The Manila Times | January 22, 2019

MICC exec: March start set for new mining audits ÂťStory on B1 ++

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TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2019

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Pacquiao’s LA home ransacked, robbed

Andaya takes over budget committee #!-!2).%3 3UR 2EP 2OLANDO !NDAYA *R ON -ONDAY YIELDED THE POST OF MAJORITY LEADER TO #APIZ 2EP &REDENIL Castro under an apparent term-sharing deal, but in return got the chairmanship

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BY JOSEF T. RAMOSÂ

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R E B E L C H I E F V OT E S FOR THE FIRST TIME

ANNY Pacquiao’s mansion in Los Angeles, California was robbed just a few hours ago after he successfully defended his welterweight title against American Adrien Broner.

MILF vows to continue ‘struggle’ if Bangsamoro Organic Law is rejected

BY AL JACINTO ZAMBOANGA CITY: Murad Ebrahim, leader of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), cast a ballot for THE kRST TIME ON -ONDAY HOPING THAT THE REST OF Muslim Mindanao voted with him to establish a TRULY AUTONOMOUS REGION FOR THE "ANGSAMORO Ebrahim cast his vote at the Simuay Junction Central Elementary School in Darapanan in Maguindanao’s Sultan Kudarat town, a stronghold of THE REBEL GROUP 3UPPORTERS TOOK TURNS shaking his hands as they greeted the MILF chairman, who arrived WITH A GROUP OF BODYGUARDS “As a revolutionary, we are prepared for whatever scenario, as long as the democratic processes is conducted in good manner, without intimidation, without cheating, we

International matchmaker Sean 'IBBONS CONkRMED THE REPORTS TO The Manila Times on Monday (Sunday in THE 53 BUT DIDN T ELABORATE “Yes,� Gibbons replied briefly through online interview when asked

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And a little child shall teach them

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WRITE t h i s one day after the Feast of the Santo Niùo, the Holy Childhood of *ESUS !ND ) WRITE ABOUT CHILDREN and the joy they bring — though I HAVE NONE MYSELF

FR. RANHILIO CALLANGAN AQUINO

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³’Struggle’A2

MOBBED

A voter accused of casting multiple votes during the Bangsamoro Organic Law plebiscite is attacked at a voting precinct in Cotabato City. AFP PHOTO

What’s inside BICAM OKS GREATER POWERS FOR SOLICITOR GENERAL NewsA2 BANGSAMORO VOTES

Lourdes TiquiaA6

World’s 26 richest own same as 3.8B poor people DAVOS, Switzerland: The world’s 26 richest people own the same wealth as the poorest half of humanity, Oxfam said Monday, urging governments to hike taxes on the WEALTHY TO kGHT SOARING INEQUALITY A new report from the charity, published ahead of the World Economic Forum in Davos, also found that billionaires around

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REGIONAL COOPERATION IN MARINE ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION

Kris denies Gretchen’s ‘malicious’ allegations

Atty. Brenda PimentelB8

PREGNANCY, OVERAGE ISSUES HOUND MISS INTERCONTINENTAL

EntertainmentD1

REACH US AT: E-mail:

WILL HE OR WILL HE NOT FIGHT MANNY?

SportsC1

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

SOCIAL media celebrity Kris Aquino denied Gretchen Barretto’s allegations that she helped businesswoman Alice Eduardo wriggle out of paying correct taxes when her brother former president Benigno “Noynoy� Aquino RD WAS STILL IN OFkCE Barretto made the accusation in an Instagram video WHICH WENT VIRAL ON 3ATURDAY But instead of posting a

live video in response to her latest online nemesis at the height of her ongoing social media and legal battle with former business partner and manager Nicko Falcis, Aquino posted a document FROM HER LAWYERS Titled “Statement in response to some social media users’ malicious allegations AGAINST -S +RIS !QUINO u

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ERRATUM In the story “IRRI warns PH: Brace for dry spell,â€? which came out on the Jan. 19, 2019 edition, Director General Matthew Morell of the International Rice Research Institute was erroneously reported as having told the government to undertake preparations ahead of the El NiĂąo weather phenomenon, such as by telling farmers to shift to high-value crops. Morell did not make such statements.

We apologize for the error. – Ed.

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News

˜ The Manila Times TUESDAY January 22, 2019

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Bicam OKs greater powers for SolGen A

BY JAVIER JOE ISMAEL

BICAMERAL conference committee on Monday approved a bill expandING THE POWER OF THE /FkCE OF THE Solicitor General (OSG), reconciling the disagreeing provisions of Senate Bill 1823 and House Bill 7376. “The main thrust here is that the principal lawyer of the government will be part of Department of Justice (DoJ) and the lawyer representing the government in all cases will be OSG, and the Solicitor General may now be appointed beyond 65 years

old, especially if he is appointed in THE #ABINET u SAID 3EN 2ICHARD Gordon, chairman of the Senate Committee on Justice and HuMAN 2IGHTS Under the approved version of the measure, the OSG will be an

independent and autonomous OFkCE ATTACHED TO THE $O* WHICH will act as the principal law agency OF THE GOVERNMENT The OSG will be headed by the solicitor general who will be the LAW OFkCER AND LEGAL DEFENDER OF THE GOVERNMENT It will represent the Government of the Philippines, its agencies and INSTRUMENTALITIES AND ITS OFkCIALS and agents, in any litigation, proceeding, investigation, or matter REQUIRING THE SERVICES OF A LAWYER Gordon said that because Solicitor General Jose Calida was appointed with a Cabinet rank, HE COULD NOT BE FORCED TO RESIGN

He also told reporters that the bicameral panel agreed not to abolish the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), and as such, the agency would continue to exist and operate under the oversight OF THE #ONGRESS Gordon said the PCGG had collected over P171 billion since its creation in 1986 to recover the -ARCOS WEALTH "Y THE 0#'' targets to collect another P40 bilLION HE ADDED Under the House proposal, the PCGG was to be abolished and its functions placed under a strengthENED /3'

Arroyo: Hike DA budget

by P20B to tame inflation HOUSE Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said on Monday she would insist on keeping the additional P20 billion she had proposed for the 2019 budget allocation of the Department of Agriculture (DA), to help lower food prices.  “The House had increased the budget of DA by P20 billion upon my instruction because I noticed that since my administration, the budget for DA had dropped significantly,� Arroyo said in a statement.

The DA was allocated P123.7 billion under the 2019 General Appropriations Act. With the impending passage of the 2019 budget in the Senate, Arroyo said that she would instruct House members to be named to the bicameral committee to craft the final measure to make sure that the P20 billion would remain in the final budget. “We have to make sure the increase in the DA budget is retained in the final budget because it will enable the DA to implement measures that will help

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Pacquiao’s ABOUT THE BURGLARY INCIDENT g7E just arrived in LA (Los Angeles) AND RECEIVED THE NEWS u .EWS OF THE INCIDENT WAS kRST posted by ABS CBN’s US-based news reporter, Steve Angeles, on Sunday (Monday in Manila) through his Twitter account “Manny Pacquiao makes his WAY BACK TO ,! 0OLICE ARE OUTSIDE HIS HOME !PPARENTLY IT S been robbed while he was out in 6EGAS u !NGELES POSTED g&EW OF Manny’s advance security are now TALKING TO INVESTIGATORS u The Manila Times tried to contact Pacquiao’s other personnel for more details but none of them WERE AVAILABLE FOR COMMENT Pacquiao and his entourage didn’t go home directly to the MANSION IN ,! AFTER THE kGHT AT THE -'- 'RAND IN ,AS 6EGAS .EVADA NBC Los Angeles’s Katherine

‘TATAY’ PRAYS FOR ‘TATANG’ President Rodrigo Duterte visits the wake of business tycoon Henry Sy Sr. at the

farmers and increase production needed to control inflation,� she stressed.

Arroyo previously asked the Committee on Appropriations to raise the budget of the DA by P20 billion and advised the administration’s economic team “to move faster on implementation of their policies which are more or less correct.�

The P20-billion budget will likely be devoted to the subsidy for rice farmers from rice tariffs in the middle of the administration’s struggle to solve the rice crisis in the country.

Arroyo previously pointed out that there was a correlation between the budget allotted a department to the growth in the particular sector it manages. “As we were analyzing the budget, we realized that from 6 percent of the budget in my time, agriculture went down afterwards to 1.5 percent. No wonder we have shortage of food,� Arroyo said.

GLEE JALEA Picaso reported on Sunday that a CITIZEN HAD NOTIkED THE ,! 0OLICE Department that the robbery hapPENED AT THE BLOCK OF . 0LYMouth Boulevard in the Larchmont AREA SAID TO BELONG TO 0ACQUIAO There was a police cordon around the vicinity, and PacQUIAO S STAFF WAS IN THE AREA Celebrity news site TMZ said the police did not provide information on the items stolen or who WERE INVOLVED IN THE CRIME 4HERE were signs of forced entry, and the HOME WAS RANSACKED 4HERE WERE NO REPORTS OF INJURIES It was the second time that PacQUIAO S HOUSE IN ,! WAS BURGLARIZED The last time was in September 2011, WHEN FOUR SUSPECTS WERE ARRESTED The 40-year-old Pacquiao, a senator, beat Broner via unanimous decision to keep his belt 3ATURDAY NIGHT 3ATURDAY S kGHT WAS 0ACQUIAO S kRST ON THE 53 SOIL SINCE BEATING Jessie Vargas through unanimous DECISION ON .OV IN ,AS 6EGAS .EVADA

Heritage Memorial Park in Taguig City. MALACAĂ‘ANG PHOTO

Duterte pays last respects to Henry Sy Sr. PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte paid his last respects to the late retail tyCOON (ENRY 3Y 3R ON 3UNDAY NIGHT The country’s wealthiest man PASSED AWAY ON 3ATURDAY Duterte, accompanied by some members of his Cabinet, arrived at P M AT THE (ERITAGE 0ARK IN Taguig City to condole with the fam-

ILY OF 3Y ACCORDING TO -ALACAĂ„ANG (E STAYED FOR AN HOUR Palace photos showed the President shaking hands with Sy’s DAUGHTER 4ERESITA 3Y #OSON MalacaĂąang earlier expressed its “deepest and heartfelt condolencesâ€? to the family, friends and colleagues OF 3Y WHO DIED AT THE AGE OF

In a statement, Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo described Sy as “a visionary and a pillar of the Philippine economy who believed in the potentials and opportunities of the country, and pursued them with dedication, passion and hard WORK TILL THEIR FRUITION u g-R 3Y BOLDLY TOOK THE BUSI-

ness path which Filipino businessmen feared to tread,� the 0ALACE OFkCIAL ADDED With a net worth of $20 billion, Sy, the chairman emeritus of conGLOMERATE 3- )NVESTMENTS #ORP

was ranked by Forbes magazine AS THE ND RICHEST IN THE WORLD CATHERINE S. VALENTE

Q Los Angeles police put up a security cordon around the home of boxing champion Manny Pacquiao at the 500 block of N. Plymouth Boulevard in the Larchmont area.

Q ‘STRUGGLE’ FROM A1

Q BUDGET FROM A1

MILF vows to continue ‘struggle’ if BOL is rejected

Andaya

are determined to accept whatever IS THE RESULT ;OF THE PLEBISCITE= u THE YEAR OLD REBEL LEADER SAID “Now if the BOL will not be ratikED WE WILL CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE UNTIL THE ;PEACE= AGREEMENT IS IMPLEMENTED )T IS THE DUTY OF THE government to implement the AGREEMENT 7E ARE ONLY A PARTNER

but the main responsibility is with the government, they have to implement the agreement,� %BRAHIM SAID Leaders of Cotabato City, Isabela City in Basilan province, and Sulu and North Cotabato provinces are strongly opposed to becoming part of the new Bangsamoro region and CAMPAIGNED FOR A gNOu VOTE The plebiscite is a result of the March 2014 interim peace deal BETWEEN THE -),& AND -ANILA The rebel group vowed to surrender a third of its huge weapons stockpiles if the organic law WAS RATIkED Rebel forces have tripled if not doubled, and now boast of armaments, including anti-aircraft machine guns, B40 anti-tank rockets, mortars and assorted high-powERED RIlES AS WELL AS AN ARMY OF civilian supporters, many of them counting on the prospects of better life with the new Bangsamoro REGION UNDER -),& RULE The new region will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) created following a peace deal with the Moro National LibERATION &RONT -.,& Ebrahim’s group originally

was part of the MNLF under Nur Misuari, but broke away in the late 1970s, and fought the democratic government for the establishment OF A SEPARATE -USLIM HOMELAND Misuari eventually signed a peace agreement with Manila in September 1996 and after the accord agreement was signed, he became the governor of the !2-- $ESPITE THE PEACE ACcord, there was a widespread disillusionment with the weak AUTONOMY THEY WERE GRANTED Under the peace agreement with the MILF, Manila would have to provide a mini-Marshal Plan to spur economic development in Muslim areas in the south and livelihood and housing assistance to tens of thousands of former rebels to uplift their poor living STANDARDS

Grenade attack, voting delays A grenade attack, harassments and intimidation marred the BangsamORO PLEBISCITE HOWEVER The grenade exploded outside the house of a judge in Cotabato City in Maguindanao province, and another was lobbed, but did NOT GO OFF ON THE ROOF Reports claimed the judge was a known critic of the BOL, but police said the attack that occurred ahead of the referendum might also be CONNECTED TO HIS WORK Philippine National Police chief Oscar Albayalde said the motive for the grenade attack was “some-

THING PERSONAL u A third grenade in front of a polling precinct was detonated by soldiers in Cotabato City, whose mayor, Cynthia Sayadi, had led residents in opposing the city’s inclusion to the proposed Bangsamoro region to be run by THE -),& .O INDIVIDUAL OR GROUP CLAIMED RESPONSIBILITY In Isabela City, a pregnant woman sought police help after a man grabbed her ballot and tore it to PIECES INSIDE A POLLING PRECINCT She said the man was angered by HER REJECTION OF THE "/, 4HE STILL unidentified man escaped after THE INCIDENT In Marawi City, rains and cold winds did not hinder the people from trooping to the polling precincts, with some arriving as early AS A M 3R 3UPT -ADZGANI -UKARAM

chief of Lanao del Sur Police 0ROVINCIAL /FkCE TOLD The Manila Times there was no untoward incident in the conduct of the "ANGSAMORO PLEBISCITE HERE In Kapatagan, the last town of Lanao del Sur towards Maguindanao province, Mayor Raida Maglangit told The Manila Times voters queued and left as soon as they cast their votes, to allow OTHERS TO VOTE SMOOTHLY g)T IS

indeed, very peaceful and orderly,�

SHE SAID In Cotabato City, Mayor Sayadi told reporters some teachers who were supposed to function as elecTION INSPECTORS DID NOT SHOW UP !T LEAST kVE DOZEN TEACHERS DID

and delay in the arrival of voting PARAPHERNALIA Besana also admitted that turnout in the provinces of Sulu, Lanao DEL 3UR AND "ASILAN WAS LOW “Some persons also participated to help in mobilizing the voters since the common problem was the civilians having no transportation at all going to their respective POLLING PRECINCTS u HE SAID The Commission on Elections said registered voters in the plebiscite covering the ARMM territory STOOD AT

4HERE WERE 71,124 voters in Isabela City and

IN #OTABATO #ITY Another referendum is set on February 6 for Lanao del Sur with 352,494 registered voters and Turnout low in Lanao Sur, Sulu, North Cotabato with 286,867 Basilan VOTERS &R %LISEO -ERCADO *R OF THE Still, the Armed Forces of the Phil- Institute of Autonomy and Govippines on Monday declared the ernance, said that in three towns in Sulu — Luuk, Tongkil, and PLEBISCITE gPEACEFUL u -AJ 'EN #IRILITO 3OBEJANA Panglima Estino — 100 percent, commander of the Philippine or more than 41,000 voters, turned Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said OUT BY A M AND VOTED gYES u The governor of Sulu, Abduno major security issue occurred in the polling precincts, from the sakur Tan 2nd, had petitioned TIME THE PLEBISCITE STARTED AT A M the Supreme Court to declare the #OL 'ERRY "ESANA SPOKES- BOL unconstitutional, arguing that man of the military’s Western the 1987 Constitution authorized Mindanao Command, likewise only one organic law for Muslim said the plebiscite was generally Mindanao, or the one that estabpeaceful in the areas covered by LISHED THE !2-- WITH DEMPSEY REYES AND the proposed autonomous region OF THE "ANGSAMORO !LL POLLING ROY D.R. NARRA IN MANILA, MASIDING NOOR YAHYA PRECINCTS CLOSED AT EXACTLY P M

IN MARAWI CITY AND "ESANA SAID JULMUNIR I. JANNARAL Among the hitches were delays IN COTABATO CITY in voting, lack of transportation not report for election duty after receiving cell phone messages threatening them with harm if they WENT TO WORK Voters formed long queues in front of Cotabato City Central Pilot Elementary School and Sero Central School where around 8,000 people had to wait hours before casting their vote on the BOL because the teachers did not IMMEDIATELY SHOW UP Several men, believed to be ilLEGAL OR SO CALLED glYINGu VOTERS

were mauled outside a polling area in Cotabato after being caught by vigilant residents trying to cast THEIR VOTES

of the powerful Committee on Appropriations that oversees deliberaTIONS ON THE NATIONAL BUDGET During Monday’s plenary session, Andaya turned over the post to Castro, whom he described as A gHARD WORKER u “He fits the role, for above all, he rightly sees the position for what it really is: Not about power nor perks, for there are none, but for the diligence and the diplomacy and the work it requires, of which there are MANY u !NDAYA SAID Andaya takes over the Committee on Appropriations, which was HELD BY #OMPOSTELA 6ALLEY 2EP #ARMEN :AMORA As the new panel chairman, he is expected to continue to preside over the series of committee hearings on supposed budget anomalies under Budget Secretary "ENJAMIN $IOKNO Castro gladly accepted the new role, saying he would “do his best TO kT !NDAYA S SHOES u g) WILL TRY MY BEST TO kT ;#ONGRESSMAN !NDAYA S= SHOES ) WILL DO MY BEST ;IN SERVING= THE (OUSE of Representatives within my HUMBLE CAPACITY u #ASTRO SAID Castro told reporters earlier in the day that he and Andaya had a “gentlemen’s understanding� that they would share the term of the majority leader post even before the change in the House leadership in July 2018, which CATAPULTED 0AMPANGA 2EP 'LORIA Macapagal Arroyo to the House LEADERSHIP GLEE JALEA

News

˜ The Manila Times

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TUESDAY January 22, 2019

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BILL THAT LOWERS AGE OF CRIMINAL LIABILITY PASSED THE Committee on Justice of the House of Representatives approved on Monday a bill that seeks to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR) from 15 to nine.

Rep. Salvador Leachon, head of the panel, said the bill “was brought about by the alarming increase in the number of criminal syndicates using minors to carry out criminal acts based on recent news reports.� “Let it be understood that with the present bill, we are nor putting these children in jail but in reformative institutions to correct their ways and bring them back to the community.

They are not branded as criminals BUT CHILDREN IN CONlICT WITH THE LAW Reformative institutions do not punish individuals but instead, they were established to help the children to be integrated back to the community after they have committed criminal acts,� Leachon said.

Under the bill, a child below nine years old when he committed the offense shall be exempted from criminal liability but he or she shall be subjected to an intervention program.

A child who was above nine years old but below 18 years old when he committed the offense shall also be exempted and must undergo an intervention unless he had acted

It’s crazy, cruel – Bam Aquino

Q Rep. Salvador Leachon of Oriental Mindoro 1st  District (left), chairman of the House Committee on Justice, with Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, during the House deliberations on lowering the age of criminal responsibility.

PHOTO BY ROGER RANADA with discernment, in which case he shall be subjected to appropriate proceedings.

Repeat offenders shall undergo an intensive intervention program.

If his best interest requires that he be placed in a youth care facility of Bahay Pag-asa, his parents or guardians shall execute a written authorization for his voluntary commitment.

Passport data safe – DFA THE Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Monday said all passport data is “safe�.

The DFA gave the assurance during a meeting with officials from the National Privacy Commission (NPC).

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. earlier claimed THAT A PRIVATE kRM TOOK THE ENTIRE database of passport holders after their contract was not renewed.

Assistant Secretary Elmer Cato said the DFA assured the NPC that “measures are in place to protect the personal data of passport applicants in the entire )3/ CERTIkED PROCESS u The DFA, represented by its Data 0ROTECTION /FkCER &OREIGN !FFAIRS Assistant Secretary Medardo Macaraig and Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs Neil Frank Ferrer, made a full presentation on the passport process. “The Department remains in custody and control of passport data and that this has not been shared with or accessed by any unauthorized party,� Cato said. “The Department is hoping that it was able to address the concerns of the Commission and remains ready to cooperate, especially with Congress, in any other investigation to be conducted on this issue,� he added.

Cato said the issue “resulted in improvements in the passport application process.�

He cited Locsin’s issuance of Department Order 03-2019 that eliminates the need to submit BIRTH CERTIkCATES UPON RENEWAL of passports. “The Department gives its assurance that it will continue to endeavor to improve the delivery of its consular services to Filipinos in the Philippines and overseas,�

Cato said.

Senators Leila de Lima, Risa Hontiveros Baraquel, Aquilino Pimentel 3rd, and Antonio Trillanes TH HAD kLED THEIR RESPECTIVE RESOlutions seeking an investigation of the passport controversy.

Trillanes said according to former DFA secretary Perfecto Yasay, the DFA and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) entered into a Memorandum of Agreement, which included the procurement and production of machine-readable electronic passports (MREPs).

The BSP awarded the main part of the project to Francois-Charles Oberthur Fiduciare (FCOF) of France.

On Oct. 5, 2015, the DFA awarded the production of a new electronic passport system to APO Production Unit Inc. (APUI) on condition that no part of the contract can be subcontracted.

APU, however, sought the services of United Graphic Expression Corp. (UGEC) for the production of electronic passports.

BERNADETTE E. TAMAYO

A child aged nine to 15 years who commits parricide, murder, infanticide, kidnapping and serious illegal detention where the victim is killed or raped; robbery with homicide or rape; destructive arson, rape, or carnapping where the driver or occupant is killed or raped; or offenses under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 pun-

ishable by over 12 years of jail time shall be placed in a special facility “within the youth care facility or Bahay Pag-asa called the Intensive Juvenile Intervention and Support Center (IJISC).�

MalacaĂąang lauded the passage of the bill. “Considering the technology, the nine [year-olds] are already

SEN. Paolo Benigno “Bam� Aquino 4th on Monday said the House of Representatives’ measure that lowers the age of criminal liability to nine would be rejected by the Senate. “The laws that we have now, maybe there’s room to tweak it, but to go this drastic to lower the age of criminal liability to nine is crazy, is cruel, and to be honest, I think, it’s immoral,� Aquino said. “I absolutely doubt that this will pass the Senate. I think there’s enough in the Senate currently who know that lowering the age of criminal liability to nine years old is completely out of bounds,� he added.

“Hindi na ito dapat tingnan on a legal basis or a constitutional basis, siguro common sense lang.

Iyong isa bang nine years old o 10 years old, ikukulong ba talaga natin (We don’t have to look at this on a legal or constitutional basis, we only have to use our common sense. Are we really going to jail a nine year old?� the senator asked.

Aquino said the government should help rehabilitate minors who have problems with the law, not punish them for their actions.

He called for the allocation of funds for the construction of facilities like Bahay Pag-asa to help rehabilitate minor offenders.

equivalent to 12, 15 year olds.

They have discernment. In criminal law, as long as you already have discernment, you know what is bad and good, you already have a problem with the law. You will be accountable,� Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo said.

Panelo said the measure would deter criminals from corrupting children

and turning them into criminals. “If you have a law that will criminalize this particular age bracket, they will no longer be used by criminals [in their illegal acts]. They are using them now because they will be freed, they can get out. Now, this is the purpose of the President [to counter that],� he said.

REINA C. TOLENTINO

Senate OKs P3.8-T budget for 2019 T

BY BERNADETTE E. TAMAYO

HE 3ENATE ON -ONDAY APPROVED ON third and final reading House Bill 8169 or the proposed P3.757 trillion national budget for 2019.

A bicameral conference committee was set on Tuesday, January 22, TO kNETUNE DISAGREEING PROVISIONS OF the House and Senate bills.

Sen. Loren Legarda, chairman of the Committee on Finance, sponsored the approval of the 2019 General Appropriations Bill (GAB), including its amendments.

The Senate contingent to the bicam is composed of Senators Ralph Recto, Juan Miguel Zubiri, Franklin $RILON #YNTHIA 6ILLAR 0ANkLO ,AC-

son, Juan Edgardo Angara, Maria Lourdes Nancy Binay, Joseph Victor “JV� Ejercito, Paolo Benigno “Bam�

Aquino 4th, and Legarda.

Legarda said the Senate restored the P16.796 billion budget of the Department of Health for its Health Facilities Enhancement Program as well as the P4.797 billion of the P7 billion requirement for Human Resource for Health Development. “We reflected realignments

within the unprogrammed fund to provide for the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund of P10 billion; Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Fund of P10 billion; implementation of the Universal Health Care, P18 billion; and Organic Law for the Bangsamoro Region in Muslim Mindanao, P40 billion,� she said. “We are also supporting the ENDEAVORS OF THE /FkCE OF THE 6ICE President to uplift the life of the poor through its various social programs through the additional funds that the committee has provided,� Legarda said.

She said the budget of the Department of Foreign Affairs was reduced because the P7.5 billion

‘Help state workers cope with rising oil prices’ SEN. Paolo Benigno “Bam�

Aquino 4th on Monday prodded the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to immediately implement the scheduled salary hike for government workers to help them cope with rising oil prices.

Oil companies again increased their pump prices on Tuesday, the

third price adjustment this month.

The price of diesel went up by 40 centavos per liter, gasoline by 10 centavos per liter, and kerosene by 15 centavos per liter. /N *ANUARY OIL kRMS RAISED the price of gasoline by P1.40 per liter, diesel by P2.30 per liter, and kerosene by P2 per liter. “The salary increase will help

our government workers cope with the effect of the expected increase in the prices of fuel products on the costs of food and other basic items,� Aquino said in Filipino. “The price of oil in the market continues to increase. And then the government still opted to impose additional tax on oil. The condition of poor Filipinos is quite piti-

Laches may bar recovery of property Dear PAO, Lilibeth and I got married in 1990. I went abroad after our wedding in order to work and my relationship with her ended in December of the same year. I was informed in 1999 that my wife sold the land which I inherited from my parents. The buyer named Manuel occupied the land from that year. I returned to the Philippines last year because I was terminated since the foreign company where I am working SUFFERED kNANCIAL REVERSES ) AM NOW INTENDING TO RECOVER THE LAND AND somebody told me that my wife has no authority to sell the land; hence, I CAN STILL RECOVER THE SAME FROM -ANUEL Is this true?

Felipe Dear Felipe, In general, all properties acquired or owned by the spouses during their marriage is deemed to belong to the absolute community of property. This is in accordance with Article 91 of the Family Code of the Philippines which states: “Unless otherwise provided in this Chapter or in the marriage settlements, the community property shall consist of all property owned by the spouses at the

budget for the South East Asian games was transferred to the Philippine Sports Commission.

The Department of Justice got additional funding for the creation of a special task force, as well as victims assistance program for overseas Filipino workers and also for programs geared toward child protection.

The Bureau of Corrections received P1.8 billion for the construction of prison facilities IN kVE REGIONS The Department of National Defense received an additional P48.766 million for its Task Force and Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program for rebel returnees.

DEAR PAO

PERSIDA ACOSTA time of the celebration of the marriage or acquired thereafter.�

The exemptions to the abovementioned provision of law are those enumerated under Article 109 of the same law: “The following shall be the exclusive property of each spouse: (1) That which is brought to the marriage as his or her own; (2) That which each acquires during the marriage by gratuitous title; (3) That which is acquired by right of redemption, by barter or by exchange with exclusive property belonging to only one of the spouses; and (4) That which is purchased with exclusive money of the wife or of the husband.�

The property involved falls squarely under number two of the above stated provision of law. Thus, the land you in-

herited from your parents is considered as your exclusive property and your wife has no authority to sell the same. In case of disposition, your written consent is essential in order to be valid. Thus, you may recover the said property that was sold without your consent or authority.

However, this is not absolute. Please be guided by the decision of the court in the case titled Vda. De Lima vs. Tio (GR L-27181, April 30, 1970), where the Supreme Court through Chief Justice Enrique Fernando stated: “It is now an established doctrine that inaction and neglect convert what otherwise could be a valid claim into a stale demand. They are factors that militate against any judicial cognizance of a matter that could have been within its ken. Such passivity in the face of what might have given rise to an action in court is visited with the loss of such a right. That in essence is what laches SIGNIkES .OR DOES IGNORANCE RESULTING FROM INEXCUSABLE NEGLIGENCE SUFkCE TO EXPLAIN SUCH FAILURE TO kLE SEASONABLY the necessary suit.�

Applying the above cited decision in your situation, your intention to recover the property sold by your wife

in 1999 may be barred by laches even if the transaction she entered is void.

9OUR FAILURE TO kLE THE APPROPRI ATE civil cases in order to recover your land for almost 29 years is tantamount to laches which could be a bar to your CLAIM 4HIS kNDS SUPPORT ALSO IN THE case of Romero vs. Natividad, et al.

(GR 161943, June 28,W 2005), where the Supreme Court through Associate Justice Cancio Garcia stated: “Verily, in a number of cases, it had been held that laches, the essence of which is the neglect to assert a right over a long period of time, may prevent recovery of a titled property. For sure, in the same case of Tambot, this Court further held that laches will bar recovery of the property even if the mode of transfer was invalid.�

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 0UBLIC !TTORNEY S /FkCE Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to dearpao@manilatimes.net

ful as they get overwhelmed by the high prices of goods,� he added.

Aquino earlier urged the DBM to use the Miscellaneous Personnel "ENEkTS &UND FOR THE FOURTH AND kNAL TRANCHE OF THE SALARY HIKE FOR government workers under the Salary Standardization Law. JORDEENE B. LAGARE AND BERNADETTE E. TAMAYO

‘Stop SWS, Pulse Asia surveys’

SENATORIAL aspirant Lorenzo Gadon on Monday asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to stop the Social Weather Stations (SWS) and Pulse Asia to stop publishing survey results on the upcoming national elections.

Gadon, who is running under the Katipunan ng Demokratikong Pilipino (KDP), said several poll surveys conducted by SWS and Pulse Asia were erroneous.

He cited in particular an SWS survey conducted from Dec. 8 to 16, 2018 that included Sara Duterte Carpio and Erwin Tulfo in the magic 12. He said Carpio and Tulfo were not seeking a Senate seat in the May 2019 polls.

Gadon said surveys held by Pulse Asia and SWS showed reelectionist senators topping the polls, but other surveys conducted by other groups showed otherwise. “Clearly, the survey results of the respondents, pertinent to the 2019 senatorial race is lAWED IF NOT OUTRIGHT @FAKE u HE SAID THINK that their bets were preferred.

Gadon expressed belief that SWS and Pulse Asia might be “mind conditioning� the public to think that their bets were preferred. .

WILLIAM B. DEPASUPIL

A4

Opinion

TUESDAY January 22, 2019

˜ The Manila Times

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E d i to r i a l The need for strong state institutions in BARMM

M

ANY groups expressed good wishes for a successful plebiscite on the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) yesterday as Filipinos in the Mindanao areas concerned went out to vote. Some sectors even went further to forecast enduring peace in Mindanao.

Realistically, however, it is wise to recognize that our peace, security and political problems in Mindanao cannot be resolved in one or two days of balloting. Up ahead is the labor of building strong state institutions in the autonomous region.

9ESTERDAY S PLEBISCITE CONCERNED ONLY THE RATIkCATION OF the BOL. Residents of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and the cities of Cotabato and Isabela VOTED YESTERDAY ON THE RATIkCATION OF THE "/, Another plebiscite on February 6 will cover the areas that will be included in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), which will replace the ARMM. In reaction to a grenade-throwing incident in Cotabato City late Sunday night, Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Oscar Albayalde quickly dismissed the incident as “something personal� and unrelated to the BOL plebiscite.

Even so, the director general did not shut down the possibility that terrorist groups may be behind the attack and may seek to undermine the plebiscite. There were apparently other incidents.

In tandem with Director Albayalde, our other security OFkCIALS SUCH AS )NTERIOR 3ECRETARY %DUARDO !Ă„O HAVE BEEN upbeat that the BOL is the key to peace in Mindanao.

A total of 20,384 combined elements of the PNP and AFP have been deployed for the voting, according to the Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff. &OR HIS PART $EFENSE 3ECRETARY $ELkN ,ORENZANA SAID

“Our troops are working overtime policing, patrolling and monitoring threat groups such as the Dawla Islamiyah, Bangsamoro International Freedom Fighters (BIFF), Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) and others.�

In the crafting of the BOL, President Rodrigo Duterte had meetings and dialogues with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) commanders, indigenous people, political leaders and lawmakers.

Significantly, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) said it is looking forward to a planned meeting between President Duterte and MNLF Founding Chairman Nur Misuari.

An MNLF spokesman said the front is elated that the 0RESIDENT RECOGNIZES THE SIGNIkCANCE OF -ISUARI AND -.,& in pursuing lasting peace and development in Mindanao.

It is well known that its archrival, the MILF, as principal BOL proponent, is projected to lead the new political entity that will succeed ARMM. For the new autonomous region to succeed, it is vital that representatives of all our Muslim tribal communities take part in its leadership and governance. )T WAS NOT RIGHT THE kRST TIME FOR THE 0HILIPPINE GOVERNment to forge a separate peace with the MNLF during the time of President Fidel Ramos. It is not right for the government this time around to forge a separate peace with only the MILF. All Filipino Muslims should have a stake in the Bangsamoro region. ~

TUESDAY January 22, 2019

The Manila Times

VOLUME 120 NUMBER 102

DANTE A. ANG, Chairman Emeritus RENE Q. BAS, Publisher Emeritus NERILYN A. TENORIO, Publisher-Editor ARNOLD E. BELLEZA, Executive Editor FELIPE F. SALVOSA II, Managing Editor LEENA C. CHUA, News Editor LYNETTE O. LUNA, National Editor TESSA MAURICIO-ARRIOLA, Lifestyle Editor PERRY GIL MALLARI, Sports Editor LEA MANTO-BELTRAN, Supplements Editor JOMAR CANLAS, Chief of Reporters RENE H. DILAN, Chief Photographer DANTE F. M. ANG 2ND, President and CEO BLANCA C. MERCADO, #HIEF /PERATING /FkCER EVELYN A. FAUNI, Vice President for Finance RODA A. ZABAT, Advertising Director VICENTE P. CRUZ, JR., Circulation Director DENISE O. CALNEA, Marketing Communications and Services Director Telephone All Departments: 524-5665 to 66; Subscription: 524-5664 Local 222 Advertising: 524-5664 Local 121 Telefax: 310-5895 or e-mail advertising@manilatimes.net www.manilatimes.net • e-mail newsdesk@manilatimes.net Letters to the Editor THE MANILA TIMES is published daily at 2/F Sitio Grande, 409 A. Soriano Avenue, Intramuros, Manila 1002 The owners, managers, publishers and editors do not necessarily share the opinions expressed and the statements made by individual authors of columns, commentaries and other articles published in The Manila Times.

Santo Niùo: Calling us to be in our Father’s house After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers.

When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.� And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?� But they did not understand what he said to them. — The Gospel of Saint Luke, 2:46-50

B

EFORE anything else, let’s put to rest a niggling question in many a believer’s mind about Jesus’s seemingly inconsiderate action and insensitive words during his three-day separation from Mary and Joseph during their visit to the Jerusalem temple when the Lord was 12, as recounted in the above-quoted Gospel mass reading ON LAST 3UNDAY S 3ANTO .IÄO &EAST

celebrated only in the Philippines in all Catholicism.

Two years ago, in his homily on the Feast of the Holy Family in the Sunday after Christmas 2016, Pope Francis speculated that “Jesus probably had to ask pardon from his parents� for the worry that burdened them over what the Holy Father called, perhaps in jest, the boy’s “escapade� over a few days. “The Gospel doesn’t say this,� Francis added, translated from Italian, “but I believe we can presume it.�

Some commentators thought that the Pope was saying that Jesus com-

FAITH HEALER

RICARDO SALUDO mitted sin, which would be blasphemy against divine perfection.

But that interpretation went against &RANCIS S REPEATED AFkRMATIONS THAT Jesus was sinless, including a statement just weeks before the Dec. 27, 2016, homily.

Plus: whatever the Holy Father meant, he said it was speculative, so let’s give him a break from doctrinal dissection. What the Gospel text does show, and mainstream biblical interpretation explains, is that the episode underscores the paramount importance of Christ’s mission.

Writes leading Bible scholar Scott Hahn in the Truth and Life Bible: “Jesus is not rebuking Mary and Joseph, as though they had done something wrong, but instructs them on how their parental role must be subordinate to the will of his divine Father.�

Indeed, Jesus was asking Mary why she and Joseph didn’t think of going straight to the temple when THEY COULDN T kND HIM SINCE THAT was “my Father’s house.�

The same focus on God may be seen in the mass Gospel reading for the rest of the Catholic world last Sunday: The Gospel of John, 2:1-11. )T RECOUNTS *ESUS S kRST MIRACLE AT the wedding feast in Cana, where Mary tells Jesus that wine had run out, and he asks, using the DouayRheims translation: “Woman, what is it to you and to me? My hour has

not yet come.�

With his mission uppermost in his mind, our Lord understandably did not give as much importance to dinner drinks as he did to the opportune time for his Father’s plan of salvation he must accomplish.

In the end, however, Christ’s mission is advanced in both Gospel readings. At the temple, the religious knowledge and insights of the young Jesus are shown to Judaism’s highest authorities. And after water became the best wine in Cana, Christ “revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.�

Thus, the mission of saving humankind through faith in Jesus Christ was on.

Focus like Christ Which brings us to the lesson for Filipinos on this singular Feast of THE 3ANTO .IĂ„O UNIQUE TO THE 0HILippine Church, in recognition of our devotion to the Christ Child, and the historic role his image played in our Christianization.

It was nearly half a millennium ago in 1521 when Spanish explorers led by Ferdinand Magellan landed in Cebu, and gave a wooden statue of Santo .IĂ„O TO THE ISLAND S 2AJAH (UMABON and his queen after baptizing them and their tribe of 800. The same image was found four decades later in 1565, when the Spaniards began colonizing the Philippines in earnest.

Today, immense changes have happened across the archipelago, WHICH HAVE DIMINISHED PAST INlUences, even those wrought by four centuries of Spanish colonialism and four decades of American rule.

But one thing seems as intense

as ever, demonstrated in the Black Nazarene “Traslacionâ€? in Manila last week, and last Sunday’s Sinulog PROCESSION OF THE 3ANTO .IĂ„O IN Cebu: our Catholic faith.

For sure, Filipinos have many other concerns on our minds, and wishes and whims tugging at our hearts and souls. So it was with the youth Jesus in Jerusalem, with his parents and their relatives and friends journeying back to Nazareth, and in Cana, with embarrassment looming for the newlyweds as jars run out of wine.

Yet our Lord kept his focus on what’s most crucial: bringing the good news and redeeming grace from our Father in heaven to the temple worthies as well as the disciples witness to the manifestation at Cana.

And Jesus asks us to also focus on what’s of greatest import, as he had done: our salvation. We necessarily have to attend to many other THINGS BUT kRST AND FOREMOST OUR Lord shows by his actions and words that we must do the needful for our souls, even to the point of maybe offending others, even our family.

Do we focus? Check your smartphone and see.

How many of our messages or social media posts have to do with thoughts, words, and actions for the FAITH AND THE SANCTIkCATION OF ONE S being and life? And how many are about other things? Often, God and salvation are marginal, if not absent.

If that’s the case, Jesus may then ask, as he did about the Cana wine running out, what has all the other stuff got to do with you and your soul? And you may just hear our Lord’s loving reminder: “Don’t you know that you must be in my Father’s house?�

China watchers: Moving with the times

T

HE Soviet Union’s status as a superpower is no more, though Russia still has weapons capable of destroying the world many times over. That superpower mantle is now snugly wrapped around the shoulders of China, which has also inherited Winston Churchill’s description of the Soviet Union as “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.�

Tens of thousands of China specialists work around the clock to understand that mysterious package. Up to the 1970s, China watchers only had available the OFkCIAL People’s Daily newspaper, which they pored over to extract scraps of information, such as WHICH OFkCIALS WERE PRESENT ON what occasion, and whose name preceded whose.

Up till his death in 1990, there was the China watcher par excellence, the Jesuit scholar Laszlo Ladany, who spent much of his life listening to Chinese broadcasts and analyzing OFkCIAL #HINESE DOCUMENTS Although China is much more open today, textual analysis still yields fascinating information, as research at the independent China Media Project in Hong Kong shows.

Qian Gang, a veteran journalist and media scholar who started his career in the late 1970s as a reporter for the People’s Liberation Army Daily and later became managing editor of the leading paper South-

FRANK CHING ern Weekly, is a project co-director.

As the project’s website says, Qian “focuses on the evolving political discourse of the Chinese Communist Party as revealed through OFkCIAL STATE MEDIA u The amazing fruits of that inQUIRY ARE RElECTED IN THE #HINA Discourse Report 2018, which he released on the second to the last day of the year.

Certain terms, such as the names of deceased leaders Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping, occur frequently. Mao, as founding father, is still revered in China, despite his disastrous Cultural Revolution. Deng, who launched China on the road to economic prosperity, lags behind him.

Thus, Qian says, while you can say that Deng is “hot,� Mao is “red hot� in terms of how frequently their names appear in the People’s Daily.

Last year marked the 40th anniversary of Deng’s reform and opening policy, and so there was an uptick in the appearance of his name, as well as of the term “reform and opening,� which was elevated from “red hot� to “blazing hot.� But Deng remained merely hot, with Mao red hot.

There were three other terms in the “blazing hot� category. All had to do with the current leader, Xi Jinping.

They were “Belt and Road,� his signature development strategy, “Xi Jinping Thought of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era,� which provides a blueprint for development, and the “19th Congress,� which wrote this guiding policy into the party constitution in 2017, before it was enshrined in the state constitution.

The trade war started in spring 2018 and textual analysis of the People’s Daily yields quite draMATIC kNDINGS !T MID YEAR THE People’s Daily reported “stable expectations� on its front page, with the article saying “Our country’s economy maintains overall stability.� So, the message was not to worry because all is well.

This comforting message apPEARED THREE TIMES IN THE kRST HALF of 2018, but it appeared 48 times in the second half of the year.

Presumably, there was a greater need for reassurance after the commencement of the trade war.

Another noticeable difference as the year progressed was a toning down of the boastfulness in the OFkCIAL #HINESE MEDIA A state-produced documentary called “Amazing, my country� — translated as “Amazing China� — became the highestgrossing documentary of all time

in March 2018. “The documentary was a boastful paean to the great technological and economic achievements China has made, particularly under the leadership of President Xi Jinping,� Qian wrote. “The documentary was loudly trumpeted by state media through March. But, tellingly, the film was pulled from store shelves in China toward last spring.�

5SE OF OTHER TERMS THAT RElECTED #HINA S EARLY CONkDENCE SUCH AS “Made in China 2025� on the country’s industrial development strategy and “China Solution,� which suggested China’s model for development could be emulated by other countries, also underwent a dramatic change. They were far more prevalent in the first six months than in the rest of the year, suggesting that the Chinese leadership was responding to changes in the international environment.

So, it appears, in these days of real time communications the staid People’s Daily can be forced to yield its secrets with the use of modern technology, which enables the search of databases containing millions of articles published over seven decades in little more than the blink of an eye.

This surely surpasses the dreams of China watchers in Maoist times.

Frank.ching@gmail.com Twitter: @FrankChing1

˜ The Manila Times

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TUESDAY January 22, 2019

O

ON THE CONTRARY ANTONIO CONTRERAS tions conducted at the national level, the published rules clearly indicated that ballots marked below 50 percent would not be counted as valid. Bombarded with an information and education campaign, for which millions of tax payers’ monies were spent, asking voters to fully shade ballots, a minimum threshold of 50 percent was already a fair allowance to ensure against accidental voter disenfranchisement.

It is therefore odd that the Comelec decided to lower the threshold further to 20 percent in the 2013 mid-term elections, and to 25 percent in the 2016 presidential elections. For them to have done these without properly amending the election rules through a numbered resolution, and conducting public consultations on the issue, and worse, not causing its wide publication to the voters, candidates and political parties, amounted to a betrayal of public trust. And it is even worse that the Supreme Court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), eventually allowed them to get away with it in the 2016 elections.

And indeed, the change in the voting thresholds could have a SIGNIkCANT EFFECT ON THE VOTE COUNT This is nowhere more clearly illustrated than in the results of the vote recount in Iloilo which the lawyers of the camp of Vice President Leni Robredo proudly announced, in violation of the gag order issued by the PET, and which was published by the Manila Bulletin. Had the legally published threshold of 50 percent been used, Robredo would have lost 11,016 votes in Iloilo province, while Marcos only lost 1,204 votes. However, and which I quote directly from the same Manila Bulletin article, “The lawyers noted that Robredo ben-

EkTED FROM THE 3EPTEMBER ruling of the PET that upheld the 25-percent shading threshold in counting votes.� And the lawyers being referred to are no other than the lawyers of Robredo.

Indeed, Robredo benefited from the change in the threshold.

In using a 25 percent threshold, Robredo lost only 14 votes, while Marcos lost 22 votes. Consequently, an analysis of the numbers reported by the Bulletin, as revealed to them by lawyers of Robredo in violation of the PET directive, will reveal that applying the 50 percent threshold would have enabled Marcos to close the margin of Robredo by 9,812 votes. But when the 25 percent threshold was applied, Robredo even widened her lead by an additional eight-vote margin.

We should recall the argument of the Robredo camp when they urged the PET to adopt the 25 percent threshold and reconsider its earlier ruling favoring the 50 percent threshold. Robredo argued that using the 50 percent threshold would unfairly disenfranchise her voters. It therefore behooves us to ask how Robredo could have known that applying the 50 percent minimum threshold would significantly reduce her total number of votes of 120,869 in 11 towns in Iloilo province by about 8 percent. This would have been bad news for Robredo since this level of reduction could have been substantial enough to convince the PET to proceed with a broader recount, considering that her lead over Marcos in the national count was no more than 2 percent of her total number of votes.

One just needs to conduct an analysis of the automated election system to know that having prior information of the actual lower minimum shading threshold that is not publicly disclosed could potentially arm a candidate or an election operator with enormous power to manufacture votes and thereby manipulate the election results. This can be done by pre-shading the ballots in a way that would pass the new

and lower threshold. By applying simple game theory analogy, the other party and the authentic voters would not have this information, and with Comelec engaged in a frenzied information and education campaign convincing voters to fully shade their ovals, the normal behavior of authentic voters would most likely comply with the higher threshold. It is only one with prior knowledge about the changed voting threshold who can take advantage of the information. This can then be fed into a well-organized pre-shading operation to manufacture a certain number of fake votes.

While this is not saying that this is what certainly happened in the 2016 vice-presidential race, it is interesting to note that in Iloilo province, only 1,204 Marcos voters violated the 50 percent rule, while 11,016 voters of Robredo failed to shade their ballots in accordance with that rule.

It is now just a matter of using the pre-shaded ballots in lieu of the real ballots, or of placing them in the ballot boxes after the fact to match the tally that would have been altered by other means. What is clear is that the success of this operation now rests on a well-coordinated and systematic conspiracy, that could in fact involve a whole range of participants, and actions, from that of the lowly pre-shader working overnight in some secret location, to that of changing the minimum shading threshold of ballot ovals without informing the public, and disclosing this only to a preferred candidate.

This may be a hypothetical scenario, but it is certainly also a plausible one, one that we should be wary of in the coming May elections. We should not allow the shades of the 2016 elections to haunt us and make fools of us thrice, for that would certainly be a shame for the entire nation.

Meanwhile, the scenario described here should be an angle which the PET should seriously consider in the electoral protest of Bongbong Marcos against Leni Robredo.

Q AQUINO FROM A1

And a little child shall teach them For the longest time, I disliked children. I disliked their romping around; I hated it when they interrupted Masses over which I presided with their bawling and their tantrums. I was peeved by the mess they almost always made of things.

But children came into my life. My brother and his wife gave us the youngest members of our family — and soon there were children scampering all over the family compound. I had to be taught by their mom how to carry them properly as tiny infants, and as they grew up, I heard myself being addressed as “tito� for the kRST TIME EVER -Y PRIESTLY ASSIGNments did not allow me to be with them most of the time, but when I did, I found myself enjoying their rambunctious company.

One day, everyone else was out — every adult who could mind the children — and so I was left with three children for whom the word “discipline� might as well have been from a foreign language, and its ways, totally unknown to them. But we got along. And more importantly, I learned about their world and their concerns. It was a door to another universe, in some places joined to ours, but in most respects totally different and more awesome.

They wondered where ants live, and where it was to which they were carrying the bits and morsels

of food they always seemed to be busy with. It amazed them that they could march in a straight line, sometimes apparently bump into each other or, as they saw it, “kiss� each other, and keep the line going at the same time. A trip to a local grocer was a treat — an activity to which my mother would often strenuously object because it ruined their appetite for truly nutritious food. It is an axiom of childhood that what is nutritious to the reckoning of adults is completely obnoxious to children. Ampalaya is the principal instantiation!

They had their own quarrels, but they had ways of resolving them, and I learned that it was best that we adults did not interfere. They had their own ways of “alternative dispute resolutionâ€? not found in any rule book promulgated by the State. It was a world full of the arbitrary, the impromptu, the elements of surprise — sometimes even of the more frightening kind — but that was what made their world so much more interesting than our boring one — obsessed with results and outcomes and products and EFkCIENCYĂœ -Y NEPHEWS AND NIECE taught me that the clock is not the only way to reckon time. Their days were marked by the TV shows they watched, the snacks they took, the games they played and periods of sleep when some quiet would de-

scend on our house.

But all too soon, my nephews and niece grew up and this time, I was visited in my rectory by high schoolers who loved me, no doubt — and showed it too — but had other interests in their lives. Sometimes, they made it clear to me that I was not necessarily on the list of their priorities, and that seems to be true of how they ranked their parents as well, in the hierarchy of their adolescent interests.

Then another child entered my life — the daughter of my best friend AND OFkCE ASSISTANT 4HIS TIME ) WAS assigned completely to Tuguegarao, and so I had her with me from the time she was old enough to be left without her mom. I learned to bathe a child, see to it that her sleeping hours were kept and that her bottles were sterilized properly. I shared in the worry of her parents when she was sick, and was anxious no end whenever hospital stays became necessary.

She forced me to watch cartoons with her — and soon I found myself loving the characters, and singing the songs like Barney’s trademark tune even when alone. “I am the genie of the desert, the desert, the desert‌â€? — that was one of TaTa’s songs and mine. Then later, after she had watched “Frozenâ€? repeatedly, she decided that it was time I did, and so I did — and honestly, I

liked the story. It was a child’s story, BUT SUCH STORIES ARE INkNITELY RICH IN lessons for us: about honesty, sincerity, friendship and true love. One of my favorite characters was Sven, the reindeer — and TaTa did not forget. I bought her a whole “Frozen� toy set.

All the characters were in it. She loved it. But at Christmastime, aside from the gifts her parents had for me, she had a small parcel for me — and in it was “Sven.� I asked her why she was giving me back a piece of a set I had given her. She had a simple answer — that articulated the generosity and love of a child: “Because Sven is your favorite.�

I think the trouble with the world is that we are all too eager to leave our childhood behind, and shed it off like the molting of a snake and sadly, often, that is what we become: vicious, fearsome vipers. But the Prophet Isaiah had a vision: a child playing atop a viper’s pit and left unharmed, and a troubled world led by a child. Is it any wonder then that we have been taught by God’s Son who became a child that the Kingdom of Heaven is only for those who can become children again?

rannie_aquino@csu.edu.ph rannie_aquino@sanbeda.edu.ph rannie_aquino@outlook.com

A5

A paradigm shift for better public service

Shades of an electoral fraud

NCE again, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has reminded voters to fully shade the ovals in the ballots in the upcoming May elections.

This is the same Comelec that behind our backs, and unknown to the candidates and the parties, except perhaps to those who had sinister plans to use the information to their advantage, changed the minimum shading thresholds which the vote counting machines (VCMs) would count as valid votes in the 2016 elections from 50 percent, which was earlier published under their rules, to 25 percent, which was only publicly revealed when the protest of former senator Bongbong Marcos was already in progress. In fact, according to information revealed by former Comelec chair Sixto Brillantes Jr., the same was done for the 2013 elections, where it was lowered even further to 20 percent, again unknown to the voting public and the contesting parties. Hence, Comelec appeared to have duped us into believing that we needed to shade the ballots fully, but eventually, and like a thief in the night, surreptitiously changed the voting threshold not just once, but twice.

And now, they are once again asking us to fully shade the ballot ovals, even if the VCMs will read even small dot-like marks. As the saying goes: fool us once, shame on you; fool us twice, shame on us. And now the Comelec wants to fool us again for the third time.

It is normal for automated voting to have minimum thresholds, considering that some voters may not be able to fully shade the ballot ovals.

This is to avoid disenfranchising voters who may have inadvertently failed to shade the ovals as instructed. However, this has to be publicly disclosed to advise voters the allowable range, below which they will have to suffer the consequence of their votes not being counted. And this is precisely why in the 2010 ELECTIONS WHEN WE HAD OUR kRST experience with automated elec-

Opinion

G

ETTING a clearance, permit, license or document FROM GOVERNMENT OFkCES IS PROBably one of the most stressful ordeals many Filipinos have to go through. Aside from the volume of paperwork one has to find, gather, bring or submit, ordinary folk have to contend with long lines and interminable waiting to complete the transaction. In fact, it is not unheard of for some employees to take a day off from work in order to get the needed government document.

Compounding the aggravation are the redundant documentary requirements being imposed by different agencies and local government units (LGUs). In many cases, people are asked to submit multiple identity documents like THE BIRTH CERTIkCATE AT LEAST TWO GOVERNMENT ISSUED IDENTIkCATION cards with a photo, signature and address, and other “supporting� documents like utility billings, lease contracts, etc.

I have heard horror stories where LGUs have asked people to present decades-old real estate tax payment receipts to prove that they’ve fully paid for the previous years’ taxes. This is especially true in cases where some payments supposedly do not appear in the LGU’s records or database through no fault of the taxpayer. And yet, it has always been the rule that no real estate tax payments will be accepted by any LGU unless you’ve paid the previous year’s taxes. So why the need to show it again?!!

The way I see it, this long list of paperwork is really intended only for one purpose — to prove that what you’re saying is the truth.

In other words, the premise of most government processes is that people are out to game the system, bend the rules, and manipulate the process to obtain a desired result. That ordinary folks deal with government in bad faith.

While there may be cases of questionable submissions, it is the exception not the rule.

The vast majority of Filipinos are law-abiding (and truthful) citizens who only want to get through the government paperwork the fastest and easiest way possible. This explains why some people have resorted to forking out grease money even for simple transactions. It’s a small price to pay to save them the grief of having to deal with burdensome bureaucratic rules.

If it is to serve our citizens better and faster, there needs to be a paradigm shift in government’s approach to delivering public services. From the traditional model where citizens carry the burden of proof, the government should assume good faith on the part of the general public. That the documents (previously or presently) tendered, submitted by, or issued to applicants are correct and authentic. That the representations or statements made by the applicants are true and accurate.

True, there may be some instances of people rigging, cheating or abusing the system but that should not be the framework on which our rules and procedures ought to be made.

The system should not be geared towards ferreting out the criminal few at the expense of the lawabiding majority. The remedy, if any, is to catch and prosecute the offenders. However, that task lies with our law enforcement authorities and not with frontLINE GOVERNMENT OFkCES OR UNITS delivering public services.

It is in the spirit of this new paradigm that Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. recently did away with an un-

FLIPSIDE ATTY. DODO DULAY necessary bureaucratic prerequisite for passport renewals.

Under Department Order No.

BIRTH CERTIkCATES WILL NO longer be required when renewing passports, except only for kRST TIME APPLICATIONS RENEWAL applications for lost or mutilated passports, renewal applications requiring changes in the passport entries (i.e. name, date of birth, place of birth, etc.), renewal applications of old passports with no complete middle name, and for applicants included in the DFA watch list.

As Locsin said in a Twitter exchange with netizens, “removing BIRTH CERTIkCATES RESTORES TO OLD passports their rightful status as the best evidence of identity like in civilized states with non-simian bureaucracies and the public is not shaken down.� “Isn’t the expired passport sufkCIENT )$ (OW MANY TIMES DO you have to prove you are what the State declared you are in the expired passports?� tweeted Locsin. “Everybody agrees with me that the old passport is 1,000 percent ID better than birth certificate: the holder applied for it and not someone else for a baby,� Locsin said in another tweet.

Locsin’s department order is timely not only because of President Rodrigo Duterte’s standing order for faster processing of docuMENTS IN GOVERNMENT OFkCES BUT also in light of the recent passage of the new “Ease of Doing Business� law (Republic Act 11032) that aims to streamline the current systems and procedures of government services.

The new law is a landmark legislation of the Duterte administration and is part of the President’s campaign promise to improve the country’s competitiveness and make it easier for everyone to do business in the Philippines.

It’s the best time as any to institutionalize this paradigm shift since the implementing rules and regulations for the new law calls on all government agencies, including government-owned or -controlled corporations and local government units, to come up with a Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) for the purpose of reviewing, simplifying, modifying, modernizing their respective regulations, issuances, and ordinances that would make it easier and less costly for the public to transact with government.

As an offshoot of this RIA, all the various government units should come up with harmonized rules, procedures and paperwork for business and non-business transactions, and if needed, repeal unnecessary and redundant policies and procedures to lessen the regulatory burden on the public.

From my experience, however, one of the best ways for governMENT OFkCES TO IDENTIFY ‡ AND remove — bureaucratic bottlenecks is to just really listen to the complaints of ordinary citizens from all sources, valid or not. In this age of social media, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, blogs, etc. have become platforms for public complaints, grievances and discourse on what government has done, or failed to do, or can do better. I’m sure everyone agrees there’s no better way to keep government agencies on their toes than the vociferous, and sometimes insolent grumBLING OF A DISSATISkED CLIENT

Quenching humanity’s freshwater thirst creates a salty threat HAMILTON, Canada: Starting from a few, mostly Middle Eastern facilities in the 1960s, today almost 16,000 desalination plants are in operation in 177 countries, producing 95 million cubic meters of freshwater every day — equal to

ABOUT HALF THE lOW OVER .IAGARA Falls.

Falling economic costs of desalination and the development in membrane technologies, particularly reverse osmosis, have made desalination a cost-competitive

and attractive source of freshwater around the globe.

The increase in desalination has been driven by intensifying water scarcity due to rising water demands associated with population growth, increased water consump-

tion per capita, and economic growth, coupled with diminishing water supplies due to climate change and contamination.

Worldwide, roughly half a billion people experience water scarcity year-round; for 1.5 to 2

billion people, water resources are INSUFkCIENT TO MEET DEMANDS FOR at least part of the year. Desalination technologies can provide an unlimited, climate independent and steady supply of high-quality water, predominantly used by the

municipal and industrial sectors.

In particular, desalination is an essential technology in the Middle East and for small island nations which typically lack renewable water resources. In coming decades,

ÂłThreat A5

A6

Opinion

C

OTABATO CITY: The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) just had its fourth plebiscite since the Tripoli Agreement on January 21 (ARMM, Isabela and Cotabato City), and will be having another on February 6 (Lanao Norte, except Iligan City, and 6 North Cotabato municipalities), in accordance with Commission on Elections (Comelec) Resolution 10425 and 10464. Turn-out has traditionally been high at 75 percent. It covered 2,839,659 registered voters distributed over 18,439 established precincts, or 9,377 polling places.

The plebiscite was all manual, from voting, counting and canvassing. Canvassing for the January 21 vote will be convened today at the Comelec headquarters in Intramuros, Manila. The Comelec en banc will sit as the National Plebiscite Board of Canvassers, which will oversee the canvassing.

Essentially, the vote will be for the approval of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), or RA 11054, and the inclusion of areas under BARMM.

˜ The Manila Times

w w w.manilatimes.net

TUESDAY January 22, 2019

Bangsamoro votes ZILCH MA. LOURDES TIQUIA The original ARMM under RA 6735 included Lanao del Sur (except Marawi), Maguindanao, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi. With RA 9054, or the Expanded ARMM Law, the original four provinces remained with Marawi and the province of Basilan (except Isabela City). In those two plebiscites, Cotabato City and Isabela City consistently voted not to be included in the ARMM. It’s a foregone conclusion that BOL will be approved due primarily to the sheer number of voters in Maguindanao and Lanao del Norte.

Maguindanao has the largest voter pool in ARMM at 700,000 while Lanao del Norte is second at 600,000.

A simple majority will be observed in ARMM areas.

The battle remains in the proposed areas that will constitute

BARMM which will undergo a double majority and triple majority tests. In the case of Isabela City, even if it votes in favor of BOL, Basilan has to approve the inclusion of Isabela City in BARMM (double majority), while the 39 barangay of North Cotabato will have to pass a triple majority test where “yes� will have to win in the 39 barangays, 6 municipalities and the province of North Cotabato.

Voting “yes� is easy if we focus on peace and development, where we want to go. January 21 heralds the start of another chapter in ARMM, not new but a continuing one. It will not solve things overnight but there is a fresh mandate to begin with.

Thirty years ago, ARMM was hope. ARMM was change. But in 2010, it was declared a failure, something which some quarters do not agree with. It became one because of both parties: The national got back what it gave and the local gamed it as payback time. In fact, whenever the national government wanted to release money, it issued the notice

of cash allocation to ARMM. Who ended up rich? The politicians. Did we solve poverty? No, since the proximate cause, “power relationships,� got worse. Tribalism has also a way of stopping everyone leading the debate on identity.

And when we go in that direction, we hear a lot of division, fanning the old cracks and tectonic plates in the land of promise. Why do we divide ourselves into Bangsa Sug, Bangsa Moro, from island settlers to the mainland, from Christians and Muslims or Muslims and non-Muslims?

Are we better off with binary politics?

Are we not Filipinos? That the issue of Bangsamoro is not just an issue limited to Mindanao but of the whole country. Is not changing power relations in the area the main thrust?

RA 11054 is far superior to the previous one because: 1) there is transition; 2) political reform via parliament and necessarily strong political parties; 3) control over taxation via new powers: annual block grant equivalent to 5 percent of the net national tax collection (P60

Global warming forever?

W

ASHINGTON, D.C.: On global climate change, I’ve changed my mind — just slightly.

I’ve written about this issue for more than two decades, and my theme has been monotonously consistent. As a starting point, I’ve accepted the prevailing SCIENTIkC VIEW THAT MAN MADE greenhouse gases contribute to global warming.

But I’ve been routinely pessimistic and skeptical that we can do much about it. That is, we can’t easily control the forces that worsen global warming.

We have yet to discover or create some low-cost fuel that would replace fossil fuels (oil, natural gas and coal), which provide roughly 80 percent of the world’s energy. Most nations aren’t willing to scrap the energy status quo — the very basis of modern civilization — before having a practical substitute.

Thus, despite the enthusiasm for non-fossil fuels (wind, solar, hydro, nuclear), global greenhouse-gas emissions are higher today than, say, in 1990.

This raises the atmospheric concentration levels of those gases, which in turn trap heat above the Earth’s surface. From 1990 to 2018, the concentration level of carbon dioxide rose from 354 parts per million to 409 parts per million.

The emissions continue. Poorer countries (China, India, Indonesia and the like), where most

WASHINGTON POST WRITERS GROUP

ROBERT J. SAMUELSON energy growth now occurs, won’t condemn their populations to perpetual poverty to satisfy hardto-attain environmental goals.

Many governments — rich and POOR ‡ RESIST INlICTING PAIN ON TOday’s voters, in the form of higher energy prices or more regulations, for imprecise future gains. Politics is present-oriented.

Implicitly, I’ve been critical of much media coverage, which has portrayed the climate-change story as a struggle between good guys and bad — climate-change believers versus deniers. The real story is our relative helplessness.

Still, we should do something.

We need to learn how much, if at ALL WE CAN INlUENCE EMISSIONS Last week, a large group of economists, including 27 Nobel Prize winners, 15 former chairs of the White House Council of Economic Advisers and two former Treasury secretaries — Democrats and Republicans — issued a manifesto endorsing what’s been called a “carbon dividends� plan. This would be a good start.

Here’s how it would work.

The government would tax CO2 emissions. The idea is to prompt Americans to use less fossil fuels

and to prod businesses to focus on RENEWABLES AND ENERGY EFkCIENCY That’s a standard carbon tax. What DEkNES THE gCARBON DIVIDENDu PLAN is that all the money collected would be rebated to households.

Under one proposal, the government would slap a $43 tax on each ton of CO2. That would equal about 38 cents on a gallon of gasoline, says economist Marc Hafstead of Resources for the Future, who studied the plan. It would raise about $180 billion in the tax’s kRST YEAR HE SAYS )F THE gDIVIDENDu — the tax rebate — were distributed evenly, that would be about $1,400 per household.

Meanwhile, if the tax were increased 3 percent annually, there would be (according to the estimates) a dramatic reduction in US fossil fuel use and greenhouse gases. Without the tax, projected CO2 emissions would be 5.4 billion metric tons in 2035. With the tax, the total would be 3.6 billion metric tons, a 33 percent decline.

Still, this would hardly eliminate greenhouse gas emissions.

Assuming the tax works this way, the lesson would be that we can, up to some point, curb emissions without hugely disrupting the economy. As Hafstead notes, the initial increase in gasoline prices of 38 cents a gallon is within NORMAL MARKET lUCTUATIONS 4HE rebate would sweeten the tax.

Consumers who cut fossil fuel use would come out ahead.

The tax has another advan-

tage. It decentralizes decisionmaking to individual companies and people. The alternative of regulations would centralize more power in Washington. This would be complicated, costly and potentially corrupting.

Given President Trump’s hostility toward anything “climate change,� it’s unlikely that major legislation will pass this Congress. We will have to wait until at least 2021.

None of this has changed my longstanding skepticism that, without some major technological breakthrough (safer nuclear power?), it will be exceedingly hard to halt the increase in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases. The required changes in lifestyles and economic activity are simply too great.

But something less grandiose than “solving� the problem is plausible. It may be possible to slow the increase in greenhouse gases.

7E NEED kRSTHAND EXPERIENCE with these problems rather than repeating an increasingly futile and familiar debate. (For the record: I have long favored a carbon tax without a dividend. Revenues WOULD GO TO CUT BUDGET DEkCITS But I recognize the dividends’ political appeal.)

All in all, my thinking on global warming has shifted slightly, as I said. I haven’t gotten more optimistic. But I am less pessimistic.

(C) 2019, THE WASHINGTON POST WRITERS GROUP

Q THREAT FROM A5

Quenching humanity’s freshwater thirst according to predictions, the number of desalination plants will increase to quench a growing thirst for freshwater in homes, industrial facilities, and on farms.

This fast-growing number of plants, however, creates a salty dilemma: how to deal with all the chemical-laden leftover brine?

We analyzed a newly updated dataset — the most complete ever compiled — to revise the world’s badly outdated statistics on desalination plants. Most startling WAS OUR kNDING THAT THE VOLUME of hypersaline brine produced overall is about 50 percent more than previously estimated.

Globally, plants now discharge 142 million cubic meters of hypersaline brine every day — enough in a single year (51.8 billion cubic meters) to cover Florida under 1 foot (30.5 cm) of brine.

Considered another way, the data shows that for every unit of freshwater output, desalination plants produce on average 1.5 units of brine (though values vary dramatically, depending on the feedwater salinity, the desalination technology used, and local conditions).

Some two-thirds of desalination plants are in high-income countries, with capacity concentrated in the Middle East and North Africa.

And over half — 55 percent — of global brine is produced in just four countries: Saudi Arabia (22 percent), UAE (20.2 percent), Kuwait (6.6 percent) and Qatar (5.8 percent).

Middle Eastern plants, which largely operate using seawater and thermal desalination technologies, typically produce four times as much brine per cubic meter of clean water as plants where river water membrane processes dominate, such as in the US. Brine disposal methods, meanwhile, are largely dictated by geography but traditionally include direct discharge into oceans, surface water or sewers, deep well injection and brine evaporation ponds.

Desalination plants near the ocean (almost 80 percent of brine is produced within 10 kilometers of a coastline) most often discharge untreated waste brine directly back into the marine environment.

Brine raises the salinity of the receiving seawater, and brine unDERlOWS DEPLETE DISSOLVED OXYGEN needed to sustain life in the marine environment. This high salinity and reduced levels of dissolved oxygen can have profound impacts on marine ecosystems and organisms, especially those living on THE SEAlOOR WHICH CAN TRANSLATE into ecological effects observable

throughout the food chain.

Furthermore, the oceans are polluted with toxic chemicals used as anti-scalants and antifoulants in the desalination process (copper and chlorine are of major concern).

There is a clear need for improved brine management strategies to meet this rising challenge.

This is particularly important in countries producing large volumes of brine with relatively low EFkCIENCIES SUCH AS 3AUDI !RABIA

UAE, Kuwait and Qatar.

In fact, we can convert this environmental problem into an economic opportunity. Brine has many potential uses, offering commercial, social and environmental gains.

It has been used for aquaculture, WITH INCREASES IN kSH BIOMASS OF 300 percent achieved. It has also been successfully used to irrigate salt-tolerant species, to cultivate the dietary supplement Spirulina, to generate electricity, and to irrigate forage shrubs and crops (although this latter use can cause progressive land salinization).

With improved technologies, a large number of metals, salt and other minerals in desalination PLANT EFlUENT COULD BE MINED These include sodium, magnesium, calcium, potassium, bromine, boron, strontium,

lithium, rubidium and uranium, all used by industry, in products, and in agriculture.

The needed technologies are immature, however; recovery of these resources is economically uncompetitive today.

UNU-INWEH is actively pursuing research and ideas related to a variety of unconventional water sources, all of which need to be scaled up urgently to meet the even GREATER DEkCIT IN FRESHWATER SUPPLIES looming in much of the world.

In particular, we need to make desalination technologies more affordable and extend them to low-income and lower-middle income countries.

Thankfully, costs are falling from continued improvements in membrane technologies, energy recovery systems, and the coupling of desalination plants with renewable energy sources.

At the same time, we have to address potentially severe downsides of desalination — the harm of brine and chemical pollution to the marine environment and human health.

The good news is that efforts have been made in recent years and, with continuing technology refinement and improving economic affordability, we see a positive and promising outlook. IPSÂ

billion appropriated via GAA) and the net collection of Customs from THE THIRD kSCAL YEAR FROM THE CURRENT FY. Special fund for rehab and development — P5 billion for 10 years OR 0 BILLION IN TOTAL 3EVENTY kVE percent of the total national taxes and fees collected in the region will remain in situ.

Still, the power card is held by politicians who are angling for the May 2019 elections, making the plebiscite a quicksand for some.

Still, the old and fading revolutionary leaders are being confronted by the youth on what they have done to make the lives of Muslims better. Still, old guards becoming politicians are being put to task or youth extremism gets a boost. Still, the Muslims in ARMM are poor because of the very basic power relationships in place.

The reality on the ground remains: clan voting is still the order of the day. Vote buying is happening as we speak and hollowed grounds for the MILF are battlegrounds.

Beyond the plebiscite are percolat-

ing issues that are time-bound (Duterte’s term): Decommissioning OF AT LEAST kREARMS

TO kREARMS 4HESE ARE OF three categories: weapons owned by organizations, weapons owned by combatants and weapons owned by sympathetic civilians. Security lASH POINTS AND SEA LANES REDEkNItion viz. the West Philippine Sea as black elephant. Misuari’s black swan. Terrorism, illegal drugs and economies controlled by political kingpins. BARMM plus two in a federal Philippines.

In a lot of talk and whispers, we often hear words such as kibr or pride, sabr or patience and kubr or GRAVE 4HESE THREE WORDS DEkNE THE common thread that ties everyone in ARMM and when the youth in the areas become a strong voice and a power to reckon with, everyone would have to listen and tow the line. After all, peace is harder to achieve than war. Let the 30 years of ARMM guide BARMM and let BARMM plus guide the country toward a federal Philippines.

Jailing children is cruel, callous and wrong S THE LONG

INCE his election in 2016, President Duterte has pressed for the age of criminal responsibility (ACR) to be reduced from 15 to 9 years old. He claims the country is “producing a generation of criminals.� He wrongly asserts that under the present law, children under the age of 15 are committing the most heinous crimes, including murder and rape, without fear of punishment. This is untrue. Based on his egregious, callous and alarmist lie, the government is now cruelly moving to criminalize a generation (his words) of our poorest, most disadvantaged and vulnerable children.

Worse, many of our children will end up dead, the victims of extrajudicial killings.

On Monday, a justice panel in Congress swiftly approved House Bill 505 which will set the ACR in our country to 9 years old.

Proponents of the bill claim that it will protect children from being used by criminal syndicates.

Children in conflict with the law, they say, will be placed in reformative institutions and not ordinary prisons. Whether they are being disingenuous, deluding both themselves and the country, or simply doing the bidding of a barbarous president, they are deaf, dumb and blind to a broken justice system that regularly fails thousands of children who are cast into jails with hardened adult criminals.

Reducing the ACR to 9 years is arbitrary, inhumane and unjust.

Only 1.7 percent of all crimes committed in the Philippines are by children, says Lotta Sylwanda, the Philippine Unicef representative. Surely it makes more sense to exert all efforts to stop and punish bigtime drug lords and criminals? Surely it is better to improve rehabilitation systems that keep children out of jail?

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child calls for countries to adopt non-judicial MEASURES FOR CHILDREN IN CONlICT with the law, and to establish AN !#2 THAT RElECTS CHILDREN S intellectual and emotional immaturity. An ACR of less than 12 years is declared to be internationally unacceptable.

4HIS IS SUPPORTED BY SCIENTIkC research that has shown how the brain develops in young people.

Adolescents tend toward impulsive, risk-taking behavior and to prioritize immediate rewards over long-term consequences.

Children younger than 12 years are unable to differentiate between bad behavior and serious wrongdoing. Indeed, there is a universally known pattern of offending, called the age-crime curve, which indicates that criminal behavior in children peaks by late adolescence.

Evidence also shows that crimi-

VIEW

RACHEL A.G. REYES nalizing children does them far more harm than good. Children who get in trouble with the law are prone to substance abuse and are victims of crime themselves.

Most children who commit serious crimes are controlled by and act on the orders of drug and crime syndicates, whom the police are failing to stop. Targeting children makes them unjustly responsible for the crimes of adult criminals who are allowed to go unpunished.

Contact with the criminal justice system does not deter children from re-offending; in fact they are more likely to reoffend, resist rehabilitation and are left unable to complete their education and obtain meaningFUL QUALIkCATIONS THUS DAMAGING their future prospects. In effect, children are condemned to a life of criminality.

The President’s vicious and unrelenting campaign against drugs has left thousands upon thousands of people dead. Over 50 children were killed in 2016, THE kRST YEAR OF THE CAMPAIGN

and the number continues to rise. Last year the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism reported that Duterte’s drug campaign resulted in massive incarceration that has amounted to a “monstrous humanitarian crisis.� Today, the Philippines officially has the most congested and overcrowded correctional facilities in the world. Just to take one example, a male jail dorm in Quezon City with a maximum capacity of 286, now packs in almost 4,000 inmates. Conditions are truly nightmarish — there is violence, disease and death.

4HE GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO kND ways to help and protect children from criminal syndicates.

Pathways that divert children as much as possible away from the criminal justice system through EARLY INTERVENTION IDENTIkCAtion of those with learning disabilities, mental health issues, and substance abuse, need to be supported and strengthened.

Youth courts and professionals specially trained to deal with troubled children need to be developed and improved.

By passing this bill, this government has shown itself to be WHOLLY UNINTERESTED IN kNDING sound alternatives to child criminalization. It is a government that takes pride in a total lack of compassion and mercy.

rachelagreyes@gmail.com

˜ The Manila Times

w w w.manilatimes.net

COURT STOPS GOLF PROJECT IN BAGUIO

BAGUIO CITY: A local court here issued a temporary environment protection order (TEPO) against Sta. Lucia Realty and Development Inc. (SLRDI) to cease excavation works in areas covered by its Pinewoods Golf Course and Country Club within the border of this city and Tuba, Benguet.

Judge Maria Ligaya ItliongRivera of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 5 said the court noted that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) report showed that SLRDI had no permit to cut pine trees in the golf course project site but only a mayor’s clearance to cut 35 Benguet pine trees. It said the clearance was not equivalent to a permit. “It appears from the submissions of the petitioners, heirs of Tunged, that respondents, Sta. Lucia Realty and Development Inc., is in the process of undertaking a project known as pinewoods Golf Course and Country Club. While it was issued an environmental compliance CERTIkCATE IT ALLEGEDLY VIOLATED some conditions thereof. The project also violated provisions of Presidential Decree 1586 or the “Philippine Environment Impact Assessment� statement and Presidential Decree 705 or the Forestry Reform Code of the Philippines,� the order stated.

The petitioners, who are heirs of the property owner Tunged (one name only), contended that their ancestor was the owner of a large track of land straddling the border of Baguio City and Tuba, Benguet. He inherited the property originally consisting of 195 hectares from his parents, Yaris and Sabot.

The petitioners claimed that

Tunged’s possession of the land WAS INVESTIGATED AND VERIkED BY the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) on Aug. 30, 2013 on their petition FOR THE IDENTIkCATION DELINEATION and recognition of their ancestral CLAIM AND ISSUANCE OF CERTIkCATE OF ancestral land title (CALT).

But their right of ownership over the land and all other rights recognized by Republic Act 8371 or the “Indigenous Peoples Rights Act� (IPRA), were violated when SLRDI summarily bulldozed their property causing the destruction of small and fully grown trees and sayote (choyote) plantations IN ABOUT kVE HECTARES OF THE LAND The petitioners sought the assistance of concerned government agencies but their efforts to prevent the golf course project from allegedly intruding into their property were in vain.

On Nov. 27, 2018, the court DIRECTED 3,2$) TO kLE THEIR COMment on the complaint but up until December 21, the court did not receive any formal comment from the company.

The heirs of Tunged also assailed the order of the RTC Branch 5 dated March 2, 2017, which dismissed for lack of jurisdiction THE ENVIRONMENTAL CASE THEY kLED and a similar order dated April 3, 2017 denying their motion for reconsideration.

Eventually, the Supreme Court en banc ruled in favor of the petitioners and remanded the environmental case to the lower court for proper disposition.

The petitioners are recognized indigenous peoples being members of the Ibaloi tribe, who are the original settlers in Baguio City and Benguet.

DEXTER A. SEEÂ

Regions Phivolcs warns of lahar from Mount Bulusan TUESDAY January 22, 2019

T

BY DIVINA NOVA JOY DELA CRUZ

HE Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) on Monday warned residents in the Bicol region of possible lahar in predetermined hazard zones in Bulusan Volcano that might be triggered by heavy rainfall brought about by tropical depression “Amang.�

Phivolcs said in its advisory that possible lahar flow might affect downstream communities along the Malunoy (Patag), Mapaso, Cadacan, Tinampo and Cogon Rivers in Irosin town, and the AĂąog-Rangas River in Juban town.

Phivolcs pointed out that prolonged and heavy rainfalls might cause excessive erosion of pyroclastic deposits in the upper slopes of Bulusan that “can trigger lahars in rivers draining the southeastern, southwestERN AND NORTHWESTERN lANKS u Moderate to heavy rains were expected to prevail over Eastern Visayas and Bicol Region, accord-

ing to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration while tropical cyclone warning Signal 1 is up in Sorsogon and Masbate.

It advised residents to avoid entry into the 4 kilometer-radius permanent danger zone because of the possibility of sudden and hazardous steam-driven or phreatic eruption, rockfall, landslide and lahar.

Pre-emptive evacuation 4HE /FkCE OF #IVIL $EFENSE /#$ in Bicol reported that close to

5,000 families or 16,166 people fled their homes following the threat of Amang.

Claudio Yucot, OCD regional director and chairman of the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC), said residents in the provinces of Albay, Camarines Sur, Masbate and Sorsogon were evacuated to safe and higher grounds.

Among the Bicol provinces which implemented pre-emptive evacuation, Albay had the highest number of evacuees with 2,319 families or 8,319 individuals; Camarines Sur with 1,744 families or 7,613 persons; Masbate, 34 families or 109 persons; and Sorsogon with 25 families or 109 persons.

Classes in all levels both in private and public schools in Albay, Sorsogon, Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte, Masbate and Catanduanes were suspended on Monday, until further notice.

Albay Gov. Al Francis Bichara said the PDRRMC-Albay would release an advisory signed by him

A7

through the Albay Public Safety %MERGENCY -ANAGEMENT /FkCE

Vigilant Meanwhile, MalacaĂąang urged Filipinos to remain vigilant as Amang continues to put several areas in the country under storm Signal 1.

In a statement, Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo said those affected should remain careful and monitor the latest weather advisories through government stations and social media accounts.

He also urged residents to coordinate with their local disaster and risk reduction management offices.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development prepositioned a total of 2,500 family food packs amounting to P912,750 in the warehouse of the Department of Public Works and Highways in Surigao City, he added.

WITH REPORTS FROM RHAYDZ B. BARCIA AND RALPH EDWIN U. VILLANUEVA

Ex-Eastern Samar gov faces graft complaint A COMPLAINT for violation of the antigraft law was filed before the Office of the Ombudsman (Visayas) against Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone in connection with the alleged irregular financial assistance to the barangay (village) league for a seminar when he was governor in 2009.

Edilberto Grata Jr., alleged in his complaint that the transportation expenses were disallowed on audit for “being supposedly unnecessary, excessive and extravagant.�

He alleged that upon Evardone’s instructions, the province had granted cash financial assistance totaling P5.373 million to the Liga ng mga Barangay (League of Barangay), represented by its then-president, to be used for the seminar workshop.

Evardone allegedly “devised a scheme to drum up the support of the village chairmen in the province for his intended run for Congress in 2010, such as the granting of financial assistance which fund was spent for hotel, food, airfare and allowances

in their travel to Baguio City, under the guise of Lakbay Aral and Good Governance Orientation Seminar,� Grata added.

Meanwhile, Evardone dismissed the graft complaint filed against him as “politically motivated.�

Evardone, who is running for governor in May, said in a statement, “This happened a decade ago and the timing is suspect. Why only now??? There is no doubt the filing of the case is purely politically motivated.�

He said the Commission on Audit’s

finding was only on the question of the venue and not about funds being allegedly pocketed.

He added that the venue “was justified by the Liga, which decided on it, because there was an awardee barangay in Baguio on the Community Based Monitoring System implementation of which the seminar was all about. The purpose was also to benchmark its implementation with other places outside the province.�

REINA C. TOLENTINO

A8

TUESDAY January 22, 2019

SUPER BLOOD WOLF MOON A ‘Super Blood Moon’ is seen behind a statue during a lunar eclipse on Jan. 21, 2019 in the Czech capital of Prague. The full moon appeared bigger because it was closer to Earth – about 222,000 miles away. It was called a super blood wolf moon because of its rusty color, and the eclipse happened in January.

AFP PHOTO

News Naic eyed for relocation of Manila Bay squatters

˜ The Manila Times

w w w.manilatimes.net

BY EIREENE JAIREE GOMEZ

T

HE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said Naic town in Cavite could be a potential site for the relocation of informal settler families living near Manila Bay in ParaĂąaque City.

Benny Antiporda, DENR undersecretary for solid waste management and local government units, told The Manila Times on Monday THAT .AIC WAS IDENTIkED as a relocation site by Mayor Junio Dualan during a meeting on January 15.

Antiporda said ParaĂąaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez had given his go signal for the relocation of some his constituents who make up a portion of about 200,000 informal

settlers living near Manila Bay. The Manila Bay is split between the cities of Manila and Pasay on the north side and ParaĂąaque on the south.

Antiporda said relocating informal settler families would be DENR’s long-term solution to restore the polluted Manila Bay. “They are the mere pollutants,� he said. “First, they don’t have CR (comfort rooms) so the human waste

directly go to the water. Second, they don’t have proper waste disposal and so the solid wastes are being dragged down to our rivers and seas. So rather than we blame them, we work on helping them be transferred to community relocation areas where there would be market, school and sustainable source of livelihood for them,�

Antiporda explained.

He said the DENR was closely coordinating with the Department of Trade and Industry, National Housing Authority and the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor to come up with other possible relocation areas.

However, the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) opposed the restoration of Manila Bay and

urged the DENR to instead use its rehabilitation fund “to restore mangroves, sea grasses, and coral reefs that were destroyed by past and present projects for development aggression.�

In a statement on Monday, the group claimed that mangrove areas in Manila Bay used to cover 54,000 hectares, but these had SIGNIkCANTLY SHRUNK TO ONLY LESS than-a-500-hectare to give way for commercial and industrial hubs.

Antiporda said planting mangroves has long been part of DENR’s programs, but their initial focus was the cleanup of the bay.

He said the DENR allocated P42.95 billion for the bay’s rehabilitation, the bulk of which would go to the relocation of informal settlers.

Bong Go welcomes law hiring more teachers in home econ CHRISTOPHER Lawrence “Bong� Go on Monday lauded President Rodrigo Duterte for signing a law that addresses the lack of teachers in home economics subjects, as it underscores the importance of learning practical skills.

House Bill 416 allows Home Economics graduates to teach home economics subjects and home economics-related technical-vocational (tech-voc) subjects in public and private elementary and secondary educational institutions. “I am happy that President Duterte gave our schools the capability to hire more teachers for technicalvocation subjects. Now that we have K to 12, we need expert teachers to handle Tech-Voc subjects,� said Go, who is running for senator in the May elections.

The former Palace official said the law was in line with the K to12 law, which recognizes the importance of tech-voc subjects to prepare graduates with added skills for specific trades and vocation, making them employable even prior to a college education.

Under the law, a home economics graduate who wishes to teach Tech-Voc subjects in secondary eduCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS MUST OBTAIN .ATIONAL #ERTIkCATE Levels 1 and 2 from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.

They are also required to take the Licensure ExAMINATIONS FOR 4EACHERS WITHIN kVE YEARS FROM THE date of hiring, unless they are only teaching on a part-time basis.

GOODWILL VISIT

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua pose with Navy Vice Admiral Robert Empedrad, Rear Admiral Xu Haihua and Rear Admiral Du Naihua and other Navy officials aboard the missile frigate Wuhu. China’s Escort Task Group 539 (ETG539) composed of the missile frigates Wuhu and Handan and the replenishment ship Dongpinghu, is in Manila for a five-day goodwill visit. honor the support given to her by the Filipino people.�

The statement went on to recall that Aquino HAD BEEN IDENTIkED AS AMONG THE COUNTRY S TOP AND PRINTED ON $IVINA ,AW /FkCE S LETTERHEAD individual taxpayers from 2008 to 2015, and it said: was in fact, named No. 1 in 2011. “First, our client did not intervene for Ms. “We reiterate that our client did not and will Eduardo in any pending tax case. never aid, abet, or tolerate any tax evasion by “Second, our client is a friend of Ms. anyone,� the statement continued.

Eduardo for seven years already, and she 7ITHOUT EXPLICITLY NAMING "ARRETTO THE kNAL knows her to be a law-abiding citizen. paragraph was clearly a swipe at the former However, the personal relationship of our actress. “Individuals using social media to cause client with Ms. Eduardo does not extend to unjust vexation against our client, Ms. Aquino, her business interests.

SHOULD kRST DO THEIR DUE DILIGENCE WHEN LEVYING “Ms. Aquino has been in the entertainment accusations about tax compliance, especially industry for three decades, and in those three when they are not a party to any of the cases decades, the Filipino people are witnesses to kLED BY OUR CLIENT OR THOSE kLED AGAINST OUR her tireless dedication, hard work, and commit- client.� ment to her craft, whether as a movie actress, Eduardo, a common friend of Aquino and game show host, talk show presenter, or a Barretto’s, is president and chief executive of trusted product endorser.

Sta. Elena Construction and Development “Ms. Aquino prides herself with the fact Corp., which has long been involved in high THAT FROM THE TIME SHE kRST ENTERED THE IN- PROkLE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PROJECTS dustry, she has faithfully obeyed and adhered Sta. Elena was embroiled in controversy in to the rule imposed by her mother, former 2014 when the late senator Miriam Defensor President Cory Aquino: TO REPORT HER Santiago questioned why the company was INCOME ACCURATELY AND PAY TAXES suspiciously awarded the bulk of projects at the TO THE LAST CENTAVO. It is through the Cagayan Export Processing Zone in Cagayan responsible paying of taxes that she may Valley.

NIKA ROQUE

Q ‘MALICIOUS’ FROM A1

Kris denies

multiplied amid growing popular outrage in a number of countries over swelling inequality.

In the United States, new congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez made headlines earlier the world saw their combined fortunes grow by this month by proposing marginal tax rates for the ultra-rich of up to 70 percent. $2.5 billion each day in 2018.

The self-described Democratic Socialist’s The world’s richest man, Amazon Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos, saw his fortune proposal came after President Donald Trump’s increase to $112 billion last year, Oxfam sweeping tax reforms cut the top rate last year said, pointing out that just 1 percent of from 39.6 percent to 37 percent.

And in Europe, the “yellow vest� movement his wealth was the equivalent to the entire health budget of Ethiopia, a country of 105 that has been rocking France with anti-government protests since November is demanding million people.

The 3.8 billion people at the bottom of the that President Emmanuel Macron repeal conscale, meanwhile, saw their wealth decline by troversial cuts to wealth taxes on high earners. “The super-rich and corporations are paying 11 percent last year, Oxfam said, stressing that the growing gap between rich and poor was un- lower rates of tax than they have in decades,�

DERMINING THE kGHT AGAINST POVERTY DAMAGING the Oxfam report said, pointing out that “the human costs — children without teachers, clineconomies and fueling public anger. “People across the globe are angry and ics without medicines — are huge.� “Piecemeal private services punish poor frustrated,� warned Oxfam Executive Director people and privilege elites,� it said, stressing Winnie Byanyima in a statement.

The numbers are stark: Between 1980 and that every day, some 10,000 people die due to 2016, the poorest half of humanity pocketed lack of access to affordable healthcare.

The report, released as the world’s rich, just 12 cents on each dollar of global income growth, compared with the 27 cents captured FAMOUS AND INlUENTIAL BEGAN ARRIVING FOR THE plush annual gathering at the luxury Swiss ski by the top 1 percent, the report found. resort town, urged governments to “stop the Under-taxing the rich race to the bottom� in taxing rich individuals and big corporations.

Oxfam warned that governments were exacerOxfam found that asking the richest to pay bating inequality by increasingly underfunding just 0.5 percent extra tax on their wealth “could public services like healthcare and education raise more money than it would cost to educate at the same time as they consistently under-tax all 262 million children out of school and the wealthy. provide healthcare that would save the lives of Calls for hiking rates on the wealthy have 3.3 million people.�

AFP

Q PEOPLE FROM A1

World’s 26

ASIAN STOCKS: V S h a n g h a i 0 . 5 6 %

V S i n g a p o re 0 . 0 4 V S e o u l 0 . 0 2 %

PSEi 8,007.46 DOWN 0.49%

P52.80 TO $1

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FINANCIAL STABILITY STRESSED AS PH HOSTS ASEAN DIALOGUE BusinessB2

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PLDT TO INCREASE CAPEX THIS YEAR – PANGILINAN

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HYUNDAI SALES DOWN 6% IN 2018

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GHOSN AWAITS FATE AFTER VOWING TO STAY IN JAPAN Foreign BusinessB4

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MICC exec: March start set for new mining audits N

BY MAYVELIN U. CARABALLO

EW mining audits will begin in March for another batch of companies as the government seeks to settle challenges against closures and suspensions ordered by the Environment department in 2017, a member of an interagency council said.

g7E ARE TARGETING TO START BY -ARCH AND END IT BY *UNE BECAUSE ITS DRY SEASON ‡ THE BEST TIME TO VISIT THESE MINES u &INANCE 5NDERSECRETARY "AYANI !GABIN TOLD REPORTERS IN AN INTERVIEW !GABIN WHO IS PART OF THE -INING )NDUSTRY #OORDINATION #OUNCIL -)## REITERATED THAT THE

MINING FIRMS WERE PART OF THE THAT WERE INITIALLY INVESTIGATED BY THE %NVIRONMENT DEPARTMENT IN 4HE SECOND AUDIT ROUND WILL HAVE A BUDGET OF 0 MILLION 0 MILLION OF WHICH WILL BE PROVIDED BY THE &INANCE DEPARTMENT AND THE REMAINDER BY THE DENR.

!GABIN SAID THE -)## WOULD BE commissioning the same team of EXPERTS THAT REVIEWED A kRST BATCH OF MINING kRMS g7E WANT THE SAME TEAMS 3AME SCOPE SAME TEAMS IF THEY STILL WANT TO u HE SAID 4HE METHODOLOGY FOR THE AUDIT WILL ALSO ESSENTIALLY BE THE SAME BUT SOME IMPROVEMENTS CAN BE DONE !GABIN added. g.OW WE WILL BE DOING IT BETTER 7E KNOW HOW TO STRUCTURE IT ALREADY )MPROVEMENTS WILL BE OBSERVED WITH respect to the scope of the study especially on the social and economic ASPECTS u HE SAID 4HE -)## CONVENED IN &EBRUARY

No 2019 budget, no new projects NO NEW PROJECTS CAN BE AWARDED UNTIL #ONGRESS APPROVES ‡ and President Rodrigo Duterte SUBSEQUENTLY INKS INTO LAW ‡ THIS year’s General Appropriations Act '!!

THE "UDGET DEPARTMENT said on Monday. )N A STATEMENT THE DEPARTMENT UNDERSCORED THAT #IRCULAR ISSUED BY THE 'OVERNMENT Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) STATES THAT gACTIVITIES OR PROJECTS that are included in the FY kSCAL YEAR .%0 .ATIONAL %XPENDITURE 0ROGRAM HENCE NOT PART OF THE &9 '!!

MAY BE AWARDED ON THE BASIS OF THE &9 '!! u g.EW PROJECTS WILL HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL THE PASSING OF THE '!! BEFORE THEY CAN HAVE THEIR CONTRACTS AWARDED 7E STILL ENCOURAGE

BEYOND BUZZWORDS

www.manilatimes.net

W

TUESDAY JANUARY 22, 2019

Business Times

CURRENCY RATE

B1

THEM HOWEVER TO CONDUCT EARLY PROCUREMENT ACTIVITIES IF THEY HAVE NOT DONE SO u "UDGET 3ECRETARY "ENJAMIN $IOKNO SAID 4HE GOVERNMENT IS CURRENTLY OPERATING ON A RE ENACTED BUDGET AFTER #ONGRESS FAILED TO PASS THE PROPOSED 0 TRILLION '!! BEFORE THE END OF LAST YEAR 4HE DELAY BLAMED ON FACTORS SUCH AS THE LATE SUBMISSION BY THE (OUSE OF 2EPRESENTATIVES AND QUESTIONS OVER ALLEGED INSERTIONS HAS ALREADY LED TO THE SHELVING OF MANDATED PAY HIKES FOR GOVERNMENT WORKERS 4 H E C O N D U C T O F E A R L Y PROCUREMENT ACTIVITIES SHORT OF AWARD AND BEFORE THE START OF A NEW YEAR THE "UDGET DEPARTMENT SAID HAS BEEN PRACTICED SINCE TO ALLOW TIMELY PROJECT

ÂłProjects B4

AFTER THEN %NVIRONMENT CHIEF Regina Lopez’s closure and suspension ORDERS AGAINST MINING OPERATIONS LED to an industry outcry.

4HIS LED TO #ONGRESS DECIDING NOT to confirm her appointment and THE -)## SUBSEQUENTLY CREATED FIVE technical teams to conduct another REVIEW )N .OVEMBER LAST YEAR THE $%.2 announced that three mining firms WOULD BE DEkNITELY BE SHUTTERED WHILE ANOTHER NINE WERE UP FOR SUSPENSION 4HE THREE kRMS TO BE CLOSED WERE IDENTIkED AS 3URIGAO DEL .ORTE BASED #LAVER -INERAL $EVELOPMENT #ORP

/RIENTAL 3YNERGY -INING #ORPORATION

ÂłAudits B2

2018 China growth slowest in 28 years BEIJING: #HINA S ECONOMY GREW AT ITS SLOWEST PACE IN ALMOST THREE DECADES IN LOSING MORE STEAM IN THE LAST QUARTER AS IT BATTLES A MASSIVE DEBT PILE AND A 53 TRADE WAR OFkCIAL DATA SHOWED -ONDAY 4HE PERCENT GROWTH COMES IN ABOVE THE OFkCIAL TARGET OF AROUND PERCENT AND MATCHES A FORECAST BY ANALYSTS POLLED BY !&0 BUT IS DOWN FROM THE PERCENT CHALKED UP IN

according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). !ND IN A SIGN OF THE STRUGGLE "EIJING FACES

GROWTH IN THE LAST THREE MONTHS OF THE YEAR CLOCKED IN AT PERCENT MATCHING A LOW SEEN DURING THE GLOBAL kNANCIAL CRISIS YEARS AGO

WITH ECONOMISTS WIDELY EXPECTING THE SLOWDOWN to deepen. g%VERYONE IS WIDELY CONCERNED ABOUT THE DIRECTION OF THE INTERNATIONAL SITUATION WHERE THERE ARE MANY VARIABLES AND UNCERTAIN FACTORS u

Q A man walks outside of a luxury fashion shop in Beijing on January 21, 2019. AFP PHOTO

ÂłGrowth B4

PH bureaucracy levels Calata delisting affirmed by SEC Yen loans up on the stupid secured

& THERE IS AN AWARD FOR $UMB AMONG GOVERNMENTS SOMEBODY make sure the Philippines is nominated. /N A WEEKEND WHEN THERE SHOULDN T HAVE BEEN MUCH ELSE GOING ON EXCEPT THE 0ACQUIAO kGHT AND RETROSPECTIVES ON THE PASSING OF culture-changing retail giant Henry 3Y THIS GOVERNMENT MANAGED TO GENERATE THREE UNRELATED BUT similarly lacking in common sense NEWS ITEMS THAT MAKE ONE WONDER if its seriously trying to run a COUNTRY OR IS TESTING SCRIPT CONCEPTS FOR A REMAKE OF THE MOVIE Brazil.

ROUGH TRADE BEN KRITZ

(SRA) that the administration’s PLAN TO LIBERALIZE IMPORTS OF SUGAR gWILL SPELL THE DEMISE OF the local sugar industry and stir up social unrest in more than 20 PROVINCES u 32! BOARD MEMBER Emiliano Bernardino Yulo made the prophesy of doom after BUDGET SECRETARY "EN $IOKNO SAID IMPORT LIBERALIZATION MIGHT Sour graping from BE IMPLEMENTED LATER IN THE YEAR

sugar regulator as price and supply forecasts for 4HE FIRST ITEM THAT CROSSED MY the staple commodity are not SCREEN WAS A DIRE WARNING FROM THE particularly encouraging.

Sugar Regulatory Administration ÂłKritz B4

CORPORATE regulators have affirmed the Philippine Stock Exchange’s decision to delist agribusiness firm Calata Corp. and bar its founder, Joseph Calata, from being an officer or board member of any listed firm for life.

In a statement on Monday, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said it also approved the disqualification of several other Calata officials from holding directorships/

executive officer positions in an issuer as decided by the PSE in a November 2017 ruling.

They were identified as Jose Marie E. Fabella, Halmond Parker R. Ong, Melvin H. Calata, Johnny L. Uy, Edmund M. Solilapsi and Fr. Conrado C. Zablan, Calata, which went public in 2012 and was delisted in December 2017, was found to have committed multiple disclosure violations, particularly that

of failing to announce any acquisition, disposal or change in the shareholdings of principal officer and directors within five trading days. “[T]he PSE correctly imposed perpetual disqualifications upon Mr. Joseph H. Calata and other officers,� the SEC said, citing a recent en banc decision. “The other directors, although they

FOR %CONOMIC &REEDOM *UDICIAL 2EFORM )NITIATIVE -AKATI "USINESS #LUB -ANAGEMENT !SSOCIATION OF THE 0HILIPPINES 0HILIPPINE )NVESTMENTS &UNDS !SSOCIATION

and Semiconductor and Electronics )NDUSTRIES IN THE 0HILIPPINES )NC #ONGRESS LAST YEAR APPROVED amendments to the Agricultural

4(% GOVERNMENT HAS SECURED OFFICIAL DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE /$! LOANS TOTALING BILLION YEN OR ABOUT 0 BILLION FOR TWO BIG TICKET INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS Loan agreements for the .ORTH 3OUTH #OMMUTER 2AILWAY .3#2 %XTENSION 0ROJECT AND THE 0ASIG -ARIKINA 2IVER #HANNEL )MPROVEMENT 0ROJECT 0HASE )6 WERE SIGNED ON -ONDAY BY &INANCE 3ECRETARY #ARLOS Dominguez 3rd and Shigenori /GAWA DIRECTOR GENERAL OF THE *APAN )NTERNATIONAL #OOPERATION

ÂłBill B2

ÂłInfra B4

ÂłSEC B2

Duterte urged to sign rice tariffication bill BUSINESS groups on Monday urged President Rodrigo Duterte to immediately sign the rice TARIFkCATION BILL INTO LAW SAYING THIS WOULD gDECISIVELY AND quickly� address domestic price and supply issues. g#ONSUMERS MUST BE FREED OF food supply apprehension and PROVIDED WITH PRICE STABILITY AT AN

AFFORDABLE LEVEL 4HIS MEASURE WILL address those concerns through FREE AND OPEN COMPETITION u THEY said in a statement.

3IGNING UP FOR THE CALL WERE THE !MERICAN #HAMBER OF #OMMERCE OF THE 0HILIPPINES "ANKERS !SSOCIATION OF THE 0HILIPPINES

&INANCIAL %XECUTIVES )NSTITUTE OF THE 0HILIPPINES &OUNDATION

for 2 infra projects

Business Times

B2

˜ The Manila Times w w w.manilatimes.net

TUESDAY January 22, 2019

Financial stability stressed as PH hosts Asean dialogue 4

BY MAYVELIN U. CARABALLO

O

FFICIALS from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Department of Finance (DoF) have emphasized the role of financial stability as key policy consideration in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

stakeholders to candidly discuss RISK ISSUES INCLUDING THOSE THAT MAY NOT BE IMMEDIATELY APPARENT TO THE MARKET PARTICIPANTS HE ADDED g7ITH THIS VENUE WE ARE ABLE TO BETTER CALIBRATE RESPONSES TO EMERGING RISKS TO IMPROVE PREDICTABILITY AND STABILITY u Dominguez said in a speech read BY &INANCE 5NDERSECRETARY "AYANI !GABIN Efficiently managing systemic risks in the Philippines is also made EASIER BY THE PASSAGE OF SEVERAL LAWS SUCH AS THE 0ERSONAL 0ROPERTY 3ECURITY ,AW AIMING TO BROADEN ACCESS TO kNANCIAL SERVICES WHILE THE .ATIONAL )$ 3YSTEM WILL BE BENEkCIAL TO THE kNANCIAL INCLUSION AS WELL AS MORE EFkCIENT DELIVERY OF SERVICES HE SAID !GABIN ADDED THAT THE 0HILIPPINES WAS SEEKING TO EMPOWER SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES BY MAKING NEW FINANCIAL PRODUCTS AVAILABLE (E STRESSED THAT emerging financial technologies HELPED GREATLY IN MAKING OUR kNANCIAL SYSTEM TO BE MORE EFFICIENT IN SUPPORTING ECONOMIC ACTIVITY g7ITH THESE TECHNOLOGIES WE ARE ABLE TO BRING DOWN THE COSTS OF FINANCIAL intermediation and speed up

PAYMENTS u !GABIN SAID 4HE 0HILIPPINES IS ALSO WORKING CLOSELY WITH OTHER MEMBER countries of the Asean in HARMONIZING REGULATORY POLICIES

facilitating payments across THE REGION AND IN SHARING BEST practices among its institutions. g4HIS IS BOTH A COMPREHENSIVE AS WELL AS CONTINUING EFFORT )N THE END WE SEEK NOT ONLY TO ESTABLISH AN EFFECTIVE COMMON MARKET BUT

VIRTUALLY AN EFFECTIVE COMMON kNANCIAL SYSTEM u !GABIN CLAIMED 7ITH THE THEME g%NSURING &INANCIAL 3TABILITY IN THE 2EGION Some Policy and Practical )SSUES u THE REGIONAL DIALOGUE WAS CO HOSTED BY THE "30 AND the International Monetary Fund )-& WHICH BROUGHT TOGETHER GOVERNORS AND OTHER HIGH LEVEL OFFICIALS FROM !SEAN MEMBER states.

Also participating are experts FROM THE )-& THE 7ORLD "ANK

the Bank for International 3ETTLEMENTS AND THE 3OUTH %AST !SIAN #ENTRAL "ANKS 2ESEARCH AND 4RAINING #ENTRE AS WELL AS BANK CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFkCERS AND OTHER GOVERNMENT OFkCIALS WORKING IN THE AREA OF kNANCIAL STABILITY

g&OR FINANCIAL AUTHORITIES IN GENERAL AND CENTRAL BANKS IN PARTICULAR THERE IS LITTLE DOUBT THAT kNANCIAL STABILITY HAS BECOME A KEY POLICY CONSIDERATION u Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) 'OVERNOR .ESTOR %SPENILLA *R SAID IN A KEYNOTE SPEECH DELIVERED BY $EPUTY 'OVERNOR #HUCHI &ONACIER during the Regional Dialogue ON &INANCIAL 3TABILITY FOR !SEAN #ENTRAL "ANKS HELD IN 0ASAY #ITY on Monday.

Fonacier noted that financial STABILITY WAS MORE THAN JUST THE ABSENCE OF INSTABILITY OR PREVENTING THE NEXT CRISIS g4HERE IS A POSITIVE SIDE TO IT WHICH IS TO ENSURE THAT THE kNANCIAL SYSTEM CONTINUES TO BE A TRANSFORMATIVE TOOL FOR THE PUBLIC 4HIS IS THE COMPELLING CASE FOR WHY THE AUTHORITIES SHOULD BE

ENGAGED IN THIS POLICY SPHERE u she said. )N THE REGION THE "30 OFFICIAL POINTED OUT THAT HAVING kNANCIAL STABILITY AS A PILLAR OF THE !SEAN %CONOMIC "LUEPRINT DESERVED INCREASED ATTENTION g)NTEGRATING FINANCIAL STABILITY INTO THE LONGSTANDING MANDATE OF kNANCIAL authorities is a key element of the JOURNEY BOTH FOR OUR RESPECTIVE JURISDICTIONS AND FOR !SEAN AS A COLLECTIVE COMMUNITY u SHE ADDED )N ITS OWN BACKYARD $O& 3ECRETARY #ARLOS $OMINGUEZ RD said the Philippines had set up the &INANCIAL 3TABILITY #OORDINATION #OUNCIL WHICH IS ENGAGED IN SYSTEMIC RISK SURVEILLANCE AND THE PROVISION OF TIMELY INTERVENTIONS 4HE COUNCIL PROVIDES A VENUE for financial authorities and

Q BILL FROM B1

P400-M agri-fisheries loans okayed

Duterte urged to sign rice tariffication 4ARRIkCATION !CT OF REPLACING QUANTITATIVE RESTRICTIONS ON RICE IMPORTS WITH TARIFFS IN A BID TO ADDRESS SOARING INlATION g 4 H E B I L L I S N O W W I T H -ALACAÄANG AND WE URGE THE 0RESIDENT TO SIGN IT INTO LAW u THE BUSINESS GROUPS SAID )N ADDITION TO PROVIDING SUPPLY AND PRICE STABILITY FOR CONSUMERS THEY SAID THAT FARMERS gWILL BE ACCORDED PROTECTION from unfair competition through the imposition of [an] import tariff duty of 35 percent‌�.

4HE GOVERNMENT WAS ALSO URGED TO CONTINUE PROVIDING support to the agriculture sector WHILE ALSO MAINTAINING A STRATEGIC RICE RESERVE g%ARMARKING AND JUDICIOUS utilization of the rice import tariff REVENUE FOR THESE PURPOSES WILL GREATLY HELP ATTAIN THESE OBJECTIVES u THE BUSINESS GROUPS SAID

Fisheries Machinery and Equipment (AFME) Loan Program.

0IĂ„OL SAID THIS WAS THE AGENCY S LATEST VARIANT OF ITS %ASY !CCESS #REDIT 0ROGRAM WHICH ALLOWS AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES STAKEHOLDERS gTO BORROW MONEY WITHOUT THE USUAL hassles and stringent requirements OF THE BANKS u g7HILE THE LOANS WILL BE RELEASED THROUGH ESTABLISHED GOVERNMENT BANKS COOPERATIVE BANKS RURAL BANKS AND RELIABLE COOPERATIVES

THESE WILL BE GOVERNED BY GUIDELINES SET BY THE $! !#0# AIMED AT facilitating access to credit for greater PRODUCTIVITY AND LESS POST HARVEST LOSSES u 0IĂ„OL EXPLAINED (E SAID THE LOAN PROGRAM WOULD INITIALLY BENEkT A GROUP OF kSHERMEN FROM 3ALAY -ISAMIS /RIENTAL WHO applied for a P10-million loan to BUY EQUIPMENT NEEDED TO TRANSFER their catch from fishing grounds TO THE MARKET 4HESE INCLUDED A

TON kSHING BOAT AN ICE MAKING EQUIPMENT AND A REFRIGERATED TRUCK

he added.

0IÄOL SAID AT LEAST kSHERMEN S ASSOCIATIONS HAVE ALSO APPLIED FOR loans for the acquisition of icelAKES MAKING EQUIPMENT AND COLD storage facilities to reduce their POST HARVEST LOSSES 4HE COUNTRY LOSES ABOUT percent of the fishermen’s total daily catch due to lack of such FACILITIES ,OCAL kSH PRODUCTION HAS DECLINED SINCE !S A RESULT THE CONTRIBUTION OF kSHERY TO AGRICULTURE GROWTH HAS BEEN NEGATIVE &URTHERMORE 0IÄOL SAID COVERED BY $! S !&-% LOANING PROGRAM WERE FARMERS ASSOCIATIONS WHO WOULD LIKE TO BUY A COMPLETE SET of agricultural machinery such as TRACTORS TRANSPLANTERS AND HARVESTERS gSO THEY COULD ACT AS THE SERVICE PROVIDERS IN THEIR TOWNS u EIREENE JAIREE GOMEZ

Up for suspension instead of CLOSURE MEANWHILE ARE $INAGAT )SLANDS BASED !!-0(), .ATURAL 2ESOURCES AND $EVELOPMENT #ORP

+ROMINCO )NC ,IBJO -INING in the Dinagat Islands and Ore #ORP AND 7ELLEX -INING #ORP !SIA -INING AND $EVELOPMENT #ARRASCAL .ICKEL #ORP IN 3URIGAO #ORP IN "ULACAN DEL 3UR :AMBALES $IVERSIFIED

-ETALS #ORP IN :AMBALES AND %MIR -INERAL 2ESOURCES #ORP and Mt. Sinai Exploration and $EVELOPMENT #ORP IN 3AMAR Rounding out the list of nine is 3TRONGBUILT -INING $EVELOPMENT #ORP WHOSE SUSPENSION WAS AFkRMED BY THE REVIEW

4(% $EPARTMENT OF !GRICULTURE $!

THROUGH THE !GRICULTURAL #REDIT 0OLICY #OUNCIL !#0# 'OVERNING "OARD

RECENTLY APPROVED 0 MILLION WORTH OF LOANS INTENDED TO BOOST PRODUCTIVITY OF FARMERS AND kSHERFOLKS across the country.

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel 0IÄOL SAID THIS DEVELOPMENT WOULD offer farmers and fishermen’s ASSOCIATIONS AND COOPERATIVES loans at 2 percent annual interest PAYABLE IN YEARS g4HIS WILL NOW ALLOW FARMERS AND kSHERFOLKS TO BUY EQUIPMENT AND FACILITIES WHICH THE $! COULD NOT PROVIDE THEM UNDER THE REGULAR PROGRAMS BECAUSE OF LACK OF FUNDS AND ALSO BECAUSE THESE ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THE GOVERNMENT APPROVED LIST OF EQUIPMENT u 0IÄOL said in a statement.

(E SAID THE 0 MILLION WAS JUST AN INITIAL LOAN FUND UNDER $! S NEW INITIATIVE CALLED !GRICULTURE AND

Q AUDITS FROM B1

MICC

Artificial intelligence for the fringes of society

4

HE RECENT SUCCESS OF ARTIkCIAL INTELLIGENCE !) HAS SHOWN promising performance in ACCOMPLISHING SEVERAL COMPUTER aided tasks e.g. detecting diseases in medical imaging using Profound BY :EBRA -EDICAL 6ISION VERIFYING identities using &IRElY "AIDU &ACE Recognition AND MANAGING TRAFkC using TOP8VIEW #OMPLETE !) "ASED !4-3. %NDOWING COMPUTERS WITH HUMAN ABILITIES SUCH AS ANALYZING DATA LEAD TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTELLIGENT VIRTUAL ASSISTANTS E G Siri and Alexa !) IS SO UBIQUITOUS THAT IT IS EVEN IN OUR HOME E G .ETlIX SUGGESTING WHAT TO WATCH IN OUR daily commute (e.g. 7AZE and 'RAB AND IN WHAT WE READ E G &ACEBOOK SUGGESTING NEWS FEED )NDEED MACHINES ARE GETTING SMARTER EVERY DAY %LON -USK

an engineer and technology entrepreneur, AND 3TEPHEN (AWKING

A THEORETICAL PHYSICIST HAVE SUGGESTED the threat AI poses for the human RACE IF IT IS NOT REGULATED %VERY TIME WE DEVELOP AN !) SYSTEM WE ARE essentially outsourcing part of our INTELLIGENCE TO TECHNOLOGY !ND

BASED ON THE INHERITANCE PRINCIPLE OF EVOLUTION THIS PART OF OUR INTELLIGENCE WE OFlOAD TO MACHINES DISINTEGRATES OVER TIME (OWEVER FOR A COUNTRY LIKE

MANAGING FOR SOCIETY

MACARIOÂ CORDEL THE 0HILIPPINES WHERE THERE IS A LACK OF WARM BODY EXPERTS IN POVERTY STRICKEN RURAL AREAS AN AI system is a pragmatic solution. #OMMONLY THESE POOR RURAL AREAS ARE TOO REMOTE THAT IT WILL TAKE PEOPLE DAYS TO TRAVEL TO AND FROM THE METROPOLIS 4HUS MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS AGRICULTURAL EXPERTS and educators rarely reach these RURAL AREAS WHICH RESULTS IN BAD HEALTH CARE POOR LIVELIHOOD and a lack of education in these communities.

Rather than seeing AI as a THREAT THAT WOULD REPLACE HUMAN INTELLIGENCE TAKE OUR JOBS AND EVENTUALLY DOMINATE OUR SOCIETY THROUGH ROBOTS WE SHOULD SEE !) AS A MEANS TO SOLVE OUR AGE OLD POVERTY PROBLEMS PRIMARILY LINKED TO HEALTH CARE LIVELIHOOD and education. Researchers and funding agencies such as THE GOVERNMENT AND THE NON GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATIONS SHOULD BE MORE AGGRESSIVE IN BRINGING THIS technology to the fringes of society.

&OR EXAMPLE COMMON DISEASES SUCH AS TUBERCULOSIS WHICH CAN BE TREATED IF DETECTED EARLY, lead TO MORBIDITY BECAUSE THERE ARE NO AVAILABLE MEDICAL EXPERTS IN AN AREA 4HERE ARE SEVERAL COMMON LABORATORY PROCEDURES FOR DETECTING diseases, e.g., 8 RAY ULTRASOUND AND %#' WHICH REQUIRE RECOGNITION OF PATTERNS OR OBJECTS TO IDENTIFY ABNORMALITIES #OUPLED WITH A VIABLE TELEMEDICINE SYSTEM AN !)

BASED PATTERN RECOGNITION SYSTEM WOULD INCREASE THE EFFICIENCY OF DOCTORS BY REDUCING THEIR CONSULTATIVE TRAVELS AND FOCUSING THEIR ATTENTION ON THOSE WITH immediate concerns.

In agriculture, WHICH IS THE PRIMARY SOURCE OF LIVELIHOOD IN RURAL AREAS COUNTLESS CROPS ARE WASTED BECAUSE OF PESTS AND WEED damage (e.g. the coconut scale INSECT OUTBREAK IN WHICH CAN BE PREVENTED IF THE kRST SIGNS are detected. Early detection of SIGNS OF PEST AND WEED DAMAGE CAN BE REALIZED USING A DRONE EQUIPPED WITH COMPUTER VISION to increase the production of the FARMERS AND DECREASE WASTAGE AND RISKS $EVELOPMENT OF A pattern recognition system to HELP UNTRAINED INDIVIDUALS DETECT THE MATURITY OF CROPS AND POSSIBLE

plant diseases (e.g. cocoa pod rot) COULD ALSO BE PROVIDED TO FARM COOPERATIVES %DUCATION IN FAR lUNG AREAS IS sparse due to lack of teachers and FACILITIES BUT THIS COULD BE IMPROVED

BY PROVIDING INFRASTRUCTURE TO BRING !) BASED LEARNING TO HELP THE TEACHERS #HATBOTS AND GAMIkED LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS ',% could compensate for the lack of teachers in hard to reach areas.

4HERE ARE !) BASED ',% SYSTEMS that could tailor lessons to the INDIVIDUAL LEARNING STYLE OF EACH STUDENT THROUGH ENJOYABLE GAMES

making the education process MORE PRODUCTIVE AND EFFECTIVE FOR students.

7E ARE EXPERIENCING WAVES OF DIGITIZATION AND WE HAVE THE MORAL OBLIGATION TO ENSURE THAT NO ONE GETS LEFT BEHIND 7ITH ALL THE PERCEIVED BENEkTS THAT !) CAN BRING TO A THIRD WORLD COUNTRY LIKE OURS ISN T IT TIME TO EMBRACE WHAT TECHNOLOGY IS BRINGING US

-ACARIO / #ORDEL )) 0H $ IS AN ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN THE #OLLEGE OF #OMPUTER 3TUDIES $E ,A 3ALLE 5NIVERSITY (E TEACHES $IGITAL 3 I G N A L 0 R O C E S S I N G ) M A G E 0ROCESSING AND .EURAL .ETWORKS %MAIL MACARIO CORDEL DLSU EDU PH

Why obese women get low pay

(!4 3 ASSUMING THEY RE HIRED IN THE FIRST PLACE )T S TOTALLY WRONG BUT THAT S THE WAY IT GOES IN THE CORPORATE WORLD 'O AHEAD LOOK SURREPTITIOUSLY AT YOUR WOMEN COLLEAGUES AND FIND OUT WHO AMONG THEM ARE SILENT VICTIMS (OWEVER DON T COMMIT THE MISTAKE OF SHOWING this article to them unless you WANT TO START A kGHT IF NOT A PROTEST AGAINST gBODY SHAMINGu AND OVERWEIGHT DISCRIMINATION AMONG OTHER DISTASTEFUL WORKPLACE SUMO collisions. .O MATTER HOW WELL EDUCATED A FAT WOMAN IS AND REGARDLESS OF HER WORK EXPERIENCE IF SHE FAILED TO OUTGROW HER gBABY FATu BEFORE AND DURING EMPLOYMENT THE RESULT WOULD ALWAYS BE AGAINST HER )F AND WHEN THEY RE LUCKY TO BE HIRED THEY RE OFTEN ASSIGNED AT THE BACK ROOM IF NOT AT THE BASEMENT WHERE THEY CAN T BE SEEN BY CUSTOMERS -ANY DECADES BACK IN THE BANKING INDUSTRY ) REMEMBER HOW WE ASSIGNED OBESE FEMALE TELLERS AT THE WITHDRAWAL counters or complaint sections to WARD OFF gEVILu OR MALICIOUS INTENTS from customers.

7OMEN S OBESITY BECOMES A DOUBLE WHAMMY IF THEY APPEAR TO BE WITH gBAD TEETH u ACCORDING TO 3TEVEN ,EVITT AND 3TEPHEN $UBNER of the Freaknomics fame.

0EOPLE AT THE CORPORATE WORLD

EVEN IF THEY REFUSE TO ADMIT IT WOULD NOT HIRE OVERWEIGHT WOMEN WHICH may not happen in the case of men IN THE HEAVYWEIGHT CATEGORY g!LL OVER THE WORLD COUNTLESS STUDIES REVEAL THAT OVERWEIGHT EMPLOYEES FACE WIDESPREAD PREJUDICE u SAYS 2ENATE VAN DER :EE IN 4HE 'UARDIAN g4O BEGIN WITH THEY ARE LESS LIKELY TO BE HIRED FOR A JOB )N A STUDY LED BY PSYCHOLOGIST 3TUART 7 &LINT OF 3HEFkELD (ALLAM 5NIVERSITY PARTICIPANTS WERE ASKED TO EVALUATE CANDIDATES FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF JOBS g3HOWN HYPOTHETICAL #6S WITH photographs depicting fat and thin PEOPLE THE PARTICIPANTS CLEARLY PERCEIVED MEN AND WOMEN OF AVERAGE WEIGHT TO BE THE MOST SUITABLE FOR EMPLOYMENT /BESE WOMEN WERE THE LEAST LIKELY TO BE HIRED 4HE RESEARCHERS CONCLUDED THAT STEREOTYPES OF OBESE PEOPLE BEING @LESS PHYSICALLY CAPABLE AND SLOTHFUL WERE LIKELY TO HAVE PLAYED a role in this outcome. ) N 5 N I V E R S I T Y O F 0 E N N S Y L V A N I A RESEARCHERS CONCLUDED THAT OBESE PEOPLE ARE STEREOTYPED AS BEING gLAZY INCOMPETENT UNATTRACTIVE

LACKING WILLPOWER AND TO BLAME FOR THEIR EXCESS WEIGHT 4HE RESULT OF THIS PREJUDICE IS NOT ONLY THAT OVERWEIGHT PEOPLE STAND LESS CHANCE OF GETTING A JOB THEY ARE PAID LESS TOO u London Business School professor &REEK 6ERMEULEN WRITING FOR &ORBES SAYS g4HE WORLD OF BUSINESS IS STILL RIFE WITH DISCRIMINATION 7OMEN GET PAID LESS THAN MEN PEOPLE WHO ARE PHYSICALLY ATTRACTIVE EARN MORE AND ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE SEEN AS SUITABLE LEADERS AND RACE DETERMINES CHANCES of promotion.�

In his 2011 article entitled – g4HE 0RICE OF /BESITY (OW 9OUR 3ALARY $EPENDS ON 9OUR 7EIGHT u 6ERMEULEN CONCLUDES THAT g6ARIOUS STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT OVERWEIGHT PEOPLE ARE SEEN AS LESS CONSCIENTIOUS LESS AGREEABLE

LESS EMOTIONALLY STABLE LESS PRODUCTIVE LAZY LACKING IN SELF

Q SEC FROM B1

Calata neither illicitly traded nor failed to disclose, may also be held liable because they bound themselves to ensure that Calata would not commit any violation of PSE disclosure rules,� the regulator added.

Its founder was said to have traded company shares between November 29, 2016 and March 16, 2017 but the corporation only disclosed the transactions on June 23, 2017. Trades between April 20, 2017 to June 20, 2017 were also only announced on July 2017.

The PSE also said that Calata committed 26 violations of the “blackout

BEYOND BUZZWORDS

REY ELBO DISCIPLINE AND EVEN DISHONEST

SLOPPY UGLY SOCIALLY UNATTRACTIVE

AND SEXUALLY UNSKILLED THE LIST goes on and on. g3EXUALLY UNSKILLED u 7HAT S THAT #AN YOU PLEASE EXPLAIN IT TO MY VIRGIN EARS !NYWAY 6ERMEULEN FURTHER CLAIMS THAT g4HE STEREOTYPES RUN SO DEEP THAT EVEN OBESE PEOPLE hold these same discriminatory BELIEFS ABOUT OTHER OBESE PEOPLE 4HEREFORE IT MAY COME AS NO SURPRISE THAT RESEARCH HAS PROVIDED STRONG EVIDENCE THAT OBESE PEOPLE are paid less than their slimmer counterparts.�

"UT HOW FAT IS FAT )T DEPENDS much on the race and culture.

3ARAH "OSELEY THE (EALTH EDITOR OF 4HE 'UARDIAN SAYS THERE S A STUDY SUGGESTING gTHAT !FRICAN !MERICAN WOMEN IN THE 53 HAVE A DIFFERENT PICTURE OF WHAT UNHEALTHY WEIGHT looks like than medical experts.�

3OMETIMES OBESE WOMEN ARE in a denial stage if not claiming THAT THEY RE WITHIN THEIR STANDARD "-) BODY MASS INDEX "OSELEY

HOWEVER THINKS THAT g7HAT IS going on here is that the cultural BELIEF OF THE WOMEN AS TO WHAT gTOO FATu LOOKS LIKE AND THEREFORE WHAT IS UNHEALTHY IS AT ODDS WITH WHAT THE MEDICAL PROFESSION thinks.� ) M NOT SURE IF WE HAVE A SIMILAR PUBLISHED STUDY FOR &ILIPINOS 4HE CLOSEST THAT ) DISCOVERED IS A "USINESS -IRROR REPORT BY (ENRYLITO 4ACIO CLAIMING THAT gOBESE &ILIPINOS NOW BALLOONING u #ITING A RESEARCH DONE BY !SIA 2OUNDTABLE ON &OOD )NNOVATION FOR )MPROVED .UTRITION !2O&)).

AND PRODUCED BY 4HE %CONOMIST )NTELLIGENCE 5NIT %)5 4ACIO REPORTS THAT g!MONG THE SIX COUNTRIES STUDIED

the Philippines has the secondLOWEST OBESITY AND OVERWEIGHT PREVALENCE AT PERCENT AND PERCENT RESPECTIVELY "UT DESPITE LOW PREVALENCE RATES OBESITY HAS a strong impact in the Philippines DUE TO THE LARGE NUMBER OF OBESE PERSONS IN THE COUNTRY‡ MILLION &ILIPINOS ARE OBESE AND OVERWEIGHT u THE REPORT SAID !ND SO HOW MANY OF THESE ARE POTENTIAL VICTIMS OF BODY SHAMING IN THE WORKPLACE )T S NOT CLEAR IN THE REPORT "UT EVEN IF only 20 percent of that 18 million ARE CONSIDERED OBESE WOMEN WORKERS IMAGINE HOW THEY WOULD BE FARING IN THE PROJECTED six percent salary increase for CORPORATE WORKERS ACCORDING TO THE LATEST STUDY OF 7ILLIS 4OWERS 7ATSON 4HIS IS AN INTERESTING CHALLENGE FOR 'ABRIELA AND OTHER WOMEN cause-oriented groups. In PARTICULAR THIS IS A JOB FOR -AE 0ANER AKA *UANA #HANGE )N THE MEANTIME YOU WILL NOT SEE ME lining up in queue in a fast food RESTAURANT AFTER AN OBESE WOMAN

EVEN IF SHE S THE ONLY ONE WAITING TO BE SERVED

2EY %LBO 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 rule�, which states that a director or a principal officer of an issuer must not trade the company’s securities “during the period within which a material nonpublic information is obtained and up to two full trading days after the price sensitive information is disclosed�. Joseph Calata, the SEC said, “consistently admitted that trades were executed while they were in possession of material non-public information and that there was a failure to disclose the same to the PSE.�

The SEC en banc, however, said that a PSE order for Calata to submit a buy-back plan for shares tendered by shareholders was “untenable� since the company did not have unrestricted retained earnings to fund the transaction.

˜ The Manila Times

w w w.manilatimes.net

TUESDAY January 22, 2019

Hyundai sales down 6% in 2018 HYUNDAI Asia Resources Inc. saw its automobile sales decrease by 6 percent to 35,401 units in 2018 from 37,678 last year, and by 2.5 percent to 10,227 in the fourth quarter from 10,489 in the same period in 2017.

In a statement on Monday, the local distributor of the South Korean-based car manufacturer said sales of its passenger cars, which accounted for 56.2 percent of the 2018 total, plunged by 22 percent to 19,905 units from 25,259. Of the cars sold in this segment, 75.6 percent were of its Accent model.

In contrast, sales of its “growth driver� — light commercial vehicles (LCV) — rose by 27.5 percent to 15,496 units from 12,149 in 2017.

In October to December alone, sales in this segment grew by 48.4 percent to 5,415 units from 3,650. “Driven by the Kona, Tucson, Grand Starex and H-100, the brand’s LCV models have topped their respective subsegments and ruminatively maintained an upward growth trajectory for the brand,� Hyundai Asia said.

Amid “the uncertainty faced [by] the automotive industry [last] year, Hyundai has proven itself to weather the odds and exceed expectations,� Hyundai Asia President and Chief ExecuTIVE /FFICER -A &E 0EREZ !GUDO said in the statement.

According to the firm, the single-digit drops it posted the previous year and quarter were “in contrast to an industry that has been declining in the double digits.�

Tax increases and higherthan-expected inflation caused car sales to fall by 16 percent last year, the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. and the Truck Manufacturers Association reported earlier.

Hyundai Asia said its outlook for this year was still positive, as “economic conditions are expected to improve.� These include revenue boost from the Duterte administration’s “Build Build Build� infrastructure program, election spending and easing inflation. “[Y]ou can expect more from US IN u 0EREZ !GUDO SAID TYRONE JASPER C. PIAD

AirAsia launches Clark-Seoul flights AIRASIA Philippines has launched lIGHTS FROM #LARK )NTERNATIONAL Airport in Pampanga province to Seoul, South Korea.

These flights will occur every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, the budget airline said in a statement on Monday. “We are staying true to our commitment to provide the much needed international connectivity and convenience for

Corporate News PLDT to increase capex this year – Pangilinan

travelers in Metro Manila [and CENTRAL AND NORTHERN= ,UZON u AirAsia Philippines Director for Flight Operations Gomer B. Monreal was quoted as saying in the statement.

The newest flights to the East Asian nation add to the daily ones AirAsia is operating from Manila, Cebu and Kalibo in Aklan province.

LISBET K. ESMAEL

Index PSEi

Value 8,007.46

Chg -39.66

%Chg Ĺş

All Shares

4,799.00

-5.92

Ĺş

Financials

1,799.58

-16.05

Ĺş

Industrial

11,627.36

-23.49

Ĺş Ĺş

Holding Firms

7,962.08

-41.11

Services

1,532.05

-28.08

Ĺş

Mining and Oil

8,757.37

-64.4

Ĺş

Property

4,048.38

31.03

Ÿ

T

BY LISBET K. ESMAEL

YCOON Manuel V. Pangilinan remains upbeat about PLDT Inc.’s operations this year, and said the telecommunications giant would spend more to continue improving its network.

In a recent event in Makati City, Pangilian told reporters that the listed company’s financial performance had been good last year and was optimistic about its performance this year.

According to him, PLDT’s capital expenditures (capex) for 2019 would be “higher� than last year’s P58 billion, which was necessary to finance network upgrades,

ALL SHARES

As of end-September, PLDT’s kXED HOME BROADBAND BUSINESS surpassed 5.75 million homes.

Increasing its capex this year is expected to help PLDT improve its earnings, which dipped to P16.5 BILLION IN THE kRST NINE MONTHS of 2018 from P21.8 billion in the same period the year before.

T h e c o m p a ny e x p l a i n e d , however, that the latest amount was due to the reduced value of its network assets and higher gain from asset sales in 2017.

Service revenues in January-September climbed 4 percent to P111.9 billion from P107.3 billion the year before.

PLDT shares plunged P22 or 1.76 percent to close at P1,225 apiece on Monday.

PCC okays Cosco Capital’s sale of Liquigaz stake THE Philippine Competition Commission 0## HAS CLEARED LISTED HOLDING kRM #OSCO #APITAL )NC S SALE OF ALL ITS SHARES IN ,IQUIGAZ Philippines Corp. to Fernwood Holdings Inc. In a decision dated January 17, the state-run antitrust agency said Fernwood’s acquisition of shares held by Cosco Capital unit Canaria Holdings Corp. would not “likely result in substantial lessening of competition within the market for bulk and cylinder supply of liquekED PETROLEUM GAS ,0' u IN THE ,UZON MARKET “There is neither increased ability nor incentive to engage in input foreclosure and customer foreclosure, post-acquisition� and THAT gTHERE IS SUFkCIENT COMPETITIVE CONSTRAINTS

on the parties from other market participants in the LPG industry,� it added.

The decision comes after Cosco Capital reported in October that its subsidiary signed a purchase agreement to sell its 826,530 SHARES IN ,IQUIGAZ AND SHARES IN #ALOR Philippines Holdings Inc. to Fernwood for an undisclosed amount.

4HE DEAL WHICH THE LISTED kRM S BOARD OF directors approved that month, would bolster ITS kNANCIAL PERFORMANCE ACCORDING TO THE holding company. g4HE TRANSACTION IS EXPECTED TO MAXIMIZE shareholders’ value and for the company to ACHIEVE kNANCIAL lEXIBILITY MOVING FORWARD u

Cosco Capital told the Philippine Stock Exchange then.

The PCC is mandated by Republic Act 10667, or the Philippine Competition Act of 2015, to review mergers and acquisitions to ensure that these would not prejudice market competition and the interest of consumers.

Incorporated in 1988 as Alcorn Gold Resources Corp., Cosco Capital is the retail holding company of businessman Lucio Co. Besides retail, it is also engaged in real estate, liquor distribution, and oil and mineral exploration.

Shares of Cosco Capital added 4 centavos or 0.56 percent to close at P7.24 each on Monday.

JORDEENE B. LAGARE

Cebu Pacific gets first Airbus A321neo CEBU Pacific has received the first of the 32 A321neo planes it had ordered from European aircraft manufacturer Airbus, expanding the low-cost carrier’s fleet to 72.

In a statement on Monday, Airbus said the plane had 236 seats in a single-class

configuration, and was powered by Pratt and Whitney PurePower GTF engines.

Besides its orders from Airbus, the Gokongwei-led airliner is also waiting for five A320neo aircraft from Dublinbased Avolon that are expected to be

HOLDING FIRMS

TOP ACTIVE STOCKS

SERVICES

Stock indices as of January 21, 2019

PSEi

both for its wireless and home segments. He did not disclose the new amount.

7E HAVE gPRACTICALLY kNISHEDu rolling out Third Generation (3G) mobile technology and “we’re going to push the build-out of 4G,� the PLDT chief said.

Citing the August 2018 report by London-based wireless-coveragemapping company OpenSignal,

he noted that “we’re number one in terms of speed and we’re almost equal with [our] competitors in terms of coverage.�

In that report, OpenSignal said PLDT’s wireless arm Smart Communications had a faster 4G average download speed than competitor Globe Telecom, posting 13.02 megabits per second (mbps), compared with the Ayala-led telecommunication titan’s 7.34 mbps.

In terms of coverage, Globe’s 4G network availability was at 67.79 percent, higher than Smart’s 64 percent. “We will [have a] big push on FTTH (fiber-to-the-home) and ;THE= kBERIZATION OF OUR LEGACY copper cables,� Pangilinan said.

B3

MINING AND OIL

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

Security Name SM Prime Holdings, Inc. Universal Robina Corporation Ayala Corporation Ayala Land, Inc. Alliance Global Group, Inc. Bank of the Philippine Islands Manila Electric Company BDO Unibank, Inc. JG Summit Holdings, Inc. Cemex Holdings Philippines, Inc. San Miguel Corporation Megawide Construction Corp.

Jollibee Foods Corporation 0HWUR 3DFLÂżF ,QYHVWPHQWV &RUSRUDWLRQ Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company SM Investments Corporation Megaworld Corporation ATN Holdings, Inc. “Aâ€?

San Miguel Food and Beverage, Inc. ISM Communications Corporation

delivered within this year. Boosting its fleet was vital to support increasing demand in the market, Cebu Pacific said in July, noting it might receive nine new aircraft every year.Â

Last Price 39.9 144 925 45.3 14.08 92 362.8 130 67.1 2.4 162.8 17.3 325.2 4.96 82.35 970 5.36 1.54 91.75 6.03

Chg 0.5 1.1 -14 0.3 -0.2 -1.1 -6.4 -2 0.85 -0.09 7.3 0.12 0.4 -0.05 -0.15 -6 -0.02 0.11 1.6 -0.23

%Chg 1.27% 0.77% -1.49% 0.67% -1.40% -1.18% -1.73% -1.52% 1.28% -3.61% 4.69% 0.70% 0.12% -1.00% -0.18% -0.61% -0.37% 7.69% 1.77% -3.67%

The carrier now has one A321neo, 36 Airbus A320s, seven Airbus A321ceo (current engine option), eight Airbus A330, eight ATR 72-500 and 12 ATR 72-600 aircraft.

LISBET K. ESMAEL

Ÿ Ÿ ź Ÿ ź ź ź ź Ÿ ź Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ ź ź ź ź Ÿ Ÿ ź

Volume 11,058,100.00 2,908,390.00 414,410.00 7,445,000.00 15,844,500.00 1,739,150.00 427,120.00 1,191,230.00 2,159,270.00 54,436,000.00 822,150.00 7,526,200.00 401,380.00 25,503,300 1,373,160 105,240 18,772,500 50,491,000 779,150 11,711,100

Value(P) 437,279,785.00 418,607,637.00 382,627,190.00 335,666,795.00 223,249,798.00 160,110,372.00 157,431,532.00 155,479,140.00 144,107,316.00 134,904,750.00 132,098,637.00 132,063,202.00 130,252,054.00 129,141,035.00 113,061,022.50 102,181,190.00 100,274,455.00 76,104,980.00 72,143,552.50 71,588,654.00

*amounts in peso, except for volume, %chg

TOP GAINERS

FINANCIALS

INDUSTRIAL

PROPERTY

INDEX HISTORY Date Jan 21, 2019 Jan 18, 2019 Jan 17, 2019 Jan 16, 2019 Jan 15, 2019 Jan 14, 2019 Jan 11, 2019 Jan 10, 2019 Jan 09, 2019 Jan 08, 2019 Jan 07, 2019 Jan 04, 2019 Jan 3, 2019 Jan 2, 2019 Dec 28, 2018 Dec 27, 2018 Dec 26, 2018 Dec 21, 2018 Dec 20, 2018 Dec 19, 2018 Dec 18, 2018 Dec 17, 2018 Dec 14, 2018 Dec 13, 2018 Dec 12, 2018 Dec 11, 2018 Dec 10, 2018 Dec 07, 2018 Dec 06, 2018 Dec 05, 2018

Open 8,055 7,932 7,866 7,983 8,009 7,886 7,965 7,932 7,775 7,820 7,801 7,657 7,507 7,497 7,497 7,465 7,437 7,537 7,514 7,412 7,478 7,501 7,506 7,514 7,456 7,386 7,446 7,530 7,634 7,580

High 8,067 8,058 7,938 7,991 8,028 8,024 7,965 7,992 7,920 7,826 7,901 7,802 7,681 7,540 7,507 7,514 7,453 7,548 7,584 7,580 7,482 7,538 7,559 7,556 7,488 7,451 7,446 7,538 7,637 7,634

Low 7,964 7,920 7,865 7,849 7,976 7,819 7,856 7,899 7,766 7,702 7,788 7,657 7,490 7,466 7,466 7,447 7,379 7,452 7,498 7,407 7,397 7,491 7,503 7,514 7,426 7,379 7,348 7,450 7,535 7,551

Close 8,007 8,047 7,927 7,865 8,013 8,024 7,904 7,985 7,920 7,702 7,788 7,761 7,681 7,489 7,466 7,483 7,450 7,480 7,563 7,580 7,420 7,520 7,524 7,523 7,488 7,451 7,348 7,461 7,535 7,631

CLOSE

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

Security Name ATN Holdings, Inc. “B�

ATN Holdings, Inc. “A�

ABS-CBN Holdings Corporation - Phil. Deposit Receipts Philippine Trust Company ABS-CBN Corporation Asiabest Group International Inc. Century Properties Group Inc. Medco Holdings, Inc. Macay Holdings, Inc. Concepcion Industrial Corporation San Miguel Corporation PH Resorts Group Holdings, Inc. Top Frontier Investment Holdings, Inc. Lorenzo Shipping Corporation APC Group, Inc. First Philippine Holdings Corporation Pryce Corporation Philippine Seven Corporation “Common�

Filinvest Land, Inc. Philippine National Bank

Volume 7,006,000.00 50,491,000.00 940,000.00 20.00 461,300.00 93,200.00 50,880,000.00 70,000.00 1,900.00 8,500.00 822,150.00 1,717,300.00 80,710.00 262,000.00 4,150,000.00 298,120.00 400.00 2,540.00 30,524,000.00 287,500.00

Value 10,491,040.00 76,104,980.00 18,750,304.00 2,440.00 10,963,770.00 2,530,750.00 23,538,050.00 31,900.00 19,750.00 346,520.00 132,098,637.00 11,744,636.00 20,259,390.00 222,620.00 1,845,800.00 22,340,313.50 2,400.00 304,550.00 49,075,740.00 13,043,730.00

Last Price Chg 1.53 0.11 1.54 0.11 20.1 1.34 122 8 23.9 1.4 27.3 1.55 0.46 0.025 0.475 0.025 10.6 0.5 41.4 1.95 162.8 7.3 6.98 0.31 260 10 0.84 0.03 0.445 0.015 75.95 2.55 6 0.2 120 4 1.62 0.05 45.7 1.4

%Chg 7.75% 7.69% 7.14% 7.02% 6.22% 6.02% 5.75% 5.56% 4.95% 4.94% 4.69% 4.65% 4.00% 3.70% 3.49% 3.47% 3.45% 3.45% 3.18% 3.16%

*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 Global Ferronickel Holdings, Inc. Acesite (Philippines) Hotel Corporation Phinma Petroleum and Geothermal, Inc. Atok-Big Wedge Company, Inc. “A�

Crown Equities, Inc. Bloomberry Resorts Corporation Island Information and Technology, Inc. Integrated Micro-Electronics, Inc. Primex Corporation Robinsons Retail Holdings, Inc. Imperial Resources, Inc. Nickel Asia Corporation Ionics, Inc. Cyber Bay Corporation Millennium Global Holdings, Inc. )RUXP 3DFLÂżF ,QF International Container Terminal Services, Inc. ISM Communications Corporation Cemex Holdings Philippines, Inc. Boulevard Holdings, Inc.

*amounts in peso except for volume, %chg

Volume 45,632,000.00 443,000.00 11,000.00 14,400.00 13,840,000.00 6,525,900.00 14,470,000.00 1,535,600.00 1,798,000.00 151,200.00 10,000.00 6,868,000.00 1,123,000.00 1,210,000.00 620,000.00 10,000.00 430,370.00 11,711,100.00 54,436,000.00 45,570,000.00

Value 69,928,670.00 583,880.00 39,770.00 209,168.00 3,504,600.00 67,951,972.00 1,868,050.00 18,994,344.00 6,161,800.00 12,466,217.50 18,800.00 17,515,870.00 2,029,100.00 450,800.00 109,260.00 2,300.00 46,441,057.00 71,588,654.00 134,904,750.00 2,515,500.00

Last Price 1.52 1.31 3.63 14.5 0.25 10.2 0.128 12.14 3.36 82 1.88 2.52 1.78 0.37 0.176 0.23 104 6.03 2.4 0.055

Chg -0.15 -0.12 -0.24 -0.88 -0.015 -0.6 -0.007 -0.66 -0.18 -4 -0.09 -0.12 -0.08 -0.015 -0.007 -0.009 -4 -0.23 -0.09 -0.002

%Chg -8.98% -8.39% -6.20% -5.72% -5.66% -5.56% -5.19% -5.16% -5.08% -4.65% -4.57% -4.55% -4.30% -3.90% -3.83% -3.77% -3.70% -3.67% -3.61% -3.51%

Foreign Business Asian markets ignore Ghosn awaits fate after China growth slowdown vowing to stay in Japan T B4

˜ The Manila Times

TUESDAY January 22, 2019

w w w.manilatimes.net

percent stronger.

3YDNEY ROSE PERCENT

3INGAPORE ADDED PERCENT AND 4AIPEI PUT ON PERCENT WITH 7ELLINGTON AND *AKARTA ALSO UP In early trade London slipped 0.2 PERCENT 0ARIS EASED PERCENT AND &RANKFURT GAVE UP PERCENT #HINA RELEASED kGURES SHOWING THE ECONOMY EXPANDED AT THE percent clip expected in an AFP SURVEY BUT THAT REPRESENTED ITS SLOWEST PACE SINCE WHEN IT WAS HIT BY OUTRAGE OVER THE 4IANANMEN 3QUARE CRACKDOWN A YEAR EARLIER !ND IN A SIGN OF THE BATTLE "EIJING FACES IN GETTING THINGS BACK ON TRACK

/CTOBER $ECEMBER GROWTH CAME IN AT PERCENT THE WORST QUARTERLY kGURE SINCE THE GLOBAL kNANCIAL CRISIS 10 years ago.

4HE DATA COMES AS #HINA STRUGGLES TO ADDRESS A CHRONIC DEBT BURDEN WHILE AT THE SAME TIME kGHTING THE DAMAGING TRADE WAR WITH THE 53 It also reinforces the need for OFkCIALS TO PRESS ON WITH STIMULUS MEASURES SUCH AS THE TAX CUTS ANNOUNCED LAST WEEK AND MOVES TO MAKE IT EASIER FOR BANKS TO LEND g7HILE THE GOVERNMENT IS PUTTING POLICY RESPONSES IN PLACE WE ANTICIPATE THAT THESE WILL NEED TO BE RAMPED UP OVER THE COURSE OF THE YEAR u 3TEPHEN #HANG PORTFOLIO MANAGER FOR !SIA AT 0ACIkC )NVESTMENT -ANAGEMENT

said in a note.

Next on traders’ radar is British 0RIME -INISTER 4HERESA -AY S REVISED PLAN FOR EXITING THE %UROPEAN 5NION WITH HER ORIGINAL PROPOSAL LEFT IN TATTERS AFTER BEING ROUNDLY REJECTED BY -0S LAST WEEK AFP

AUTO KINGPIN CREDITED WITH TURNING AROUND STRUGGLING .ISSAN HAS GRIPPED *APAN AND THE BUSINESS WORLD SINCE HIS ARREST OUT OF THE BLUE ON .OVEMBER AS HIS PRIVATE JET LANDED AT A 4OKYO airport.

3INCE THEN HE HAS BEEN SEEN IN PUBLIC ONLY ONCE IN A DRAMATIC COURT APPEARANCE WHERE THE MUCH THINNER EXECUTIVE PLEADED HIS innocence in a packed courtroom.

(IS WIFE #AROLE HAS APPEALED TO (UMAN 2IGHTS 7ATCH CLAIMING HE IS BEING HELD IN gHARSHu CONDITIONS AND SUBJECTED TO ROUND THE CLOCK interrogations intended to extract a confession.

4HE CHARGES AGAINST 'HOSN ARE that he under-declared his income in OFkCIAL DOCUMENTS TO SHAREHOLDERS OVER AN EIGHT YEAR PERIOD AN APPARENT BID TO DODGE ACCUSATIONS HE WAS OVERPAID ) N A D D I T I O N P R O S E C U T O R S HAVE FORMALLY CHARGED HIM WITH INVOLVEMENT IN A COMPLEX SCHEME THEY SAY WAS DESIGNED to make Nissan pay for personal INVESTMENT LOSSES SUSTAINED IN THE kNANCIAL CRISIS OF 'HOSN S ARREST HAS THROWN INTO question the future of the auto ALLIANCE HE FORGED WHICH HAS COME UNDER PRESSURE IN HIS ABSENCE Nissan immediately ousted him AS CHAIRMAN AFTER THE ARREST AS DID -ITSUBISHI -OTORS THE OTHER

*APANESE FIRM IN THE THREE WAY ALLIANCE WITH 2ENAULT 4HE &RENCH kRM IS EXPECTED TO MEET LATER THIS WEEK TO DISCUSS REMOVING 'HOSN AS CHAIRMAN AND #%/ &RENCH GOVERNMENT OFkCIALS HAVE ALREADY URGED THE COMPANY S BOARD TO PICK A gNEW LASTING leadership.” ,ATE 3UNDAY .ISSAN HELD AN inaugural meeting of a special COMMITTEE DESIGNED TO IMPROVE GOVERNANCE IN THE WAKE OF THE scandal.

4HE HEAD OF THE COMMITTEE

3EIICHIRO .ISHIOKA SAID THE PROBLEM WAS gAN EXCESSIVE concentration of authority in the hands of a single person”.

4HE COMMITTEE IS EXPECTED TO meet three or four additional times BEFORE ISSUING A kNAL REPORT AT THE end of March.

French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire on Sunday denied talk of a potential merger BETWEEN 2ENAULT AND .ISSAN

DESPITE REPORTS IN THE *APANESE MEDIA THAT 0ARIS WAS PUSHING FOR that outcome. g4HE SUBJECT IS NOT ON THE TABLE TODAY 7HAT IS ON THE TABLE TODAY IS THE GOVERNANCE OF 2ENAULT u HE TOLD JOURNALISTS DURING A VISIT TO #AIRO g4HE MOST IMPORTANT THING FOR US IS TO HAVE SOLID STABLE SUSTAINABLE GOVERNANCE FOR 2ENAULT u AFP

HONG KONG: Asian markets on Monday BUILT ON LAST WEEK S RALLY AS INVESTORS CHEERED A REPORT THAT #HINA HAD OFFERED TO ELIMINATE ITS MASSIVE TRADE SURPLUS WITH THE 5NITED 3TATES WHILE DATA SHOWED #HINESE ECONOMIC GROWTH HIT FORECASTS IN Regional equities picked up WHERE THEY FINISHED &RIDAY AFTER "LOOMBERG SAID "EIJING HAD PLEDGED to ramp up spending on US goods OVER THE NEXT kVE YEARS 7HILE THERE WAS SOME SCEPTICISM OVER THE OFFER OBSERVERS SAID IT INDICATED THAT TALKS BETWEEN THE ECONOMIC SUPERPOWERS WERE heading in the right direction.

4HE NEWS PROVIDED FURTHER SUPPORT TO SHARES WHICH WERE ALREADY BEING BUOYED BY HOPES THE TWO SIDES WOULD BE ABLE TO RESOLVE THE TARIFFS SPAT WHICH HAS HAMMERED WORLD MARKETS FOR ALMOST A YEAR #HINA S TOP ECONOMICS NEGOTIATOR IS DUE TO VISIT 7ASHINGTON LATER THIS month for more talks as the end OF A DAY TRUCE AGREED BETWEEN $ONALD 4RUMP AND 8I *INPING DRAWS closer. g&OR NOW MARKETS ARE GOING AHEAD WITH THE GROWING PERCEPTION THAT THERE IS A LOT OF WILLINGNESS BY BOTH PARTIES TO MAKE A DEAL u SAID National Australia Bank senior STRATEGIST 2ODRIGO #ATRIL g"UT AS THE -ARCH ST DEADLINE approaches the market is also likely TO DEMAND MORE CONCRETE EVIDENCE that a deal looks more likely than not.”

3HANGHAI CLOSED PERCENT HIGHER AND (ONG +ONG ROSE PERCENT WHILE 4OKYO ENDED

Q INFRA FROM B1

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Yen loans secured

2018 China

!GENCY S *)#! 3OUTHEAST !SIA AND 0ACIkC $EPARTMENT 4HE 0 BILLION LOAN FOR THE .3#2 %XTENSION 0ROJECT WILL COVER AN ONGOING *)#! FUNDED PROJECT THAT RUNS FROM -ALOLOS "ULACAN TO 4UTUBAN -ANILA 4HE KILOMETER KM NORTH EXTENSION WILL LENGTHEN TO LINE FROM -ALOLOS TO THE #LARK )NTERNATIONAL !IRPORT IN 0AMPANGA WHILE THE KM SOUTH EXTENSION WILL RUN FROM 3OLIS 3T -ANILA TO #ALAMBA #ONSTRUCTION OF THE EXTENSION lines is expected to commence THIS YEAR WITH PARTIAL OPERATIONS TARGETED BY g7E ARE WORKING CLOSELY WITH stakeholders in the Philippine transport system and other INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT institutions like ADB (Asian $EVELOPMENT "ANK TO ADDRESS challenges in the Philippine MASS TRANSPORT SYSTEM BOOST THE COUNTRY S COMPETITIVENESS AND DISTRIBUTE GROWTH TO NEABY AREAS OUTSIDE -ETRO -ANILA u /GAWA said.

4HE 0 BILLION LOAN ACCORD FOR THE 0ASIG -ARIKINA RIVER PROJECT MEANWHILE WILL HELP MITIGATE lOOD DAMAGE IN -ETRO Manila. g7E CONTINUE TO SUPPORT THE VULNERABLE SECTOR THROUGH OUR

lOOD CONTROL PROJECT IN THE 0ASIG -ARIKINA 2IVER TO HELP BUILD THE 0HILIPPINES DISASTER RESILIENCE

AND SUSTIAN ECONOMIC GROWTH u /GAWA SAID 4HE LOANS CARRY INTEREST RATES OF BASIS POINTS OR PERCENT per annum for non-consulting SERVICES AND BASIS POINT OR percent per annum for consulting SERVICES WITH A MATURITY OF YEARS INCLUSIVE OF A YEAR GRACE period. g4HIS IS

BY FAR THE FASTEST LOAN processing time in the history OF 0HILIPPINES *APAN BILATERAL COOPERATION 7E WOULD LIKE TO SHARE THE CREDIT HERE WITH OUR COUNTERPARTIES WHO ESPOUSED the same sense of urgency and trusted our commitment to get THESE PROJECTS DONE u $OMINGUEZ said.

(E THANKED THE *APANESE GOVERNMENT FOR ITS GENEROSITY

gTHE CONkDENCE YOU HOLD IN OUR ABILITY TO UNDERTAKEu THE PROJECTS

AND gTHE CONTAGIOUS OPTIMISM WE share in the future of this great nation.”

4HE *)#! $OMINGUEZ ADDED

HAS gSTEPPED UP TO THE PLATE and are really at the forefront of assisting the Philippines in its @"UILD "UILD "UILD PROGRAM u MAYVELIN U. CARABALLO

SAID ."3 COMMISSIONER .ING *IZHE

NOTING TRADE PROTECTIONISM WAS IN VOGUE g&OR THE WORLD S SECOND LARGEST ECONOMY WHERE TRADE ACCOUNTS FOR ONE THIRD OF '$0 THIS HAS AN IMPACT u HE SAID ADDING gDOWNWARD pressure” on the economy has increased.

4HE SLOWING GROWTH PROMPTED 0REMIER ,I +EQIANG LAST WEEK TO VOW THE GOVERNMENT WOULD NOT LET THE ECONOMY gFALL OFF A CLIFFu 2ELATIONS WITH TOP TRADING PARTNER the US deteriorated sharply last year AFTER 0RESIDENT $ONALD 4RUMP HIT ROUGHLY HALF OF #HINESE IMPORTS WITH NEW TARIFFS IN AN ATTEMPT TO FORCE trade concessions. %SCALATING THE TRADE WAR IS ON HOLD FOR NOW AFTER 0RESIDENT 8I *INPING

AND 4RUMP AGREED TO A THREE MONTH CEASEkRE WITH TOP NEGOTIATORS SET TO MEET IN 7ASHINGTON AT THE END OF THIS month as a March deadline for a deal looms large. g#HINA 53 ECONOMIC AND TRADE frictions do indeed affect the ECONOMY BUT THE IMPACT IS GENERALLY CONTROLLABLE u SAID .ING 7HILE ANALYSTS SAY THE STANDOFF HAS DENTED CONkDENCE LEAVING THE STOCK MARKETS BATTERED AND THE YUAN WEAKENED THEY ATTRIBUTE MOST OF THE DOWNTURN TO THE GOVERNMENT POLICIES TO TACKLE GROWING DEBT

kNANCIAL RISK AND POLLUTION #HINA HIT THE BRAKES ON MAJOR PROJECTS SUCH AS SUBWAY LINES AND MOTORWAYS TO KEEP A LID ON DEBT LAST YEAR WITH INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT RISING BY JUST PERCENT DOWN FROM PERCENT THE YEAR BEFORE #HINA S EXPORTS TO 53 AND THE WORLD ALSO FELL IN $ECEMBER

reinforcing the need for its legions of domestic consumers to fuel the

economy. &OURTH QUARTER '$0 GROWTH SLOWED AS EXPECTED SAID ,U 4ING

#HINA ECONOMIST AT .OMURA IN A note. g"UT THE WORST IS YET TO COME u he said. ,I LAST WEEK TOUTED #HINA S gMASSIVE MARKETu AND VOWED TO SPUR ON CONSUMPTION BUT THE DATA SHOWS DIFkCULTY AHEAD /VERALL CREDIT GROWTH DECELERATED EVERY MONTH LAST YEAR g4HE SLOWDOWN IN CREDIT GROWTH is causing economic momentum to FALTER u SAID -ARK 7ILLIAMS CHIEF !SIA ECONOMIST AT #APITAL %CONOMICS IN A NOTE LAST WEEK 3LOWING DISPOSABLE INCOME GROWTH AND TIGHTER CREDIT HAS HIT CONSUMER SPENDING WITH CAR SALES FALLING LAST YEAR FOR THE kRST TIME IN more than 20 years.

2ETAIL SALES GROWTH SLOWED TO PERCENT DOWN FROM A PERCENT INCREASE THE PREVIOUS YEAR

)N $ECEMBER SALES GREW PERCENT /UTPUT AT FACTORIES AND WORKSHOPS TICKED UP PERCENT FOR THE YEAR

DOWN FROM PERCENT IN #HINESE OFkCIALS SAY THEY WILL NOT resort to large scale stimulus like DURING THE FINANCIAL CRISIS TO JOLT GROWTH INSTEAD LAYING OUT POLICIES LIKE LOWER TAXES AND FEES AND LESS RED TAPE TO DRIVE CONSUMPTION g'ROWTH WILL REMAIN UNDER pressure in the coming months and POLICYMAKERS WILL AIM TO HALT THE SLOWDOWN IN GROWTH RATHER THAN TRY TO ENGINEER A SIGNIkCANT PICK UP IN GROWTH u SAID ,OUIS +UIJS OF /XFORD Economics.

4HE OFFICIAL FIGURES COULD BE PAINTING AN OVERLY ROSY PICTURE

analysts say. %CONOMISTS IN #HINA AND ABROAD HAVE LONG SUSPECTED DATA IS MASSAGED UPWARD OFTEN NOTING THAT full-year gross domestic product HITS "EIJING S PRE SET TARGETS WITH suspicious regularity.

AFP

implementation as agencies continued to cite the procurement PROCESS AS A MAJOR CAUSE OF DELAYS #IRCULAR ,ETTER ISSUED LAST year directed agencies to undertake %ARLY 0ROCUREMENT !CTIVITIES %0!

FROM /CTOBER TO $ECEMBER in light of an impending shift to ANNUAL CASH BASED APPROPRIATIONS

WHICH WILL LIMIT THE TIME HORIZON for implementation of contracts to one year. ! NUMBER OF CONTRACTS FOR ONGOING PROJECTS WILL BE AWARDED UNDER THE RE ENACTED BUDGET THE DEPARTMENT SAID AS LONG AS THESE HAD UNDERGONE the EPA process in 2018. g!WARDING OF CONTRACTS MAY ALREADY PROCEED FOR PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS THAT UNDERWENT EARLY PROCUREMENT IF THE AMOUNT NEEDED CAN BE COVERED BY THE FUNDS AVAILABLE UNDER A REENACTED BUDGET u $IOKNO SAID

4HE DEPARTMENT SAID '00" #IRCULAR ALSO STATES THAT gPROCUREMENT PROJECTS COVERING RECURRING ACTIVITIES OR PROJECTS HENCE appropriations therefor are included IN BOTH THE &9 '!! AND &9 .%0 UNDERTAKEN THROUGH %0! UNDER THE &9 .%0 MAY BE AWARDED ON THE BASIS OF THE &9 Reenacted Budget. )N ADDITION gIN ALL INSTANCESu PROCURING ENTITIES gSHALL NOT AWARD ANY PROCUREMENT PROJECT IF THE amount appropriated under the

&9 2EENACTED "UDGET IS LOWER THAN THE AMOUNT OF CONTRACT TO BE AWARDED u $IOKNO HAS WARNED THAT a reenacted BUDGET WILL REDUCE DISBURSEMENTS BY ABOUT 0 BILLION THIS YEAR WHICH COULD CUT GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT GROWTH BY 1.1-2.3 percentage points. *OB LOSSES OF AS MUCH AS

COULD ALSO OCCUR AND

INDIVIDUALS COULD BE PUSHED INTO POVERTY HE ADDED MAYVELIN U. CARABALLO

Q KRITZ FROM B1

OF !FRICAN ORIGIN AND WAS STRUCK BY ITS SUPERIORITY IN EVERY RESPECT TO THE LOCAL PRODUCT CLEAN DRY AND OF GOOD lAVOR AND THIS AFTER BEING IN TRANSIT IN A SHIPPING BOX FOR NEARLY "UT WAIT ISN T DOING PRECISELY TWO MONTHS 3UGAR PRODUCTION IS NOT THAT THE JOB OF THE 3UGAR 2EGULATORY EXACTLY ROCKET SCIENCE IF !FRICA CAN !DMINISTRATION DO IT SO CAN THE 0HILIPPINES Since the SRA has already opened THE DOOR TO IMPORTS BY FAILING TO Why does MMDA ENSURE ADEQUATE DOMESTIC SUPPLY even bother? it ought to quit complaining that REALITY PREVENTS IT FROM CARRYING For all those (present company OUT ITS MANDATE AND DO WHAT IT INCLUDED WHO HAVE SUFFERED can for the sector it supposedly THROUGH MASSIVE TRAFkC CONGESTION represents to at least make its FOR NEARLY TWO YEARS AS A RESULT OF THE PRODUCT COMPETITIVE )F THE SUPPLY CONSTRUCTION OF THE -24 ELEVATED CHAIN IS UNFAIRLY SKEWING SUGAR RAIL LINE ALONG #OMMONWEALTH PRICES THEN REGULATE IT THAT S YOUR !VENUE YOU LL UNDOUBTEDLY BE JOB 32! )T SAYS SO IN THE NAME OF RELIEVED TO KNOW THAT THE -ETRO your agency.

-ANILA $EVELOPMENT !UTHORITY !ND WHILE YOU RE AT IT TRY PUTTING --$! HAS LET IT BE KNOWN THAT AT LEAST A LITTLE EFFORT TOWARDS MAKING unnecessary interference on the DOMESTIC SUGAR WORTH THE HIGH PRICE PART OF THE CONTRACTOR WILL NOT BE it commands in the retail market. tolerated. /VER THE HOLIDAY AS PART OF MY --$! HAS FINED BUILDER #HRISTMAS CARE PACKAGE ) RECEIVED E q u i p m e n t E n g i n e e r s I n c .

A TWO KILOGRAM BAG OF REkNED SUGAR %%) 0 FOR PUTTING UP A

KILOMETER LONG BARRIER ALONG THE %LLIPTICAL 2OAD WITHOUT THE AGENCY S PERMISSION CLOSING TWO LANES OF THE ROAD AND TURNING THE ALREADY BUSY thoroughfare into a quagmire.

9ES YOU READ THAT CORRECTLY 0 4HAT S IN REAL MONEY PROBABLY LESS THAN THE MMDA managers spend on lunch. !ND JUST TO MAKE THE STORY EVEN more unnecessarily ridiculous than IT ALREADY IS %%) APPARENTLY WAFlED ABOUT PAYING THE kNE FOR A COUPLE OF MONTHS BEFORE kNALLY AGREEING TO WRITE --$! A CHECK )F THERE WAS A POINT TO THIS other than the MMDA’s flexing ITS PENCIL PUSHING MUSCLES ) D LOVE TO HEAR IT 4HE BARRICADE IN QUESTION WHILE INCONVENIENT WAS CERTAINLY NECESSARY 7HILE THE -24 CONSTRUCTION IS MAKING VISIBLE PROGRESS IT IS ALSO VISIBLY WAY BEHIND SCHEDULE THE KILOMETER LINE FROM .ORTH !VENUE TO 3AN *OSE $EL Monte in Bulacan is supposed to BE OPERATIONAL BY !UGUST OF THIS YEAR AND IT CLEARLY WON T BE 4HE

SOUTHERN END OF THE LINE IS NOWHERE NEAR .ORTH !VENUE YET NOR IS THE NORTHERN END ANYWHERE CLOSE TO 3AN *OSE $EL -ONTE AND THERE ARE LARGE GAPS IN THE ROUTE WHERE CONSTRUCTION HAS NOT EVEN BEGUN Rather than raising additional OBSTACLES TO GETTING THE JOB DONE BY POINTLESSLY QUIBBLING OVER IMPROPER PAPERWORK THE --$! SHOULD BE COORDINATING WITH %%) TO kND WAYS to speed up construction. Most AFFECTED COMMUTERS ARE WILLING TO PUT UP WITH THE NIGHTMARE A TRIP FROM 3AN *OSE $EL -ONTE TO 1UEZON #ITY NOW TYPICALLY TAKES ABOUT hours) for the prospect of a faster AND MORE CONVENIENT TRANSPORTATION OPTION IN THE NEAR FUTURE 4HEY ARE LIKELY TO TAKE A DIM VIEW OF IT

HOWEVER IF THE CONGESTION IS BEING AGGRAVATED BECAUSE --$! S FEELINGS HAVE BEEN HURT

#OMMUNICATIONS 4ECHNOLOGY $)#4 CHIEF %LISEO 2IO *R WILL STAY ON THE POST UNTIL AT LEAST *UNE

as Senator Gregorio Honasan’s APPOINTMENT AS $)#4 HEAD HAS BEEN rendered uncertain due to rules on appointments.

President Rodrigo Duterte shouldn’t need another reason to quit acting like a trapo and quietly DROP HIS UNQUALIkED POLITICAL ALLY IN FAVOR OF THE LOYAL TECHNOCRAT WHO S BEEN DOING THE JOB ALMOST SINCE THE $)#4 S INCEPTION BUT THIS LATEST DEVELOPMENT GIVES HIM ONE ANYWAY Rio has performed competently UNDER SOME TOUGH CONDITIONS

and for the sake of continuity – especially for the all-important THIRD TELCO INITIATIVE m THE PRESIDENT SHOULD REWARD HIM IF THE FORMER GENERAL WANTS IT WITH A PERMANENT APPOINTMENT 4HAT HE HAS NOT DONE SO ALREADY IS UNFAIR AND SUGGESTS A RATHER SELECTIVE JUDGMENT OF PERSONALITY OVER PERFORMANCE

OKYO: Carlos Ghosn will learn his fate Monday as a Tokyo court rules on his bail request after he vowed to remain in Japan if released and offered to provide more collateral.

4HE OUSTED .ISSAN BOSS HAS PLEADED FOR BAIL AFTER LANGUISHING IN CUSTODY FOR DAYS AS HE kGHTS CHARGES OF kNANCIAL MISCONDUCT THAT he strenuously denies.

In a statement released earlier -ONDAY HE SOUGHT TO CHANGE THE COURT S PREVIOUS JUDGEMENT THAT HE REPRESENTS A lIGHT RISK AND MIGHT ATTEMPT TO TAMPER WITH EVIDENCE g!S THE COURT CONSIDERS MY BAIL APPLICATION ) WANT TO EMPHASISE THAT ) WILL RESIDE IN *APAN AND RESPECT ANY AND ALL BAIL CONDITIONS THE #OURT CONCLUDES ARE WARRANTED u 'HOSN SAID IN A STATEMENT RELEASED BY HIS 53 BASED REPRESENTATIVES (E VOWED TO ATTEND ANY SUBSEQUENT TRIAL gNOT ONLY BECAUSE ) AM LEGALLY OBLIGATED TO DO SO BUT BECAUSE ) AM EAGER TO kNALLY HAVE the opportunity to defend myself”. g) AM NOT GUILTY OF THE CHARGES AGAINST ME AND ) LOOK FORWARD TO defending my reputation in the COURTROOM u CONCLUDED THE STATEMENT 4HE COURT HAS ALREADY REJECTED PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS AT SECURING HIS FREEDOM ON BAIL AND EVEN HIS OWN LEAD LAWYER HAS INDICATED IT COULD BE SIX MONTHS BEFORE HE IS RELEASED for a trial.

! SPOKESWOMAN FOR 'HOSN

$EVON 3PURGEON SAID HIS FAMILY had already rented an apartment in 4OKYO WHERE HE PROMISED TO RESIDE WHILE AWAITING TRIAL (E HAS ALSO PROMISED TO HAND OVER HIS PASSPORTS REFRAIN FROM CONTACTING PEOPLE CONNECTED WITH THE CASE AND PAY FOR SECURITY GUARDS APPROVED

BY PROSECUTORS TO MONITOR HIS MOVEMENTS ACCORDING TO 3PURGEON She added that Ghosn has also OFFERED A HIGHER BAIL FEE BY STUMPING up Nissan stock as collateral and PROMISED TO WEAR AN ELECTRONIC TRACKING BRACELET PAID FOR BY HIMSELF (OWEVER AN OFFICIAL AT THE *APANESE JUSTICE MINISTRY TOLD !&0 g4HERE IS NO SYSTEM IN *APAN IN WHICH A PERSON ACCUSED IN A CRIMINAL CASE CAN BE RELEASED WITH SUCH A TRACKING BRACELET u g4HE COURT SETS THE BAIL SUM AND can also add appropriate conditions SUCH AS LIMITATIONS ON WHERE THE ACCUSED SHOULD STAY u ADDED THE OFkCIAL

‘Solid, stable, sustainable governance’ 4HE CASE OF 'HOSN A ONCE REVERED

PH bureaucracy levels $UE MAINLY TO POOR HARVESTS

REkNED SUGAR WAS IN SHORT SUPPLY LAST YEAR AND RETAIL PRICES HAVE REMAINED ELEVATED AT 0 TO 0 OR MORE PER kilo in most of the country. An EXPECTED %L .IÄO CLIMATE EFFECT WILL LIKELY HAVE A NEGATIVE IMPACT ON THE SUGAR HARVEST AGAIN THIS YEAR SO THE administration’s plan represents a REASONABLE CONTINGENCY !S WITH EVERY PRICE OR SUPPLY ISSUE affecting agricultural products in the 0HILIPPINES BLAME FOR HIGH SUGAR PRICES WAS DIRECTED AT gUNSCRUPULOUS TRADERS AND MIDDLEMENu BY 9ULO

WHO POINTED OUT THAT RAW SUGAR PRICES HAVE FALLEN BY A LITTLE LESS THAN PERCENT SINCE 3EPTEMBER g,ET S GO AFTER THE GREEDY TRADERS AND RETAILERS WHO ARE CAPITALIZING on the situation at the expense of THE SUGAR FARMERS AND PRODUCERS u Yulo said in a statement.

Q PROJECTS FROM B1

No 2019

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&INALLY THERE IS WORD THAT ACTING Department of Information and BEN KRITZ MANILATIMES NET

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Republic of the Philippines 2IÂżFH RI WKH 3UHVLGHQW Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council HOUSING AND LAND USE REGULATORY BOARD 6287+(51 7$*$/2* 5(*,21 675

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Ë&#x153; The Manila Times w w w.manilatimes.net

World May presents Plan B Dems reject Trumpâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s to UK parliament immigration concession W

Ë&#x153; The Manila Times

TUESDAY January 22, 2019

w w w.manilatimes.net

LONDON:Â British Prime Minister Theresa May unveils her Brexit â&#x20AC;&#x153;Plan Bâ&#x20AC;? to parliament on Monday (Tuesday in Manila) after MPs shredded her European Union (EU) divorce deal, deepening the political gridlock 10 weeks from departure day.

Britain will leave the EU on March 29 without a deal unless MPs can force a delay or get their act together in time and come up with an alternative plan that Brussels is also happy with.

The worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fifth-biggest economy could lose preferential access to its largest export market overnight, affecting every sector, leading to rising costs and disruption at British ports.

London and Brussels have spent the best part of two years working on a divorce agreement, but MPs in parliamentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lower House of Commons comprehensively rejected it on Tuesday.

Mayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s government then survived a confidence vote on Wednesday and set about talks with figures from rival parties.

But the main opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn stayed away, saying a â&#x20AC;&#x153;no-dealâ&#x20AC;? departure must be ruled out first â&#x20AC;&#x201D; something May says is impossible.

May spoke to Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and German Chancellor

Angela Merkel on Thursday, and to EU leaders Jean-Claude Juncker and Donald Tusk by telephone Friday to discuss where to go next on Brexit.

EU chiefs have so far ruled out renegotiating the agreement, but have signalled they could postpone the withdrawal if May changes her â&#x20AC;&#x153;red linesâ&#x20AC;? on leaving the EUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s customs union and blocking free movement of citizens.

After May sets out her plans for the way ahead, lawmakers are set to table a series of amendments, to be voted upon on January 29.

At least two cross-party groups of MPs are planning to table amendments to enable backbenchers to delay or frustrate Mayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s proposals.

One would suspend the withdrawal process if there is no new deal with Brussels by the end of February.

A second would enable backbenchers to choose to debate and vote on Brexit issues, one day a week â&#x20AC;&#x201D; breaking the convention that the government controls the parliamentary timetable.

Mayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Downing Street office has called them â&#x20AC;&#x153;extremely concerning.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got a Leave population and a Remain parliament,â&#x20AC;? said International Trade Secretary Liam Fox, one of the senior Brexiteers in Mayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cabinet. AFP

ASHINGTON, DC: Thirty-one days into the partial government shutdown, Democrats and Republicans appeared no closer to ending the impasse than when it began, with President Donald Trump lashing out at his opponents after they dismissed a plan heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d billed as a compromise.

4RUMP ON 3UNDAY -ONDAY IN -ANILA BRANDED (OUSE 3PEAKER .ANCY 0ELOSI A gRADICALu AND SAID SHE WAS ACTING gIRRATIONALLY u 4HE PRESIDENT ALSO TRIED TO FEND OFF CRITICISM FROM THE RIGHT AS CONSERVATIVES ACCUSED HIM OF EMBRACING gAMNESTYu FOR IMMIGRANTS IN THE COUNTRY ILLEGALLY 4RUMP OFFERED ON 3ATURDAY TO TEMPORARILY EXTEND PROTECTIONS FOR YOUNG IMMIGRANTS BROUGHT TO THE COUNTRY ILLEGALLY AS CHILDREN AND THOSE FLEEING DISASTER ZONES IN EXCHANGE FOR BILLION FOR HIS BORDER WALL "UT $EMOCRATS SAID THE THREE YEAR PROPOSAL DIDN T GO NEARLY FAR ENOUGH

g.O !MNESTY IS NOT A PART OF MY OFFER u 4RUMP TWEETED 3UNDAY

NOTING THAT HE D OFFERED TEMPORARY

THREE YEAR EXTENSIONS Â&#x2021; NOT PERMANENT RELIEF "UT HE ADDED g!MNESTY WILL BE USED ONLY ON A MUCH BIGGER DEAL WHETHER ON IMMIGRATION OR SOMETHING ELSE u 4HE CRITICISM FROM BOTH SIDES UNDERSCORED 4RUMP S BOXED IN POSITION AS HE TRIES TO WIN AT LEAST SOME $EMOCRATIC BUY IN WITHOUT ALIENATING HIS BASE 7ITH HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF FEDERAL WORKERS SET TO FACE ANOTHER FEDERAL PAY PERIOD WITHOUT PAYCHECKS

THE ISSUE PASSED TO THE 3ENATE WHERE

-AJORITY ,EADER -ITCH -C#ONNELL HAS AGREED TO BRING 4RUMP S PROPOSAL TO THE lOOR THIS WEEK $EMOCRATS SAY THERE S LITTLE CHANCE THE MEASURE WILL REACH THE VOTE THRESHOLD USUALLY REQUIRED TO ADVANCE LEGISLATION IN THE 3ENATE 2EPUBLICANS HAVE A MAJORITY

WHICH MEANS THEY NEED AT LEAST SOME $EMOCRATS TO VOTE IN FAVOR -C#ONNELL HAS LONG TRIED TO AVOID VOTES ON LEGISLATION THAT IS UNLIKELY TO BECOME LAW !ND THE +ENTUCKY 2EPUBLICAN HAS SAID FOR WEEKS THAT HE HAS NO INTEREST IN gSHOW VOTESu AIMED ONLY AT FORCING MEMBERS TO TAKE SIDES AFTER 4RUMP REJECTED THE 3ENATE S EARLIER BIPARTISAN BILL TO AVERT THE SHUTDOWN 7HAT S UNCLEAR IS HOW -C#ONNELL WILL BRING 4RUMP S PLAN FORWARD Â&#x2021; OR WHEN VOTING WILL BEGIN 4HE 2EPUBLICAN LEADER IS A WELL KNOWN ARCHITECT OF COMPLICATED LEGISLATIVE MANEUVERS /NE QUESTION IS WHETHER HE WOULD ALLOW A BROADER IMMIGRATION DEBATE WITH AMENDMENTS TO

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4RUMP S PLAN ON THE 3ENATE lOOR -C#ONNELL SPOKESMAN $AVID 0OPP SAID 3UNDAY g7HEN WE HAVE ;A PLAN= WE WILL BE SURE TO LET EVERYONE KNOW u /NE KEY 2EPUBLICAN 3EN *AMES ,ANKFORD OF /KLAHOMA SAID THAT HE AND OTHER LAWMAKERS HAD BEEN ENCOURAGING THE 7HITE (OUSE TO PUT AN OFFER ON THE TABLE Â&#x2021; ANY OFFER Â&#x2021; TO GET BOTH SIDES TALKING g'ET SOMETHING OUT THERE THE PRESIDENT CAN SAY @) CAN SUPPORT THIS

AND IT HAS ELEMENTS FROM BOTH SIDES

PUT IT ON THE TABLE THEN OPEN IT UP FOR DEBATE u ,ANKFORD SAID ON !"# S g4HIS 7EEK u g4HE VOTE THIS WEEK IN THE 3ENATE IS NOT TO PASS THE BILL IT IS TO OPEN UP AND SAY @#AN WE DEBATE THIS #AN WE AMEND IT #AN WE MAKE CHANGES u ,ANKFORD SAID g,ET S kND A WAY TO BE ABLE TO GET THE GOVERNMENT OPEN BECAUSE THERE ARE ELEMENTS IN THIS THAT ARE CLEARLY ELEMENTS THAT HAVE BEEN SUPPORTED BY $EMOCRATS STRONGLY IN THE PAST u AP

Hong Kong urged to crack down on wildlife smuggling HONG KONG: (ONG +ONG MUST DO MORE TO CRACK DOWN ON ILLEGAL WILDLIFE SMUGGLING BY ENDING LEGAL LOOPHOLES AND LENIENT SENTENCES CONSERVATION GROUPS SAID -ONDAY AS THEY DETAILED THE CITY S ROLE IN THE LUCRATIVE TRADE $ESPITE ITS COMPARATIVELY SMALL SIZE THE BUSTLING SOUTHERN #HINESE TRANSPORT HUB PLAYS A gDISPROPORTIONATEu ROLE IN WILDLIFE CRIME

RESEARCHERS SAID ACCOUNTING FOR AROUND A kFTH OF ALL GLOBAL IVORY SEIZURES AND NEARLY HALF OF ALL PANGOLINS SEIZED IN THE LAST DECADE 9ET AUTHORITIES DO NOT LIST WILDLIFE TRAFkCKING OFFENCES UNDER THE CITY S ORGANIZED CRIME LEGISLATION TARGETING DRUG TRAFFICKERS AND TRIAD GANGS AND THE FEW WHO ARE CAUGHT RARELY FACE STIFF PENALTIES

THE REPORT S AUTHORS WARN g7ILDLIFE CRIME IN (ONG +ONG REMAINS UNDER POLICED AND UN-

DER INVESTIGATED u SAID !MANDA 7ITFORT A PROFESSOR AT (ONG +ONG 5NIVERSITY S &ACULTY OF ,AW AND ONE OF THE REPORT S AUTHORS g7ILDLIFE SMUGGLING IS NOT REGARDED AS ORGANIZED AND SERIOUS CRIME UNDER (ONG +ONG LAW u SHE ADDED 4HE STUDY BY (ONG +ONG 7ILDLIFE 4RADE 7ORKING 'ROUP (+747'

A COALITION OF LOCAL GROUPS OFFERS ONE OF THE MOST DETAILED ANALYSES YET ON SMUGGLING RACKETS IN THE CITY 2ESEARCHERS COMPILED AND ANALYZED SEIZURES FROM GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS COURT CASES

MEDIA REPORTS AND .'/S FROM *ANUARY TO $ECEMBER TO ASSESS THE EXTENT OF THE TRADE 2ESEARCHERS SAID THE AMOUNT OF PARTS SEIZED IN THE CITY FOR THREE MAJOR TRAFFICKED SPECIES SINCE COULD EQUATE TO THE DEATHS OF g ELEPHANTS

PAN-

GOLINS AND RHINOCEROS u "UT THEY WARNED THE ACTUAL VOLUME BEING TRAFkCKED THROUGH (ONG +ONG COULD BE TIMES THE SIZE OF SEIZURES /VER THE LAST DECADE (ONG +ONG ESTIMATES THE VALUE OF SMUGGLING HAS GROWN BY SOME PERCENT WHILE THE DIVERSITY OF ENDANGERED SPECIES HAS INCREASED PERCENT (ONG +ONG HAS LONG SERVED AS A KEY GATEWAY TO #HINA S MAINLAND WHERE THERE IS HUGE DEMAND FOR ILLEGAL AND ENDANGERED WILDLIFE PARTS 4HE REPORT DETAILED MANY OF THE WAYS CRIME GANGS HAVE SNUCK THEIR QUARRY INTO THE CITY FROM SO CALLED gANT SMUGGLERSu WHO ARRIVE BY COMMERCIAL AIRPLANE WITH AS MUCH AS KILOS OF IVORY SEWN INTO THEIR CLOTHING TO LOOT HIDDEN INSIDE CARGO SHIPS HEADING TO THE WORLD S kFTH BUSIEST PORT AFP

CONTRABAND

Seized endangered species products, including elephant ivory tusks, pangolin scales and shark fins, are shown at a press conference at the Kwai Chung Customhouse Cargo Examination Compound in Hong Kong. Hong Kong must do more to crack down on illegal wildlife smuggling by ending legal gaps and lenient sentences, conservation groups said on Jan. 21, 2019 as they detailed the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s growing role in the lucrative trade. AFP PHOTO

Cambodia Pope ministers to Latin migrants Worldinbrief CHINA, RUSSIA COOPERATE ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PM signs 8 deals with China PRIME Minister Hun Sen has left FOR AN OFkCIAL STATE VISIT TO #HINA WHERE HE IS SCHEDULED TO MEET WITH 0RESIDENT 8I *INPING AND 0REMIER ,I +EQIANG TO DISCUSS THE FUTURE OF 3INO +HMER RELATIONS g4HIS IS THE kRST OVERSEAS VISIT AFTER THE NEW YEAR u 3RY 4HAMRONG MINISTER ATTACHED TO THE 0RIME -INISTER

SAID 3UNDAY AT 0HNOM 0ENH )NTERNATIONAL !IRPORT g)T WILL IMPROVE THE RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR #HINESE FRIENDS u 4HAMRONG SAID (UN 3EN LEADS A DELEGATION COMPRISED OF $EPUTY 0RIME -INISTER (OR .AMHONG

0UBLIC 7ORKS AND 4RANSPORT -INISTER 3UN #HANTHOL 4OURISM -INISTER 4HONG +HON OTHER HIGH RANKING GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS AND MEMBERS OF THE #AMBODIAN #HAMBER OF #OMMERCE $URING HIS VISIT (UN 3EN IS EXPECTED TO SIGN AT LEAST EIGHT AGREEMENTS KHMER TIMES

BATTLEFIELD Protesters clash with police near the Greek Parliament during a demonstration against an agreement with Skopje to rename neighboring country Macedonia as the Republic of North Macedonia on on Sunday (Monday in Manila) in Athens.

The proposal faces resistance in Greece because of what critics see as the implied claims to Greek land and cultural heritage. For most Greeks, Macedonia is the name of their history-rich northern province made famous by Alexander the Greatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s conquests.

AFP PHOTO

GUATEMALA CITY: 7HEN 0OPE &RANCIS VISITS 0ANAMA THIS WEEK

HE ARRIVES NOT ONLY AS THE kRST ,ATIN !MERICAN PONTIFF TO VISIT #ENTRAL !MERICA BUT AS PERHAPS THE WORLD S MOST PROMINENT ADVOCATE FOR MIGRANTS AT A TIME WHEN MIGRATION HAS BECOME A PRESSING POLITICAL ISSUE IN THE REGION AND ELSEWHERE 4HE !RGENTINE BORN SON OF )TALIAN IMMIGRANTS HAS LONG HELD THE ISSUE DEAR TO HIS HEART AND HAS SIGNALED THAT IT WILL BE A CENTRAL THEME DURING THE TRIP WHICH COMES AS THE LATEST CARAVAN OF #ENTRAL !MERICANS IS WENDING ITS WAY TOWARD THE 53 -EXICO FRONTIER AND 0RESIDENT $ONALD 4RUMP S PROMISED BORDER WALL HAS LED TO THE LONGEST GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN IN THE COUNTRY S HISTORY &RANCIS EMPHASIS ON FUNDAMENTAL #HRISTIAN TEACHING ABOUT WELCOMING THE STRANGER

CLOTHING THE NAKED AND FEEDING THE HUNGRY HAS BEEN A BREATH OF SUSTENANCE FOR THOSE INVOLVED IN EFFORTS TO AID MIGRANTS IN #ENTRAL !MERICA AND -EXICO

WHERE #ATHOLIC PRIESTS NUNS AND LAYPEOPLE HAVE TAKEN THE LEAD ON ATTENDING TO MIGRANTS AMID WHAT IS OFTEN A VACUUM OF INACTION AND INDIFFERENCE BY GOVERNMENTS Â&#x2021; OR EVEN OUTRIGHT HOSTILITY g)T HAS BEEN SO HARD EVEN WITHIN THE CHURCH ITSELF TO CONVINCE ;PEOPLE= THAT HELPING MIGRANTS IS PRECISELY PART OF THE WORK OF THE CHURCH u SAID ,IDIA -ARA 3OUZA COORDINATOR OF THE GROUP 0ASTORAL OF (UMAN -OBILITY IN (ONDURAS g"UT THE 0OPE HAS SUPPORTED US TREMENDOUSLY AND ) THINK NOW HE COMES TO HELP US u ADDED 3OUZA A NUN OF THE 3CALABRINIAN ORDER WHICH AIDS MIGRANTS AS ITS VOCATION AND IS PRESENT ALONG THE LENGTH OF THE MIGRATORY ROUTE g(E MUST REMIND THE POLITICIANS WHO DECLARE THEMSELVES TO BE #HRISTIANS TO BE THAT FOR REAL u 4HE MIGRATORY TRAIL NORTH FROM -EXICO AND THE VIOLENT .ORTHERN 4RIANGLE REGION OF #ENTRAL !MERICA IS FRAUGHT WITH PERIL #RIMINAL GANGS CONTROL MUCH OF THE ROUTE AND PREY

UPON MIGRANTS WHO ARE OFTEN STIGMATIZED AND FACE DISCRIMINATION AS THEY TRAVEL DISTANCES AS LONG AS MILES

KILOMETERS WITH LITTLE BUT DREAMS IN THEIR BACKPACKS !LL ALONG THE WAY THEY RELY ON A NETWORK OF SUPPORT IN THE FORM OF #ATHOLIC RUN SHELTERS WHERE THEY CAN kND A PLACE TO SLEEP BE SAFE FROM THE CARTELS AND GET A MEAL OR ADVICE 3CALABRINIANS WERE AMONG THE FIRST TO START MINISTERING TO MIGRANTS IN THIS PART OF THE WORLD IN THE MID S OPENING A SHELTER IN 4IJUANA

ACROSS FROM 3AN $IEGO !T THE TIME MIGRATION WAS LARGELY AN IGNORED PHENOMENON SAID "ISHOP 2AUL 6ERA OF 3ALTILLO IN NORTHERN -EXICO ONE OF THE kRST -EXICANS TO GET INVOLVED IN THE CAUSE ,ITTLE BY LITTLE 6ERA SAID THE NETWORK OF SAFE HOUSES TIED TO THE CHURCH SPRANG UP OVER THE FOLLOWING DECADES TO REACH THE CURRENT NUMBER OF OVER IN -EXICO %L 3ALVADOR 'UATEMALA AND (ONDURAS AP

ARTIFICIAL intelligence (AI) has become a new area of China-Russia cooperation that will provide renewed impetus to bilateral trade and investment, analysts and industry experts said on Sunday. China and Russia probably achieved their target of $100 billion in bilateral trade in 2018. To meet a more ambitious target of $200 billion by 2024, AI will play a role, analysts said. Chinese Ambassador to Russia Li Hui said in an interview in October 2018 that the two countries should increase the quality of bilateral cooperation and treat the digital economy as a new growth engine. AI was identified by Li as a factor along with big data, the internet and smart cities. Rajiv Biswas, APAC chief economist with IHS Markit, said that the internet of things, big data and AI are increasingly critical for Chinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s industrial shift toward a hightechnology economy.

GLOBAL TIMES

MEXICO PIPELINE BLAST DEATH TOLL: 85 TLAHUELILPAN, Mexico: The United Nationsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Secretary-General, AntoĂąio Guterres, learned with sadness of the deadly explosion of an oil pipeline on Friday in Hidalgo State, Mexico, and extended the UNâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s assistance to the national authorities, his spokesman said on Saturday (Sunday in Manila). People in the town where a gasoline explosion killed at least 85 people say the section of pipeline that gushed fuel has been a habitual gathering site for thieves, repeatedly damaged and patched like a trusty pair of jeans. On Friday, amid countrywide fuel shortages at gas stations as the government attempts to stem widespread fuel theft, this particular section of pipeline had come back into service after being offline for nearly four weeks when somebody punctured the line again. Word quickly spread through the community of 20,000 people that gas was flowing. Come one, come all. Hundreds showed up at the spigot, carrying plastic jugs and covering their faces with bandanas. A few threw rocks and swung sticks at soldiers who tried to shoo them away. AP

10 UN PEACEKEEPERS KILLED IN MALI TEN blue helmets from the United Nations Stabilization Mission In Mali (Minusma) were killed on Sunday following a complex terrorist attack against the missionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s camp in Aguelhok, in the Kidal region, northern Mali. The UN Secretary-General, AntĂłnio Guterres, strongly condemned the deadly attack which killed ten peacekeepers from Chad and injured at least 25 others. Minusma forces responded robustly and a number of assailants were killed, a statement issued by his spokesperson read. The Secretary-General conveyed his â&#x20AC;&#x153;heartfelt condolences to the Government of Chad, and the families and loved ones of the deceased.â&#x20AC;? and wished a swift recovery to the injured, paying tribute to the dedication and courage of the men and women serving in Minusma â&#x20AC;&#x153;at great personal risk and sacrifice.â&#x20AC;? A proliferation of armed groups fighting government forces and their allies in the center and northern areas of Mali following a failed coup six years ago, have made Minusma the most dangerous mission to serve in as a UN â&#x20AC;&#x153;blue helmet.â&#x20AC;?

UN NEWS

ISRAEL ATTACKS IRAN FORCES IN SYRIA JERUSALEM: In an extraordinary statement, the Israeli military confirmed early Monday that it attacked Iranian military targets in Syria, hours after carrying out a rare daylight air raid near the Damascus International Airport. The statement was issued hours after Israeli missile defenses intercepted an incoming missile over the Golan Heights in the wake of the airport raid. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have started striking Iranian Quds targets in Syrian territory,â&#x20AC;? the military statement said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We warn the Syrian Armed Forces against attempting to harm Israeli forces or territory.â&#x20AC;?

Until now Israel has largely refrained from public admissions of its covert military operations in neighboring Syria, in order to avoid large-scale involvement in the eight-year civil war.

The Syrian military said Israel carried out intensive airstrikes with successive waves of guided missiles shortly after 1 a.m., but added that Syrian air defenses destroyed most of the missiles before they reached their targets.

AP

B8

Maritime

TUESDAY January 22, 2019

Ë&#x153; The Manila Times w w w.manilatimes.net

EDITOR: Carmela I. Huelar

PH eyes world-class ship registry T

BY GENIVI FACTAO

Q The new Marina Central Office building on Bonifacio Drive corner 20th Street. PHOTO FROM MARINA

HE Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) has laid down plans to attract more foreign ship owners to register their ships in the Philippines.

-ARINA /FkCER IN #HARGE 6ICE Admiral Narciso Vingson Jr. said Marina would strengthen the Philippine Ship Registry through the implementation of the 10-year Maritime Industry Plan (MIDP).

Marina has undertaken measures to increase the ship registry in the Philippines, which currently stood at only 116 from 467 in 1988.

The Marina has organized workshops, consultations and conferences with private stakeholders to discuss and resolve prevalent challenges to the Philippine Ship Registry.

Marina said the things that would attract ship owners to register in the Philippines were good administration, infrastructure and kSCAL ISSUES One of the eight priority programs of Marina is the establishment of maritime industrial

hub, which is intended to promote THE COUNTRY S lAG REGISTRY Marina has conducted regular bi-annual meeting to assess the overseas shipping sectorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s overall situation. Part of Marinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s strategy is to make recommendations to change the legal framework.

These efforts led to the approval of House Bill (HB) 1288 or â&#x20AC;&#x153;An Act providing for the registration of ships and incentives therefore and other purposeâ&#x20AC;? and HB 1286 or â&#x20AC;&#x153;An Act providing for the full and effective implementation and enforcement of international maritime instruments of which Philippines is a State party.â&#x20AC;?

These proposed laws aim to strengthen the Philippine Ship Registry, as well as the implementation of rules and regulations for maritime

safety and security, and the protection of the marine environment.

Marina, through its 10-year MIDP, has targeted to address the key concerns in the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s maritime sector through its integrated and holistic long-term programs.

HB 1288 notes that a

strong and competitive merchant MARINE lEET OWNED AND CONTROLLED

by Filipinos or corporate entities established in the Philippines, MANNED BY QUALIkED &ILIPINO OFkcers and crew, and serving as a spring board for other maritime-related economic activities, is essential to the growth of our economy.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our vested interest in seafaring DEMANDS THAT WE HAVE A lEET FOR OUR SEAFARERS 7E CAN ONLY EXPAND OUR lEET if we can provide a legal framework that will encourage and allow ship owners to enter into long term vessel acquisition, development, modernization and expansion programs, and provide avenues for foreign

ship owners hiring Filipino crew to consider the Philippine registry as a competitive registry for their ships,â&#x20AC;? said Rep. Teodoro Brawner Baguilat, author of HB 1288.

The bill, if passed, will update our maritime laws and achieve a degree of uniformity with international maritime convention and practices.

ICTSI Subic hits 200,000-TEU target QAn ongoing ship to ship transfer.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

FOCUS

Ship-to-ship transfers increase efficiency COMPANIES are now considering ship-to-ship (STS) transfers to improve the operational efficiency of vessels, particularly those carrying oil and gas, while easing the burden on container port terminals.

STS transfers are direct transfers from one vessel to another while both are at anchor.

It may also be conducted while the ships are underway. This method is relevant in massive transfers of cargo between gas carriers and oil tankers.

Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC) and Ultra Large Crude Carriers (ULCC) often employ this method because these vessels do not unload cargo in just one port but in multiple locations.

They also address the problem of having ports that cannot accommodate VLCCs and ULCCs, which are known for their huge size and depth.

Industry players look at STS operations as a solution to ease delays and traffic congestion at the port.

STS transfers are often utilized in foreign jurisdictions. While the Maritime Industry Authority in the Philippines has not yet discussed any plan on the development of STS transfers, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority is already looking at STS transfers and operations for the transport of clean fuel.

The Subic Bay Freeport in early 2017 collaborated with Chinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Jovo Group Company Ltd., an operator of STS transfers of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG). The Philippines plans to develop its LNG infrastructure in preparation for the expected depletion of the Malampaya natural gas field off Palawan.

Jovoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s STS operations will be assessed after a period of five years to determine if Subic Bay

Freeport can accommodate these operations and if a regional hub is feasible. If successful, the regional hub will accommodate the delivery of LNG not only in the Philippines but also across Southeast Asia.

Subic Bay Freeport estimates that if these operations materialize and are sustained, revenues are estimated to increase dramatically. It was also reported by SBMA that several STS service providers were interested in pursuing the project.

Limitations on STS operation Although STS transfers are economical and considered appealing to many businesses, this method comes with the risk of oil pollution at sea. Prudent planning and execution by trained crews are mandatory.

Although each vessel can have its own set of procedures during STS operations, the procedures should be detailed and based on international standards. Specific risks inherent to such operations should be considered as early as the planning stage. Transferring massive cargoes usually takes more than a day.

The International Maritime Organization, the International Chamber of Shipping, the International Spill Control Organization, and the Oil Companies International Marine Forum are some of the international organizations that prescribe guidelines and impose strict regulations on vessels engaged in STS operations.

Several regulations are already in place to ensure that each state adopts appropriate measures to combat oil pollution, leakage and spills.

In 2009, the Manual on Oil Pollution was published by the IMO. Section 1 (Prevention) of the

manual requires that STS operations be under the advisory control of a designated master or an STS superintendent.

The duties of the designated person include ensuring that the provisions contained in the contingency plan are adhered to and that reports are given to appropriate authorities. He or she is also authorized to advise the termination or suspension of STS transfers and to review the plans for particular STS operations and transfers.

Another designated person will be in charge of inspecting the cargo transfer system prior to STS transfers and to ensure that safety measures, fenders, and moorings have been checked.

The transfer areas for STS operations are specifically selected by appropriate authorities, after considering traffic density in the selected area, water depth requirements during mooring and unmooring, safe anchorage available for good holding ground, weather conditions, proximity to sensitive areas, and security threats.

In 2007, the Philippines, in recognizing its international obligations, passed into law Republic Act (RA) 9483 orthe law â&#x20AC;&#x153;providing for the implementation of the provisions of the 1992 International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage and the 1992 International Convention on Having an International Fund for Payment of Damage Resulting from Oil Pollution, Providing Sanctions for Violations Thereof, and for other Purposesâ&#x20AC;?.

The law aims to protect marine life and its environment. RA 9483 is enforced through several government agencies, such as the Philippine Ports Authority, Philippine Coast Guard, and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

INTERNATIONAL Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI)â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s subsidiary Subic Bay International Terminal Corp. (SBITC) has expected that container volume will further grow this year, after hitting its milestone 200,000th twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) move last December.

SBITC President Roberto Locsin said SBITC, which operates the New Container Terminals 1 and 2 at the Subic Bay Freeport, capped 2018 with a milestone after reaching its 200,000th TEU move last December 23. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are proud of reaching this latest milestone. More than hitting our targets, this new record highlights Subic Bay International Terminalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s capability to continuously outpace market growth, and readiness to serve the vibrant Subic Freeport market,â&#x20AC;? he said.

4HE EVENT WAS MARKED BY THE OFlOADING of a milestone CMA CGM steel box from MV Sinar Sangir.

He said this achievement was made possible through their customers, the collaboration of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) and other stakeholders, and more especially through their passionate, humble and committed workforce.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Along with further investments in port equipment and systems, we continue to work hand-in-hand with our customers to IMPROVE THE EFkCIENCY OF OUR OPERATIONS and processes, and inevitably make their experience a more pleasant one,â&#x20AC;? he added.

Subic Bay International Terminal, one of the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most technologicallyadvanced box terminals, has an annual capacity of 600,000 TEUs. The increasing volumes at the Subic Bay Freeport have enabled ICTSI to streamline and interface the operations of New Container Terminal (NCT) 1 and 2.

The merged operations were ready to serve an improving local economy in Central and Northern Luzon regions, alongside with its continued support to facilitate the box market of Metro Manila.

In 2007, under the Subic Port Development Project, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) awarded ICTSI subsidiary SBITC the concession for NCT 1, with commercial operations commencing in 2008.

In 2011, under the Subic Port Projectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s second phase, SBMA awarded ICTSI Subic Inc. the concession to operate NCT 2.

Q The event was marked by the offloading of a milestone CMA CGM steel box from MV Sinar Sangir.

PHOTO FROM ICTSI

SHARP MINDS CONTENT

Regional cooperation in marine environment protection T

HE subject is timely as the rehabilitation of the waters of Manila Bay gains Presidential attention â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a call we made in this column several months back.

In Singapore last week, the focus shifted to the regional level at the International Conference on Regional Cooperation for the Protection of the Marine Environment convened by the Centre for International Law of the Singapore National University.

Participants and resource speakers consisted mostly of lawyers and a few marine scientists from the south east Asian region, Australia, India, Germany, Norway, Turkey, US and Canada.

Guided by the objective of learning from various models of regional cooperation on the subject, the conference made a quick review of the legal basis by which parties to international

SEA-THROUGH Atty. Brenda V. Pimentel conventions on protection of the marine environment. Necessarily, the regional structures, legislation and policy adopted by parties to these conventions as well as the challenges, which these regional mechanisms have to face, took the most part in the discussions.

In the south east Asian region, the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean), Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the Coordinating Body of the Seas of East Asia (Cobsea) are most relevant. Sub-regional organizations such as that in the Gulf of Thailand and in the Malacca Straits were also cited. From

outside of the region, the Mediterranean model and that in the Arctic region were also discussed.

One obvious result of the conference is the realization that national action, i.e. implementation by member countries of the commitment made under the regional arrangement dictate the success in achieving the overall goals in protecting the marine environment. The complex structures adopted by the various regional arrangements to pursue their respective regional seas programme may appear impressive but less effective in achieving their targets as national policies and strategies may not support those that are expected by the regional mechanism.

Among the observations and conclusions during the conference, the issue of consistency and relevance in country rep-

resentation to the various regional arrangements appears to be unanimously agreed to.

For example, APEC representation on marine environment protection is taken up by the Ministry in charge of the environment, while the Asean Maritime Transport Working Group (MTWG), which has for its agenda that of preventing ship-generated pollutants from being discharged into the sea is attended by officials from the Ministry of Transportation or maritime administration.

Internally, within the member Party, the absence of coordination among the various entities, which tackle the same problems and concerns, leave the seas of the region in a dire situation.

The conference though did not go far as to propose a solution to address this problem.

The Conference validated an earlier proposal I made, not SPECIkCALLY RELATING TO MARINE ENvironment protection but which should be the logical step for a country that is a party to any international/regional arrangement â&#x20AC;&#x201D; that of undertaking an ASSESSMENT OF THE BENEkTS GAINED from such membership. What are the advantages that accrue to the Philippines by being a member of the Asean? I am certain the benEkTS OUTNUMBER THE DISADVANTAGES but is the Philippines getting the OPTIMUM BENEkT )F NOT WHY At the Asean-MTWG, has there been a review by the Maritime Industry Authority on the effectiveness of the working group in so far advancing the interests and needs of the country?

Are the purposes by which the MTWG was established as well as the format of debate and dis-

cussions still relevant? Moreover, discussions of the subjects covered by the MTWG should not BE CONkNED WITHIN THE AGENCY

rather, stakeholders should be informed and from them generate meaningful inputs in formulating strategies and opportunities which membership in the Asean provide.

From the context of marine environment protection, Marina mobilized a national task force ON THE RATIkCATION AND IMPLEmentation of IMO conventions, which provides the platform for sustained discussions among pertinent agencies and should be a good starting point. This initiative could be adopted in resuscitating the waters of Manila Bay while providing meaningful participation in regional mechanisms for marine environment protection.

Sports

TUESDAY C1

JANUARY 22, 2019

www.manilatimes.net

Q Manny Pacquiao (right) throws a right on Adrien Broner during the WBA welterweight championship at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. AFP PHOTO

T H E W O R L D AWA I T S M AY W E AT H E R â&#x20AC;&#x2122; S R E S P O N S E

:LOO KH RU ZLOO KH QRW Ã&#x20AC;JKW 0DQQ\" L

BY EDDIE G. ALINEA

OS ANGELES: After the referee raised Filipino World Boxing Association welterweight champion Manny Pacquiaoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hand in victory over Adrien Broner to keep the 47-pound belt tucked in his waist, the boxing worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attention turned to the projected rematch between him and Floyd Mayweather Jr. 4HE kRST TIME HOWEVER IT TOOK MORE THAN kVE YEARS TO GET IT REALIZED 7HEN IT DID 0ACQUIAO INJURED HIS RIGHT SHOULDER THAT REQUIRED SURGERY -AYWEATHER TOOK A WIDE UNANIMOUS DECISION IN A kGHT THAT TO MANY WAS A FARCE !ND AFTER THAT DEFEAT 0ACQUIAO THIRSTS FOR A REMATCH NOT ALONE FOR FINANCIAL REASONS BUT BECAUSE FANS WANT IT g4HE FANS ARE WAITING FOR THAT FIGHT u 0AC-

QUIAO SAID DURING THE POST FIGHT PRESS ON 3ATURDAY AT THE -'- 'RAND MEDIA ROOM g7HEN WE MET IN *APAN HE CAME TO MY TABLE AND HE SAID HE WOULD COME BACK TO CHALLENGE ME ) TOLD HIM @) M A CHAMPION #HALLENGE ME AND IF YOU WANT TO COME BACK WE LL GET IN THE RING u !FTER THAT MEETING IN 4OKYO THE TWO BUMPED AT EACH OTHER AT THE &ILIPINO (ERITAGE ."! GAME OF THE ,OS !NGELES #LIPPERS AT THE 3TAPLES #ENTER

ROSE, TOWNS COMBINE AS â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;WOLVES EDGE SUNS Q Derrick Rose (right) AP PHOTO

LOS ANGELES: $ERRICK 2OSE NAILED A THREE POINTER FROM FEET WITH JUST SECONDS LEFT TO LIFT THE -INNESOTA 4IMBERWOLVES TO A VICTORY OVER THE 0HOENIX 3UNS ON 3UNDAY -ONDAY IN -ANILA g)T WAS ABOUT DAMN TIME ) HIT A SHOT LIKE THAT u SAID 2OSE 2OSE AND +ARL !NTHONY 4OWNS TOOK TURNS CARRYING THE @7OLVES ON THEIR BACKS AS THEY COMBINED FOR POINTS 4OWNS SCORED OF HIS POINTS IN THE FIRST HALF AND 2OSE SCORED OF HIS POINTS IN THE SECOND HALF FOR THE 4IMBERWOLVES WHO HAD TO OVERCOME AN POINT DEFICIT 4HE 3UNS DECIDED TO DOUBLE TEAM 4OWNS IN THE SECOND HALF WHICH OPENED THE DOOR FOR 2OSE TO THEN TAKE CHARGE g) GOT TO GET BACK INTO THE RHYTHM OF THINGS ) BELIEVE IN MYSELF AND ) WORK ON THIS ALL THE TIME u 2OSE SAID WHO SHOT OF IN THE SECOND HALF 4 * 7ARREN SCORED POINTS AND $EVIN "OOKER AND +ELLY /UBRE EACH ADDED FOR 0HOENIX WHO LOST ALL FOUR GAMES ON THEIR ROAD TRIP TO DROP TO OVERALL ON THE ROAD THIS SEASON

%LSEWHERE 4OBIAS (ARRIS SCORED POINTS AND lIRTED WITH A TRIPLE DOUBLE AS THE ,OS !NGELES #LIPPERS SNAPPED A kVE GAME LOSING SKID WITH A WIN OVER THE RED HOT 3AN !NTONIO 3PURS (ARRIS ALSO HAD NINE ASSISTS AND NINE REBOUNDS AND 0ATRICK "EVERLY kNISHED WITH POINTS AND REBOUNDS FOR THE #LIPPERS IN FRONT OF A CROWD OF AT THE !4 4 #ENTER ARENA 4HE #LIPPERS LED THE CONTEST FOR ALL BUT SECONDS AS "EVERLEY HELPED SEAL THE VICTORY WITH TWO LATE FREE THROWS 3AN !NTONIO WHO SUFFERED THEIR SECOND CONSECUTIVE LOSS AT HOME TOOK THE LEAD

WITH SECONDS TO GO ON !LDRIDGE S FINAL BASKET OF THE GAME BUT THE #LIPPERS WERE ABLE TO EXECUTE DOWN THE STRETCH ,A-ARCUS !LDRIDGE HAD POINTS AND REBOUNDS AND A BANGED UP LEADING SCORER $E-AR $E2OZAN RETURNED FROM A ONE GAME ABSENCE TO FINISH WITH EIGHT POINTS ON A DISMAL FOUR OF SHOOTING 2UDY 'AY HAD POINTS AND -ARCO "ELINELLI ADDED POINTS FOR 3AN !NTONIO AFP

g4HAT 3TAPLE #ENTER MEETING WAS COINCIDENTAL "UT IN *APAN HE CAME TO MY TABLE AND SAID HE WANTED TO FIGHT ME u THE &ILIPINO LAWMAKER FIGHTER REMINISCED -AYWEATHER WAS AT THE RINGSIDE WATCHING THE kGHT BUT LEFT WITHOUT ATTENDING THE POST kGHT NEWS CONFERENCE (E REMAINS NON COMMITTAL THOUGH AFTER VIRTUALLY HURLING HIS CHALLENGE TO 0ACQUIAO -AYWEATHER 0ROMOTIONS #%/ ,EONARD %LLERBE ON THE SAME DAY CONTRASTED 0ACQUIAO S RECOLLECTION g(E S RETIRED u %LLERBE SAID OF -AY-

WEATHER g(E HAS NO INTEREST IN DOING THAT )T S NOT ALWAYS ABOUT THE MONEY

BELIEVE IT OR NOT 7HAT MORE CAN THE MAN DO (E DOESN T HAVE THE MOTIVATION THE DESIRE (E S LIVING HIS BEST LIFE TRAVELING

RUNNING HIS MULTIPLE BUSINESSES SPENDING HIS HARD EARNED WINNINGS u g(E LL BE COME &EB AND ENOUGH IS ENOUGH 7HAT GOOD DOES IT DO TO EARN ALL THAT MONEY IF YOU CAN T HANG AROUND LONG ENOUGH TO SPEND IT u .O MEANS NO UNLESS WE RE TALKING 0ACQUIAO -AYWEATHER 4HEN NO COULD MEAN NO IT COULD MEAN YES OR IT COULD MEAN

MAYBE 4HIS IS ONE OF THE MOST COMPLICATED RELATIONSHIPS ONE COULD EVER IMAGINE 0ACQUIAO S TRAINING CONSULTANT &REDDIE 2OACH IN A SEPARATE INTERVIEW SAID HE THOUGHT 0ACQUIAO HAD DONE ENOUGH TO GET A REMATCH WITH -AYWEATHER BUT ADDED THAT FROM HIS EXPERIENCE DURING THE LONG NEGOTIATIONS FOR THE kRST THAT THIS DOESN T MEAN A THING )F THE MOOD STRIKES -AYWEATHER

HE LL COME BACK AND DO THE FIGHT )F IT DOESN T HE LL KEEP FLYING THE WORLD AND POSTING PICTURES OF HIS CARS

JEWELRY AND MONEY ON SOCIAL MEDIA

C2

Sports

The Manila Times

TUESDAY January 22, 2019

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Zverev implodes as Osaka sets up Svitolina quarterfinals M ELBOURNE: Alexander Zverev selfdestructed Monday to slump out of the Australian Open at the hands of Milos Raonic, as Japanese US Open champion Naomi /SAKA GROUND HER WAY INTO A QUARTERkNAL WITH Elina Svitolina.

Q Japanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Naomi Osaka AFP PHOTO

As the second week of the opening Grand Slam of the year got underway, the highly-rated German fourth seed lost the plot against the former world number three Canadian, crashing 6-1, 6-1, 7-6 (5).

Zverev has routinely been ANOINTED AS THE lAG BEARER FOR THE next generation, but again failed to live up to his reputation and has now missed out on making the last eight of a major for the 14th time in 15 attempts.

So furious was he with his form, the 21-year-old had a major temper tantrum in the second set, whacking his racquet into the ground eight times to leave it a crumpled mess. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I just tried to stay composed and it worked out well for me today,â&#x20AC;? said cool 16th seed Raonic, who made the SEMI kNALS IN -ELBOURNE IN He will face Croat Borna Coric or Frenchman Lucas Pouille next.

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;I was, like whoaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Fourth seed Osaka emerged from an ERROR STREWN kRST SET AGAINST CRAFTY ,ATVIAN Anastasija Sevastova to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

The victory left the bubbly 21-year-old with a last-eight clash against ambitious Ukrainian Svitolina, who battled past !MERICAN -ADISON +EYS

It will be a new experience for whoever wins that showdown, with neither of them going beyond the quarterfinals at Melbourne Park before.

This contrasts with the massively experienced Serena Williams who has made the last eight or better 11 times on her way to seven Australian Open crowns.

The 37-year-old 23-time Grand Slam winner has a blockbuster last-16 evening clash against world number one Simona Halep on Rod Laver Arena, while Novak Djokovic meets fast-rising Daniil Medvedev.

Osaka beat Williams to clinch the title at

Flushing Meadows last year. It propelled her to stardom, but she has BEEN FAR FROM CONVINCING AT HER kRST major since. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was watching all these kids winning. Last night (Stefanos) Tsitsipas beat (Roger) Federer and I was like whoa, and I decided I wanted to do well too,â&#x20AC;? she said of rallying back.

Pressure handled Svitolina needed to dig deep to OVERCOME TH SEEDED +EYS A 53 /PEN kNALIST IN The turning point was a marathon 16-minute game early in the deciding SET THAT WENT TO DEUCE TIMES AS +EYS chased a decisive break.

But the Americanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s resolve crumbled when Svitolina held off kVE BREAK POINTS THEN GAINED AN advantage in the next game. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I had to put my level up, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m glad I handled the pressure,â&#x20AC;? said Svitolina, who scored her biggest career win at the WTA Finals in Singapore last October. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was very hard because the sun was burning my eyes when I was tossing the ball, so I was very happy to win.â&#x20AC;?

AFP

ALAB PILIPINAS SURVIVES VAMPIRES IN OT RIDING on a late run, San Miguel Alab Pilipinas pulled off a 110-100 overtime victory over Mono Vampire Basketball Club in their finals rematch in Season 9 Asean Basketball League (ABL) on Sunday night at the Sta. Rosa Sports Complex in Laguna. Defending champion Alab Pilipinas went on a finishing 12-4 blitz to maintain its hold of the solo lead with an 8-2 record. The Filipino ball club also marked its first back-to-back wins this year and remained unscathed at home in seven games. Last seasonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Defensive Player of

the Year Renaldo Balkman paced Alabâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attack with 38 points, pouring 10 big markers in the extension period. Balkman banked in a difficult shot for an 86-85 lead with 47 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter but Malcolm Whiteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s free throw conversion sent the game to extension period, 86-86. Two-time Local MVP Ray Parks Jr. knocked down a triple to hand the home side a 98-93 lead at the 2:56 mark of overtime. Filipino-American guard Jason Brickman, however, answered back with his own trey to push the visiting squad within 96-98.Â

Balkman and fellow Puerto Rican import PJ Ramos combined forces to spark Alabâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fiery closing rally before Parks hit a dagger layup with 18.5 ticks left for the final count. Alab and Mono met for the first time this season following their grueling title series last year that saw the Filipino team outlast the Thai club in five games for their first ABL crown. The Vampires skidded to their second straight defeat and stayed at No. 9 of the 10team standings with a dismal 2-10 slate.

JEREMIAH M. SEVILLAÂ

Q San Beda University ace Cesca Racraquin (No. 18) drops the ball against two College of Saint Benilde blockers during a Premier Volleyball League Collegiate Conference game. FILE PHOTO

CSB, AU gun for NCAA finals berths ARMED with twice-to-beat advantage, College of St. Benilde (CSB) and ArelLANO 5NIVERSITY SEEK TO QUICKLY kNISH OFF their respective foes today in the Final Four of Season 94 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s volleyball tournament at the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.

Top seed St. Benilde collides with University of Perpetual Help System DALTA at 4 p.m. while second seed Arellano takes on rival San Beda University at 2 p.m.

CSB snared the top spot at the end of the elimination round after posting an 8-1 record and a superior quotient over Arellano and San Beda, both of which notched the same slate.

The Lady Blazers overcame a seasonopening loss to the Lady Chiefs, blazing through an eight-game winning streak capped by 25-16, 25-11, 25-11 rout of

Mapua University on January 14.

3PITkRE SPIKERS +LARISA !BRIAM AND Rachel Anne Austero are tabbed to carry THE 4AFT BASED SQUAD BACK TO THE kNALS FOR THE kRST TIME SINCE CAPTURING THEIR maiden volleyball crown in 2016.

Perpetual Help, on the other hand, CAUGHT THE LAST BUS TO THE SEMIkNALS after tripping Jose Rizal University, 2513, 19-25, 25-21, 25-14, last Thursday.

The Lady Altas closed its eliminations campaign with a 6-4 card.

Bianca Tripoli, Cindy Imbo and Shyra Umandal are expected to lead the volleybelles from Las PiĂąas in forcing a DECIDING GAME FOR A kNALS SLOT Meanwhile, a grudge Final Four MATCH UP BETWEEN LAST SEASON S kNALS protagonists Arellano and San Beda WAS ARRANGED FOLLOWING A THRILLING kNALS

rematch last week.

The Lady Red Spikers denied the Lady Chiefs an elimination round sweep that GUARANTEES AN OUTRIGHT SEAT IN THE kNALS after hammering out a 16-25, 25-17, 25-19, 18-25, 16-14 stunner.

Despite the loss, the three-peat seeking Arellano took the No. 2 spot with a higher quotient over San Beda.

The Lady Chiefs will bank on last YEAR S kNALS -60 2EGINE !ROCHA 0RINcess Bello and Nicole Ebuen as they look to secure a third straight appearance in the championship series.

Veteran skipper Cesca Racracquin and twin sisters Nieza and Jiezela Viray will be counted upon by the Lady Red Spikers, who are eyeing to pull off another UPSET FOR A RETURN TRIP TO THE kNALS

JEREMIAH M. SEVILLA

Davao Cocolife Tigers down Marikina in MPBL DAVAO Occidental Cocolife Tigers quickly bounced back to life after a sorry loss by pouring itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s might against host team Marikina Shoe Masters, 80-68 in the second phase elimination of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League Datu Cup held at the Marist School Gym in Marikina City.

The Mindanao team of owner Claudine Bautista backed by Cocolife president Elmo Nobleza, FVP Joseph Ronquillo and AVP Rowena Asnan, tightened itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s grip on top of team standing in

the south division with 16-4 win-loss record.

The Shoe Masters skidded further to 7-10. They need to win their remaining matches to stay in contention.

The Tigersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; offensive thrust led by gameâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best player PBA veteran Leo Najorda, Mark Yee, Billy Robles and Bonbon Custodio, took control of the game in the early going, building up a double digit advantage in third quarter.

But the MarikeĂąos staged an uprising powered by ex- pro Jondan Salvador. However, it

was easily foiled by the defense of big man Bogs Raymundo inside the paint and homegrown Emman Calo and Joseph Terso at backcourt en route to the Tigersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; 16th victory. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our one point setback against GenSan motivated us to go all out in this game and my teammates responded very well,â&#x20AC;?Tigers leading scorer Najorda said.

According to team manager Ray Alao, the Tigers remain focused in making it to the finals and their mission of winning the championship.Â

The Manila Times

TUESDAY January 22, 2019

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Ji wins LPGA Tournament of Champions as Ko collapses Ji Eun-hee won the LPGA Tournament of Champions on Sunday (Monday in Manila), firing a one-under par 70 for a two-shot triumph over fellow South Korean Lee Mi-rim.

On a day when chillier temperatures and gusty winds made life more difficult at the Four Seasons Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, Ji shook off back-toback opening bogeys to seize her fifth LPGA title.

The 32-year-old, a former US Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Open champion whose 2017 Swinging Skirts Taiwan triumph saw her end an eightyear title drought, has now won at least one tournament in three straight seasons.

She started the day tied for the lead with New Zealandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s former world number one Lydia Ko and they remained tied atop the board after nine holes.

But Koâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s challenge faded with a double-bogey at 13, promptly followed by a bogey at 14. She made her only birdie of the day at the 16th, but a disappointing day ended on a down note when Ko was in the hazard at the par-3 18th on the way to another double-bogey and a six-over 77.

That left her in eighth place, seven shots adrift.

Ji finished with five birdies and four bogeys on the day. Lee applied some pressure with birdies at the 10th, 13th and 16th that moved her to 12-under and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s where she finished after her three-under 68.

A bogey at 15 dropped Ji to 13-under, but she responded with a three-foot birdie at the par-four 16th to give herself a cushion over the last two holes.

Ji said the format of the new season-opening event, which features celebrities playing alongside LPGA winners from the past two seasons, made for AFP a relaxing week.

PH muay team eyes 6 golds in SEA Games AS host, the Philippines is expected to win more medals if not claim the overall championships of the 2019 Southeast Asian Games slated from November 30 to December 11.

And one of the sports associations willing and ready to accept the challenge is Muay Association of the Philippines (MAP), which promised to win six or seven gold medals for the country. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our athletes are preparing hard for the SEA Games. We have a chance of winning the gold in more than half of the events, especially the women events,â&#x20AC;? said national coach Preciosa Delarmino during Usapang Sports hosted by the Tabloid Organization in Philippine Sports at the National Press Club in Intramuros, Manila.

Delarmino was referring to women athletes Rudza Abubakar of Zamboanga in the 45-kg and Jenelyn Olsim of Baguio in the 54-kg division in the combat event.

She also noted that the tandem of Mariah Trenyce Co and Rusha Mae Tarrate of Baguio is also favored to bag the gold in the wai kru (Thai boxing dance) event.

Delarmino was joined in the weekly forum supported by the National Press Club and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), by Mardel Claro - the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first international muay technical official. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Claro said that MAP has lined up a series of tournaments here and abroad to fine tune the SEA Games-bound muay athletes. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have the Arafura Games in Australia in April, the IFMA (International Federation of Muaythai Amateur) Senior World Championship in Bangkok, the World Martial Arts in Korea in August, the IFMA Youth in Turkey in September and of course, the SEA Games in November,â&#x20AC;? Claro said.

Also present in the forum were PSC commissioner Celia Kiram and Cynthia Carrion of the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines.

Unheralded Long holds off Mickelson, Hadwin for Desert Classic win L /3 !.'%,%3 *OURNEYMAN !DAM ,ONG BIRDIED THE kNAL HOLE ON 3UNDAY -ONDAY IN -ANILA TO SEIZE HIS kRST 53 0'! 4OUR TITLE AT THE $ESERT #LASSIC AHEAD OF kVE TIME MAJOR WINNER 0HIL -ICKELSON AND !DAM (ADWIN ,ONG A YEAR OLD !MERICAN RANKED TH IN THE WORLD ONLY made his way onto the US PGA Tour this season via the Web.com Tour.

He had seven birdies without A BOGEY IN HIS SEVEN UNDER FOR A UNDER PAR TOTAL OF and the win in his sixth career PGA Tour start. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m in disbelief right now,â&#x20AC;? Long said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really know what just

happened, but Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m thrilled.â&#x20AC;?

0LAYING IN THE kNAL GROUP FOR THE kRST TIME ALONGSIDE -ICKELSON AND Hadwin -- a Canadian with three TOP kNISHES IN THE PAST THREE seasons in the California desert -- Long said the attention on his better-known playing partners left him â&#x20AC;&#x153;kind of in the background doing my thing.â&#x20AC;?

The trio was tied at 25-under

HEADING INTO THE PAR FOUR TH ON the Stadium Course, one of three courses used in the tournament.

Facing a second shot from an awkward lie below his feet, ,ONG STUCK IT FEET FROM THE PIN AS -ICKELSON kRED OUT OF THE ROUGH TO FEET AND (ADWIN FOUND THE back greenside bunker.

Mickelson, who had led all week since a sensational open-

Sports

C3

Q Adam Long

AFP PHOTO

ING SETTLED FOR A PAR AND A THREE UNDER FOR UNDER WHERE he was joined by Hadwin who also parred the last for A FIVE UNDER Long, who twice chipped in for birdie on the back nine, said THAT -ICKELSON S kRST PUTT AT gave him a good indication of what his putt would do.

Mickelson struggled on the greens all day, starting with a THREE PUTT BOGEY AT THE kRST Mickelson finished with five birdies -- draining a six-footer at AND A FOOTER AT TO REGAIN a share of the lead.

AFP

Thais seek to extend LPGT reign at Beverly Place WANNASIRI SIRISAMPANT and Saruttaya Ngam-usawan banner the 23-player strong Thai side out to keep its domination of the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour, which resumes on Wednesday with the ICTSI Beverly Place Ladies Classic in Mexico, Pampanga.

The countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s perennial reGIONAL RIVALS WON kVE OF THE ,0'4 TOURNAMENTS IN AND RULED THE kRST OF TWO LEGS OF THE new season, making them the players to watch in the P750,000 event which features the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top guns and a couple of South Korean aces.

Sirisampant won at Southwoods in her first LPGT stint IN WHILE .GAM USAWAN scored a breakthrough at Royal .ORTHWOODS IN WITH THE likes of Tiranan Yoopan, Alisara

Hyeon, who topped the kickoff leg of the new LPGT season in the ICTSI Camp John Hay Ladies Championship last October.

The locals, however, will also be coming in full force, guaranTEEING A kERY CHASE FOR TOP HONORS AT THE SHORT lAT BUT TRICKY Beverly Place Golf Club layout with LPGA Tour-bound Dottie Ardina leading the hostsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; bid.

Pauline del Rosario, Princess Superal, Cyna Rodriguez and Chihiro Ikeda are likewise raring to join the title hunt with Daniella Uy, Marvi Monsalve, Alex Etter and Gretchen Villacencio also hoping to sneak into contention along with Lisa Kang of the US, Valerie Tan of Brunei and Baek Soo Kyung and Bang Choeun of Korea.

7ITH ONLY THE TOP AFTER HOLES ADVANCING TO THE kNAL

Wedchakama, Aunchisa Utama, Mookharin Ladgratok, Saraporn Chamchoi and Chonlada ChayanUN kRMING UP THE 4HAIS TITLE DRIVE in the 54-hole championship put up by ICTSI and organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc. But they will be in for a tough outing with two-time LPGT Champion Tour titlist Lee Jeong Hwa out to re-stamp her class, together with compatriot Lee Ji

round, expect a spirited battle right from the start with amateurs Mafy Singson, Samantha Dizon, Eagle Ace Superal and Arnie Taguines of The Country Club along with Laurea Duque and Marianne Bustos spicing up the event backed by Custom Clubmakers, Meralco, K&G Golf Apparel, BDO, Sharp, KZG, PLDT, Empire Golf and Sports and M.Y. Shokai Technology, Inc.

Lakersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Ball to miss 4-6 weeks with sprained ankle

Q Thai Saruttaya Ngam-usawan CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

LOS ANGELES: Los Angeles Lakers guard Lonzo Ball is expected to miss four to six weeks with a sprained left ankle, the NBA team said on Sunday (Monday in Manila).

Ball was carried off the court by teammates Michael Beasley and Lance Stephenson on Saturday night in the third quarter of the Lakersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; overtime loss to the Rockets in Houston.

He had turned his ankle in a collision with Houstonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s James Ennis, falling to the court and holding his ankle before rising and trying limp off under his own steam.

The Lakers said in a statement Sunday that an MRI exam revealed a grade three sprain.

It was another injury blow for a team still awaiting superstar LeBron Jamesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s return from a groin injury suffered on Christmas Day. *AMES WHO HAS BEEN SIDELINED FOR GAMES

has been cleared to return to practice next week.

The Lakers also hope to welcome back guard Rajon Rondo soon after he was cleared to resume full-contact workouts. Rondo required surgery on A RIGHT kNGER INJURY SUFFERED IN THE #HRISTMAS VICAFP tory over the Golden State Warriors.

Jazz fires sparkling final round to win Singapore Open

Q Jazz Janewattananond AFP PHOTO

SINGAPORE:Â 4HAILAND S *AZZ *ANEWATTANANOND PLAYED A SPARKLING kNAL round to win the Singapore Open golf with a record-breaking score, seeing off tough challenges from Paul Casey and Matthew Fitzpatrick.

Jazz was impressive on the front nine and made the turn with A THREE STROKE LEAD BEFORE kNISHING WITH TWO BIRDIES IN THE LAST three holes to seal victory.

4HE YEAR OLD SHOT A kNAL ROUND FOR AN UNDER TOTAL It was the best four-round score in a Singapore Open staged at the 3ENTOSA 'OLF #LUB AND BEAT !DAM 3COTT S RECORD UNDER SET IN g) HAD A GOOD AND ) DID NOT KNOW IF MY GAME WAS STILL there or not as I had a big break (from playing) -- but I am happy that I have still got it,â&#x20AC;? Jazz said.

He credited a new putting style, where he grips low down on a mid-length putter, and the guidance of renowned coach Pete Cowen for helping him win on a tough course.

4HE 4HAI PLAYER kNISHED TWO SHOTS AHEAD OF WORLD NUMBER #ASEY OF %NGLAND WHO MATCHED *AZZ S kNAL ROUND AND overnight leader Yoshinori Fujimoto of Japan, whose birdie at THE LAST SAW HIM CARD A Fitzpatrick, the world number 40, snapped at Jazzâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s heels for MOST OF THE LAST ROUND BUT BACK TO BACK BOGEYS ON AND

where his drive ended up in a hazard, ended his challenge. He SHOT FOR FOURTH PLACE FOUR SHOTS BEHIND THE WINNER The win was Jazzâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s third on the Asian Tour.

There was disappointment for defending champion Sergio Garcia of 3PAIN WHO kNISHED IN JOINT SEVENTH PLACE (E STRUGGLED AFTER BEING HIT BY a sinus infection and an upset stomach at the start of the tournament.

Jazzâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s victory, the biggest of his career, means he will move INTO THE TOP OF THE WORLD RANKINGS AFP

PAGE FROM THE PAST

Today, we look back at an old front page of The Manila Times, the oldest national daily that was founded on October 11, 1898. (Note: This image was adjusted to fit the page.)

TTUESDAY U E S DAY JANUARY 22, 2019

Entertainment

D1

www.manilatimes.net

Pregnancy, overage issues hound Miss Intercontinental Miss Intercontinental in the Philippines since 2015, is very supportive of the endeavor of the Japanese franchise holding the pageant in Manila contrary to reports!

BY ARLO CUSTODIO

L

ESS than a week before the new Miss Intercontinental is crowned on January 26 at the Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena, the 47th edition is being hounded by controversies that might see less than 87 candidates on stage vying as successor to Veronica Salas Vallejo of Mexico.

In several prepageant events, the press noticed at least one candidate in an interesting stage, fanning rumors that she could soon be sent home.

A number of delegates from Europe and the Americas on the other hand seemed to look older than they had said they were, and were therefore thought to bid the pageant an early goodbye.

Seeking answers to the issues, The Manila Times talked to Miss Intercontinental executive director Bill Calubaquib follow- Q Miss Russia Tatyana Tuzova ing the National Coschuckled, pointing out that Asians tume Competition at Okada Manila's Crystal Corridor are naturally younger looking compared to other races. on Saturday night. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The maximun age requirement â&#x20AC;&#x153;There will still be 87 canDIDATES DURING THE kNALS -ISS is 27 and there are three or four India is not pregnant, she has candidates who are within that age some liver problems that could right now. For Miss Russia, sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s have bloated her tummy. She was only 25. She looks like a Barbie already suffering during her na- doll because she is actually â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Rustional pageant, and her sickness sian Barbie.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Walang mababawas manifested when she got here. It sa candidates, 87 pa rin sila na was because of the observation of rarampa sa Janury 26,â&#x20AC;? he averred.

Calubaquib also said that a her bulging waistline that she did not join the Swimsuit Competi- Russian network wants to buy tion, but she was in all the rest of the rights to the pageant and the events,â&#x20AC;? Calubaquib explained. the people behind the company As to the overage issue, par- CONkRMED THAT THEIR CANDIDATE IS ticularly referencing to Miss Rus- indeed Miss Russian Barbie.

He likewise clarified that sia who looked a decade older or even more than the maximun age Binibining Pilipinas Charities, franchise holder of requirement, the pageant executive t h e

GUESS

Ling, 23, whose mother is from Toril, Davao City, and her father is ethnic Chinese Malaysan national.

Suprisingly, although this is HER kRST TIME TO SET FOOT IN THE Philippines, the Sabah native Becoming â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Russian lUENTLY SPEAKS NOT ONLY -ALAYBarbieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; sian and English but Tagalog and Cebuano as well.

Model-fashion designer Tatyana â&#x20AC;&#x153;My mother taught us at home, Tuzova had been collecting Barbie emphasizing that we should know dolls since childhood, and decided the languages she herself speaks. to make that image when her par- 4HIS IS MY kRST TIME TO COME TO THE ents, friends and acquaintances Philippines, kasi sabi ng nanay ko, told her she looked like the toys we should visit the country only she had been stockpiling. when we can do it by )N HER OFkCIAL BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ourselves na,â&#x20AC;? she Tuzova wrote that she was born in told The Manila Moscow into a family of musicians, Times a t the and that she learned how to sew sidelines of OUTkTS FOR HERSELF EARLY ON the Naâ&#x20AC;&#x153;I dyed my hair, then with the tional Coshelp of lenses changed the color of tume Commy eyes, [and] lost weight. I always petition. understood that appearance in life The is not the most important thing, so I devoted a lot of time to studying.

Today, I have two degress as music teacher and public relations manager. I turned a hobby into a job. ) RECORDED TWO SOLO ALBUMS kVE video clips, gaining millions of views on YouTube; constant shooting and touring the cities of Russia, Europe and America. After this, people started to call me â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Russian Barbie,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; then I won several prestigious awards: the Russian Music Box Music Award, the Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Success Awards â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the Designer of the Year, the European Best Top Persons Award â&#x20AC;&#x201C; [and] Best Pop Singer of the Year 2018.â&#x20AC;?

middle of three siblings â&#x20AC;&#x201D; she has an older brother and younger sister â&#x20AC;&#x201D; she said that it was her maternal grandmother who would visit them in Malaysia. She placed Second Runner-Up in her national pageant and was appointed to CARRY THE lAG OF -ALAYSIA IN THE Miss Intecontinental pageant.

In the same pageant last year, representing Japan was Kumi Miyamae,

whose mother hails from Baler, Quezon. She placed in the Top 16. Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s now co-organizer of the pageant being held in Manila along with her mom. Her good friend, Racquel Basco, whom she cultivated close friendship in the pageant held in Egypt last year, represented USA. Basco, whose father hails from Alabang, is full-bloodied Filipino but born and raised in the US.

Miss Malaysia delves into Filipino roots While there are those who frown at half-bred Filipinos representing the country in international pageants, did you know that there are also half- or even full-bloodied Filipinos wearing sashes of their home or adopted countries?

Representing Malaysia in this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Miss Intercontinental is Scarlett Megan Liew Zi

Q Miss Malaysia Scarlett Megan Liew Zi Ling

Q Good will and friendship is what beauty pageanty brings forming bonds strong among last yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Miss Interncontinental candidates in Egypt.

(From left) Miss Canada Mattea Henderson, Miss USA Racquel Basco and Miss Japan Kumi Miyamae are reunited in Manila to attend coronation night on January 26.

What keeps Phillip Salvador busy nowadays

WHO

H

Lacking in looks; lacking in funds No wonder, this showbiz-political scion (SPS) is closer to his mom. To this day, SPS reportedly remembers how his once-poweful disciplinarian dad (OPDD) would openly discourage him from embarking on a showbiz career. â&#x20AC;&#x153;What, you want to follow in my footsteps?â&#x20AC;? OPDD told SPS during a heated confrontation. "What makes you think you got the looks, ha?â&#x20AC;?

Looking on, SPSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; comforting mom simply wrapped her arms around her embarrassed son, reassuring him dad just wanted him to choose a more stable different career path.

Ever obedient, SPS did just that. He opted to scrap his plan to go into showbiz but is supportive of his siblings who are into politics.

NNN Despite having gone separate ways, this popular actress-comedienne (PAC) and the recording artist-father (RAF) of her kids have remained civil toward each other, if not buddies.

Since PAC has lofty dreams for her kids, she decided to entrust them to RAF who is now based in the US. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sa States niya pinag-aral yung mga bata. Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the one who shoulders their expenses, from the tuition fees to the kidsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; board and lodging,â&#x20AC;? our source said. !T kRST THE SETUP RAN SMOOTHLY WITH 0!# EVEN SENDING money on a regular basis. â&#x20AC;&#x153;OK sa umpisa until the PAC discovered na kumukupit pala yung RAF sa ipinadadala niya."

Q Miss India Suman Chellani PHOTOS BY DJ DIOSINA

AS Phillip Salvador lost inteREST IN DOING kLMS Vignettes raises this question after reports surfaced that the multi-awarded actor was spotted at the Solaire Theatre during the MMFF Gabi ng Parangal last December 27.

A regular gamer at the hotel and resortâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s casino, Phillip was around to accompany former Special Assistant to the President Bong Go who stood as one of the jurors at the festival.

Several weeks ago, he also brought the ex-SAP to a radio station for guesting. It is said, too, that Phillip is the one who represents President Rodrigo Duterte during most of the LATTER S OFkCIAL FUNCTIONS Understandably with all this work on his shoulders, it may SEEM HARD FOR ANY kLM PRODUCER to engage his services.

Vignettes remembers a movie offered to Kuya Ipe in 2016 by the very producer who has become his close ally. It was supposed to be his businessman-friendâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s initial attempt at producing movies, a Chiquito film remake, which starred Vhong Navarro.

Of course, the role wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t along-

side the main starâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, but it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t bad after all considering that grabbing the offer wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t gratis et amore despite his and the producerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s long-standing friendship. â&#x20AC;&#x153;He was offered a fee equivalent to a second lead actor,â&#x20AC;? our source revealed sans the EXACT kGURES For some reason, Phillip nonchalantly declined the project. â&#x20AC;&#x153;

VIGNETTES RONNIE CARRASCO 3RD

IMDB PHOTO

Eh, kasi naman

that time, he was already starting to get busy with the Presidentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work schedule,â&#x20AC;? the producer was later told.

With his stature as an actor (thanks to his late mentor Lino Brocka), itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s quite unfortunate that Ipe isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t as active as he was in the movies.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Akala pa naman ng mga taong bilib sa kanya, heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d catch up on

his career after he lost his vice gubernatorial bid [in Bulacan in the last national elections],â&#x20AC;? our source remarked.

Meanwhile, Vignettes has this last question: How true that Kuya Ipe became richer by P100 million after hitting the jackpot at a casino late last year?

Perhaps that's the reason why he has no need to make movies anymore.

D2

Lifestyle

TUESDAY January 22, 2019

Ë&#x153; The Manila Times w w w.manilatimes.net

Filipinos could use more space A HOUSE packed to the rafters with possessions â&#x20AC;&#x201D; old and new acquisitions accumulated through the years â&#x20AC;&#x201D; is common in many Filipino households.

In fact, for residents of a bustling metropolis like Metro Manila, where a large chunk of the populace resides in cramped townhouses and condominium units, the lack of storage space is fast becoming an aggravation.

For Sam Peterson, founder and Managing Director of Loc&Stor 24/7 in the Philippines, this was the situation that presented an opportunity to bring the self-storage industry to the Philippines.

After gaining nearly two decades of multi-national management experience in Asia, Peterson moved to the Self-Storage sector where he ran the Asian business. With the learnings of a global leader and the experience of facility design and

build across Asia, it became clear to Peterson it was time to make the step to owner/operator. â&#x20AC;&#x153;By working with different selfstorage operators across the globe, I was able to take the best practices I learned and bring them to the Philippine market,â&#x20AC;? said Peterson, whose wife Anna is a Filipina. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I looked at different markets, speCIkCALLY -ALAYSIA 6IETNAM 0HILIPpines, and Indonesia. In the end, I found the Philippines to be the BEST kT OF MY VISION OF WORLD CLASS self-storage.â&#x20AC;?

Filipinos are ready for self-storage After rigorous planning and mar-

Q The facility uses heavy-duty trolleys and carts free for use on-site to make moving items much easier.

ket studies, Peterson saw that the Philippines was ready for a worldclass self-storage facility. In 2014, he opened Loc&Stor 24/7 in Pasig City, home to a thriving business district, a slew of gated villages, AND SCORES OF RESIDENTIAL AND OFkCE high-rises. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I personally believe thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a number of sectors here in the Philippines where consumers are ready for a truly world-class product, self-storage being one of these sectors. I saw that opportunity here, and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s when we developed the concept and the imageryâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and got it up and running,â&#x20AC;? he added.

Peterson admitted, however, that it was a tough job at the beginning, especially since at that time there wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t as much awareness of self-storage in the Philippines as there was in other countries. Just think: the industry started in the US as early as the 1960s and around two decades ago, some countries in Asia had caught on. â&#x20AC;&#x153;So now we have a job not only of creating awareness of our company, but creating awareness of self-storage at large,â&#x20AC;? he pointed out.

Peterson said he could go on forever on why Filipinos should consider self-storage, but he noted that the most important reason for keeping valuables and other possessions in such a facility is, â&#x20AC;&#x153;It gives you peace of mind.â&#x20AC;?

For Peterson, self-storage is an amazing concept. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I used to ask myself, why would people want to place their stuff in self-storage? So I looked at it very logically. And I tried it, myself. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I went through our home and stored the things we didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to throw away because it might be connected to us somehow or our kids might use it one day, but was not really what we wanted in the home at that time. We got all that stuff and placed it in self-storage. â&#x20AC;&#x153;And Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m telling you, when we got back to the house, we had a great feeling that our home was the way we wanted itâ&#x20AC;Ś uncluttered and nothing out of place.

That feeling alone is enough rea-

Q Self-storage expert Sam Peterson saw that the Philippines was ready for a world-class self-storage facility as he opened Loc&Stor 24/7 in 2014. son for anyone to use self-storage,â&#x20AC;? he explained.

At present, Loc&Stor 24/7 has facilities strategically located in the cities of Pasig and Makati.

Peterson affirmed that they have been very particular about Loc&Storâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s locations, as they want to ensure not just their accessibility but more importantly their safety and security. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The facilities must be in strictly lOOD FREE AREAS u HE STRESSED g)F IT didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t survive Ondoy, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a no-go.â&#x20AC;?

But what makes for a truly â&#x20AC;&#x153;world-classâ&#x20AC;? self-storage facility? For Peterson, Loc&Stor 24/7 is a cut above the rest because of the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attention to details in every aspect of its facility and service.

However, Peterson shared that the greatest lesson he has learned so far is that creating awareness is more important than anything else, especially in a growing market like this. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re in a good place in the Philippines and that the Filipinos appreciate the product.

We want to make things easy and convenient for them. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s always more work to be done, but I believe that we will continue to grow,â&#x20AC;? Peterson stated.

Âťwhatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;sonwhere Big baby sale is on ITâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S that time of the year when spring-cleaning also allow people to find out what they need to stock up on. For parents, this could be a perfect opportunity what with a big online sale for baby supplies to co-

incide with the opening of the year.

Supply of infant diapers; cans or boxes of baby milk; the cutest clothes and bibs; non-toxic toys for the fastgrowing tot â&#x20AC;&#x201D; these and more are on sale at the biggest online three-day

Q Everything baby needs from strollers to gentle detergents.

baby fair at www.lazada.com.ph.

Happening today until January 24, parents can expect up to 80 percent off on a well-curated line-up of products with over 100 brands ready to give 50,000 great deals.

Q How much space do you need? Units ranging from 1.5-square-meter lockers that can fit eight balikbayan boxes, to 18-square-meter jumbo-size units that can accommodate the contents of a 40-foot container.

Five things to do with unwanted Holiday gifts ITâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S happened to everyone at least once: eagerly opening a Christmas present only to be silently disappointed because the item is something that cannot be used, is too small or too big, or simply unappealing as a gift.

Proper etiquette dictates that everyone thanks and keep the gift but with the limited living space, people often have no choice but to find ways on how to put unwanted gifts to good use. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Christmas is the most festive holiday celebration in the Philippines. Even before December 25, Filipinos had already given gifts to their friends and gone to numerous parties, where prizes are raffled off,â&#x20AC;? said Rambo Joinani, head of Goods & Services at OLX, an online classifieds platform in the Philippines. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Some of these presents and raffle items donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t end up being useful to their recipients, though. On OLX alone, the number of consumer-to-consumer listings in certain categories grew by as much as 24 percent from October 2018 to the first few weeks of December 2018. Brand-new TVs, tablets and smartphones are listed on our platform, their item descriptions indicating that they were either a gift or a raffle prize from a party.â&#x20AC;?

There are numerous alternatives to make the best out of unwanted gifts. Rather than letting them gather dust in a closet, consider these different ways to turn them into something useful. Here is a list of five things to do with unwanted holiday gifts: Donate. Donating a gift is a great way to find the present a new home. Giving gifts

or even party raffle prizes and tokens to non-profit organizations or charity is a great way to give back to those in need.

Regift. This is one of the best ways to spread joy. Pass the unwanted gift to someone who will appreciate it so the item wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t go to waste.

Someone else might actually want it. Be careful, though and avoid an awkward situation by giving the present to someone who is not acquainted with the original sender.

Swap. Host a gift-swapping party. Invite friends, tell them to bring their unwanted gifts for browsing, and let them pick the ones they want. That way, each guests has a chance to trade in a gift for something he or she would actually enjoy. It can also be considered as annual friendship ritual.

Do-It-Yourself. This is the best option for artsy and crafty people. Transforming unwanted gifts is a great way to keep things out of the dump while it giving the home a little dĂŠcor boost. These little projects allow users to completely repurpose items into something useful like a gift mug transformed into a pen holder or flower pot; a handkerchief as bag design or accessory; or a picture frame turned light switch design cover.

Sell online. If all else fails, sell the items online. People donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t need to be stuck with unwanted presents. Consider making money out of it by posting items on online selling platforms.

Âťmomhacks

˜ The Manila Times w w w.manilatimes.net

Funtimes

TUESDAY January 22, 2019

D3

Solution to Mega Maze

» CROSSWORD

BY EUGENE SHEFFER

»HOROSCOPE Today’s Birthday (01/22/19). Teamwork realizes dreams this year. Your work behind the scenes allows for success. Surprises arise at home. Turn a partnership around this winter. High physical performance levels this summer lead to a transition phase.

Next winter brings renewed inspiration and insight. Connect, contribute and collaborate.

To get the advantage, check the day’s rating: 10 is the easiest day, 0 the most challenging.

A R I E S (M A R C H 21-A P R I L 19) -- Today is a 7 -- You’re learning in great strides. The next two days get especially busy. Pace yourself. Balance work with physical exercise and rest. Study health and wellness.

TAURUS (APRIL 20-MAY 20) -- Today is a 7 -- Your family fortunes are on the rise. Romance blossoms today and tomorrow. Guard time for fun and relaxation. Check in with your circle.

GEMINI (MAY 21-JUNE 20) -- Today is a 7 -- A partner’s good luck rubs off on you. Focus on home and family. Domestic renovations merge beauty with function. Choose colors that soothe.

CANCER (JUNE 21-JULY 22) -- Today is a 9 -- Enjoy a surge of vitality. Exercise builds your energy, strength and endurance. Write what you’re learning. Share your discoveries. Edit, polish and publish.

LEO (JULY 23-AUG. 22) -- Today is a 9 -- Someone has you quite enchanted. Don’t let a profitable opportunity pass you by. Focus on making money over the next two days. Handle a deadline.

VIRGO (AUG. 23-SEPT. 22) -- Today is an 8 -- Consider your image and make style changes. Clean out your closet and let go of stuff that no longer fits. Dress for the part you want.

LIBRA (SEPT. 23-OCT. 22) -- Today is a 7 -- Good things come

» SUDOKU

BY NANCY BLACK through communications. Balance speaking with silence. Peaceful privacy soothes you today and tomorrow. Consider your words in advance. Plan your outreach.

SCORPIO (OCT. 23-NOV. 21) -- Today is an 8 -- Profitable opportunities flow through your network of friends. Focus on community projects over the next few days. Social connections present interesting collaborations.

SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22-DEC. 21) -- Today is an 8 -- Prepare for a professional test or challenge. You’re especially charismatic; use that to your advantage. Turn on the charm. Smile and pose for the camera.

CAPRICORN (DEC. 22-JAN. 19) -- Today is a 7 -- Savor peaceful surroundings. You’ve got a travel bug; put on your rambling shoes and hit the road. Keep an open mind. You’re learning fast.

AQUARIUS (JAN. 20-FEB. 18) -- Today is a 7 -- Friends bring luck. Monitor your joint finances, and adjust the budget to suit reality.

Changes necessitate revisions. Make strategic plans with your partner. Determine priorities.

PISCES (FEB. 19-MARCH 20) -- Today is a 9 -- Your business is growing. A partner’s support is important. Express your appreciation and gratitude. You could never do it all without teamwork and collaboration.

(Astrologer Nancy Black continues her mother Linda Black’s legacy horoscopes column. She welcomes comments and questions on Twitter, @LindaCBlack. For more astrological interpretations like today’s Gemini horoscope, visit Linda Black Astrology by clicking daily horoscopes, or go to www.nancyblack.com.)

NANCY BLACK. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

BY ROGER SEVILLA

Complete the grid so that every row, column and 3x3 square contains the digits 1 to 9 with no repeats.

Solution from yesterday’s puzzle.

The Manila Times

THE POWER LUNCH ROSTER Read The Manila Times when you dine at these establishments.

7D]D 0LD &RȨHH 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 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

16 Upper Session Road, Baguio City Tel. No. 074-442-4241 Telefax: 074-442-5445 website: marios.com.ph Facebook: marios.group

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 Serye Quezon Memorial Circle Addess: 4XH]RQ 0HPRULDO &LUFOH (OOLSWLFDO 5RDG 'LOLPDQ 4XH]RQ &LW\ Landline: +63 (02) 924 3411 Mobile: +63 906 570 3328 Serye Santana Grove, Paranaque Address: 6DQWDQD *URYH 'U $ 6DQWRV $YHQXH 6DQ $QWRQLR 3DUD³DTXH &LW\ Landline: +63 (02) 826 9317 Mobile: +63 998 485 0571 Email: SeryePH.Resto@gmail.com | Facebook.com/Seryeph

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

Tinapayan Festival Bakeshoppe 1650 Dapitan St. corner Don Quijote St. Sampaloc, Manila Tel. No. 732-2188; 740-6987 | Telefax No. 732-1082

(0921)-382-7221 SMART (0977)-361-8890 GLOBE 930-7623|930-8085 LANDLINE

Unit 19 Cluster 3 Molito Lifestyle Building Madrigal Ave. Alabang,Muntinlupa City

02 5193868 | +63 9174045624 buonavita.molito.jmcu@gmail.com

Café Terrace

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

PROVIDORE

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

GREENBELT Ground Floor Greenbelt 1 Ayala Center Makati City ROBINSONS MAGNOLIA 3rd Level Robinsons Magnolia BAGUIO CITY Chalet Baguio upper Military Cuf 2È¥ 5RDG %DJXLR &LW\

Glorietta: Glorietta 2, Ayala Center, Palm Dr, Makati, 1224 Manila, Philippines 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

625 4831 and 625 4832

SM AURA PREMIERE Bonifacio Global City | 802 9448

Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City È&#x17D; The Paseo Center, Makati City È&#x17D; Rockwell Center, Makati City È&#x17D; Westgate Center, Muntinlupa È&#x17D; Entertainment Mall, SM Mall of Asia È&#x17D; Midtown Robinsons Place Manila È&#x17D; Trinoma Mall, Quezon City È&#x17D; The Terraces, Ayala Center Cebu È&#x17D; Resort World Manila, Pasay City

TOMAS MORATO 282 Tomas Morato Avebue Brgy. Sacred Heart, Quezon City

757 3000 and 757 6000

Zuelig Building. Makati City

Williams Street corner Roxas Blvd. Pasay City (beside old DFA) Tel. No. (02) 821-2031 or 358-2482 Google, Instagram & FB PAGE: chateaubriandph | Email: jyfnb.ph@gmail.com Breakfast: 6am-9am Everyday | Weekend Lunch 11am-3pm Everyday Dinner: 6pm-10pm

CAFÃ&#x2030; TERRACE

Ayala Museum, Makati City

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

E 1

TTUESDAY, TUESDA U E S DAY DAY AY, January Jaanuar ary ryy 22 222, 2, 220 2019 019 199

Year of Global Awards for the Bentley Continental GT

T H E M OTO R I N G S E C T I O N O F

B

ENTLEY has enjoyed a year of international recognition for the new Continental GT â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pinnacle Grand Tourer â&#x20AC;&#x201C; picking up an impressive number of accolades.

Designed, engineered and handcrafted in Great Britain, the Continental GT received 19 awards from a wide range of publications in countries including China, Germany, Russia and its home market of the UK. Commenting on the year of success, Adrian Hallmark, Chairman and Chief Executive, Bentley Motors, said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Elegant understatement that forces you to look; engineering excellence youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll take for granted â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the extraordinary breadth of capabilities offered by the new Continental GT is unique and can only be offered by our noble British brand.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;The experts around the world have spoken, and they all agree weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve created the finest Grand Tourer and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m delighted that the car has received such a high level of recognition.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;With the new Continental GT Convertible joining this highly acclaimed range, this only adds to the strongest and most technologically advanced portfolio of products the world has ever seen in one luxury brand.â&#x20AC;?

New Continental GT â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Winning With Judges

Since its public unveiling just over a year ago, the third generation Continental GT has become a statement of Grand Touring excellence, combining supercar performance with limousineLIKE REkNEMENT AND LUXURY World-leading style experts, GQ magazine, picked the ultimate grand tourer for its â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Best Interior (And Possibly Exterior)â&#x20AC;&#x2122; award. It wrote: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Bentleyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s challenge was to locate the sweet spot where hi-tech intersects with fabulous luxury. Challenge met.â&#x20AC;? It added that â&#x20AC;&#x153;Bentley has created a stunning environmentâ&#x20AC;Ś Best interior? Yes, and the rest.â&#x20AC;?

In naming it â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;GT of the Yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, BBCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Top Gear magazine praised the Continental GTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s depth of engineering, with the publication describing it as â&#x20AC;&#x153;simply one of the most complete GT cars on the planetâ&#x20AC;?. Particular praise was given to the carâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s composure on road, making it â&#x20AC;&#x153;easier than ever to thread through the tricky bitsâ&#x20AC;?.

In the inaugural News UK Motor Awards, including the Times and Sun titles, the Continental GT was named â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Luxury Car of the Yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. The judges noted that â&#x20AC;&#x153;the cabin feels as sumptuously appointed as the Princess Grace Suite at the Hotel de Paris Monte-Carloâ&#x20AC;? and that â&#x20AC;&#x153;unlike many sports cars, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll arrive feeling as relaxed as when the journey startedâ&#x20AC;?.

The Continental GT was also named â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Best Interiorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Best Exterior Premium Brandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; in the prestigious German Design Awards, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Grand Tourer of the Yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; by Sohu Auto in China, and â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Best Grand Tourer for travelling in Europeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; by Russian title, Prime Traveller.

Bentley 2018 awards in detail: For more information, contact Bentley Manila at 09178370527 or visit its showroom in Global City.

ÂłBentleyE2

E 2

TUESDAY, January 22, 2019

Q Vince Socco, executive vice president of Lexus Asia Pacific, poses beside the all-new UX during Lexus Philippinesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; 10th years anniversary celebration this month.

VINCE SOCCO FACEBOOK PAGE PHOTO

LEXUS MARKS 10 YEARS IN THE PHILIPPINES T

HIS year marks Lexusâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; 10th year of delivering amazing products and excellent customer service in the Philippine luxury automotive scene. The brand made its local debut on January 14, 2009, with the opening of its showroom at the heart of Bonifacio Global City and the launch of its initial line-upâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; the ,3 lAGSHIP SEDAN

the ES 350 executive sedan, the GS 460 sports sedan, the IS 300 compact sedan, and the LX 570 full-sized SUV. It did not take long for Lexus Philippines to gain gravitas in the luxury automotive industry.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;As we celebrate the New Year, we not only welcome the bright new horizons it bringsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; we also celebrate an important milestone. This year, we celebrate Lexus Philippinesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; 10th Anniversary as an organization,â&#x20AC;? said Lexus Philippines President Satoru Suzuki. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When we launched the Lexus brand in the Philippines back in January 14, 2009 WITH THE INAUGURATION OF OUR kRST AND ONLY dealership, we did not expect to gain such traction immediately. We are humbled that after a decade of steady progress, Lexus Philippines is now recognized as one of the strongest luxury brands in the country.

From a market share of 13 percent on our kRST YEAR OUR SHARE HAS INCREASED TO percent based on CAMPIâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s initial industry report, making us second in the luxury automotive industry,â&#x20AC;? he added, referring to the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. For four consecutive years now, Lexus has also maintained strong leadership in SUV sales, being number one in the commercial VEHICLE SEGMENT 4HIS SIGNIkCANT GROWTH has positioned Lexus Philippines at fourth regionally â&#x20AC;&#x201D; tied with Lexus Thailand â&#x20AC;&#x201D; in terms of new car sales. In terms of market share, Lexus Philippines is top two among ITS ,EXUS REGIONAL AFkLIATES NEXT ONLY TO Lexus Indonesia.

To cater to the increasing demand of consumers all over the country, Lexus Philippines has expanded their service operations to bring the Lexus experience outside the showroom.

From their sole dealership in Metro Manila, THEY HAVE SET UP kVE ,EXUS !CCREDITED 3ERVICE Centers across the Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao regions particularly in Laguna, Pampanga, La Union, Cebu and Davao, done in partnership with local Toyota dealers.

The Lexus NX introduced

Lexus has been on a journey of product transformation in the past ten years, with the design language having changed to become BOLDER AND MORE DISTINCTIVE ! SIGNIkCANT change in driving dynamics that pairs seam-

Q The all-new Lexus UX marks the brand entry into the luxury subcompact SUV segment. LEXUS.COM.PH PHOTOS lessly with Lexusâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; world renowned comfort has also been brought about. In 2017, Lexus International introduced a new tagline coinciding the global debut of the Lexus LC lAGSHIP COUPE SHIFTING FROM THE PREVIOUS â&#x20AC;&#x153;Amazing in Motionâ&#x20AC;? tagline to â&#x20AC;&#x153;Experience Amazing.â&#x20AC;? Since then, models with elevated levels of performance, design and craftsmanship have been introduced to the market â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the LS, the ES and the all-new Lexus UX, WHICH MARKS THE BRAND S kRST EVER INTRODUCtion in the subcompact SUV segment. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have had quite an amazing run lately of transforming our vehicles and brand. We will not stopâ&#x20AC;Ś In fact, I am so excited to introduce you to the all-new Lexus UX,â&#x20AC;? said Vince Socco, executive vice PRESIDENT OF ,EXUS !SIA 0ACIkC â&#x20AC;&#x153;While the UX exterior adopts universal Lexus design cues, it maintains its own PERSONALITY WITHIN THE ,EXUS LINE UP OF kNE AUTOMOBILES THE DEkNING FEATURE IS THE front signature three-dimensional Lexus grille, from which other design elements SEAMLESSLY lOW u HE ADDED

For the modern urban explorer

The Lexus UX is a subcompact SUV crafted expressively for the modern urban explorer.

Juxtaposing a sporty urban design with high ground clearance and agile driving performance, the UX allows its drivers to maneuver through the city with precision and class. It BRINGS TO THE TABLE THE WIDEST kELD OF VISION and best turning radius of any luxury subcompact SUV. The UX was crafted to achieve the best possible aerodynamic performance THROUGH WORLD kRST AERODYNAMIC FEATURES Inspired by the traditional Japanese concept of Engawa that blurs the boundary between a homeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s exterior and interior, it was designed to create a feeling of seamless continuity inside. This makes the UX the perfect road companion for modern urban explorers â&#x20AC;&#x201D; people who are on a non-stop adventure to experience life at its fullest. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The all-new UX is a fresh genre of crossovers. It is built for modern explorers in urban environments and non-stop adventures. It is our special gift to commemorate 10 years of Lexus in the Philippines. Once again, our deepest appreciation for your amazing support for Lexus,â&#x20AC;? Socco said.

For his part, Suzuki said he sees Lexus in the Philippines making bigger strides in the next 10 years. â&#x20AC;&#x153;As Lexus Philippines commemorates ten years of creating amazing experiences, I would like to take this opportunity to express our sincerest gratitude for being a big part OF THIS AMAZING JOURNEY ) AM CONkDENT THAT with our strong brand, our strong product line-up, our strong customer-centered efforts, and your strong support â&#x20AC;&#x201D; we will see the next decade through with equal success,â&#x20AC;?

Suzuki said.

Q BENTLEY FROM E1

Year of Global Awards Continental GT British GQ News UK Motors Award

Best Interior (And Possibly Exterior) Luxury Car of the Year

UK

Sohu Auto Global Times

Grand Tourer of the Year 2017 Innovate product of the Year 2017

China

Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Uno

Best Car of the Year 2018

TrophĂŠes de lâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Argus Coyote Automobile Awards

Design Design

Festival Automobile International Sportscars of the Year Autozeitung German Design Awards German Design Awards

Design

OBSERVADOR

Best Sportscar

Turbo

Best Sportscar

Essilor Car of the Year

Best Sportscar

Auto Pro 2018

Best luxury car

Romania

Prime Traveller

The Best Grand Tourer for travelling in Europe

Russia

Autobello Best Cars - (Auto Illustrierte)

2018 Best Luxury Design Award Best Luxury Car 2019

Spain Switzerland

Robb Report Vietnam

Top 10 Best Cars

Vietnam

Best GT

France

Germany

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Exterior Premium Brandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Best â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Interiorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Portugal

E January 22, 2019 3 TUESDAY,

T

Toyota unveils Vios XE

OYOTA A Motor Philippines (TMP) further strengthened the Viosâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; position as the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best-selling subcompact sedan by expanding its wide range of variants, with the introduction of the Vios XE.

Created to provide customers with an entry-level but top-quality sedan with Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) that is easy to own at P735,000 SRP (suggested retail price), the Vios XE is aptly named for being 8TRA %CONOMICAL 8TRA %FkCIENT AND Xtra Easy to Drive. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Now more than ever, Filipino driv-

ers will get to experience the comfort of automatic transmission while enjoying all the hallmark features of the Toyota brand,â&#x20AC;? said TMP First Vice President Cristina Arevalo.

Under the Vios XEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hood is the tried-and-tested 1.3-liter Dual VVT-i engine, which has proven itself to be A PREFERRED POWERTRAIN FOR FUEL EFkCIEN-

cy. The XE also shares the same safety features present across all Vios variants: a 5-star Asean New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) rating, seven SRS airbags, vehicle stability control, hill start assist, and anti-lock brake system.

With the Vios XE, drivers can relax on the road with their carefully curated playlist as the newly introduced variant comes equipped with a touch screen 7-inch display audio with CD/MP3, weblink for both iOS/Android, as well as Bluetooth, USB, and AUX connectivity. In addition to its continuously variable transmission, the Vios XE makes the daily city drive easier with power

OOT app makes booking out of town trips, car rentals easy GOING out of town and need a car with driver? How about accomplishing an errand within Metro Manila with a rented car? Worry no more, as Out of Town Cars, also known as OOT, is here to solve those problems using its mobile application.

In a statement, OOT said it enables its

riders to book trips through its Outstation service. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Riders can book any destinations across Luzon. So if you want to travel to key tourist destinations such as Baler, La Union, Baguio, Tagaytay or soak in the beaches of Batangas or Zambales, just go to Google Playstore, search OOT,

press download, register your personal details and book,â&#x20AC;? it said.

The Outstation service has pool of OOT partners who will bid for a trip request giving its clients freedom to choose a driver based on their offered price and amenities. Passengers can book vehicles with seating capacity

steering, front and rear power windows, and power door locks. â&#x20AC;&#x153;As a testament to the quality, durability, and reliability of its entire model lineup, Toyota brings together a new variant that combines the signature elements of an enduring automotive icon,â&#x20AC;? Arevalo added. â&#x20AC;&#x153;And because itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a Vios, customers can still expect to get the most out of their investment with the high resale value and reasonable maintenance cost that the model has been known for.â&#x20AC;?

The SRP for the current Vios line-up including the XE variant is as follows.

1.5 G Prime A/T at P1.095 million;

from four to 15 passengers for oneway or round-trip up to a maximum of seven days.

Meanwhile, its Cityride service caters to riders who have errands within Metro Manila and need a car for a certain number of hours. This service provides car and driver for occasions like wedding, birthday, debut or business functions in Metro Manila. Riders can book four or seven-seater cabs up to four hours at very affordable price packages per hour.

1.5 G A/T at P1.040 million; 1.5 G M/T at P981,000; 1.3 E Prime A/T at P933,000; 1.3 E A/T at P878,000; 1.3 E M/T at P828,000; 1.3 XE at P735,000; 1.3 J M/T at P685,000; and 1.3 Base at P659,000.

The new Toyota Vios XE comes in four colors: Thermalyte, Red Mica Metallic, Freedom White, and Alumina Jade Metallicâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;now available in all Toyota dealerships nationwide.

For more information on the Vios, VISIT 4-0 S OFkCIAL WEBSITE AT WWW toyota.com.ph or join the official Facebook group at www.facebook.com/ ToyotaMotorPhilippines.

OOT also assures the safety and security of its clients. â&#x20AC;&#x153;OOT values your security and has safety features including share trip details to your loved ones where they can track your trip through GPS and the SOS button for emergency purpose. OOT offers an introductory P500 discount for Outstation booking and P200 discount for Cityride,â&#x20AC;? it added.

Vist Google Playstore to download the OOT application or thru this link bit. ly/2SazVYq.

E 4

TUESDAY, January 22, 2019

Appreciating the

Nissan Kicks T

BY ROBERT DUFFER

HE best thing about the Nissan Kicks is the price. For about $22,000, the subcompact crossover comes well-equipped with advanced driver assistance systems and convenient technology. The worst thing about the Nissan Kicks is it is not a very good car.

There are no kicks with the Kicks. It makes me better appreciate its predecessor, the Nissan Juke. The Juke was at least different. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s okay that the Kicks is dull â&#x20AC;&#x201D; so is just about every other small crossover, even with its two-toned roof like the Toyota CH-R. Kicks is more about the destination than the journey.

But the journey in the Kicks is loud, harsh and priced accordingly. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Why is it so bumpy?â&#x20AC;?, my 11-year old asked on a weekend road trip. It felt as if a spring coil or strut in the front suspension was ready to quit. It picks up whatever the road is putting down, and takes in a lot of road and wind noise while doing so. We thought a window was cracked it was so loud on the highway.

The continuously variable transmission doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t steer us away from complaining either. Although much improved, it drones at heavier throttle and when the powertrain is cold. In

NORMAL AROUND TOWN DRIVING IT S kNE It helped return an impressive 33 mpg at an average speed of 46 mph. But the gas station will still be a familiar sight because of its tiny 10.8-gallon fuel tank.

Liking the Kicks

Once you get beyond that stuff, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a lot to like about the Kicks.

With its short overhangs, two-toned roof and aggressive body cladding, it looks like a cross between a Toyota C-HR and Hyundai Kona. Unlike the C-HR or Juke, it has normal door handles (on the door, not wedged in the window frame). But the Kicks is priced at least $1,500 less than the competition.

The small engine has something to do with the small price. But the 125-horsepower four-cylinder provides a bit of kick because the Kicks only weighs 2,672

pounds (in SR trim). Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s really all there is to say about performance â&#x20AC;&#x201D; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll get you there.

The interior of the top SR trim surprises for this price. Leather steering wheel and shift knob, orange stitching and seat pattern to match the orange roof and a very simple interface combine for an attractive, minimalist cabin.

The circular outer vents are kind of cool too. Most important for the targeted urban consumer is the advanced driver assistance systems, including the subtlebut-effective blind spot warning that appears on the side mirrors, 360-degree split-screen backup camera and easy to use steering wheel controls to access vehicle info. The seven-inch color touch screen is small but effective. Android Auto and Apple CarPlay come standard on SR trim.

Rear legroom is tight, but the cargo volume with the seats up is near tops in the class. We fit our portable hockey locker, which is about 3.5 feet tall if not a whale, vertically in back so we didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to fold down the seats.

We also fit one adult, two kids

and our stuff for a two-night weekend getaway. The dog fit, too, which is another benefit of the Kicks. It has good ground clearance of 7 inches, and a low step-in height of 15.4 inches, which is more like a sedan than a crossover. It is easy to get in and out of, but it is not too high off the ground, even for the pup wary of the lovely remote start function.

The subcompact crossover segment is loaded with options, and none of them really kick-start the heart. Kicks is another that sacrifices any sort of driving sophistication for aboveaverage fuel economy and interior space at a below-average price. There are smoother, quieter small crossovers, but not with the interior appointments at this price.

TNS

Shell garners most carmaker recommendations in 2018

Q (Seated from left) The signing of the agreement between Pilipinas Shell and Isuzu Philippines Corp. was led by IPC Division head of Marketing Joseph Bautista, IPC President Hajime Koso, Pilipinas Shell President and CEO Cesar Romero, and Pilipinas Shell Vice President for Retail Anthony Lawrence Yam. Shown at the back are Pilipinas Shell Brands and Marketing team and the IPC Corporate Communications team.

IT has h been b a remarkable k bl year ffor PilipiPili i nas Shell with six automobile manufacturers recommending Shell as their fuel of choice in the Philippines. These include Mazda, Subaru, the Autohub Group (the local dealer of Mini Cooper and Vespa), Hyundai, Toyota Manila Bay, and Toyota Talisay in Cebu.

They add to Shellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s prevailing global partnerships with Ferrari, BMW-M and Ducati.

And to wrap up a prolific year, Shell added Isuzu Philippines Corp. (IPC) to its roster of affiliates with the signing of an agreement held late last year at the Top of the Citi in Makati. Those who attended the signing of the agreement were Pilipinas Shell President and Chief Executive Officer Cesar Romero, Pilipinas Shell Vice President for Retail Anthony Lawrence Yam, IPC President Hajime Koso, and IPC Division Head of Marketing Joseph Bautista.

With this agreement, Shell and IPC will be collaborating on various value-added offers to delight their loyal customers

andd help in h l them th have h better b tt journeys j i the succeeding year. As IPC now recommends Shell Fuels as the best partner for their vehicles, a Shell Welcome Kit will be given along with every new Isuzu vehicle purchase. Every customer who buys an Isuzu car, will also receive 5k worth of Shell fuel vouchers plus a welcome kit that contains P600 worth of additional Shell fuel vouchers and information booklet. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We highly value this partnership with the leading diesel-powered light commercial vehicles and trucks brand in the Philippines,â&#x20AC;? Romero said. He noted that the two powerhouse companies already have an existing tie up on commercial vehicles and fuels, but this is a first for Retail.

For his part, Bautista expressed confidence that the partnership is just the beginning of something bigger and better in the years to come. â&#x20AC;&#x153;With the synergy of these two global brands, we can come stronger for 2019 and beyond,â&#x20AC;? he said.

For more information, visit www.shell. com.ph.

F 1

TUESDAY January 22, 2019

Q Subaruâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first hybrid vehicle takes center stage at the Motor Show.

THE MOTORING SECTION OF

Motor show promotes hybrid and electric technology TEXT AND PHOTOS BY DINO RAY V. DIRECTO 3RD

S

).'!0/2% 4HIS YEAR MARKS THE kFTH YEAR OF THE 3INGAPORE -OTORSHOW 3INCE 'LENN 4AN PRESIDENT OF 3INGAPORE S -OTOR 4RADERS !SSOCIATION AND DEPUTY CHAIRMAN AND MANAGING DIRECTOR OF 4AN #HONG )NTERATIONAL

TOOK THE REIGNS IN THE SHOW HAS GROWN BY LEAPS AND BOUNDS

This year, 31 automotive brands actively participated with 25 new car launches every hour for the whole day during its opening on January 11. More than 100 cars were on display as enthusaiasts from as far as Malaysia trooped to the massive Suntec Convention and Exhibition Center ALONG 2AFlES "OULEVARD IN $OWTOWN #ORE Visitors to the weeklong automotive extravaganza witnessed stunt-driving

Q Porsche highlighted their e-technology at their interactive booth.

performances by world-renowned precision driver Russ Swift, motoring lifestyle products and services, plus great deals in purchasing a car.

Show stoppers Taking center stage were the hybrid cars and all-electric models. The star of the SHOW WAS THE &ORESTER E "OXER THAT IS

³Technology F2

Q (From left) Glenn Tan, managing director of Tan Chong International; Gerry Hernandez, deputy manager, Subaru PH; and Uzzi Asuncion, marketing manager of Subaru PH in a light moment during the Q&A of the e-Boxer launch.

F 2

TUESDAY January 22, 2019

A homage to the Champion on his 50th birthday

T

(% Ferrari -USEUM IS DEDICATING A SPECIAL EXHIBITION TO -ICHAEL 3CHUMACHER

WHICH OPENED ON THE OCCASION OF HIS TH BIRTHDAY ON *ANUARY &ERRARI INTENDED THE EXHIBITION BOTH AS A CELEBRATION AND A MARK OF GRATITUDE TO THE MOST SUCCESSFUL 0RANCING (ORSE DRIVER EVER

Schumacher has a special place in Ferrariâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s history, which has been marked by HIS MANY RECORDS "ETWEEN AND

THE 'ERMAN CHAMPION WON kVE CONSECUTIVE $RIVERS TITLES FROM TO AND MADE

a major contribution to the Scuderiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s haul of six Manufacturersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; titles over those years.

The museumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rooms will look back over the memorable seasons that the seven-time world champion gifted to all

Ferraristi, and that created a legend now bigger than ever in the hearts of all fans.

The exhibition will also show Michaelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s crucial contribution to the development of extraordinary GT cars in his years at

Maranello, as a driver and later as a consultant.

The â&#x20AC;&#x153;Michael 50â&#x20AC;? exhibition is in collaboration with the Keep Fighting Foundation.

Q Hyundai continues to make headway with the all-electric Kona.

Q Nissan displayed its fleet with the electric car Leaf as the star of the booth.

Q TECHNOLOGY FROM F1

Motor show promotes hybrid and electric 3UBARU S kRST HYBRID MODEL "ASED ON THE STANDARD MODEL THE E "OXER features an electric motor and a lithium ion battery pack added to its 2.0-liter four-cylinder â&#x20AC;&#x153;boxer engine.â&#x20AC;? !S WITH MOST GASOLINE POWERED VEHICLES THE E "OXER STARTS OFF IN ELECTRIC VEHICLE %6 MODE AND ITS GAS ENGINE KICKS IN TO WORK IN TANDEM once the car has picked up speed. Subaru fans will be happy to know THAT THE E "OXER RETAINS THE BRAND S FAMED SYMMETRICAL ALL WHEEL DRIVE system for optimal handling on any road and weather condition.

(YUNDAI CONTINUES TO INNOVATE AS IT PRESENTED ITS "ATTERY %LECTRIC 6EHICLE "%6 +ONA VARIANT /N PAPER THIS ALL ELECTRIC +ONA OFFERS the longest range for a electric vehicle at a distance of 482 kilometers on a single charge.

3UPER CAR MANUFACTURER 0ORSCHE UNVEILED TO THE PUBLIC THE 0ANAmera 4 E-hybid Sport Turismo. This four-door sports car proves that sustainability and performance can go hand-in-hand. For starters, THE HYBRID 0ANAMERA IS CAPABLE OF A COMBINED OUTPUT OF BHP WHEN ITS LITER 6 BI TURBO ENGINE WORKS IN TANDEM WITH ITS hp electric motor. On a full charge, this performance EV has a top speed of 140 mph.

For fans of the greatest 4x4 so far, Land Rover took the wraps off THE 2ANGE 2OVER 0(%6 PLUG IN HYBRID ELECTRIC VEHICLE 0OWERED BY a combination of a 2.0-liter turbo-charged engine that works in tandem with an electric motor, the combined 404 bhp means that this sports ute is no pushover. Land Rover stated that performance was NOT COMPROMISED AS THIS 2ANGE 2OVER 0(%6 IS CAPABLE OF RETURNING AN AVERAGE OF JUST LITERS PER KILOMETERS /N A FULL BATTERY THIS 0(%6 CAN TAKE YOU KILOMETER ANYWHERE ON ANY ROAD CONDITION Nissan followed up the success of the e-Note version with the 3ERENA E 0OWER THAT FALLS UNDER THE -06 CATEGORY 4HE ,EAF WHICH IS *APAN S MOST SUCCESSFUL ELECTRIC VEHICLE NEXT TO THE 4OYOTA 0RIUS HAS a claimed range of 300 kilometers on a full charge.

Tuned

TUESDAY January 22, 2019

F

OR DECADES 'ENERAL -OTORS WAS ONE OF THE BIGGEST CORPORATIONS IN THE WORLD AT ONE POINT SELLING ONE OUT OF EVERY TWO CARS IN THE 5NITED 3TATES *UST BETWEEN THE S AND THE S ALONE '- MADE SO MANY CARS THAT SOME OF ITS DIVISIONS WERE BIG ENOUGH BY THEMSELVES TO BE AMONG THE WORLD S LARGEST CAR COMPANIES There was plenty of room for competition between the divisions, and the sports car segment was the real showcase.

It was during these golden years that 0ONTIAC CREATED THE 4RANS !M ITS DESIGNers and engineers as much at war with #HEVROLET AS THEY WERE WITH !-# &ORD OR $ODGE AMONG OTHERS )T WAS TO BE THE DEkNITIVE 0ONTIAC SPORTS CAR AND THE WIZARD BEHIND IT WAS *OHN $E,OREAN 0ONTIAC S DIVISION HEAD $RIVEN CHARISMATIC THE PROVERBIAL FORCE OF NATURE $E,OREAN WAS inspired greatly by European sports cars.

Many of the model names he chose for his cars paid homage, like GTO, Grand 0RIX AND ,E -ANS (E HAD IDEAS FOR A sleek, light, shorter wheelbase GT with $ETROIT IRON UNDER THE HOOD AND HE HAD DEVELOPED A kBERGLASS BODIED PROTOTYPE HE CALLED THE "ANSHEE 5NFORTUNATELY

'- BRASS TOLD HIM THE "ANSHEE CONCEPT would remain just that forever, but that HE COULD BUILD A 0ONTIAC VERSION OF THE #HEVY #AMARO )NSTEAD $E,OREAN CREated a car that nearly beat the Camaro at its own game.

4HE 4RANS !M STARTED AS AN

g4RANS !Mu OPTION PACKAGE ON THE &IREBIRD !S WITH EARLY AND LATER '4/S

THE 4RANS !MS WERE OPTIONED Firebirds and not yet their own separate model range.

0ONTIAC ENGINEERS HAD MANAGED TO coax 325 high-strung, high-rpm horsepower out of their 250 cubic-inch OHC OVERHEAD CAMSHAFT SIX $E,OREAN S PREFERRED ENGINE FOR THE 4RANS !M BUT EARLY designs of the all-new, second-generation 1970 F-body, clearly ruled out using the tall and long OHC engine for the future.

F 3

'- MANAGEMENT WEREN T SATISkED WITH THE COSTLY CYLINDER ENGINE ANYWAY SO THEY simply turned back to good old-fashioned V-8 power, choosing the 400 cubic-inch 2AM !IR ))) AS THE POWERPLANT OF CHOICE IN 4HE HP 6 FEATURED THE SAME 10.75:1 compression ratio and four-barrel Quadrajet carburettor as the standard 400, but with a different camshaft, operational RAM AIR AND EXHAUST MANIFOLD SET UP !N OPTIONAL HP 2AM !IR )6 ENGINE option was ordered for only 55 examples. /FFICIALLY 0ONTIAC OFFERED A THREE SPEED manual as the standard transmission for the 4RANS !M BUT VERY FEW THREE SPEEDS WERE ORDERED THE VAST MAJORITY OF 2AM !IR ))) 4RANS !MS CAME EQUIPPED WITH THE -UNCIE â&#x20AC;&#x153;M-20â&#x20AC;? wide-ratio four-speed transmission THE 2AM !IR )6 ENGINE EXCLUSIVELY FEATURED THE CLOSE RATIO - ! VARIABLE RATIO POWER STEERING UNIT greatly enhanced the handling and road FEEL OF THE CAR )N ADDITION THE 4RANS !M FEATURED A UNIQUE ONE INCH ANTI ROLL BAR This car has an astounding and lengthy HISTORY WITHIN THE 0ONTIAC DIVISION OF '- â&#x20AC;&#x201C; having started out as a company car - and is the only triple-white convertible version in existence. It received a concours-level restoration that was completed in 1994.

Ĺ&#x152;Ä&#x17E;Ć&#x152;ĹľÄ&#x201A;Ć&#x152;ĹŹÄ&#x17E;Ć&#x161; Sparco lifestyle products Only PIAA for Team Toyota-Gazoo REGARDED as the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest automotive accessories retail chain with 58 stores nationwide, Blade has carved a respectable niche in the aftermarket industry with its extensive line of affordable automotive accessories and car care products that ranges from car audio-video systems down to air fresheners and wheels.

Among their popular brands is Italian brand Sparco, Â an Italian auto part and accessory com-

pany headquartered in Volpiano, Turin, Italy, that specializes in producing items such as seats, steering wheels, harnesses, racewear and helmets. In the Philippines, Blade is the distributor for Sparcoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lifestyle products such as seat covers and floor mats. Sparco floor mats are easy to clean and made from a non-skid backing material and designed to universally fit most cars and AUVs. For brands such as Sparco, OMP and Goodyear, Blade caters to the consumer line of automotive products such as air compressors, seat belt pads, and car floor mats. They also offer a complete line of car care products such as Blade signature products, Sonax, Motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, Meguiarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and Wurth, among others.

Blade Auto Centerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s line of car accessories and gadgets are reasonably priced from a high purchase volume. Their automotive lifestyle stores are located in SM, Ayala and Robinsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Malls nationwide.

TOYOTA Gazoo Racing clinched the Manufacturers Championship in the World Rally Championship (WRC) last year, with the team starting its campaign again at the WRC in 2017. Toyota Gazoo Racing chose PIAA as its official technical partner in providing the lighting systems for the Toyota Gazoo Yaris WRC. Backed up with research and development gained from motor sports campaigns such as being the official lighting system of Team Mitsubishi Ralliart, Team ADVAN-Tein Subaru, Nakajima-Epson Racing and a domineering presence in the Paris-Dakar and Japan Super GT, PIAA upholds the knowledge gained by combining market driven concepts with the latest technology to make night, inclement weather, and off-road driving as safe as possible. PIAA technicians continually raise the bar on visibility products whose lamps take their styling and lighting performance cues from the popular PIAA 1100x lamps, which have been a staple of the PIAA line-up for years.

PIAA has always been committed to providing quality products that drive customer satisfaction with their line of

LED headlights and fog lamps. A special beam â&#x20AC;&#x153;cutlineâ&#x20AC;? is what differentiates PIAA technology from the competition. The beam of light is clear, and a directional frontal burst is engineered to not inconvenience oncoming motorists.

Illuminate your driving lifestyle with PIAA at these dealers: Autoplus Edsa; Atoy Bodykits in West Avenue, Quezon City; Blade outlets; CKT Autoshop in San Juan; Roadstar BGC in Taguig City; and 199 Offroad House in Tondo, Manila.

F 4

TUESDAY

January 22, 2019

Heavy Duty

F

OLLOWING AN INTERNATIONAL SEARCH $!& HAS FOUND THE OLDEST $!& TRUCK STILL IN COMMERCIAL USE Â&#x2021; AND IT IS IN OPERATION ALMOST EVERY DAY 4HE TRUCK IN QUESTION IS AN ASTONISHINGLY SPRIGHTLY !

OWNED BY &RITS AND .ICKY (OEFNAGELS

WHO USE IT TO TRANSPORT A NOSTALGIA kLLED FAIRGROUND ATTRACTION ALL OVER THE .ETHERLANDS g9ES OF COURSE WE USE IT JUST LIKE ANY OTHER TRUCK u SAID &RITS g7HAT ELSE IS A $!& TRUCK FOR u

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our truck may be 50 years old, but it is still a long way off retirement,â&#x20AC;? added Frits. $!& ANNOUNCED ITS SEARCH FOR THE OLDest truck earlier last year, as the company continues to celebrate its 90th birthday in 2018. The search was launched with a video on social media that features a cattle TRADER WHO HAS BEEN OPERATING HIS $!& truck across Ireland since the early 1980s.

The video has been viewed almost half a million times, prompting an avalanche of contenders for the title. Responses poured in from all over the world, but the oldest truck was found virtually in the back

Q DAF was able to track down the oldest running truck still in commercial use and in very good shape.

DAF finds oldest truck still in commercial use GARDEN OF THE $!& FACTORY IN %INDHOVEN

IN THE VILLAGE OF "AKEL $!& WAS INUNDATED WITH REPORTS OF VEhicles that had been in use since the late S AND EARLY S "UT NOT ALL OF THESE great trucks met the criteria - the winner had to be a truck that is still in regular use for commercial transport on public roads.

4HE PROUD OWNER OF THE OLDEST $!&

TRUCK IS THE FAMILY RUN $UTCH FAIRGROUND business Hoefnagels, which uses the truck to transport its attraction all over the Netherlands. The photo that was submitted to $!& VIA &ACEBOOK BY FATHER AND SON &RITS and Nicky Hoefnagels, showcases no fewer THAN FOUR CLASSIC $!& TRUCKS ALL IN TOP condition, thanks to the constant care and attention they are given.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our attraction is a cake walk. We use OUR $!& TRUCKS TO TRANSPORT OUR @,UNAPARK attraction, and the trucks were new when WE ADDED THEM TO OUR lEET 4HE ,UNAPARK goes into storage over the winter, but other than that we are on the move from early spring until late autumn, taking this huge building set from fairground to fairground,â&#x20AC;? Frits said.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;In addition to a 2800 from 1975 and A FROM WE HAVE TWO ! S /NE OF OUR $!& gKICKERSu Â&#x2021;SO CALLED DUE TO THEIR gFROG LIKEu APPEARANCEÂ&#x2021;IS FROM

AND THE OTHER FROM !ND WE donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t take it easy on them,â&#x20AC;? laughed Hoefnagels. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are delighted to own and drive THE OLDEST $!& STILL IN COMMERCIAL USE A ! FROM Ă&#x153;u

Hyundai, Plan International celebrate graduation of pilot Dream Center batch

Foton to build truck assembly plant in Tanzania CHINESE automaker Foton Motor Co. is set to establish a truck assembling plant in Tanzania as it gears toward extending its foray in the East Africa region. The automobile makerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s strategy to set up the facility is in line with the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fifth phase government targets on industrialization. President John Magufuli of Tanzania has pushed the dream in the country as he looks to make a significant impact before his time come to an end.

Manufacturing is a prioritized sector that has

high potential to catapult the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dream of becoming a middle-income economy by 2025.

The goal has spurred the interest of many foreign investors to seek business opportunities. The head of state has worked to establish a conducive environment for foreign businesses and support the local sector.

Foton launched its assembling facility in Kenya early this year to cater for the market demand in the country. The company envisions offering solutions in the transport sector

to facilitate trade. The automaker plans to eradicate the prevalent challenge of unemployment by creating job opportunities for Kenyan citizens.

The expansion plan will ensure car dealers acquire the trucks at an affordable price as compared to importing. Spare parts will be as well available at competitive prices.

Car automakers continue to venture in the African market as they look to have a share of the pie. Toyota is a major investor in the manufacturing industry and a potential competitor as well.

German carmaker Volkswagen, which recently entered the Rwandan market, is extending its reach in Ethiopia.

Last year, Tanzania cut its taxes as a business incentive measure to attract more investments in the automotive industry. The Finance Bill of 2017 stated that: â&#x20AC;&#x153;A corporation with a newly-established plant for assembling motor vehicles or tractors will receive a corporate tax rate of 10 percent,â&#x20AC;? which will be a 20-percent reduction of the 30 percent corporate tax rate.

The government is adamant to produce brand new locally-made vehicles as well as export to neighboring countries. A similar strategy is undertaken by Uganda that seeks to phase out old cars and discourage car imports, and support the local manufacturing sector.

WWW.CHINATRUCKS.COM

ON .OVEMBER (YUNDAI !SIA 2ESOURCES )NC (!2) THE OFkCIAL 0HILIPpine distributor of Hyundai vehicles, celebrated the graduation of the pilot BATCH OF (YUNDAI $REAM #ENTRE 0HILIPPINES ($#0 SCHOLARS ALONGSIDE PARTNERS (YUNDAI -OTOR #O (-# AND 0LAN International at the Hyundai Logistics Center in Calamba, Laguna.

4HE ($#0 INAUGURATED IN !PRIL IS A world-class scholarship program that provides bright, young Filipinos with comprehensive training on Hyundai vehicle repair and mainTENANCE (!2) AND 0LAN )NTERNATIONAL A GLOBAL humanitarian organization, collaborated on THE DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF 4%3$!

CERTIkED TRAINING COURSES ADAPTED TO THE DIVERSE educational backgrounds of the 45 pioneering SCHOLARS 4%3$! IS THE 4ECHNICAL %DUCATION AND 3KILLS $EVELOPMENT !UTHORITY (!2) #HIEF /PERATIONS /FFICER AND #HIEF &INANCIAL /FkCER ,ADISLAO !VILA *R said at the ceremony: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Today we celebrate SOMETHING VERY SPECIAL THE FULkLLMENT OF OUR SHARED VISION FOR THE $REAM #ENTRE 0HILIPPINES )NSPIRING $REAMS %MPOWERING !BILITIES &ORTY kVE YOUNG PEOPLEÂ&#x2021; THIRTY EIGHT MEN AND SEVEN WOMENÂ&#x2021;WILL SOON FULkLL THEIR OWN DREAMS AND BEGIN CAREERS AS 0EOPLE OF (YUNDAI u In recent years, HMC has established $REAM #ENTRES IN COLLABORATION WITH LOCAL vocational schools in Ghana, Indonesia, #AMBODIA AND 6IETNAM ($#0 IS THE kRST $REAM #ENTRE ESTABLISHED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH a local distributor. !MONG THE PROGRAM GRADUATES THREE were recognized for their exemplary per-

formance in written and practical exams, and in their conduct throughout training. $OMINIC ,ORENZO 0AUNILIAN kNISHED AT the top of his class, with Montemar Joson and Eric Jayson Cornico placing second and third in their batch, respectively. (!2) 0RESIDENT AND #HIEF %XECUTIVE /FkCER -A &E 0EREZ !GUDO CONGRATULATED THE kRST ($#0 GRADUATES AND THE THREE TOP performers for their hard work and success. g7HEN (!2) (-# AND 0LAN )NTERNATIONAL JOINED FORCES TO BUILD THE ($#0

we wanted to empower deserving young Filipinos to build careers for themselves and lift the bar of the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s automotive industry. It brings us great pride to SEE THAT THE $REAM #ENTRE HAS GIVEN THESE youths the skills and expertise they need to accomplish this,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;These pioneer graduates are now PART OF OUR !FTER 3ALES TEAMS AT SELECTED DEALERSHIPS AS 'ENERAL *OB AND 0REVENtive Maintenance Technicians, with the potential to sustain our award-winning SERVICE PERFORMANCE u 0EREZ !GUDO ADDED

About HARI (!2) THE OFFICIAL DISTRIBUTOR OF Hyundai passenger cars and commercial VEHICLES IN THE 0HILIPPINES HAS BEEN HAILED FOUR TIMES AS (YUNDAI !SIA 0ACIkC $ISTRIBUTOR OF THE 9EAR

AND AND (YUNDAI 'LOBAL $ISTRIBUTOR OF THE 9EAR AND (!2) BOASTS OF its 42-strong dealer network, superior aftersales, dealer and customer relations support, and an enviable roster of best-selling commercial and passenger vehicles.

Q The pioneer batch of Hyundai Dream Centre Philippines graduates from Courses 1 & 2 proudly display their certificates alongside (second row from left) HARI Vice President, After-Sales Division Richard Gapasin, Plan International Sponsorship Manager Mike Reynaldo, Plan International Senior Program Manager Natividad Silorio, HARI Chief Operations Officer and Chief Financial Officer Ladislao Z. Avila, Jr., and (third row, far right) Plan International Program Technical Manager Emilio Paz.