meeting on Friday evening.

AFP

3INCE TAKING OFkCE IN 7IDODO has pushed Chinese investment to fulkL HIS OWN MULTI BILLION DOLLAR DRIVE to build much-needed roads, airports and other infrastructure across the sprawling archipelago of more than 17,000 islands.

Last year, China and Indonesia signed $23 billion in belt and road initiative contracts, including two hydro power plants on Borneo island and a power station on holiday hotspot Bali.

Indonesia has since said it would offer $91 billion worth of projects — from ports to power plants — to Chinese investors at a Beijing summit in late April, just after the polls. #HINESE kRMS ARE ALREADY INVOLVED in several other ventures, includING AN INDUSTRIAL PARK ON 3ULAWESI island and a $6.0 billion high-speed railway between the capital Jakarta and mountain-fringed Bandung city ‡ WHICH 3UBIANTO HAS PROMISED TO review.

Both projects have stoked fears ABOUT AN INlUX OF #HINESE WORKERS and Indonesia taking on unsustainable debt.

Perceptions about Chinese encroachment have a particular resonance in the country of 260 million,

cumstances, however, casts China’s involvement in a decidedly more favorable light. The idea of a new PORT IN (AMBANTOTA ON 3RI ,ANKA S southeast coast was first raised but rejected in 2003. The election of Hambantota native Mahinda Rajapaksa as president in 2005, however, gave the port project new life, particularly since the area had been devastated by the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. A combination of bonds and Chinese LOANS IN kNANCED CONSTRUCtion of Phase 1 of the port, which was opened in 2010 – a full three years before China’s Belt and Road Initiative was launched.

Just as the 2003 feasibility study had predicted, the new HambanTOTA 0ORT WAS A kNANCIAL DISASTER

racking up $304 million in cumulative losses by the end of 2016. In July 2017, the port’s builder, China Harbor Engineering Co. (CMPH), proposed a rescue: $1.12 billion in additional investment under a public-private partnership (PPP) scheme, in exchange for 85 percent of the shares of Hambantota International Port Group (HIPG),

the joint venture given a 99-year CONCESSION BY THE 3RI ,ANKA 0ORT !UTHORITY 3,0! TO OPERATE THE port. HIPG would then acquire 58 percent of Hambantota InternaTIONAL 0ORT 3ERVICES ()03 WHICH had a similar concession to operate the port’s common user facility.

5NDER THE ARRANGEMENT 3,0! would retain 15 and 42 percent OF ()0' AND ()03 RESPECTIVELY

would have the option to buy back 20 percent of the HIPG shares after 10 years, and would have all shares of both concessionaires returned to it at the end of the 99-year term.

Although the deal is obviously favorable to the Chinese investors, when explained properly it begins to sound much more like a conventional PPP arrangement than the seizure of collateral as characterized by the media and skeptical politicians. And it is worth noting that the investment over and above the port’s original $1.4 billion price tag carries more than a little risk, as the facility HAS BEEN DEMONSTRABLY UNPROkTABLE To improve its viability, the Chinese kRM IS ADDING A SQUARE KILOMETER ECONOMIC ZONE A LIQUIkED NATURAL

Jet Airways lenders to decide on emergency cash MUMBAI: Jet Airways’ lenders were to meet Monday to decide whether to release crucial funds to keep the STRICKEN )NDIAN CARRIER lYING AS IT teeters on the brink of collapse.

Thousands of passengers have been stranded in recent days after the airline, which has debts of more than $1 billion, cancelled ALL INTERNATIONAL lIGHTS AS IT CANNOT pay its bills.

The airline has only seven jets left after dozens of others were seized by creditors in recent weeks.

Pilots, engineers, and ground staff who have not been paid for three months have said they will strike if the banks do not inject

˜ The Manila Times

as resentment lingers over the success of some billionaire Chinese Indonesians who control vast swathes of the economy.

The ethnic minority has suffered a long history of discrimination, including being a target during anticommunist purges in the mid-1960s. “Chinese capital is associated with communism and that is threatening,� said Trissia Wijaya, an East Asian political economy specialist at Australia’s Murdoch University. “It’s very ingrained in the Indonesian mindset,� she added.

‘Indonesia first’ However, debate over Widodo’s so-called pivot to China was full of misleading claims, said Wijaya, with a tide of fake news online fanning anti-Beijing sentiment. “Most Chinese investment in Indonesia is in industry, such as mining,� she told AFP, adding that little was in strategic or sensitive assets.

The deals involve mostly privatesector companies and brought muchneeded capital to build industrial processing plants such as the one in 3ULAWESI ADDED THE )NDONESIAN academic.

Analysts said it was too early to KNOW IF 3UBIANTO WOULD TAKE AN outright anti-China policy if he takes OFkCE BUT THERE ARE SIGNS THAT INVEStors are nervous about his plans for the economy. “His rhetoric is so extreme that I think he would have to follow through on at least some of it,� said Kevin O’Rourke, an Indonesia-based political risk analyst. “There would be a lot of jitters among foreign investors.�

4HE YEAR OLD 3UBIANTO IS A PROponent of “smart nationalism� who, TAKING A PAGE FROM 53 0RESIDENT $ONald Trump nationalist policies, would PUT g)NDONESIA kRSTu COUNTERED HIS foreign affairs director Ronodipuro. “But that doesn’t mean we’ll start putting restrictions on trade and investment,� he added.

Ahead of the polls, Widodo has been burnishing his own nationalist credentials, including taking back control of the giant Grasberg gold AND COPPER MINE FROM 53 OPERATOR Freeport-McMoRan. He can also claim a relatively solid ECONOMIC RECORD WITH INlATION AT historically low levels and a slump in the rupiah currency coming off 2018 lows.

Annual growth is hovering around 5.0 percent, although it is still well short of Widodo’s 2014 election pledge to hit seven percent annually.

While the former furniture exporter, popularly known as Jokowi, has faced criticism that big-ticket infrastructure projects have done little to help the poor, some voters appear TO SEE TANGIBLE BENEkTS “The president’s work is real — WE VE SEEN IT u SAID 5NTUNG 3RI 2EJEKI

a 53-year-old housewife in Central Java. “There is development happening all over.�

AFP gas plant, and a tourist port to the existing facilities, and will sink $400 million to $600 million into the port’s Phase 3 expansion, scheduled to be completed in 2021.

The world at large, and developing ECONOMIES IN PARTICULAR ARE lIRTING WITH A DEBT CRISIS A SIGNIkCANT PART of that debt probably can be attributed to unsound decisions to accept loans with some dubious terms, and given the volume of business done

by Chinese businesses around the world, it is likely that some questionable loans indeed have their sources in China. There is not, however, an obvious plan on the part of China to lay “debt traps� in other countries, nor is there discernible evidence happening at all. Loan deals for development should be transparent and publicly monitored, and that is not happening with consistency, as the World Bank and IMF leadership has pointed out. Focusing on that problem rather than the “debt trap� phantom may not be as entertaining, but it will be more productive in the long run.

Email: ben.kritz@manilatimes.net

˜ The Manila Times

w w w.manilatimes.net

NKorea marks founder’s 112th birth anniversary PYONGYANG: Tens of thousands of North Koreans turned out to pay tribute to their leaders on Monday, the most important day of the isolated, nuclear-armed country’s ritual calendar.

In the North April 15 is known as the Day of the Sun, the anniversary of the 1912 birth of the country’s founder Kim Il Sung, whose son Kim Jong Il succeeded him and grandson Kim Jong Un, the current leader, inherited power in turn.

North Koreans are taught from birth to revere the Kim family and the ceremonies surrounding such occasions are one of the ways in which authorities reinforce loyalty.

From early morning, a steady stream of citizens arrived at Mansu hill in Pyongyang, where giant bronze statues of the two elder Kims look out over the capital.

Platoons of soldiers, staff of work units, families, newlyweds and tourists all lined up before the IMAGES ADVANCING TO PLACE lOWERS

at their base. “Let us pay tribute to the great president Kim Il Sung and the great leader Kim Jong Il,� intoned an announcer half-hidden by lORAL BASKETS AND ALL BOWED IN unison, the troops saluting.

Retired colonel Ra Man Ok, 84, wiped tears from her eyes as she stood before the statues, took a few paces backwards still facing the images, and bowed an extra, second time. “I want to pay tribute with my spirit to the great leaders because I am too old to repay their benevolence with my labour,� she told AFP, wearing the uniform in which she had marched in a military parade decades ago. “My motto is that everybody can realize their hopes only by following the leadership of our party THROUGH ALL TRIALS AND DIFkCULTIES u Ordinary North Koreans always express wholehearted support for the authorities when speaking to foreign media.

AFP

World SKorea leader seeks 4th summit with Pyongyang S TUESDAY April 16, 2019

EOUL: South Korean President Moon Jae-in is willing to go anywhere to meet Kim Jong Un for a fourth summit, he said Monday, hailing the North Korean leader’s willingness to salvage high-stakes talks with the United States.

Kim said he was open to a third meeting with US President Donald Trump if Washington offered “mutually acceptable terms� after their second summit in Hanoi broke down in part over Pyongyang’s demands for immediate sanctions relief.

Moon, who brokered the talks between Washington and Pyong-

YANG WELCOMED +IM S gkRM COMmitment for the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula� and called for what would be his fourth meeting with the North’s leader. “As soon as North Korea is ready, I hope the two Koreas will be able to sit down together, regardless of venue and form,� Moon told a

meeting with his top aides. “I will spare no effort to ensure that the upcoming inter-Korean summit becomes a stepping stone for an even bigger opportunity and A MORE SIGNIkCANT OUTCOME u The remarks come after Moon’s brief summit with Trump at the White House last week as he tries to reignite the stalled diplomacy.

Moon, who has long backed engagement with the nucleararmed North, has been pushing for the resumption of inter-Korean economic projects, but doing so would fall foul of international

B5

sanctions imposed on Pyongyang.

4RUMP AND +IM HELD THEIR kRST landmark summit in Singapore last June, where they signed a vaguelyworded agreement on the “denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.�

The failure to reach agreement at their second summit in Hanoi has raised questions over the future of the accord.

Washington has blamed the deadlock on the North’s demands for sanctions relief in return for limited nuclear disarmament, but Pyongyang said it had wanted only some of the measures eased. AFP

Malaysia ex-PM’s graft trial resumes KUALA Lumpur: Toppled Malaysian leader Najib Razak returned to court for the second day of his HIGH PROkLE CORRUPTION TRIAL -ONday, with the former premier accused of plundering large sums from scandal-hit state fund 1MDB. 4HE YEAR OLD kNALLY WENT ON trial this month over his alleged role in looting the investment VEHICLE THE kRST OF SEVERAL COURT cases he is expected to face over the controversy.

The ex-prime minister and his cronies are accused of stealing billions of dollars from 1MDB and spending it on everything — from high-end real estate to artworks and a luxury yacht.

The allegations played a large part in prompting voters to oust his corruption-plagued coalition, which had been in power for six

decades, at historic elections last year. Since then, Najib has been arrested and hit with dozens of charges over the scandal.

The ex-leader’s highly-anticipated trial began on April 3, with Najib denying seven charges related to the theft of 42 million ringgit ($10.2 million) from SRC International, a former 1MDB unit.

It is just a fraction of the money Najib is accused of stealing — he has also been charged in a separate case over the alleged transfer of $681 million to his bank account.

He arrived at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur Monday for the second day of proceedings, wearing a dark suit and tie, and passed through a scrum of journalists before entering the courtroom and taking his seat in the dock. AFP

Gay SKorean soldiers trapped in legal bind SEOUL: Productive and driven, he was a model army officer, but he had a secret: he was in a gay sexual relationship with a fellow soldier — a crime under South Korea’s military law.

He kept his sexuality hidden from everyone, including friends and family, only meeting his lover off-base and after work.

Same-sex acts are legal for South Korean civilians, although homosexual people live largely under the radar as it remains a conservative society, influenced by evangelical Christianity.

But the South Korean military classes openly gay men in its ranks as having “special needs� and campaigners say it actively pursues soldiers who have consensual same-sex intercourse with each other. “I worked very hard as an officer, but

none of that mattered when I became a suspect,� the 27-year-old, who asked for anonymity, told AFP. “There were days when I just wanted to die,� he added, explaining that he was caught after authorities discovered his messages on his partner’s phone.

He faced a criminal conviction and a possible forced outing to his parents, whom he had hoped would never find out the truth about his homosexuality, describing them as “conservative, devout Christians.�

South Korea has a conscript army to defend itself against the nuclear-armed North, with all able-bodied male citizens obliged to serve for nearly two years.

Doing so is seen as a patriotic duty, and failure to complete service can bring enduring stigma that affects social standing, employment prospects and more.

AFP

DEAR LEADER People leave after paying their respects before the statues of late North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, as part of celebrations marking the anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung, the grandfather of current President Kim Jong Un. AFP PHOTO

China plays role in 3rd nuke talks America CHINA would step up its mediation and arbitration role for a potential third North Korea-US summit, Chinese observers commented Sunday, after North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un said he is open to another bilateral meeting with US President Donald Trump if certain conditions were met.

Kim made the remarks in his policy speech marking the First Session of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly on Friday, a day before he was reelected chairman of the country’s State Affairs Commission. “If the US adopts a correct posture and comes forward for the third summit with a certain methodology that can be shared with us, we can think of holding one more talk,� Kim said, adding “It is necessary for both sides not to table their unilateral demands BUT kND A CONSTRUCTIVE SOLUTION to meet each other’s interests,� according to Saturday report from

THE NORTH S OFkCIAL +OREAN #ENTRAL News Agency.

Kim said “we will wait for a bold decision from the US with patience till the end of this year.â€? “Peaceful talks and negotiations remain the best way to achieve the goal of Korean Peninsula denuclearization, and the recent exchange of intent to set up another Kim-Trump summit proves again the idea is shared and agreed on by all relevant parties,â€? LĂź Chao, a research fellow at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday.

Korean Peninsula denuclearization is a matter closely related to China’s border security, he said. g#HINA AS ONE OF THE kVE PERMAnent members of the UN Security Council, will continue to spare no effort to facilitate communication between North Korea and the US, and if it’s likely there will be a third summit between the two leaders,

China will also step up to play an arbitrational role, to ensure the results of the talks are durable, practical and favorable to both sides,� Lß said.

In his speech, Kim accused the US of only considering its own interests during the second North Korea-US Summit in Vietnamese capital Hanoi in February, which has led his country to question Trump’s willingness to improve relations with Pyongyang.

LĂź said that the key to building enough mutual trust between the two to make a third summit possible largely lies in whether the US will send signals that show SUFkCIENT SINCERITY INCLUDING SERIously considering a phased denuclearization approach, as opposed to its complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement policy, and partially lifting its unilateral economic sanctions imposed on North Korea.

GLOBAL TIMES

All set for Indonesia polls JAKARTA, Indonesia: Tens of thousands of Indonesians flocked to presidential campaign rallies -ONDAY AHEAD OF A kNAL DEBATE between the two candidates, a day before 193 million registered voters of country head to the polling precincts.

Supporters of President Joko g*OKOWIu 7IDODO kLLED A STADIUM in central Jakarta, while the vice presidential running mate of challenger Prabowo Subianto held a rally in a satellite city.

Polls surveys show Widodo has maintained a big lead over Subianto for months, despite earlier news of vote-rigging in favor of the incumbent.

Speaking to a crowd of more than 100,000, Widodo emphasized the importance of his big ticket infrastructure policy and education for the country’s future development.

He said pluralism is nonnegotiable in Muslim-majority Indonesia, addressing supporters’ fears about the aims of a

conservative Islamic movement that backs Subianto. “People in a developing nation must be optimistic because we still have big jobs to do and face big challenges,� Widodo said.

Widodo and Subianto appeared IN THE kNAL OF kVE TELEVISED DEBATES between the presidential and vice presidential candidates on Saturday evening.

About 193 million Indonesians are eligible to vote Wednesday in presidential and legislative elections. Widodo, who narrowly defeated Subianto in the 2014 election, IS )NDONESIA S kRST PRESIDENT FROM outside the Jakarta elite. Subianto IS AN ESTABLISHMENT kGURE FROM A wealthy family who was a special forces general during the Suharto dictatorship that ended amid social and economic chaos in 1998.

Subianto’s running mate, Sandiaga Uno, told a crowd of thousands in Tangerang that a government led by them would focus on ensuring Indonesians had good

POLL CLEANUP Indonesian workers clean a warehouse storing ballot boxes after it was flooded due to torrential rain in Bogor, West Java on April 15, 2019, ahead of the April 17 elections. Some 193 million Indonesians are set to cast their ballots on Wednesday. AFP PHOTO

jobs and a lower cost of living. “We will be able to unite the country and make this country very strong,� said Uno, a business-

man who has spent more than $100 million on the campaign.

Subianto supporter Akhirudin Konsi said he wants a “president

WHO WILL kGHT FOR OUR RIGHTS AND stand behind people, who will lower prices, especially education, fuel and basic needs.

AP

thanks Cambodia THE Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) of the United States thanked the Cambodian government for its cooperation in locating and recovering the remains of US soldiers missing since the Vietnam War. Lt. Gen. Hun Manet posted via Facebook on Friday that Scott Ebell, DPAA chief of staff, had expressed his gratefulness to the Royal Government of Cambodia, and especially the Prime Minister, for their support of and cooperation with US teams that recover the mortal remains of American soldiers in Cambodian soil.

Manet quoted the prime Minister: “It is painful to lose a relative in a war and it’s even more painful when the relative’s remains are never found.�

The joint POW/MIA program has run successfully for more than 30 years, with a short hiatus. It resumed operations last year through the intervention of the Prime Minister because Cambodia sought to elevate bilateral relations and deepen across-theboard cooperation with the US on the basis of shared interests and reciprocal respect.

Manet informed the DPAA that if it had any suggestions to better fulfilling its mission, it should inform Cambodia.

Gen Hun Manet followed the invitation of Brig Gen Braga, commander of the Special Operation Command Pacific, to ATTEND THE 0ACIkC !REA 3PECIAL Operation Conference. in Honolulu, Hawaii (April 8 to 12), and thanked him for the invitation on the same Facebook post.

KHMER TIMES

B6

World

˜ The Manila Times w w w.manilatimes.net

TUESDAY April 16, 2019

Barr engaged in illegal spying – Trump W

ASHINGTON, D.C.: With the release of the special counsel’s fuller report looming, US President Donald Trump and his campaign are twisting the words of his attorney general and the facts of the Russia investigation.

His 2020 campaign is telling supporters in fundraising pitches that Attorney General William Barr had revealed illegal spying against Trump

during the 2016 presidential race. But it’s not true. While Barr told lawmakers that he believed spying took place, he never concluded it was illegal

and made clear several times he was not suggesting a crime had occurred.

Meanwhile, Trump kept up his refrain that special counsel Robert Mueller had totally exonerated him despite Mueller’s exact quotes in Barr’s summary that he did not.

A redacted version of Mueller’s full report is expected in the coming days.

The misstatements were among a number of factual faux pas and lIPS IN RHETORIC THIS PAST WEEK With his government seeking to prosecute WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, Trump seemed to draw a blank on a hacking organization he praised to the rafters during the 2016 campaign because of the discomfort it caused his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.

And speaking before Monday’s TAX kLING DEADLINE 4RUMP SEEMED to change the grounds upon which he is refusing to release his taxes: It’s not because he can’t, but because he doesn’t want to.

Barr, meanwhile, never said there was illegal spying.

During a Senate hearing on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila), the attorney general actually made clear he HAD NO SPECIkC

evidence to cite that any surveillance was illegal or improper. “I think spying did occur,� Barr told lawmakers. “But the question is whether it was adequately predicated and I’m not suggesting it wasn’t adequately predicated, but I need to explore that.�

He later added: “I am not saying that improper surveillance occurred. I am saying that I am concerned about it and looking into it.�

AP

Death toll in Iran floods rises to 76 THE RECENT lOODINGS IN MOST PARTS OF )RAN KILLED at least 76 people, Press TV reported on Sunday.

The heavy downpours in north, west and southwest of the country also caused hundreds injured. )RANIAN OFkCIALS ARE WARNING THAT EVEN THOUGH lOODWATERS HAD BEEN RECEDING IN MOST PARTS OF the country, several provinces remained under the lOOD ALERTS DUE TO RENEWED HEAVY PRECIPITATION Ahad Vazifeh, an official with Iran’s Meteorological Organization, said that there was a possibility that flash floods could still affect the southern provinces of Fars and Hormozgan, Sistan and Baluchestan in the southeast, as well as South Khorasan and Khorasan Razavi provinces in the northeast of the country, which are in a state of emergency.

Rainfall was also expected to intensify in the southwestern Province of Khuzestan, he was quoted as saying.

Massive downpours swept 25 out of 31 lranian provinces since March 19, with raging currents of water battering houses, washing away cars, destroying the infrastructures and agricultural fields.

GLOBAL TIMES

MYANMAR ICONS

Shan ethnic people participate in a rehearsal in Panghsang on Monday, ahead of a military parade to celebrate 30 years of a ceasefire signed with the Myanmar military. AFP PHOTO

US lawmaker bares death threats Worldinbriefs Trump reelection DEATHS FROM US STORMS REACH 8 fund hits $30M WASHINGTON, D.C.: US President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign is set to report that it raised more than $30 million in the first quarter of 2019, edging out his top two Democratic rivals combined, according to figures it provided to The Associated Press.

The haul brings the campaign’s cash on hand to $40.8 million, an unprecedented war chest for an incumbent president this early in a campaign.

The Trump campaign said nearly 99 percent of its donations were of $200 or less, with an average donation of $34.26.

Trump’s fundraising ability was matched by the Republican National Committee (RNC), which brought in $45.8 million in the first quarter — its best nonelection year total. Combined, the pro-Trump effort is reporting $82 million in the bank, with $40.8 million belonging to the campaign alone.

Trump formally launched his reelection effort just hours after taking office in 2017, earlier than any incumbent has in prior years. By contrast, former president Barack Obama launched his 2012 effort in April 2011 and had under $2 million on hand at this point in the campaign.

Obama went on to raise more than $720 million for his reelection. Trump’s reelection effort has set a $1 billion target for 2020.

Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale said in a statement that Trump “is in a vastly stronger position at this point than any previous incumbent president running for reelection, and only continues to build momentum.�

Trump’s fundraising with the RNC is divided between two entities: Trump Victory, the joint account used for high-dollar gifts, and the Trump Make America Great Again Committee, the low-dollar digital fundraising operation known internally as “T-Magic.� The campaign is set to launch a traditional “bundling� program — which it lacked in 2016 — in the coming weeks. Bundlers are mid-tier donors, who bring in contributions from their associates.

Together, the Trump entities have raised a combined $165.5 million since 2017.

Trump is benefiting from the advantages of incumbency, like universal name recognition and his unrivaled position atop the Republican Party. AP

WASHINGTON, D.C.: Rep. Ilhan Omar says she’s faced increased death threats since US President Donald Trump spread around a video that purports to show her being dismissive of the 2001 terrorist attacks. “This is endangering lives,� she said, accusing Trump of fomenting right-wing extremism. “It has to stop.�

Her statement late Sunday (early Monday in Manila) followed an announcement by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that she has taken steps to ensure the safety of the Minnesota Democrat and the speaker’s call for Trump to take down the video.

Soon after Pelosi’s statement, the video disappeared as a pinned

tweet at the top of Trump’s Twitter feed, but it was not deleted.

Pelosi was among Democrats who had criticized Trump over the tweet, with some accusing him of trying to incite violence against the Muslim lawmaker. An upstate New York man recently was charged with making death threats against her.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders defended Trump earlier Sunday, saying the president has a duty to highlight Omar’s history of making comments that others deem antiSemitic or otherwise offensive and that he wished no “ill will�

UPON THE kRST TERM LAWMAKER But Omar said that since Trump

retweeted the video Friday night, she’s received many threats on her life that referred or replied to the posted video. “Violent crimes and other acts of hate by right-wing extremists and white nationalists are on the rise in this country and around the world,� she said. “We can no longer ignore that they are being encouraged by the occupant of THE HIGHEST OFkCE IN THE LAND u 3HE said: “We are all Americans.�

Earlier, Pelosi issued a statement, while traveling in London, saying she had spoken with congressional authorities “to ensure that Capitol Police are conducting a security assessment to safeguard Congresswoman Omar, her family and her staff. AP

Israeli president selects next PM JERUSALEM: Israeli President Reuven Rivlin began a series of meetings Monday with representatives of political parties voted into parliament in last week’s elections ahead of choosing who will form the next government.

Rivlin would appear to have little choice but to pick incumbent Prime Minister (PM) Benjamin Netanyahu after his party won the most seats in the April 9 vote, leaving it best placed to form a coalition government.

Netanyahu’s Likud party, which WON SEATS WAS THE kRST TO MEET Rivlin on Monday morning.

The consultations, broadcast

GIANT PETS

live from Rivlin’s residence, will take place over two days, during which members of each party will tell the president who they think should be tasked with forming the government.

The President will assign the mission to the member of parliament who wins the support of at least 61 lawmakers, constituting a majority of the parliament’s 120 members. “The process should reflect THE PEOPLE S WILL AS RElECTED IN their vote,� said Rivlin, a former Likud member whose relationship with Netanyahu has been tense at times.

“A president does not choose a prime minister, nor does one person from the population. The sovereign does, and the sovereign is the people.�

There were no surprises from the Likud’s representatives when asked who they thought should form a coalition. “We naturally would like to recommend Benjamin Netanyahu, head of the Likud and the prime minister, as the person who won the most trust, the broadest public support, to be the one to form the next government,� outgoing Tourism Minister Yariv Levin told Rivlin. AFP

Indonesian mahouts bath Sumatran elephants in a river at Trumon animal corridor in Leuser ecosystem area, Southern Aceh province. AFP PHOTO

POWERFUL storms swept across the south of the US on Sunday (Monday in Manila) after unleashing suspected tornadoes and flooding that killed at least eight people, injured dozens and flattened much of a Texas town. Three children were among the dead. Nearly 90,000 customers were without electricity in Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas and Georgia as of midday Sunday, according to www.poweroutage.us as the severe weather left a trail of destruction. Two children were killed on a back road in East Texas when a pine tree fell onto the car in which they were riding in a severe thunderstorm Saturday near Pollok, about 150 miles (241 kilometers) southeast of Dallas. The tree “flattened the car like a pancake,� said Capt. Alton Lenderman of the Angelina County Sheriff’s Office.

AP

POMPEO VISITS VENEZUELA-COLOMBIA BORDER CUCUTA, Colombia: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Venezuelan migrants in Colombia on Sunday as he wrapped up a four-nation tour of South America aimed at pressuring Venezuela’s socialist president, Nicolas Maduro.

Pompeo went to a migrant center in the border town of Cucuta with Colombian President Ivan Duque. Not far away, Venezuelan security forces with riot gear stood in the middle of the Simon Bolivar international bridge separating the two countries. The migrant center has been the first stop for some 3.4 million Venezuelans who have fled hyperinflation, severe shortages of food and medicine, and political upheaval in their homeland.

AP

IS-ABDUCTED NURSE IN ‘13 ALIVE — RED CROSS GENEVA: A New Zealand nurse believed to have been abducted with two drivers

by Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria in 2013 might still be alive, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has revealed for the first time in an appeal for news of her whereabouts. Louisa Akavi was snatched along with Syrian drivers Alaa Rajab and Nabil Bakdounes while travelling in a Red Cross convoy delivering supplies to Idlib, in the northwest of the country. Armed men stopped their convoy on Oct.13, 2013, and abducted seven people, four of whom were released the following day. The ICRC said it believed they were abducted by the IS. AFP

SUDAN PROTESTERS WANT CIVILAN RULE KHARTOUM: Sudanese protesters on Sunday demanded the country’s military rulers to “immediately� hand power over to a civilian government that should then bring ousted leader Omar al-Bashir to justice. Thousands remained encamped outside Khartoum’s army headquarters to keep up pressure on a military council that took power after ousting Bashir on Thursday. The organization that spearheaded the protests against Bashir, the Sudanese Professionals Association, called on the council “to immediately transfer power to a civilian government.�

AFP

CHINA SEIZES 7.4 TONS OF IVORY TUSKS CHINESE customs seized 7.48 tons of smuggled ivory tusks during an operation on March 30 this year, the General Administration of Customs (GAC) said in a press release Monday. It is the largest confiscation of smuggled elephant tusks

by Chinese customs in recent years, the GAC said. An international ivory smuggling criminal gang was destroyed during the operation. So far this year, China has seized 8.48 tons of ivory and ivory products and 500.5 tons of endangered species in 182 smuggling cases involving 171 suspects, according to the press release.

GLOBAL TIMES

JAPAN REMOVES FUEL FROM DESTROYED PLANT TOKYO: The operator of Japan’s crippled Fukushima power plant on Monday began removing atomic fuel from inside a building housing one of the reactors that melted down in 2011. The delicate operation represents the first time the Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) has pulled out fuel rods from inside a highly contaminated building containing the melted-down reactor, and comes four years behind schedule. Due to high radiation levels, technicians used remotecontrolled equipment to haul fuel from a “storage pool� inside the building. Operations were briefly suspended early Monday afternoon after a problem with the equipment removing the fuel, but resumed shortly afterwards.

AFP

Public Square

˜ The Manila Times

w w w.manilatimes.net

Win a Maldives getaway with SM and Visa IN FOR A LUXURIOUS SUMMER GETAWAY ,OOK NO FURTHER 4HIS SUMMER

SHOPPERS AND FUN SEEKERS ALIKE CAN INDULGE IN DINING TREATS AND SHOP FOR SUMMER MUST HAVES AT 3- USING THEIR 6ISA CARD FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A TRIP FOR TWO TO THE -ALDIVES !N AMAZING OPPORTUNITY TO lY TO THE )NDIAN /CEAN PARADISE THIS PROMO STARTED FROM !PRIL TO *UNE IN PARTICIPATING 3- MALLS ACROSS THE COUNTRY 3- !URA 0REMIER 3- 3OUTHMALL 3- -EGAMALL 3- -ALL OF !SIA 3- #ITY .ORTH %$3!

4HE 0ODIUM 3- 3EASIDE #ITY #EBU

AND 3- ,ANANG 0REMIER &IVE LUCKY COUPLES WILL BE CHOSEN TO TAKE THE SUMMER HOLIDAY OF A LIFETIME WITH A ROUND TRIP lIGHT AND A THREE NIGHT ACCOMMODATION IN A 0REMIER 3EA 6IEW 2OOM WITH A BALCONY AT 6ELANA "LU -AAFUSHI !SIDE FROM ENJOYING THE PRISTINE WHITE SAND BANKS THE VACATION WILL INCLUDE ADVENTURES SUCH AS SNORKELLING WITH TURTLES

DOLPHIN WATCHING NIGHT kSHING

AN UNLIMITED CANOE RIDE AND A DAY TO CAPTURE PHOTOS AND VIDEOS

OF YOUR ADVENTURE DURING YOUR STAY 3IMPLY SHOP OR DINE IN ANY OF THE PARTICIPATING 3- MALL AND PAY WITH YOUR 6ISA CREDIT DEBIT

OR PREPAID CARD TO RECEIVE A RAFlE ENTRY 9OU CAN DOUBLE YOUR RAFlE ENTRIES WHEN YOU TAP TO PAY WITH 6ISA -AKING THE SEASON HOTTER

SHOPPERS CAN INSTANTLY WIN A REWARD ALONG WITH THEIR RAFFLE ENTRY WHEN THEY PRESENT A SINGLE RECEIPT WORTH A MINIMUM OF 0 USING STRAIGHT PAYMENTS 4HE WARM LUMINOUS CYAN BLUE WATERS AND SCHOOLS OF BRIGHTLY COLOURED CORALS AND TROPICAL SEA CREATURES AWAIT YOU IN A GLAMOROUS GETAWAY TO THE -ALDIVES &OLLOW Û3-6ISA3UMMER TO LEARN MORE

New World Manila Bay Hotel names new resident manager NEW 7ORLD -ANILA "AY (OTEL IS DELIGHTED TO ANNOUNCE THE PROMOTION OF .ANTHA +UMAR IN PHOTO AS THE HOTEL S RESIDENT MANAGER 7ITH ALMOST TWO DECADES OF HOSPITALITY EXPERIENCE .ANTHA HAS IMPARTED HIS MANAGERIAL EXPERTISE TO .EW 7ORLD -ANILA "AY (OTEL SINCE BECOMING ITS EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT MANAGER FOR & " IN )N HIS NEW ROLE .ANTHA WILL OVERSEE THE HOTEL S DAY TO DAY OPERATIONS WITH A STRONG REGARD TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY STRIVING TO LESSEN PRODUCT WASTES AND REDUCE PLASTIC USE THROUGHOUT THE HOTEL (E ALSO AIMS TO KEEP THE HOTEL S NUMBER ONE POSITION ON 4RIP!DVISOR .ANTHA HAS A RICH UNDERSTANDING OF LUXURY HOSPITALITY BEING ABLE TO HOLD EXECUTIVE POSITIONS WITH SEVERAL INTERNATIONAL HOTEL BRANDS (E WAS WITH 3HANGRI ,A (OTELS AND 2ESORTS

BEFORE JOINING 2OSEWOOD (OTEL 'ROUP IN AS THE DIRECTOR OF & " FOR TWO HOTELS .EW 7ORLD 3HANGHAI (OTEL AND PENTAHOTEL 3HANGHAI (E WAS THEN PROMOTED TO BECOME THE HOTELS EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT MANAGER

B7

Iloilo, Negros Occidental and Aklan Health Centers level up through BDO Foundation

QÂ As part of ongoing efforts to help improve the health and well-being of disadvantaged Filipinos, BDO Foundation rehabilitates rural health units in Iloilo, Negros Occidental and Aklan.

R

ODINA MONDRAGON, muNICIPAL HEALTH OFkCER OF 0OTOTAN IN )LOILO HAS BEEN LOOKING FOR GENEROUS DONORS WHO WOULD HELP IMPROVE 0OTOTAN 2URAL (EALTH 5NIT AND "IRTHING #ENTER !S A PUBLIC HEALTH OFkCIAL

SHE WAS DEEPLY CONCERNED ABOUT THE WELL BEING OF HER CONSTITUENTS 3HE WANTED THEIR HEALTH FACILITIES TO LEVEL UP SO THAT THEIR NURSES AND MIDWIVES COULD SERVE THE COMMUNITY BETTER )N DIRE NEED OF REHABILITATION THE HEALTH

CENTER IN 0OTOTAN WAS NOT AN IDEAL PLACE WHERE HER HEALTH WORKERS COULD PROVIDE THE BEST PATIENT CARE POSSIBLE 7HEN SHE FIRST LEARNED THAT "$/ &OUNDATION WAS GOING TO REHABILITATE 0OTOTAN S RURAL HEALTH UNIT -ONDRAGON WAS ELATED 7ITH THE REHABILITATION WORK COMPLETED HER HEALTH WORKERS ARE NOW ABLE TO PROVIDE HIGH QUALITY HEALTHCARE SERVICES TO THE PEOPLE

g4HE REHABILITATION OF 0OTOTAN 2URAL (EALTH 5NIT AND "IRTHING #ENTER MOTIVATES AND REINVIGORATES US TO ADDRESS THE HEALTHCARE NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY MORE EFFECTIVELY u SAID -ONDRAGON AS SHE GRACIOUSLY ACCEPTED THE HEALTH CENTER DURING INAUGURAL CEREMONIES LED BY "$/ &OUNDATION g/N BEHALF OF THE MORE THAN

0OTOTANONS ) WOULD LIKE TO THANK YOU FOR REHABILITATING OUR RURAL

HEALTH UNIT 2EST ASSURED WE WILL TAKE GOOD CARE OF THIS BUILDING u 3HE ADDED THAT THE PROJECT IS gA GREAT EXAMPLE OF PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP u 4HE NEWLY REHABILITATED HEALTH FACILITIES WERE TURNED OVER TO LOCAL OFkCIALS BY "$/ &OUNDATION PRESIDENT -ARIO $ERIQUITO AND "$/ &OUNDATION PROGRAM DIRECTOR 2OSE %SPINOSA TOGETHER WITH OFkCERS OF "$/ AND /." BRANCHES

Servicio Filipino, Kuder launch Career Planning System for the Philippines

FOR & " PRIOR TO JOINING 2OSEWOOD 3ANYA S PRE OPENING TEAM IN )N THE SAME YEAR HE HEADED TO THE 0HILIPPINES TO BECOME THE EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT MANAGER FOR & " OF .EW 7ORLD -ANILA "AY (OTEL ! -ALAYSIAN NATIONAL .ANTHA IS A GRADUATE OF 3TAMFORD #OLLEGE IN +UALA ,UMPUR -ALAYSIA HOLDING A DIPLOMA IN !MERICAN (OTEL AND -OTEL !SSOCIATION &OR MORE INFORMATION VISIT NEWWORLDHOTELS COM

Keto Bites at Café Pronto 3!4)3&9 CRAVINGS WITHOUT THE GUILT AS #AF¼ 0RONTO OFFERS DELIGHTFUL DESSERTS THAT kT IN WELL WITH THE KETOGENIC WAY OF EATING #AF¼ 0RONTO FEATURES KETO FANATICS LIKE THE +ETO #HEESECAKE AND +ETO #HOCOLATE #AKE

BOTH PRICED AT 0HP $INERS CAN ALSO ENJOY THE CHIC CAF¼ S KETO BREAD

WHICH IS PAIRED BEST WITH BLACK BULLETPROOF COFFEE UPON REQUEST ,OCATED ON THE 'ROUND &LOOR OF THE -ARCO 0OLO /RTIGAS -ANILA #AF¼ 0RONTO PROVES THAT REWARDING TREATS CAN COME SWEET WITHOUT THE REGRET #AF¼ 0RONTO IS OPEN DAILY FROM &OR MORE INFORMATION VISIT A M TO P M WWW MARCOPOLOHOTELS COM

Phoenix Petroleum introduces fleet card program 4(% COUNTRY S FASTEST GROWING OIL COMPANY 0HOENIX 0ETROLEUM IS NOW OFFERING A FULLY CUSTOMIZABLE lEET CARD PROGRAM FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES 3TARTING -ARCH ENTREPRENEURS WHO WANT TO BOOST THEIR BUSINESS WITHOUT INCREASING OPERATING EXPENSE CAN NOW APPLY FOR THE 0HOENIX &LEET #ARD PROGRAM

WHICH OFFERS A RANGE OF EXCLUSIVE PERKS AND BENEkTS FOR MEMBERS 7ITH TWO CARD TYPES‡SINGLE CARD AND DUAL CARD‡0HOENIX &LEET CARDHOLDERS CAN CHOOSE MODIFY

AND CONTROL THEIR PACKAGE BASED ON THEIR PREFERENCE AND NEEDS 3INGLE CARDHOLDERS MAY EITHER HAVE A DRIVER SPECIkC VEHICLE SPECIkC

OR DRIVER VEHICLE SPECIkC CARD TYPE DEPENDING ON THEIR NEEDS g4O BE ABLE TO PROVIDE THE APPROPRIATE AND kTTING lEET FUEL SERVICES TO THE DIVERSE NEEDS AND REQUIREMENTS OF DIFFERENT BUSINESSES IN THE COUNTRY WE ARE INTRODUCING OUR FUEL CARD PROGRAM THROUGH THE 0HOENIX &LEET #ARD u 0HOENIX 0ETROLEUM #HIEF /PERATING /FkCER (ENRY !LBERT &ADULLON SAID g4HROUGH THIS

TUESDAY April 16, 2019

WE AIM TO PROVIDE EASY ECONOMIC

AND WORRY FREE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS ESPECIALLY TO 3-%S u %ACH 0HOENIX &LEET CARD GUARANTEES THE CARDHOLDERS WITH THE "%34 FROM 0HOENIX 0ETROLEUM‡ACCESS TO "EST VALUE PRODUCTS SUCH AS FUELS BLENDED WITH 0HOENIX 05,3% 4%CHNOLOGY %ASY AND CONVENIENT TRANSACTION 3PECIALIZED SERVICE

AND 4AILOR kT SOLUTIONS TO NEEDS /N TOP OF THE SMART ALERTS AND MONTHLY DETAILED TRANSACTION REPORT THE 0HOENIX &LEET #ARD PROGRAM ALSO COMES WITH AN ONLINE PORTAL FOR MONITORING AND MANAGEMENT OF FUEL EXPENSE )T ALSO OFFERS FREE TOWING SERVICE

lEXIBLE PAYMENT TERMS AND OPTIONS

AND EXCLUSIVE TRAINING AND PROMOS "ESIDES 0HOENIX &LEET #ARD THE COMPANY ALSO OFFERS 0INOY 4SUPER #ARD 04# A LOYALTY REWARD CARD FOR PUBLIC UTILITY DRIVERS 04# 'RAB

A VARIATION OF THE 04# MADE EXCLUSIVE FOR 'RAB DRIVERS AND 0HOENIX 2#"# "ANKARD -ASTERCARD A CO BRANDED CREDIT CARD THAT OFFERS PULSE RACING LIFESTYLE REWARDS FOR NEXT GENERATION MOTORISTS

Q Engaging in a celebratory handshake during the launch, from left: Gina Jusay, managing director of SFI Career Center; Luis ‘Lloyd’ Anastacio, president and CEO of Servicio Filipino; Bailey Rowell, vice president of International Business Development, Kuder, Inc.; and Joyce Tham, Kuder Singapore client relations manager.

3%26)#)/ &ILIPINO 'ROUP OF #OMPANIES AND )OWA 53! BASED +UDER )NC TOGETHER WITH 3&) #AREER #ENTER A SUBSIDIARY OF 3ERVICIO &ILIPINO RECENTLY LAUNCHED THE #AREER 0LANNING 3YSTEM FOR THE 0HILIP-

PINES WHICH THE TWO COMPANIES CALL A g0ARTNERSHIP FOR 0ROGRESS u 4HE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE TWO COMPANIES HOPE TO DEVELOP A COMPETENCY BASED TRAINING CURRICULUM TO HELP INCREASE THE NUMBER

OF COMPETENT CAREER PRACTITIONERS IN THE 0HILIPPINES THROUGH ITS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PORTFOLIO 4HE PARTNERSHIP ALSO AIMS TO PROVIDE BASIC CAREER DEVELOPMENT SERVICES AND SPECIALIZED TRAINING FOR LICENSED CAREER

PRACTITIONERS BY USING +UDER TO ADDRESS THE ISSUE OF LACK OF LICENSED COUNSELORS +UDER MAY ALSO BE USED TO GUIDE PARENTS TEACHERS AND SCHOOL COUNSELORS TO HELP PROVIDE CAREER GUIDANCE TO CHILDREN AND STUDENTS

GMA Kapuso Foundation’s Rebuild Marawi Project gets multi-million grant from Japan ' - ! + A P U S O & O U N D A T I O N '-!+& '-! .ETWORK S SOCIO CIVIC ARM RECEIVED A HISTORIC GRANT FROM THE %MBASSY OF *APAN %/* FOR ITS g2EBUILD -ARAWI 0ROJECT u )N THE SIGNING CEREMONIES HELD AT THE EMBASSY ON -ARCH

'-!+& %XECUTIVE 6ICE 0RESIDENT AND #// 2IKKI %SCUDERO #ATIBOG AND *APANESE !MBASSADOR TO THE 0HILIPPINES +OJI (ANEDA INKED '-!+& S FIRST EVER GRANT WHICH WILL FUND THE CONSTRUCTION OF A THREE STORY

SEVEN CLASSROOM SCHOOL BUILDING IN $ATU 3ABER %LEMENTARY 3CHOOL IN -ARAWI #ITY 4HE SAID GRANT WAS AWARDED UNDER %/* S 'RANT !SSISTANCE FOR 'RASSROOTS (UMAN 3ECURITY 0ROJECTS ''0 g4HE JOY AND OPPORTUNITY THAT THE 2EBUILD -ARAWI 0ROJECT GAVE TO STUDENTS AND TEACHERS INSPIRED '-!+& TO SEEK FOREIGN FUNDING TO CONSTRUCT ITS THIRD AND MOST CHALLENGING SCHOOL IN -ARAWI #ITY 4HIS GRANT FROM *APAN IS A VERY BIG

Q GMA Kapuso Foundation EVP and COO Rikki Escudero-Catibog (front row, left) with Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Koji Haneda (front row, right). Witnessing the signing are Department of Education Procurement and Administration Assistant Secretary Salvador Malana 3rd (2nd row, 3rd from left) and representatives from GMAKF. (ANEDA ON THE OTHER HAND IS THE KEY TO THE FUTURE AND THE DEHELP FOR US BECAUSE THEY WILL FUND THE ENTIRE CONSTRUCTION OF OUR kRST SHARED WHY THE %/* SELECTED VELOPMENT OF THIS COUNTRY 7ITH THE THREE STOREY SMALL SPACE SAVING '-!+& AS ONE OF THE RECIPIENTS '-! ;+APUSO &OUNDATION= PROJECT

SCHOOL BUILDING WHICH STANDS ON OF THE GRANT WHICH IS ALSO A PART WE THOUGHT THAT THEY WOULD BE VERY ONLY SQUARE METERS $ATU 3A- OF THEIR *APAN "ANGSAMORO )NI- GOOD VEHICLE TO INVEST IN THE FUTURE BER %LEMENTARY 3CHOOL IS UNIQUE TIATIVES FOR 2ECONSTRUCTION AND 7E ARE VERY GLAD TO BE OF HELP TO REHABILITATE -ARAWI #ITY u BECAUSE DESPITE THE CRAMPED SPACE $EVELOPMENT * "IRD g7E UNDERSTAND THAT $ATU 3ABER &OR MORE INFORMATION VISITS STUDENTS GARNERED HIGH SCORES IN CONSECUTIVE .ATIONAL !PTITUDE 3CHOOL IS A VERY GOOD SCHOOL 7E it WWW GMANETWORK COM KAPUSOHOPE THAT THESE CHILDREN S EDUCATION FOUNDATION DONATE 4ESTS u SAID %SCUDERO #ATIBOG

BuCor corrections and technical officers finish Basic Recruit Course "52%!5 OF #ORRECTIONS $IRECTOR 'ENERAL .ICANOR &AELDON $/* 5NDERSECRETARY !TTY $EO -ARCO

#ONGRESSMAN 2UFFY "IAZON AND #ITY !DMINISTRATOR %NGR !LLAN #ACHUELA REPRESENTING -AYOR *AIME &RESNEDI JOIN THE GRADUATION CEREMONY OF #ORRECTION "ASIC 2ECRUITMENT #OURSE "ATCH #LASS -ODERNOS AT ."0 0ARADE 'ROUND 0OBLACION

-UNTINLUPA #ITY ON !PRIL !ROUND RECRUITED "U#OR CORRECTIONS TECHNICAL OFkCERS GRADUATED THE RECRUITMENT COURSE AS PART OF "U#OR S MODERNIZATION PLAN

Build&Design

B8

TTUESDAY AAPRIL 16, 2019

EDITOR: Mario F. Fetalino Jr.

www.manilatimes.net

mario.fetalino@manilatimes.net

Building permits and ease of doing business I THE ARCHITECT’S N the early years of the present administration, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte signed Republic Act (RA) 11032. It was meant to replace the Anti-Red Tape Law of 2007 and speed up the transactions in government offices. RA 11032 or the “Ease of Doing Business Law� also provided FOR A UNIkED APPLICATION SYStem for clearances on local tax, building, zoning and sanitary among others.

Having a one-stop shop for permitting and licensing requirement is always welcome, and so is automation because these will spare the public from the intolerable waiting time at GOVERNMENT OFkCES Such improvements will bring the government closer to the people. These will remove red-tape and corruption. People will get better service and trust in government will rise.

There are various reasons for the delays in the issuance of building permits, they depend on the city or municipality concerned. Complications arise when a law or a policy is interpreted and applied in so many different ways. More problems arise when implementing ofkCIALS ARE INEPT At any rate, let me present three things that can further improve the ease of doing business in the country.

Technical professionals 4HE kRST HAS TO DO WITH TECHNIcal professionals. They are what we call experts in architecture, engineering and other special kELDS !S SUCH THEY SHOULD BE given the free hand in designing and doing their works. It follows that they alone are responsible for their works.

It’s ironic when a personnel from a city’s building office questions the design approach of technical professionals. It gets worse when that guy pushes for his suggestions to the plans of the experts.

Much horrific and absurd is when that personnel, who could be just an ordinary staff lacking in technical expertise, checks or reviews for approval the plans made by technical professionals and tells them what has to be done or not.

Isn’t it that issuing building permits can be much faster if the plans are assessed by RIGHTFUL OFkCIALS WHO MUST BE technical professionals and not just ordinary employees from THE CITY BUILDING OFkCE I remember a Fire Department personnel, who may not even be a licensed electrical engineer but commented on the plans submitted by a professional electrical engineer for a high rise structure. He argued with the engineer on the merits of the latter’s work.

Under article 1723 of the amended Civil Code of the Philippines, the architects or engineers who drew up THE PLANS AND SPECIkCATIONS for a building are liable for damages if within 15 years from the completion of the structure, the same should collapse by reason of a defect IN THOSE PLANS AND SPECIkCAtions, or due to the defects in the ground. The liability does not fall on the city building OFkCE EXECUTIVE

Ancillary permits The second matter I want to tackle is related to the issue mentioned above. There is a need for the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to publish immediate-

PERSPECTIVE ARCH. BENJAMIN PANGANIBAN JR.

ly the ancillary permits to clarify and ensure that architects/engineers who drew up the plans AND SPECIkCATION FOR A BUILDING are liable for damages if something wrong happens to it.

The DPWH secretary must now publish the ancillary permits so that the issuance of building PERMITS AND OTHER CERTIkCATES

BY THE CITY BUILDING OFkCIAL CAN be made in less days..

Sections 302.3 and 302.4 of the Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Presidential Decree 1096 or the “National Building Code� should now be implemented.

What seemingly impedes the implementation and enforcement of these provisions is the declaration of the courts that ancillary permits were not published by the DPWH. It should now be acted upon by the DPWH Secretary to boost the ease of doing business in the country.

For so long, the ancillary permits have been disregarded by some city building officials when clearly these documents define who signs as technical professionals for a certain project.

3OME CITY BUILDING OFkCIALS in the Philippines have implemented the use of ancillary permits since 2004 when RA 9266 or the “Architecture Act of 2004� was passed in Congress and signed into law because they know that architectural plans can only be signed by architects.

In the same manner, civil and structural plans should only be signed by structural engineers by virtue of their academic EDUCATION AND QUALIkCATIONS

and the laws passed including the revised IRR provisions of the national building code.

The ancillary permits will foster better building processing systems. It will boost ease of doing business in the country.

They will remove complexities and red tape in the process.

City building officials ) kRMLY BELIEVE BUILDING OFkcials should not be responsible for the technical professionals’ design. Therefore, it is imPERATIVE THAT BUILDING OFkCIALS should not be burdened with the responsibility over the technical professionals’ work. The civil liability should fall on the technical professionals, not the BUILDING OFkCIALS In the recent Sandiganbayan resolution on the Manor Hotel tragedy, the city building official and his staff were convicted while the design professionals were vindicated.

This is why the United Architects of the Philippines, whose members are the prime professionals in the construction industry, is urging the Philippine Association of Building Officials (PABO) to compel the DPWH to publish the ancilliary permit forms, notably the architectural permits, and the civil/structural permits.

4HIS WAY CITY BUILDING OFkcials all over the country can issue building permits and other CERTIkCATES UPON SUBMISSION OF the documentations prescribed under the revised IRR of the building code. I do hope that the PABO would sit down with the UAP to discuss this matter.

Less bureaucracy means faster transactions and progress for the country.

Simple dream turns into masterpieces

G

T Tower T IInternational, i l G Grand d Hyatt H M Manila il and Residences, and the soon to rise The Seasons Residences are only a few of the most iconic towers in the Philippines that elicit the sophisticated and luxurious lifestyle only the privileged few can enjoy.

With its crown of 10-story vertiCAL kN THE '4 4OWER )NTERNATIONAL IS ONE OF THE MOST ICONIC OFkCE towers in the Makati skyline.

Currently the tallest skyscrapER IN THE COUNTRY THE 'RAND (Yatt Manila is a five-star luxury hotel preferred by VIPs all over the world. #ONSIDERED AS THE kRST *APANESE inspired integrated community in the country, the soon to rise The Seasons Residences presents A SLICE OF THE *APANESE WAY OF LIFE people emulate for its simplicity, PRACTICALITY AND EFkCIENCY The three iconic projects couldn’t have been more different, but there is one thing they have in common — they are all developed by one of the pioneers in the Philippine real estate scene — Federal Land, Inc. Anchored on the values of trust, dependability and integrity, Federal Land, now on its 47th year, is dedicated to developing properties faithful to the needs and aspirations of its residents, and even

beyond expectations.

Each project is considered a masterpiece. Hence in every project, Federal Land brings in the most ingenious architects, most innovative engineers and most reliable materials to build a safe and ideal home unique to the priorities of each person and designed around their life plans.

Trailblazing projects As one of the country’s prime movers in the real estate industry and builder of Filipino homes, Federal Land introduces projects never before seen. It reinvents the standards of project planning, and harnessing its expertise in the development of global partnerships with international brands THAT PRODUCED THE LUXURIOUS 'RAND Hyatt Manila Residences; and The Seasons Residences.

Launched as a closing highlight TO 'RAND (YATT -ANILA 2ESIDENCES ‡ 3OUTH 4OWER IN 'RAND Central Park, North Bonifacio

'LOBAL #ITY IS A JOINT VENTURE WITH /RIX #ORPORATION OF *APAN AND THE Chicago-based Hyatt brand.

The partnership brings to the country not only luxurious residential suites but also the LEGENDARY 'RAND (YATT HOSPItality and service.

'RAND (YATT -ANILA 2ESIDENCES won “Best Luxe Condo of the Year for Customer Service� of The Outlook 2018 by Lamudi: Philippines Buyers’ Choice Property Awards.

Federal Land also launched a $400-million development project in partnership with leadING *APANESE kRMS .OMURA 2EAL Estate Development and Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings, Inc. The project envisions to create an integrated mixed use develOPMENT INCORPORATING *APANESE spirit, experience, and technology.

The development will have four premier residential towers, The Seasons Residences and the counTRY S kRST -ITSUKOSHI -ALL

Beyond structures Federal Land’s commitment to develop and deliver world-class homes is not exclusive to its luxury and premier residences.

Unique and with its own character, every Federal Land project has distinctive features certain to help its residents flourish and reach

their full potential.

In Manila, Four Seasons Riviera in Binondo is a riverfront home with feng shui sensibilities to usher good luck into its residences. )N 0ACO 0ENINSULA 'ARDEN -IDtown Homes, a kid-friendly garden enclave ideal for starting families, has a heated pool for families to enjoy the weekends.

Strategically within the Manila’s university belt and near Makati central business district, Quantum Residences has a basketball court, karaoke room, business center and other amenities to help Filipino millennial citizens achieve a healthy work-life balance.

In the Bay Area of Pasay, Federal Land proudly reclaims its status as the real estate pioneer in the Macapagal area with its sprawling Metro Park integrated community and the launch of Palm Beach West Residences.

Residents of Metro Park enjoy the convenience of having an open park, a couple of malls, several ofkCE TOWERS AND A COLLEGE WITHIN ITS own township.

In Quezon City, Federal Land designed Valencia Hills and The Capital Towers for people in NEED OF A HOME OFkCE IN A HIGHLY strategic location of the central business district.

Suntrust Properties tops off 7th tower SUNTRUST Properties Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Megaworld Corp., recently topped off its seventh residential tower in Suntrust Shanata.

The mid-rise condominium community was awarded the 2018 Best Affordable Condo in Metro Manila BY 0ROPERTY 'URU 0HILIPPINES It is located along Quirino Highway in the friendly neighborhood of Barangay Talipapa in Novaliches, Quezon City. It is a modern Asian themed condominium project that offers 12 residential towers. “We have homeowners who are now enjoying the amenities and the beautiful units of Suntrust Shanata�

SAID $EANNA *EAN #LAVERIA 3UNTRUST

executive vice president-chief opERATIONS OFkCER AS THREE TOWERS ARE already occupied by residents.

Outdoor amenities include a 25-meter lap pool, kiddie pool, pool deck, gazebo area, basketball court and a playground.

Indoor facilities include a clubhouse, daycare, function room and a gym equipped with changing rooms and shower rooms.

All of the amenities are for the exclusive use of homeowners.

Suntrust Properties Inc. continues to solidify its business partnership with Vision Properties Development Corp. in delivering quality yet affordably priced condominium spaces in the Metro.

Q Suntrust Shanata topping off (L-R) Engr. Mariano B. Milana, general manager of M. B. Milana Enterprise; Junar Mercado, vice president for administration, Vision Properties Development Corp. ; Harrier Ongsun, president, Vision Properties Development Corp.; President, Engr. Gil Escarcha, vice president for Operations for Vertical Projects; Markus Nisula, KPI Elevators Inc. managing director; Deanna Jean Claveria, Suntrust executive vice president and chief operations officer; Dr. Edna Reyes, Suntrust vice president for Human Resource and Administration; Nelda San Jose, Suntrust vice president and general manager of Sunrays Property Management Inc.; Hardiniano Marangal, KPI Elevators Inc. Key Accounts director.

Tourism growth in Vismin to benefit hotels THE growing tourism industry in Mindanao is providing opportunities for developers venturing into hotel business.

Hotels will benefit from the increasing number of tourists in General Santos City in South Cotabato, Butuan City in Agusan del Norte and Ormoc City in Leyte as these will spur need for more room accomodation.

Knowing this, Cebu Landmasters Inc. (CLI) has partnered anew with The Ascott Ltd. for the expansion of its hotel business in Visayas and Mindanao (VisMin).

In a disclosure, the CLI said it would expand its hotel business in the cities of General Santos, Butuan and Ormoc City in Leyte where tourist arrivals have increased.

Q Citadines in Cebu City

CLI Chief Executive Officer Jose Soberano 3rd said the company sees opportunities in the areas given the growing tourist arrivals that will require an additional room capacity. “Just like any undertaking when you see an opportunity, we’d like to take advantage of this and make this part of our growth strategy. Also, it makes a lot of sense for a real estate company like ours who also want to grow the recurring business side of our revenue base,� Soberano said.

Prior to the new ventures, CLI and Ascott have already entered into an agreement for Citadines brand in Davao, Bacolod, and in Cebu, where they also partnered for the “lyf� brand.

At present, CLI has 800 rooms to be managed by Ascott. It plans to double the number of rooms by 2020. “We are confident that the proven system that Ascott has and its innovative guest experience will make a mark in the hospitality industry where CLI is present,� Soberano said.

CLI is a property developer focused in the Visayas and Mindanao while Ascott is a Singapore-based company which owns brands Citadines, Somerset, The Crest Collection, lyf, Quest and Tauzia Hotels.

The Ascott Group now has over 100,000 rooms globally. ANGELICA BALLESTEROS

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TUESDA TUESDAY, DAY AYY,, AAp AY April prriili 16, pr 16, 16 6, 220 2019 0199 019

T H E M OTO R I N G S E C T I O N O F

Track day at Mugello for Ferrari racing icons

T

HE first Club Competizioni GT meeting was held recently at the Mugello circuit, with over a dozen of the most representative Ferrari GT racing cars of the last 30 years on track in a noncompetitive event.

The Prancing Horse, paying attention to the needs and demands of its customers, presented this new activity at the last Finali Mondiali in Monza, publicly unveiling it at Autosport International in Birmingham. The aim is to bring some of the most iconic models of the last 30 years of racing back on track.

This new program was designed for customers who like to take to the track and exploit their car to its full potential, without any test sessions lasting just a few minutes or dangerous races that are too short. At Mugello, Club CompetizioNI '4 STAGED THE kRST ROUNDS OF A kVE event calendar that will stop off at some of the most beautiful circuits in the world such as Indianapolis, Fuji, Vallelunga and, indeed, Mugello.

Twelve cars

Among the cars on the Tuscan track, the two examples of the 488 GT3 that took the pole position in the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2017 and 2018 stand out.

In 2017, Alessandro Pier Guidi was the fastest (1:47.049) in the GTD class at the wheel of the Spirit of Race model participating at Mugello. Alessandro "ALZAN kNISHED JUST THOUSANDTHS OF a second behind, also in a 488 GT3.

In 2018, Daniel Serra took pole in the GTD class 453 thousandths of a second ahead of Miguel Molina in the 488 GT3 of Risi Competizione. The Ferrariowned track with its ups and downs also saw several examples of the 360 GT, F430 GT2, 458 Italia GT and GT3, as well as some 488 GT3s.

Gala dinner 4HE kRST #LUB #OMPETIZIONI '4 EVENT was made even more special by a gala dinner held in the evocative setting of the Stibbert Museum in Florence. The Museum, one of the most interesting in terms of the quantity and quality of the objects it houses and for the most part displays, has collections of armor from around the world. This particular exhibition theme naturally led to an evening for customer drivers entitled “Night of the knights.”

Hospitality and official drivers

Club Competizioni GT opens the doors of prestigious circuits to its members, complementing their track experience with top class hospitality and exclusive services. Technical assistance with the tyres is always available on the track, AS ARE &ERRARI S OFkCIAL #OMPETIZIONI GT drivers, professionals who compete

³FerrariC2

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TUESDAY, April 16, 2019

Volvo Cars takes major step towards its electrified future with new hybrid powertrains Q Volvo Cars is creating a better future for the Earth by offering more hybrid drivetrains in its impressive line-up of premium vehicles.

V

OLVO #ARS RECENTLY TOOK A SIGNIkCANT STEP TOWARDS ITS ELECTRIkCATION GOALS with the release of upgraded and newly DEVELOPED ELECTRIkED POWERTRAIN OPTIONS TO be made available across its entire model range going forward.

The company has upgraded its existing T8 and T6 Twin Engine plug-in hybrid powertrains, while at the same time conkRMING THAT PLUG IN OPTIONS WILL NOW BE available on every model it produces.

Meanwhile, a T8 Twin Engine S90 Plugin Hybrid has just been made available IN THE 0HILIPPINES g4HIS IS OUR kRST STEP towards locally implementing Volvo’s global vision to have half of our global sales comprised of fully electric cars. Safer for the environment, better for everyone on the planet,� said Christopher Yu, Volvo Philippines marketing head.

Moreover, Volvo Cars will introduce a range of mild hybrids in the coming months, starting with diesel and petrol versions on the S90, XC90 and XC60 SUV models.

4HESE MILD HYBRIDS WILL FOR THE kRST time, offer customers Volvo’s advanced kinetic energy recovery braking system.

This system is coupled with its existing internal combustion engines to create A NEW INTEGRATED ELECTRIkED POWERTRAIN

under its new “B� badge.

This new powertrain, electrified via brake-by-wire energy recovery, offers drivers up to 15-percent fuel savings and emission reductions in real world driving.

The new brake-by-wire system interacts with the energy recovery system and reduces fuel consumption and emissions by recovering kinetic energy under braking.

In line with our strategy and supported by extremely strong demand, Volvo Cars has upgraded its production capacity so that up to 25 percent of total production

TIME HONORED STRUCTURE AND CAR CLUB The Miata Club of the Philippines held a heritage run to the Chamber of the Commerce of the Philippine Islands - the oldest “Provenance of business institutions� in the country. The chamber building is a historical landmark as declared by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, while the Miata is considered the “sportscar of all time.� Jose Luis U. Yulo, Jr. is president of both of these “time honored� organizations.

can be Twin Engine plug-in hybrid cars.

In addition, it expects its new “B� badged powertrains to gradually become the new standard, moving it closer to its goal that by the middle of the next decade all of its CARS WILL BE ELECTRIkED There will be new and upgraded powertrains introduced on Volvo’s larger Scalable Product Architecture (SPA)-based cars.

The upgraded T8 Twin Engine plug-in hybrid with up to 420 hp features a new battery and brake-by-wire advanced battery charging. The range of the T8 powertrain has increased by around 15 percent and this powertrain is available on all 90 and 60 Series cars.

An upgraded version of the smaller capacity T6 Twin Engine plug-in hybrid is also combined with the new battery and brake-by wire-technology. This powertrain also offers an approximate 15 percent range increase and is available on the V60 estate and S60 sedan.

The XC90 will be available with a B5badged mild hybrid petrol or diesel variant, as well as a B6-badged petrol mild hybrid.

On the XC60, customers will be able to choose between a B5 mild hybrid petrol or diesel variant, a B4 diesel mild hybrid as well as a B6 petrol mild hybrid. The B5 petrol will be available with front wheel drive or all-wheel drive.

The company’s smaller Compact Modular Architecture-based XC40 SUV will also RECEIVE A NEW ELECTRIkED OPTION IN THE form of a T5 Twin Engine petrol-plug in hybrid. A second, T4 Twin Engine plug-in hybrid option will follow later.

Q FERRARI FROM C1

Track day at Mugello throughout the year in the main world championships and who are ready to assist customers with advice and guidance on how to extract the maximum performance from their cars.

Eligible cars

Twelve Ferrari models are eligible to join Club Competizioni GT, ranging from the F40 Competizione of 1989 to the 488 GTEs and GT3s currently available to Ferrari’s racing customers. In addition to the basic equipment provided by club membership, which includes a custom clothing kit and a set of tires for each round, there are also special on demand services such as exclusive sessions with a professional driver, car transport, customised logistics and the option of a tailored menu in hospitality.

NEWSPRESSUK

TUESDAY, April 16, 2019

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Petron announces Lakbay Alalay Holy Week 2019 schedule

I

N its continuing efforts to offer Filipino motorists “the best ang biyahe� experience, market leader Petron Corp. is once again activating the country’s longest-running motorist roadside assistance for the Holy Week holidays with “Petron Lakbay Alalay� pit stops at 11 stations in Luzon, and six stations in the Visayas and Mindanao.

BY MARK PHELAN TELLURIDE, Colorado: 4HE kRST GREAT 356 OF THE year just arrived at your Kia dealership.

Elegant, advanced and costing thousands less than comparably equipped competitors, the 2020 Kia Telluride seven- or eight-seat SUV leaves three-row competitors like the Chevrolet Traverse, Toyota Highlander, Honda Pilot and NisSAN 0ATHkNDER IN ITS DUST Luxury SUVs like the Lexus RXL, Acura MDX and Infiniti QX60 better watch out, too.

From April 17 to 21, groups of Petron employee-volunteers will be devoting their Holy Week break to offer emergency assistance to motorists with car PROBLEMS LIKE OVERHEATING lAT TIRES AND other car concerns.

Participating Petron service stations and car care centers will offer free safety checks to ensure that vehicles are roadworthy and properly maintained. For those who might be feeling the physi-

cal effects of travel, a free 15-minute reinvigorating massage can be availed to ease those tired muscles and, if necessary, there is also free medical assistance.

There will be fun road safety games with fun prizes while learning how to drive safely. Everyone can also enjoy freebies from Petron Lakbay Alalay partners.

The Petron Lakbay Alalay activations for Holy Week 2019 will be available on the following dates and venues.

2020 Kia Telluride looks, rides like luxury without the price tag

Room for people, things

The Telluride is the biggest vehicle Kia’s ever sold. Driving through the Colorado Rockies toward the former mining town the SUV is named for, headroom seemed as high as the surrounding mountains.

Shoulder and knee room are equally accommodating, thanks to a design that maximizes interior space. The second row offers a bench or captain’s chairs that slide to adjust third-row space. There’s 21 cubic feet of cargo space behind the third row, MORE THAN THE 0ILOT AND 0ATHkNDER The Telluride looks like a luxury vehicle, and not just because its styling reminds some of Range Rover. Classy exterior touches like amber running lights surrounding big rectangular dual-bulb projector headlights — LED on the SX model I drove — combine with a long hood, wide grille and subtle chrome trim for a look vehicles costing thousands more will envy. Interior options include perforated Nappa leather and a velvety, luxurious headliner.

Long but nimble, quiet on bumpy roads

At 196.9 inches long, the Telluride is longer than the Highlander, Pilot and PathkNDER BUT IT DRIVES LIKE A SMALLER VEHICLE The steering is responsive and direct.

The ride was smooth over pothole ridden mountain roads and rough surfaces. The interior is exceptionally quiet, even at highway speeds.

The Telluride’s 3.8-liter engine produces

291 hp, roughly in the middle of the pack. !CCELERATION AND POWER ARE kNE FOR SLICING THROUGH TRAFkC AND LONG UPHILL STRETCHES The eight-speed automatic transmission shifts quickly and smoothly.

The Telluride can tow 5,000 pounds with a $795 towing package.

Wide range of prices, features

Telluride prices start at $31,690 for a front-wheel drive model. Add $2,000 for full-time all-wheel drive (AWD) with modes for different terrain and a locking differential. A smooth eight-speed automatic transmission is standard equipment.

I tested a top-of-the-line AWD Telluride SX with the prestige package. Features included Nappa leather seat trim, navigation, 10.25-inch touch screen, head-up display that included speed limit and navigation instructions, 630-watt 10-speaker Harman Kardon audio, a velvety headliner, heated and ventilated second-row seats, memory for driver settings, dual sunroofs, 20-inch black wheels and much more. It stickered at $45,815, excluding destination charges.

Smartest, safest back seat on wheels

The Telluride has an exceptional

number of standard safety and driver assistance features including: Front collision alert, pedestrian detection, automatic front braking, adaptive cruise control, blind spot alert with automatic evasive steering and braking if you’re about to merge into another vehicle, and automatic braking if you’re about to back into a crossing vehicle.

The blind spot sensors don’t stop working when the Telluride stops moving.

They’ll warn back-seat passengers if they’re about to open a door into the path of an oncoming vehicle.

That’s not the back seat’s only trick. If you lock the vehicle and walk away with

a child or pet in the back seat, motion sensors will beep the horn to remind you that you forgot somebody.

You can also mute the second- and thirdrow audio speakers, if somebody’s napping, or the kids keep making fun of your taste in music. (Or they don’t want the ‘rents to hear choice lyrics in a rap song.)

I only noticed two oversights: The mechanism to fold the rear seats for more CARGO SPACE IS A LITTLE DIFkCULT TO OPERATE with one hand, and there’s no rear-seat video system. Kia dealers will offer them, but it’ll be at least a model year before there’s a factory installed system.

TNS/DETROIT FREE PRESS

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TUESDAY, April 16, 2019

GUIDE TO VISITA IGLESIA 2019

Seven churches to visit in Metro Manila

Q The Manila Cathedral is one of the most beautiful churches in the Philippines and is located in Intramuros, Manila.

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ISITA Iglesia is an annual tradition observed by Catholics during the Lenten season. It is one of the most popular sacred vows during the Holy Week, where devotees spend time to visit at least seven different churches on Maundy Thursday.

Beautiful churches come aplenty all over the country, but travelling from one church to the next during this season can become a challenge, especially with THE HEAVY TRAFkC AND NUMBER OF DEVOTEES spending time outside their homes.

Metro Manila is actually a nest of several churches with rich history and heritage while at the same time boasting stunning architecture and design. Here’s a list of seven churches you can visit around the city capital without the long hours of driving: Nuestra Señora de Gracia Church located in 7440 Bernardino Street, Guadalupe Viejo, Makati City.

In the middle of Makati’s skyscrapers stands this authentic Renaissance-Baroque church founded by the Augustinians in 1599. The Nuestra Señora de Gracia Church is one of the most popular churches in Manila witah a simple yet striking vibe because of its features, furnishings and iconography that gives off an Old World feel.

Malate Church located in 2000 MH Del Pilar Street, Malate, Manila.

First built in 1588, the Malate Church is

considered as one of Manila’s most iconic churches as it has been destroyed and rebuilt many times throughout the years.

Overlooking Plaza Rajah Sulaman and the Manila Bay, this church has an interplay of Muslim design and Mexican baroque that most churchgoers adore.

San Agustin Church located in General Luna Street, Intramuros, Manila.

The San Agustin Church is the only church considered as a UNESCO World Heritage site in Manila and was also named as a National Historical Landmark in 1976. Built in 1907, the church has a detailed trompe l’oeil murals on its walls and ceilings, a two-dimensional art which amazingly gives the illusion of a threedimensional space.

Binondo Church located in Plaza L. Ruiz, Binondo 1006, Manila.

Considered as one of the oldest Catholic churches in Metro Manila, the Binondo Church is known for its octagonal bell TOWER RElECTING THE #HINESE CULTURE OF ITS parishioners. It was founded by Dominican priests in 1596 with a façade comparable to those of Italian High Renaissance churches.

Q Make your Visita Iglesia more meaningful and hassle-free with the Ford Everest, which can be your perfect companion for a safe and secure drive within and outside the city.

About Ford Motor Company Sta. Ana Church located in New Panaderos corner. Pedro Gil Sreet, Santa Ana, Manila.

Constructed in 1725 under the Franciscans, the Sta. Ana Church has been designated as a Historic Building in 1936.

It houses two National Cultural Treasures declared by a presidential decree – the Santa Ana Site Museum and the Camarin de la Virgen (The Dressing Room of the Virgin), a chapel room. It also has a small chapel, the Capillita de la Virgin del Pozo.

San Sebastian Church located in Pasaje del Carmen, Plaza Miranda, Quiapo, Manila.

Achieve quality time this Holy Week with Hyundai’s SMRA FOR us Filipinos, Holy Week signals family time, based on the hundreds of thousands of people hitting the road just so they can spend this week with their families. Some families may choose to go on luxurious vacations, but for the rest of us? Holy Week is the perfect time for “staycations”—most would choose to “recharge” by taking a breather from their fast-paced urban lifestyles and return to their respective hometowns, where they can reflect and reunite with their loved ones.

But how can we make sure that we can make the most out of this Holy Week? Is it really possible to have quality time with the family during this holiday? Here are our few suggestions that can make that happen: Go off-the-grid - Holy Week gives us the chance to reconnect with our spiritual selves, as seen in how several broadcasting networks and business establishments also use this time to take a break from their regular operations. Use this chance to go offline, for a change. That way, you can truly clear your mind from your usual work woes and social media notifications, which also allows you to focus on nourishing your bond with your loved ones…you can even take it a notch higher by literally going off-the-grid: hit the road for a special road trip with your family!

Stay prepared - even the most exciting road trip can go awry and leave everyone feeling too grumpy to give quality time with each other, if you come unprepared. Start by studying your routes. Traffic conditions change during the Holy Week season, especially since there are processions happening in rural areas, while the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) usually take this time to perform road reblocking and road repair services in some parts

of the metro. Pack essentials in your car (e.g. extra clothes, towels, power banks, chargers, toiletries, first-aid kit, snacks, candies, water, etc.) to avoid temper tantrums of the kids (and even adults) who will experience cabin fever during long drives.

Stop by any of Hyundai’s 38 SMRA (Summer Motorist Roadside Assistance) Stations from April 17 to 21 and get a free 23-point check-up! Make sure that your Hyundai can handle all your adventures, Visita Iglesias, or even family joyrides, without the unexpected and time-consuming car troubles, because our helping hands will be there to keep you safe! Where exactly?

See table where the SMRA Stations would be located.

So go ahead and take some moments to pause this Holy Week, because by doing so, you’re giving yourself and your loved-ones the gift of quality time: quality time for self-reflection, quality time for recharging your physical and spiritual

square meters. It is one of the most beautiful churches in the Philippines, decked with BEAUTIFUL BLACK MARBLE lOORING BEAUTIFUL brickwork and a vaulted ceiling encapsulating classic Spanish architecture elements.

Make your Visita Iglesia more meaningful and hassle-free with the Ford Everest, your perfect companion for a safe and secure drive within and outside the city. The Ford Everest raises the bar for mid-sized SUVs with its striking design, outstanding capability, and advanced driver- assistance technologies. It also boasts of an 800-millimeter water wading capability, one of the highest and best in the mid-sized SUV segment, making every drive easier, safer and more comfortable. For more information on the Ford Everest, visit your nearest Ford dealership.

wellness, quality time for reconnecting with your family, and quality time for restoring your drive into its tip-top form—made more convenient by Hyundai’s Summer Motorist Roadside Assistance program. Visit hyundai.ph or facebook.com/ hyundaiph for more details.

About HARI The SMRA is brought to you by Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc. (HARI), the official distributor of Hyundai passenger cars and commercial vehicles in the Philippines, which has been hailed four times as Hyundai Asia-Pacific Distributor of the Year (2005, 2006, 2008, and 2013), and Hyundai Global Distributor of the Year 2010 and 2016.

HARI boasts a network of 42 passenger car and 11 commercial vehicle dealerships, superior after-sales, dealer and customer relations support, and an enviable roster of best-selling commercial and passenger vehicles.

Considered as a National Historical Landmark and a National Cultural Treasure, the San Sebastian Church is a Gothic-style Roman Catholic minor basilica located in Quiapo, Manila. It was completed in 1891 and is the only all-steel church in the Philippines. Its 52 tonnes of prefabricated steel sections were imported from Belgium.

Manila Cathedral located in Beaterio Street, Cabildo Street, Intramuros, Manila.

The Manila Cathedral is a 444-year old historical site with an area of almost 3,000

Ford Motor Co. is a global company based in Dearborn, Michigan. The company designs, manufactures, markets and services a full line of Ford cars, trucks, SUVs, electrikED VEHICLES AND ,INCOLN LUXURY VEHICLES

PROVIDES kNANCIAL SERVICES THROUGH &ORD Motor Credit Co. and is pursuing leadership POSITIONS IN ELECTRIkCATION AUTONOMOUS VEhicles and mobility solutions. Ford employs approximately 199,000 people worldwide.

For more information regarding Ford, its products and Ford Motor Credit Co., please visit www.corporate.ford.com.

D 1

Q Kia stung everybody with its Stinger performance sedan

TUESDAY April 16, 2019

THE MOTORING SECTION OF

A dash of glitz and glamor plus performance in

I

TEXT AND PHOTOS BY MATTHEW EMMANUEL B. BUHION

T’S been 15 years and the Manila International Auto Show (MIAS) remains to be the glitz and glamour event of the motoring industry.

Kicking off the summer season, a number of car manufacturers and industry movers presented their newest and best products. Don’t fret if you didn’t make it out to the World Trade Center in Pasay from April 4 to

AS WE LL kLL YOU IN ON THE SUMMER S HOTTEST CAR EVENT

Q The Palisade was the star of this year’s MIAS

Q Glenn Tan, executive deputy chairman of the board and managing director of Tan Chong International Ltd., unveiled the bespoke Subaru XV.

Ford’s easy to own deals Great deals and offers upwards to P3 million were up for grabs for those looking to purchase or reserve a Ford vehicle at the SHOW lOOR OF -)!3 4HOUGH THOSE offers were only valid for the four days of -)!3 &ORD 0HILIPPINES WON T LET THOSE WHO COULDN T MAKE IT TO THE 7ORLD 4RADE #ENTER GO HOME EMPTY HANDED 3O YOU CAN STILL HAVE A CHANCE TO WIN 0 MILLION WITH YOUR NEXT &ORD VEHICLE 7HEN YOU RESERVE OR PURCHASE ANY VARIANT OF THE %CO3PORT %VEREST

-USTANG %XPLORER &IESTA OR 2XPEDITION AS WELL AS THE 2ANGER 8,3 8,4 AND 7ILDTRAK variants from any authorized Ford dealerSHIP NATIONWIDE THIS MONTH OF !PRIL YOU ARE ENTITLED TO ONE RAFlE COUPON !LONG SIDE THE CHANCE TO WIN 0 MILLION

&ORD STILL GIVES CUSTOMERS THE BEST OFFERS LIKE zero-percent interest for up to four years or SAVINGS UP TO 0 FOR A , %VEREST 4ITANIUM OR A 0 RETAIL DISCOUNT ON %VEREST , !MBIENTE AUTOMATIC AND MANUAL TRANSMISSION ,OW DOWN PAYMENTS AND RETAIL DISCOUNTS ARE SPREAD THROUGH THE 2ANGER 7ILDTRAKS %CO3PORT AND %XPLORER SO VISIT YOUR nearest Ford dealership for more details on HOW YOU CAN GET YOURSELF IN A &ORD

EXCLUSIVELY FOR !SIA 4HE 3UBARU 86 '4 Edition still gives the “ready for anything�

ATTITUDE WHICH THE 3UBARU 86 IS KNOWN FOR WITH THE ADDITION OF SPORTIER STYLING Designed by former chief designer at 3UBARU #ORP -ASAHIKO g*ACKu +OBAYASHI

WELL KNOWN FOR DESIGNING THE 728 34) AND OTHER 3UBARU MODELS IN COLLABORATION WITH 'IKEN #O ,TD 3UBARU ENHANCED THE APPEARANCE OF THE 86 '4 %DITION WITH A sharper front bumper lip extension with INTEGRATED CANARDS SIDE SKITS ROOF SPOILER AND A REAR BUMPER EXTENSION "ESPOKE INCH ALLOY WHEELS WRAP UP THE EXTERIOR APPEARANCE PACKAGE COMPLETING THE SPORTIER LOOK OF THE 3UBARU 86 '4 %DITION )NTERIOR EQUIPMENT INCLUDE %UROPEAN '4 CAR INSPIRED CARPETS AND SOFT LEATHER SEATS 3AFETY EQUIPMENT ALSO GETS BEEFED UP WITH an addition of a dual side-view monitor SYSTEM SUPPLEMENTING THE ALREADY CAPABLE DRIVER AID SYSTEMS OF 3UBARU

Hyundai’s Palisade is show’s rockstar

(YUNDAI !UTO 2ESOURCES )NC (!2) ROCKED -)!3 WITH THE PRESENTATION OF two brand new vehicles for the Philippine MARKET kRST OF WHICH SHARES THE NAME Subaru launches Bespoke XV BADGE OF (YUNDAI S WELL KNOWN +ONA

! CROWD FAVORITE CROSSOVER VEHICLE THE THE (YUNDAI +ONA %LECTRIC ,IKE 3UBARU 86 GETS A SPECIAL EDITION DESIGNED ÂłMIAS D2

D 2

TUESDAY April 16, 2019

Q Motul’s display of McLaren supercars was a crowd pleaser.

Q MIAS FROM D1

Q Ford Pavillion ITS NAME SUGGESTS THE +ONA %LECTRIC IS A FULLY ELECTRIC PLUG IN VEHICLE 0OWER kGURES FROM THE 0ERMANENT -AGNET 3YNCHRONOUS %LECTRIC -OTOR ARE 03 AND KM M OF TORQUE 3INCE IT S AN ELECTRIC MOTOR

you have instant power delivery with the SIMPLE PRESS OF THE ACCELERATOR 3TYLING IS OF FUTURISTIC CHARACTERISTICS WITH JUST ONE GLANCE AT THE INCH ALLOY WHEELS WHICH LOOK LIKE THEY WERE FROM A SCI k kLM AND the closed-off front grille with indented DESIGNS ON IT %LECTRIFY YOUR DRIVE WITH THE (YUNDAI +ONA %LECTRIC STARTING AT 0 MILLION 6ISIT THE (YUNDAI PH Facebook page for availability of the +ONA %LECTRIC AT YOUR NEAREST (YUNDAI SHOWROOM 3HARING THE STAGE IS THE NEWEST lAGSHIP 356 FROM (YUNDAI THE (YUNDAI 0ALISADE $ERIVING ITS NAME FROM THE GLITZY AND GLAMOROUS 3OUTHERN #ALIFORNIA COMMUNITY OF THE 0ACIkC 0ALISADES

the Hyundai Palisade does not let its NAMESAKE DOWN -UCH LIKE THE HOMES FOUND IN 0ACIkC 0ALISADES THE ARCHITECture and design of the Hyundai Palisade ARE ONE WHICH WILL DEkNITELY TURN HEADS ! MASSIVE CASCADING MESH TYPE GRILLE AND ,%$ DAY TIME RUNNING LIGHTS WHICH draw from the top of the front fascia to THE BOTTOM COMMANDS ATTENTION 4HIS SEVEN SEATER 356 WILL MAKE YOU FEEL LIKE A (OLLYWOOD STAR WITH PLUSH LEATHER interior textures and automatic climate control with independent climate for THE SECOND AND THIRD ROWS 0OWERING THE 0ALISADE IS A LITER #2$I E 6'4 ',3

Q Volkswagen Santana

A dash of glitz ENGINE MATED TO AN EIGHT SPEED GEARBOX Kia unleashes PRODUCING 03 ON (YUNDAI S (42!# performance sedan !LL 7HEEL $RIVE 3YSTEM ,EVEL YOUR STA- 7ITH MUCH ANTICIPATION +IA RELEASES A TUS UP WITH THE (YUNDAI 0ALISADE NEW '4 VEHICLE THE +IA 3TINGER MODERNPRICED AT 0 MILLION IZING THE +IA LINE UP OF VEHICLES FOR THE 0HILIPPINES $ESIGNED IN 'ERMANY +IA Fun and function with wanted to make a vehicle perfectly balVolkswagen ANCED WITH PERFORMANCE COMFORT RIDE 2ElECTING OFF THE THEME OF -)!3 AND HANDLING 4HE APPEARANCE SPEAKS g%XPERIENCE THE &UN AND &UNCTION u THE FOR ITSELF WITH THE AGGRESSIVE STANCE AND 6OLKSWAGEN PAVILION EMBODIES JUST THAT A FASTBACK FORM !ND IT IS AMAZING TO SEE 7ITH MORE THAN JUST VEHICLES ON DISPLAY this beautifully sculpted machine wear6OLKSWAGEN WELCOMES YOU INTO THE FORAY ING A +IA BADGE -ATCHING THE BOLD LOOKS OF THE 67 LIFESTYLE AND THE CULT FOLLOWING ARE THE PERFORMANCE kGURES KPH that comes with the purchase of your COMES UNDER kVE SECONDS COURTESY OF ITS 6OLKSWAGEN VEHICLE "ACK TO THE VEHICLES LITER 6 TWIN TURBOCHARGED GASOLINE POSITIONED AROUND WERE THE 4IGUAN g4HE engine with direct injection and Dual IDEAL FAMILY 356 IN AND AROUND TOWN u #664 MATED TO AN EIGHT SPEED AUTOMATIC THE ,AMADO g! RElECTION OF YOUR SUC- TRANSMISSION -AX POWER IS 03 WITH CESS u THE ,AVIDA g0OWER AND COMFORT IN .M OF TORQUE PUSHING THE +IA 3TINGER ONE FUNCTIONAL SEDAN u AND OF COURSE THE TO A TOP SPEED OF KPH 'ETTING TO SPEED 3ANTANA g9OUR BEST kRST CAR u IS AS IMPORTANT AS STOPPING SPEED AND YOU 4HE 3ANTANA STOOD OUT FOR THIS CAN BE ASSURED YOU LL BE STOPPING IN NO WRITER BECAUSE OF THE STANDARD EQUIP- TIME WITH STANDARD FOUR PISTON "REMBO MENT FOR CARS BELOW 0 MILLION 3PECIk- #ALIPER DISKS ON THE FRONT AND THE REAR OF CALLY THE 2ElEX 3ILVER 3ANTANA -0) THE 3TINGER !4 3 W THE "LAUPUNKT INFOTAMENT SYS)N ADDITION TO THE 3TINGER +IA TREATED TEM 0OWERED BY A LITER -0) ENGINE THE CROWD IN -)!3 WITH THE UNVEILING EQUIPPED WITH 6OLKSWAGEN S "LUE-O- OF THE STYLISH THIRD GENERATION +IA &ORTE TION TECHNOLOGY WHICH IMPROVES FUEL 3LEEK LINES AND CLEAN DESIGN SEPARATE THIS ECONOMY AND REDUCES EMISSIONS -ATED VEHICLE FROM ITS COMPETITION 4HE FRONT with that engine is a six-speed automatic FASCIA IS MADE WITH THE SIGNATURE 4IGER TRANSMISSION BRINGING 03 OF POWER .OSE GRILLE ENHANCING ITS ROBUST STYLE AND LB FT OF TORQUE TO THE SIMPLE YET 4HE +IA &ORTE WAS THE PERFECT VEHICLE BEAUTIFULLY DESIGNED INCH WHEELS )T S TO UNVEIL SIDE BY SIDE WITH THE 3TINGER

TIME TO LEVEL UP TO YOUR kRST %UROPEAN VE- since most of its design was inspired by HICLE WITH THE 6OLKSWAGEN 3ANTANA THE LATTER #OMING IN THREE VARIANTS AND

TWO ENGINE OPTIONS YOU CAN HAVE A +IA &ORTE WITH A LITER $UAL #664 'ASOLINE %NGINE PRODUCING 03 WITH .M OF TORQUE 4HE HIGHER AND SPORTIER VARIANT OF THE &ORTE DUBBED AS THE +IA &ORTE '4 IS EQUIPPED WITH A LITER turbocharged gasoline direct injection ENGINE PRODUCING PS AND .M OF TORQUE MATED TO A SEVEN SPEED DUAL CLUTCH TRANSMISSION

The future of mobility according to Nissan 3AFETY TECHNOLOGY WAS THE STAR AT THE *APANESE AUTOMAKER S PAVILION SHOWCASING NONE OTHER THAN THE lAGSHIP .ISSAN )NTELLIGENT -OBILITY 4HE .ISSAN .AVARRA . 7ARRIOR A SPECIAL EDITION OF THE BELOVED .ISSAN .AVARRA GREETS YOU AS YOU WALK TOWARDS THE PAVILION /RANGE ACCENTS AND a beefy sports bar in the bed enhance the ALREADY SPORTY CAPABILITY OF THE .AVARRA 4HE MOST NOTICEABLE ASPECT OF THE .ISSAN PAVILION IS THE .ISSAN )NTELLIGENT -OBILITY CUBE 4HIS WAS WHERE .ISSAN DEMONSTRATED just how great the safety technology they OFFER IN THEIR VEHICLES 3ITTING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CUBE IS A .ISSAN 4ERRA WHICH IS RESTING ON AN ANIMATED SCREEN lOOR 4HE lOOR WOULD MIMIC THE DRIVING CONDITIONS AND THE )NTELLIGENT -OBILITY CAMERAS EQUIPPED ACROSS THE RANGE OF .ISSAN VEhicles demonstrated how their driver aids ARE TO BEAT .ISSAN WILL BE TAKING THE .ISSAN )NTELLIGENT -OBILITY CUBE AROUND THE Philippines and this should be something EVERYBODY NEEDS TO EXPERIENCE

Compact sports utility highlights Suzuki display 4HE FULL LINE UP OF 3UZUKI PASSENGER VEHICLES WERE ON DISPLAY FOR 3UZUKI DURING -)!3 WITH THE CENTERPIECE BEING THE EXCITING ALL NEW *IMNY "EING THE premier compact vehicle distributor in THE 0HILIPPINE MARKET 3UZUKI REINVENTS the way customers look at their vehicles

BY ADDING /%- APPEARANCE KITS ON THE VEHICLES ON DISPLAY 0LAYING WITH THE IMAGINATION OF 3UZUKI HOPEFULS WITH sportier and bolder styling on your faVORITE 3UZUKI VEHICLES 4HE 3UZUKI 3WIFT $ZIRE FOR EXAMPLE GETS A SHARP CHIN AND SIDE SKIRTS WHILE THE %RTIGA ALSO GETS A SPORTIER CHIN AND SIDE SKIRTS BUT WITH an additional black color accent on the GRILLE 4HE WELL LOVED 3UZUKI 3WIFT GETS a racing line down the center or the veHICLE ALONG WITH A SPECIAL GRILLE FOUND IN %UROPEAN VARIANTS OF THE 3WIFT IN ADDITION TO AN ADDED CARBON kBER ACCENTED REAR SPOILER 4HIS GIVES THE 3WIFT AN EVEN sportier look to match its sporty on road PERFORMANCE !LL IN ALL THE RUNNING OF THE -ANILA )NTERNATIONAL !UTO 3HOW EXEMplified its theme “Experience the fun AND &UNCTION u 4HIS ONLY GIVES US A GOOD VIEW OF WHAT S AHEAD FOR THE 0HILIPPINES MOTORING INDUSTRY #OULD THIS SIGNAL A NEW WAVE OF VEHICLES SLOWLY WINDING away from “Econo-box” setting and on to MORE EXCITING BUT FUNCTIONAL MODES OF TRANSPORT 7E LL JUST HAVE TO WAIT AND SEE WHAT BECOMES OF US

Q Nissan Terra

Golf turns 45!

4(% 'OLF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL %UROPEAN CAR JUST TURNED /N -ARCH

THE 6OLKSWAGEN PLANT IN 7OLFSBURG officially started production of what WOULD BECOME ITS BEST SELLER "ACK THEN

NOBODY AT 6OLKSWAGEN HAD ANY IDEA THAT THE SUCCESSOR TO THE LEGENDARY "EETLE WOULD END UP SELLING MORE THAN million units all over the world – and STILL SELLING TO THIS DAY )N PURELY MATHEMATICAL TERMS A NEW 'OLF HAS BEEN ordered somewhere in the world every SECONDS EVERY DAY WITHOUT INTERRUPTION SINCE THE START OF PRODUCTION YEARS AGO 4HAT IS AN AVERAGE OF AROUND

VEHICLES PER YEAR 2ALF "RANDST¸TTER CHIEF OPERATING OFkCER OF 6OLKSWAGEN SAID g4HE 'OLF IS AT THE VERY HEART OF OUR BRAND )T STANDS FOR PROGRESS AND TECHNOLOGY LIKE NO OTHER CAR &OR EXAMPLE THE 'OLF MADE SAFETY TECHNOLOGY affordable for millions of people for the kRST TIME 4HANKS TO THIS IT MADE ITS MARK ON AN ENTIRE GENERATION u

"RANDST¸TTER WENT ON TO EMPHASIZE g&OR SEVEN GENERATIONS THE 'OLF HAS MADE A CONTRIBUTION TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF 6OLKswagen as a brand and as a group – into one of the most important automotive PRODUCERS IN THE WORLD u 3TEFAN ,OTH PLANT MANAGER AT 6OLKSWAGEN IN 7OLFSBURG FOR HIS PART SAID g)N OUR EMPLOYEES WERE FACING THE CHALLENGE OF SWITCHING FROM THE "EETLE TO THE 'OLF 3INCE THEN WE HAVE CONSISTENTLY continued to develop our main plant and TODAY IN ADDITION TO THE 'OLF WE PRODUCE THE E 'OLF THE 'OLF '4% THE 'OLF 3PORTSvan and three additional models here in 7OLFSBURG u !S ONE OF THE COMPACT MODELS ON THE GLOBAL MARKET THAT MOST DEkES CLASSIkCATION THE 'OLF IS SET TO REMAIN A KEY PRODUCT PILLAR OF THE 6OLKSWAGEN BRAND 7ITH ITS STATE OF THE ART DRIVE ASSIST SYSTEMS

INFOTAINMENT AND OPERATING SYSTEMS IT will provide a decisive impetus for the FUTURE OF MOBILITY NEWSPRESS.CO.UK

dƾŜĞĚ

P

TUESDAY April 16, 2019

Track monster!

ORSCHE has created 3031 911 GT3 Cup cars SINCE PRODUCTION BEGAN IN A SIGNIkCANT number for such a specialized piece of machinery. The GT3 Cup is, in fact, the most produced GT racing car in the world. Like the 911 itself, Porsche has been in the somewhat enviable POSITION OF CONSTANTLY REkNING THE SAME BASIC AND very successful design concept, and making the seemingly impossible possible.

4HE '4 #UP CONTINUES THAT PROCESS OF EVOLUTION )N THE ENGINE A NEW AND MORE RIGID CRANKSHAFT IS kTTED !LSO NEW ARE A VALVE drive with rigidly mounted rocker arms with a central oil FEED AND AN INTEGRATED OIL centrifuge for improved oil DEFOAMING 4HE REAR OF THE WORLD S MOST PRODUCED '4 RACING CAR NOW HOUSES A LITER SIX CYLINDER lAT ENGINE FOR EVEN MORE DRIVE 4HANKS TO THOROUGHBRED MOTOR SPORTS TECHNOLOGY THE compact engine with direct fuel injection delivers peak performance of K7 HP ! RANGE OF INNOVATIVE DETAILS ALSO IMPROVE EFkCIENCY IN ADDITION TO ENGINE PERFORMANCE

ensuring even better durability of the naturally aspirated engine in racing mode and REDUCED MAINTENANCE COSTS ! VALVE DRIVE WITH rigidly mounted rocker arms and a central OIL FEED IS BEING USED FOR THE VERY kRST TIME 7HAT S MORE AN INTEGRATED OIL CENTRIFUGE IS USED TO OPTIMIZE OIL DEFOAMING IN THE ENGINE ! CRANKSHAFT WITH SIGNIkCANTLY INCREASED RIGIDITY HAS ALSO BEEN INSTALLED ! NEW FRONT APRON AND A NEW REAR END IMPROVE THE DOWNFORCE OF THE NEW '4 #UP AND THEREFORE ENHANCE TRACTION AND PERFORMANCE 4HE PROMINENT CENTIMETER wide rear wing has been retained from the PREDECESSOR MODEL 4HE WHEEL DIMENSIONS ARE ALSO UNCHANGED /NE PIECE INCH RACING rims with a central locking mechanism are USED m WITH MILLIMETER MM -ICHELIN RACING SLICKS ON THE FRONT AXLE AND A MASSIVE

“

MM TREAD ON THE REAR AXLE 4HE INTELLIGENT aluminium-steel composite construction ensures maximum rigidity and a lightweight BODY 4HE NEW '4 #UP is ready to race weighing in at JUST KILOGRAMS

The GT3 Cup is the most produced GT racing car in the World

Driver safety also assured

4HE ENGINEERS HAVE ALSO ONCE AGAIN FOCUSED SPECIkCALLY ON driver safety during developMENT 4HE DRIVER IS PROTECTED by a solid safety cage and an INNOVATIVE BUCKET STYLE RACing seat that is moulded particularly heavily AROUND THE HEAD AND SHOULDER AREA 4HE ENLARGED RESCUE HATCH IN THE ROOF IN LINE WITH THE LATEST &)! STANDARD MAKES IT easier to provide initial treatment and recovery following AN ACCIDENT Porsche manufactures the '4 #UP ON THE SAME PRODUCTION LINE AS THE road car in its main plant IN 3TUTTGART :UFFENHAUSEN 4HE BASIC RACE TUNING IS PERFORMED AT THE 7EISSACH MOTOR SPORTS CENTER WHERE VEHICLES are also thoroughly tested by a professional race driver prior to delivery to THE CUSTOMER 3OME UNITS OF THE '4 #UP HAVE BEEN BUILT IN THE

AND MODEL LINES SINCE 4HIS MAKES THE BRAND CUP RACING CAR FROM 3TUTTGART THE MOST PRODUCED AND MOST SOLD '4 RACING CAR IN THE WORLD

“

ĹŒÄžĆŒĹľÄ‚ĆŒĹŹÄžĆš Concept One Wheels and Nitto Tires powers stunt show SUBARU Philippines is bringing the Russ Swift Stunt Show back in the Philippines at the Manila International Auto Show, happening this April 4 to 7 at the World Trade Center, Pasay.

Russ Swift is a Guinness World Record holder precision stunt car driver who can maneuverer vehicles into the tightest spots and even make a car drive sideways on two wheels!

The show will run 3 times per day and Russ Swift will be inviting individuals from the audience to be his passenger while performing the stunts.

Of course, the amazing stunts will not be possible without a proper set of wheels and tires. For more than 10 consecutive years, Concept One Wheels has been the Official Wheel & Tire Sponsor of the Russ Swift Stunt Show and they will be leveling up

the game this year. “This year, we are installing 18� Concept One wheels on some of the stunt vehicles – which is a larger diameter from the shows in previous years. We are also using Nitto Tires again this year for the best grip and quality that Russ Swift requires� says Justin Uy, Marketing Head for Concept One Wheels.

A solution to parking problems AS the Christmas rush approaches, parking is also a serious matter to consider, aside from horrendous traffic jams. These are two major issues that motorists encounter everyday in the urban jungle, where one mistake can either cost you a burglarized car or a getting towed in a business district like Makati or Ortigas.

What happened in Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan is also happening here. Gentrification has caused a lot of areas around the whole country to host the building of new high-rise buildings beside existing old structures.  While this has helped bring up real estate prices, it also has limited the options or spaces where people can park, as most open spaces have been sold or are being developed. Before, people used to park on the streets without any problems. But now, the streets are being cleared out to accommodate rising traffic.

This is where Smart Parking comes in. Smart Parking was first developed and used in Japan

and eventually spread across to South Korea and its neighboring countries. One can convert an under utilized space of 33 square meters (sqm) or approximately 2 parking slots, and increase it vertically to accommodate 12 or 16 vehicles. Ingress and egress is not a problem as there is an optional turntable that can go with the unit. At 12.5 sqm per slot, that is an extra 150 to 200 sqm of “real estate� that you have added in your existing property that can attract tenants and customers to your building.

Smart Parking has sold over 566 units in over 32 countries. It can be installed in five days and is very safe, easy and economical to use. It carries a 10-year warranty on parts and lifetime free service on labor, which means maintenance cost is very minimal. And the best part is should you wish to relocate it to another location, it can be easily transferred.

For details on how to maximize your parking space, call 372 3601 to 05 or email smartparking@ emicor-inc.com.

D 3

D 4

TUESDAY

April 16, 2019

,ĞĂǀLJ ƾƚLJ

mu-X club embarks on an epic northern loop

P

ROVING that the Isuzu mu-X SUV provides THE POWER COMFORT AND FUEL EFkCIENCY needed for its drivers and passengers to ENJOY EPIC LONG DRIVES THE COUNTRY S kRST )SUZU mu-X club, the mu-X Owners of the Philippines (mu-X OP), successfully concluded a three-day caravan, 1,300-kilometer loop of central and northern Luzon on March 29 to 31.

-ORE THAN MU 8 /0 MEMBERS and their families joining the long CARAVAN OF MU 8 356S AND THE ITINERARY INCLUDED SOME OF THE MOST PICTURESQUE destinations in central and northern

XADO ANNUAL MEET Marlo Colimbo (right) attended the Xado Annual Distributors Meeting/ Conference held in Bali, Indonesia, on April 5 to 8, demonstrating the potential of the domestic market for products bearing the Xado brand. Xado is set to introduce new products to the Philippine market, including a new line of motor oils that have the brand’s popular “revitalizant� formula that extends engine life and prevents premature overhaul.

,UZON 0ORO 0OINT IN 3AN &ERNANDO ,A 5NION 6IGAN )LOCOS 3UR 0AOAY #HURCH IN )LOCOS .ORTE THE "URGOS AND "ANGUI WINDMILLS THE 0ATAPAT 6IADUCT THE ROLLING HILLS OF +ALINGA PROVINCE AND -AGAT

$AM IN .UEVA %CIJA )SUZU 0HILIPPINES #ORP )0# OFkCERS and members of the motoring media joined the fun summer ride on board TWO LITER MU 8 UNITS AND WITNESSED once more the joy and camaraderie MU 8 /0 MEMBERS SHARED AMONG THEMSELVES AS THEY HOPPED FROM ONE BREATHTAKING DESTINATION TO ANOTHER -U 8 /0 HAS BEEN ACTIVELY ENGAGED in numerous family tours and outreach PROGRAMS KEEPING THE FUN FRIENDLY

family-centered and neighborly spirit of the club alive and thriving through their use and shared enjoyment of their )SUZU MU 8 356S 4HESE CARAVANS ARE ALSO MEANT TO ENTICE OTHER MU 8 OWNERS JOIN THE CLUB -U 8 /0 "OARD OF 4RUSTEE *OMAR ,IANKO DESCRIBED THE LATEST RIDE OF THE #LUB g,IKE ALL OUR OTHER TRIPS IN THE PAST THIS LATEST CARAVAN HAS BEEN VERY SUCCESSFUL /UR -ETRO -ANILA MEMBERS were joined along the way by other club members based in central and NORTHERN ,UZON !ND AS YOU CAN SEE

every member of the family enjoyed THE TOUR DESPITE THE LENGTH OF THE TRIP AND THE FACT THAT WE RE CONSTANTLY ON THE ROAD )T JUST PROVES THAT THE )SUZU MU 8 IS VERY COMFORTABLE AND SAFE THAT we hear no complaints from the pasSENGERS 0LUS THE PERFECT BLEND OF FUEL

EFFICIENCY AND POWER OF )SUZU MU 8 provides our club members a worryfree drive and lets them focus more on ENJOYING THE TRIP u (E ADDED g7ITH MU 8 /0 ALREADY COUNTING MORE THAN MEMBERS NATIONWIDE WE ENVISION ALL MU 8 OWNERS IN THE 0HILIPPINES TO JOIN US !ND ONE way of enticing new members is to show them how active we are in our organized fun tours and various communityBUILDING ACTIVITIES u -AGBITANG ALSO EXPRESSED HIS GRATITUDE TO )0# FOR CONSISTENTLY SUPPORTING THE #LUB IN ITS ENDEAVORS g)0# S SUPPORT MEANS A LOT FOR THE MEMBERS AND IT GIVES PRACTICAL MEANING TO THE COMPANY S MOTTO OF BEING @RESPONSIBLE PARTNERS u &OR ITS PART )0# OFFICERS ALSO EXPRESSED THEIR GRATITUDE TO MU 8 /0 MEMBERS STATING THAT THE CLUB S various fun and community-building ACTIVITIES EXEMPLIFY HOW )SUZU MU 8 can be an integral and dependable PART OF THE &ILIPINO MOTORIST S LIFESTYLE

ENTICING FUTURE MU 8 OWNERS TO EXPLORE the many possible ways they can enjoy THEIR )SUZU VEHICLE

Sports

TUESDAY E1

APRIL 16, 2019

w w w.manilatimes.net

Q Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo dunks during the second half of Game 1 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the Detroit Pistons in Milwaukee. AP PHOTO

No room for complacency —Garcia STRIKE while the iron is hot!

With this in mind, Rain or Shine (RoS) coach Caloy Garcia and his Elasto Painters are out to see their 2-0 lead over the Magnolia Hotshots in their bestof-three semifinal round series to more comfortable and, hopefully, unreachable three-to-nothing count before the PBA Philippine Cup takes the Holy Week rest. “I have been telling the boys since Game 1 not to let this opportunity pass. We’re leading, 2-0, yes, but Magnolia, I’m sure, is not about to take this sitting down and they, being a champion team, sure is preparing to fight back,� Garcia told the Manila Times in a phone interview the morning following RoS’ 93-80 victory in Game 2 of the series on Sunday. “I’ve been telling them to remain focused on the series.

Be always prepared na kapag ginamit, maganda ang ilalaro, like what they’ve shown the past two games,� Garcia stressed.  “I and my coaching staff couldn’t ask for more, for now.

Everybody has been responding well. Our second unit has been complementing our starters well,� Coach Caloy said.  “We’re shorthanded for the moment, in the absence of Raymond (slotman Raymond Almazan) and Maverick (point guard Maverick Ahanmisi).      Both Almazan and Ahanmisi were in civilian clothes in Games 1 and 2, suffering from separate injuries, but Norbert Torres, Kris Rosales, Rey Nambatac, and Ed Daquioag have more than made  up to fill the void left starters  Ahanmisi and Almazan.

Garcia expects his Fil-Am sentinel Ahanmisi, though, to be back in Game 3 on Tuesday. “Minor sprain lang naman ang injury nya.’    Torres made the most of covering for big man Almazan on Sunday by starting hot from beyond from the first quarter on in a performance that robbed on his teammates, particularly Daquiaog, who picked up from here he left in the next periods.

Torres went 5-of-6 from the field including a perfect 4-of-4 from three-point range scoring all but three of his 16 points in the first 12 minutes, nine of them from downtown that allowed the Elasto Painters to take control that early.

Daquioag followed Torres’ lead the next times up firing 3-of-5 from beyond the arc for a gamehigh 19 points. Nambatac had 12 and Gabe Norwood 10.

In all, the Elasto Painters went 16-of-37 from three-point range for a high 43.2 percent shooting and matched their 3-point output in Game 1 by halftime, knocking down nine from beyond the arc.

Besides that, Garcia attributed the Painters’ Game 2 triumph on team defense, saying: “We just started the game on fire. Norbert began hitting his shots, and that somewhat threw the Hotshots’ game off balance.�  “We’re able to limit their guards, (Mark) Barroca, Jio (Jallon), (Justine) Melton and Paul (Lee), he pointed out. “Si Paul, we succeeded in slowing him down today,�  Garcia added. “I think mananalo sa series, if we have continue with our crippling defense,� coach Caloy asserted.

Barroca, Melton, and Jalalon, who along with Lee, formed the core of the Hotshots’ offensive and defensive rotations, only managed a combined 4-of-21 from the field for a total output of nine points. Lee, reduced to shooting blanks, had 12.

Robert Herndon, only in his second year in the PBA, topscored   the Hotshots Pambansang Manok with 13 points, leading Magnolia, beat RoS in bench points, 51-34.

EDDIE G.ALINEA

Bucks, Trail Blazers deliver messages in playoff openers L

OS ANGELES: Milwaukee showed why they are the Eastern Conference kingpins and Giannis Antetokounmpo proved he is worthy of a league MVP as the Bucks trampled all over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday (Monday in Manila).

Antetokounmpo had 24 points and 17 rebounds in just 24 minutes, as the Milwaukee began their hunt for a playoff championship ring with a 121-86 blowout of the Pistons in game one. “It was fun,� said Greece’s Antetokounmpo. “We did a good job of playing hard and playing together. “The coach told us at halftime to stay together, keep rebounding the ball and run it down. “I am just glad we got a win.�

Antetokounmpo and the Bucks ran roughshod over the hapless Pistons

ALL GAME AND THE POINT DEkCIT WAS lATTERING TO THE VISITORS Detroit tried everything to stop the ‘Greek Freak’ and the only time they did was when center Andre DrumMOND SHOVED HIM TO THE lOOR WITH both hands which got Drummond thrown out of the game by the referees.

Antetokounmpo was nine for 17 FROM THE kELD AND ONE OF kVE FROM three-point range.

Drummond threw a kiss to the Fiserv Forum crowd as he headed to the showers but it might as well

be the kiss of death for the Pistons against the NBA’s top team (60 wins) in the regular season.

3EVEN "UCKS SCORED IN DOUBLE kGures. Eric Bledsoe had 15 points, and Brook Lopez and Khris Middleton each added 14. George Hill came off the bench to score 16 points.

Detroit played without forward "LAKE 'RIFkN WHO HAS MISSED kVE OF the last eight games with a sore knee.

Elsewhere, the Portland Trail Blazers snapped their 10-game postseason losing streak, defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder 104-99 to claim THEIR kRST PLAYOFF WIN IN THREE YEARS The Blazers have endured a miserable record in the playoffs in recent years, suffering back-to-back first round sweeps in 2017 and 2018 against Golden State and New Orleans.

On Sunday however Portland’s three-year wait for a postseason win came to an end, as Damian Lillard

inspired a battling victory over the sixth-seeded Thunder.

Lillard went nine-of-21 from the kELD ON HIS WAY TO POINTS IN minutes, adding four rebounds, four assists and three steals.

He was backed by C.J. McCollum, who added 24 points from nine-of-24 shooting with six rebounds and three assists.

Turkish international Enes Kanter meanwhile reminded his former Thunder team-mates of his talent, posting a double-double of 20 points and 18 rebounds. ,ILLARD SAID +ANTER S kRED UP CONtribution had tipped the balance for the Blazers. “Any time you’re going up against a team you played for, in the most important series of the year, you’re going to want to play well,� Lillard said. “And you’re going to want to come out on the winning side. “We understood that he was going

to come out ready to play. And he was the MVP of the game, especially down the stretch. “He had a huge presence and played a big part in us winning this game.�

Garden party Also, Kyrie Irving scored 20 points as the Boston Celtics shrugged off the injury absence of Marcus Smart to defeat the Indiana Pacers 84-74. )RVING WAS AMONG kVE PLAYERS TO MAKE DOUBLE kGURES AS "OSTON DREW kRST BLOOD IN THE BEST OF SEVEN SERIES opener at the TD Garden.

Boston had gone into the game reeling from news that Smart is set to miss the opening two rounds of the playoffs after suffering a torn oblique.

However the fourth-seeded CeltICS HAD TOO MUCH kREPOWER FOR THE kFTH RANKED 0ACERS ON THEIR WAY TO a deserved victory.

AFP

ROS SEEKS COMMANDING 3-0 LEAD VS MAGNOLIAÂ RAIN or Shine goes for a commanding 3-0 lead tonight as it takes on Magnolia in Game 3 of THEIR BEST OF SEVEN SEMIkNALS SERIES of Season 44 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.

After winning Game 1 (84-77) and Game 2 (93-80), Coach Caloy Garcia of the Elasto Painters wants to go to the Holy Week vacation on a high note in their 7 p.m. encounter with the Hotshots. The Game 4 of their series will resume on Monday.

Garcia said there is no reason for the No. 2 Elasto Painters to relax despite leading halfway in the series. “It is still a long series and we know Magnolia is capable of coming back. It is all about our consistency,� said Garcia, adding that a win in Game 3 absolutely crucial for them heading to the Holy Week. “I think that’s probably the key if we win Game 3.� “It’s going to be tough against us if we lose because they have a long preparation next.�

After rookie Javee Mocon’s 15 points and 10 rebounds performance in Game 1, Ed Daquioag notched 19 points, while Norbert Torres stepped up on the gas early hitting all POINTS IN THE kRST HALF IN Game 2 win.

Maverick Ahanmisi is expected to report on active duty in Game 3 after being sidelined in the injury list due to a sprained foot. Aside from Ahanmisi, big man Raymond Almazan (calf) is also in the injury list and he is not expected to play yet in the series.

Magnolia, for its part, is expected to do everything what it takes to narrow the series gap to 1-2.

After eliminating No. 3 Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in the bestOF THREE QUARTERkNALS THE (OTSHOTS WERE STILL STRUGGLING AND COULDN T kND their rhythm against the Elasto Painters.

Ian Sangalang and Robbie HernDON kNISHED WITH POINTS APIECE in Game 2.

JOSEF T. RAMOSÂ

Q AMA’s Franky Johnson gets a rebound against UST’s Soulemane Chabi Yo (behind) during a 2019 PBA D-League game. PBA MEDIA BUREAU PHOTO

Titans outlast Generals, earn win No. 2 in D-League

Q Ed Daquioag of Rain or Shine cruises for a layup against Magnolia’s Justin Melton (No. 2) during Game 2 of best-of-seven semifinals of Season 44 PBA Philippine Cup on Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum. PBA MEDIA BUREAU PHOTO

FRANKY JOHNSON carried AMA Online Education to a 122-119 double-overtime victory over Batangas-Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC) in the 2019 Philippine Basketball Association Developmental League (PBA D-League) on Monday at the JCSGO Gym in Cubao, Quezon City. Johnson scored the last nine points of the Titans, who emerged victorious in the grueling game to snap a three-game losing skid and improve to 2-3 in the Aspirants Group. “The composure of the players came out. I told them that we’re already in it that’s why we have to win,� said AMA head coach Mark Herrera, whose team’s previous win came almost two months ago. AMA crushed league newcomer McDavid, 8065, for a season debut win last February 19. Filipino-American swingman Johnson exploded with 37 points on a 12-of-33 shooting clip to go with four rebounds, four assists and four steals. League top scorer Joshua Munzon drilled in a double-double of game-high 38 points and 16 boards on top of seven dimes, six steals and a block for AMA. Ryan Arambulo chipped in 18 points and 12 rebounds while Embons Bonleon came off the bench to add 11 markers and eight boards in the win. Johnson converted three shots from the charity stripe to put AMA ahead, 116-113, with

1:23 remaining in the second extension period. But Renzo Tampoc and Earvin Mendoza hit a layup each as Batangas-EAC stole the lead, 117-116. The Titans regained the advantage, 118117, following Johnson’s quick basket with 30.1 ticks left before the Fil-Am cager sank four insurance free throws. Mendoza and Cedric De Joya paced Batangas-EAC with 26 points apiece even as Tampoc and Adrian De Guzman had 12 points each plus a combined 20 rebounds. The Generals fell to their fourth straight defeat and an overall 1-5 record.

JEREMIAH M. SEVILLA THE SCORES: AMA (122)— Munzon 38, Johnson 37, Arambulo 18, Bonleon 11, Rike 5, Parcero 5, Garcia 4, Raflores 4, Paras 0, Catequista 0, Asuncion 0, Alao 0, Estibar 0, Gonzaga 0. BATANGAS-EAC (119)— De Joya 26, Mendoza 26, De Guzman 12, Tampoc 12, Corilla 11, Taywan 9, Neri 6, Robin 6, Martin 5, Gonzales 4, Carlos 2, Dela Pena 0, Boffa 0, Oriondo 0, Fuentes 0. Quarter scores: 17-23; 42-38; 72-73; 93-93; 106-106 (1OT); 122-119 (2OT) Â

E2

Sports

The Manila Times

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TUESDAY April 16, 2019

Record-breakers Dula, Luistro lead MOS winners in PSL Coseteng Cup

M

ASVILLE Elementary School-Paranaque’s School Paranaque’s Marc Bryan Dula and Hope Christian School-Legazpi’s Trump Christian Luistro bannered 50 other Most Outstanding Swimmer (MOS) awardees in the 156th Philippine Swimming League (PSL) National Series - 15th Sen. Nikki Coseteng Swimming Cup held at the Diliman Preparatory School swimming pool in Quezon City.

Dula and Luistro – both fresh from successful campaign in the Thanyapura International Swimming Championship in Thailand, led the Class AB MOS winners in the boys’ division while Dipolog City bets Kiara Acierto and Mary Maika Montecillo spearheaded the awardees in the girls’ class.

The Palarong Pambansa-bound Dula collected 97 points to earn the top spot in the 12-year while Luistro had 80 points in winning the MOS trophy in the 10-year category, Acierto also got 80 points to rule the 8-year class and Montecillo scored 72 points for the MOS plum in the 10-year.

Sharing the spotlight were fellow MOS winners Eryza Buison (7), Say Henry (9), Triza Tabamo (11), Jeanne Calayag (12), Robin Kagingin (13), Ashley Yu (14) and Francine Valero (15-over) in girls; and Jude Austin Gapultos (8), Aishel Evangelista (9), Feriz Espano (11), Lee Grant Cabral (13), Raven Henry (14) and Joco Delizo (15-over) in boys.

In Class C, Andrea Llego (8), Maureese #ANDELARIA 3Ok 'OMAS &EYAN %CLEO (11), Reese Fuentes (12), Alyza Luzano (13), Coleen Dizon (14), and Jewel Sermonia (15-over) won the MOS in girls; and Johndy Cuasay (7), Harold Roxas (8), Asael Aman (9), Lean Andrew Llego (10), Charles Pelaro (11), Adrianne Soliongco (12), Matthew Garcia (13), Nico Dacay (14) and Gabriel Del Rosario (15-over) claimed the MOS in boys. “We have so much talent in this country. Swimmers must undergo this process of development as there is no shortcuts in sports, it is measured by time and PSL can not go wrong in giving rise to athletes,� said PSL President Susan Papa.

Winning MOS in the Novice Division were Dylan Oliva (6-under), Niel Dacay (7), John Rey Aquino (8), Leon Alicer (9), Ezekiel Belbes (10), Joshrolf De Jesus (11), Kyle Conde (12), Titus Peralta (13), Shawn

Q The Most Outstanding Swimmer awardees in the boys’ division display their medals and trophies during the 156th Philippine Swimming League (PSL) National Series - 15th Sen. Nikki Coseteng Swimming Cup held at the Diliman Preparatory School swimming pool in Quezon City. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Santander (14) and Jusine Toldoya (15-over) in boys; and Samantha Sahagun (7), Claine Lim (8), Gwyneth Annayo (9), Baby Judy

Pagurayan (10), Kreshna Saboya (11), Anica Traspice (12), Gyanne Oabel (13) and Hanna Medina (15-over) in girls.

UST’S RONDINA COPS UAAP POW PLUM A GREAT leader is judged through one’s action and example.

Sisi Rondina did just that in the week THAT WAS AS SHE FULkLLED HER PROMISE OF bringing University of Sto. Tomas to greater heights in her swan song.

The graduating hitter rallied the Tigresses back into the Final Four for the SECOND TIME IN HER STORIED kVE YEAR CAREER with superb showing in UST’s two outings, enough to earn Rondina the nod FOR HER kRST EVER #OLLEGIATE 0RESS #ORPS UAAP Player of the Week.

The 22-year-old open spiker exploded for 20 points on Wednesday in the Tigresses’ 25-21, 25-12, 26-24, win over University of the Philippines that put UST in a good position for a return stint in the Final Four after missing the cut last year.

Rondina hammered 17 of those points off attacks and added 15 digs and eight excellent receptions.

The four-time beach volleyball champion picked up from she left off four days after with a 21-point performance as the Tigresses submitted Far Eastern University, 25-23, 25-18, 25-23, to validate their entry in the Final Four.

2ONDINA kLLED THE STATS SHEET WITH spikes, three aces and a kill block while SHOWING HER PROWESS IN lOOR DEFENSE with 15 digs and 12 excellent receptions in the victory that gave Tigers a chance to vie for a semis twice-to-beat advantage.

The Queen Tigress downplayed her impressive effort in UST’s romp and was quick to credit her teammates. “Ang maganda kasi, sobrang responsible ng mga bata, nakikinig sila at nagtutulungan kami kaya ito ang bunga ng lahat ng set plays namin, lumalabas,� said Rondina. “Isa lang masasabi ko kanina, sobrang focused ‘ yung paglaro namin kanina.�

The Tigresses, actually, entered the match already assured of a semis seat after also-ran National University the Lady Maroons from the Final Four contention but it didn’t distract the Rondina and the rest of UST from their focus of building momentum heading into the postseason wars.

The Espana-based squad (9-4) can snatch a semis advantage if it hurdles the Lady Bulldogs on April 27 and three-time defending champion De La Salle University (9-3) drops all of its remaining games.

UST can also force a playoff for a Final Four edge if it wins its last game and the Lady Spikers lose one of their last two outings. “Sabi ko nga na nangangarap akong umabot sa championship, lagi kong ireremind sa kanila ‘yun. Gagawin ko ang mga kailangang gawin para ipakita na gusto kong maglaro para sa UST, magpayoff ang mga paghihirap namin and kailangan kong lagyan ng actions ‘yan. ‘Yun lang ang gagawin ko,� Rondina said.

Q University of Santo Tomas’ Sisi Rondina avoids the block of De La Salle University’s Aduka Ogunsanya (No. 13) and Jolina Dela Cruz (No. 8) during the UAAP Season 81 women’s volleyball tournament. PHOTO BY ROGER RANADA

Davao Tigers shoot for 2-1 lead vs Knights in MPBL MAHARLIKA Pilipinas Basketball League Datu Cup Southern Conference champion Davao Cocolife is ready to defy the odds when it battles Northern titlist San Juan Knights in Game 3 of their best-of-five National Finals at enemy’s territory today at The Arena in San Juan City.

Tigers coach Don Dulay said during the team’s presentation yesterday at Cocolife Function Hall in Makati City that his wards can overcome the home crowd and focus in the crucial match that will give the momentum and an advantage going to jugular in Game 4 also slated in San Juan. “I told my boys to get focused, be confident to win but not be over confident.

Never mind the crowd, we’ve done this before and we’ll do it again,� Dulay said.

The Mindanao team owned by Claudine Bautista of Davao Occidental LGU backed

by Cocolife President Atty. Martin Loon, FVP Joseph Ronquillo and AVP Rowena Asnan, are tied with the Knights 1-1 in the series of the league organized by Senator Manny Pacquiao.

Cocolife top brass Atty. Loon is optimistic that the Tigers will pull through their games in San Juan to prevent a rubber match back in Davao.

The Davao Cocolife Tigers will lean on offensive firepower of former pros Mark Yee, Leo Najorda, Bonbon Custodio, homegrowns Emmanuel Calo and Joseph Terso.

Its vaunted defensive crews are also ready to neutralize Knights armour led by veterans Macmac Cardona, Larry Rodriguez, Joseph Wilson and the crowd.

Arcilla seeks repeat in PPS Umali Cup JOHNNY ARCILLA exudes confidence as he sets out for his title-retention drive against a crack field toughened up by the presence of a slew of young guns ready to prove their worth in the PPS-PEPP Gov. Alfonso Umali Cup Tennis Championship firing off today at the Bahaghari Tennis Club in Oriental Mindoro.

Arcilla bested fellow Davis Cupper and doubles partner Jeson Patrombon, 6-3, 6-4, to reign here last year but the veteran campaigner braces for a tough campaign this time GIVEN THE DEPTH OF THE PLAYER MEN S kELD CLASHING FOR THE top P40,000 purse in the week-long event held in conjunction with the Pinamalayan Festival celebrations.

Patrombon gains the top seeding with Arcilla at No. 2 but the likes of Leander Lazaro, Mark Alcoseba, Noel Damian, Deo Talatayod, Fritz Verdad and Rodolfo Barquin, Kim Saraza

and John Mari Altiche are going all out to spring a surprise OR TWO AGAINST THE kELD S TOP GUNS IN WHAT PROMISES TO BE A thrilling battle of power and endurance.

Also on tap in the event sponsored by Gov. Umali and the provincial government of Oriental Mindoro is the doubles competition with the Arcilla-Patrombon tandem looming as the team to beat with the Alcoseba-Damian, Lazaro-Verdad and Joseph Arcilla-Talatayod pairs raring to foil the fancied team’s bid in the event serving as part of the nationwide, year-long circuit Palawan PawnshopPalawan Express Pera Padala headed by president/CEO Bobby Castro and presented by Dunlop.

The Umali Cup Open also comes on the heels of the twin staging of junior tournaments in Oriental Mindoro and 0ANGASINAN SANCTIONED BY THE 5NIkED 4ENNIS 0HILIPPINES

Garin becomes first Chilean ATP champion in decade LOS ANGELES: Christian Garin claimed his first ATP title on Sunday (Monday in Manila), weathering a solid challenge from Casper Ruud to post a three-set win in the final of the US Men’s Clay Court Championships.

The 22-year-old Garin, who is part of the ATP’s next generation of stars, beat Ruud 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 6-3 and becomes the first Chilean to win an ATP Tour title since Fernando Gonzalez in 2009. “Casper is a great player I am sure we will play many more finals against each other,� said Garin, who improved his clay court record to 11-3 in 2019. “This is my favourite tournament now and I hope to come back next year.�

Garin also won their only previous career meeting last month in Sao Paulo, Brazil and earned his first title in just his 11th career tournament.

Not only did Garin pick up the winner’s check Sunday but he will play in his first French Open next month in Paris.

Garin reached the final by defeating American Sam Querrey 7-6 (7/2), 6-2. But his road to the final wasn’t easy. He was pushed to three sets in his opening match against Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay and saved five match points to defeat second seed Jeremy Chardy of France in the second round.

Ruud, 20, was seeking to become the first Norwegian to win an ATP Tour title. Ruud’s father, Christian, was the last player from Norway to reach an ATP Tour finishing runner-up in 1995 at Bastad, Sweden. Christian Ruud competed on the Tour for a decade.

Like Garin, Ruud has been impressive on clay this season. He reached the quarterfinals in February at the Rio Open and then advanced to the semi-finals at the Brazil Open.

AFP

The Manila Times

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Sports E3 Tiger wins 15th major title with spectacular Masters victory TUESDAY April 16, 2019

AUGUSTA, US:Â Tiger Woods completed an epic comeback from career-threatening injury and scandal by winning the 83rd Masters on Sunday (Monday in Manila), capturing his 15th major title to end an 11-year major drought.

The 43-year-old American superstar, who underwent spinal fusion surgery in 2017 due to chronic back pain, seized his kRST MAJOR TITLE SINCE THE 53 /PEN “It’s overwhelming just because of what has transpired,� Woods said. “I could barely walk. Couldn’t sleep.

Couldn’t walk. Couldn’t do anything. “To have the opportunity to come back, it’s one of the biggest wins I’ve ever had for sure.�

7INNING A kFTH -ASTERS TITLE AND HIS kRST since 2005, cemented a fairytale comeback to the pinnacle of golf for Woods, whose career imploded after a 2009 sex scandal and nagging knee and back injuries that required a total of seven surgeries. “It’s the best I’ve felt with a driver in years,� Woods said. “I felt in control of my long game and it really paid off.�

With fans chanting his name, an emotional Woods walked off the 18th green and hugged his mother Kultida, daughter Sam and son Charlie just as he had embraced his late father Earl there after his kRST MAJOR VICTORY AT THE -ASTERS “It has come full circle,� Woods said. “This tournament has meant so much to me and to have everyone here means so much to me and my family. “Now to be the champion -- 22 years between wins is a long time -- it’s unreal for me to experience this. I just couldn’t be more happy, more excited. I’m just kind of at a loss for words.�

2ACING TO kNISH BEFORE AN ONCOMING thunderstorm, players created their own electric atmosphere, spectators roaring repeatedly for sensational shotmaking on one of golf’s iconic stages.

Woods fired a final-round twounder par 70 to finish on 13-under

Q Tiger Woods of the United States celebrates after sinking his putt on the 18th green to win during the final round of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia.Â

AFP PHOTO

Thai pulls ahead at PGTA Luisita with 67 TARLAC: Thai Namchok Tantipokhakul came out of a two-hour rain delay in fierce form then came back from a bogey mishap with back-to-back birdies at the finish to shoot a five-under 65 and seize the clubhouse lead over Jay Bayron and two others at the start of the ICTSI Luisita Championship here on Monday.

Tantipokhakul, coming off a joint sixth place effort in the Solaire Philippine Open two weeks ago, flashed superb touch off the mound then bucked the softened fairways with a nearimpeccable iron game to produce six birdies against a lone bogey for a 33-34 card under preferred lies rule for a provisional twoshot lead with half of the starting 108-player field still to complete play at presstime. “I played solid and putted very well,� said Tantipokhakul, who missed just three fairways and two greens while anchoring his superb opening round bid with 25 putts. “Not bothered by wet conditions.

It’s actually good for long hitters like me.�

Heavy rains and threats of lightning forced the organizing Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc. to suspend play early on with Tantipokhakul drilling in birdies on Nos. 3, 5 and 9 at resumption to outclass flightmates defending champion David Gleeson of Australia and local ace Juvic Pagunsan in one of the featured flights in the $100,000 event put up by ICTSI. Gleeson, who nipped Erwin Arcillas on the third playoff hole to nail his breakthrough win last year, hit three birdies but fumbled with the same number of bogeys while Pagunsan, seeking to atone for his missed cut stint in the Phl Open after dominating the PGT Asia Riviera leg last month, recovered from a double-bogey misadventure on No. 7 with birdies on the next and on No. 16 as the duo joined a big bunch of even par scorers but five shots off Tantipokhakul.

Bayron checked a rollercoaster two birdie-two bogey game with three straight birdies from No. 13 but missed moving closer to or catching up with Tantipokhakul with flubbed birdies in the last three holes. He turned in a 36-33, the same nines put in by American Lexus Keoninh while Natthapong Niyomchon blew a solid backside 31 with two bogeys at the front to drop to Bayron’s group.

Finland’s Teemu Putkonen rattled off three birdies in the first six holes at the back but bogeyed the last to slip to joint fifth at 70 with Thai

275 for a one-shot victory to capture a $2.07 million (1.82 million euros) top prize and the green jacket symbolizing Masters supremacy.

An all-American trio of three-time major winner Brooks Koepka, world number two Dustin Johnson and Xander Schauffele shared second on 276.

Jack says ‘Well done’ )T WAS THE kFTH -ASTERS TITLE FOR 7OODS

HIS kRST SINCE AND IT MOVED HIM three shy of the all-time record 18 majors won by Jack Nicklaus. “A big well done from me to Tiger,�

Nicklaus tweeted. “I’m so happy for him and for the game of golf this is so fantastic.�

Woods has won majors at Bethpage and Pebble Beach, where next month’s PGA #HAMPIONSHIP AND *UNE S 53 /PEN WILL be played, but he’s not chasing Nicklaus. “I’m sure I will probably think about it going down the road. Right now it’s a little soon. I’m just enjoying 15,� Woods said.

4HE TRIUMPH WAS THE kRST MAJOR VICtory for Woods when he did not lead after 54 holes, having started the day TWO ADRIFT OF REIGNING "RITISH /PEN champion Francesco Molinari.

Woods served notice he had returned to form by contending last year at the "RITISH /PEN AND 0'! BEFORE SNAPPING A kVE YEAR TITLE DROUGHT BY CAPTURING THE Tour Championship.

Woods grabbed the lone lead on a jampacked leaderboard with a tap-in birdie at the par-5 15th, a four-foot birdie putt following at the par-3 16th to double the advantage, allowing him to bogey the last and still win.

Woods parred 17 and walked up to the 18th green to crowds 20-people deep applauding with delight, but he kept a stoic visage until the job was complete, a tap-in for bogey followed

BY A kST PUMP AND A SCREAM OF JOY IN celebration of one of the greatest comebacks in sporting history.

AFP

Hunt, Iffland dominate World Cliff Diving DEFENDING champions Gary Hunt and Rhiannan Iffland fired off their respective 2019 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series campaigns with victories in the opening stop held at the Miniloc Island in El Nido, Palawan on Saturday. British diver Hunt, 34, outclassed 14 opponents to rule the men’s division while Australian stalwart Iffland, 27, beat eight other participants to top the women’s side. Seven-time titlist Hunt came from behind to chalk 427.25 points in four dives, stunning Constantin Popovici of Romania (409.40) and Jonathan Paredes of Mexico (408.05). “I knew it was going to be a tough competition,� said Hunt, who placed third after the penultimate dive. “I wanted to be diving against the best people in the world and here is where I can do that.� The 2015 FINA world champion came up with a backward triple somersault highlighted by four twists to score a whopping 137.80 points in his leg-winning final dive. Three-time defending champ Iffland also

won in a comeback fashion, tallying 329.25 points to thwart Yana Nestsiarava of Belarus (319.35) and Lysanne Richard of Canada (309.70). Sitting on the third spot after three attempts, the 2017 FINA world titlist produced an inward triple somersault laced with a half-twist to chalk 106.40 points in her last dive. “(I’m) super happy and a bit surprised as well. I was standing up there and thought the win is a bit out of my reach, but I do like that extra bit of pressure,� said Iffland. “It’s a good start, but the rest of the season I’d like to be just as consistent. I did four consistent dives here in the Philippines. I’d like to carry that on for the rest of the season,� she added. Meanwhile, 20-year old Filipino-Australian diver Xantheia Pennisi posted a decent seventhplace showing with 209.30 points. Pennisi was the first-ever Filipino athlete to compete in the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series. Following the El Nido stop, the World Series will head to Dublin, Ireland on May 12. Q Rhiannan Iffland celebrates dater a successful attempt during the Cliff JEREMIAH M. SEVILLA Diving World Series in El Nido, Palawan. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

French Open finalist Thiem confirms split with coach Q Thai Tantipohakul namchok plays his second shot in hole 11 during the ICTSI Luisita Championship in Tarlac.

PHOTO BY ROGER RANADA

Kammalas Namuangruk and locals Elmer Salvador and Kuresh Samanodi while Thais Pasavee Lertvilai, Tawit Polthai and veteran Wisut Artjanawat and Gerald Rosales churned out identical 71s to boost their respective bids at the tight, hazard laden Robert Trent Jones Sr.-designed layout.

Rosales, a former Phl Open titlist in an all-local field, showed flashes of brilliance with two birdies at the front but after a run of pars, the former amateur hotshot wavered at the finish, closing out with a bogey-birdie-bogey-bogey-birdie for a 37.

Some of the local favorites, however, fell way behind with fat scores and in danger of missing the top 50 plus ties cut in this kickoff leg of the third season of the region’s newest circuit backed by PLDT Enterprise, Meralco, BDO and PGT Asia official apparel Pin High.

They include reigning PGT Order of Merit champion Jobim Carlos, who skied to an 82 marred by a triple bogey and two doubles bogeys while trying to buck a hand injury that forced him to withdraw from the Phl Open after 18 holes.

Q Former PGA Tour campaigner Rick Gibson (second from left) joins fellow officials (from right) Club Manager Mark Gaston, Club president Cesar Jalosjos and Senior Designer John Cope during the formal launching of the Dakak Gold and Country Club in Zamboanga. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Dakak launches worldclass golf course DAKAK Golf Club formally announces the launch of its breathtaking new golf course inside Dakak Resort. Dakak Golf Chairman Cesar Jalosjos and Dakak Golf President Rick Gibson led officials for the formal launching at the Manila Hotel. “We are very pleased with the results of the development,� said Jalosjos, who has been overseeing the project. “It will be an unforgettable experience to play there.

Natural wonders dominate the 50-hectare, 6,500-yard par 72 wonder.  “Most of what you will see is unheard-of in golf,� says Gibson, a former Asian Tour champion who is guiding the finishing touches on the course’s back nine. “To begin with, there is a record 1.9 miles of ocean in play, beating the record 1.6 miles of Pebble Beach.�

The front nine of the Greg Norman-designed course is already open for play, and the grass is already being laid down on the back half of the course. Dakak Golf course will be fully operational by November. There are three par 3’s, three par 4’s and three par 5’s on each nine, and every hole has its challenges. Seven of the first nine holes face the Sulu Sea, a feature unique to Dakak. Many of the holes require a golfer’s shot to go over water, with one needing a near-perfect tee-off over a waterfall to get onto the green. The entire property is a seamless blend of blue and green, with almost no man-made structures in sight.

Luckily for Dakak, all the needed materials for completion are right on site, with the grass for the course being specially grown nearby.

MONACO: Dominic Thiem confirmed on Sunday’s (Monday in Manila) opening day of the Monte Carlo Masters that he has all but split from longtime coach Gunter Bresnik.

The 26-year-old who played the 2018 French Open final against Rafael Nadal and won the Indian Wells Masters title on hardcourt a month ago for a career breakthrough, explained the parting of ways. “We’ve been together 15 years, he will stay on my team but tennis-wise, it’s over.�

Reports in Austrian media had been circulating for months concerning the strained relationship between a mentor tired of traveling the circuit and a rising-star pupil.

Thiem worked for a time with Galo Blanco as traveling coach. But last year the Spaniard joined the new Spanish Davis Cup organizer Kosmos.

2004 Athens Olympic champion Nicolas Massu began working with Thiem in February at South American events and was on board for the Indian Wells trophy success. “We had some great training before Indian Wells,�number five Thiem said.“We achieved a title and have a great relationship. “He has added many good things to my game. he also grew up on clay, which is my favorite surface. “I’m expecting good things to happen.�

The Austrian is prepared to aim for the starts in the spring run-up to Roland Garros. “I expect a lot on clay, like I do every season; these are strong events for me. “The draw here is so strong and the level of tennis is very high at the moment. “We all have to be full power on from first point of every match.�

AFP

E4

TUESDAY April 16, 2019

Football

The Manila Times

w w w. m a n i l a t i m e s. n e t

FEU blanks UE to clinch Final Four berth JERMI DARAPAN netted the match-winner as Far Eastern University (FEU) clinched a Final Four berth at the expense of University of the East (UE), 1-0, in Season 81 University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s football on Sunday at the FEU-Diliman Football Field in Quezon City. Darapan came off the bench to strike the lone goal in the 79th minute, giving the Tamaraw Booters the first semifinal spot this season with a league-best 24 points on a 7-3-2 win-draw-loss record. Head coach Bobae Park’s FEU squad also posted its third win in a row to reclaim the top spot. UE bowed out of Final Four contention as it dropped to the bottom with eight markers on a dismal 2-2-8 slate. The Red Warriors actually led the standings early in the season but suddenly crashed to a seven-game winless run. Meanwhile, Katipunan rivals University of the Philippines (UP) and Ateneo De Manila University battled to a 1-1 draw. Kintaro Miyago hit the opener for the Maroon Booters in the sixth minute but Rupert Baùa quickly struck the equalizer for the Blue Booters just three minutes later. With the stalemate, UP remained at No. 3 with 20 points on a 6-24 card while Ateneo slid to No. 2 with 23 markers on a 7-2-3 sheet. In the other fixture, also-ran Adamson University shocked last season’s finalist University of Santo Tomas, 1-0, behind Rey Poncardas’ 64th minute goal. The Soaring Falcons ascended to No. 6 with 11 points on two wins and five draws against six losses. Adamsonalsosnappedafour-gamelosingskid. The Golden Booters suffered their third setback and fell to No. 5 with 17 markers on four wins and five draws.

JEREMIAH M. SEVILLAÂ

Q Chelsea’s Brazilian-Italian defender Emerson Palmieri (left) vies with Liverpool’s Egyptian midfielder Mohamed Salah during the English Premier League football match at Anfield in Liverpool, England. AFP PHOTO

Klopp lauds Salah as Liverpool downs Chelsea L

IVERPOOL: Jurgen Klopp hailed “fantastic� Mohamed Salah as the key to Liverpool’s title dreams as they powered back to the top of the Premier League thanks to the Egypt star’s stunning strike in a 2-0 win over Chelsea on Sunday (Monday in Manila).

Klopp’s side had surrendered pole position a few hours earlier when Manchester City won 3-1 at Crystal Palace, piling pressure on the Reds to respond as the title race heats up.

But Liverpool rose to the challenge AS 3ADIO -ANE S OPENER kVE MINUTES after the break and a blistering longRANGE DRIVE FROM 3ALAH TWO MINUTES LATER MOVED THEM TWO POINTS CLEAR of second-placed City on a raucous AFTERNOON AT !NkELD g)T WAS A FANTASTIC GOAL FROM -O ) had the best view,� Klopp said after 3ALAH S kRST GOAL FROM OUTSIDE THE area in the league since January 2018. g7HAT A kNISH WHAT A SHOT "UT THE WHOLE MOVE AROUND IT 7OW BRILLIANT g) M SO PROUD OF THE TEAM IT WAS A FANTASTIC PERFORMANCE ) M SO THANKFUL ) CAN BE A PART OF THIS )T S OVERWHELMING AT TIMES u #ITY HAS kVE GAMES LEFT COMPARED TO just four for Liverpool, leaving the destiny OF THE TITLE IN THE HANDS OF THE CHAMPIONS But there is a growing feeling at !NkELD THAT THIS WILL BE THE SEASON ,IVERPOOL kNALLY END THEIR YEAR WAIT TO be crowned kings of English football.

7ITH #ITY HAVING DIFkCULT LEAGUE kXTURES LOOMING AGAINST 4OTTENHAM AND -ANCHESTER 5NITED +LOPP S MEN ARE CONVINCED THEY can hold onto pole position.

4HEIR RUN IN IS UNDOUBTEDLY LESS daunting than City’s, with Cardiff, (UDDERSkELD AND .EWCASTLE ON THE schedule before a potential title party AGAINST 7OLVES AT !NkELD

g4HE kRST QUESTION IN THE MEETING today was ‘what is the City score?’.

You cannot avoid knowing about it,� Klopp said of a gripping title battle. g7E EXPECT THEM TO WIN ALL THEIR GAMES SO WE JUST NEED TO GET AS MANY points as possible. g)F WE RE CHAMPIONS THEN GREAT

but if not we are still a really good FOOTBALL TEAM u For fourth-placed Chelsea, the loss WAS A BLOW TO THEIR BID FOR #HAMPIONS ,EAGUE FOOTBALL NEXT SEASON AND THEY WILL DROP TO kFTH IF !RSENAL WIN at Watford on Monday. #LAIMING THAT ,IVERPOOL S kRST GOAL should have been ruled out for a foul ON %MERSON #HELSEA BOSS -AURIZIO 3ARRI GRUMBLED g)N MY OPINION THERE WAS A FOUL ) THINK THE LEVEL IN 0REMIER League is the best in the world but not for the referees. g7E STAYED IN THE MATCH FOR MINutes. It’s not easy of course but we have TO kGHT TO THE END FOR THE TOP FOUR u On the eve of the 30th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster that KILLED ,IVERPOOL FANS AND IN THE WEEK THAT CLUB LEGEND 4OMMY 3MITH PASSED AWAY THERE WAS EVEN MORE EMOTION AT !NkELD THAN USUAL !FTER A MINUTE S SILENCE FEATURING MOSAICS READING g YEARSu AND g u held up by fans around the ground, Liverpool’s focus was trained on AVENGING ONE OF THE MORE PAINFUL DEfeats in the club’s recent history. AFP

Coman brace returns Bayern to top of Bundesliga BERLIN: Kingsley Coman played his way back into favor on Sunday (Monday in Manila), with a first-half brace that helped fire Bayern Munich back to the top of the Bundesliga with a comfortable 4-1 win at Fortuna Duesseldorf.

French winger Coman was involved in a training ground punch-up with Robert Lewandowski earlier in the week, but on Sunday he kept Bayern on course for a seventh successive league title.

Bayern, needing three points to stay top after rivals Borussia Dortmund edged to a nervy win over Mainz on Saturday, barely broke a sweat as they cruised to victory on the banks of the Rhine.

Coman’s first goal was unintentional, his in swinging cross just evading Thomas Mueller on its way into the bottom

Q Bayern Munich’s French defender Kingsley Coman (left) and Duesseldorf’s German midfielder Marcel Sobottka vie for the ball during the German first division Bundesliga football match in Duesseldorf, Germany.

AFP PHOTO

corner with just 14 minutes on the clock.

If the opener was briefly incorrectly credited to Mueller, there was no doubt about Coman’s second in the 41st minute, a well-placed finish at the end of a delightful move.

Serge Gnabry added a third 10 minutes after the break, turning the ball in at the far post after Mueller had flicked it on at a corner.

Dodi Lukebakio gave Duesseldorf a late consolation goal from the penalty spot after a Mats Hummels handball, but Leon Goretzka slotted in Bayern’s fourth in injury time.

The win keeps Bayern a point ahead of Dortmund with five games still to play. “Dortmund are not playing brilliantly at the moment, but they are getting results, and that puts pressure on us,� Mueller told Sky. “Sometimes, a bit of pressure does no harm.�

There was some bad news for the league leaders, however, as goalkeeper Manuel Neuer was forced off with a calf injury early in the second half.

Elsewhere on Sunday, Eintracht Frankfurt suffered their first league defeat of 2019 and Hoffenheim climbed back into the top six.

Arsenal loanee Reiss Nelson scored his first goal since November as Hoffenheim beat Hertha Berlin 2-0. AFP

TTUESDAY U E S DAY APRIL 16, 2019

Entertainment

F1

www.manilatimes.net

Maja Salvador dances her way to NCCA ambassadorship NCCA’s first Dance Ambassador since the Dance Xchange was established eight years ago.

In a side interview with NCCA Deputy Executive Director Marichu Tellano, The Manila Times learned that the choice for Salvador was unanimous. “We also considered Billy Crawford but he dances only to foreign music, unlike Maja who can dance every genre even our own folk dances,� Tellano said.

BY ARLO CUSTODIO

F

RESH from her stint as one of three judges in TV’s just-concluded “World of Dance Philippines (WODP),� Maja Salvador strengthened her position as the country’s premier modern terpsichorean when she was named Dance Ambassador by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) on April 11, in time for Dance Xchange or the celebration of the Tinikling as showcase International Dance Day on April 29.

of Filipino dancing skills

While she had previously and pointedly answered bashers who questioned her presence among WOPD’s panel of judges with Gary Valenciano and Billie Crawford [Salvador posted on her Instagram,“Wag

ako, wala na tayong magagawa, nakaupo na si Maja bilang judge. Wala na kayong pakialam, yun na yun!�], SHE NEVERTHELESS CLARIkED DURING THE ceremonies that she wanted to help others reach their dreams the way that she reached hers, be it in dance or the other art forms. It is for this reason, according to the actress, that she accepted NCCA’s challenge de-

spite some negative reactions. “Before people got to know me as an actress, I entertained [everyone] THROUGH DANCING kRST !ND FROM THE time I danced with John Prats in ‘It Might Be You’ starring John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo in 2003, I have been dancing continuously on ‘ASAP’ week after week for 16 years.

At lahat po ng klaseng sayaw yun. Of course, if there were dances

that I wasn’t very comfortable with, like ballroom dancing, I’d ask for more time to rehearse, like two or three sessions,� she told the media during her launch as

Asked what Filipino dance she would promote to the international stage if given the chance, she said it’s tinikling as it can go slow or fast and there’s a lot of movements and skills involved in presenting the bamboo pole dance, yet it’s easy to go with the beat.

Comparing her life to a dance, she said it’s jazz.

“Ganun kasi ang naging takbo ng buhay ko, slow, mula pagkabata, hindi [naging] mabilis ang mga pangyayari, yung tamang galaw lang,� she noted, adding

that it’s a big blessing for her to be in the same league now with Boy Abunda and Piolo Pascual as NCCA ambassador.

Of the artists that she wanted to DANCE WITH ‡ SHE CLARIkED THAT SHE wanted to share the stage only and not for a dance duel — it already happened when she performed with Gary V in World of Dance, and still in her bucket list to dance along with Jennifer Lopez. “Sixteen years ako sa ASAP pero di nagkaroon ng chance yung kay Sir Gary [na magkasama sa iisang

entablado], pero nagkaroon ng katuparan sa World of Dance.

Internationally, siyempre ang Ate JLo ko. It’s because of her kaya naappreciate ko lalo ang sumayaw.

As we all know she became a big Hollywood star [as actress and recording artist],� she said.

Salvador the more expressed gratefulness for her NCCA ambassadorship as well as her stint as WODP judge when it was made known during the media conferENCE THAT THE kRST WINNER OF THE dance reality show franchise — FCPC of Bulacan, was also the grand champion in the 2018 Sayaw

Q Maja Salvador makes history as the first artist named NCCA Dance Ambassador. PHOTOS BY RENE DILAN Pinoy NCCA National Dance Competition held in October.

Dance Xchange 2019 in Roxas City NCCA National Committee on Dance Chairman and Dance Xchange founder Shirley HaliliCruz shared during the media conference that as she traveled abroad representing the country in various shows, forums, conventions and competitions, she saw the need to draw attention to the Philippines as another dance center of the world. “Filipinos are naturally gifted as dancers as they are as singers, and when I talked to the [national] di-

Q Salvador joins the Filipino Unity Dance which traditionally ends major NCCA events.

Q The actress-dancer-host-singer (second from right) with NCCA executives (from left) Lordino Vergara, Shirley Halili-Cruz and Marichu Tellano.

T

RECTORS TO COME FOR THE kRST $ANCE Xchange here in the country eight years ago, the event turned out to be a success. That led to the declaration of the last week of April as the ‘National Dance Week’ in accordance to Presidential Proclamation 154,�

Halili-Cruz shared, and though already wheelchair-bound she still happily joined Salvador and everyone in the Unity Dance she herself created.

With the theme “Cultural Connectivity Through Dance,� the Philippine International Dance Workshop and Festival is held on April 26 to 30 in Roxas City, Capiz.

International participants from Bangladesh, Belgium, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Russia, Taiwan and Thailand join 21 dance troupes from across the country in the four-day dance extravaganza.

Four clusters are equally divided to simultaneously do outreach performances in the municipalities of Cuartero, Jamindan, Sapian, Pilar, Dumalag, Sigma and Tapaz in Capiz as well as in the municipality of Balete in Aklan among others.

Salvador said she is clearing her schedule to be able to perform on THE kNALE NIGHT ON !PRIL

How Ogie Diaz made it easier for Liza Soberano to let go of ‘Darna’

ALENT manager Ogie Diaz was very helpful in making his ward Liza Soberano let go of prized Darna project under Star Cinema a bit easier by opening his heart.

At a private meeting with Ogie which Liza set herself, the former shared his own tales of woe at one point in his career. “She called me up wanting us to talk but she didn’t say what the meeting was for. Just the same I showed up,� Ogie told Vignettes.

Without saying a word, Liza SIMPLY lASHED HER FRACTURED INDEX kNGER WHICH SHE SUSTAINED DURING the taping of “Bagani.� “Then she started crying. Sabi ko,

VIGNETTES RONNIE CARRASCO 3RD

Liza,“I’ll set a meeting with the bosses.

Anak, keep in mind that everything happens for a reason. All the more that you earn my admiration. Pamilya mo pa rin kasi ang iniisip mo despite what you’re going through.�

It was Ogie’s turn for his piece. “When I lost my job with ABS-CBN in 2000, I also had the same fear being the breadwinner in the family. ‘Bakit, anak?’ ‘Kasi nahihiya ako sa iyo, Even if I knew that I wasn’t good at sa Star Cinema and the whole ABS- doing standup comedy, pinasok ko CBN management as they wanted yun (earning between P2,500 and me to pursue the (Darna) project but P3,000 per night). While others IT WOULD TAKE LONG BEFORE MY kNGER hardly laughed at my jokes, there was could get healed.� one female in the audience who’d Anxious about how Ogie and the regularly go to my set. Aliw na aliw network bosses would feel about her siya sa mga patawa ko.�

WITHDRAWAL FROM THE kLM ,IZA WAS The customer, little did Ogie even more concerned about how to know, would later become his wife fend for her family should she lose (Georgette) with whom he has future assignments. five beautiful daughters. “Always For his part, Ogie left it all up to remember, anak, when God closes

a door, He opens a window.� .OW OFkCIALLY OUT OF THE $ARNA kLM /GIE IS HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE THAT Liza is scheduled to do a teleserye with Enrique Gil (after Bagani) and ONE kLM UNDER 3TAR #INEMA “That’s two windows!� Ogie proudly told Vignettes.

NNN GUESS WHO? These three old yet respectable showbiz motherfriends (SMF) have one thing in common: they are vocal and passionate about their opinions no matter who gets hurt. “Pero may glaringg dissimila rity rin ang ng

kasi, uto-uto (gullible) kasi nga‌,� our source restraining himself from using a two-syllable Tagalog term to mean brainless.

NNN “How could she be forgetful?!� a network lady executive (NLE) blurted out after a young actress (YA) she had booked for a product endorsement snubbed her when their paths crossed at a separate gathering.

NLE was reportedly commissioned by a male client to engage the services of whoever young female celebrity was most in demand. It was for a condo for which YA

mga magkakaibigang ng yun,� says our source, e,

“they don’t speak on n the same wavelength.��

The youngest of thee three possesses the trademark Visayan lambing: "She’s the type who doesn’t harbor ill feelings toward people who may have hurt her in the past.�

The second oldest, also a Visayan, is Q Ogie Diaz with wife Georgette and their five just as daughters. ABS-CBN NEWS PHOTO

malambing only that she openly admits to having a long-standing rift with her younger sister who she claims had duped her of money from their sold family property in their native province.

Meanwhile, the most senior yet the prettiest during their younger days is the brainiest, “who you cannot mess Q Liza Soberano as Darna before she bowed out of the project. YOUTUBE SCREENSHOTS around. Yung dalawa

was paid a hefty P1 million.

She didn’t have anyone else in mind except YA, “I didn’t even ask for my commission. It was all up to YA if she was willing to give what she thought should be due me.�

What the NLE minded was the YA’s dedma attitude when a few weeks later they met at a separate event by accident, “Imagine, magkaharap na kami yet she didn’t seem to recognize me? In fact, I didn’t even earn a single centavo from the deal I brokered which made her richer by P1 million!�

Q (From left) TUBE influencers Air Lajada and Micah Louisse, Gladys Basinilio of Starcom MediaVest Group, Prem Bhatia of PHAR Partnerships and host Karla Aguas talk about the in-train service.

In-train TV network features real-time information MORE than 1,000 LED have been installed aboard the LRT 1, LRT 2 and MRT 3 lines, offering informative, entertaining and inspiring content to an estimated 1.3 million commuting public who daily take the trains in Metro Manila.

Called Tube, the newest in-transit media platform features real-time Passenger Information System with GPS-triggered alerts as well as audio and visual treat with exclusive content in the form of oneminute mini episodes from a select roster of online content creators.

The influencer line up is composed of Michelle Dy, Micah Louisse, Carlo Ople, Jeremy Kruis, Air Lajada, Richie Zamora, Prince de Guzman and Julz Savard.

The mini episodes cover a diverse

range of topics like lifestyle, grooming and style, travel, gaming and sports. “Tube is going to change the rules of engagement as far as media consumption is concerned. With 1.3 million passengers commuting every day, TUBE rivals the major television channels’ reach in the NCR. We work extensively with governments and transport operators in Asia and we can quite confidently say that TUBE is the best passenger information system we have seen. Sprinkle some cutting edge content creators and you have something special in the making,� PHAR Partnerships Asia Managing Director Prem Bhatia said.

A panel discussion was held during the launch last month at Penthouse 8747 in Makati City as well a fun quiz bee hosted by Ritchie Zamora.

Âťnewmedia

Q Festivities and a fun quiz bee highlight the launch of the in-train TV network.

Lifestyle Creating an eco-friendly nursery, from paint to fabrics F2

˜ The Manila Times

TUESDAY April 16, 2019

BY MELISSA RAYWORTH

W

HEN interior designer Jenny Dina Kirschner was designing a bedROOM FOR HER kRST BABY SHE WANTed to create the healthiest possible space — for her baby and for the environment.

She began by choosing healthier be left undyed, or colored with PAINTS NATURAL kBER RUGS AND OR- vegetable dyes. ganic fabrics.

Designer Paula Queen, “Babies put everything in their founder of the children’s decor mouths so my goal is to try to line Lil’ Pyar, suggests asking protect them as much as possible what dyes have been used on from exposure to those things that the rugs and fabrics you choose can be avoided,� Kirschner said. for a baby’s room.

Creating an eco-friendly nursery Also, ask where the items are has gained new attention lately, being made and whether they will since news reports have said Brit- need to be shipped. Buying locally ain’s Prince Harry and Meghan the is the greenest option.

Duchess of Sussex plan to paint the nursery for their soon-to-be- Buy for the long term born royal baby with all-natural, Interior designer and HGTV vegan paint.

That’s the general approach host Vern Yip advises parents to taken by Brooke Berrios, an early choose nursery items that can childhood education teacher, be used for decades when her son was born six Q To create eco-friendly baby nursery, interior designer Jenny years ago.

Dina Kirschner suggests researching the materials used not just Berrios, for the surface upholstery, but also in manufacturing of the an instrucinterior of any furniture purchased. AP PHOTOS tor at the Kremen kids were out of diapers.

Opt for items constructed School of He also suggests from sustainably grown materiEducation looking at second-hand als or made with environmental and Human furniture and vintage concerns in mind. Queen’s firm Development items rather than buy- makes small seating poufs from at California ing something newly canvas fabric remnants left over State Univermanufactured. from other manufacturing. sity, Fresno, These designers “We really use every element of was familiar a l s o r e c o m m e n d material that we can,� Queen said. with research choosing chairs or into the impact tables that could be Peace of mind of toxins on used elsewhere in at children’s brain home in the future.

Kirschner points out that some development.

A n d l i g h t t h e new parents struggle to balance She painted her room for the long- their desire for a healthy space term: Yip points with the convenience of synson’s nursery out that we often thetic fabrics and rugs that are with non-VOC paint (paint that leave lights on in a easy to clean. Life with babies nursery, so choos- can be messy. doesn’t contain Q Non-VOC wall paint (which doesn’t contain volatile compounds), volatile com- organic cotton bedding and an organic cotton mattress can help ing long-life LED “I have a lot of clients with pounds which create an eco-friendly and healthy space in a new baby’s bedroom. bulbs is practical kids and babies, and they all give off gases) on two levels. Tired, want these synthetic textiles used and bought orbusy parents don’t everywhere, because they are have to change light bulbs as so stain-resistant and virtually ganic cotton towels and bedding. — even generations — to come. “Look at furniture that’s going often, and LEDs waste far less indestructible,� Kirschner said. “I always get called hippiedippie friend but toxicity from the into your nursery as long-term energy than conventional bulbs. “As a designer, I have to warn environment can have an impact,� furniture, things they can use for them that these are not healthy,� their lifetime. We didn’t said Berrios. she added.

Parents’ peace of mind is an So what are the best ways to really buy pieces, important consideration in make sure your baby’s nursery with the exception choosing nursery decor, and is healthy, and has as little of the crib, that eco-friendly choices can negative impact on the environ- were intended bring that, said Lauren Myfor a nursery,� ment as possible? ers, a developmental psyhe said. chologist at Lafayette ColDo some research For his chillege in Easton, Pennsylvania. dren’s nurser“What babies really need Some furniture upholstered with ies, Yip chose are people who love them and 100 percent natural fibers may dressers with a respond to them,� Myers said, have insides that include formal- r e m ova b l e d i a ADDING g!ND IF A PARENT kNDS THE DEHYDE lAME RETARDANTS OR OTHER per-changing tray baby’s environment soothing and unhealthy chemicals, Kirschner o n t o p , r a t h e r t h a n SAID SO kND OUT WHAT S IN THEM stress relieving, that is good for the buying a dedicated Q This Kitab Pouf from Queen’s Lil’ Pyar is made (IGH QUALITY NATURAL kBER RUGS changing table that from canvas fabric remnants left over from other parent. Too often we forget that can actually last longer than his family would manufacturing, which might otherwise have been what is good for the parent is also some synthetics. And they can get rid of once the thrown away. good for the baby.�

AP

w w w.manilatimes.net

Celebrity moms open up at a ‘Tech-a-Tete’ PART of a mom’s responsibilities is to form healthy habits among their children, be it in caring for their physical well-being, their attitude to school and even the kind of entertainment they choose to enjoy.

The last is particularly challenging in this age of technology, particularly in ensuring that children are safe with what they view.

This in mind, Globe at Home tapped award-winning TV and film actress Judy Ann SantosAgoncillo and TV Host and author, Maricel Laxa-Pangilinan to be “Mombassadors� of their connectivity service confident they can share sound parenting tips in this department.

Raising kids in the digital age

ever to stream and access for everyone in the family. All family members can catch their favorite content in high definition, ondemand for a fixed, affordable price with no additional cable subscription costs.

This unlimited entertainment however, also comes hand-in-hand with concerns about keeping kids safe from malware and unsuitable content while using the Internet.

For the two moms, having parental control and malware detection features bundled with their Internet plan is the easiest and most convenient way to go. “Creating your best at home is also about having partners like Globe At Home that not only stop at providing connectivity but also go through lengths in involving its customers to improve the overall online experience,� Santos-Agoncillo and Laxa-Pangilinan agreed.

In an event dubbed Tech-a Tete, Globe At Home introduced the new Mombassadors via an intimate sit-down with SantosAgoncillo and Laxa-Pangilinan discussing their views and experiences in nurturing a digital and intelligent home.

Through an exclusive guided tour around an intelligent home, the Mombassadors then demonstrated the many uses of having a fast and reliable Internet connection powered by Globe At Home.

With Internet dubbed as the new w TV, entertainment Q Maricel Laxa-Pangilinan and Judy Ann is now easier than Santos-Agoncillo

Âťwhat’sonwhere ‘Cenakulo Rock’ at Enchanted Kingdom HOMEGROWN theme park Enchanted Kingdom has brought back ‘Cenakulo Rock’ in time for the Lenten season.

The family leisure and entertainment park mounts the production to allow visitors opportunities to reflect and commemorate the passion of Christ in song and dance. It

focuses on the Lord’s last moments, his struggles and ultimate sacrifice, as told through song and dance.

This year’s show will be different from past productions as the main cast and ensemble will be portrayed by children at the park’s spaceport.

Log on to www.enchantedkingdom.com for more information.

Q Children star in the musical staging of the Lord’s Passion.

A celebration of ‘real motherhood’ MOMS are constantly under pressure in caring for their children including keeping them neat and tidy. But real motherhood is messy, and moms should be free of this crazy standard.

As such, powdered juice brand Tang decided to pay tribute to all mothers and empower them through a new campaign that highlights the contrast between the expectations and realities of motherhood. “Motherhood has evolved and it’s not picture-perfect. We must embrace the fact that there will be cracks along the way and that’s totally okay,� Princess Landicho, Tang Philippines brand manager noted.

Dubbed as “#RealMomsGetItDone,� the photo series mounted at Glorietta 2 Activity Center featured moms Divine

Lee-Go, Bettinna Carlos, Tart Carlos, Saab Magalona-Bacarro, Delamar Arias, Rosebud Benitez, Janice Villanueva, Nina Rayos, Colleen Mateo, Kris Lumagui, Anne Clutz, Isha Borromeo, Via Austria, Bianca SantiagoReinoso, and Nicole Hernandezde Los Angeles. Celebrity photographer Sara Black took all the photos. “I think everyone feels pressured to be perfect, there’s nothing wrong with that. And you have to remember — not just moms, but people wanna post what looks good online, what looks perfect online. But, there’s no such thing as perfect and you have to remember not to compare yourself to what you see online and to other moms,� brand ambassador Saab Magalona-Bacarro noted during the launch.

Âťseen@thescene

Q Actressmusician Saab Magalona-Bacarro

Q Former The Manila Times columnist Bettinna Carlos

Q Disc jockey Delamar Arias

Q Host and entrepreneur Divine Lee-Go

Q Chef Rosebud Benitez

˜ The Manila Times

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The Manila Times

7KH 3RZHU /XQFK 5RVWHU Read The Manila Times when you dine at these establishments.

7D]D 0LD &RȨHH Kasa Luntian, at The Lanai, St rosa-tagaytay road, Brgy, San Jose Tagaytay City Phone number 046 / 413 / 9449

Bldg J, Unit 1-16, SM By the Bay, Seaside Blvd, Mall of Asia Complex, Pasay City 541-2767

Landline: (02) 403-9293 Globe: 0927-793-8817 | Smart: 0939-446-9455 Visit us at UGF Festival Mall Expansion, Civic Drive Filinvest Corporate City, Alabang, Muntinlupa City, Metro Manila

Address: 744 General Luna St, Intramuros, Manila, 1002 Metro Manila Phone: (02) 527 3674

BINALOT FIESTA FOODS, INC. 3686 BUJ Building Sun Valley Drive, Sun Valley Subdivision, Paranaque City, 1700 Philippines Tel: +632 824-7014 Fax: +632 823-1832 Franchise: +632 822-6483 / +63 932 844 1807 Delivery: 8-10-10-10 (Metro Manila Only)

Address: #619 Norberto St. Binondo, Manila Contact: (02) 242 3143

133 Sto. Domingo Street Corner Del Monte Avenue, Barangay Manresa, Quezon City

191 Tomas Morato Ave Quezon City

191 Tomas Morator Avenue, Quezon City Tel. No. 376-62-10 Fax No. 372-03-52 mariosqc@gmail.com

(0921)-382-7221 SMART (0977)-361-8890 GLOBE 930-7623|930-8085 LANDLINE Tinapayan Festival Bakeshoppe 1650 Dapitan St. corner Don Quijote St. Sampaloc, Manila Tel. No. 732-2188; 740-6987 | Telefax No. 732-1082

CafĂŠ Terrace CAFĂ&#x2030; TERRACE Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City Č&#x17D; The Paseo Center, Makati City Č&#x17D; Rockwell Center, Makati City Č&#x17D; Westgate Center, Muntinlupa Č&#x17D; Entertainment Mall, SM Mall of Asia Č&#x17D; Midtown Robinsons Place Manila Č&#x17D; Trinoma Mall, Quezon City Č&#x17D; The Terraces, Ayala Center Cebu Č&#x17D; Resort World Manila, Pasay City

Williams Street corner Roxas Blvd. Pasay City (beside old DFA) Tel. No. (02) 821-2031 or 358-2482 Globe: 0906 0020 623 | Smart: 0929 3701 810 Google, Instagram & FB PAGE: chateaubriandph | Email: jyfnb.ph@gmail.com (Monday - Thursday ) Lunch: 11am-3pm | Dinner: 6pm-11pm (Friday - Sunday & Holiday ) Lunch: 11am-3pm | Dinner: 6pm-11pm

ALI MALL 2nd Level Alimall Cubao, Quezon City

SM MEGAMALL 4th Level Mega Atrium SM Megamall Julia Vargas Cor. Edsa Mandaluyong City GLORIETTA 2nd Level Glorietta 4 Ayala Center Makati City 752-71-10

GREENBELT Ground Floor Greenbelt 1 Ayala Center Makati City ROBINSONS MAGNOLIA 3rd Level Robinsons Magnolia

Glorietta: Glorietta 2, Ayala Center, Palm Dr, Makati, 1224 Manila, Philippines

BAGUIO CITY Chalet Baguio upper Military Cuf 2ČĽ 5RDG %DJXLR &LW\

SM Mall of Asia: Main Mall, SM Central Business Park Bay City, 123 MM, Pasay, 1300 Metro Manila, Philippines

Kitsho Japanese Restaurant & Sake Bar

Hotel Jen Manila Branch 3001 Roxas Boulevard Pasay City 1305 Metro Manila Philippines (02)795-8888 local.2312

Zuelig Building. Makati City

625 4831 and 625 4832

PROVIDORE SM AURA PREMIERE Bonifacio Global City | 802 9448

Summit Galleria Cebu Cebu City | 032 888 1710 loc.129

Address: Molito Commercial Complex,Ground Floor Madrigal Avenue corner Alabang Zapote Road,Alabang,Muntinlupa City Tel. Number: (02) 659-75-22 Email address: mail@woodenhorsesteakhouse.com

TOMAS MORATO 282 Tomas Morato Avebue Brgy. Sacred Heart, Quezon City

16 Upper Session Road, Baguio City Tel. No. 074-442-4241 Telefax: 074-442-5445 website: marios.com.ph Facebook: marios.group

2nd Floor Sâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Maison Conrad Manila MOA Complex Seaside Boulevard corner Coral Way Pasay City 02 8008061 | +63 9175464382 rossini.conrad@gmail.com

%HDQ %HOW &RȨHH 6KRS 2nd Floor Tinapayan Festival Building 1652 Dapitan St. corner Don Quijote St. Sampaloc, Manila Tel. No. 732-8718

Molvina Commâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;l. Cmplx.Marcos Hiway, Brgy. Mayamot, Antipolo City | MCU - Edsa cor. B Serrano, Brgy. 86, Caloocan City | 771 km. 17 Talon II, Alabang0-zapote Rd., Las Pinas | Pasong Tamo-Makati Cinema Square Complex, Makati City | Shell Gasoline Stn. cor. Mola St., Pasong Tamo, Makati City | Penthouse Valero Tower, 122 Valero st., Salcedo Vill., Makati City | G/F Shaw Zentram Bldg., Shaw Blvd., Mandaluyong City | Remedios St., Malate, Manila | P. Sanchez Cor. Bagumbayan St., sta. Mesa, Manila | #49 National Highway, Putatan, Muntinlupa | Olivarez Plaza, Ninoy Aquino Ave., Sucat, Paranaque | Ground Level, Shopwise sucat, Paranaque | Unit 1A, Salem Intâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;l. Comml. Cmplx, Domestic Rd., Pasay city | El Pueblo Real de Manila cor. Ruby Rd. Julia Vargas, Ortigas, Pasig City | #32 Matalino St.,Brgy. Central, Diliman, Quezon City | #187 Mindanao Ave., Bahay Toro, Quezon City | G/F One Cyberpod, Eton Centris cor. Quezon Ave., Pinyahan, Quezon City | Quezon Ave. Cor. J. Abad Santos st., sta. Cruz, Quezon City | 295 Tomas Morato ave. Brgy. Laging Handa, Quezon City G/F Shell Logcom, C5 Road, Taguig City

Be part of our power lunch roster. For inquries call 310-5584 and trunk line: 524-5664 local 222 or email us @ circulation@manilatimes.net

Classified Ads

advertising@manilatimes.net 524-5664 local 121, 3105895 and 3105582

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TUESDAY April 16, 2019

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