Manila Standard - 2017 January 15 - Sunday

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VOL. XXX • NO. 337 • 5 SECTIONS 20 PAGES • P18 • SUNDAY, JANUARY 15, 2017 • www.thestandard.com.ph • editorial@thestandard.com.ph

SAYYAF RELEASE KOREAN, FILIPINO

By Francisco Tuyay

T

HE Abu Sayyaf set free a South Korean ship captain and his Filipino crewman who were abducted from their vessel off the coast of Tawi-Tawi last October, officials said Saturday.

Sources said Capt. Park Chul Hong and Filipino crewman Glenn Alindajao were released after the payment of a P25-million ransom with the mediation of former Sulu governor Abdusakur Tan but Peace Secretary Jesus Dureza maintained the government stuck to its noransom policy.

The Abu Sayyaf released Park

and Alindajao to Moro National Liberation Front members Abraham Joel and Adon Adak in Indanan town and they were later turned over to Dureza at the residence of the former Sulu governor.

The abduction on board the 11,400-ton heavy load carrier Dong Bang Giant 2 occurred Oct.

20 just off the southern entry of the Sibutu Passage, a 29-kilometer wide channel used by merchant shipping in transit between the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea. The cargo ship was heading for South Korea from Australia.

The gunmen boarded the vessel and hurriedly took Park and Alindajao at gunpoint. The rest of the crew members, mostly Filipinos, managed to escaped by hiding and locking themselves inside their cabins. The two captives were then taken somewhere in Sulu.

“They were released from captivity this morning. The Moro National Liberation Front [MNLF] based in Barangay Kagay facilitated the release of the kidnapped

victims,” said Maj. Filemon Tan, spokesman of the Western Mindanao Command.

The two captives were presented to the media in Davao City and subsequently airlifted to Manila where Park was handed over to South Korean embassy officials.

In a press briefing, Dureza could not give details on who was behind the abduction but sources said the kidnappers were bandits under the leadership of Abu Sayyaf sub-commander Alden Bagade, a notorious gunmen operating in Sulu.

The two seafarers were beaten by their captors and forced to sleep in the jungle while eating dried fish and drinking unclean water, Dureza said.

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THINK LIKE A WARRIOR, TRAIN LIKE A WARRIOR

‘RODY LIKE SINGAPORE FOUNDER’ FREE AGAIN. South Korean ship captain Park Chul Hong (left) and his second officer Glenn Alindajao disembark from a plane in the company of Peace Secretary Jesus Dureza and two unidentified Korean officials after being released by the Abu Sayyaf. AFP

9,000 COPS DEPLOYED FOR STO. NIÑO OVER 8,000 policemen will be deployed in Cebu City while almost 1,000 more will be fielded in Manila as two of the country’s oldest Catholic dioceses marked the feast of the Holy Child Jesus on Sunday.

Called the Sto. Niño [Holy Boy], the feast was introduced to Filipinos by clerical missionaries who accompanied Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century and was officially recognized

by Pope Innocent XIII in the

18th century.

The feast is celebrated both in Cebu and Manila, but the former has been turned out to be the larger, more colorful spectacle attended by thousands of local and foreign tourists every third Sunday of January.

Police Regional Office 7 Public Information Officer, Senior Inspector Reslyn Daposala Abella said security measures for the Sinulog Saturday procession and Sunday grand parade were

already ironed out.

“We assure the public that the PNP is here and ready and we are prepared for the Sinulog grand parade celebration,” she said in a phone interview on ANC’s “Dateline Philippines.”

Central Visayas police spokesman Senior Inspector Reslyn Abella said there were no serious security incidents on Saturday when tens of thousands of devotees joined a solemn procession Turn to A2

FIESTA TIME. A young lady from Tondo, Manila dons an intricate costume depicting the Holy Child Jesus during a pre-festival event in front of the Sto. Niño de Tondo Church in Manila. Norman Cruz

PH PUSHES ‘PEOPLE-ORIENTED’ ASEAN

By John Paolo Bencito

BEST VIEWING EXPERIENCE. The PLDT Group, Solar Entertainment and TV5 entered into an agreement that will enable the best viewing experience of the Miss Universe pageant, at home and on-the-go. At the contract signing were Miss Universe Organization vice president Shawn McClain, Solar Entertainment president Wilson Tieng, PLDT chairman Manny V. Pangilinan, PLDT and Smart Chief Revenue Officer Eric Alberto, and TV5 president and CEO Chot Reyes.

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THE Philippines will push for a more “peopleoriented” Association of Southeast Asian Nations as it takes the chairmanship of the 10-nation regional bloc which is marking its 50th anniversary this year.

“We want to make Asean more relevant to the lives of poor and ordinary citizens by highlighting issues that concern them, with the end goal of forging agreements to uphold their welfare and improve their quality of life,”

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said Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo, who leads this year the Asean Socio-Cultural Community, one of the bloc’s three pillars.

“There is no debate that poverty continues to be a serious problem for many of the member states of the Asean,” Taguiwalo said, stressing the needs of women, children, persons with disabilities, internally displaced persons, farmers, workers and fisherfolk, among others, that should also be addressed.

“Concretely, what we want is to bring the Turn to A2

A PALACE official on Saturday compared President Rodrigo Duterte to the late Singaporean prime minister Lee Kuan Yew amid criticism of his supposedly authoritarian style of leadership.

“Like Lee Kuan Yew, he was also very strict. He is very strict but you can also see the progress of the nation,” presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella told state radio dzRB. “Our actions should not be entirely ideological, but we need to also understand the needs of our country.”

Abella made the comparison following criticism from the New York-based Human Rights Watch which placed Duterte among populist leaders who have intensified the “flouting of human rights.”

Abella, however, maintained that Duterte is a ‘very decisive’ leader and a ‘man of action.’

“If they place labels [on the President]—they limit you. They do not see what you’re actually doing, they just gave a label. But the President is very authoritative and he—we can see the job done,” he said.

He likewise accused the human rights group and other ‘liberal media’ of being hostile towards Duterte.

“Let us remember that he is governing by the rule of law. That’s why they call him—especially the liberal media and the liberal political order—is because they’re antagonistic to more authoritative forms or styles of governance,” Abella claimed.

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Asean closer to the people, and make it an institution that is responsive to the welfare and social needs of citizens in the member states, able to provide assistance and guidance when it can in furtherance of advocacies and actions that directly benefit the poor and vulnerable sectors,” she added.

Socioeconomic Secretary Ernesto Pernia, meanwhile, said that the hosting can place the country on Asean and global economic maps.

“Asean is looked up as an important regional economic grouping,”said Pernia.

The country’s chief economist said the Philippines would push for more openness across countries and national borders within the Asean as well as freer movement of labor and capital, investments and academic exchange opportunities for students and professors.

On Sunday, all roads lead to Duterte’s hometown, Davao City, where the Philippines will take leadership of the bloc.

It will be the third time the country will be hosting the regional meet, after it was held in Manila in 1987 under President Cory Aquino and in Cebu in 2007 under President Gloria Arroyo. The bloc’s chairmanship rotates annually.

After the commemorative launching in Davao City, there will be two more summits—the 30th Asean Summit in Manila in April and the 31st Asean Summit in November at the Clark Freeport in Pampanga.

During the turnover ceremonies at Vientiane, President Rodrigo Duterte announced the Asean 2017 theme will be “Partnering for change, Engaging the world” which will focus on a people-oriented, people-centered Asean; peace and stability in the region; maritime security in the region; inclusive, innovation-led growth; resilience; and making Asean a global player and a model of regionalism.

In accepting the Asean chairmanship, Duterte said “we will highlight Asean as a model of regionalism and a global player, with the interest of the people at its core.”

Duterte will deliver the keynote address which will be the main part of the launch. Also to be launched are the Asean website and social media accounts; the P1 commemorative circulation coin for the Philippine Asean 2017 chairmanship; the Philippines’ chairmanship of the Asean special stamps; and the Visit Asean@50 video.

The challenge is to bring down poverty levels cuts across the entire Asean region and create more stable, productive jobs and means of employment for millions of underemployed and unemployed, Taguiwalo said.

“We hope that we can learn from the successful experiences of other Asean member states when it comes to generating steady livelihood opportunities for their people with the support of the government,” the social welfare chief said.

By John Paolo Bencito

M

ALACAÑANG on Saturday scored critics of President Rodrigo Duterte’s executive order ensuring access to modern family planning methods, telling them to keep a “broader and a more open mind” on government efforts to push for responsible parenthood.

“Our call is for them to have a broader and a more open mind, not only coming from ideology. Certain sectors in society should evolve their thinking and be more open to the needs of the people,” presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella, a former pastor and evangelist, told state radio dzRB. He likewise told pro-life groups and critics to be “more responsible even with their faith.”

“We need to feed our families, right?” he asked.

On Wednesday, President Rodrigo Duterte signed an order providing access to family planning methods despite a Supreme Court order prohibiting the government’s procurement and distribution of some

family planning aids.

Executive Order No. 12 aims to “intensify and accelerate the implementation of critical actions necessary to attain and sustain zero unmet need for modern family planning for all poor households by 2018, and all of Filipinos” within the context of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012.

In his first State-of-the-Nation Address, Duterte called for the full implementation of the Reproductive Health Law that mandates all accredited public health facilities to provide a full range of modern family planning methods.

Abella, meanwhile, welcomed the United Nations Population Fund’s recognition of the signing

of EO No. 12 as a major push for the country’s family planning programs.

Abella, said that though President Duterte made an unpopular decision among some groups, he has the future of the Filipinos in mind.

“We have to appreciate the President because even if the measure won’t be popular with certain sectors of the society, nevertheless he pushed for the reproductive health (EO) because it is not just to serve the interest of a small group but to serve the interest of the whole nation,” Abella said.

“We continue to encourage and we thank the Filipino people for supporting that and also the United Nations for recognizing the efforts of the President,” he added.

Also on Saturday, the New Yorkbased Human Rights Watch lauded the Duterte administration’s move to support reproductive health programs, even as it described its human rights record as “horrendous.”

The group praised Duterte’s issuance of an executive order earlier this week a “bright spot in the administration’s otherwise horrendous human rights record via its

abusive ‘war on drugs,’” said Human Rights Watch in a statement.

Condoms, the HRW emphasized, is one of the best prevention methods for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which is usually transmitted through sexual intercourse.

The Philippines was ranked third, after Afghanistan and Pakistan, in a 2016 Joint United Nations Program on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) report on prevention gaps, in terms of percentage growth in the new HIV infections in the Asia-Pacific region from 2010 to 2015.

With his EO, Duterte pushed for government to have “zero unmet need” for family planning, the group said.

In December 2016, the Commission on Population said that the population is expected to reach 105.75 million by the end of 2017. At least 1.69 million births are expected in 2017, the commission said, due to Filipino women’s high fertility rates.

By the end of 2017, POPCOM estimates that there will be 31.5 million Filipino school children, 66.7 million Filipinos in the labor force, and 5.2 million Filipinos aged over 65.

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SAYYAF ...

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“We were almost hopeless but I am thankful we were able to come home safely,” Filipino crewman Glenn Alindajao, 31, said in a news briefing.

The 38-year-old Park did not speak with reporters but like Alindajao, appeared weak and grew a beard while in captivity.

“They were physically maltreated without any provocation,” Dureza told AFP. “They have been very stressed out. They were moved from one place to another, sometimes sleeping in forests, different houses, eating just dried fish and drinking water from brooks.”

Dureza said the Muslim rebel group the MNLF, which is in peace talks with the government, helped in facilitating the hostages’ release.

The ship’s owners also negotiated for their freedom, according to Dureza, adding that he was not aware if a ransom was paid to Abu Sayyaf, which does not normally free hostages without huge sums of money.

The spike in abductions sparked Indonesian warnings that the region could become the “next Somalia” and pushed the three neighbors to pledge coordinated patrols.

Dureza said he would recommend that ships have armed security.

Duterte, who took office last year, vowed to destroy the Abu Sayyaf and deployed thousands of extra troops to defeat them.

But the militants have defied more than a decade of similar US-backed offensives, surviving in their mountainous and jungle-clad strongholds in the poverty-plagued southern Philippines.

“The two hostages even planned to escape but they could not. They discovered that the community around is very supportive,” Dureza said. “They are able to benefit from [the kidnappings].” With AFP

POPULATION ISSUES. Population Commission executive director Juan Perez and Rep. Rene Magtubo discuss labor issues and the implementation of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act. Manny Palmero

“From the liberal institutions, we tend to emphasize individual rights, which is valued of course. However, we also need to understand that it has to be placed in the context of common good,” he added.

But Human Rights Watch said in its World Report 2017 that Duterte has initiated a “war on drugs” in which police and “unidentified gunmen” have killed several thousand people.

In the 687-page World Report, its 27th edition, Human Rights Watch reviewed human rights practices in more than 90 countries and Executive Director Kenneth Roth said a new generation of authoritarian populists seeks to overturn the concept of human rights protection, treating rights as an impediment to the majority will.

“In the name of wiping out ‘drug crime,’ President Duterte has steamrolled human rights protections and elevated unlawful killings of criminal suspects to a cornerstone of government policy,” said Phelim Kine, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

“Friends of the Philippines need to make clear that it can’t be business as usual until the killings stop and there are meaningful moves toward accountability,” Kine said. John Paolo Bencito

9,000...

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Before that, heavy rain did not stop the fluvial procession that left the Ouano Wharf in Mandaue City at 6:40 a.m. and arrived at Pier 1 in Cebu City at 7:20 a.m. Saturday.

The Philippine Coast Guard Cebu Station said a total of 55 vessels participated in the fluvial procession. A replica of the galleon of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan carried the Sto. Niño.

No the fluvial procession was followed by a foot procession to the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño, where a commemoration of the first Mass, first baptism and first wedding was held.

No less than Philippine National Police Director General Ronald dela Rosa arrived in Cebu Saturday evening hours after mobile phone signals were shut down as a security measure.

“I can’t text my friends. I can’t send

messages on Facebook,” Mai-Mai Vicente, 24, told the Philippine News Agency. “This is the first time that I have to use a landline to get in touch with my friends.”

Officials said the National Telecommunications Commission approved a request of the regional police office to jam cellphone signals during the Sinulog Festival activities on Saturday and Sunday.

Police said most bombs are detonated using cellphone signals and they are wary of a repeat of the bombing in Hilongos, Leyte that left at least 32 people injured.

Telecommunications giants Smart and Globe supported the move to switch off some cell sites.

Chief Supt. Noli Taliño, regional police director, said they want “zero” cellphone signal within the 4-km. Sinulog route and in places where people will converge.

On Saturday, telecommunications companies switched off cell sites before the start of the fluvial parade at 6 a.m.

Cell sites will also be shut down during the Sinulog grand parade on Sunday.

First responders will have to rely on radio communications during the duration of the festival.

Street parties have been barred within 300 meters from the grand parade route.

Police also implemented a gun ban from Jan. 9 until Jan. 18 as they aim for a “zero gun-related incident” during the festivities.

In Manila, the Manila Police District deployed 987 policemen for the Sto. Niño Feast on Sunday.

“We’re supported by private volunteer groups and NGOs, and, of course, the concerned barangays,” he said Station 2 commander Supt. Arnold Thomas Ibay.

MPD Station 10 also helped provide

security especially in the Buling-Buling festival in Pandacan, Ibay added.

Mayor Joseph Estrada has attributed to the Sto. Niño (Child Jesus) all the blessings that the city and its citizens have been receiving.

The feast is celebrated on the third Sunday of January, although related activities are held as early as Saturday.

The focus of the festivities is in Tondo and Pandacan.

The celebration in Tondo is highlighted by the “Lakbayaw (Lakbay-Sayaw)” while that in Pandacan, by the “BulingBuling” street dancing festival joined by participants in their best attires.

Among those “blessings,” Estrada said, are the peaceful Black Nazarene procession last week where no one was seriously injured and the completion of multi-million-peso infrastructure projects in the city such as hospitals and the continuous economic progress of the city.

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ATM, MOST POPULAR AMONG BORROWERS

PROMOTING PEACE. The monument, on the bus route of 9710 and 9709 from

Seoul to Goyang, has flags and a statue depicting the soldiers who died protecting Korea from a surprise attack by the communist North in the 1950s. The Philippine soldiers were dispatched as part of the UN and eventually won despite casualties. The signs and pictures are in Korean and English.

MONUMENT IN GOYANG HONORS PH SOLDIERS

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ANILA—It has been 66 years since the bloody Korean War from 1950 to1953 which killed 2.5 million people and caused a permanent dispute in a divided country.

In commemoration of the war veterans and combatant nations that participated, the Korean government constructed memorials and monuments to give honor to their sacrifices and heroism.

One of the monuments had been set up to honor the Filipino soldiers who fought to protect freedom and peace and lost their lives during the Korean War. The Philippines sent five Battalion Combat Teams (BCTs) known as the Peftok with a total 7,420 personnel. On Sept.

19, 1950, the Philippines’ 10th Battalion Combat Team with about 1,400 men landed at the port of Busan as the first of the five BCTs that would serve under the United Nations Command in Korea for the period 1950-1955.

It was the eighth UNC ground combat unit to enter the Korean War. A total 7,420 Filipino officers and men served in Korea. They

suffered 116 killed in action, 299 wounded and 57 missing (41 repatriated during Prisoners of War exchanges). The last of the Philippine troops left Korea on May 13, 1955.

Namo Kim, a youth from the International Peace Youth Group whose grandfather had served in the army during the Korean War and owed his life to a Filipino soldier, offered his floral tribute to the Monument for the Philippine Soldiers.

He said this act is to reciprocate the comradery of the Filipinos to his grandfather during the war. Comradery is the spirit of friendship and community in a group, like the comradery of soldiers at war who keep each other upbeat despite the difficulty of their circumstances.

“The story described very horrible and awful moments which we could hardly believe today. No water to drink, no

clothes to change, it was such a miserable situation. He even got a gunshot and was waiting for death. But he could survive miraculously because of the help of the Filipino comrades, he was always grateful for that,” he said.

He regarded the sacrifices of the Filipino soldiers as the reason they were able to protect their family, to which he is forever grateful.

“Now it’s our turn to make a return for your family and the Philippines by achieving peace,” he said.

His grandfather’s war experience was his eye-opener to pursue the required military training with the aim in mind of advocating peace among the youth.

“A Korean youth who must serve in the military for two years experiences the tragedy in which he has to be trained to point a gun and fight the same Korean race every day,” he said.

To advocate peace for him is saving lives of the youth who are trained at the frontlines in case of a war breakout.

“They are sacrificed in the

war without having had a chance to bloom. No price could compensate for the loss of a life. That’s why I think the youth themselves must work for: peace,” he said.

According to him, to achieve peace, the youth should go beyond in exhibiting the spirit of peace.

“I think it’s important that we constantly strive to pass down the peace to the next generation, not the war,” he said.

He believes the act of youth promoting peace is like a butterfly effect that is starting from little acts to important results. Youth acting together, according to him, is making world peace possible.

“I think we can make a world of peace if the youth take a lead and work together to create the atmosphere of peace,” he said.

The IPYG, an affiliated body of Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light, is an organization that works to achieve world peace and the cessation of war by joining with 797 organizations in 110 countries in the world. PNA

DOF URGED TO PLUG REVENUE LOSSES

A HOUSE leader on Saturday opposed the proposed tax reform measures being pushed by the Department of Finance and some members of Congress, saying these would only become added burden to Filipino consumers, particularly the poor.

Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate was referring to revenue measures such as the excise taxes on oil products, taxes on vanity products, electronics, sugar, salt and even on the drug Viagra.

“Instead of raising more regressive taxes, what should be done is for the revenue collection agencies under the DoF to increase its collection efficiency.

These agencies—BIR and BoC—should not rely mainly on indirect consumption taxes like the value-added tax and excise taxes, which would hit the poor the hardest because it is ultimately passed on to consumers regardless of their salaries,” Zarate, chairman of the House

committee on natural resources, said.

Zarate said passing on the burden to the poor even more while protecting the interests of the rich and big corporations was very regressive.

He said the government’s revenue collecting agencies such as the BIR and the BoC must be able to meet their target and increase and improve their tax collections.

Citing DoF data, Zarate said in 2012, BIR’s loss in revenues amounted to P400 billion or four percent of the country’s GDP. On the other hand, also in 2012, the BoC had P200-billion revenue loss as well, Zarate added.

“The inefficiency in revenue collection is glaring. Only if the government is able to collect the P200 billon, the amount would be enough so as not to push anymore for the proposed oil excise tax,” Zarate said.

Maricel V. Cruz

RITE OF PASSAGE. Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle baptizes Saturday 400 beneficiaries of Tulay ng Kabataan Foundation at Manila Cathedral. Norman Cruz

ARE you willing to hand out your automated teller machine (ATM) card to a lender just to be able to take out loans to augment your needs?

A majority of borrowers do.

This was according to the results of the 2014 Consumer Finance Survey, which the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas conducted from July 2014 to endJanuary 2015 nationwide except in Leyte, which was devastated by Typhoon “Yolanda,” and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Results of the survey showed one in seven households surveyed took various loans.

Aside from housing and real estate, motor vehicle, and credit card loans, the respondents availed themselves of personal, salary, multipurpose and business loans. ”These were used primarily for business start-ups and expansion, educational expenses, debt payments, medical, and house improvement expenses,” the report on the survey said.

Most of these loans were extended by money lenders, cooperatives, financing institutions, and stateowned Social Security System and Home Development Mutual Fund or Pag-IBIG Fund.

While some of these institutions do not require collaterals, some do.

The survey found out that the most popular collateral by borrowers are their ATM cards, at 39.9 percent. This system is known as “Sangla ATM.” Under this scheme, borrowers surrender their ATM cards to the lenders, who are given the personal identification numbers of the cards. The borrowers can have their ATMs back once the lenders have collected the payments.

Other collaterals are land, 22.5 percent; appliances, 11.7 percent; vehicles, 7.7 percent; and harvest, six percent. PNA

‘HIGH RATINGS PROVIDE PUSH FOR DUTERTE’S 10-PT AGENDA’

By Maricel V. Cruz A NEOPHYTE lawmaker on Saturday said the continuing high public trust and approval of President Rodrigo Duterte must be the opportune time for Malacañang to implement his government’s 10-point socioeconomic agenda.

This includes the planned infrastructure buildup that promises to be the primary driver of high and inclusive growth under his presidency, Camarines Sur Rep. LRay Villafuerte said.

He added the President’s high scores in Pulse Asia, which mirrored similarly exceptional Social Weather Stations ratings also last December, show an overwhelming majority have felt and appreciate the Duterte administration’s real change that had been promised during the 2016 election campaign.

“Most Filipinos appreciate the Duterte administration’s strides in peace and order to keep their homes and streets safe as well as the inroads in his programs on the economic front meant to sharpen global competitiveness, attract FDIs [foreign direct investments] and keep the Philippines as Asia’s top performer this year and onwards,” Villafuerte said.

“The President’s impressive trust and approval ratings show that the people don’t want any letup in the peace and order drive, particularly the war on drugs,” he added.

Villafuerte was referring to the latest Pulse Asia survey showing Duterte’s trust and approval ratings both at a high of 83 percent in the last quarter of 2016 even in the midst of several controversial issues such as the resignation of Vice President Ma. Leonor Robredo from the Cabinet, the Supreme Court decision dismissing petitions opposing the burial of former President Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, and the Senate and National Bureau of Investigation probes into the killing of Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. The President’s ratings were more or less the same from the previous quarter when he received 86 percent for both his performance and trustworthiness, Pulse Asia said.

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SUNDAY, JANUARY 15, 2017 Francis S. Lagniton, Issue Editor mst.daydesk@gmail.com

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GLOBAL BEAUTIES CONVERGE IN PH

By F. Pearl A. Gajunera

T

HE first Miss Universe pre-pageant activity kicked off in Boracay Island on Saturday as the world’s most beautiful women flocked to the Philippines for the pageant on Jan. 30.

The pageant activities began as Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo said a total of 84 candidates have already arrived in the Philippines, with some of them in Manila and 16 others in Boracay for pre-pageant activities.

After Boracay, the ladies will also attend pre-pageant activities in Vigan on Jan. 15, Cebu on Jan. 17, Baguio on Jan. 18, and Batangas and Davao on Jan. 19.

A Governor’s Ball will also be held in Manila on Jan. 16 and a courtesy call on President Rodrigo Duterte in Malacañang on Jan. 23. The pageant will be capped by the finals and coronation night at the Mall of Asia Arena on Jan. 30.

Teo said the candidates and the rest of the world will see the real Philippines and the government will not make any effort to hide poverty like what the Aquino administration did whenever there was a big international event in the country.

“We will not hide the squatters, we want them to see what the Philippines is,” she said. “There are

also squatters in their places, so we don’t need to hide them.”

During the Asia-Pacific Economic summit held in Metro Manila last 2015, homeless and street children were sent to a resort outside of Metro Manila to hide them from the foreign leaders who visited the country.

But Teo said the candidates will have to stay in their hotels when they do not have any scheduled activity to avoid traffic congestion.

“The President really told us to avoid traffic congestion because of our event, so we will just contain them in their hotels during those days that they do not have any schedules,” she said.

The secretary said that she expects that after the Miss Universe candidates tour around the country, it will boost the tourism industry of the Philippines.

“I want them to have the impression that it is safe to travel Mindanao after their visit here and hopefully they will lift their travel advisories,” Teo said, adding the DoT expects two

million tourists in 2018.

In Aklan, the 16 beauty queens were warmly welcomed by residents upon their arrival at the Godofredo Ramos Airport in Caticlan before they headed to the Shangri-La Boracay Resort and Spa. Miss Australia Caris Tiivel was delighted by the warm welcome they received while Miss Myanmar Htet Htet Htun complimented the beauty of Boracay.

“This is unbelievable! All these folks, young and old, turned out to welcome us,” Tiivel said in an interview.

“Boracay is even more exciting and meaningful. The people are very friendly and joyful to be with,” Htun said, in a separate interview.

Private sponsors headed by former governor Luis “Chavit” Singson and Solar Entertainment were joined by Malay town mayor Ciceron Cawaling, and Tourism Assistant Secretary Ricky Alegre.

Also in attendance were Tessa Paz Alviz, Solar Entertainment vice-president for Programming and Marketing and Miss Universe first runner-up Shamcey Supsup, who hosted the event.

PH HOSTS SCORES OF ASEAN MEETINGS

By Kris M. Crismundo DAVAO CITY—The country will be hosting more than 100 meetings for this year’s Asean Summit, an official from the Department of Foreign Affairs said during the 2017 Presidential Communications Operations Office Roadshow at The Royal Mandaya Hotel on Saturday.

DFA Office of Asean Affairs Assistant Secretary Ma. Helen de la Vega said that the meetings would be composed of two leaders-level summits to be attended by the heads of states of the 10 Asean member-nations and dialogue partners; 15 ministerial meetings; 31 senior officials meetings; and more than 60 working group meetings.

Twelve areas nationwide were also identified as locations for these regional meetings including Metro Manila, Laoag, Pampanga, Legazpi, and Palawan in Luzon; Boracay, Cebu, Iloilo, Bacolod, and Bohol in Visayas; and Cagayan de Oro and Davao in Mindanao.

On Sunday, Jan. 15, President Rodrigo Duterte will lead the launching of the Philippines’ chairmanship of Asean here in Davao City with the theme of “Partnering for Change, Engaging the World.”

The country’s chairmanship for the summit also coincides with the 50th year anniversary of Asean.

Moreover, the government will launch commemorative coins and stamps for Philippine chairmanship of Asean which will be made available nationwide.

The “Asean Spirit,” the theme song for the country’s Asean chairmanship, will likewise be launched in the same event.

Other commemorative activities for this year are nationwide celebration of Asean Day, Asean Youth Entrepreneurship Award, Asean Biodiversity Heroes, book publication on “The Philippines in Asean: 50 Years of Engaging the Region”, Asean Women Entrepreneurship Forum, and tribute to Asean Founding Fathers.

A coffeetable book on Philippine chairmanship of 2017 Asean Summit will be launched by February 2018.

The government aims to further increase the knowledge of Filipinos about Asean integration through dissemination of information throughout the country. PNA

BETTER WEATHER EXPECTED

BEAUTY GALORE. Beauty queens from all over the world continued to arrive in

the country for Miss Universe pageant on Jan. 30. The arrivals on Saturday included Miss Panama Keity Drenna, Miss Puerto Rico Brenda Jimenez, Miss Guatemala Virginia Arguete and Miss France Iris Nittenaere. Eric B. Apolonio

DOT SEES 117 CRUISE CALLS THIS YEAR A TOTAL of 117 cruise calls with an estimated 86,000 passengers are scheduled to dock in the Philippines this year, according to the Department of Tourism.

Tourism Assistant Secretary Maria Lourdes Japson did not mention the schedule for the calls but named the ports of Manila, Puerto Princesa, and Boracay as the most visited for mid-sized and large ships.

The islands most visited for expedition cruises, meanwhile, include Coron, El Nido, Romblon, Kalanggaman, Limaswa, Cebu, Bohol, Hundred Islands, Siargao, and Camiguin.

“The growth of the cruise industry in the

Philippines is remarkable,” Japson said in a press conference in Pasay City noting that cruise calls in the country recorded an average of 52.5 percent in the last five years from 2012 to 2016.

Japson, meanwhile, welcomed the recent announcement of Hong Kong-based cruise line Star Cruises to have a threemonth homeport deployment of one of its lines, SuperStar Virgo, to Manila for the first time.

The 900-cabin SuperStar Virgo will be having a six-day, five-night cruise from Manila, to Laoag in Ilocos Norte to Kaohsiung in Taiwan to Hong Kong, and back to Manila from March 19 to May 23.

Passengers can avail of an early bird discount of USD490 per person for cruise departures on March 19, 24, and 29, 2017; third and fourth persons can avail of an additional 50 percent off, USD245 per person excluding port and gratuity charges.

Star Cruises president Ang Moo Lim said that Filipino passengers can enjoy the cruise visa free with “almost unlimited baggage allowance.”

At present, the Cabotage Law or Republic Act No. 10668 allows foreign vessels to transport and co-load foreign cargoes for domestic transshipment and for other purposes.

Japson said that the DoT together with the Department of Transportation is cur-

rently looking at relaxing regulatory rules on visa requirements as part of its cruise tourism development strategy.

DoT said that tourist arrivals in the country via cruise ships could grow as much as 15 to 20 percent with the new Manila terminal. Currently, 99 percent of tourist arrivals enter the country by plane and the remaining one percent enter via cruise ships.

Star Cruises is the first-ever global leisure cruise line to homeport in Manila.

Operating since 1993, Star Cruises has a fleet of six vessels including SuperStar Virgo, SuperStar Libra, SuperStar Gemina, SuperStar Aquarius, Star Pisces and The Taipan.

THE low-pressure area bringing rain to parts of the country may cross islandstudded Visayas but soon weaken, dimming its chance of intensifying into a tropical cyclone.

“That LPA may even dissipate already while still inside the Philippine Area of Responsibility,” said weather forecaster Aldczar Aurelio of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.

He raised such possibility as LPAs risk weakening when moving over land since these weather systems draw from water energy needed to intensify.

In its weather advisory Saturday, Pagasa located the LPA at some 125 kms eastnortheast of Catarman, Northern Samar.

“The LPA’s forecast movement is westwards,” said Aurelio.

Such movement means the LPA will pass islands in the Visayas, increasing the possibility of this weather system’s weakening. The possibility that it may develop into a cyclone within the next 24 hours “remains low,” Pagasa said in its advisory.

Pagasa warned moderate to occasionally heavy rains and thunderstorms are possible in Bicol Region, Northern Samar and Eastern Samar provinces as well as southern part of Quezon province.

Such rains may trigger flash floods and landslides there, Pagasa said.

“Light to moderate rains and isolated thunderstorms will prevail over rest of the Visayas as well as Marinduque, Romblon and Oriental Mindoro provinces,” Pagasa added. Catherine J. Teves/PNA

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Opinion

Adelle Chua, Editor mst.daydesk@gmail.com

EDITORIAL

TRANSITIONS

IT’S NEVER ALIENS

By Pecier Decierdo

U

personal life as well as their professional one.

In the end, it is not that video of the First Lady rapping on the Internet or dancing on a TV show, or the image of the President shooting baskets or poking fun at his staff, that would linger. It is how they viewed and made people view the privilege of public service— and managed the transition from one administration to the next.

NITED States President Barack Obama made his farewell remarks last week as he steps down this week to make way for his successor, the Republican Donald Trump. own final speech at a gathering of educators.

She underscored the importance of education and told her audience that anybody—regardless of color, gender, religion and disposition—could succeed if they worked had enough. She and her husband were proof of that.

As a result, social media has been gushing about the Obama couple who will leave the White House after two terms marked by decency.

Aside from not figuring in a scandal of whatever nature, the Obamas are perceived as modern, progressive, even fun in their

The Obamas campaigned hard for Trump’s opponent, Hillary Clinton, who won the popular vote even as the electoral college system worked in Trump’s favor.

In his speech, Obama outlined his administration’s successes in the past eight years.

He emphasized that it was the people’s ability to bring about change on their own that mattered. And even as it was the candidate of another party who was assuming his role, Obama pointed out that this was democracy at its best, at work.

Americans should not criticize their leaders without evaluating their own role in the choice of those leaders, he reminded the people.

Meanwhile, First Lady Michelle Obama delivered her

RECENTLY, mysterious signals from outer space called fast radio bursts (FRBs) made the news. FRBs probably have nothing to do with aliens. In fact, scientists have this rule of thumb when it comes to detecting strange signals from outer space: “It’s never aliens.”

That is not a statement of conviction. Rather, it is a statement of caution and methodology. It is a reminder to exhaust all possible alternative explanation first before concluding that something unlikely is going on, something as unlikely as detecting signals from aliens.

How unlikely is detecting signals from extraterrestrials anyway? Although we might not know the answer to that question, we now have the tool to approach the question in a scientific manner. It’s called the Drake equation, named after scientist Frank Drake, who formulated it in 1961.

When scientists say, “It’s never aliens,” that does not mean they think there are no aliens out there. In fact, if you press any respectable scientist what they think, almost all of them will guess that there probably are aliens out there. The universe is simply so vast and full of possibility for life to arise elsewhere. In our Solar System alone, we are contemplating the possibility of life on Mars; Jupiter’s moons Europa and Ganymede; and Saturn’s moons Enceladus and Titan.

Now if there’s intelligent life out there, what are the chances that we will detect signals coming from them?

That’s where the Drake equation comes in. According to the equation, the number of alien civilizations in our galaxy capable of communicating to us via radio signals is equal to a product of several terms.

The first term is the average number of stars formed per year in our galaxy. That is, how many stars get born per year. We know the answer to this: It’s around 20. If we want to be a little conservative and only consider stars like the Sun—other stars might be too hot or too cold— there are two born per year.

The second term is the fraction of those stars that have planets. When this equation was first formulated, we do not know of any planet outside our Solar System. Now we know thousands. We now think that almost all stars have at least one planet going around them.

One estimate is that close to 20

The Obamas champion diversity in America, because as the President pointed out, democracy requires a basic sense of solidarity. “For all our outward differences, we’re all in this together, that we rise and fall as one.”

It may just be the characteristic Obama eloquence, but it may also be the truth, not just in the US but in many other societies where diversity is— as it should be— celebrated.

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FOOD COMMA: US SUBURBAN RESTAURANTS POP GOES THE WORLD JENNY ORTUOSTE

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA—Here’s another issue of Food Comma, my column within a column, where I write about one of my greatest concerns and largest pleasures— food.

Back in Manila, not too long

ago, I enjoyed trying out the latest affordable restaurants with my family and friends, tasting the latest dishes and the new flavors that chefs and restaurateurs come up with.

When Shi Lin opened at Circuit Makati and brought along their

delectable xiao long bao, I was one of their biggest customers over the first three or four months. I ate there every weekend and brought guests over when I needed to entertain. (I was unimpressed by Din Tai Fung’s much-hyped version of XLB.) Shi Lin’s

prawn in salted egg and mushroom and vegetable dumpling are also must-haves.

K-Pub is one of the best venues for authentic Korean cuisine and they do birthday greetings up on their giant video screen (impressive Turn to B2

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FOOD...

WHY TRUMP CAN’T JUST SAY ‘YOU’RE FIRED’ TO THIS OFFICIAL

From A1

if it’s your teenage daughter’s birthday and she’s brought along her friends—you’re instantly cool mom/cool dad).

My point is, the dining scene in Manila is pretty good, overall, and there are a lot of cuisines to choose from as well as a lot of price points.

There’s something for everyone.

It was a terrible shock, then, to move to suburban Northern California and find that the restaurants in the area don’t come up to the standards we’re used to in Manila.

Most little cities and towns in the suburbs have strip malls and fewer have large malls with department stores. The big-box malls don’t have much in the way of dining, it’s mostly shopping, and they have food courts selling corn dogs, bland sushi, and Panda Express that is not real Chinese food: It’s American Chinese food, and there’s a huge difference.

The strip malls have the big chain restaurants. IHOP and Denny’s serve stereotypical American fare— pancakes, turkey, ham, chicken, and sides of vegetables and carbs, usually steamed broccoli or fries. It’s a great experience the first few times, and the food is filling, but it’s not for regular consumption. Pancake House dishes up better pancakes— fully cooked and without that moist inner layer that means they didn’t stay on the griddle long enough.

Chili’s, popular with Filipinos, is also often located at strip malls, and they have a lot of the dishes we are used to at Chili’s Philippines. Here, we order their Caribbean Salad with Seared Shrimp and Molten Chocolate Cake each time we visit. Our choice of entrees vary, from burgers to chicken, but my favorite is the Ancho Salmon on a bed of brown rice and broccoli on the side. The salmon is always (so far) fresh and done well without being overcooked. I hate rubbery fish that’s been baked or pan-fried to a sorry demise.

Applebee’s and Olive Garden are also common chain restaurants, but we haven’t tried those yet. There are also the independent Japanese restaurants run by Koreans and Chinese (haven’t eaten at one run by Japanese yet), but the sushi at such places is mostly rice and the fillings are lackluster.

Fuddruckers, which you might see here and there occasionally, serves gut-busting burgers in different sizes, grilled to your taste and served on sesame seed buns. The fun part comes at the condiment station, where you can pile on the fresh veggies sky high—lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and pickles. You add taste through ketchup, mayo, mustard, and cheese sauce. Without sauces, it’s all just freshness.

Just like in Manila, there’s a Starbucks cafe almost everywhere here, too. It’s popular but in a more functional kind of way. In the suburbs, it’s not so much as a place to relax and chat with friends, but a place to get caffeinated for work.

A lot of business is done through their drivethroughs, with people passing for their regular quad shot or tea on the way to the office in the morning. In the city, people do meet at a Starbucks to talk business but they don’t linger; they come in and go as soon as they’re done. In any case, Starbucks tastes the same here and there, so if you’re looking for consistency and the familiar, have your after-meal coffee and dessert here.

If there’s something I really miss about the Philippines, other than my loved ones, it’s the food.

There’s always something new to try and the flavors are always interesting and appetizing. Here in the Northern California suburbs it’s hit-and-miss; we go through a lot of experimentation (and dollars) to find the good ones and the ones to avoid.

There are fancy restaurants up in the city and we’ve tried a few of them, but that’s a story for another time.

For now, I leave you with the thought that Manila and other places in the Philippines are a food lover’s paradise. Other places aren’t as blessed. Enjoy!

Dr. Ortuoste is a Californiabased writer. Follow her on Facebook: Jenny Ortuoste, Twitter: @jennyortuoste, Instagram: @ jensdecember

By Cass R. Sunstein REPUBLICANS are putting a great deal of pressure on President-elect Donald Trump to fire Richard Cordray, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. He should resist that pressure. Any effort to discharge Cordray would be illegal—and it might even precipitate something close to a constitutional crisis.

Here’s the legal background.

Most federal agencies count as “executive,” meaning that their heads serve at the pleasure of the president. But some agencies are “independent”—meaning that by law, the people in charge of them can be removed only for good cause, which Congress often specifies to mean “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in o ffi ce.”

The Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission are independent agencies—and so is the CFPB. Under the law, Cordray’s five-year term extends until July 2018.

Both Republican and Democratic presidents have not

loved the idea of independent agencies, operating outside of their daily control. But in 1935, the Supreme Court unanimously agreed that the Constitution gives Congress the power to create such entities.

The court has stuck with that position ever since—and for decades no president has even tried to remove the heads of independent agencies.

To be sure, some people believe that the 1935 decision was wrong. Suppose President Trump shares that belief and asserts his authority to fire Cordray. On the day of his removal, Cordray would be within his rights to go to court to seek a judgment that the president acted beyond his constitutional authority.

This would be quite a spectacle.

As the law now stands, Cordray would almost certainly win.

Things could get pretty ugly.

Would a lower court issue an injunction against the president?

Would he comply with it?

The Trump administration could make a less ambitious argument. It could concede the legitimacy of independent agencies in general, but attack

the independence of the CFPB in particular, because it is headed by a single person (rather than the more usual multimember commission) and because of the sheer breadth of its authority over the economy.

That’s an adventurous argument, but it’s not outlandish.

In fact, a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia accepted it a few months ago. But it’s just too early for the Trump administration to act on the basis of that ruling. The panel’s decision has been stayed pending the CFPB’s petition for review by the full court. Until its judgment goes into effect, Trump is bound by the law that Congress enacted.

Emphasizing Republican objections to Cordray’s performance, Trump might try one final argument. He might claim that Cordray has been guilty of inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office— and hence that the legal standard for discharge has been met.

Good luck with that one. No one seriously argues that Cordray has essentially failed to show

up for work (“inefficiency”), ignored the law (“neglect of duty”) or engaged in corruption (“malfeasance”). Strong policy disagreements are not a lawful ground for dismissing the CFPB director.

If Trump wants to control the agency, he has much better options. He can work with Congress to scale back its powers. His administration can try to convince the federal courts, including the Supreme Court, that the Constitution forbids Congress from making the CFPB independent.

There is even an argument, not yet tested, that the president has the authority to direct the CFPB to consult with the White House before it issues expensive regulations. But discharging Cordray would be beyond the pale.

It is already clear that the Trump administration will ignite more than its share of controversies, and face numerous challenges in federal court. It would be a big mistake for it to choose, right out of the gate, to start a fight that it is overwhelmingly likely to lose.

Bloomberg

UNCERTAINTY FILLS THE TAIWAN STRAIT

By Noah Feldman THE world’s most dangerous flashpoint got much more dangerous this week when China sent its lone aircraft carrier into the Taiwan Strait and Taiwan scrambled fighter jets in response. This is how accidental wars start: provocation and counterprovocation in an environment with too much uncertainty.

The uncertainty arises from not knowing the Donald Trump administration’s answer to a pressing foreign policy question: Would the US defend Taiwan from a Chinese attack?

The answer as a matter of US policy has long been complicated. Legally, the US has no treaty obligation to defend Taiwan, and the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979 says only that the US would view an attack with “grave concern.” Analysts refer to this as a policy of “strategic ambiguity.”

In practice, however, the diplomatic and defense establishments have long assumed that the US would defend Taiwan as vigorously as it would Japan or South Korea, with which it has mutual defense treaties—for the simple reason that failing to defend Taiwan would be seen as a signal that the US might not defend its official Pacific friends.

Trump’s election may well change this calculus—and no one in the region, or the US, knows for sure. On the one hand, Trump’s secretary of state nominee, Rex Tillerson, took a tough line at the beginning of his Senate confirmation hearings Wednesday.

He compared China’s expansive, aggressive actions in the South China Sea to Russia’s in Crimea, which certainly would go along with a commitment to defend Taiwan.

On the other hand, Trump himself was dismissive of a recent Chinese military provocation, the seizing of a water-borne US

drone from near a naval warship in December, commenting that China could keep it. That implied a shift from past US policy: Where George W. Bush and Barack Obama sought to contain China militarily while welcoming its economic growth, Trump seems inclined to go the other way. He sees China as an economic threat while appearing thus far uninterested in military confrontation. And his generally isolationist-tilting foreign policy views would similarly suggest a disinclination to defend Taiwan.

In other words, Trump’s administration may be readying itself for a historic shift in US defense posture toward China in the Pacific. Or maybe not. The point is that the heightened uncertainty has practical implications.

China can be expected to keep on testing Trump, especially given his anti-Chinese rhetoric during the campaign and his appointment of a staunchly anti-Chinese academic, Peter Navarro, to lead his trade council.

From China’s perspective, military and economic confrontation can be deployed as useful proxies for each other. When Trump challenges China on trade, as with the Navarro appointment, China can respond by revealing anti-aircraft guns on its newly created islands in the South China Sea—or by sending a carrier into the Taiwan Strait. Neither of these upsets China’s precarious domestic economy, but each is intended to send Trump a message.

As uncertainty makes China more aggressive, it will have an identical reciprocal effect on Taiwan. Taiwan’s leadership cannot know exactly how far China is prepared to go. Without the high probability of US support, Taiwan must try to deter China’s behavior by itself.

Mutual provocation is scary, because it can lead to accidents. Planes and ships can smash

IT’S...

From A1 percent of Sun-like stars has a planet about the size of Earth.

The third term is the average number of planets that can support life. We don’t know the answer to this yet. In fact, this problem is a field of intense research.

There are several ways scientists go about attacking this problem. One is to search for Earth-like planets inside the so-called “Goldilocks zone.” This is the region not too close nor too far from the parent star, where it is neither too hot nor too cold. Another way is to try to determine what makes a planet habitable in the first place. Can life exist on Mars? How about in the icecovered seas of Jupiter’s moon

The universe is simply so vast and full of possibility for life to arise elsewhere.

Europa or the methane lakes of Saturn’s moon Titan?

The succeeding terms are even more problematic.

The fourth term is the fraction of habitable planets—say Earthlike planets in the Goldilocks zone—that actually develop life. The thing is, we don’t even know how likely life on Earth is.

Are we a very, very lucky fluke, a one-in-a-billion occurrence?

In a vast universe, very unlikely things happen all the time. Or are we inevitable? Does life always

into each other, and split-second decisions can lead to disaster.

What’s more, uncertainty itself can contribute to wars that both sides would rather not fight. According to one classic account, one reason rational countries nevertheless go to war is when each side has its own assessment of the relative strengths and weaknesses. Different assessments can lead to situations where the only way to find out who is right is to fight the war and see who wins. If China and Taiwan have strongly different assessments of what Trump’s policy would be, that increases the odds of war between them.

What makes this high-risk environment into something like a perfect storm is the presidency of Tsai Ing-wen, who took office last May. Tsai and her Democratic Progressive Party are far more independence-oriented than any of her predecessors.

To be sure, Tsai has tried to tread carefully since her election, avoiding direct provocation of China, which views Taiwan as ultimately part of China. Yet in the final analysis, the existence of Tsai’s party depends on the basic assumption that Taiwan is an independent country—and a democracy. That vision puts Taiwan on a collision course with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s vision of an increasingly nationalist and expansionary China.

In 2013, when I was trying to imagine the highest risk scenario for a China-Taiwan war, I postulated one in which Tsai was president of Taiwan and China sent its new carrier into the Taiwan strait. That’s now happened. The question is what, if anything, Trump is going to do about it. The answer is much more important for the world than anything in the disputed dossier that’s dominating the headlines. Bloomberg

arise wherever and whenever it can? In other words, is this fraction very close to 0 (life is highly improbable) or very close to 1 (life is almost inevitable), or anywhere in between?

The fifth term is the fraction of planets with life that develop intelligent life. One very big problem with this term is that we haven’t even fully understood our own intelligence, let alone that of hypothetical extraterrestrials.

The sixth term is the fraction of intelligent life that develop civilizations, that in turn develop the technology to communicate via radio signals (the best way to do it).

The last term is the punch line—the length of time such civilizations release radio signals.

In our case, we have been sending intentional radio signals

into outer space only since 1974.

How long do advanced civilizations usually last? How long will we last?

“Are we alone in the universe?” That is an extremely deep, extremely interesting question. But by asking this out-of-this-world question, we are forced to look at ourselves to ask questions fundamental to our origins, our place in the universe, and our destiny as a species.

That is why searching for extraterrestrial intelligence is one of the most important scientific endeavors. And although it is never aliens, one day, it might finally be.

Pecier Decierdo is resident physicist and astronomer of The Mind Museum.

World JAPAN’S ABE PUSHES PACIFIC TRADE DEAL IN AUSTRALIA SYDNEY, Australia—Japan and Australia will work together to ensure the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade deal comes into force, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Saturday, making no mention of strong US opposition.

After talks with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Abe took the lead on the trade pact covering 12 Pacific Rim nations that was ratified by Japan’s parliament last month.

“We agreed that we should demonstrate anew to the world the importance of free trade,” Abe told reporters.

“We confirmed that we would coordinate for the early entry into force of the TPP.” The two men later released a joint statement which “stressed that implementing the TPP remains an indispensable priority because of the significant economic and strategic benefits it offers.”

Turnbull noted, “For both of our nations the United States remains the cornerstone of our strategic and security arrangements. We will work closely with the incoming administration, as we have been (doing), to advance the region’s interest and our shared goals.”

AFP

EBOLA’S LONGTERM EFFECTS REVEALED

SPAIN, HUNGARY ARREST 5 WITH IS TIES M

adrid—Five people with suspected links to Islamic State jihadists were arrested over the weekend in separate incidents in Spain and Hungary, with several weapons also being seized, authorities said.

Spain’s interior ministry said police detained a Moroccan man with Dutch identity documents in the northwestern city of Figueras suspected of belonging to IS who recently returned to Spain from Turkey.

The authorities are investigating whether his return “was motivated by a desire to carry out some sort of action in Europe,” the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said Spanish po-

lice were able to locate the man thanks to the help of Dutch authorities and of the intelligence services of several unnamed countries.

“Investigators are currently trying to determine the degree of radicalization of the detainee, his possible links in Europe, the activities he has been carrying out for Daesh and what his purpose was since his arrival in Spain,” the statement said, using an Ara-

bic acronym for IS. In a separate operation, police detained two Spanish men who were part of a group “that had reached a very high level of determination to carry out terrorist activities.”

The group was “fully aligned with the strategy of the terrorist organization Daesh,” the ministry said in a separate statement.

Police seized a long gun and three knives during searches of six houses carried out as part of the operation in Ceuta, the tiny Spanish territory bordered by Morocco on one side and the Mediterranean Sea. Meanwhile, Hungarian authorities said they arrested two young women from France and Belgium allegedly seeking to join IS in Syria.

PARIS—People who survive Ebola may still battle debilitating health problems a year after being declared infectionfree, according to an ongoing trial in Guinea which highlighted the need for patient followup.

Three-quarters of survivors had postEbola symptoms when they enrolled for the trial about a year, on average, after they were discharged from hospital, researchers reported Saturday.

Eighteen percent experienced eye problems, including eight individuals who went blind, a team wrote in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. Two percent – 19 people – were deaf.

This is the largest and longest-running assessment of Ebola survivors to date.

Nearly one in four participants, the study said, suffered joint and muscle pain, 35 percent had headaches, and 22 percent stomach pain when they enrolled. Seventeen percent had symptoms of depression.

The study also confirmed previous observations that Ebola virus can remain in the semen of infected men for 18 months or longer, raising the spectre of sexual transmission.

In 2015, a study in Sierra Leone said nearly 80 percent of some 277 survivors experienced joint pain four months after their hospital discharge, 60 percent had vision problems and a quarter hearing difficulties.

The Guinean trial aims to monitor patients for two years. AFP

BANGLADESH ARRESTS ANOTHER PLOTTER IN CAFE SIEGE DHAKA—Bangladesh police Saturday said they have arrested an Islamist extremist accused of being one of the “masterminds” of last year’s deadly siege at a Dhaka cafe where 22 hostages were killed.

A police spokesman said Jahangir Alam was detained Friday night by counter-terrorism forces in Elenga, a town some 120 kilometers (63 miles) north of the capital.

“He is one of the main masterminds of the Holey Artisan Bakery (cafe) attack,” Yusuf Ali, an additional deputy commissioner of the Dhaka police force, told AFP. “He was a member of a new faction of Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and was directly involved in the murder of at least 22 religious minorities including Hindu priests and a Christian and foreigners (at the cafe),” he said.

Japanese and Italian diners were among the 18 foreigners shot and hacked to death in the attack on July 1 last year.

The siege lasted for 10 hours until army commandos, using armoured vehicles, stormed the compound. AFP

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SUNDAY, JANUARY 15, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

FAITH. A Sri Lankan Hindu devotee offers prayers at a Hindu temple in Colombo on January 14, 2017. AFP

ZOE SALDANA: HOLLYWOOD BULLIED TRUMP LOS ANGELES, United States—It isn’t an opinion heard frequently in the famously liberal Hollywood, but sci-fi queen Zoe Saldana has spoken out against the acting community for bullying abrasive Donald Trump.

The “Star Trek,” “Avatar” and “Guardians of the Galaxy” star – who is not a supporter of the Republican president-elect – believes insults flung at him during the race for the White House turned off much of middle America.

“We got cocky and became arrogant and we also became bullies,” the 38-year-old actress said of Trump, who has been frequently berated himself for bullying tactics, including seemingly mocking a reporter with disabilities.

“We were trying to single out a man for all these things he was doing wrong... and that created em-

pathy in a big group of people in America that felt bad for him and that are believing in his promises,” she added.

Saldana’s analysis echoes comments made by Hawaiian-born Australian actress Nicole Kidman, who told the BBC’s “Victoria Derbyshire” show this week it was time Americans got behind Trump, who takes office on January 20.

“I just say he’s now elected and we as a country need to support whoever’s the president because that’s what the country’s based on. However that happened, he’s there, and let’s go,” Kidman said.

Saldana, who plays a Cuban gangster’s moll in Ben Affleck’s prohibition era gangster movie “Live by Night,” has spoken out frequently against prejudice in Hollywood.

One of the movie’s most pleasing

aspects, she says, was its unflinching depiction of racism in the Deep South that was so ingrained that police officers and judges were proud to call themselves members of the Ku Klux Klan, the white supremacist hate group.

The Trump campaign that defeated Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton was criticized for stoking racial tensions with its rhetoric against Mexicans and Muslims, but Saldana is hopeful the country will never return to the dark days of segregation.

“I’m learning from (Trump’s victory) with a lot of humility,” the mother of two-year-old twin boys told AFP. “If we have people continue to be strong and educate ourselves and stand by equal rights and treat everyone with respect, we won’t go back to those times.” AFP

The Belgian, 18, and the French national, 19, were trying to cross into Serbia early Friday, a police spokesperson told Hungarian news agency MTI. The women, who were not named, were travelling on a bus from Vienna to Sofia from where they planned to reach Syria and join IS. Spanish police have arrested 181 people accused of connections to Islamist militant groups since 2015 when Spain raised its terror alert level to four on a scale of five following deadly attacks in France, Tunisia and Kuwait.

It is the highest alert level since Al-Qaeda-inspired bombers blew up four packed commuter trains and killed 191 people in Madrid on March 11, 2004. AFP

B4

SUNDAY, JANUARY 15, 2017 Cesar Barrioquinto, Editor

World

/ Joyce Pangco-Pañares, Issue Editor

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

TRUMP MAY SCRAP RUSSIA SANCTIONS W

ashington, United States— President-elect Donald Trump has hinted that he may lift sanctions on Russia and won’t stand by the “One China” policy unless Beijing improves its currency and trade practices.

HEADING. President-elect Donald Trump raises a fist to supporters in the lobby of Trump Tower on January 13, 2017 in New York. AFP

Trump told The Wall Street Journal in an interview that he would keep intact “at least for a period of time” sanctions President Barack Obama’s administration imposed on Russia last month over Moscow’s alleged cyberattacks to influence the US election.

But, if Russia helps the US on key goals such as fighting violent extremists, Trump suggested he may scrap the punitive measures altogether.

He also said he was prepared to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin after taking office January 20.

Trump, who sees an opportunity to cooperate with Moscow in fighting jihadist groups like Islamic State, has expressed admiration for Putin, and only reluctantly accepted US intelligence’s conclusion that Russian hackers acting on Putin’s authority interfered in the US elections.

Turning to the longstanding US practice of not recognizing Taiwan diplomatically, Trump said: “Everything is under negotiation, including One China.”

Trump has already irked China by accepting a congratulatory phone call from Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-Wen after he won the election, upending decades of diplomatic precedent in which the White House has foregone direct communication with the island’s leader.

He defended that move in his interview with the Journal, saying: “We sold them $2 billion of military equipment last year. We can sell them $2 billion of the latest and greatest military equipment but we’re not allowed to accept a phone call. First of all, it would have been very rude not to accept the phone call.”

Beijing considers the island to be a breakaway province to be brought back within its fold, by force if necessary.

Trump has threatened to get tough with what he sees as unfair Chinese trade practices, and suggested that the “One China” policy could become a bargaining chip in other disputes. AFP

TOXIC CHEMICALS DETECTED AT TOKYO’S NEW FISH MARKET SITE TOKYO—High levels of toxic chemicals were found in groundwater tests at a new facility scheduled to replace Tokyo’s Tsukiji fish market – the world’s largest – clouding the costly relocation plan, news reports said Saturday.

The controversial project has been delayed over fears about toxic contamination, which also impacted the 2020 Olympics to be hosted by the Japanese capital.

The megacity’s new governor, Yuriko Koike, has said she would postpone the move originally set for November last year, as she awaits final groundwater

testing results at the new site, a former gas plant.

The relocation plan has been marred by problems, including the discovery that contractors had inexplicably failed to fill in a basement at the new site with clean soil as a buffer against underground pollution.

Results of the final testing showed that levels of toxic materials, including benzene, detected in underground water at the new site were above nationally set limits, the Yomiuri Shimbun and Jiji Press said. AFP

RELIGIOUS CEREMONY. An Indian sadhu or Hindu holy man walks back after taking a holy bath in the Bay of Bengal and perform rituals at the mouth of the river Ganges on Sagar Island, around 150km south of Kolkata, on January 14, 2017. More than 700,000 Hindu pilgrims and sadhus are expected to gather at the confluence of the River Ganges and the Bay of Bengal during the Gangasagar Mela to take a “holy dip’”in the ocean on the occasion of Makar Sankranti. AFP

SHRINKING SNOWS PROOF OF CLIMATE CHANGE CARLINI BASE, Antarctica—Vast icy rock peaks tower above Argentina’s Carlini research base in Antarctica. But scientists who have worked here for decades say the glaciers are less icy than they once were.

For international experts stationed at the base, the frozen southern continent is a good gauge of climate change.

“When I used to come to Antarctica in the 1990s, it never used to rain,” said Rodolfo Sanchez, director of the Argentine Antarctic Institute (IAA).

“Now it rains regularly – instead of snowing,” he told AFP during an Argentine government visit to King George Island, off the tip of the western Antarctic peninsula.

Scientists monitoring conditions at the base say the average temperature here has increased by 2.5 degrees Celsius (4.5 degrees Fahrenheit) over the past century.

“The glacier used to reach all the way to the shore,” Sanchez says. “Now there is a 500-meter (550-yard) wide beach.” AFP

THAI PILOT KILLED IN JET CRASH DURING AIR SHOW

BANGKOK—A Thai military air show for children was marred by tragedy Saturday when a fighter jet plunged from the sky and burst into flames, killing the pilot.

Families were gathered at the airport in the southern city of Hat Yai to watch the show put on for Thailand’s annual Children’s Day. Footage of the accident captured shrieks from a startled crowd as the jet took a nosedive and crashed near the airport’s runway, releasing fiery plumes of smoke.

“One pilot was killed in the accident this morning,” defense ministry spokesman Major General Kongcheep Tantravanich told AFP. The cause of the crash was under investigation, he added.

No one else was harmed in the incident, according to an airport official, as the audience was gathered a considerable distance away from the crash site. AFP

EU WANTS FINANCE SECTOR DEAL AMID BREXIT LONDON—The European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator has told colleagues that they need to strike a “special” deal with Britain’s finance sector in order to keep credit flowing to the continent, the Guardian reported Friday.

Michel Barnier said he wanted to guarantee that banks, businesses and governments from the other 27 member nations will still have access to the City of London after Britain leaves the bloc, according to unpublished minutes of the private meeting seen by the British newspaper.

However, a European Commission spokesman told the newspaper that the minutes did not “correctly reflect what Mr Barnier said.”

Barnier has so far taken a hard line on potential negotiations, and any concession that the EU may need to compromise over vital issues in the divorce proceedings will be viewed as a climbdown. AFP

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SUNDAY, JANUARY 15, 2017

Business

Ray S. Eñano, Editor / Roderick dela Cruz, Issue Editor business@thestandard.com.ph

GERMAN GROUP OFFERS TO HELP INDUSTRIALIZE PH Scan this icon to view the PDF

INDUSTRIALISTS.

Executives of thyssenkrupp AG meet journalists in Makati City. Shown are (from left) Vivek Bhatia, CEO for Asia Pacific of thyssenkrupp Singapore Pte. Ltd.; Kevin Chui, country head of thyssenkrupp Philippines; and Jan Lueder, CEO of thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions (Asia Pacific) Pte. Ltd.

A

German industrial group that has played a crucial role in the industrialization of Europe and survived two world wars is now looking at the Philippines as an area of growth, as the country attempts to reinvigorate its manufacturing sector.

Thyssenk rupp AG which combined the resources of Thyssen and Krupp—both steel makers and weapon producers in the 1930s that became controversial at that time for helping Germany become a conqueror of nations—wants to design factories, power plants, heavy machineries, infrastructure and elevators for Philippine companies.

“There are a lot of opportunities which we see in the Philippines where we can support and help and being a partner for Philippine industries. This is the reason why we are here,” says Jan Lueder, chief executive of thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions (Asia Pacific) Pte. Ltd. Af ter sur viving the war,

thyssenkrupp embarked on diversification and expansion globally. Today, it is an industrial behemoth, with 670 member companies producing products from tinplates to submarines, employing over 155,000 people globally and generating annual sales of nearly 40 billion euros.

The group, based in Duisburg and Essen, does not only produce engines and machines. It builds the factories and production facilities that manufacture those engines and machines.

Kevin Chui, country head of thyssenkrupp Philippines, says the group has been in the Philippines for more than a century, having delivered steel, engines, turbines, machineries, ships, power plants and even infrastructure to

private companies and the government.

“We first came here in 1903 and we were providing rail, train, trucks and small engines to a small local company called Manila Electric Railroad and Light Company. This became Meralco which is now one of the biggest and most successful companies in the Philippines,” Chui says.

The company also built ships for the Philippines in the 1930s to 1940s—Don Esteban and Don Isidro. “These ships played pivotal role during World War 2 where they transported Filipino officials including the vice president to safety during the Japanese invasion,” says Chui.

He says the German group supplied machinery and equipment for oil mills and cement plants and materials for mines, plantations and dams in the 1950s to 1960s.

It opened a regional office in Manila in 1995, supplied key components for two complete cement clinker production lines

in 1997, built a polypropylene plant in Bataan in 1998, built passenger bridges at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in 2000 and supplied coal handling equipment and delivered boilers to a power company in 2015.

“We also built the biggest cement producing plant in the Philippines,” says Lueder, referring to the Teresa cement plant now owned by CRH and Aboitiz. Thyssenkrupp also built the Apo cement plant.

Uhde Inc., a unit of t h y s s e n k r u p p, p u t u p a polypropylene or plastics plant in Mariveles, Bataan for Petron Corp. in 1998. “ These are all large companies in the Philippines,” says Chui, referring to local clients. The group generates annual sales of 5 billion euros in Asia Pacific, including 32.5 million euros in the Philippines.

Vivek Bhatia, chief executive for Asia Pacific of thyssenkrupp Singapore Pte. Ltd., says the Turn to C2

CEBU PACIFIC COLLECTS DONATION FOR SICK CHILDREN LOW-COST airline Cebu Pacific strengthens its partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund to reach millions of undernourished children in the country.

The endeavor is a part of the global organization’s Change for Good program which acceptscontributionsfrompassengers on board flights of partner airlines.

Proceeds contribute to the UN children’s agency’s First 1,000 Days campaign which provides optimal nutrition, from a mother’s pregnancy to a child’s second year of life.

Since July 1, 2016, Cebu Pacific began accepting contributions of all currencies from passengers. The contributions are being used to fund nutritional

supplements distributed to poor households with pregnant mothers or malnourished children. A portion of the funds also support barangaylevel information drives on nutrition in Unicef’s focus areas in Northern Samar, Zamboanga and Maguindanao.

“We are very pleased with how warmly our passengers are receiving the Change for Good Program. Thank you for sharing in our vision of a better future for our children and in Unicef’s advocacy of uplifting lives through the First 1,000 Days campaign,” says Cebu Pacific president and chief executive Lance Gokongwei.

“Children have the right to survive and

thrive. It is important for all of us to pitch in and lift each other up, so that every Filipino child grows up happy and healthy. Your continued support to UNICEF will help make this happen,”says Unicef Philippines representative Lotta Sylwander.

Sylwander explains the transformative impact of these small acts of generosity.

“The nutrition received by children from the womb to their second birthday is crucial for their physical and intellectual development. If these children are able to grow to their full extent, they perform better in school and eventually get better jobs as adults.” A healthy and productive workforce, Sylwander says, is key to nationbuilding.

PINOY FOOD IS NEXT BIG THING, AGAIN HAVE you heard that Filipino food is a big trend this year?

Undoubtedly you have. I’ve said it. Likewise, it made trend lists last year. And the year before. If you compared specific Asian cuisines to stocks, Korean food might be Google, a solid, upward ticking buy.

Filipino food would be more like an oil stock—a bumpy ride.

Yet, 2017 seems poised to be the year you can bet on Filipino food.

Google searches for “filipino food” have doubled since 2012, while queries for “lumpia near me” (referring to the crunchy Filipino-style spring rolls) have skyrocketed 3,350 percent. The time for Filipino food to take center stage is finally here, all my food trend instincts tell me.

I have a list of compelling reasons.

For one, a marquee restaurant has broken big. Bad Saint, the 24-seat Washington spot that specializes in thrilling dishes such as braised goat with charred coconut and chiles was the major restaurant story of 2016, landing No. 2 on Bon Appétit’s annual America’s Best New Restaurant list. It’s become a high-profile showcase for Filipino cooking, giving it a sexiness that merits lining up for hours.

Meanwhile, chef Alvin Cailan, founder of California (now Vegas, too) egg sandwich phenomenon Eggslut, is taking on the mantle of Filipino food champion, launching a passionate campaign after experimenting with his Amboy concept last year. He’s designed an “I <3 Filipino Food” logo for his 2017 endeavors as he searches for a permanent location. “My goal is to get enough exposure for Filipino food so that it’s the answer to the question, ‘What should we have for dinner tonight?’” said Cailan. “I saw an article that said Filipino restaurateurs are afraid to enter higher-rent markets because they don’t have confidence in the cuisine. I’d like to show that Filipino food can be accessible to any demographic.”

Cailan has some help on the East Coast from fellow FilipinoAmerican chef Dale Talde. His recently opened Talde Miami serves such standout dishes as roasted branzino with tomato turmeric jam and chiles. Come spring, he’ll introduce Rice & Gold in New York’s 50 Bowery Hotel. The menu will have a serious Filipino component, including the rice and chicken soup, arroz caldo. “You braise chicken like any Jewish grandmother, add rice to thicken it up, hit it with a lot of garlic and a ton of ginger and scallions. I add fish sauce and turmeric,” Talde said. “It’s the congee of the Philippines.”

A crave-able dish like that, labeled as a Filipino specialty by such a notable cook, is another thing that will help raise the cuisine’s profile.

Compare this to Korean food, which has identifiable hallmarks such as kimchee, which has become a national obsession, and roast pork bo ssam, which is popular whether or not you’ve been out drinking all night. Meanwhile Filipino food is best known for balut, a fertilized duck egg that sounds freaky to most Americans. Tastier-sounding dishes such as pork adobo (stewed with soy, garlic, and bay leaf) and those deep-fried lumpia are not yet ubiquitous, even if they should be.

The cuisine also utilizes lots of vinegar, lots of frying, and lots of funky flavors—all in sync with America’s expanding palate. Which raises the question: Why haven’t packed New York Filipino spots Jeepney and Pig & Khao spawned copycats the way the Korean-inspired Momofuku empire has?

For one thing, Filipino is the original fusion food, a mix of Malaysian, Chinese, and Spanish, with some Indian and American influences. It all makes Filipino food hard to pin down. If a cuisine is so far-ranging and reminds you of other foods, it’s harder to get passionate enough to seek it out.

And even among Filipinos, there are variations in the approach, with Chinese Filipino, Spanish Filipino, and so on. There isn’t necessarily a definitive recipe for a classic, as for such a dish as Italy’s cacio e pepe.

Turn to C2

Business

C2

SUNDAY, JANUARY 15, 2017 business@thestandard.com.ph

CZECH FIRM HAS 500,000 CLIENTS IN PH WITH business optimism in developed and emerging markets in Asia-Pacific reported to be diverging, a Prague-based consumer finance company is keeping a positive outlook on the Philippine market as it ushers in 2017.

Home Credit, a company that offers in-store financing of smartphones and household appliances, noted that the Philippines’ fast-expanding middle-class segment and young working population, along with its sizable unbanked sector, all point to an even higher demand for financial opportunities outside of the traditional banking system.

“We are continuing to see a remarkable increase in demand for smartphones and other goods here as the local economy continues to grow, and for many Filipinos, this also goes hand in hand with a demand for affordable and accessible financing,” said Home Credit Philippines chief executive Annica Witschard.

“When you add in the Philippines’ low credit card penetration and 70-percent unbanked rate to the equation, then you have a very unique market, one that offers tremendous potential,” she said.

Witschard said that since Home Credit’s arrival in the country in 2013, the company has quickly seen much of this potential turn into actual gains, as it crossed the 500,000-customer mark in December 2016. From their previously reported 280,000 customers in July 2016, this means a two-fold increase in customer base in less than half a year.

“Aside from the unique conditions of the market, our continued expansion in Q3 and Q4 last year to more provinces played a crucial role in hitting our numbers,” said Witschard.

She said Home Credit is now in over 1,500 partner outlets in 20 provinces in the country. Baguio and Iloilo are among the latest additions.

“This expansion also means a win-win situation with our partners, as we work together to help consumers avail of popular smartphone models and other high-demand products. We’ve already seen tremendous boosts in loan volumes for partners such as Samsung and Oppo, so there is very good reason to be bullish,” she said.

PINOY...

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One theory is that most Filipinos come to the U.S. speaking English, so they blend faster into the American melting pot—as does their food. Talde said that many first-generation chefs, himself included, have been reluctant to shout about their Filipino roots because they’re afraid it will alienate diners. Talde sees that changing.

“To some degree I credit David Chang [of Momofuku]. He made it cool for Asian cooks to do what we do, to represent our cuisine, and to be unapologetic about it,” said Talde. “I don’t care if people say it’s too funky. I’m ready to say: This is how it is, this is my food.”

In an excellent article on forecasting food trends, the New York Times’s Kim Severson noted that while you were making your frosé and red wine hot chocolate, you might consider that real food trends tend to move at a glacial pace. So it seems to be with Filipino food. Slowly and steadily, it’s here. And if you, like me, want to bet on it in 2017, here are a few places to investigate.

Rice Bar, Los Angeles—Charles Olalia, who cooked with the famed Guy Savoy, serves dishes such as dilis, which are tiny, sun-dried, deep-fried anchovies with avocado and radish salad. (Talde says they take on “legit, potato chip status” when fried correctly.) Each dish has a suggested rice pairing; with dilis, it’s garlic fried rice.

Perla, Philadelphia—This compact restaurant reinterprets the most notable recipes from the Philippines. Chef Lou Boquila serves duck adobo with cauliflower and kambocha as a creative take on the porky soy sauce-braised classic.

Kuneho, Austin—Paul Qui’s new restaurant may be dominated by sushi and Japanese dishes, but he offers some dishes from his native Philippines, including sisig, an unconventional pork stir-fry spiked with citrus and chiles, and morcilla à la dinuguan, the most elegant take on blood sausage.

F.o.b., Brooklyn—The restaurant’s name is shorthand for “fresh off the boat,” reclaiming a usually derogatory spike at Asian immigrants. Armando Litiatco, who cooked at Daniel, highlights family recipes and Filipino barbecue, including liempo, or grilled pork belly, with spicy cane vinegar dip.

Jollibee, Chicago—A fast food chain that’s as prolific as McDonald’s is in the Philippines recently arrived in Chicago, set inside the mammoth Filipino food market, Seafood City. There are some unconventional Filipino dishes, such as sweet spaghetti studded with hot dog slices, but the go-to order is fried chicken.

Bloomberg

From left: Toby’s Estate Philippines general manager Raoul de Peralta, Henry & Sons president and chief executive Michael Harris Lim and Young-in Traders president Henry Yeo are all smiles as they pose for a photo with the winner of the first ever Crop of the Year Competition—Joseph Carlos (second from right) of Barangay Wangal, La Trinidad.

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HENRY & SONS BOOSTS LOCAL COFFEE INDUSTRY

remium coffee supplier Henry & Sons has formed a non-profit organization to create a thriving and sustainable coffee industry.

The Foundation for Sustainable Coffee Excellence aims to address the major issues that are stopping coffee farmers from producing better coffee in larger quantities.

Government officials and industry players supported the launching of the foundation coinciding with the “Bloom 2016 Coffee Festival”in La Trinidad, Benguet.

“Our province is known as one of the producers of the best coffee in the country today and perhaps in the world. I hope to work together with FSCE to help strengthen people’s interest in the coffee farming industry and help the true VIPs of this event, the coffee farmers,” Benguet Governor Cresencio said.

FSCE, through its five programs, aims to provide coffee farmers with potable water; tools to prevent their children from catching common diseases, including dengue and chicken pox; a source of steady income while waiting for their crops to be sold; a direct line to coffee sellers who will but their crops at a higher price, and; educational assistance for their children. In addition, the organization will also provide tools, facilities and trainings to calibrate coffee farming practices and put the Philippines at par with leading coffee farming countries.

“There are a lot of marginalized farmers who need help to be assisted in their livelihood, and a lot of their children are trying to escape farming,”said Department of Agriculture regional executive director Lorenzo Caranguian. “If we work together with FSCE to teach them to treat coffee production as a way of life, teach them the value of farming, and teach them how they can promote their own coffee, I know that we can change their minds and encourage them to stay.”

According to Department of Trade and Industry, the Philippines now consumes an average of 65,000 metric tons of coffee annually

GERMAN...

From C1 group aims to help Philippine industries and enhance their competitive advantage.

Bhatia says the expertise of the group is engineering.“The fact is that the steel that we provide for the tinplates allow you to make thinner can. For the same cost and less weight, that impacts your logistics. It is also a better gear for production process.

There is a bit of engineering that we are trying to bring in to this run-of-the-mill, conventional things,” he says.

Bhatia says the group sees strong growth in the Philippines because of its population of over 100 million with a young, dynamic labor force and an economy that is growing faster than most countries.

Chui says the development of infrastructure and power sectors will help the countr y achieve its industrialization program.

Manufacturing accounts for just a

and is projected to reach 100,000 metric tons in to reach out to more farmers for their next the years to come. Out of this, only about 25,000 Bloom Coffee Festival. Slated to happen in metric tons of coffee comes from local farms. February 2017, the next coffee festival will bring coffee sellers to La Trinidad for an auction where qualified participants will get the chance to have their crops sold at double its current price.

“FSCE’s efforts will help us to source highquality Arabica from the farmers. It helps Toby’s Estate Philippines serve good coffee from all around the world, including our own,” said Raoul de Peralta of Toby’s Estate.

FSCE also wishes to award two Moisture Meters to La Trinidad farmers by February 2017. “The ideal moisture content of beans is between 9 to 12 percent. Beans with this moisture content are priced significantly higher in the market. This is one more thing we want to teach the farmers—to always strive to reach the right moisture content,”said Michael Harris Lim, director of FSCE and president and CEO of Henry & Sons.

“It may not be much, but this simple act that FSCE is doing resonates deeply as it impacts the lives of the beneficiaries of our foundation. We are able to form sustainable and mutually beneficial partnerships with different organizations because they see for themselves that even our small efforts make impact. The few steps we are taking now to help farmers of La Trinidad count more than the biggest Henry & Sons president and CEO Michael Har- promises,” Lim said. ris Lim and Crop of the Year Competition gold Henry & Sons has been paving the way for awardee Joseph Carlos show what high-quality the improvement of the local coffee scene since Arabica coffee beans look like. the early 90s when it became the first company to provide coffee shops a reliable supply of To help support FSCE’s efforts, Henry & Sons freshly-roasted coffee beans and top-of-thecreated a line of five special coffee brews called line espresso machines.

Bloom Coffee. Everyone can purchase them at In the early 2000s, the brand became the Robinson’s grocery stores, Rustan’s department first coffee roasting company in the Philippines stores, and through the Henry & Sons mobile to package coffee in tin cans equipped with app for P200 for every 250 grams. For every one-way valves and pull tabs, which put locallypurchase of a tin can, P50 goes to the specific manufactured coffee at par with international program it represents. brands.

Bloom 2016 Coffee Festival also hosted Henry & Sons has recently signed a 10-year FSCE’s first ever Crop of the Year Award, where partnership with world-renowned coffee expert six farmers were given the chance to show and writer, Scott Rao, to do a series of trainings industry leaders the quality of their crops. that aims to further raise the bar for coffee Through the competition, FSCE hopes experience in the country.

fifth of the Philippine economy—one of the lowest in the region, but the government aims to implement an industrialization program to keep up with Asian neighbors.

“The most important reason why it is the right time is what you are seeing in the infrastructure and what you are seeing in the power field. These in my opinion are the prerequisite for downstream industries to come to the country. You can only have other industries come in such as fertilizer, chemicals and petrochemicals once power is abundant and cheaper and once you have the roads, the ports and infrastructure in place,” Chui says.

“I foresee that in the next three or four years, there will be abundant power. There are a lot of power plants coming online. I think the time is right now. There are a couple of things we will be focusing on. One of them is the engineering, procurement and construction or EPC business. We want to focus on industries such as mining, finance, chemical and petrochemicals,

power generation especially clean power such as biomass and waste-topower technologies,” says Chui.

“Just last three or four months ago, we established a local branch here.

And we want to use this as a means to continue to rev up the speed in hiring local employees and better serving the customers here locally,” says Chui.

Lueder says thyssenkrupp can become the partner of Philippine companies in building their production facilities, particularly in the sectors of cement, petrochemicals, renewable energy, fertilizers, sugar, automotive and manufacturing.

“Technology is one of our important topics. We have the capability to execute totally turnkey lump sum EPC [engineering, procurement, construction] projects. We can also build plants around licensed technology,” he says.

“We have developed boilers and facilities [for sugar mills] which are capable of making use different fuel— coal, gas and other waste [aside from

bagasse] which we could use as fuel.

So energy production is 24/7 available,” he says.

Lueder says thyssenkrupp can help the Philippines establish its own fertilizer plants to boost the agriculture sector. He says the country currently imports 95 percent to 97 percent of its fertilizer requirements.

“You cannot feed 100 million people if you cannot secure the food supply,” says Chui, while citing the need for the country to develop its own fertilizer industry.

Chui says thyssenkrupp is committed to stay in the Philippines. “We have been here for over 100 years—helping the nation, helping the people, helping companies grow step by step through the process. In the sense, we went through the transformation and the pain of growing together,” he says. “ We have a ver y wide, broad engineering capabilities. With this portfolio, we are unique in a sense that we are here pretty much permanently,” he says. Roderick T. dela Cruz

Sports

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SUNDAY, JANUARY 15, 2017 reuelvidal@yahoo.com

SALDO IS SLIMMERS WORLD MS GREAT BODIES 2016

By Peter Atencio

W

HEN rugby player Jenielyn Lou Saldo first dabbled into bodybuilding, she never saw herself winning five fitness competitions within a span of seven months in 2016.

She just wanted to recover from the effects of a right shoulder injury she suffered while playing for Philippine Lady Volcanoes Rugby 7s team way back in 2013.

At first, Lou felt reluctant to join such contests.

“I tried to find something to occupy my time. I tried joining a beauty pageant, Miss Makati. I wasn’t enamored. I was too much into sports. So I tried bodybuilding,” said Lou Jen as she reflected on her success the past year and the circumstances that led to her recent achievements.

Her turn towards bodybuilding came when the Lady Volcanoes Asian saw action in the Asian Women’s Sevens Series in Thailand in September, 2013.

She was with Charmaine Bolando, Tonette Gambito, Kaye Honoras, Luisa Jordan, Nikki Lira, Ada Milby, Astrid Sadaya, Madille Salinas, Acee San Juan, Sylvia Tudoc and Cassie Umali at that time.

This was the first time that she has been picked for the national team to compete in an international meet. It was in a game against Japan when her life would change.

Lou Jen was chasing a Japanese player across the field. During a tackle, she was kneed on the right shoulder, dislocating the joint.

That injury needed six months to heal. But, by November she was competing again. This time, in the Asian Women’s Sevens Series in India.

She didn’t get injured during her stint. But her movements were limited, and she felt slow. Lou Jen re-

alized that she needed to build up speed on her legs.

Going to the gym for the first time with her coach Lou Paningbatan allowed her a chance to tone the muscles on her legs.

“I just focused on the legs.

Lunges, squats, just exercises. They said I had the body.

I just needed to tone my legs,” said Lou Jen. After three months, Lou Jen did something she didn’t expect to do.

She found herself in the Australasian Natural Bodybuilding International Universe 2016 at the Makati Cinema Square. There she won first place in the short and novice competition.

This encouraged her to go even further.

Already a winner in the Ms. CHK 2014, and Ms. UMak 2015, in her school, and in their community (Ms. Comembo 2015), she went on take the top honors at the Gemmalyn Crosby Sports Festival’s bikini bodybuilding division (short and overall champion) in September.

Then at the Shawn Rhodden Classic SRS 2016 she was 4th runner up. Finally at Slimmer’s World Great Bodies 2016, she took the Ms. True Tea Ice Tea, Ms. Swimwear and the Ms. Great Bodies 2016 crown.

Last November, Lou Jen claimed the crown in the Bodybuilding Bikini Division at Robinsons Parañaque.

Lou Jen said hard work won the

Slimmers World Ms. Great Bodies 2016 titlist Lou Jen Saldo works out her triceps at the gym.

San Sebastian College Lady Stags star player Grethcel Soltones spikes the volleyball during an NCAA pre-season game at the Shakey’s V-League.

SSC NEARS NCAA THRONE

By Reuel Vidal

Bikini model and athlete Lou Jen displays the form that won for her the Slimmers World Ms. Great Bodies 2016 title.

day for her in these competitions.

Currently taking up Physical Education in at University of Makati, she hopes to make it to Mr. and Ms. Fitness Universe in

Florida this June 2017.

Lou Jen, who also teaches kickboxing and Muay Thai as a part time job, has really gone a long way.

ROGER GORAYEB and San Sebastian College used to dominate the ladies volleyball competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

The Gorayeb coached Lady Stags are winners of 23 NCAA ladies volleyball titles, including six in a row from 2005 to 2011. They haven’t won since but with Grethcel Soltones running wild at the spiking end, after five fruitless years the Lady Stags are poised to return to the NCAA throne.

The Lady Stags formally advanced to the NCAA Final Four with a straight-set demolition of the University of Perpetual Help Altas last Wednesday. It is their seventh consecutive victory.

SSC is nearing a sweep of the elimination round. The team that sweeps automatically advances to the finals where they await their opponents from the three other teams which advance to the Final Four.

Soltones was her usual productive self with 18 spike points and one service ace.

The Lady Stags dominated at the net with 38 points off spikes compared to just 18 by the Altas. But the Altas almost made up for their lack with 10 block points.

Soltones hasn’t won an NCAA title yet although she did win back-to-back Most Valuable Player awards the past two years in the NCAA. She gets a last and final chance to win the crown this year.

How far San Sebastian goes will depend on how the effervescent Soltones handles the pressure to succeed. Coach Gorayeb believes her young ward will live up to the challenge.

“Grethcel is okay. She is familiar with the pressure to win which has always been there. Being in the NCAA, the pressure has always been great. I told her we need to win the title this year. We have to use the pressure as something to motivate us to play better,” said Gorayeb.

In a surprisingly competitive year six teams are capable of advancing to the Final Four and winning the NCAA crown.

These six teams include San Sebastian, University of Perpetual Help, defending champion College of St. Benilde, Arellano University, Lyceum Lady Pirates and the San Beda Lady Red Spikers.

BANARIO, FILIPINO FIGHTERS STAND TALL THE Philippines has carved a niche in mixed martial arts as a breeding ground of world-class fighters. In 2016 Filipino combatants glimmered like diamonds atop an international MMA stage in ONE Championship.

Eduard Folayang concluded his long journey to a world title in MMA. The Filipino fighter handed Japanese MMA legend Shinya Aoki his first defeat in nearly five years to capture the ONE Lightweight World Championship.

In addition, members of the fabled Team Lakay accomplished a breakout year.

Honorio Banario, the former ONE Featherweight World Champion, broke his long losing spell with a hard earned decision over Vaughn Donayre in April, 2016.

He followed that up with another hard earned decision this time over Eddie Ng in August, 2016. He capped a three-fight win streak with a resounding Armbar submission of Rajinder Singh Meena in December, 2016 to return to title contention.

Edward Kelly attained a come-from-behind submission victory over Jordan Lucas in March and then picked up imposing knockout wins over

Vincent Latoel and Sunoto.

Geje Eustaquio started 2016 with a bang by scoring a one-punch knockout of Saiful Merican in January before furnishing with a lopsided decision victory over Gianni Subba last April.

Kevin Belingon might have stumbled in his meeting with ONE Bantamweight World Champion Bibiano Fernandes in January, but he made up for it by outpointing Tajik standout Muin Gafurov this past October.

April Osenio pulled off a major upset triumph in September by submitting Malaysian superstar Ann Osman with a first-round guillotine choke.

Other than Team Lakay members other Filipino fighters also excelled.

Fil-Am fighter Brandon Vera proved worthy to be called ONE Heavyweight World Champion by defeating Japanese challenger Hideki Sekine in the headliner of ONE: Age of Domination this December. Vera won by technical knockout just minutes into the first round.

Burn “The Hitman” Soriano is relatively new to the promotion, having just made his debut last April in a loss to Indonesian fighter Sunoto. In his second trip to the ONE Championship cage, Soriano notched a high-

light-reel knockout triumph over Indonesian prospect Mario Satya Wirawan in their bantamweight encounter at ONE: Titles and Titans in August.

Jimmy “The Silencer” Yabo likewise recorded a scintillating knockout victory against Pakistan’s Bashir Ahmad at ONE: Tribe of Warriors in February. Yabo uncorked a solid right hook while moving backward that laid Ahmad out cold, adding a hammerfist on the ground for good measure.

The Philippine MMA scene witnessed the emergence of Team Lakay’s young guns Joshua Pacio and Danny Kingad.

Pacio earned a date with ONE Strawweight World Champion Yoshitaka Naito this past October. He lost but there can be no denying that he has reached world class status with his year-long performance.

Kingad had his fair share of spectacular moments as part of ONE Championship’s exciting flyweight bracket. In his first promotional appearance last April, he stopped Malaysian fighter Muhamad Haidar in the first round.

At ONE: Age of Domination this December, Kingad mustered a huge victory by submitting veteran and compatriot Eugene Toquero with a first-round armbar.

Honorio Banario

Team Lakay has become an instantly recognizable name in the Philippine MMA scene because of the big number of successful homegrown talents that it has produced since its inception in 2003.

For more updates on ONE Championship, please visit www.onefc.com, follow on Twitter and Instagram @ONEChampionship, and like on Facebook at https:// www.facebook.com/ON EChampionship.

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Sports

SUNDAY, JANUARY 15, 2017 Riera U. Mallari, Editor / Reuel Vidal, Issue Editor sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

THINK LIKE A WARRIOR, TRAIN LIKE A WARRIOR

Mark Striegl trains daily even without a scheduled bout. When there’s one coming, it’s two to three sessions at the gym for him

By Randy Caluag

F

IL-AMERICAN Mark Striegl is one of the most admired mixed martial arts fighters in Asia today, not just for his well-chiseled body, built around a layer of rock-hard abs and the looks of a Greek god, but because of his Spartanlike attitude.

Sparta was a warrior society in Ancient Greece. Its soldiers were known for their bravery, discipline, dedication and loyalty.

And like the Spartans, for Striegl, giving up is not an option.

His flourishing career halted by a disappointing loss, Striegl was inactive from the competitive MMA scene for nearly a year. But he did not stop from training. He kept himself fit, he watched his diet as he re-

Striegl is very strict on his diet and prepare the right food by himself

ligiously does before a competitive fight on the cage.

He never turned idle as he hopped back and forth from Manila to Baguio for training.

“It‘s been one year since my last fight, but I haven’t been taking it easy, I still train every day and been waiting for my come back,” he said.

Then came a call from ONE Championship, the biggest MMA promotion in Asia.

He would be up against top Bulgarian prospect Sotir Kichukov in a catch weight contest. The opportunity to again show his mettle was exciting for Striegl.

For Mark, the battle was not on the night of the fight. His battle had already begun the moment he got that call.

Because like the Spartans, Striegl trains harder than anyone else.

Mark always makes sure that his body is up to the challenge. He strictly watches his diet and he doesn’t rely on anybody but himself.

“I prepare my own food. I bring my food anywhere I go. I see to it that I only eat the right food and the right weight,” said Mark.

He trains with the best people in Baguio and Manila, including longtime buddy Brandon Vera, the ONE heavyweight champion.

Like the Spartans, Striegl will fight anybody, anytime and anywhere.

Fight night came in December at ONE: Age of Domination at the Mall of Asia, Striegl persevered through three grueling rounds against Bulgaria’s Sotir Kichukov to win by unanimous decision.

There was not a trace of a yearlong rust as Mark began the match

aggressively, using superior speed and angles to stifle Kichukov, who appeared unable to time Mark’s efficient rhythm.

In the end, all three judges saw the bout the same way, with Striegl emerging as the victor.

Through it all, there’s one constant training partner that Striegl would always rely on—his Under Armour gear.

“They are awesome.

Super durable, great compression gears.

You can feel the effect immediately.

They are perfect fit for me and I’m very happy with them,” said Striegl, who admitted though that he has been a believer of the brand even before he signed as a brand ambassador nearly a year ago.

A devoted athlete like Striegl, who trains two to three times a day, could definitely tell the difference between Under Armour and other brands.

“In, MMA, training is pretty intense, there’s a lot of wear and tear.

My running shoes, my compression gear of different brand will wear and tear overtime. Like I said, Under Armour is super durable and lasts longer and yeah, it’s perfect for my training,” he said.

With a great training partner in Under Armour, Striegl is confident of getting back on track toward his goal—winning the ONE world championship.

“That’s my goal, I want that to win a title for the Philippines. I want that strap,” he vowed.

FIL-BRIT TRIES LUCK IN PH OPEN TRACKFEST

By Peter Atencio CONNOR Henderson is among the many Fil-foreign athletes expected to show up in the coming 2016 Ayala Philippine National Open Invitational Athletics Championships in Ilagan, Isabela.

The 24-year-old Henderson, a Fil-Briton, will find out if he can make the grade and be part of the national pool.

He is expected to join the likes of Fil-American hammer thrower Caleb Stuart, sprinters Kayla and Kyla Richardson, Olympian Eric Cray, Fil-Canadian Zion Corrales and University of Connecticut student Trenten Berram.

Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association president Philip Ella Juico said the National Open from March 28 to April 2 will serve as a tryout for prospective national team members and Fil-heritage athletes are welcome to join.

“There are Fil-heritage athletes who have been emailing us, including this Fil-Briton,” said Juico.

Henderson’s best showing last season was when he clocked 49.81 seconds to place fifth in the 400-meter run in the Scottish National Under-17and senior championships.

In the Grangemouth Open, he recorded 1:56.87 in the 800-meter run.

Henderson

The National Open comes before the 12th Southeast Asian Youth Athletics Championships 2017, which will also be held at the Iligan Sports Complex in Ilagan Isabela from March 27 to 28.

Here, promising youngsters like pole vaulter Francis Obiena are tipped to make their presence felt in the two-day meet, which will feature young aspirants from 10 neighboring countries.

Early this year, Obiena followed the footsteps of his older brother EJ when he broke the course record in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines meet after clearing 4.06 meters.

His presence will help the Philippines beef up its performance in the two-day meet.

Last year, the Philippines placed seventh with 1-1-1 gold-silverbronze feat.

LOCAL ACES, SEA STARS CLASH Pradera Ladies Challenge unwraps

THE inaugural Pradera Ladies Golf Challenge, pitting the country’s leading jungolfers and amateurs and their Southeast Asian counterparts, unfolds today (Sunday, Jan. 15) with both sides all geared up for the Ryder Cupstyle duel at the Pradera Golf and Country Club in Lubao, Pampanga.

Expect fireworks to erupt right in the opening round with each team tipped to field in strong pairs in a bid to gain the momentum needed in such kind of duels, guaranteeing a day-long shootout among the country’s top players and the national team stalwarts of Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

“It’s always nice to have the upper-hand right from the first round matches and hopefully we can get into that position and maintain that right until the last match,” said Team SEA captain Dato Raby Abbas.

Five pairs will tangle in the first two days with two sets of matches on tap, including the foursome in the morning and the best ball in afternoon play. The deciding singles will be played on Tuesday with the team to score 15.5 points winning the perpetual Pradera trophy.

The hosts remain upbeat of their chances in the event put up by Archen Cayabyab and Lubao Mayor Mylyn Pineda-Cayabyab along

with coach Norman Sto. Domingo as part of their effort to boost the country’s junior and amateur golf program and at the same time foster camaraderie and greater golf relations with regional neighbors.

“We are really serious about winning this event. Motivation doesn’t always come on the course and our team’s secret is everything in their heart, mind and power. We have a great team, perhaps the best golf team ever assembled,”said Team Pradera skipper Chona dela Paz. Pauline del Rosario, coming off a fourth place effort in last Friday’s Philippine Ladies Open at Wack Wack, and four-time Veritas

Members of Team Pradera, headed by skipper and two-time LPGA winner Jennifer Rosales and coach Norman Sto. Domingo, and Team Southeast Asia, led by skippers Dato Raby Abbas and Phunampa Pornperapan, pose during yesterday’s formal opening of the Pradera Ladies Challenge. world junior champion Annyka Cayabyab banner the 10-player Team Pradera that includes Mikha Fortuna, Sofia Chabon, Bernice Ilas, Abby Arevalo, Mika Arroyo, Ni-

cole Abelar, Tomi Arejola and Missy Legaspi with NGAP’s Rolly Romero and former twotime LPGA winner Jennifer Rosales as the other team captains.

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SUNDAY, JANUARY 15, 2017

Jimbo Gulle, Editor

Roger Garcia, Issue Editor

LGUs

Local Gov’t Units

mslocalgov@gmail.com

TIWI-MAKBAN PROJECT IS BOND DEAL OF THE YEAR

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By Lance Baconguis

QUIET RETREAT. Monte Cueva Asuncion de la Virgen Shrine is a small cave developed by its original owners into a shrine with a quaint chapel inside. The shrine is elevated 172 meters above sea level overlooking the entire city of Maasin in Leyte. A donation by the philanthropists Odong and Loring Chung to the Diocese of Maasin City, tourists have made it a popular pilgrimage site. Mel Caspe

WORLD BANK OFFERS FUNDS TO MINDORO TUNA INDUSTRY S

By Robert A. Evora

ABLAYAN, Occidental Mindoro—The World Bank recently offered a substantial financial grant to six coastal municipalities of this province to improve the quality of traditional tuna fishing based on sustainable fishing practices and resource conservation.

Mayor Eduardo B. Gadiano told the Manila Standard that The World Bank has expressed interest in providing financial resource by way of grants to the six local government units, actively involved in the tuna fishing industry using the artisanal methods.

“We were told to come up with a joint proposal to list down all we need, such as fish landing, cold storage facilities and fishery-to-market roads, among other necessities, in keeping up with the growing foreign demands of handline-caught yellow-fin tuna,” he added.

Sablayan was chosen by the international funding institution as the site to put up these facilities where the five other towns of Paluan, Sta. Cruz, Mamburao, Calintaan, and Rizal, all tunaproducing municipalities, will bring their catch for processing.

Using the traditional hook, line and sinker (kawil), artisanal fishermen has an estimated annual catch of 375 tons (375,000 kilos) of yellow-fin tuna caught within Sablayan’s 15-kilometer municipal waters. Foreign buyers mostly from member-countries of the European Union prefer tuna caught by “kawil.”

Sablayan was tagged by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources as the “epicenter of tuna production” in Occidental Mindoro followed by Mamburao, the capital municipality.

Two fishing groups, Sablayan Yellow Fin Tuna Fishers Association (SYFTA) and the Samahan Ng Mga Kasa Sa Sablayan (Samasa), told the Manila Standard that their respective members still need assistance from both the local and national governments as “we still face stiff competition from big commercial fishing operators.”

Ernesto G. Tauro, SYFTA vice chairman and 2014 Gawad Saka Awardee For Fish Capture by the Department of Agriculture, said “there is either lack or shortage of payaw (fish

aggregating devices or FAD) installed by the government to help boost the tuna catch of local handline (magkakawil) fishermen.”

“All FADs are owned by big commercial fishing operators who are monopolizing the tuna harvest by using the prohibited fishing nets,” Tauro said.

“While they allow us to use their FADs to fish, we always sail home empty-handed as we cannot compete with these big-time operators because they are using long-line fishing nets,” he explained.

The SYFTA, which has 600 artisanal fishermen-members all over Sablayan, has submitted as early as 2015 to the DA, through the regional office of the BFAR, a letter-request for the installation of 10 FADs, costing only P30,000 each, for their own use.

The letter-request, written in Pilipino, said: “Marami nang bangka ang hindi na pumapalaot dahil ang lahat ay puro lugi pagdating sa gabi. Iilan na lang po kasing payaw ang natatalian at nahuhulihan ng tuna ng aming mangingisda. Ito po ang labis na nagpapahirap sa amin, wala na pong payaw na para lang talaga sa mag-tutuna. Ang payaw po na tinatalian namin ay pag-aari ng mga commercial fishers na maya’t-maya ang pag-simbada at pagkulong nila gamit ang malalaking lambat.”

Victor Samson, Samasa president, said that his group, composed formerly of 15 dealer-members, asked the Sangguniang Bayan of Sablayan to pass an ordinance regulating indiscriminate buying of yellow-fin tuna by unscrupulous traders and outsiders.

“Our group is no longer in control of our ‘kasa’ members and have gone separately since outside buyers compete with the locals in buying tuna from handline fishermen,” Samson said.

THE project bond issued for the Tiwi-MakBan Geothermal Energy Project of AboitizPower bagged the 2016 Bond Deal of the Year of the prestigious Project Finance International magazine of Thomson Reuters.

The awarding ceremony will be held on Feb. 1, 2017 at the Hilton, Park Lane in London.

The project bond has also been touted as one of the best in Asia, getting the Best Renewable Deal of the Year by Alpha Southeast Asia, to be awarded on Jan. 25, 2017 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The P12.5-billion local currency, multi-tranche bond issuance, backed by the Asian Development Bank, was the first green bond issuance in Asia and the Pacific.

AboitizPower, through its subsidiary AP Renewables Inc., used the issuance to finance the rehabilitation of the Tiwi-MakBan geothermal power facilities, which it bought from the government in 2009 and to partially fund its operating expenditures and future capital investments.

The two power plants, located in Batangas and Laguna (Makban) as well as in Tiwi, Albay, combine for 390 MW of clean renewable power for the Luzon grid.

CAVITE CODING SCHEME SET FEB. 1

By Benjamin Chavez THE provincial government of Cavite will strictly implement its number-coding traffic scheme on Feb. 1, giving erring motorists warning tickets if they violate Provincial Ordinance 164 until then.

Jan. 9 to 31 is considered the dry run period for Cavite’s Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction System, but motorists can still expect to incur the regular penalties and charges for other traffic violations, the provincial government warned.

The penalty on any person violating the provincial ordinance is P300.

The areas covered by Cavite’s number-coding scheme are from Aguinaldo Highway, covering the stretch of Bacoor to the Dasmariñas and Silang boundaries; Governor’s Drive, covering the stretch of Carmona to Trece Martires City to Tanza boundary; Molino Salawag to Paliparan Road, from Zapote to, Bacoor, Paliparan, and Dasmariñas; Molino Boulevard; and Daang Hari Road, covering the stretch of Aguinaldo Highway from Imus to Molino in Bacoor.

P32-M ROAD PROJECTS FOR KALINGA

By Brenda Jocson

MUNTI CENTENNIAL. Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Martin Andanar commits to support Muntinlupa’s 100th Founding Anniversary Celebration. Andanar, who also resides in Muntinlupa, receives Centennial communication materials from the city’s Public Information Officer Tez Navarro for the promotion of the local festivity in the government-owned broadcasting network PTV 4.

PINUKPUK, Kalinga—Roads in the former hotbeds of the New People’s Army in the 1980s in this province will finally be paved and concreted with P32 million in funding under the Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan or Pamana project in this town.

The groundbreaking for the concreting of the AllaguiaAsibanglan road was led by representatives from the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace Process and their local partners.

The 2.6-kilometer road is the second phase of OPAPP’s road project, which is supervised by the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

The Allaguia-Asibanglan road connects Barangay Calowan here and Barangay Saltan in Balbalan town, which is

expected to boost the economic activities of villagers engaged in massive agricultural production.

Meanwhile, the DILG said there are at least seven Pamana projects in 2016 for Kalinga province, which is part of enhancing and sustaining peace and development initiatives in the different provinces in the Cordillera Administrative Region.

DILG records showed that one project has been completed, and two more warehouses are being built in Lubo, Tanudan town, with a total project cost of P1.2 million.

A P40-million construction of the 60-linear-meter WagodBuaya bridge in Balbalan town and two multi-level waterworks system worth P2.2 million in Pasil town are still to be implemented, the department said.

In 2016, Cordillera received at least P533 million worth of Pamana community development and livelihood projects.

LGUs

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SUNDAY, JANUARY 15, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

LGU WANTS TO MANAGE HISTORIC MOUNT DATA HOTEL BAUKO, Mountain Province—The municipal government here has proposed to manage and operate the historic Mount Data Hotel to expedite the long-delayed resumption of operations of one of the supposed income-generating facilities of the government within the jurisdiction of this fourth-class municipality.

Mayor Abraham B. Akilit said the regional office of the tourism department already endorsed the local government’s bid to management and operate the hotel to the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority which has jurisdiction over tourism properties in the different parts of the archipelago.

“We want to infuse a new style of management of the hotel because aside from its bright prospects of being an economic driver in the locality, there is also a need to sustain its historical value having been the venue where the famous 1987 Mount Data peace agreement was signed,”Akilit stressed.

The local chief executive said that the municipal government planned to create a trust fund so that the income to be generated from the operations of the hotel facilities be used for its upkeep and maintenance.

Once fully operational, Mount Data Hotel is envisioned to become one of the preferred tourist destinations in the area, apart from Sagada and Banaue in nearby Ifugao.

In addition, domestic and foreign visitors flocking to the province will have a decent place to stop and spend the night before proceeding to their desired points of destination in the central Cordillera. Dexter A. See

169 BATAAN INMATES GET LIFE SKILLS BALANGA CITY—One hundred sixty-nine male and female inmates have graduated in the State University’s skills training program held at the Bataan District Jail recently.

In a statement, Bataan Peninsula State University Director for Research, Dr. Hermogenes Paguia said that the inmates successfully completed the livelihood and employment-oriented trainings of the university that includes Basic Shielded Arc Welding NC1 and NC2, Bread and Pastry Production NC2, Housekeeping NC2, and Food and Beverages NC2.

The conduct of skills training for Bataan inmates dubbed as “BPSU Behind Bars Extension Program” is being conducted in coordination with Tesda Bataan.

“We have been doing the program inside the district jail for six years. In 2014, it became regular program of the university,” said Paguia.

It was learned that even jail officers benefited in the training program.

BPSU president Dr. Greg Rodis fully backs the program.

Butch Gunio

COLONEL 'BISTEK'. Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista receives his stripes as a colonel of the 150th 2nd Ready Reserve Brigade of the Philippine Army during the Donning of Ranks Ceremony in Camp Aguinaldo. With the mayor are QC Police District Director Supt. Guillermo Eliazar and Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Eduardo M. Año. Manny Palmero

PALACE VOWS FREE IRRIGATION FOR FARMERS THIS YEAR C

By Ferdie G. Domingo

ABANATUAN CITY—The long sought-after free irrigation service will be implemented by the national government within this year, the National Irrigation Administration assured.

NIA administrator Peter Tiu Laviña, said top-level discussions are now ongoing between the agency and irrigators’ associations to “finetune” the plan to implement free irrigation nationwide.

“What I can assure you is that farmers will definitely enjoy free irrigation this 2017,” he said.

Laviña made the pronouncements even as farmers and irrigator groups have pressed the Duterte administration to make good on President Rodrigo Duterte’s campaign promise to fully implement free irrigation service.

Led by the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, the associations formed the Pambansang Ugnayan para sa Libreng Irigasyon at Patubig to urge the Duterte administration to stop collecting irrigation service fees (ISFs) which if implemented, would mark a first in the country’s history.

An additional P2.3 billion was allotted to NIA in the recently ratified P3.35-trillion national budget.

The NIA has been depending on ISFs for the salaries of its officials and employees.

Under the law, NIA is required to collect ISF which amounts to

roughly P2 billion annually which is also meant to fund the operations and maintenance of existing irrigation systems. An amendment of Republic Act 3601, the law that created NIA, may have to be undertaken to implement free irrigation.

NIA used to be just an irrigation division under the Department of Public Works and Highways but it was born through RA 3601 of 1963, which was amended through presidential decrees passed in 1974 and 1980.

Pronouncements made by Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol of free irrigation ahead of an enabling law have already affected ISF collections in various NIA regional offices and national irrigation systems.

Over at the Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation Systems (UPRIIS), the operator of the Pantabangan Dam based in this city, ISF collections have increased by P14

million in 2016 compared to the previous year, according to its operations manager Florentino David.

However, David said other regions are not as lucky as they have reported zero collections since the pronouncements were made. “It’s good that we were still able to jack up our collections. But other regions are not as fortunate as they have practically zero collections,” he said.

UPRIIS is the country’s largest NIS. Its Pantabangan Dam irrigates 120,000 hectares of agricultural lands in Nueva Ecija and portions of Central Luzon.

David said if free irrigation is implemented in UPRIIS, some 200 employees, mostly collection representatives and billing clerks might lose their jobs.

“This will be the effect of free irrigation but we cannot do anything about it. We’ll just have to find a way to give them other positions,” he said.

DOE RECOGNIZES CEMEX FOR ITS ISO 50001 ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM CERTIFICATION.

The Department of Energy through its Philippine Industrial Energy Efficiency Project (PIEEP) recognized CEMEX Philippines for its implementation of ISO 50001 Energy Management System (EnMS) in its cement plants. CEMEX Philippines’ subsidiaries, Solid Cement Corp. and Apo Cement Corp., are the first cement plants in the country to be certified by SGS Philippines for EnMS. In photo are (from left) Sanjaya Man Shrestha, UNIDO Industrial Energy Efficiency Program manager; Fakhruddin Azizi, UNIDO representative-Philippines; Eduardo Pons, CEMEX Philippines energy director; Ernesto Felix, CEMEX Philippines vice president for operations and technology; Alfredo Cusi, DoE secretary; and Jesus Cristino Posadas, DoE undersecretary.

PCAARRD RENEWS TIES WITH STAKEHOLDERS

Dr. Loureeda Darvin of the Inland Aquatic Resources Research Division-PCAARRD (center) represented PCAARRD Acting Executive Director Dr. Reynaldo Ebora during the MOA signing. Photo also shows (from left) Department of Trade and Industry representative; Dr. Nereus Acosta, LLDA general manager; and Moses Abadilla, project staff.

THE Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DoSTPCAARRD) renewed its membership to the Technical Working Group on the Containment of Knifefish in Laguna de Bay in a recent ceremonial memorandum of agreement signing held at the National Ecology Center, Laguna Lake Development Authority in Diliman, Quezon City.

The activity was part of the Partnership Forum organized by the Laguna Lake Development Authority to enlist commitment from stakeholder groups to implement measures for controlling the population of knifefish, an invasive species in Laguna de Bay. Dr. Nereus Acosta, LLDA general manager, in his keynote address, highlighted the need for continuing partnership among the inter-agency

TWG, the Local Government Units of Rizal and Laguna, and other stakeholders for the management of the lake, without adversely affecting food security.

Knifefish is considered a nuisance species in Laguna de Bay because of its voracious feeding habit which includes prey that are of economic importance. The Knifefish R&D Program aims to provide scientific information on the life history, reproductive and spawning behavior, feeding ecology, movement and other information on knifefish that will help identify the vulnerability of the species, and develop effective management and control strategies.

Several measures, such as physical removal, development of gadgets for eradication, and development of uses (e.g., food products, fertilizer) are being implemented by the TWG memberagencies to control the knifefish population in Laguna de Bay.

'NINA' SURVIVORS GET TESDA GRANTS

THE Technical Education and Skills Development Authority said that national government will provide scholarship to victims of Typhoon "Nina" that slammed Southern Tagalog late last year.

TESDA Director General Guiling “Gene” Mamondiong said the agency is now assessing the areas devastated by the typhoon particularly the provinces of Mindoro, Marinduque, Batangas, Catanduanes, Legaspi, Sorsogon, Albay, Camarines Sur and other parts of Southern Tagalog.

Aside from the scholarships, Tesda said that it would provide community-based training to affected residents by teaching them whatever their area could offer while the training-con-production project would increase their skills.

Mamondiong said that he will personally visit the affected provinces to assess what other assistance can be extended

by Tesda aside from the scholarships and skills training.

Typhoon "Nina" battered a large part of the southern Luzon region and displaced more than 120,000 persons. Tesda has also allocated scholarships in the Visayas and Bicol Regions. Jun David

Gadgets & Games

LG UNVEILS PINNACLE OF ITS FLAT-PANEL TVS

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SUNDAY, JANUARY 15, 2017 rumallari@thestandard.com.ph

OPPO'S LATEST A39 DELIVERS FLAWLESS SELFIES A NEW mobile device that easily captures crystal-clear selfies and brilliant night shots will soon make its debut in Philippine stores.

The OPPO A39 features a 5 MP-front camera which can capture flawless-looking selfies even in less than ideal lighting situations.

“OPPO’s smartphones have always stood out for their outstanding photography performance, powerful hardware, and elegant design. OPPO’s latest smartphone, the A39, is no exception,” said OPPO Philippines Brand Marketing Manager Stephen Cheng.

“The A39’s availability here in the Philippines is great news for those of us who can’t get enough of selfies and creative snaps.”

Seamless shots

Though the A39’s 5-MP front camera has less megapixels compared to OPPO’s other smartphones, its extra large 1.4um pixels and ¼-inch sensor has higher light sensitivity and frame rate to capture crisp pictures and videos with reduced noise.

The smartphone’s selfie camera is also equipped with the latest iteration of its beautifying app, the Beautify 4.0, which enhances the skin and facial features through seven beautify levels, two skin modes, and upgraded photo-processing algorithms.

Its 13-MP rear camera captures 50-MP ultra-high definition images with its extralarge 1/3.06 inch sensor, which maximizes the amount of captured light for brilliant low-light and nighttime shots.

The company’s latest OLED TVs are built on a foundation of excellence and come with a number of new cutting-edge features designed to transform the TV into a comprehensive entertainment hub.

L

G Electronics took the stage at Consumer Electric Show 2017 to unveil its newest top-of-the-line LG Signature OLED TV W as the pinnacle of its new lineup of flat-panel TVs.

Featuring Dolby Vision™ and Dolby Atmos™ sound, the new lineup includes a total of 10 different models, highlighted by the 2017 CES Best of Innovation Award winner, the 77-inch LG Signature OLED TV W exemplified by its Pictureon-Wall design.

The LG 2017 OLED TV lineup, consisting of models 77/65W7, 77/65G7, 65/55E7, 65/55C7 and 65/55B7, will continue to live up to its unrivaled ability to reproduce the most lifelike images of any TV product with perfect blacks, infinite contrast and an expanded color gamut.

The company’s latest OLED TVs are built on this foundation of excellence and come with a number of new cutting-edge features designed to transform the TV into a comprehensive entertainment hub.

LG’s 2017 OLED TVs feature the amazing blade-slim design of the B7 and C7 series, Picture-on-Glass design of the E7 and G7 series and the unique Picture-on-Wall design of the newest W7 series.

The innovative design of the W7 series follows LG’s “less is more” philosophy, stripping away everything to emphasize the beauty of the screen alone.

The W7’s sleek razor-thin profile makes the TV appear to be levitating in mid-air, adding to the sense of immersion. The OLED panel, measuring only 2.57mm thin in the 65-inch model, can be mounted directly on the wall with only magnetic brackets, eliminating any gap between the TV and the wall.

The sense of immersion is completed by up-firing speakers and unrivaled Dolby Atmos sound. This design of the W7 series invites the illusion of gazing out a window, not of watching TV. The W7 OLED TV series builds on LG OLED’s revolutionary pixel dimming control technology, which renders perfect black without any light leakage to offer a limitless contrast ratio, with one

billion possible colors. What’s more, all LG’s 2017 OLED TVs use ULTRA Luminance technology to deliver greater brightness where needed.

Leveraging the high dynamic range technology that powers Dolby’s most advanced cinemas around the world, Dolby Vision elevates the home TV viewing experience by delivering greater brightness and contrast as well as a fuller palette of rich colors. Dolby Atmos puts viewers inside the action with rich sound that fills the entire room— even the space overhead – with powerful, moving audio that flows around the audience. Dolby achieves this by isolating the relative location of each sound to create incredibly intricate audio that is as rich and multi-layered as the real world.

As the first TV in the world to offer Dolby Atmos, 2017 LG OLED TVs can deliver content with both cutting-edge imaging and state-of-the-art sound technologies simultaneously, creating an entertainment powerhouse. Together, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos deliver a comprehensive solution supported by professional content creators and distributors the world over. Over 80 studio titles are compatible with Dolby Vision and more than 100 titles are currently available for Dolby Atmos, with 25 available in both formats.

What’s more, over 100 hours of original content is available in Dolby Vision across leading OTT providers worldwide and soon consumers will have access to Dolby Vision titles on Ultra HD Blu-ray disc, with anticipated availability in 2017.

The W7 series and all LG 2017 OLED TVs feature Active HDR for displaying next-generation HDR content designed to render brighter scenes and greater shadow detail. Active HDR allows LG TVs to process the picture frame by frame, inserting dynamic data where needed. This technology allows the TV to offer the best picture even if the original HDR content contains static or no metadata at all. And all of LG’s 2017 OLED TVs support

ASIA'S...

From D4

Oscar Visaya

processes and increase speed to market in ways traditional IT infrastructure cannot touch. Key value points include: Flexibility: Cloud provides organizations the flexibility to scale up or down its cloud capacity on-demand.

This level of elasticity enables businesses to be more agile and higher performing.

Improved mobility: Applications are available to employees anytime, and anywhere. Employees can access apps across smart phones and tabletscatering to the demands of the increasingly mobile-savvy population.

Cost savings: As companies do not have to purchase equipment and operate a data center, they have reduced expenses on hardware, facilities, and other operational aspects. Cloud enables organizations to reduce operational costs while increasing IT effectiveness.

Powerful performance

the full palette of HDR formats, including Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG (Hybrid Log Gamma) and are ready to support Advanced HDR by Technicolor technology. This versatility is compounded by the new HDR Effect feature which processes standard definition content frame-by-frame to improve brightness in specific areas, enhance contrast ratios and render more precise images.

Featuring the latest version of LG’s intuitive webOS smart TV platform, version 3.5, viewers will have no trouble accessing premium HDR content online. In order to offer viewers access to the most convenient home cinema experience possible, LG has partnered with leading digital content providers such as Amazon, Netflix and Vudu. To demonstrate the capabilities of HDR content on LG’s OLED TVs, HLG programming from DIRECTV, Dolby Vision content from Netflix and HDR10 titles from Amazon Prime Video will be featured at LG’s booth at CES. The new LG OLED TVs embed cutting edge technology and renowned color science expertise from Technicolor. They apply the same technology and expertise used in the majority of premium Hollywood productions from movies to episodic series. This allows consumers to enjoy the most vibrant and lifelike viewing experiences while accurately recreating the artistic intent of content creators. Because of the superior picture quality of OLED technology, Technicolor is working with LG to expand the capabilities of its OLED TVs for use in production facilities around the world.

With Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos integrated tightly into our newest OLED products, viewers will be able to recapture the magic of the cinema and experience their favorite movies with their original clarity, depth and imagination intact,” said Brian Kwon, president and CEO of LG’s Home Entertainment Company.

“The stunning new TVs on display at CES this week demonstrate our commitment to innovation and leadership in OLED and the premium TV market globally.”

To cloud or not to cloud?

However, Asian businesses still remain cautious. A survey by F5 Networks revealed that the Asia Pacific market lags behind the rest of the world in tapping the cloud for application development and operations2. The study also revealed that businesses in Asia remain hesitant about deploying cloud projects that are mission-critical and production grade, and instead only deploy noncritical low-risk applications, such as email, collaboration and websites.

The inherent challenges in cloud migration—such as, determining which workloads are suitable for the cloud, the lack of control and visibility, the application delivery and security capabilities of the cloud provider, and the real possibility of rewriting your entire application to take advantage of the capabilities provided by the cloud provider— can give pause to even the most digitally mature businesses. In Asia Pacific in particular, integration between a provider’s cloud technology and on-premises systems stands out

The A39’s 720P HD screen has automatic brightness adjustments and high contrast to keep the eyes more comfortable.

Watching movies or playing games is also a more vivid experience on the A39 thanks to the all-new Color0S 3.0, which provides seamless performance, offers more memory, and saves more power.

When the ColorOS 3.0’s power-optimization features work with the A39’s 2900 mAh lithium polymer battery and MT6750 processor, the phone reduces power consumption by up to 35 percent and allows up to more than thirteen hours of constant use.

The 3GB RAM and Octa-core 64-bit processor further enhanced its performance to allow smoother multitasking and switching between apps.

Beautiful design

Aside from its powerful hardware and software, the A39 also stands out for its unibody design that gives users a comfortable and effortless grip.The phone’s 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass 4 Screen has four precisely rounded corners and a thin lightweight frame that rests comfortably in the hand. The phone’s magnesium-aluminum alloy body also retains du-

OPPO A39

rability though it merely weighs 147 grams.

The OPPO A39 is now available in concept and dealer stores for only P10,990.

For more information on the OPPO A39, log on to http://www.oppo.com/ph/index.html.

as a key factor in weighing the adoption of the service.

In addressing these challenges, organizations need advanced and programmable application delivery services which span across data centers and cloud providers, and provide business flexibility to enable a smooth and successful cloud migration. Organizations require a unified platform that enables them to deliver and manage application services consistently across different application environments for existing applications as well as new cloud native applications.

Companies cannot ignore the rise of cloud. However, what they can do, is to ensure that their individual journeys to the cloud are secure and successful, by ensuring that the application delivery service that they choose provides the following three key considerations for every app regardless of deployment model: Availability—Especially for mission critical workloads, businesses need to ensure that application delivery services can provide persis-

tent app availability across disparate environments.

Performance—With the increased urgency to deliver on-demand content to a variety of devices, app delivery needs to be optimized regardless of the deployment model in order to enhance end-user experience.

Security—The increasing frequency with which organizations experience attacks and vulnerabilities, drive security needs as one of the core app services necessary to ensure the survival of apps and business today.

Imagine application developers and IT coming together to rapidly develop and launch an application on the cloud that helps scale a line of business from hundreds to millions of customers—all with the same reliability, security and control of a traditional datacenter deployment. Every company has a cloud journey unique to its own needs. As a leading provider of application delivery services, F5 is enabling this future today, without compromises, empowering organizations to power their digital transitions without challenges.

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SUNDAY, JANUARY 15, 2017 Riera U. Mallari, Editor rumallari@thestandard.com.ph

Gadgets & Games DON'T FLASH THAT PEACE SIGN

Joe Stinziano, Executive Vice President of Samsung Electronics America, speaks during a press event for CES 2017 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. CES, the world's largest annual consumer technology trade show, featured 3,800 exhibitors showing off their latest products and services to more than 165,000 attendees. AFP

SAMSUNG RECOGNIZED FOR DESIGN, INNOVATION

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IDGEFIELD PARK, N.J.—Samsung Electronics announced that it has won more than 120 awards at the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show and continues to receive recognition in categories spanning the home entertainment, home appliance and mobile categories. Samsung is humbled to be honored at CES alongside fellow innovators and the next-generation technologies that are shaping the future of everyday life.

Among Samsung’s CES 2017 notable wins are 34 CES 2017 Innovation Awards, including a Best of Innovation Award in the video display category.

Samsung was also recognized with a number of media and industry awards, selected by organizations in attendance at the event out of more than 3,880 exhibitors.

“As CES celebrates its 50th anniversary, it’s amazing to see how far we’ve come as an industry. This past year was marked with an array of unique developments in product design and engineering,” said Gregory Lee, president and CEO of Samsung Electronica North America.

“We are honored to be recognized year after year by CTA and the industry for our innovative products and developments, and remain committed to delivering products that are thoughtfully designed to work the way you live,” Lee addded.

Samsung’s award winning products for 2017 include: Samsung’s new QLED TV lineup received more than 20 notable awards including four CES Innovation Awards, Reviewed.com’s Editor’s Choice award, Ubergizmo’s Best of CES award and HD Guru’s CES Top Picks award

Samsung’s new Lifestyle TV, which is designed to appear just like a picture would appear on a wall, collected the Best of Innovation award from CTA as well as Popular Mechanic’s Editor’s Choice award Samsung’s FlexWash + FlexDry were honored with two CES Innovation Awards and an array of media accolades, including the Techlicious Best of CES award, Reviewed.com’s Editor’s Choice award, The Verge’s Best of CES award and a TWICE Picks award Samsung’s Chromebook Plus and Pro garnered wins from Digital Trend’s Top Tech of CES awards, Wired’s Best of CES awards, BGR’s Best Laptops of CES awards, LAPTOP / Tom’s Guide Best of CES awards, Gear Patrol’s Best Products from CES awards and 9to5Google’s Best of CES picks For more information on Samsung at CES 2017, please visit: www. news.samsung.com/ Headquartered in Ridgefield Park, N.J., Samsung Electronics America, Inc., is a recognized innovative leader in consumer electronics, mobile devices and enterprise solutions. A wholly owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., SEA is pushing beyond the limits of today’s technol-

Attendees participate in a Samsung virtual reality ride at CES 2017 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

ogy and providing consumers and organizations with a portfolio of groundbreaking products in appliances, home entertainment, Internet of Things, mobile computing, smartphones, virtual reality, wireless infrastructure and wearables, in addition to offering leading content andservices related to mobile payments, 360-degree VR video, customer support and more. Samsung is a pioneering leader in smartphones and HDTVs in the US and one of America’s fastest growing home appliance brands. To discover more about Samsung, please

visit www.samsung.com. For the latest Samsung news, please visit news. samsung.com/us and follow us @ SamsungNewsUS. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. inspires the world and shapes the future with transformative ideas and technologies.

The company is redefining the worlds of TVs, smartphones, wearable devices, tablets, cameras, digital appliances, medical equipment, network systems, and semiconductor and LED solutions.

For the latest news, please visit Samsung Newsroom at http://news. samsung.com.

ASIA'S ACCELERATING CLOUD APP-VANCEMENT

By Oscar Visaya, Country Manager, F5 Networks

IN ASIA, the application economy is an unstoppable juggernaut advancing at full speed. Wielding the power to make or break the customer-brand relationship, applications that fail to deliver a positive user experience risk losing about a third of their customer base. Recognizing the potential of this digital strategy, today, F5 has found that organizations across this region depend on about 200 applications each, to streamline and introduce efficiencies in functionalities ranging from enterprise productivity, IT deployment to supply

chain management.

This number is however set to rise as digital workplaces become commonplace. More employees want to, and are given the autonomy of choosing the apps and processes to work with to maintain a high intensity of corporate functionality anytime, anywhere, across any device.

In spite of its diverse and uniquely fragmented economies where technology maturity is polarized across developed and developing nations from Singapore to Myanmar, one common technology denominator stands out in Asia: mobile. The strong growth of mobile is ubiquitous across

countries in the region, further driving the demand for applications and creating a level playing field for businesses in this heightening app-centric landscape.

With the surging demand for applications, IT departments are facing increasing pressure to deploy them more rapidly, leading to increasing complexity of their infrastructures, and more worryingly, increasing the number of new attack vectors for malicious actors. What businesses need today are therefore solutions that enable them to deploy, scale and manage the growth of their application population—quickly and securely—while creating a seam-

less experience between the application and the end user!

Asia’s Cloud-y Outlook

The industry has come a long way from the time when security and performance concerns hindered companies from migrating even basic applications to the cloud. Today, the cloud acceleration is tangible as CIOs are already prioritizing the move of business critical applications, such as ERP and HR functions, to the cloud as their top agenda.

The cloud is transforming the way businesses deploy and manage applications, by improving agility, automating Turn to D3

TOKYO—Could flashing the “peace” sign in photos lead to fingerprint data being stolen?

Research by a team at Japan’s National Institute of Informatics (NII) says so, raising alarm bells over the popular two-fingered pose.

Fingerprint recognition technology is becoming widely available to verify identities, such as when logging on to smartphones, tablets and laptop computers.

Bu the proliferation of mobile devices with high-quality cameras and social media sites where photographs can be easily posted is raising the risk of personal information being leaked, reports said.

The NII researchers were able to copy fingerprints based on photos taken by a digital camera three metres (nine feet) away from the subject.

“Just by casually making a peace sign in front of a camera, fingerprints can become widely available,”NII researcher Isao Echizen told the Sankei Shimbun newspaper for an article published Monday.

“Fingerprint data can be recreated if fingerprints are in focus with strong lighting in a picture,” Echizen also told Yomiuri TV. He added that advanced technology was not necessary and anyone could easily copy fingerprints.

But NII says it has developed a transparent film containing titanium oxide that can be attached to fingers to hide their prints, the reports said.

The film prevents identity theft but does not interfere with fingerprints being effective in identity verification, the Sankei Shimbun reported.

But the technology would not be ready for another two years, the paper said. AFP

Researchers have raised alarm bells over the popular two-fingered pose.

NEW BASE FOR SNAPCHAT LONDON—Snap Inc., which runs smartphone messaging app Snapchat, said Tuesday it had chosen London as its international headquarters, praising the UK’s creative industries.

It comes after Facebook, Google and Apple last year announced major investments in London, underlining the capital’s status as a technology hub as Britain prepares to exit the European Union.

“I am happy to confirm that the UK is the Snap Inc. family’s hub outside the US,” a Snap spokeswoman said.

Snap has around 75 staff in the UK, up from six a year ago and is looking to add a nearby site to its office in London’s Soho district, she added.

“We believe in the UK creative industries,”said Claire Valoti, general manager of Snap’s UK operations, in a statement.

“The UK is where our advertising clients are, where more than 10 million daily Snapchatters are, and where we’ve already begun to hire talent.”

The news was welcomed by the right-wing government of Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May, who is due to trigger Brexit by the end of March.

“The UK continues to be a hugely attractive destination for international investment, including global tech,” a government spokesperson said. AFP

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SUNDAY, JANUARY 15, 2017 Isah V. Red, Editor

/

Young Life

Bernadette Lunas, Issue Editor isahred@gmail.com.ph

MEET THE ‘YOUNGEST’ CHANGEMAKERS IN FORBES 2017 LIST OF 30 UNDER 30

Scan this icon to view the PDF

(Part 2) MAJORITY of them may not be at the legal drinking age yet but they have already achieved much compared with those older than them.

The future of the world is bright with these young folks around. Get to know the second half of Forbes 2017 list of changemakers and innovators—the youngest in their respective categories—and how they made it to the coveted list.

‘CORON IS NOT ‘CORON BIKINI BOTTOM’

Kai Kloepfer, 19 His work in his company Biofire Technologies that develops a gun that can only be fired upon reading its owner’s fingerprints gained this Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) student a spot in Consumer Technology category.

By Bernadette Lunas

I

GREW up watching the first animated series of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Turtles, and laughed at every funny episode of SpongeBob SquarePants SquarePants—until today, in fact. But I believe the entertainment I got from those shows would never trump the joy and pride I get from seeing the natural wonders of the Philippines.

On Jan. 9, Nickelodeon announced its plan to build a 100-hectare underseathemed attraction and resort as part of Coral World Park’s (CWP) 400-hectare master-planned development in Coron, Palawan.

The global kids brand of Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) said in a statement that it will partner with underwater resort developer Coral World Park Undersea Resorts Inc. to put up the “first undersea attraction and Nickelodeon’s first resort in Southeast Asia” located amid a cluster of 16 white sand islands of the CWP. It was like a slime in our faces, only it didn’t mean honor as in Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards, when we found out that the said development would cover 70 hectares for resort’s accommodations and 30 hectares for themed attraction of our country’s last ecological frontier.

In addition, there’s a plan to build underwater lounges and restaurants,

about 20-feet below sea level of the province’s diverse marine ecosystem, as stated in the press release.

When completed in 2020, Nickelodeon said, CWP “will be the largest coral reef conservation program in Asia.”

But environmentalists are not buying.

In a statement released following the announcement, Save Philippine Seas (SPS) co-founder and executive director Anna Oposa refuted the firm’s claims of advocating ocean protection, because the underwater theme park, she said, will do the exact opposite.

“By building artificial structures, you will undeniably damage and disrupt Palawan’s marine ecosystems,” said Oposa.

SPS and other environmental activists call on the local government of Palawan, Nickelodeon and CWP to junk their plan which could destroy the area’s world-famous pristine coastlines, rich forests and diverse marine ecosystem.

Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) secretary Gina Lopez has already made it clear that she would not allow the building of an underwater theme park in Palawan.

“I will never allow the corals to be harmed. You can’t kill the corals for a theme park, no way,” stressed Lopez.

Concerned netizens were also quick to express their outrage through the hashtag #CoronIsNotBikiniBottom, which quickly reached the top of Twitter Philippines trends by midday on Jan. 11.

SPS launched an online petition on www.bataris.org.ph, which quickly gained traction in a short period.

Amid online uproar, local officials of Palawan denied receiving any application from the developer to put up a theme park in the province. CWP, meanwhile, backtracked on its earlier announcement and clarified that it is not building any structure underwater. Developments, they said, would be Turn to E2

WHO LIVES IN PINEAPPLE UNDER THE SEA? Nickelodeon’s announcement of its plan to build an undersea-themed attraction in Coron, Palawan has alarmed environmentalists, government officials and concerned netizens due to the possibility of destruction and disruption to the marine ecosystem of the Philippines’s last ecological frontier. (Photo of Kayangan Lake by H.abanil)

SARI LAZARO TO SHOWCASE HER DESIGNS ON A FLOATING CATWALK

The rising designer will make waves on the floating runway over the River Seine in Paris, France

FILIPINA designer Sari Lazaro is set to make waves in Paris as she brings her bespoke creations to the 100-meter floating runway over the River Seine on January 26.

The rising designer will represent the Philippines in Jessica Minh Anh’s J Winter Fashion Show 2017.

Minh Anh is known worldwide for producing fashion shows in the world’s most extraordinary catwalks—at the Eiffel Tower, on the

sundeck of a cruise ship and over the Grand Canyon, among others— on which she struts as well.

Lazaro, together with other innovative designers from Europe, Asia and America were chosen by Minh Anh to showcase their creations on the Seine’s giant glass boat—while the ship is cruising.

With the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame and the Louvre as her backdrop, the Instituto Marangoni-educated Pinay

designer is set to stir up romance with sophistication through her gowns and dresses that flatter the female silhouette. Using delicate lace, luxurious fabrics and shimmering details, her set is envisioned to look like a royal wedding in an enchanted garden.

Filipinos will certainly be proud of this feat. James Younghusband, Lazaro’s boyfriend, sure does.

Maddie Marlow, 21 and Taylor Dye, 21 Joining the list of honorees for Music is the American female country music duo better known as Maddie & Tae, whose first single “Girl In A Country Song” broke stereotypes and reached the top of the genre’s airplay charts in 2014.

Ann Makosinski, 19 This young inventor who created a flashlight that runs off the heat of the human hand and a mug that converts heat into an electric current to charge mobile phones made it to the list under Energy.

Maanasa Mendu, 14 The youngest honoree in Energy category and in the entire Forbes 2017 list invented a piezoelectric “solar leaves” device that can pick up energy from precipitation, wind and sun and transforms it into usable energy.

Gabriel Mesa, 15 His biodegradable motion powered Carbon Battery and piezopowered diabetic neuropathy treatment named Stimuped, have helped him notch a spot in Energy John Meyer, 21 This New York University drop out champions transparency through his Fresco News that empowers regular people to be reporters. He’s named an honoree in Media category.

Turn to E2

Young Life

E2

SUNDAY, JANUARY 15, 2017 isahred@gmail.com

MEET...

From E1

Bethany Mota, 21 From sharing beauty and fashion tips on her YouTube page, this Art & Style honoree has since expanded into having her own fashion line at Aeropostale. She has also released a DIY line of school supplies and was a finalist in Dancing With the Stars.

Steven Ng, 24 His work at his company Elliot Havok that sells high-end watches and wallets at affordable prices has gained him a spot in Retail & E-commerce category.

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BULLET JOURNAL Lele Pons, 20 This Hollywood & Entertainment honoree became popular on the now-defunct video-sharing service Vine. Her less than a year old YouTube channel, where she now showcases her acting chops, has nearly 2.5 million followers to date.

Matt Salsamendi, 19 The co-founder of Beam, a platform that lets video game-streamers interact with their audience and allow viewers to control certain parts of the game being streamed, is named the youngest under Games category.

J

OURNALING is currently one of the many obsessions of millennials. But those who can’t be bothered with writing long sentences but are fond of to-do lists have found a middle-ground in Bullet Journal.

In essence, Bullet Journal is a customizable organization system that lets you combine to-do lists, planner and diary in one notebook—using short and simple notes with corresponding bullets.

It got its name from the different types of bullets used for tasks, events and notes (i.e. dot bullet for tasks, circle bullet for events, dash bullet for notes). Compared to the traditional system, this helps you record different data easily and distinguish between them at a glance.

The idea of Bullet Journal was created by Brooklyn-based designer Ryder Carroll, who spent years developing the method so he could stay organized. He shared his discovery in hopes

that it would help in carrying out a unique journaling process that would work for anyone.

Who should try Bullet Journal?

The Bullet Journal system is ideal for people who have todo lists floating around their heads, or are into habit-tracking and want to be more organized. It is also suitable to those who would like to keep a journal but have trouble sticking to the habit.

Aside from its organization benefits, Carroll said, from feedbacks he has received, that Bullet Journal has helped change the lives of those with health problems, mental disorders or learning disabilities.

How to start a Bullet Journal

It’s important to know the basics of Bullet Journal.

The versatility and simplicity of this process begins with the tools: “bullet journalers” can use any kind of journal and writing material.

The content is composed of the Index or more popularly known as the table of contents that you update as the days go; the Daily log is basically the things you did and observations for the day; the Monthly log is the calendar and the things you need to do for the month; and the Future log which is the year-at-a-glance calendar where you jot down your events and goals.

Carroll said that Bullet Journal’s success comes from its ability to become a different tool to different people.

“If spending the time to embellish your Bullet Journal motivates you and brings you joy, then you’re doing it right. If you look forward to coming back to your book and feel like it’s your ally, then you’re doing it right,” opined Carroll. — John Ray Villanueva

Ashton Sanders, 21 This breakout star’s portrayal in the 2016 film Moonlight as a young gay man dealing with his mother’s drug addiction and school bullies got him the recognition of being one of the Youngest in Hollywood & Entertainment.

Troye Sivan, 21 One of the youngest honorees in Music, his popular YouTube channel has opened several doors for him to star in films and release his first fulllength album, Blue Neighborhood— which was a favorite among pop and electropop music fans.

Justine Skye, 21 Another honoree in Music category, her claim to fame includes her a capella rendition of “Black and Gold” and her song “Collide.” Her full-length album produced by Roc Nation is currently in the works.

Shakur Stevenson, 19 This young boxer boasts of a 23-1 record in international competition, a silver Olympic medal, and now the honor of being one of Forbes 2017 30 under 30 in Sports.

Rohan Suri, 17 An unfortunate event led this teenager from Oakton, Virginia to found Averia Health Solutions that makes an eye-tracking device that helps improve concussion test. He is the youngest honoree in Healthcare category.

ORGANIZED. The Bullet Journal system is ideal for people who like to track dayto-day activities, long-term goals and experiences in one notebook.

‘CORON...

From E1 land-based and the only infrastructure in the water is floating.

Oposa welcomes the clarifications from CWP and Nickelodeon but questions the plan just the same. “They said it will be land-based, but with floating structures—which will still be anchored somewhere,” Oposa said in an email interview with Manila Standard Young Life.

Some of their statements, she added, also contradict the original statement by Viacom.

Despite the recent developments, Oposa urges the public to remain vigilant. “The public needs to be wary because we haven’t seen the master plan yet.”

She said their group will continue to communicate with the developer and look at their plans, “The general public can help by sharing our petition, signing it, and monitoring the developments on the project.”

For a developing country like ours, this issue is not only a matter of environmental protection and conservation but an economic one as well. Such resort and theme park is expected to

create job and business opportunities to locals.

But Oposa remains on the nature’s side, saying, “There are many developments that provide local jobs but are still destructive to the environment.”

Even Lopez asserts that Filipinos’ welfare, especially that of farmers and fishermen, is much more important than the money these businesses would earn from the development.

On the other hand, according to data from Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD), only 0.6 percent of Coron’s live coral cover is in excellent condition. While only one percent in very good and 3.2 percent in good condition.

This is where Oposa’s words ring true. “If you are sincere and serious about marine conservation, the money allocated for the underwater theme park would be invested in marine protected areas, sustainable livelihoods for local communities, and environmental education programs.”

Sure, many people would perhaps pay to interact with SpongeBob SquarePants, Patrick Star and Mr. Krabs on an island paradise such as Coron. But if that means destruction and disruption to our rich marine life, we’re better off interacting with the real thing—real sponges, real starfishes and real crabs, among many others. And isn’t a real paradise better than a theme park?

The hashtag #CoronIsNotBikiniBottom refers to the possibility of transforming parts of Coron into the fictional town in Nickelodeon’s hit series SpongeBob SquarePants

Showbiz

SUNDAY, JANUARY 15, 2017

E3

BIGGEST HOLLYWOOD RELEASES TO HIT THE THEATERS

T

HE previous year was shaped by record-breaking releases from Hollywood. From epic period action drama to big sequels, 2016 was packed with unlimited productions that made people look forward to 2017.

DARAGON. Dating or not dating?

That is the question.

IS SANDARA PARK DATING G-DRAGON?

As moviegoers anticipate more record-breaking Hollywood movies, we picked eight of the biggest productions (in chronological order) that are potential megahits. xXx: Return of Xander Cage Release Date: Jan. 18 More than a decade after the release of the first XXX movie, Vin Diesel returns to the franchise. Thought to be long dead, Xander Cage (Diesel) comes out of selfimposed exile to race villain Xiang (Donnie Yen) to recover a powerful weapon known as “Pandora’s Box.” The Great Wall Release Date: Jan. 25 The $150-million film is already attracting viewers across the region after it was released in some parts of Asia last year before Christmas. The immersive U.S.China co-production stars Matt Damon. And viewers are definitely in good hands with Zhang Yimou who directed the film.

Kung-Fu Yoga Release Date: Feb. 1 In the action comedy, Jackie Chan is a worldrenowned archaeology professor who teams up with young Indian professor and her assistant to locate India’s lost Magadha treasure in Tibet. The multilingual film is expected to make it big in China and India simply because it is Jackie Chan in the starring role.

Resident Evil: The Final Chapter Release Date: Feb. 1 The latest entry in the film series will come to theaters later next month. Milla Jovovich returns as Alice in the Paul W.S. Andersondirected movie. It is the sixth and potentially last film in the series that started with 2002’s Resident Evil. So, expect nothing but epic action adventure.

Fifty Shades Darker Release Date: Feb. 1 Fan base seems to be as passionate as they were for the sequel as they anticipate the continuing adventures of Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele. The second installment in the erotic Fifty Shades trilogy traces the deepening relationship between the college graduate and the young business magnate.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Sunday, January 15, 2017

ACROSS 1 It may turn on you 6 “— I Lie to You?” 11 It might be down 16 Factions 21 Copier need 22 — circle or tube 23 Delon of cinema 24 Pond sound 25 Foreheads 26 Front of an LP (2 wds.)

27 Dropped-egg sound 28 Variety show 29 Catch cold 30 Lake near Reno 32 Sherlock portrayer 34 WNW opposite 36 Prefix for center 37 Powder base 39 Class 41 Panasonic rival 43 Expedite 45 Split — (nitpick) 47 Feudal lord 49 Point the finger at 51 Treats sea water 54 Curriculum — (resume) 55 Mumble 56 Oven shelf 60 — the Hun 61 Gem surface 62 Moon stages 64 Yang complement 65 Jungle charger 66 Zenith opposite 67 Dry goods 68 Mr. Moto portrayer 70 Lamprey 71 Cauliflower bud 73 Roundup’s purpose 74 Nero’s tutor 75 Tijuana Ms. 77 Nonsense writer 78 Frankie of “Mule Train” 79 Smiled upon 80 Heat to boiling 82 Foamy 83 Declaim 84 Mini-chickens 87 Hone a razor 88 Santa’s season 89 Recipe meas.

93 Tiny life form 94 Court statements 95 Luminous 97 Durocher or Tolstoy 98 Dupe 99 Per diem 100 Tours de force 101 They turn litmus red 103 United 104 Wig 106 Shelley and Pickford 107 — cake or bath 108 Crash scene org.

110 Preside at tea 111 Cheers 112 Turned turtle 113 — apso 115 Ocean, in Mongolian 116 Toughen up 117 Lake cabin, often 120 Dorothy, to Em 122 Auto-safety advocate 124 Lean-to 128 Caviar, actually 129 Can. neighbor 131 Dark yellow 133 Large antelope 135 1051, to Terence 136 Hyrax 138 “Be quiet!” (2 wds.)

140 Organic compound 142 Ring-shaped reef 144 Dexterous 145 “Forget” a letter 146 — & Young 147 Sheet of plywood 148 Wren residences 149 Minced 150 Reluctant 151 Gives autographs DOWN 1 Ready to swing (2 wds.)

2 Water wheel 3 Hillock 4 Archer of whodunits 5 Formerly, old-style 6 “First star I see tonight” folk 7 Pizza topping 8 Not over 9 Gypsy Rose — 10 Far from colorful 11 Cruise ship fare 12 Skiing event 13 Come back to win 14 Korean auto 15 Feed the kitty 16 Groupie welcome 17 Sooner than 18 Feel envious about 19 Gray-brown 20 Flock of geese 31 Tummy trouble 33 What a moviegoer takes (2 wds.)

35 Pass around 38 Mountain range 40 Draw forth 42 Not quite spherical 44 Sun. homily 46 Sinatra’s “— — Me” 48 Centurion’s route 50 Verdant 51 Risks it 52 Outer space 53 Clown’s prop 54 Obi-Wan’s foe 55 Push

57 58 59 61 62 63 66 67 69 72 73 74 76 78 79 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 90 91 92 94 95 96

Dr. Kildare player Mythical siren Make some dough Electrical unit Roman naturalist Ice pellets Christmas tunes Not soft or wilted Commencement Pack animal Wainscots Wield a sword Late summer flower Virginia caverns Talks big Explorer of 1497 Archaeology find Fails to include — von Richthofen Catkin Uh-uhs More wily ER pictures (hyph.)

Like some alleys Papyrus, for one Sat for a camera New Guinea native “Cabaret” setting Slack off

99 Twosomes 100 “Deck the Halls” phrase (hyph.)

102 Volcanic formations 105 Aussie minerals 106 Brawl 107 Reject 109 Diner sandwich 111 Cruised in style 112 Finally find 114 Does ghost work?

115 Make the call 116 Least occupied 117 Godzilla foe 118 Dodge 119 Monikers 121 Doric’s cousin 123 Prudential rival 125 Many Vietnamese 126 Ms. Barkin of films 127 Sour pickles 130 Got an A 132 Fishing gear 134 Skips stones 137 Promising 139 “The Greatest” 141 Old B’way posting 143 — chi ch’uan

Logan Release Date: March 1 Hugh Jackman has one last Wolverine picture in him, and that last film is coming this year. James Mangold will be reprising his directing duties after his successful tenure on The Wolverine, telling a story set in the future where mutants are all but extinct, and Logan and Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) live in hiding.

Kong: Skull Island Release Date: March 10 The reboot of King Kong throws in Brie Larson, John C. Reilly, John Goodman, and Tom Hiddleston into the mix. In the movie, Godzilla just might get to meet his legendary playmate in a big-screen crossover battle as a team of explorers and soldiers are brought together to venture deep into an uncharted island in the Indian Ocean unaware that they are crossing into the domain of monsters, as well as the mythic Kong.

Beauty and the Beast Release Date: March 15 After fans flocked to see Cinderella and The Jungle Book, Walt Disney’s Beauty And The Beast seems ready to replicate that glorious success in 2017. With its cast set and ready to go, director Bill Condon is reviving a page of our childhood in live action. Emma Watson and Dan Stevens lead a stellar cast that includes Luke Evans, Josh Gad, and Emma Thompson.

The hottest item in the world of K-Pop is the rumor that former 2NE1 member Sandara Park is dating BIGBANG front man Kwon Ji-young or popularly known as G-Dragon.

Speculations that the two music superstars are dating surfaced after they were spotted leaving the boy band’s concert’s after-party together.

Fans freaked out upon seeing the viral video that shows the two K-pop stars walking too close to each other. At one point (and we mean split second) in the video, G-Dragon looks like planting a kiss on Dara’s cheek.

However, everything was just a prank and “DaraGon” is just an imagined romance. Their record label addressed the issue after the rumored romance set the online world ablaze.

“G-Dragon suggested to Sandara Park that they have their photos taken in that pose as a joke, and photos were taken.

It was a joke that turned into a dating rumor,” YG Entertainment said in a statement on Monday.

Although the record label has already squashed the rumor, fans are still rooting for the DaraGon love team and fervently hope that people from YG are just lying.

E4

Showbiz

SUNDAY, JANUARY 15, 2017 Isah V. Red, Editor / Nickie Wang, Issue Editor isahred@gmail.com

REMEMBER

MICHAEL MARTINEZ?

SARAH G AND

JOHN LLOYD

BACK ON THE BIG SCREEN

By Nickie Wang

L

AIDA Magtalas and Miggy Montenegro are two screen characters that this generation loves and can easily relate to. For one, they are a symbol of a complicated love that still finds happy ending regardless of the trials that confronted them.

There are so many things to love about Laida and Miggy (played by Sarah Geronimo and John Lloyd Cruz). Hence, it’s a grand surprise for their fans that the two are being paired anew to continue the well-loved romance of the popular movie characters.

The camera will start rolling next month and is billed Dear Future Husband. Not to be mistaken with Meghan Trainor pop hit, the upcoming project is a reunion movie of the two actors three years since they last worked on a bigscreen together. Their fans and supporters can’t contain their excitement that the film’s working title made it to the local trending topics on Twitter on Monday night.

Laida and Miggy first met in 2008 in A Very Special Love. Laida is your typical plain Jane who hopes one day she’d find her prince charming. Miggy, on the other hand, is a filthy rich kid with an attitude. There’s nothing spectacular about these characters and that’s basically the main reason why they are very much relatable.

Sarah G and Lloydie’s palpable chemistry and their convincing portrayal of their role make the movie unforgettable and mesmerizing.

Graded A by the Cinema Evaluation Board, A Very Special Love was a landmark film for both Sarah

and Lloydie. It was well received by the audience. It didn’t receive any thumbs down from the critics, too. By the end of its six-week commercial run, the romcom became the top grossing film of the year raking in almost P180 million at the tills. John Lloyd earned his second Box Office King from Guillermo Mendoza Scholarship Foundation while Sarah G got her first Box Office Queen recognition for the blockbuster movie.

A year later, a sequel to the romcom hit the theaters during the love month. The reception was even more overwhelming as the movie breached the P200-million mark in terms of ticket sales. It ran for seven weeks and had a commercial run overseas. Entitled You Changed My Life, the romantic flick made the tandem of Sarah and Lloydie the Box Office Royalties of 2009 yet again.

Due to insistent public demand, Sarah and Loydie reunited in the third installment of A Very Special film series in 2013 in a film called It Takes a Man and a Woman. As expected, the romcom was a major commercial success. It grossed P405 million after seven weeks in domestic theaters. It was also the highest grossing local film and second highest overall in the list of the biggest films released in the Philippines in 2013. During the FAMAS Award in 2014, the film received three nominations including Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Editing.

The first three films were directed by Cathy Garcia Molina and were jointly produced by Viva Enter tainment and Star C i n e m a .

The fourth installment will be directed

by Theodore Boborol. Now, those who are exited for Dear Future Husband raise your hands!

Sarah Geronimo and John Lloyd Cruz during the storycon of "Dear Future Husband," the fourth installment of the "A Very Special Love" movie series

BOX OFFICE ROYALTIES. John

Lloyd and Sarah G have starred in three romantic films, which all shattered local box office records during the time of their release

HOT. Olympic skater Michael Martinez now sports a hunky physique

The Filipino Olympic skater set the online world abuzz after he posted a shirtless photo on Instagram. His looks as a teenage athlete didn’t quite translate to adulthood but he reversed that with his proud social media post showing off his sculpted physique.

From lanky to hunky, 20-year-old Michael is the 2015 Asian Figure Skating Trophy champion. At the age of 17, he made his mark on the Olympic history when he became the first and only Southeast Asian figure skater and contender to represent the Philippines in the 2014 Winter Olympics, a first for a tropical country.

This two-time Triglav Trophy Champion athlete stood proud when he served as the Philippine’s flag bearer at the Olympics despite limited funding and still became a three-time gold medalist from different figure skating competitions for just two consecutive years.

Now, the 20-year-old hunk is again planning to join the 2018 Winter Olympics, which will be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea.