Manila Standard - 2017 January 23 - Monday by Manila Standard

Three title holders meet for first time By Nickie Wang

SHARED STAGE. Pia Wurtzbach, Miss Universe 2015, shares the stage with the two other Filipina women to ever win the prestigious pageant— Gloria Diaz (1969) and Margie Moran (1973)—a rareﬁed meeting of cross-generational beauty at a dinner at the luxury casino and hotel Okada Manila in Parañaque City Saturday night.

FOR the first time, reigning Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach was photographed with former titleholders Gloria Diaz (1969) and Margie Moran (1973) on Saturday night. Their meeting took place at a dinner party at the Okada Manila, a luxury casino and hotel complex in Parañaque City. The event, a runup to the 65th Miss Universe pageant to be held on Jan. 30, was also attended by the 86 Miss Universe candidates. “For me, they’re still the country’s iconic beauties. I hope I did them proud,” Wurtzbach told reporters. Diaz was the first Filipino to win the Miss Universe crown in 1969 in Miami Beach, Florida. Moran followed four years later, winning in 1973 when the annual pageant was staged in Athens. No other Filipino beauty queen was able to win the title until Wurtzbach ended the Philippines’ 42-year drought when she won the title in 2015. But Wurtzbach’s win was marred by controversies. Pageant host Steve Harvey announced the wrong winner, and the crowd later watched in heartbreak and horror as the crown was removed from the head of Colombia’s Ariadna Gutierrez, the first runnerup, and placed on Wurtbach’s on live television. A few days after the pageant, former Miss Universe owner and now United States president Donald Trump suggested to the two to be named co-winners, something they rejected. Next page

Drug watch list goes regional INTERIOR and Local Government Secretary Ismael Sueno gave the go signal for the “drug watch list” to be handed over to the regional directors of the Philippine National Police (PNP) during a meeting Friday. During the meeting, Sueno encouraged the participants, composed of local government heads and PNP regional direc-

DoJ presses for SAF 44 case update PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the Justice Department to update him on the status of the January 2015 Mamasapano debacle in which 44 police commandoes were killed in a botched covert operation under the previous administration, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said Sunday. The case of direct assault with murder has been filed against 88 members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and private armed groups that led to the death of 44 members of the Special Action Force and international terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan. Charged for direct assault with murder are five commanders: Abdulrahman Abdulrakman Upan, Rakman, Refy Guiaman, Anife and Haumves alias Haves, operation commander of the 105th MILF Base Command and 83 others. Aguirre said as of December, the Cotabato court had ordered the prosecution to submit additional documents, including the birth certificates of the accused. Next page

tors, to keep their firm resolve in the fight against illegal drugs and confirmed that the list be furnished to the regional directors and be disseminated to local chief executives upon request. “The controversial list containing the names of the local government executives, officials and civilians alike, who are Next page

VOL. XXX • NO. 345 • 4 SECTIONS 20 PAGES • P18 • MONDAY, JANUARY 23, 2017 • www.thestandard.com.ph • editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Dela Rosa stays; Du30 bucks critics Chief gets tall order to go after rogue cops By Rey E. Requejo, John Paolo Bencito and Macon Ramos-Araneta

RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday brushed aside calls for Philippine National Police chief Ronald dela Rosa to resign over the murder of a Korean kidnap victim inside police headquarters at Camp Crame.

“He stays there. Bato has my complete trust and conﬁdence,” Duterte said, referring to Dela Rosa by his nickname. In an interview with GMA News, Duterte

said he has ordered Dela Rosa to prosecute the rogue policemen who kidnapped then strangled Hanjin executive Jee Ick Joo inside Camp Crame in October 2016.

“He must identify those policemen who are into this kind of activity,” Duterte said. “And I can assure you, everybody [involved] will be prosecuted.” Duterte’s expression of conﬁdence came after Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said some policemen involved in criminal cases and placed under PNP custody have gone missing. One of these, Aguirre said, was PO1 Jonjie Manon-og of the Highway Patrol Group, who was accused of killing motorist John dela Riarte in July 2016. “The HPG received a copy of the arrest

Next page PNP Chief Ronald dela Rosa

Sin tax cost, gains weighed By Macon Ramos-Araneta and Rio N. Araja HEALTH benefits and the government’s revenue generation should be the main considerations of the sin tax law, Senator Panfilo Lacson said on Sunday. He said the Sin Tax Reform Act, which provides for a shift to a unitary instead of a two-tiered tax system for tobacco products, should be allowed to take its course. “Whatever will benefit the health sector as well as the government’s revenue generation, I would support,” Lacson said. “Initially, I’d rather allow the present law to take its course; that is, to allow the automatic shift to [a unitary tax system], monitor and review the implications before taking any legislative intervention, but most importantly prevent leakages in

the sin tax collections.” Lacson made his statement even as Rep. Joselito Atienza on Sunday blamed the past Congress for failing to protect local tobacco industry and called on the Senate to quickly pass the proposed law amending the Sin Tax Reform Act. Atienza said several laws had been passed that only served the interests of the makers of imported cigarettes. He said the Philippines’ tobacco farmers were on the brink of extinction. “I hope that our good senators will also do their part to protect the tobacco farmers from unfair business practices,” Atienza said. Lacson said the unitary tax system was so far proving to be responsive to increasing revenue, reducing the consumption Next page

PUTTING IN ORDER. A caretaker of People Power Monument along Edsa in Quezon City installs 44 pieces of the tricolors

and displays the pictures of the fallen Special Action Force in preparation for the 2nd anniversary of the Mamasapano clash in Maguindanao. Manny Palmero

Trump pays homage to CIA, snipes at media ON HIS ﬁrst full day as president, Donald Trump made a pilgrimage to the CIA’s Virginia headquarters to demonstrate his support for the intelligence community but spent much of his time delivering a rambling speech where he talked mostly about himself—boasting about the size of the crowd at his inauguration, the number of times he’s been on the cover of Time magazine and how he feels like a 30-yearold, or perhaps a 39-year-old, physically.

When he did talk about the spy agencies several times during Saturday’s speech, it was to offer unqualiﬁed praise, saying he loves the intelligence community and that the news media invented the entire feud. “There’s nobody I respect more,” he said. “I am with you 1,000 percent.” Standing in front of the CIA Memorial Wall, engraved with stars representing fallen employees, Trump went even fur-

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ther, saying he was sure most of the 400 people in the room had voted for him. “We’re all on the same wavelength,” he said. He blamed previous administrations for holding the intelligence community back from defeating Islamic State and ﬁnishing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. ”Maybe sometimes you haven’t gotten the backing you wanted,” he said. ”You’re going to get so much backing.” Next page

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SPECIAL SIGNIFICANCE. A vendor displays her lucky fruits, which include oranges which look like the sun and, Chinese old hands say, is aligned with the yang (positive) principle, a highly auspicious symbol of abundance and happiness in the runup to the Chinese New Year on Jan. 28. Norman Cruz

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MONDAY, JANUARY 23, 2017

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Govt eyes ‘political deal’ with Reds C HIEF negotiator Silvestre Bello III said Sunday President Rodrigo Duterte was determined to uphold the human rights of political dissenters even as he continued to seek a negotiated political settlement with the communist rebels.

He said that was his response to the list of alleged violations of the provisions of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law that the human rights group Karapatan submitted before the opening of the third round of peace talks in Rome. The government and the communist National Democratic Front on Saturday signed the supplemental guidelines for the full operation of the Joint Monitor-

ing Committee under the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law, moving the peace negotiations another step toward a ﬁnal peace settlement. Bello said the signing was a concrete manifestation of the Duterte administration’s adherence to and respect for human rights and international humanitarian law. He made his statement even as Armed Forces spokesman Restituto Padilla said

they were exercising caution by not issuing any comments on human rights issues at the third round of peace talks in Rome. Padilla has refused to answer the questions sent to his mobile phone, unlike Army spokesman Benjamin Hao who is more accommodating. “The guidance here in the Army and also from higher-ups is to wait for the signed agreement before we make comments,” Hao said. Bello said as far as he was concerned there had been no acts committed by the president that would constitute any violations of the CARHRIHL. “The track record of President Duterte will speak for itself. He has always upheld the rights of political dissenters and respected their human rights,” Bello said in defending the President. “Some may [may not like] his uncon-

ventional approach in addressing peace and order issues in the country, but he has always maintained high respect for political dissent.” Nevertheless, Bello said the government will investigate the cases submitted by the National Democratic Front and allied organizations. He said the signing of the supplemental agreement put into motion the operationalization of the joint monitoring committee. But the government also submitted the acts committed by rebel forces that he said violated some provisions of the CARHRIHL, among them the torching of buses and heavy equipment by New People’s Army rebels. All these allegations of violations from both sides will be addressed, Bello said. “Hopefully, the JMC will expedite the

Trump...

DoJ...

From A1

But former CIA chief John Brennan

said he was “deeply saddened and angered at Trump’s despicable display of self-aggrandizement in front of CIA’s Memorial Wall of Agency heroes,” Brennan’s former spokesman Nick Shapiro said on Twitter. “Brennan says that Trump should be ashamed of himself.” “While standing in front of the stars representing CIA personnel who lost their lives in the service of their country—hallowed ground—Trump gave little more than a perfunctory acknowledgment of their service and sacrifice,” Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said in a statement. “He will need to do more than use the agency memorial as a backdrop if he wants to earn the respect of the men and women who provide the best intelligence in the world.” White House spokesman Sean Spicer rebutted that view of Trump’s performance, telling reporters Saturday that the president “delivered a powerful and emphatic message” and that CIA employees were “ecstatic” that Trump is the new commander-in-chief. Trump’s criticism of the intelligence community first arose during the campaign against rival Hillary Clinton, who blamed Russia for hacking Democratic Party offices and officials and said President Vladimir Putin was trying to help Trump win. “I don’t think anybody knows it was Russia that broke into the DNC,” Trump said in a September debate. “She’s saying Russia, Russia, Russia, but I don’t—maybe it was. I mean, it could be Russia, but it could also be China. It could also be lots of other people. It also could be somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds, OK?” Trump’s skepticism was unbowed after the intelligence community, in an Oct. 7 statement, backed up Clinton’s accusations, saying they were “confident that the Russian government directed” the hacking. During debates with Clinton after that report, Trump continued to question the findings, stepping up his criticism after winning the election. “These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction,” Trump’s office said in a Dec. 9 statement. About two weeks before his inauguration, Trump held firm to the idea that the intelligence agencies didn’t have enough evidence to back up their conclusions, despite a follow-up report saying they were even more confident of their findings. The report concluded that “only Russia’s senior-most officials could have authorized” the hacking, phrasing interpreted as pointing the finger at Putin. Russia has repeatedly rejected the accusations. “The ‘Intelligence’ briefing on so-called ‘Russian hacking’ was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case,” Trump tweeted on Jan. 3. “Very strange!” That briefing, led by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, eventually took place Jan. 6 and Trump softened his tone against the agencies, at least temporarily. In the past week, though, Trump appeared to accuse Brennan of being behind the leak of an unverified dossier purporting to contain compromising information on Trump. In an angry tweet, Trump lashed out at comments Brennan made in a Fox News interview in his final week in office. “What I do find outrageous is equating intelligence community with Nazi Germany,” Brennan, who served in the administrations of Presidents George W. Bush and Obama, said in the interview. “I do take great umbrage at that, and there is no basis for Mr. Trump to point fingers at the intelligence community for leaking information that was already available publicly.” Trump quickly retorted, saying on Twitter: “Oh really, couldn’t do... much worse— just look at Syria (red line), Crimea, Ukraine and the build-up of Russian nukes. Not good! Was this the leaker of Fake News?,” a reference to the dossier. David Priess, a former CIA officer and author of a book about presidential intelligence briefings, called the feud unprecedented. “No president-elect has had a public spat with his intelligence agencies,” Priess said in an interview earlier this month. “There have been hiccups before, but never publicly.” Even some Republican lawmakers have been at a loss to understand Trump’s suspicions about the intelligence findings. South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, who has frequently clashed with Trump, said that “when it comes to Russia, he seems to have a blind spot.” On Saturday at the CIA building, though, Trump claimed it was all a made-up controversy, fake news. Bloomberg, Sandy Araneta

forging of a bilateral ceasefire agreement that will address the alleged issues of government violations and provocative and prohibited acts of NPA rebels,” Bello said. The signing of the supplemental guidelines was the first agreement signed by both parties under the Duterte government. All previous documents signed in the August and October rounds of talks were joint statements and declarations. “In just five months we have already scored a victory for the Filipino people,” Bello said. The CARHRIHL primarily encourages all victims of violations and abuses of human rights or their surviving families due to the armed conflict to come forward with their complaints and evidence. Sandy Araneta and Florante S. Solmerin

“They could not prove the identity of the accused because they are almost 100. So the prosecution is submitting that. Until now, the Cotabato court has not issued a ruling on probable cause for the issuance of a warrant of arrest,” Aguirre said. He also ordered prosecutors to move for the transfer of the trial to Manila. On Jan. 25, 2015, the slain police commandos were deployed to Mamasapano to capture wanted terrorists Marwan and Abdul Basit Usman. Marwan, a Malaysian bomb maker with a bounty from the US government, was killed during the operations. The operation resulted in the death of Marwan but also sparked a ﬁerce encounter that claimed the lives of 44 SAF members. PNA

UNZIPPED. An enforcer of the Metro Manila Development Authority mans traffic flow during a dry run for the zipper lane scheme from Main Ave. in Cubao, Quezon City to Ortigas on Friday. The zipper lane which aims to to ease traffic during rush hour will be fully implemented today, Jan. 23, 2017. Manny Palmero

Dela Rosa... From A1

warrant last Jan.18 but up to now he has not been found. We don’t know where he is,” Aguirre said in an interview. Aguirre asked the PNP to comply with the court order, especially since Manonog was supposed to be under restrictive custody due to separate murder and robbery charges against him. “The PNP or whoever has custody of the accused is duty bound to produce him,” Aguirre said. Public Attorney’s Office chief Persida Rueda-Acosta, who provided legal assistance to the victim’s family, said she would coordinate with the PNP for the HPG man’s arrest. Acosta lamented that despite the arrest warrant issued Jan.12, Manon-og remained at large. The two arrest orders issued by the Makati RTC branches 145 (for murder) and 138 (for robbery) against the accused were served to the Quezon City police district and PNP headquarters in Camp Crame. The DoJ earlier indicted Manon-og after finding in preliminary investigation that he and the other arresting HPG officer, PO3 Jeremiah De Villa, shot Dela Riarte inside their police mobile after arresting the motorist following a traffic altercation along EDSA in Makati City. The handcuffed victim died of multiple gunshot wounds in the chest, abdomen and right thigh. Manon-og was also indicted for robbery after it was found that the victim had P30,000 in cash with him during the incident. In a hearing in August 2016, De Villa and Manon-og denied allegations and claimed that Dela Riarte twice attempted to snatch their firearms. However, a day after formally denying the charges against him at the DoJ, De Villa died after jumping off the roof of a

Drug... From A1

involved in illegal drugs will be handed over to the PNP regional directors who are also RPOC (Regional Peace and Order Council) vice-chairpersons. This is to avoid any conﬂict of interest and malice as RPOC chairpersons are also local government executives,” he said. Sueno said this was in response to what President Rodrigo Duterte pledged to the governors and mayors whom he met in two separate meetings in the past weeks. In those meetings, Duterte said copies of the list would be sent to local execu-

building in Camp Crame. Under criminal procedures, deceased respondents are automatically absolved of criminal liabilities. Senator Ralph Recto on Sunday said if Dela Rosa manages to stay on the job, he must pursue his “birthday wish” to rid the PNP of scalawags like the ones who strangled Jee inside Camp Crame after abducting him from his home in Pampanga. De la Rosa turned 55 on Saturday, “leaving him with exactly one more year before he retires to do some serious house cleaning,” Recto said Sunday. “That should be his battle plan for the next 365 days. To leave behind a PNP purged of the crooks who give the whole organization a bad name,” Recto said. “Start with acknowledging that problems do exist,” the senator urged Dela Rosa. “Then follow it up with an action plan on how to solved them. Don’t answer with excuses... This is not the time to be a denial king.” He said given the gravity of the problem, any plan had to be “a radical one.” “Heads must roll. Consider a major reshufﬂe, too. Ignore the political patrons of ofﬁcers,” he said. Earlier, two more lawmakers joined calls for Dela Rosa to resign. House Deputy Minority Leader and Buhay party-list Rep. Joselito Atienza and Antipolo City Rep. Romeo Acop backed Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez’s call, saying Dela Rosa has no other option but to submit a courtesy resignation or to immediately leave his post. “We support Speaker Alvarez’s call for him to resign because of that major failure of the national police leadership. This is a big scandal for the country, the Duterte administration and the ongoing war on drugs. Under the principle of command responsibility... he should take the bullet for the President. No [excuses] can possibly soften public anger on what had happened to the South Korean victim,” Atienza said.

Acop, House committee on public order and safety chairman, said Dela Rosa could ease the burden for the President through a courtesy resignation. Dante Jimenez of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption said the call for Dela Rosa to resign is still premature, but “it is a wake-up call for him to work double time.” “I understand where Speaker Alvarez is coming from because Congress is the one appropriating budget for police operations. But his resignation is (still) premature. In fact, he worked hard to address this problem. That incident is really embarrassing so he must work very hard. He must also refrain from doing some unnecessary media or publicity stunt by observing proper decorum as head of the PNP,” he said. Senator Panﬁlo Lacson said Dela Rosa must be focused on the problems within the PNP instead of watching the boxing bout of Senator Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas or the concert of Bryan Adams at the Araneta Coliseum. In the meantime, he said there should be no more concert, boxing bouts or talk shows so that De la Rosa can focus on the problems of the police organization. Lacson, who used to be a PNP chief, said Dela Rosa missed the point completely when he said it would have made no difference if he skipped the concert because the Jee was already dead. “That’s not the issue!” Lacson said. “The issue is there’s a problem in Crame. There’s a problem in the PNP, and that should be his priority.” “There was a wrong sense of priority when it comes to those things. If your house is burning, will you watch a concert?” he said. Lacson warned of an eventual breakdown in discipline within the PNP if the organization is not cleansed of scalawags. Unlike other lawmakers, Lacson said, he was not calling for Dela Rosa’s resignation because he wanted to give the police chief another chance. With Rio N. Araja

tives so they have a clear view of what course of action they can take. But Sueno said local officials requesting a copy of the list from the PNP regional directors should only be given the names of people who fall under their area of jurisdiction. “If a mayor requests for a copy of the list, he would only obtain the names of alleged illegal drug personalities within his town or city. He will not be granted full access to the names of people outside his authority to maintain the confidentiality of the list,” he said. Meanwhile, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency has filed graft and corruption charges against local officials of

Pampanga before the Ofﬁce of the Ombudsman for the sale of more than 4,000 pigs in a swine farm used as front to conceal an underground clandestine shabu laboratory in Magalang, Pampanga. In a statement Sunday, PDEA Director General Isidro S. Lapeña said that the agency is convinced that Mayor Maria Lourdes Paras Lacson of Magalang, Pampanga and Mayor Jose Maria Hizon of Bacolor, Pampanga, may be held liable for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. “Mayor Lacson surreptitiously sold the 4,038 pigs at an alleged public auction in the amount of P7 million to the lone bidder, Mayor Hizon. The auction was held

Three... From A1

Wurtzbach will be passing her crown at the 65th Miss Universe pageant night to be held in the Mall of Asia Arena. The candidates started arriving in the country on Jan. 13 and participated in auxiliary events that aim to promote Philippine tourism. So far, the candidates have visited Vigan, Davao, Baguio, Boracay, Cebu and Batangas. The country’s very own Maxine Medina is gunning for a back-toback victory for the Philippines. Since the pageant’s inception in 1952, only seven candidates have been crowned in their hometown. Meanwhile, a back-to-back victory only happened in 2009 when Diana Mendoza crowned her fellow Venezuelan Stefanía Fernández.

Sin... From A1

of cigarettes and making tax administration simpler to combat tax evasion. He said the Sin Tax Reform Act, which went into effect in 2012, had been meeting its goals of bringing down cigarette and alcohol consumption, and raising revenues to finance the implementation of Universal Health Care programs and alternative livelihood for tobacco farmers. He cited figures from the National Nutrition Survey showing that, as of 2016, the prevalence of smoking prevalence among Filipinos had declined to 23 percent in 2015 from 31 percent in 2008. He said the law had also increased the national budget for health, which rose from P57 billion before its passage in 2012 to P123 billion in 2016. without consulting us and without any legal basis. We only discovered the sale when it appeared in online news,” Lapeña said. Also sued were respondents Raisa Bayani, Adela Tanhueco, Jesus Nathaniel Pili, Ryan Miranda, and Milagro Suing, all officers of the nunicipality of Magalang, Pampanga and members of the auction committee who conducted the bidding; and Marcial Alfaro, barangay chairman of Barangay San Ildefonso, Magalang, Pampanga. Over the weekend, the Anti-Money Laundering Council said the beachfront property in Tanza, Cavite used as a shabu laboratory has been forfeited in favor of the government. PNA, Julito G. Rada

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MONDAY, JANUARY 23, 2017

Erap: Hunt down culprits in Islamic Center killings M ANILA Mayor Joseph Estrada on Sunday ordered the Manila Police District to investigate the human skeletons found in an abandoned house at the Islamic Center in Quiapo.

He called on the people behind the killings to surrender. “We should not let the perpetrators get away with this,” Estrada said. “I am counting on the MPD to identify and track down the people behind these killings.”

MPD Chief Joel Coronel said they were now hunting down two people who could have been involved in the case, but they had already fled Manila. “We have two target personalities who are persons of interest who are being investigated regarding this,” Coronel said.

“They left Manila, and most likely after the neutralization of former barangay chairman [Faiz] Macabato,” he said referring to the anti-drug operation of the MPD at the Islamic Center on Oct. 7. Seven suspected drug pushers were killed during that raid, including Barangay 648 chairman Faiz Macabato. Coronel said they had requested the Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory to examine the skeletons, which were found behind the wall of a house along Carlos Palanca Street

on Jan. 10. At least seven skeletons were recovered from the site, which Coronel said was being used as a hideout by criminals fleeing from the police. Barangay 648 chairman Sultan Yusof Guinto said he had received information that people had been entombed in cement inside the house in 2014 before it was abandoned in 2015. The house reportedly belongs to Shariff Macabato and his brother, who were cousins of the slain barangay chairman. Sandy Araneta

Robredo steps into Du30 feud with church By Rio Araja FRICTION between President Rodrigo Duterte and the Catholic Church will only do more harm than good for the country, Vice President Leni Robredo said on Sunday. “On this extraordinary time in our country, it will not help if we fight with one another. To me, we must focus on what we can do for one another despite our differences,” she said. “[Any negative] comment on the clergymen will not help but will only create animosity between the government and the Catholic Church.” She called on the Duterte administration to respect differences in beliefs. “In fact, that’s what I did in my visitation here bisita kong ito iyon ang ginawa natin. I gathered all those devastated and those who could give their help,” she said. On Saturday, the Vice President went to Barangay Sabang, Calabanga, Camarines Sur to inspect the seawall in the area after Typhoon “Glenda” hit the province as storm surges swept away houses in August 2015. The President hit out at the priests and bishops critical of his crackdown on illegal drugs and accused them of homosexuality, corruption and child abuse, according to a press statement issued by the Robredo camp.

Estrada sees no reason for martial rule By Sandy Araneta MANILA Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada believes President Rodrigo Duterte will not impose martial law despite his repeated threats to do so, unless it is the only solution to the illegal drugs problem. “Maybe he was just threatened,” Estrada told reporters at the sidelines of the graduation ceremonies of 82 traffic enforcers of the Manila Traffic and Parking Bureau at the city hall last Wednesday. He was asked if he thinks the chief executive is serious in his talks about martial law. But when asked again if he will support such moves, he replied: “Well, it depends, you know, we cannot control this…his all-out war against drugs. There’s no…if martial law is the only solution.” Estrada pointed out that the President no longer needs to impose martial law to fight drugs because he has so far been successful in going after drug traffickers operating in the country and eliminating criminality. “We are successful, all the mayors now are cooperating with him because he’s really serious. That goes to show he’s really serious,” the former president stressed. Estrada has been openly supportive of Duterte’s anti-drug policies. In Manila, Estrada’s own multipronged campaign against illegal drugs has netted thousands of drug pushers while his anti-drug education program Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) has been educating elementary students about the dangers of drugs. On the President’s earlier appeal that he be given another six months to rid the country of drugs, Estrada said Duterte can do it in a year provided the public fully supports him. “I believe so. You see, he is that serious, and we are not joking here... that’s why [the drug pushers] are afraid. We need this, sometimes because the Filipinos are lax in imposing our laws,” he pointed out, citing the “padrino” or patronage system in the Filipino culture. On Jan. 18, Duterte clarified that he does not have plans to declare martial law in the country but added he would stay quiet if he decides to do so. He issued this statement in a speech in Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija. The President cited a military report that there is no compelling reason to impose martial rule in the country at this moment. “If I feel as a president that I have to preserve my country, I will declare martial law,” Duterte said.

Opinion

MONDAY, JANUARY 23, 2017

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

EDITORIAL

A new low

S IT possible for the Philippine National Police to sink any lower in the eyes of the public?

Arguably not, given the revelations last week that crooked cops kidnapped South Korean executive Jee Ick Joo on the pretext that he had violated anti-drug laws, brought him to national police headquarters in Camp Crame and strangled him, then demanded a ransom of millions of pesos from the victim’s wife while keeping her in the dark about his death. Confronted with the reality that a murder had been committed in his own home turf, PNP chief Ronald dela Rosa said he wanted “to melt

Adelle Chua, Editor

in shame”—yet refused to resign amid growing calls that he step down to spare President Rodrigo Duterte the embarrassment. “I will ask the President if I am burden to him,” Dela Rosa told reporters during a shooting competition held in honor of his 55th birth anniversary at the Camp Karingal headquarters of the Quezon City police. “There is no need to be formal about it. I will only ask him,” Dela Rosa said, adding that his birthday wish is that erring policemen change their ways.

Dela Rosa made the remarks as calls for his resignation mounted. Even Speaker Pantaleon Alavarez, the President’s staunch ally, joined the calls for Dela Rosa’s resignation. “The commission of a heinous crime right [under] his very nose is not only an insult but a clear indication that he has lost the respect of his people,” Alvarez said of Dela Rosa. But the PNP chief, who observed a day earlier that an ofﬁcial in the same position in Korea might have committed suicide in shame, was having none of that on his birthday. “What more do they want me to do? Commit hara-kiri? Do I need to kill myself so they

will be happy? But hara-kiri is painful. Maybe I’ll do it if they will do it with me. To those who want me to resign, let’s commit hara-kiri together.” “Besides, the case was solved anyway. The mastermind has been identiﬁed and we are looking for the other suspects,” he said. Responding to criticism for attending a rock concert Thursday night amid a serious police scandal, Dela Rosa said it would have made no difference if he had stayed away. “The victim was long dead when I attended the concert. Would he have risen from the dead if I decided not to go?” he said, with some lack of sensibility to the Jee family. Where does one begin?

The act of offering to resign seems to be the least a public ofﬁcial can do, given the epic failure that Jee’s murder inside Camp Crame represented. That this happened inside police headquarters speaks of the impunity with which Dela Rosa’s men disregard the law, basic human rights and common decency. It is also the ultimate form of disrespect for the PNP chief and the clearest sign of his failure as a leader. Did the eventual arrest of the crooked cops change the fact that they murdered an innocent victim inside police headquarters under Dela Rosa’s watch. Surely not. Why, we ask the PNP chief, should everyone who wants him to resign commit suicide?

Did all his critics let their men get away with murder inside their head ofﬁces? Did they all give the police the impression that they could get away with murder because President Duterte said they could? His invitation to suicide is asinine beyond belief—but that should not come as a surprise these days, when the government’s top lawyer argues that the Constitution need not be followed after all, when it comes to declaring martial law. Finally, we too, like the PNP chief, wish that erring policemen would change their ways—but all of us are old enough and mature enough to know that wishing it will not make it so.

SO I SEE LITO BANAYO

Inward, onward?

PENSEES

Still on the Constitution

FR. RANHILIO CALLANGAN AQUINO SINCE it seems that our national leadership is minded on revising the Constitution and not just amending it, there are some other provisions that should be revisited—to forestall the need of tinkering with the fundamental law very often. But I find it necessary to ask clarification from some of the very vocal proponents of constitutional revision in favor of federalism that, I pointed out in an earlier column certainly has many merits to commend it. What is all this talk about “the French model”? I teach Comparative Constitutions at the Graduate School of Law of San Beda College and Comparative Governments at the Graduate School of the Cagayan State University and I have never associated France with a federal configuration, even granting the ambivalence of the ascription “federal”. The saga of the French Constitution has to do rather with the powers of the President vis-avis the Prime Minister and Parliament. It appears to be the consensus among notable commentators of the French Constitution that,

textually, the Constitution can allow for a strong President as it also allows Parliament and the Prime Minister to wield considerable power. It therefore depends a lot on how much weight the President of the French Republic is able to throw around, and Charles de Gaulle was one president who did not want his ponderousness taken for granted! So I wish we were more circumspect—and more diligent—about comparisons, and models and proposals, because re-writing our Constitution is (or, at least, should be!) very serious business worth prodigious scholarly time and labor. Academic freedom needs strengthening and while our Supreme Court has frequently intoned Justice Frankfurter’s seminal formulation of the components of the freedom—what to teach, who should teach, who to teach, how it should be taught —the sad fact is that academic freedom in higher education in the Philippines is stymied by overactive regulatory agencies. When the Commission on Higher Education

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Since the changes will be wideranging anyway, why not address other equally vexatious— though probably less sensational —provisions of the fundamental law? promulgates what it calls “Policies and Standards”, one expects only broad strokes by which higher education institutions are to guide themselves in determining the minutiae of their operations.

BenjaminPhilip PhilipG.G.Romualdez Romualdez Benjamin FormerChief ChiefJustice JusticeReynato ReynatoS.S.Puno Puno Former AnitaF.F.Grefal Grefal Anita BaldwinR.R.Felipe Felipe Baldwin EdgarM. M.Valmorida Valmorida Edgar

Obviously, CHED has a different understanding of “policies and principles” and is not content with direction-setting—because it provides for such impertinences as the degrees and licenses that an institution must exact from professors and lecturers, limitations on methods of delivery, contact hours required, what courses may or may not require a thesis, etc. So it is that even highly experienced ambassadors and members of the diplomatic corps who would be most qualified to teach international relations may find themselves disqualified by CHED’s “policies and standards” because they do not possess the degrees the agency requires, nor are their academic qualifications “vertically aligned”—another rather stupid formula that confines an academic to one and only one discipline! And while state universities are supposed to be “autonomous” in that their charters are in effect statutory enactments passed by Congress that vest governance in a governing board, CHED has seized every opportu-

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nity to take them within its sphere of power and influence. Revising the Constitution would contribute immensely to the maturation of higher education in the Philippines by enunciating more clearly the entailments of academic freedom and concomitantly limiting the scope of regulation. Political dynasties are what stand in the way of full support by many Filipinos of proposals to go federal. The reason is not too involved: Unless dynasties are dismantled, regions (or states) may very well become enclaves of dynasties and fiefdoms of wellentrenched families. Whoever said walang forever has obviously never conversed with a member of a dynastic family for whom political clout and power are and must be forever. The trouble with the 1987 Constitution is that its lofty aspiration to eliminate dynasties notwithstanding, it neutered its own proposal by leaving it to Congress to define what dynasties are and to pass the necessary legislation. It should Turn to A5

DONALD J. Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the US of A, in ceremonies the pomp and pageantry of which, televised as it were to the entire world, was a majestic show of America’s imperial air. One wonders though whether the new American president impressed the rest of the world with his brave words. Did he impress Xi Jinping enough, or Vladimir Putin? Did he strike fear into the cruel hearts of the heartless terrorists he vowed to annihilate? One of course hardly expected soaring rhetoric reminiscent of John F. Kennedy, or of more recent vintage, Barack Obama’s. That would not have been in character with the man America’s electoral college declared their duly elected president. President Trump was true to himself with the words he spoke. He was still in campaign mode, never for a moment deviating from addressing the constituency that believed him enough to choose him over the politically savvy Hillary Clinton. There was no attempt to sound more presidential. Unlike the Kennedy speech which many still remember to this day, there was no attempt to address the world, be they friend or enemy. It was purely America-centric. And under his watch, he vowed, America will be more inwardlooking. It will be “America First.” To stop the “carnage,” which is how he described the plight of the American people under successive Washington-centric administrations, he would stop subsidizing “the armies of other countries while allowing the very sad depletion of our military,” (stop) defending other nations’ borders while refusing to defend our own (too bad for Mexico) and spending trillions of dollars overseas while America’s infrastructure has fallen into disrepair and decay.” “We’ve made other countries rich while the wealth, strength and confidence of our country has disappeared over the horizon.” That’s very true, America. Twenty-five years ago, China was exporting only Christmas ornaments to your homes to light up your holidays. Today, you owe the Chinese three and a half trillion dollars. Add to that 1.7 trillion to the Japanese. (As a result), “one by one, the factories shuttered and left our shores…the wealth of our middle class has been ripped from their homes and then redistributed across the entire world.” “But that is the past…from this day forward, a new vision will govern our land…From this Turn to A5

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Opinion Policing the police THE brazen kidnapping and killing of a Korean businessman by policemen brings into serious question the integrity of our law enforcers. Jee Ick Joo, an executive of the Korean ship-building company Hanjin, was killed right inside the headquarters of the Philippine National Police in Camp Crame. This is a shocking, shameless mockery of the country’s justice system. The very people we expect to protect us are the ones committing heinous crimes. Joo who thought he had found a second home in the Philippines, was abducted in Angeles, Pampanga. He was brought to the PNP headquarters and strangled while in custody. His body was brought to a Quezon City mortuary where it was immediately cremated and his ashes flushed down the toilet. To cover up their dastardly deed, the perpetrators reportedly erased the film footage of the CCTV camera that recorded Joo being brought into Camp Crame. Who will police the police? Buhay Party-List Rep. Lito Atienza is appalled at the breakdown of law and order when the ordinary citizen cannot trust the very authorities he expects to protect him from criminals. To reform law enforcement, the justice and the penal systems, Atienza is filing a House bill addressing these problems. He said the root

kidnapping for of the problem BACK ransom and other started when CHANNEL forms of criminal the PNP and the activity like exPhilippine Constabulary were ALEJANDRO tortion and indisintegrated with DEL ROSARIO criminate killing under the guise the control and of self-defense. management of “The police act with impulaw enforcement left entirely to the PNP chief. Under the old set- nity because they get the green up, town and city mayors also light from the top to kill those had supervision over the police involved in illegal drugs,” laand its head. Atienza’s House mented Atienza. Atienza is staunchly against the measure also seeks a deeper and stringent selection process in the return of the death penalty which recruitment of policemen. He said some congressmen are plancrooked cops can be traced to the ning to include in the proposed lax requirement of police recruits. amendments to the 1987 ConstiPolicemen on the beat should be tution. That would only be giving assigned to the community where the police more power to abuse they belong so they are more fa- their authority, he said, adding miliar with the people in the area, the ominous prospect of the death suggested Atienza. penalty would intimidate crimiBut isn’t that giving the mayors nals to submit to the caprice and too much power subject to their whim of policemen serving arrest abuse? Such a set-up, said those warrants. opposed to the idea, would be a ”There is no need for the death return to local officials acting like penalty,” said Atienza as he pointwarlords in their areas. ed out that “being confined to the “But this very fear of such abuse abysmal living condition in our is happening now,” said Atienza a state prison is worse than death.” three-term mayor of Manila. He He cited congestion of detaincited the gruesome fate of the ees in their prison cells. He conKorean businessman at the hands demned the two-tier system in the of three policemen and their co- treatment of detainees and queshorts. He aired his concern that tioned why affluent prisoners are Operation Tokhang, the govern- given the VIP treatment while the ment’s no-holds barred campaign poor ordinary detainees are subagainst drug traffickers, is being jected to sub-human conditions. used by the police to commit The state of the country’s penal

system was the subject of a recent front-page story in the New York Times headlined “They are treating us like animals.” The Times ran the story together with a large photo of prisoners packed like sardines and sleeping on the cold cement floor. The photo was like a mural which painted the state of the country’s penal system. The shocking case of the Korean business executive has drawn the ire of House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez who demanded the resignation of PNP chief Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa for not being able to control his men. Coming from an ally of President Rodrigo Duterte, the call of Alvarez for Dela Rosa’s resignation speaks volumes of how Jee’s case has outraged legislators from both sides of the political aisle. South Korea’s foreign ministry also issued a statement released through its embassy in Manila denouncing the implication of PNP members and expressed concern for the safety of its nationals in the Philippines. We cannot blame South Korea, a major source of foreign investments, for being concerned. Koreans have also been flocking here to boost our tourism figures. But now Jee Ick Joo and the grim fate he suffered will probably be the poster child of why foreigners should not visit and invest in the Philippines.

The media’s new mission By Pankaj Mishra IT IS no exaggeration to say that a bizarre new phase in human history began Jan. 20 as Donald J. Trump became the world’s most powerful man. All bets, to put it mildly, are off. Those entrusted to report on and analyze the contemporary world are especially befuddled. One can condemn Trump’s open loathing for the mainstream media. But there’s no avoiding the fact that he and other impresarios of social media have managed to make their version of reality prevail precisely because public trust in news gatherers and pundits is at an all-time low. Nor do the failures of the traditional media exist only on Trump’s hyperactive Twitter feed. As far back as 2012, I wrote here that the contradictions between “democratic politics, which respect the opinions of the majority, and the imperatives of global capitalism, which is geared toward the creation of private wealth,” were becoming intolerable. Yet I, too, was among the commentators who failed to gauge the depth and intensity of the anger that was building up over growing inequality of income and opportunity. Many other journalists and commentators simply ignored this anger and its likely political consequences. The economist Albert Hirschman coined the term “monoeconomics” to criticize the assumption that there is only one way for countries everywhere to develop. Much writing about contemporary politics and economics, since at least the end of the Cold War, could well be called mono-journalism. The collapse of Communist regimes hardened a conviction that the world had little choice but to converge on a single model of government (liberal democracy) and economic system (free-market capitalism). Mainstream

Still... From A4 not be too difficult to rewrite a self-operating provision of the Constitution on dynasties. The part of the Constitution that many would be loathe to rewrite is the Bill of Rights. But I take the position that it should be reviewed and, if found necessary, re-written. In many ways, the protections afforded the accused—and the breadth of the exclusionary rules—are exaggerated. One clear case: To waive the right of counsel, you need counsel! And the poison of the poisonous tree has spread so far, that plenty of evidence that would otherwise nail the accused and clinch allegations of culpability

Inward,... From A4 moment on, it’s going to be America First.” And then the dreaded (by the nabobs of globalization and the free market) segue: “Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs will be made to benefit American workers and American families. We must protect our borders from the ravages of other countries making our products, stealing our companies, and destroying our jobs. Protection will lead to greater prosperity and strength.” “We will follow two simple rules:

journalism internalized this faith, without examining whether democracy and capitalism might actually be opposed, or whether the inequalities bred by capitalism might provoke a backlash from a democratic majority. Shock-therapied into the free market, and exposed to endless misery through the 1990s, Russia’s electorate gave an early sign of the times by electing a KGB operative as their savior. But the Russian experience—of recoiling from trauma into vengeful nationalism —was barely acknowledged by those who focused instead on the fact that global capitalism was lifting hundreds of millions of Indians and Chinese above the poverty line. There was little exploration of how this revolution of aspirations among nearly 3 billion people might play out politically and environmentally, let alone what life just above a much disputed and frequently revised poverty line might be like. Would, for instance, aspiring men frustrated by slowing growth or the middle-income trap succumb to ultra-nationalist demagogues? Moreover, did the earth have enough resources to sustain billions of people pursuing the lifestyles of a few hundred million Europeans and Americans? Meanwhile, journalists and politicians alike were ignoring the negative effects of globalization and the mobility of jobs and capital. The CEO emerged as a glamorous figure; the farmer and the miner faded into the background. It was left to outliers like former presidential candidate Pat Buchanan to point to the deteriorating condition of white working classes while his establishment peers celebrated the worldwide triumph of capitalism and democracy. Today, Trump’s much-derided, frequently written off and ultimately successful candidacy has exposed the intellectual inadequacies

and political perils of mono-journalism. And those complicit in it have no choice but to reformulate their aims and methods. Of course, weak journalism has often made for political shocks, such as China’s Communist revolution in 1949—one of journalism’s “great failures,” as the distinguished historian John K. Fairbank put it, and “a first-class disaster for the American people.” Fairbank blamed Americans like himself who had reported from China and who had failed to appreciate the mass appeal of Mao Zedong while under the spell of his Westernized rival, Chiang Kai-shek. Fairbank admitted that “our reporting was very superficial. … We had no knowledge, in other words, and no way to gain any knowledge, of the life of ordinary Chinese people.” As we likely face another first-class disaster in the shape of Trump’s presidency, it may be prudent to reflect on Fairbank’s warning: that “every journalist is walking on a fault line—of unresolved and ambivalent historic situations—trying to represent it some way in words.” For Fairbank, “the essence of the journalistic profession” is “that reporters deal with ambivalent situations where the outcome is uncertain, the values are mixed and the sides are in conflict.” Many journalists in recent years have seemed too eager to assert clear outcomes and values; they are parodied today by the hysterics of Twitter and the vendors of fake news. One can only hope that, scarred by failure, the old media will develop strengths disdained by the perpetually shrieking new media: a greater alertness to ambiguity in human affairs, a sharper awareness of the possibility of failure and, more importantly, closer attention to the losers rather than the winners of history. Bloomberg

are “fruit of the poisonous tree”. The doctrines crafted by jurisprudence on double jeopardy also invite review, for precipitous acquittal by judges eager to dispose of many cases or, regrettably, by “hoodlums in robes”, forever bars prosecution even of the clearly guilty. And while I am all for trimming down the exaggerated certiorari powers presently attributed to our Supreme Court, I am all for expanding the grounds of certiorari against acquittals, keeping however to the general requirement of the writ: a clear and convincing showing of grave (that qualifier needs to be emphasized) abuse of discretion. Then there is the matter of prosecution. Our prosecutors take the constitutional provisions to mean that as long

as they have “probable cause”— even if it is abundantly clear that they do not have the evidence sufficient to win a conviction— they can go on with prosecuting the offender. The result is hasty indictments, the detention of those charged with “unbailable” offenses, and—after the unjust and unjustified curtailments of freedom visited on an accused— his acquittal because of “insufficiency of evidence”. It should not be too difficult to include the following provision: “The prosecutor files the Information only upon a finding of probable cause, but shall desist from doing so unless he has evidence sufficient for the court to convict the accused.” There is no contradiction here, except to the dense. The first

question the prosecutor asks is: “Do I have probable cause?” If he has none, he dismisses. If he has, then he takes a second look at the evidence and asks: “If I file this Information, do I have a chance at securing the conviction of the accused or none at all?” If it is clear to him that there is no way the evidence presently before him obtains the conviction of the accused, it would be immoral and unjust for the prosecutor—as well as a waste of public resources—to file the Information and visit all its attendant miseries on the accused! Some have misgivings about re-writing portions of the Constitution other than those that deal with the Legislature (Article VI) and the Executive (Article

Buy American and hire American.” Those fighting words surely warmed the cockles of every unemployed American’s heart. But for how long? Obama’s face was stern while his successor railed and ranted against the “bad old order.” It must not have been because he did not subscribe to it, but because he worried over the direction Trump’s America would follow. Can he pull it off? Can Trump move back the hands of time? It was America which led the globe into following a new international economic order based on the law of comparative advantage. It was to the benefit of America’s business that the economic or-

der they foisted upon the rest of humanity assembled, eventually manufactured, the products the American consumer bought. America became rent-dependent, a landlord exacting royalties from their technology, their creative ideas, their brands, which their big business found more economical to farm out to the “cheap” labor in the “inferior” countries. Now the countries have prospered; the tables have been turned. And Trump wants to reverse the clock. Will he succeed? Europe trembled, though their nationalist fringe were excited. Pursued to the max, Trump could begin the breakup of the European Union.

It began with Brexit; now Trump will deal the ‘coup de grace.’ But Russia is unperturbed. They have never taken part in these marriages of temporary convenience; they were always considered outsiders by the Europeans anyway. So they will just flex their muscles elsewhere, and with their oil and their gas, they will survive American protectionism. Japan is worried, and understandably so. Shinzo Abe has been to Washington to be reassured by Trump. Now the inaugural address trumps all the assumptions. And China? It has a 1.5 billion base of domestic consumers. It has reached out to Asean, and its

MONDAY, JANUARY 23, 2017

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OUT OF THE BOX RITA LINDA V. JIMENO

Impunity THE killing of South Korean, Jee Ick Joo by police officers was the worst blow the war on drugs has ever suffered thus far. What made it ironic to the core and utterly disturbing were three things. One, the victim had nothing to do with drugs but the perpetrators took him from his residence in October last year on the pretext that he was to be investigated for his alleged involvement in drugs. Two, the perpetrators are police officers who are sworn to protect the people. Three, the victim was killed right in the premises of the Philippine National Police, supposedly the bastion of law enforcement and the rule of law. And to further demonstrate how far the abuses of the police could go, while riding on the legitimate war on drugs, Teresita Ang See, a crusader against kidnapping and corruption in the PNP exposed another criminal activity committed by policemen—the tokhang for ransom racket. Tokhang originated from the Visayan words toktok hangyo which means “to knock and plea.” The PNP coined tokhang and used it for Oplan Tokhang where police officers are supposed to visit the residences of drug suspects and plead with them to reform. Hiding behind what was meant to be a legitimate police operation, scalawags in the police reportedly knock on the doors of people with money and have no connections and then arrest a house member. They then allegedly demand ransom The or clean out a person’s bank account President’s using his ATM card. political SPO3 Sta. Isabel and his cohorts reportcapital is being edly received ransom in the amount of five eroded by the million pesos from Jee Ick Joo’s wife but shameless ways they wanted more. of these rogues. Why do some police officers commit crimes even if it means bringing down the entire police force with them and even eroding the political capital of the President? The reason is they feel they can get away with anything they do with impunity. It is unfortunate because surveys have shown that, generally, the Filipino people approve of the war on drugs. The President’s trust rating has remained high because he has shown political will to carry out his campaign promises and to bring change. The greater majority of the Filipino people see in him a man who is simple in his ways and sincere, and a leader they can count on to better their lives. The PNP Chief himself, Gen. Ronald ‘‘Bato’’ dela Rosa, is perceived as sincere, straight, and likeable as well. The problem is that even before Dela Rosa stepped in as PNP chief, there have been quite a number of scalawags and bad eggs entrenched in the police force. An untold number of kidnappings in the past decades has been traced to men in uniform. Their right to carry guns has been the source of this abuse of power against an unarmed citizenry. And, since the unforgiving war on drugs has given them the notion that they can do anything unpunished for as long as it is carried out in the name of the war on drugs, those without moral fiber and a sense of what is right and wrong easily fall into the path of evil for material gain. Senator Panfilo Lacson, a former PNP chief himself, has said that it is as much the duty of Gen. Dela Rosa to rid the ranks of the police of rogues and scalawags as it is his duty to protect the public. A profound feeling of anger against these miscreant policemen engulfs me. More than 16 million Filipino people have voted into the presidency a man who had the promise of bringing about a revolution of change by his strong leadership and by being himself a good example of incorruptibility and simplicity. Yet, his political capital consisting of the vast support of the Filipino people can slowly be eroded by the shameless, ruthless and evil ways of rogues in the ranks of the police. There is no other way but to deal with them with the full force of the law and to start rethinking how to disabuse the men in uniform of the notion that they can commit crimes with impunity. Email: ritalindaj@gmail.com Visit: www.jimenolaw.com.ph VII). But when you want to go federal, then perforce, you must ask whether the Supreme Court shall continue to enjoy the same jurisdiction it now has, what cases go before it, and how much it must yield to state courts—and whether or not there should be state or regional supreme courts. Then you must also review provisions on accountability as well as patrimony, for crucial decisions will have to be made about how to hold state or regional officials accountable (shall state governors be impeccable offineighbors to the north and west, even beyond, to Africa and South America. Quietly, it has consolidated its sphere of influence. And America owes it plenty. I would not be surprised if the Chinese central bankers have been quietly buying gold as a hedge to their dollar holdings. That gives them enough flexibility in playing the currency game they have been winning against the American dollar, the competitive edge Trump hates most. The world will be in tenterhooks from this day forward. But at the end of the day, will Trump’s populism triumph over the economic order his America

cials, knowing that impeachment is a next-to-impossible process), what resources constitute patrimony of the region and patrimony of the Republic—in other words, the classic battle between state and union! And since the changes will be wide-ranging anyway, why not address other, equally vexatious though probably less sensational provisions of the fundamental law? rannie_aquino@csu.edu.ph rannie_aquino@sanbeda.edu.ph rannie_aquino@outlook.com has authored? Can he, as earlier asked, reverse the hands of time? Will inward mean onwards? Or will it mean backwards? As his own supporter, former Speaker Newt Gingrich, remarked after listening to the less than 20-minute speech: “If he can deliver the jobs, he will be re-elected. If not, that’s trouble.” Quintessentially traditional. It’s the votes that count, for a president who won by the skin of his electoral college teeth. But the elections are over. This is the stark reality of an international economic order, and Trump will now have to confront America’s seemingly irreversible pivot to it.

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Aquino warns vs. bills that burden with higher prices By Macon Ramos-Araneta

DRAINAGE OVERFLOW. In just 30 minutes during the weekend, heavy rains get vehicles stranded in Cotabato City with drainage overﬂowing, ﬂoodwaters rising knee-deep in most areas. Mark Navales

3 priority bills pushed By Macon Ramos-Araneta

ENATOR Cynthia Villar will be focusing on the passage of three legislative proposals before Senate adjourns for the Holy Week in April. The three—the Local Government Agriculture Development Act; Philippine Native Animal Development Act; and the bill expanding coverage of the National Integrated and Protected Areas System Act—have been identi-

ﬁed as priority bills following the agreement to prioritize passage of senators’ pet bills from Jan. 16 to March 17. “These bills were among the bills I ﬁled to advance my legislative agenda in instituting reforms

in the agriculture and environment sectors,” Villar said. Senate Bill 318 or the Local Government Agriculture Development Act is the proposal to allocate 10 percent of local government units’ annual development fund for the implementation of programs for agriculture and fisheries advancement. “This bill aims to make programs for the benefit of farmers and fisherfolk a priority among local government units, as well as continuity of agricultural programs,” Villar, vice chairman of the Committee on Agriculture and Food, said.

With the growing consumption of meat among Filipinos from 15 kilos per capita to 35 kilos per capita, Villar is pushing for the breeding of native animals, which are cheaper to raise and more adaptable to the country’s changing climate. “We should turn to native animals to help us feed the growing population. We have seen problems raising imported cows; our climate is changing and these animals cannot adapt,” Villar said. Villar ﬁled Senate Bill No. 144 which aims to promote the sci-

entiﬁc propagation, processing, utilization and development of Philippine native animals. The bill recommends the creation of the Philippine Native Animal Development Center. The proposed PNADC—in coordination with DA, Department of Science and Technology, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, native animal growers’ cooperatives and organizations, LGUs and the private sector—shall formulate a 20-year Framework for Development to be validated and updated annually.

Probe school principal, Gatchalian asks DepEd By Macon Ramos-Araneta SENATOR Win Gatchalian has asked the Department of Education to investigate the alleged discriminatory acts of a Caloocan public school principal, who reportedly ordered the displacement of special needs students from their designated classroom and called them “abnormal.” “I condemn the alleged conduct of Principal Eustaquio Gagarra Jr. of Kalayaan National High School,” said Gatchalian, vice chairman of the Senate Education Committee. “Special needs children are not abnormal. They deserve to be treated with the same respect and care as other Filipino youth, which means that they must be given the chance to obtain a quality education and live meaningful lives as respected members of our society.” There was no immediate reaction from Gagarra to Gatchalian’s statement. He said this type of despicable discrimination against special needs children has no place in our public education system. Pointing to this unfortunate episode as further proof that special needs students need greater protection and care within the public education system, Gatchalian called on the Senate Education Committee to prioritize the passage of Senate Bill No. 996, or the Inclusive Education for Children and Youth with Special Needs Act of 2016.

SENATOR Bam Aquino has warned any tax measure that would burden Filipino families with higher prices would go through the proverbial eye of the needle in the Senate. The senator issued the warning in connection with the government’s plan to impose P6 to P10 excise tax on diesel under its tax reform agenda. He said the government’s plan “is little bit of a hard sell” but senators were expected to tackle the measure during plenary debates where they would listen to positions of different stakeholders. “I think during the plenary debates, a lot of ﬁgures will be presented to us. We will listen to reason and different parties,” Aquino said. In particular, Aquino wants to determine the exact effect of the planned imposition of excise tax on diesel fuel to prices of goods and agricultural products transported by diesel-powered vehicles to markets in different parts of the country.

LGU officials urged: Help oversee drug rehab centers By Rio Araja CAMARINES Sur Rep. Luis Ray Villafuerte urged on Sunday local government executives to help the Cabinet-level task force carry out its immense job of overseeing the establishment of drug rehabilitation centers across the country. Villafuerte, House committee on appropriations vice chairman, called on governors, mayors and vice mayors to tap barangay health workers in the war against illegal drugs by training and equipping them with the knowledge needed to treat outpatient drug rehabilitation cases at the grassroots level. He has filed a bill creating a drug rehabilitation center in his province’s town of Libmanan, stressing local officials have “an obligation and duty to their constituents to support President Rodrigo Duterte’s war against narcotraffickers and their cohorts in the government and the police force.”

IN BRIEF Takeda 2017 Top Employer

MAKEOVER MOOD. Workers repair Sunday the Chinese-Filipino Friendship Arch at the foot of Jones Bridge in Manila leading to the capital’s Chinatown ahead of the Chinese New Year celebrations—with ﬁreworks as well as dragons and lions dancing inside stores for good luck, accompanied by the sounds of raucous drums—on Jan. 28. Ey Acasio

Leyte’s Romualdez wants full scholarship for poor elderly By Rio Araja LEYTE Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez is batting for the passage of a bill to grant full scholarship to undergraduate poor senior citizens who would like to earn a four-year degree in any state college or university. Romualdez, House committee on government enterprises and privatization vice

chairperson, said the government had the responsibility to provide quality education to all people as a constitutional right to education. “To this end, a four-year college scholarship grant shall be provided to deserving indigent senior citizens, who have not yet attained a college degree and have satisﬁed the requirements for ad-

mission in a state college or university,” she said. Romualdez, wife of Philippine Constitution Association president Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, is a registered nurse and the Bb. Pilipinas International 1996. Under her measure, a senior citizen shall be given automatic full scholarship in the form of free tuition in any state

college or university. An applicant for such scholarship must be able to present a proof of indigency to be issued by the municipal social welfare or the ofﬁce of the senior citizens affair. The Commission on Higher and Technical Education shall be tasked to promulgate the necessary implementing rules and regulations of the measure.

THE Top Employers Philippines and Top Employers Asia Pacific 2017, through independent research conducted by the Top Employers Institute, has awarded Takeda Healthcare Philippines Inc. (Takeda Philippines) as a Top Employer for its outstanding employee offerings. “This is a significant milestone for Takeda in the Philippines,” said Gabriel Georgy, president and general manager of Takeda Philippines. “We have focused on investing in our staff, providing an environment that encourages learning and also put in place initiatives that will help our people develop and flourish in their careers.” Takeda Healthcare Philippines Inc. is a subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceuticals Company Ltd. of Japan. Takeda Philippines imports pharmaceutical products in finished and semi-finished form. The company provides patients in the Philippines with innovative medicines in gastroenterology, cardiology, oncology and women’s health. Junex Doronio

Sports

MONDAY, JANUARY 23, 2017 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Potts, Kib to be feted in college basketball awards LA Salle’s Kib Montalbo and San Beda’s Davon Potts head the list of players who will be cited for their excellence during the UAAP and NCAA seasons in the Collegiate Basketball Awards set Jan. 26 at the Montgomery Place Social Hall in E. Rodriguez Ave., Quezon City. Montalbo and Potts are set to receive the Pivotal Player awards in the event backed by Smart, Accel, Mighty Sports, MJM Productions and Chooks to Go for playing significant roles during the title run of their respective leagues. The defensive-minded Montalbo was instrumental in helping La Salle win the UAAP crown by sweeping archrival Ateneo in the finals while Potts was one of the key figures in San Beda’s NCAA title victory over Arellano University. Also to be recognized are San Beda’s Robert Bolick and Ateneo’s Isaac Go with the Impact Player awards for emerging as two of the top players of the recent collegiate basketball season. Other awardees are University of the Philippines’ Paul Desiderio as the Chooks to Go Breakout Player, teammate Jett Manuel and Far Eastern University’s Raymar Jose with the Super Senior awards and Adamson’s Papi Sarr as Mr. Efficiency. Desiderio earned a UAAP Mythical Five selection after UP flirted at making the Final Four for the first time since 1997 while Manuel and Jose impressed everyone during their final season in the UAAP. Sarr, on the other hand, finished second in the UAAP Most Valuable Player race behind his consistent play that gave Adamson its first Final Four appearance since 2011. Leading the list of awardees are Coach of the Year winners Aldin Ayo and Jamike Jarin and Mighty Sports Collegiate Mythical Five members Jeron Teng, Ben Mbala, Jio Jalalon, Allwell Oraeme and Javee Mocon. AFP

Kawhi Leonard of the San Antonio Spurs drives to the basket against the Cleveland Cavaliers during the game at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. AFP

Spurs turn back Cavs in OT L OS ANGELES—Kawhi Leonard finished off a dunk in the final seconds of overtime, capping a career high 41-point performance as the San Antonio Spurs outlasted the Cleveland Cavaliers 118-115 on Saturday.

“I am in a groove,” Leonard said. “My players are getting me the ball in the right spots. I am just trying to win.” LeBron James tied up Leonard for a jump ball with 13 seconds left and Cleveland behind by three points. James won the tip, but the ball started to go out of bounds when Kevin Love saved it. But his no-look toss behind his back went

who is going to compete on every possession,” Leonard said. Elsewhere, Marcus Morris delivered a game-winning putback as time expired on the clock to lift the Detroit Pistons to a 113-112 win over the Washington Wizards. Detroit squandered a 16-point lead in the final quarter before the clutch basket by Morris who finished with a game-high 25 points and 11 rebounds. The Pistons launched three desperation shots during a mad scramble in the closing seconds leading up to the final buzzer in front of a crowd of 18,200 at The Palace arena. “I just stayed basically on my side,” he said. “I just stayed with it, crashed the glass and happened

to be in a good spot.” - Brotherly mis-match He leaned over his twin brother, Markieff Morris a Wizards forward, while scoring the basket. “I grabbed him. I put my hand on his shoulder and I got him back because he blocked my shot the play before that,” Marcus Morris said. “I knew that was him and you can’t make that call at the end of the game.” Reggie Jackson had 19 points and eight assists and Tobias Harris supplied 18 points, nine rebounds and five assists for the Pistons, who have won three straight. Joe Leuer came off the bench to score 10 points after missing the previous five games with a knee injury. AFP

Low Profile, Sakima lead invitees in Henry Cojuangco Cup

SSC seeks key victory Games today (Filoil Flying V Center) 9:30 a.m.- EAC vs CSJL (m) 11 a.m.- EAC vs CSJL (w) 12:30 p.m.- SSC vs LPU (w) 2 p.m.- SSC vs LPU (m) 3:30 p.m.- SSC vs LPU (jrs)

SAN Sebastian College seeks the first of the needed two victories to sweep its way straight to the finals as it clashes with Lyceum of the Philippines University today in the women’s division of the 92nd NCAA volleyball tournament at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan City. The Lady Stags, who turned back the Perpetual Help Lady Altas, 25-22, 25-13, 25-13, on Jan. 11 for their seventh win, shoot for win No. 8 in their 2 p.m. duel that will put the former a win away from sweeping the elimination round and swooping their way to the finals where they will enjoy a thriceto-beat edge. San Sebastian plays defending champion St. Benilde in the final elims playdate on Wednesday.

straight to a surprised Leonard who sprinted to the other end for a dunk and the clinching basket with four seconds left. The Cavaliers had a chance to send it to double overtime but Love missed a three-point attempt from the corner at the buzzer. Love shot just three of 11 from the three-point line Saturday. Leonard surpassed 30 points for

the sixth straight game, while LaMarcus Aldridge scored 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the short-handed Spurs. David Lee scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds while starting in place of injured Pau Gasol. Tony Parker also missed the game with an ankle injury. James and Kyrie Irving each scored 29 points and Love had 13 points and 11 rebounds for Cleveland. Tristan Thompson had 14 points and 12 rebounds. James’ deep three-pointer from 30 feet away with 34 seconds left in regulation tied the game 107-107. Leonard had the job of guarding James most of the night. “He is a great player. It is always fun playing against a guy like him,

COJUANGCO

LEADING Horse of the Year contender Low Profile and undefeated US-bred import Sakima headline a star-studded group of top-caliber runners invited to compete in the inaugural “Henry Cojuangco Cup,” a featured showdown of the best of the best in Philippine thoroughbred racing slated on Feb. 5 at the San Lazaro Leisure Park in Carmona, Cavite. In addition to the two headliners, also invited to the event are proven sprinter Skyway, runner-up to Low Profile in the 2016 PCSO Presidential Gold Cup and also the winner of the Philracom “Sampaguita” Championship last year and the PCSO Silver Cup in 2015; seasoned top money campaigner Dixie Gold, 2015 PCSO Presidential Gold Cup winner; consistent performer Kanlaon, last year’s winner of the PCSO Anniversary Stakes and the MARHO Classic; and multiple stakes winning import Atomicseventynine (USA), winner of the RW Challenge of Champions’ Cup, the 4th leg Philracom Import-Local Challenge

and the inaugural Hagdang Bato Cup in 2016. Also in the list are giant-slayer Manalig Ka, recent winner of the Philracom Commissioner’s Cup over Low Profile and Skyway and winner of two other Philracom Import-Local Challenge Races last year; and surprise package Silhouette, big winner of last year’s Philracom Chairman’s Cup, as well as, up-and-coming Lakan, impressive wire-to-wire winner of a handicap race (HR10) last Sunday, easily routing a field of stakes race veterans despite carrying top weight of 58 kilos. The much-anticipated clash of champions set over 1,750 meters is spearheaded by racing industry colleagues and associates of the late Tarlac 1st District Representative, Enrique ‘Henry” Cojuangco, a dedicated horseman and sports patron, whose passion for horse breeding and racing has served as an inspiration to many Filipinos involved in the thoroughbred industry. Henry Cojuangco, similar to his

brother and business tycoon Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco, Jr., is an accomplished horseman both here and abroad, having bred and raced the likes of Philippine Triple Crown champion Skywalker and a host of notable stakes winners in Australia like Turf Express and Gold Water, among others Calling themselves as the “Hapi Group,” eponymous to “Mr. Happy” – the late Henry Cojuangco’s moniker in thoroughbred circles, the group is dedicated to bringing back the fun and enjoyment of thoroughbred breeding and racing, which they believe should be the catalyst in encouraging and attracting new players and investors to the multifaceted sport of horse racing. As their initial foray in promoting the sport, the Hapi Group, composed of emerging horse breeders will be holding the “Hapi Racing Festival” bannered by the 1st “Henry Cojuangco Cup” and 11 other added-money Trophy Races to be named after locallybased stallions standing at stud for the 2017 breeding season.

Navy tries to duplicate dominant Ronda PH performance NAVY hopes to duplicate its dominating performance in last year’s edition even minus key riders Ronald Oranza, El Joshua Carino and John Mark Camingao when the LBC Ronda Pilipinas 2017 edition unfurls on Feb. 4 in Vigan, Ilocos Sur and ends on March 4 in Iloilo City. Navy team captain Lloyd Lucien Reynante said Oranza,

Carino and Camingao were all forced to skip the annual 14-stage event, considered the biggest cycling race in the country today, to undergo training. “They can’t race because they’re under basic seaman course, they’re required to do it,” said the 36-year-old Reynante in Filipino referring to Oranza, Carino and Camingao.

Oranza, Carino and Camingao were part of the Navy squad that topped all legs of last year’s three-leg edition. A top purse worth P1 million prize awaits the champion courtesy of presentor LBC and in partnership with MVP Sports Foundation, Petron, Mitsubishi, Versa.ph, Victory Liner, Maynilad, Standard Insurance, CCN,

Bike Xtreme, NLEX, PhilCycling and 3Q Sports Event Management. The other teams seeing action are Go for Gold, Neopolitan, Ilocos Sur, Iloilo, Mindanao, South Luzon, Kinetix Lab-Army, Bike Extreme, Zambales, Salic and One Tarlac. The main race starts on Feb. 4 with two stages in Ilocos

Sur and will pass by Angeles (Feb. 8), Subic (Feb. 9), Lucena, Quezon (Feb. 12), Pili, Camarines Norte (Feb. 14 and 16), Daet (Feb. 17), Paseo in Sta. Rosa, Laguna (Feb. 19), Tagaytay and Batangas (Feb. 20), Calamba and Antipolo (Feb. 21) before wrapping up with a pair of stages in Iloilo City (March 3 and 4).

All set for World Slasher Cup at Big Dome LOTTO RESULTS CLOSE to 400 of the best cionados from Mexico, Ku- join the World Slasher Cup

Canada’s Richard McCormick and former WSC champ Boy Marzo do the pitting of the roosters at the 2017 World Slasher Cup at the Versailles Tent in Novotel Manila-Araneta Center, with Binibining Pilipinas Intercontinental Jennifer Hammon, Binibining Pilipinas Supranational Joanna Eden and Binibining Pilipinas First RunnerUp Angelica Alita

cockers and gamefowl breeders in the United States, Canada, Australia the Philippines and other countries will fight it out with their roosters in this year’s World Slasher Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City which starts on Monday, January 23. Organized by the Pintakasi of Champions, the 10-day event will also be participated by confirmed cockers and afi-

wait, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Taiwan, making it the biggest edition of the competition so far. Cockfighters from Vietnam and Cambodia and other countries, who attended the threeday World Gamefowl Expo at the World Trade Center have expressed their intention to be at the World Slasher Cup. The foreign contingent that has reportedly confirmed to

include Darrel Mack of Texas, and Hall of Famers Mike Formosa of Hawaii and Ray Alexander of Alabama, the two being prominent fixtures in the event. Cockfighting enthusiasts from California, Utah, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, Washington, Hawaii and Guam were the latest addition from the United States joining the event.

6/49 00-00-00-00-00-00 P0.0 M+ 6/42 00-00-00-00-00-00 P0.0 M+ 6 DIGITS 00-00-00-00-00-00 3 DIGITS 00-00-00 2 EZ2 00-00

Sports

Riera U. Mallari, Editor Reuel Vidal, Assist aant Editor sports@thestandard.com.ph sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

MONDAY, JANUARY 23, 2017

Tony Lascuña won The Country Club, which has long been regarded as the country’s premier golf championship, way back in 2004.

GM Wesley So still a Filipino By Peter Atencio

RANDMASTER Wesley So hasn’t renounced his Filipino citizenship.

The 23-year-old So said this during a break in his games in the ongoing 2017 Tata Steel Chess Masters in Wijk aan Zee, The Netherlands. So explained that he only changed his affiliation--a transfer of his credentials from the National Chess Federation of the Philippines to the United States Chess Federation—and not his citizenship. The world no.3-ranked So explained this after he drew with Baskaran Adhiban in 39 moves of a Queen’s Gambit Accepted in the sixth round, while preparing for his Round-7 encounter with Ukrainian Pavel Eljanov in a game he also drew. “I changed federation for the same reason the Philippines has millions of OFWs (overseas Filipino workers). I was

poor and not related to anyone powerful so I had to take my chances elsewhere. Where would I be if I hadn’t left? Ask Hari Das Pascua, who is still waiting for game results from 2016 to be submitted to FIDE,” said So in an online interview facilitated by former actress Lotis KeyKabigting with the Manila Standard. Kabigting, So’s surrogate parent/manager since he ofﬁcially became part of Team USA in October 2014, took the initiative in relaying So’s message to this writer, while the Filipino GM was busy studying for his game with Eljanov. So added he has never thought of changing citizenship at this time. “Will I change citizenship? That is years away from happening if ever,” added So, through Ms. Kabigting. In Round 7, So drew with Eljanov in 38 moves of a Guioco Piano. The game turned drawish even if the black-playing Eljanov found a winning position when his knight captured the queen at h4 on the 34th. After So replied by capturing the knight, Eljanov checked the king with a rook

move to g6. Then, Eljanov seemed to have missed the winning position, according to analyst Daniel Koing at chessbase.com. He accepted a draw when So began controlling the center with his two rooks. So remains in the solo lead after six rounds with 4.5 points, followed by world no.1 GM Magnus Carlsen and Eljanov in second and third spots with four points. Levi Aronian, Anish Giri and Wei Yi share fourth to sixth places with 3.5 points. Carlsen drew with Giri in 122 moves of a London System, while Wei prevailed over Loek Van Wely in 53 moves of a Sicilian Najdorf, and Sergey Karjakin stopped Aronian in 58 moves of a Guioco Piano. So wanted to be part of Team USA when he applied for a change of federation with the NCFP in 2013, in accordance with FIDE statutes after playing for Webster University in college back then. Since NCFP and its incumbent president Prospero Pichay did not act on his application, So availed of a two-year sitout period in order to be part of Team USA.

Champs brace for fierce TCC golf duel ALL seven former winners gear up for what promises to be another spirited battle when the elite P5 million The Country Club Invitational is fired off Feb. 2 at the TCC course in Laguna. “It’s going to be a thrilling fight, not only among us winners but also the rest of the field,” said Tony Lascuña, who won what has long been regarded as the country’s premier golf championship way back in 2004. He did contend in the succeeding legs but haven’t had much success, barely nailing his second TCC win in 2014 when he lost to Cassius Casas by one. “It’s been a long time since I last won at TCC but with my current form, I hope to get another crack at the crown next month,” added the ace Davaoeño shotmaker who won five legs last year to reclaim the Order of Merit crown. The TCC Invitational, put up by ICTSI chairman and chief operating officer Ricky Razon in 2003 to honor the memory of his father and ICTSI founder Don Pocholo, was actually shelved after that Casas triumph as the Tom Weiskopfdesigned course underwent a major facelift. That should make the par-72 layout more challenging and the chase for the top P1.5 million purse doubly interesting with the likes of former winners Angelo Que, Juvic Pagunsan, Frankie Miñoza, Artemio Murakami and Casas, also the inaugural champion, all upbeat of their chances in the 72-hole championship organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc. Even 2005 winner Jerome Delariarte, who has not played competitive golf for years since he took over as golf director at Manila Southwoods, has confirmed his participation. “Yes, I will play,” said Delariarte, also a former national champion.

Alaska 5 eliminates Baby Tams Stunned Murray follows Djokovic to the door Mahindra

upset NU Bullpups

XYRUS Torres and Kenji Roman scored big baskets for the Far Eastern University University Baby Tamaraws as they upset the defending champion National University Bullpups, 61-46, Saturday at the Arena in San Juan. Torres and Roman struck with 20 and 12 points, respectively, for the Baby Tams, who registered their eighth win in 10 games in the 79th University Athletic Association of the Philippines junior basketball tournament. Their efforts allowed the Baby Tams to gain a share of second spot with the Bullpups, assuring both teams of their places in the Final Four semiﬁnals. It was the Baby Tams’ second biggest win at the expense of a favored team after they also upended the Adamson Baby Falcons, 75-73, last week. In another game, Florencio Serrano tallied 15 points and Rence Keith Padrigao struck with 13, and so did Jason Celis, who added eight rebounds as the Baby Falcons came away with a 79-73 triumph over the Ateneo Blue Eaglets. Peter Atencio

By Jeric Lopez

MELBOURNE—World number one Andy Murray suffered a huge upset to 50th-ranked Mischa Zverev to follow Novak Djokovic to the exit as the shocks kept rolling at the Australian Open on Sunday. Murray was never expected to be troubled by the 29-yearold German, who has never won an ATP title, but he lost 7-5, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 in his earliest Melbourne departure in eight years. Zverev’s serve-volley triumph blows the draw even wider open with the top two seeds out before the quarter-finals for the first time in a Grand Slam since the 2004 French Open. Among the beneficiaries could be Roger Federer, who plays Kei Nishikori later, and Rafael Nadal, who downed Zverev’s younger brother Alexander in a titanic five-setter on Saturday. Alexander, 19, was watching courtside as Zverev stretched to a series of elastic volleys to halt the nonplussed Murray. Nearly half of Zverev’s points were from serve and volleys. “I was like in a little coma, just serving and volleying my way through it. There were a few points where I didn’t know how I pulled it off but somehow I made it,” Zverev said. With the defeat, Murray extends his curse at the Australian Open, where he has been runner-up five times—losing four finals to Djokovic -- without lifting the trophy. He also makes the earliest exit for an Australian Open top seed in 14 years, since Lleyton Hewitt fell at the same stage in 2003. “I’ve had tough losses in my career in the past. I’ve come back from them. This is a tough one,” Murray said. “I’m sure I’ll come back okay from it. But right now I’m obviously very down because I wanted to go further in this event, and it wasn’t to be.” Zverev, a late bloomer after a career riddled with injuries, reaches his first Grand Slam quarter-final where he will play his idol Federer or Japanese fifth seed Nishikori. Meanwhile Stan Wawrinka, who won the first of his three Grand Slam titles in Melbourne in 2014, came through 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/4) against Italy’s Andreas Seppi. AFP

Germany’s Mischa Zverev (right) shakes hands with Britain’s Andy Murray following the German’s victory in their men’s singles fourth-round match on day seven of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne. AFP

Treat, partner fall to Australians FIL-AMERICAN Treat Huey and Belarusian Max Mirnyi engaged Australian foes Sam Grother and Chris Guccione to a close ﬁght in the second round of the 2017 Australian Open Tennis Championships men’s doubles in Melbourne Park. But their foes pounced on their errors in the tiebreak, allowing Groth and Gu-

ccione to prevail with a 7-6 (10), 7-6 (5) win. It took Groth and Guccione one hour and 54 minutes to ease out Huey and Mirnyi with their power serves. Huey and Mirnyi were ahead 5-2, when Groth and Guccione stepped up and unleashed two volley winners to catch up, 5-4. Peter Atencio

Pacquiao willing to fight McGregor if Mayweather won’t WORLD Boxing Organization welterweight world champion Manny Pacquiao is willing to square up with mixed martial arts star Conor McGregor if his potential superﬁght with Floyd Mayweather fails to materialise, a spokesman said Sunday. But the Filipino boxing heroturned-senator stressed that any fight with McGregor would have to be a boxing bout, not an MMA contest.

“If McGregor will ﬁght me in boxing, why not? But not in MMA. MMA is much different than boxing,” a spokesman quoted Pacquiao as saying a few days ago. “The ﬁght can be at the 140-pound weight division. My normal weight when I’m not on training is just 141 or 142 pounds,” he said. Both Pacquiao, 38, and Mc-

Gregor, 28, have been trying to lure the retired Mayweather back into the boxing ring. For Pacquiao, it would be a chance to avenge his defeat to Mayweather at their long-awaited showdown in 2015. Meanwhile Ireland’s McGregor, the ﬁrst man to simultaneously hold Ultimate Fighting Championship titles in two weight divisions, has ﬂoated the

idea of taking on the undefeated Mayweather, 39. In late November McGregor was issued a boxing license in the state of California in a development that fuelled speculation about a future showdown with Mayweather. Mayweather told ESPN’s First Take program that a McGregor bout was the only thing that could tempt him back into the ring.

UFC boss Dana White also added further fuel to the fire this month when he offered to pay each $25 million, along with a cut of pay-perview proceeds, to fight—an offer that Mayweather later batted down. Pacquiao has previously parlayed his sporting fame into a career in politics, getting elected to the influential Philippine Senate last year while still continuing to box professionally. AFP

ALASKA stood its ground in the payoff period, breaking away late and oust Mahindra, 107-91, and getting back on track with this crucial victory in the 2017 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup last night at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City last night. Despite tweaking his ankle in the first half, Vic Manuel still led the Aces, scoring 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting and hauling three rebounds. He was helped out by his buddy Calvin Abueva, who contributed 18 points and 10 rebounds. The Aces turned a tight game into a one-sided affair late as they ended the contest with a booming 31-15 finishing kick in the fourth to turn a 76-all deadlock early in the period into a sudden rout. Alaska improved to 5-4 and created a six-team logjam from second to seventh places. More importantly, the Aces moved themselves a step closer to securing a berth in the quarterfinals and also kept their chance of having a shot at taking the No. 2 seed and the last twice-to-beat advantage in the next round. “Sobrang importante nitong game na ito sa amin. Kailangan talagang manalo,” said Manuel. “Kailangan ma-continue namin itong magandang nilaro namin sa next two games pa.” With the Aces’ win, the three bottom teams at the moment were all eliminated in the process. The Floodbuster (2-7), NLEX (2-7) and Meralco (3-7) are now all booted out of contention. Among the nine other teams, one more will have an early vacation when the dust settles as only the top eight teams will move forward in the quarters.

Unitary cigarette tax violates anti-trust law B3

Business

IN BRIEF House bill raises vehicle tax

AUTOMOBILES will be slapped a higher tax rate under the new version of the proposed Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act, the Finance Department said over the weekend. The proposal, which was adopted by Quirino Rep. Dakila Cua under House Bill 4774, aims to raise the current tax on cars with a net manufacturing or import price of up to P600,000 from the current 2 percent to 4 percent. Vehicles priced above P600,000 will be taxed higher, with those over P2.1 million to be charged P1,224,000 plus 200 percent in excess of P2.1 million, under HB 4774. Separate bills indexing the motor vehicle user’s fee to the cumulative inflation rate from 2004 to 2017, reflecting an 82 percent increase, and granting amnesty on past estate tax cases will also be filed as part of the tax reform plan, the department said. The automobile tax adjustment is just one of the revenue-compensating measures under the tax reform proposal that aim to offset the reduction in personal income tax rates. Gabrielle H. Binaday

Cabinet to seal $15-b projects

THE economic team of President Rodrigo Duterte will fly to China this week to finalize the details of $15 billion worth of economic deals and investment commitments forged between Manila and Beijing during Duterte’s state visit to Beijing in October last year. Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, Public Works Secretary Mark Villar and Economic Secretary Ernesto Pernia will lead the Philippine delegation to China on Jan. 23 to 24. The Philippine officials are due to hold separate meetings with China Vice Premier Wang Yang, Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng and National Development and Reform Commission chairman Xu Shaoshi. They also plan to meet top officials of the China Investment Corp. Gabrielle H. Binaday

Economists see faster inﬂation

ECONOMISTS expect inflation to accelerate this year and next, on weaker peso, higher global oil prices and the increased probability of further interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve. Results of the December 2016 consensus economics survey conducted by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas showed that respondents were expecting the average annual inflation for 2017 and 2018 to go up to 3 percent from 2.7 percent and 3.1 percent from 2.8 percent, respectively. “Analysts attributed their higher inflation expectations to a weaker peso, higher global oil prices, robust domestic demand and increased probability of further Fed rate hikes,” Bangko Sentral said. “The increase in the mean inflation forecast was also driven by the recent uptick in domestic fuel prices and its impact on housing and transport inflation as well as possible effects on prices of the proposed tax reform measures, along with higher government spending,” it said. The regulator said these were seen to outweigh the downside risks brought by the slowdown of the Chinese economy and the yuan devaluation, as well as the risk of recession and deflation in Japan and the Eurozone. Julito G. Rada

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor business@manilastandardtoday.com extrastory2000@gmail.com MONDAY, JANUARY 23, 2017

GDP likely expanded 7.2% in Q4—Moody’s E Duterte administration’s target range of 6 percent to 7 percent for the year. CONOMIC growth likely quickened to 7.2 Economists predicted that percent in the fourth quarter from 7.1 percent growth could be sustained on government’s fiscal expendiin the third quarter, on sustained robust tures, low inflation and robust domestic demand and private consumption, investment and domestic deMoody’s Analytics, a division of Moody’s Corp. mand. The inter-agency Developsaid in a report over the weekend. ment Budget Coordination Committee maintained the 2017 “We expect Philippines GDP tion and investment both expand- growth forecast for the Philipgrowth to have accelerated to 7.2 ing rapidly. Goods exports should pines at 6.5 percent to 7.5 perpercent year-on-year in the final also post a modest improvement cent, on strong macroeconomic quarter of 2016, compared with compared with previous quarters fundamentals despite external 7.1 percent in the three months because of the uptick in global de- uncertainties. DBCC also kept to September. This would be the mand in recent months,” it said. the 7 percent to 8 percent growth seventh consecutive quarter in The government is scheduled target for 2018 to 2022. which year-on-year GDP growth to release the fourth-quarter GDP British banking giant Honaccelerated,” Moody’s said. data on Thursday. gkong and Shanghai Banking “The main driver of output The economy grew 7 percent Corp. revised upward its growth growth will continue to be domes- in the first three quarters of forecast for the Philippines this tic demand, with private consump- 2016, at the upper bound of the year to 6.5 percent from the pre-

By Julito G. Rada

vious estimate of 6.3 percent on government’s higher ﬁscal spending and resilient domestic demand that will offset the impact of various headwinds from external fronts. It said the economic outlook for the Philippines was robust, underpinned by resilient domestic demand. It said a number of reforms, including the tax reforms and other constitutional reforms would likely be undertaken in 2017. The revised GDP growth forecast for the Philippines this year was at par with that of China at 6.5 percent, but higher than 5.1 percent for Indonesia, 1.2 percent for Japan, 2.4 percent for Korea, 3.8 percent for Malaysia, 1.2 percent for Singapore, 3.2 percent for Thailand and 6.4 percent for Vietnam.

San Miguel joining all auctions on ﬁve airports By Darwin G. Amojelar SAN Miguel Corp. said it will participate in the separate auctions for the unbundled ﬁve regional airports under the public-private partnership program. “We will join whatever auction the government has to offer. If we lose, then we lose,” San Miguel president Ramon Ang said. Ang made the statement after the Transportation Department announced that it would bid out the

five regional airports separately, a revision of the previous government’s plan to offer the five airports in two bundles. San Miguel Holdings Corp.Incheon International Airport Corp. Consortium was one of the five groups that were pre-qualified by the previous administration for the regional airports. The other groups were Maya Consortium led by Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Philippine Airports Consortium of Metro Pacific In-

vestments Corp., GMR-Megawide Consortium and Filinvest-JatcoSojitz Consortium. The bid submission date for the project was deferred as the Transportation Department needed to get clearances and approvals from the concerned agencies. The ﬁve provincial airports in the original PPP bundles are the P20.26billion Bacolod-Silay International Airport and the P30.4-billion Iloilo International Airport under package 1, and the P14.62-billion Laguindin-

gan Airport, P2.34-billion New Bohol (Panglao) Airport and P40.57billion Davao International Airport under package 2. The winning concessionaires for each airport bundle will handle the operation and maintenance of the airports for 30 years and expand the facilities. Aside from the operation and maintenance, the contract will require the winner to expand the terminal, apron, airside and landside facilities to address future demand.

Business

MONDAY, JANUARY 23, 2017 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Market awaits GDP growth data By Jenniffer B. Austria

TOCKS are expected to move sideways this week, ahead of the release of full-year gross domestic product data on Thursday.

“The market has been swayed by global news the past weeks, heavily on UK’s ‘hard’ Brexit concerns and Donald Trump’s inauguration. With no major local headlines in place yet, the mart might begin to factor-in the country’s GDP report on Thursday to manage expectations for this year’s performance and realign their portfolios,” 2TradeAsia. com said. Analysts said investors would remain anxious about how US

President Donald Trump would implement his policies, which were largely seen to be gearing toward protectionism. “Consequently, Trump and [President Rodrigo] Duterte’s policies seem to mirror similar sentiment when it comes to economic priorities, which could deﬁnitely level their playing ﬁeld to adopt fair and market-based trading conditions. For now, it’s better to wait on cues until the dust clears out,”

2TradeAsia.com said. The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark index, closed marginally lower by 0.1 percent over last week’s five-day market trading to 7,232.66 on Jan. 20 as investors took caution ahead of Trump’s inauguration as US president. The boarder all-share index went up by 0.1 percent to 4,365.63. Major sub-indices ended mixed with property, services and mining and oil closing higher and financials, industrial and holding firms ending in the negative territory Foreign investors were net sellers by P790 million last week, while average daily turnover

dropped to P5.3 billion from the previous week’s average of P6.5 billion. Top gainers last week were property developer Arthaland Corp. which jumped 29 percent to P0.80, EEI Corp. which climbed 24.2 percent to P7.90 and Bloombery Resorts Corp. which advanced 12.4 percent to P7.06. Heavy losers included Alterra Capital Partners Inc. which sank 22.8 percent to 6.95 percent after the company reported that it planned to sell shares between P3.25 and P6.75 apiece. Emperador Inc. fell 5.4 percent to P7 while Universal Robina Corp. dipped 5.1 percent to P166.10.

Ayala Land opening 6 new shopping malls PROPERTY developer Ayala Land Inc. is opening six new malls this year that will add 150,000 square meters of leasable space to its shopping mall portfolio. Ayala Land malls group vice president Myrna Fernandez said apart from the recently opened The 30th in Pasig which offered 30,000 sqm of leasable space, ﬁve more shopping malls were slated to open this year. A shopping mall will soon open in Vertis North complex,

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS WEEKLY STOCKS REVIEW STOCKS

JANUARY 16-20, 2017 Close Volume

AG Finance Asia United Bank Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. Bank of PI China Bank BDO Leasing & Fin. INc. Bright Kindle Resources Citytrust COL Financial Eastwest Bank Filipino Fund Inc. First Abacus I-Remit Inc. Manulife Fin. Corp. MEDCO Holdings Metrobank Natl. Reinsurance Corp. PB Bank Phil Bank of Comm Phil. National Bank Phil. Savings Bank Philippine trust Co. PSE Inc. RCBC `A’ Security Bank Sun Life Financial Union Bank Vantage Equities

3.79 48.25 111.00 90.00 38.5 4.18 1.37 16.2 16.2 19 6.60 0.68 1.69 825.00 0.750 76.4 0.77 14.2 22.10 54.50 89.5 151 239 36.1 213 1747.00 78.00 1.23

122,000 85,200 9,881,900 9,828,970 583,800 96,000 2,110,000 400 77,200 776,700 12,600 3,000 435,000 340 164,390,000 11,872,470 14,761,000 116,300 15,000 851,830 4,080 940 22,270 177,500 2,579,140 1,450 493,240 78,000

Aboitiz Power Corp. Agrinurture Inc. Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. Alsons Cons. Asiabest Group Basic Energy Corp. Bogo Medelin C. Azuc De Tarlac Cemex Holdings Century Food Chemphil Conc. Aggr. ‘A’ Conc. Aggr. ‘B’ Cirtek Holdings (Chips) Concepcion Crown Asia Da Vinci Capital Del Monte DNL Industries Inc. Emperador Energy Devt. Corp. (EDC) EEI Euro-Med Lab First Gen Corp. First Holdings ‘A’ Ginebra San Miguel Inc. Holcim Philippines Inc. Integ. Micro-Electronics Ionics Inc Jollibee Foods Corp. Liberty Flour LMG Chemicals Mabuhay Vinyl Macay Holdings Manila Water Co. Inc. Maxs Group Megawide Mla. Elect. Co À’ MG Holdings Panasonic Mfg Phil. Corp. Pepsi-Cola Products Phil. Petron Corporation Pilipinas Shell Phinma Corporation Phinma Energy Phoenix Petroleum Phils. Phoenix Semiconductor Pryce Corp. À’ RFM Corporation Roxas and Co. Roxas Holdings San Miguel ‘Pure Foods À’ Shakeys Pizza SPC Power Corp. Swift Foods, Inc. TKC Steel Corp. Universal Robina Victorias Milling Vitarich Corp. Vivant Corp. Vulcan Ind’l.

43.6 4.5 0.92 1.48 18.8 0.210 96 18.00 11.48 15.98 143 96 95.15 23 60 2.01 6.66 12.02 12.600 7.00 5.46 7.90 1.78 22 68.9 12.90 16.30 6.2 1.800 203.00 76.45 2.78 3.66 28.55 29.8 27.5 14.2 284.40 0.250 5.20 3.23 9.56 75 11.50 2.28 5.90 1.54 5.06 4.95 2.3 2.9 242 12.56 4.16 0.148 1.56 166.1 4.47 1.8 32.00 1.06

7,108,400 6,144,000 4,299,000 16,859,000 82,500 830,000 5,120 95,900 29,548,300 12,184,200 10 2,360 150 794,100 373,260 5,030,000 1,098,000 157,000 30,319,000 3,265,900 90,832,900 13,190,700 1,000 11,389,300 745,190 97,200 400,400 1,546,200 4,417,000 2,221,530 150 576,000 104,000 600 4,909,600 1,043,900 4,121,500 1,621,550 4,050,000 134,500 17,835,000 15,903,700 4,068,640 29,000 4,273,000 1,774,500 752,600 521,600 2,161,000 27,000 897,000 63,360 41,359,300 446,000 23,090,000 1,830,000 4,381,240 98,000 18,426,000 1,200 678,000

Abacus Cons. À’ Aboitiz Equity Alliance Global Inc. Anglo Holdings A Anscor À’ ATN Holdings A ATN Holdings B Ayala Corp À’ Cosco Capital DMCI Holdings F&J Prince ‘A’ Filinvest Dev. Corp. Forum Pacific GT Capital House of Inv. JG Summit Holdings Jolliville Holdings Lopez Holdings Corp. Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp. LT Group Mabuhay Holdings À’ Metro Pacific Inv. Corp. MJCI Investments Inc. Pacifica À’ Prime Media Hldg Prime Orion Republic Glass ‘A’ San Miguel Corp À’ Seafront À’ SM Investments Inc. Solid Group Inc. South China Res. Inc. Transgrid Top Frontier Unioil Res. & Hldgs Wellex Industries Zeus Holdings

0.420 74.90 12.76 1.15 6.04 0.315 0.330 788 8.89 13.06 5.9 8.10 0.181 1340 5.95 77.10 3.85 7.96 1.13 12.12 0.455 6.84 3.01 0.0460 1.250 1.990 2.56 98.00 2.29 670.00 1.32 0.89 187.00 264.000 0.2950 0.1800 0.250

88,230,000 5,359,280 24,235,300 121,000 712,300 2,070,000 470,000 1,069,370 3,508,000 34,670,100 91,700 263,100 750,000 1,006,435 18,300 6,023,620 1,000 2,005,900 29,751,000 20,229,600 50,000 102,875,000 2,000 761,500,000 8,000 8,339,000 5,000 701,950 30,000 1,023,220 5,138,000 324,000 140 33,480 1,380,000 2,800,000 3,190,000

8990 HLDG Anchor Land Holdings Inc. A. Brown Co., Inc. Araneta Prop À’ Arthaland Corp. Ayala Land `B’ Belle Corp. À’ Cebu Holdings Cebu Prop. `B’ Century Property City & Land Dev. Cityland Dev. À’ Crown Equities Inc. Cyber Bay Corp. Double Dragon Empire East Land Ever Gotesco Global-Estate Filinvest Land,Inc. Interport À’ Megaworld

7.340 6.10 1.19 2.490 0.800 35.200 3.25 5.1 5.81 0.570 1.05 1.390 0.189 0.590 51.85 0.720 0.145 1.02 1.64 1.18 3.73

1,245,000 10,600 11,189,000 1,329,000 598,258,000 39,551,100 20,929,000 11,400 100 82,955,000 64,000 2,411,000 409,790,000 147,942,000 2,065,950 384,000 1,980,000 8,843,000 30,858,000 2,090,000 217,502,000

Value FINANCIAL 454,820.00 4,081,385.00 1,098,668,059 882,253,810.50 22,434,730.00 395,240.00 2,835,190.00 6480 1,250,430.00 14,781,400.00 83,320 2,040 735,010.00 284,880.00 121,569,420.00 908,751,739.00 11,776,070.00 1,651,958.00 333,500.00 45,375,968.00 366,495.00 141,167.00 5,172,300.00 6,389,580 547,635,186.00 2,518,200 38,213,404.50 97,250.00 INDUSTRIAL 311,375,400.00 27,004,820.00 3,850,670.00 24,410,960.00 1,471,234.00 173,840.00 481,301.50 1,830,354.00 343,291,468.00 194,054,580 1,430.00 230,923.50 14,824.00 18,130,730.00 22,386,636 10,004,360.00 7,097,037.00 1,885,218.00 376,502,980.00 23,123,622.00 484,925,148.00 96,178,021.00 1,780.00 254,510,415.00 51,374,690.00 1,181,048.00 6,487,640.00 9,573,820.00 7,782,310.00 459,008,536.00 11,173.00 1,549,370.00 383,760.00 16,080.00 146,856,125.00 28,260,880.00 58,772,414.00 449,883,092.00 1,019,900.00 705,476.00 57,412,750.00 152,704,873.00 306,292,647.50 333,220.00 9,725,960.00 10,214,854.00 1,331,240.00 2,642,134.00 10,666,554.00 61,980.00 2,558,980.00 15,434,929.00 507,483,526.00 1,867,480.00 3,439,100.00 2,900,310.00 741,447,907 427,160.00 32,818,830.00 38,430.00 731,470.00 HOLDING FIRMS 37,063,300.00 400,623,183.00 311,628,838.00 141,590.00 4,268,735.00 638,400.00 144,150.00 844,136,990 30,834,065.00 452,588,024.00 527,888.00 2,122,338.00 136,370.00 1,345,089,915.00 108,752.00 455,859,560.50 3,850.00 16,099,951.00 33,728,330.00 167,889,734.00 22,900.00 700,955,919.00 6,020.00 33,705,600.00 9,910.00 16,929,250.00 12,800.00 68,243,386.00 74,580.00 695,689,895.00 6,779,970.00 288,110.00 26,185.00 8,802,180.00 405,600.00 534,670.00 808,140.00 PROPERTY 9,270,683.00 65,300.00 13,500,400.00 3,233,490.00 472,311,560.00 1,358,314,200.00 67,777,650.00 58,140.00 581.00 47,179,330.00 67,230.00 3,335,540.00 77,810,460.00 93,459,080.00 107,445,987.50 273,040.00 293,400.00 8,903,720.00 50,992,190.00 2,497,500.00 791,989,260.00

JANUARY 9-13, 2017 Close Volume Value 3.75 47.9 112.50 91.80 38.45 4.14 1.45

1,466,000 95,500 8,858,940 3,795,990 529,200 352,000 1,691,000

5,791,460.00 4,568,050.00 1,004,330,343 349,842,318.00 20,294,085.00 1,405,590.00 2,496,950.00

16.1 19.16 6.58 0.68 1.65 770.00 0.670 78 0.77 14.22

333,500 954,000 26,900 18,000 1,132,000 1,300 129,915,000 15,911,420 9,977,000 82,800

5,355,266.00 18,247,280.00 177,133 12,250 1,930,240.00 1,053,660.00 89,871,590.00 1,253,310,572.00 7,803,310.00 1,177,450.00

54.80 90.3 145 230 36 214.2 1675.00 76.25 1.25

111,120 7,350 1,950 66,880 1,177,400 4,580,500 130 761,250 65,000

6,120,274.00 663,015.00 276,003.00 15,821,118.00 41,325,965 989,115,614.00 220,305 57,668,772.50 81,300.00

43.85 4.48 0.86 1.41 17.8 0.208 94 19.80 11.8 15.96 142.5 103.3 105 23 60 1.97 6.45 11.98 12.600 7.40 5.30 6.36

9,003,600 6,555,000 7,214,000 5,928,000 111,200 2,130,000 20,650 41,900 34,877,500 17,465,800 80 8,560 850 669,500 152,560 911,000 3,129,300 212,700 46,649,500 2,178,200 104,903,800 2,899,100

392,947,090.00 29,856,590.00 6,465,310.00 8,401,090.00 2,038,666.00 441,640.00 1,792,508.50 842,375.00 412,427,520.00 279,518,796 12,505.00 874,071.50 91,761.50 15,240,850.00 9,153,821 1,810,110.00 20,951,484.00 2,557,116.00 579,032,712.00 15,992,542.00 557,211,768.00 18,755,476.00

22.2 68.9 12.30 16.02 6.1 1.830 212.00 74.95 2.59 3.71 28.60 29.5 27.9 14.44 278.00 0.275 5.19 3.3 9.70 75.2 11.58 2.32 5.74 1.58 5.2 5.05 2.2 2.76 238 11.76 4.28 0.145 1.54 175 4.3 1.85

16,432,600 480,580 96,300 490,200 839,300 10,476,000 3,485,960 650 332,000 36,000 8,500 21,822,400 2,076,000 6,873,600 1,117,530 10,350,000 2,200 5,390,000 30,164,600 7,975,420 69,200 4,921,000 4,233,300 3,793,000 5,254,500 5,132,400 2,028,000 307,000 145,150 26,205,200 249,000 19,570,000 1,989,000 6,506,020 47,000 71,190,000

358,122,255.00 33,001,378.00 1,197,546.00 8,086,974.00 5,133,298.00 19,040,880.00 752,988,564.00 47,849.50 864,410.00 137,830.00 237,750.00 651,282,725.00 57,955,330.00 101,608,118.00 315,390,406.00 2,754,170.00 11,146.00 17,379,110.00 295,900,047.00 587,701,618.50 767,984.00 11,464,080.00 24,078,732.00 6,001,010.00 26,706,169.00 25,743,291.00 4,440,410.00 854,340.00 33,518,638.00 306,662,224.00 1,064,650.00 2,907,610.00 3,119,160.00 1,113,961,652 207,000.00 131,022,540.00

1.14

889,000

991,050.00

0.425 74.80 13.20 1.22 6.00 0.310 0.330 792 8.92 13.08 5.2 8.10 0.187 1320 5.83 75.05 3.92 8.04 1.2 12.2

75,810,000 8,263,890 19,464,400 334,000 1,143,100 8,210,000 720,000 1,606,990 12,321,000 41,252,000 9,300 193,100 750,000 617,365 52,500 8,790,950 104,000 7,484,800 59,966,000 24,865,500

32,780,700.00 619,302,225.00 263,504,440.00 393,750.00 6,855,837.00 2,672,400.00 235,550.00 1,273,311,065 108,483,119.00 537,221,188.00 48,856.00 1,552,294.00 141,960.00 812,092,535.00 312,406.00 663,494,495.00 408,530.00 51,971,563.00 77,239,390.00 314,469,736.00

6.89

126,553,500

885,862,045.00

0.0440 1.200 2.000 2.55 98.80

3,949,090,000 41,000 830,000 141,000 1,561,290

193,710,890.00 49,200.00 1,658,390.00 354,500.00 153,398,640.00

681.00 1.25 0.85

1,815,820 1,624,000 95,000

1,245,894,890.00 2,042,460.00 80,350.00

262.800 0.2950 0.1870 0.260

33,300 2,810,000 3,300,000 4,060,000

8,772,768.00 814,050.00 638,300.00 1,072,210.00

7.600 6.65 1.17 2.500 0.620 34.000 3.17 5.15

1,138,700 16,100 15,306,000 3,988,000 383,048,000 35,152,300 5,225,000 386,100

8,746,357.00 100,000.00 17,967,370.00 69,944,970.00 230,103,360.00 1,201,927,950.00 16,587,460.00 1,987,550.00

0.570 1.06 1.390 0.194 0.610 51.85 0.710 0.150 1.00 1.67 1.25 3.78

58,992,000 114,000 1,300,000 533,870,000 34,118,000 4,043,290 447,000 7,540,000 15,913,000 48,074,000 1,457,000 188,229,000

33,834,770.00 121,420.00 1,815,110.00 101,660,730.00 20,802,350.00 201,481,828.00 315,750.00 1,201,690.00 16,091,980.00 80,275,310.00 1,755,160.00 733,205,510.00

STOCKS

JANUARY 16-20, 2017 Close Volume

MRC Allied Ind. Phil. Estates Corp. Phil. Realty `A’ Phil. Tob. Flue Cur & Redry Primex Corp. Robinson’s Land `B’ Rockwell Shang Properties Inc. SM Prime Holdings Sta. Lucia Land Inc. Starmalls Suntrust Home Dev. Inc. Vista Land & Lifescapes

0.164 0.2650 0.415 30.00 4.31 25.15 1.62 3.28 31.00 1.02 6.98 0.930 5.040

2GO Group’ ABS-CBN Acesite Hotel APC Group, Inc. Apollo Global Asian Terminals Inc. Berjaya Phils. Inc. Bloomberry Boulevard Holdings Calata Corp. Cebu Air Inc. (5J) Centro Esc. Univ. Discovery World DFNN Inc. Easy Call “Common” FEUI Globe Telecom GMA Network Inc. Golden Haven Grand Plaza Hotel Harbor Star I.C.T.S.I. Imperial Res. À’ Imperial Res. `B’ IPeople Inc. À’ IP E-Game Ventures Inc. IPM Holdings Island Info ISM Communications Jackstones LBC Express Leisure & Resorts Lorenzo Shipping Macroasia Corp. Manila Broadcasting Manila Jockey Melco Crown Metro Retail NOW Corp. Pacific Online Sys. Corp. PAL Holdings Inc. Paxys Inc. Phil. Racing Club Phil. Seven Corp. Philweb.Com Inc. PLDT Common PremiereHorizon Premium Leisure Puregold Robinsons RTL SBS Phil. Corp. SSI Group STI Holdings Travellers Waterfront Phils.

7.5 48.3 1.37 0.520 0.054 10.6 5.64 7.05 0.0720 2.75 94.95 9.8 2.1 8.50 2.91 1000 1682 6.25 15.90 17.98 2.95 73.9 15.68 125 12 0.0094 9.07 0.218 1.4000 3.23 15.3 4.25 0.92 2.48 20.00 2 4.42 4.20 2.780 11.28 5.10 3.3 8.01 139.90 10.52 1507.00 0.465 1.430 41.90 75.80 6.30 2.57 1.100 3.26 0.350

Abra Mining Apex À’ Atlas Cons. À’ Atok-Big Wedge À’ Benguet Corp À’ Benguet Corp `B’ Century Peak Metals Hldgs Coal Asia Dizon Ferronickel Geograce Res. Phil. Inc. Lepanto À’ Lepanto `B’ Manila Mining À’ Manila Mining `B’ Marcventures Hldgs., Inc. Nickelasia Nihao Mineral Resources Omico Oriental Peninsula Res. Oriental Pet. À’ Oriental Pet. `B’ Petroenergy Res. Corp. Philex À’ PhilexPetroleum Philodrill Corp. À’ Semirara Corp. TA Petroleum United Paragon

0.0033 2.79 5.22 10.98 2.2000 2.1400 0.5 0.465 12.02 2.880 0.255 0.216 0.222 0.013 0.0120 2.23 6.6 2.78 0.4950 1.0600 0.0110 0.0110 4.07 9.00 3.59 0.0130 139.70 2.91 0.0092

ABS-CBN Holdings Corp. Ayala Corp. Pref `B1’ Ayala Corp. Pref ‘B2’ Alco Preferred B DD PREF First Gen G GLOBE PREF P GMA Holdings Inc. GTCAP PREF A GTCAP PREF B Leisure and Resort MWIDE PREF PCOR-Preferred A PCOR-Preferred B PF Pref 2 PNX PREF 3A SMC Preferred B SMC Preferred C SMC Preferred D SMC Preferred E SMC Preferred F SMC Preferred G SMC Preferred H SMC Preferred I

48.2 525 535 105 104.4 113.5 530 5.9 1016 1035 1.04 108 1060 1150 1030 107.9 77 81 77 78.2 79.7 79.35 78.5 78.9

LR Warrant

2.310

Alterra Capital Makati Fin. Corp. Italpinas Xurpas

6.95 3.08 4.13 8.65

First Metro ETF

119.8

JANUARY 9-13, 2017 Close Volume Value

Value

257,200,000 1,730,000 500,000 2,100 17,710,000 7,972,800 641,000 1,267,000 30,840,200 40,321,000 1,600 671,000 9,864,100

42,477,180.00 471,450.00 203,300.00 63,015.00 74,094,780.00 201,601,885.00 1,036,670.00 4,094,920.00 934,085,445.00 41,435,760.00 11,168.00 599,860.00 48,965,710.00 SERVICES 181,400 1,357,575.00 126,200 6,061,405.00 466,000 646,740.00 2,361,000 1,258,930.00 642,850,000 35,085,310.00 29,100 306,612.00 26,000 142,422 106,307,700 718,111,973.00 130,860,000 9,440,530.00 27,313,000 73,217,200.00 1,650,430 156,870,243.00 16,000 156,939.00 198,000 408,470 1,415,400 11,975,352.00 6,000 17,570.00 3,730 3,804,000.00 433,365 726,760,010 1,093,400 6,882,277.00 315,800 4,988,142.00 52,800 949,344 44,326,000 135,459,050.00 7,996,790 578,110,367.50 46,800 739,402 990 114,200 32,500 386,546.00 2,460,200,000 23,034,860.00 2,560,200 23,204,400.00 176,510,000 28,374,800.00 1,473,000 2,034,370.00 344,000 1,125,220.00 9,500 141,572.00 2,854,000 12,116,920 24,000 24,600.00 12,000 28,380.00 700 14,190 1,000 2,000.00 59,989,000 254,747,630.00 13,454,000 56,468,000.00 7,702,000 21,117,700.00 30,400 342,036.00 55,700 290,754 64,000 203,850.00 100 801.00 280,660 37,259,446.00 6,512,100 67,076,105.00 376,065 557,808,845.00 128,180,000 61,680,950.00 63,966,000 90,518,480.00 7,593,900 302,644,210.00 2,802,240 206,838,480.50 6,972,000 44,220,568.00 4,965,000 12,869,720.00 115,985,000 125,193,740.00 1,706,000 5,534,750.00 4,330,000 1,618,800.00 MINING & OIL 3,112,000,000 10,420,600.00 62,224,000 172,767,690.00 1,699,200 8,956,418.00 2,500 25,716.00 97,000 218,000.00 36,000 77,910.00 2,412,000 1,231,170.00 9,220,000 4,348,800.00 117,900 1,399,450.00 26,919,000 80,181,880.00 4,760,000 1,206,780.00 32,600,000 7,484,840.00 9,290,000 2,056,610.00 24,600,000 296,100.00 8,100,000 103,100.00 13,736,000 31,319,320.00 55,808,500 382,431,547.00 4,000,000 11,045,150.00 100,000 48,750.00 2,017,000 1,959,140.00 158,000,000 1,769,400.00 27,900,000 332,600.00 85,000 345,550.00 6,552,400 59,224,598.00 8,260,000 29,779,480.00 197,000,000 2,474,900.00 4,239,370 577,428,589.00 141,000 413,130.00 52,000,000 480,400.00 PREFERRED 535,600 25,791,340.00 27,420 14,399,500.00 600 318,210 155,070 16,120,829 331,200 34,567,961.00 10,700 1,214,450.00 44,920 23,566,200.00 3,469,000 20,467,919.00 3,360 3,425,760.00 14,170 14,722,100.00 251,000 258,540 150 16,075.00 1,090 1,154,510.00 5,315 6,112,250.00 4,080 4,202,400.00 11,500 1,232,300.00 21,030 1,624,522.00 257,450 20,836,970.00 19,010 1,470,855.00 150,510 11,735,902.00 407,910 32,405,549.50 35,210 2,740,550.00 102,060 7,894,959.50 804,250 62,537,428.00 WARRANTS & BONDS 337,000 761,550.00 SME 3,761,800 28,095,730.00 55,000 163,030.00 486,000 2,012,220.00 5,866,300 49,498,215.00 EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 24,320 2,886,690.00

0.150 0.2600 0.405 32.00 4.32 26.00 1.56 3.28 29.80 1.06 6.98 0.900 5.040

101,520,000 780,000 4,820,000 9,500 5,990,000 8,157,800 862,000 2,972,000 78,312,400 21,842,000 200 1,329,000 15,422,700

15,186,920.00 219,800.00 1,945,000.00 288,275.00 24,548,800.00 218,612,590.00 1,368,660.00 9,664,510.00 2,407,502,980.00 23,891,080.00 1,396.00 1,198,020.00 78,077,088.00

7.51 48 1.36 0.530 0.053 10.96 5.49 6.27 0.0720 2.59 97.6 9.8 2 8.50 2.95 962 1700 6.26 15.40 17.98 2.90 75.15 15.96 129 12.1 0.0090 9.00 0.235 1.4300 3.27 15.38 4.14 1.03 2.50 20.95 2 4.14 4.02 2.820 11.3 5.10 3.18 9.8 140.00 9.96 1481.00 0.495 1.420 40.80 73.50 6.14 2.62 1.040 3.26 0.350

54,400 131,100 1,156,000 3,341,000 1,017,400,000 4,800 30,200 23,699,300 169,810,000 23,834,000 2,637,470 19,500 413,000 1,415,500 5,000 2,760 731,560 518,200 449,600 300 19,712,000 4,170,760 56,900 680 200 87,132,000 2,277,100 127,150,000 7,654,000 70,000 11,100 3,373,000 156,000 102,000 7,800 212,000 31,618,000 25,298,000 13,183,000 155,000 107,500 82,000 500 488,830 12,919,100 1,011,095 184,128,000 112,473,000 6,338,300 3,622,490 6,186,100 3,322,000 81,998,000 7,860,000 2,350,000

411,923.00 6,128,080.00 1,591,410.00 1,793,510.00 53,015,980.00 52,612.00 161,288 144,803,945.00 12,161,660.00 62,399,730.00 254,836,448.50 192,487.00 833,800 11,933,052.00 15,190.00 2,670,390.00 1,305,995,970 3,247,671.00 7,257,026.00 5,398 56,471,600.00 313,303,005.00 917,398 82,320 2,410.00 2,026,100.00 20,516,500.00 29,840,750.00 11,155,640.00 237,430.00 171,316.00 14,186,460 157,100.00 247,020.00 152,940 424,000.00 128,926,040.00 105,407,450.00 37,121,040.00 1,751,500.00 560,391 254,970.00 4,914.00 64,319,342.00 134,607,174.00 1,558,785,285.00 95,221,870.00 155,760,590.00 258,926,655.00 273,982,366.00 38,434,482.00 8,871,410.00 85,670,670.00 26,184,550.00 849,950.00

0.0033 2.96 5.26

7,075,000,000 24,386,100.00 7,440,000 22,708,930.00 2,266,300 12,173,491.00

2.2300 2.2600 0.52 0.455 11.78 3.000 0.260 0.214 0.220 0.013 0.0130 2.35 7.33 2.82 0.4850 1.0500 0.0110 0.0110 4.11 9.16 3.62 0.0120 134.00 2.93 0.0097

50,000 34,000 1,165,000 5,800,000 253,200 60,748,000 2,650,000 67,520,000 12,850,000 61,700,000 262,300,000 17,495,000 61,182,700 1,076,000 110,000 2,626,000 392,100,000 55,300,000 52,000 16,927,300 6,111,000 162,100,000 8,274,290 127,000 73,000,000

111,130.00 74,600.00 607,800.00 2,694,800.00 3,027,812.00 193,121,670.00 701,450.00 14,717,100.00 2,869,750.00 783,100.00 3,285,900.00 44,198,960.00 482,817,579.00 3,031,140.00 53,550.00 2,888,740.00 4,492,100.00 630,600.00 212,620.00 156,465,206.00 22,532,880.00 1,953,100.00 1,108,575,708.00 376,200.00 678,100.00

48.05 544 540 103 104 113.5 519 5.9 1020 1035 1.04 105.6 1057 1150 1030

513,300 230 35,260 314,940 117,580 194,000 2,140 2,575,600 33,510 42,760 156,000 1,990 13,950 340 20,025

24,104,710.00 123,500.00 18,986,740 32,449,905 12,231,757.00 21,849,088.00 1,108,680.00 15,196,129.00 34,166,310.00 43,975,065.00 161,210 211,558.00 14,751,500.00 381,780.00 20,625,900.00

77.4 81 78 77.5 79.6 77.3 78 77.5

31,710 79,510 29,600 111,670 169,600 37,530 271,380 805,920

2,440,987.00 6,390,402.50 2,293,700.00 8,661,339.00 13,494,487.00 2,908,090.00 21,072,300.00 62,510,785.00

2.260

504,000

1,148,040.00

9.01 3.15 4.15 8.26

814,300 32,000 691,000 9,164,200

7,405,004.00 97,930.00 2,945,240.00 78,344,668.00

119.5

34,470

4,140,703.00

WEEKLY MOST TRADED STOCKS Abra Mining IP E-Game Ventures Inc. Pacifica À’ Apollo Global Arthaland Corp. Crown Equities Inc. MRC Allied Ind. Megaworld Philodrill Corp. À’ Island Info

VOLUME 3,112,000,000 2,460,200,000 761,500,000 642,850,000 598,258,000 409,790,000 257,200,000 217,502,000 197,000,000 176,510,000

STOCKS Ayala Land `B’ GT Capital Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. SM Prime Holdings Metrobank Bank of PI Ayala Corp `A’ Megaworld Universal Robina Globe Telecom

VALUE 1,358,314,200.00 1,345,089,915.00 1,098,668,059.00 934,085,445.00 908,751,739.00 882,253,810.50 844,136,990.00 791,989,260.00 741,447,907.00 726,760,010.00

Quezon City which will offer 40,000 sqm of leasable space and complement the company’s nearby Trinoma shopping mall. Two other big commercial developments that are set to open this year, including the Feliz Town Center in Pasig with 80,000 sqm of leasable space and Cloverleaf mall in Balintawak, Quezon City. Southvale in Alabang and Ayala malls in Marikina are also scheduled for opening in 2017. The property developer has been aggressive in opening new malls to boost recurring income. It has been building up recurring-income sources including hotels and ofﬁce developments, in line with its plan to balance residential development and leasing portfolios. The group had 1.57 million sqm of mall leasable space with average occupancy rate of 93 percent as of end-September 2016. Ayala Land opened malls in Palawan, Alabang and Iloilo in 2016. The company said between 2016 and 2020, it lined up mall projects that would add nearly 1 million sqm of leasable space. These upcoming malls are located within the group’s integrated township projects across the country, including Bacolod, Palawan and Cebu. Jenniffer B. Austria

ATI set to expand Batangas car storage By Darwin G. Amojelar ASIAN Terminal Inc. is building a state-of-the-art multi-level completely built imported car unit storage facility in Batangas Port to increase its capacity. ATI said the new MCSF would allow South Luzon’s international gateway port to handle over 7,000 imported vehicles at a single time, increasing its current capacity by nearly 50 percent. The MCSF will be fully operational by early 2018. ATI handled over 200,000 completely built imported car units in 2016 for its highest car throughput in a single year. This represents a year-onyear volume growth of over 40 percent, driven by the country’s booming consumer demand. Batangas Port welcomed its 200,000th CBU―a Nissan GT-R sport coupe on Dec. 28, shipped aboard Positive Passion, a car carrier vessel operated by Eastern Car Liner through local agent Wallem Philippines Shipping Inc. ATI’s Batangas Port accounts for majority of the country’s annual car imports, due to proximity to major car manufacturers, importers and distributors based in Calabarzon. Batangas Port’s historic performance followed another ATI milestone in mid-December where Manila South Harbor breached the onemillion TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) throughput mark for the ﬁrst time in a single year at record production pace. The port operator owned by Eusebio Tanco earlier reported a net income of P1.43 billion in the ﬁrst nine months of 2016, up 9.1 percent from P1.31 billion in the same period last year.

Business

MONDAY, JANUARY 23, 2017 extrastory2000@gmail.com

A Leader’s Toll: CEO Ramoncito Fernandez DURING my undergraduate days, I hated attending seminars, symposiums, trainings, ABEL REYES and talks but I have no choice because it is mandatory or REEN IGHT equivalent to a quiz. I used to fall asleep while listening to their talks because for me, its nonsense. I can read those stuffs in books or in web and I have tons of time learning about the real life when I left the academe. My priority is to read the books, study my professor’s lecture, submit all the course requirements, and pass all the exams. Little did I know that I’ll regret it one day. I am in the real battlefield now for more than five years. I am currently working in a financial institution and the only theory I can use in my work that I learned in the academe was the four basic math operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) and present value and interest rate. I don’t plot the value of x and y to calculate its intersection or even the chemical composition of the calculator and laptop which are the only thing I need to do my job. Everything is now about life—reality. Good thing I got the chance to go back to academe. I promised to myself that I’ll take advantage of listening to people who are already successful, market leaders, champions in their field of specialization, and experts in their profession. I want to know the hence and whence of their success. Thank God, it is a course available in the program I enrolled. Nine weeks into our term, we had the chance to meet seven CEOs from different industries but among the seven speakers, I learned a lot (obvious because it might be the longest journal entry in my blog so far) from Mr. Ramoncito Fernandez, president and CEO of Maynilad Water Services Inc. Leading with Integrity I observed that all the seven speakers talked about integrity. Why integrity is important? Mr. Fernandez talked about a leader in their organization who falsified his credentials, but the latter was pardoned by the board because he is kind to his people and delivers his KPI well. But time comes that they found out that aside from falsifying his credentials, he is also involved in some fraudulent activities inside the organization. Mr. Fernandez reminds us that people who are dishonest in small things are also dishonest in big things. First characteristic that a leader with integrity should possess is honesty. He further stressed that “As an individual, we carry our father’s name and as an employee, we carry the company name.” I believe everything will boil down to the root of everything— our values. What we do are reflections of who we are and who we are, are reflections of the values we got from our parents. If we want to be market leaders, we should also give significance to company’s image. In everything that we do, and if we really want to succeed, we must always value our integrity. We can learn the skills but can never ever bought integrity. Facing paradigm shifts A good leader can always bend in all sides. Mr. Fernandez handled different industries such as telecommunication, packaging, toll way management, and now, water. When asked how he handles changing environment, he just said he is up to changes. Other speakers stayed in the same field since the start of their careers, which honed them to become a successful CEO, but Mr. Fernandez became a CEO because he experienced different disciplines. I am guilty of staying in my comfort zone sometimes. I want to be an expert in what I am doing and my thinking was if I want to be an expert, I should continuously do what I am doing without setting targets and limitations. What I learned with Mr. Fernandez was to be able to be a successful leader, I should be a jack of all trade in a positive way. I should not settle to what I know. Instead, always accept challenges and opportunities that will make me a good leader. Encountering challenges There’s a saying “tell me who your friends are and I’ll tell you who you are.” It can also be used in assessing how well we are “tell me what are the challenges you championed and lose and I’ll tell you how great you are.” Challenges make our life colorful. It is not a problem, rather an opportunity to test our capabilities and learn. Mr. Fernandez gave a good example of a common office challenge—managing difficult but talented people. He is someone you cannot lose but also someone others cannot live with. What he did, he promoted that person (positive and rewarding) but managing no people. We encountered and we will encounter challenges but what is important is how well we handle these challenges. Again, it is still our values that will expose our attitude in managing these challenges. His last piece of advice, “When leading, don’t forget your personal advocacies and management requires continuous learning.”

The author is an MBA student at the Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business. This essay is part of a journal he kept in fulfillment of the requirements of the course, Trends and issues in Business and Management: CEO Series. Visit his blog at https:// abelreyes.wordpress.com/. The views expressed here are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official position of DLSU, its faculty, and its administrators.

MUSCOVADO EXPORTS. Agriculture Undersecretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat (left) visits Raw Brown Sugar Milling Co. in Igbalanac Malalangsi, Pamplona, Negros Oriental on January 15, 2017. The company produces 100 tons of Muscovado sugar every month, with 95 percent exported to the US, Japan, Korea and other countries.

Unitary cigarette tax violates anti-trust law By Gabrielle H. Binaday

HE approval of House Bill 4144 which aims to maintain a unitary tax rate for cigarette packs may violate the recently-enacted anti-trust law, an industry leader said over the weekend. “Imposing two tax rates on cigarettes is creating market segmentation that favors manufacturers that sell cheaper brands and are subject to lower taxes. It’s against the competition law,” Federation of Philippine Industries chair Jesus Arranza said in a statement. “If you are going to have a bigger market share, it should stem from fair competition in the market and not because the tax system is favoring you,” he said. Cigarettes under Republic Act 10351 passed in December 2012 are subject to a single tax rate of P30 per pack regardless of price, brand, and origin (whether imported or

locally-made) beginning January 1 this year. The law will replace that two-tier system that has been in place since January 2013 The Lower House, however, swiftly approved last month House Bill 4144 that will retain the two-tier tax system, although the rates will be higher at P32 per pack for cigarettes with a net selling price of P11.50 per pack, and P36 for those priced above P11.50. The previous rates imposed last year were P25 for those priced at P11.50 a pack, and P29 for those with a net selling price of more than P11.50. “Once HB 4144 is passed in the Senate and becomes a law, I will ﬁle a case because that’s anti-competitive behavior,” Arranza said. RA 10667, or the Philippine Competition Act, passed in July 2015 created the Philippine Competition Commission. A quasi-judicial body, the PCC is mandated to protect consumer welfare by promoting a level playing ﬁeld among businesses. The PCC is empowered to conduct inquiries, investigate and penalize all forms of anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominant market position and anti-competitive

mergers and acquisitions. Arranza noted that HB 4144 came at a time when the objectives of RA 10351 were being achieved. The law aims to promote health by discouraging smoking and funding the government’s universal health care program, as well as ﬁnance livelihood and other projects that will beneﬁt tobacco farmers. “Based on reports from the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Department of Health, the government is achieving the objectives of RA 10351. The law will even be more effective with a single tax rate as tax collections will go up because there will be less room to avoid paying taxes, and at the same time, there is a higher probability that the number of smokers will go down further,” Arranza said. “It is ironic that the same Congress that passed RA 10351 are the same ones who are pushing for the retention of a two-tier tax system,” he said. Arranza said if lawmakers were serious in helping tobacco farmers, they should pass laws that would help elevate the quality of their produce so that they could compete even in the world market.

PH flour milling industry faces challenging year By Othel V. Campos THE Philippine wheat flour milling industry faces a challenging year with higher raw material prices and new competitors. Philippine Association of Flour Millers Inc. said the wheat commodity futures market had consistently moved up in recent days due to the strong demand from foreign markets. The local flour market expanded 4.6 percent in 2016, fueled by a strong economy and higher purchasing power from the consumer sector.

The Philippines imported 2.6 million metric tons of wheat last year, up 4 percent from 2.5 million MT in 2015. Flour consumption, including imports, reached 84.6 million bags of 25 kilos each, 4.6 percent higher than the previous year’s. The Philippines imported 95.2 percent of its wheat requirements from the United States last year. The US is the only reliable supplier of hard and soft wheat varieties that local millers prefer due to their consistent quality. High protein hard ﬂour from US spring wheat is used to produce

loaf bread and pandesal, while soft flour serves as the main ingredient the production of cookies, pastries and cakes. With strong competition from new flour mills, the Philippines industry expects to import more wheat this year to assurea stable supply of flour for a growing and more sophisticated bakery industry. The imposition of dumping duty on Turkish flour reduced Turkish flour imports from over 6 million tons annually to just 4.6 million tons in 2016. The government imposed the

dumping duty after it found out that Turkish flour exports to the Philippines were sold at prices lower than in local Turkish market. The first eight local flour mills were established in the 1960s. These were RFM Corp., General Milling Corp., Wellington Flour Mills, Pacific Flour Mills, Pilmico Foods Corp., Philippine Flour Mills, Liberty Flour Mills and Universal Robina Corp.. San Miguel Corp., Philippine Foremost Milling Corp., Morning Star Flour Mills and Delta Milling Corp. established their own mills in the 1990s.

Palay rice output to rise 12% in 1st half By Anna Leah E. Gonzales

BORACAY LEG. Miss Universe 2017 candidates pose for posterity with Skyjet Airline president Dino Reyes Chua (center) and Skyjet vice president for commercials Meg Obejas during the one-day Boracay Island escapade of the contestants. The Miss Universe 2017 Coronation night will held on January 29, 2017 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

PALAY or unmilled rice production in the ﬁrst half of 2017 will likely increase 11.7 percent to 8.54 million metric tons from 7.65 million metric tons year-onyear The Philippine Statistics Authority said in a recent rice and corn situation outlook the palay harvest area may expand by 7.6 percent in the six-month period from 1.93 million hectares on year Yield may also rise 3.8 percent to 4.11 metric tons per hectare from 3.96 metric tons per hectare last year. Palay production based on standing crop in the ﬁrst quarter of 2016 may increase to 4.53 million metric tons, higher by 15.2 percent compared with 3.93 million metric tons.

The harvest area may expand to 1.16 million hectares from 1.08 million hectares, while yield per hectare may rise from 3.64 metric tons per hectare in 2016 to 3.92 metric tons per hectare. The PSA said the April-toJune forecast based on farmers’ planting intentions indicated production of 3.71 million metric tons, up 7.9 percent from a year ago. “Probable increases in harvest area are expected in Visayas and Mindanao regions after drought/ dry spell during the previous year. Most of the farmers’ foreseen good weather that may result to more plantings during this cropping period,” the PSA said. Meanwhile, the PSA said corn production in the ﬁrst half of 2017 may reach 3.67 million metric tons, higher by 29.9 per-

cent from 2.83 million metric tons on year. The harvest area may expand 21.3 percent from 0.90 million hectares in 2016 to 1.09 million hectares this year. The PSA said said probable production in the ﬁrst quarter of 2017 would reach 2.40 million metric tons, 25 percent higher than 1.92 million metric tons in 2016. The PSA said the harvest area may increase due to more plantings in Northern Mindanao, Davao Region and Region 12 in anticipation of sufﬁcient rains favorable to plantings. The production in the second half is expected to increase 40.3 percent to 1.3 million metric tons from 911,000 metric tons in 2016, while harvest area may rise 44.5 percent to 392,000 hectares from 271,000 hectares a year ago.

Ray S. Eñano, Editor business@manilastandardtoday.com extrastory2000@gmail.com

MONDAY, JANUARY 23, 2017

Business

US to renegotiate, may abandon Nafta W ASHINGTON— President Donald Trump announced Friday he will demand renegotiation of the free trade agreement linking North America’s economies, and will abandon the pact unless the United States gets “a fair deal.”

The statement on the White House website, posted less than two hours after Trump took the oath of ofﬁce, said the new administration will seek to change the terms of the 23-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico. Trump spoke later with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Saturday in a call focused on the importance of bilateral trade. The discussion came the day after the Trump team swiftly updated the White

House website to reﬂect commitment to “renegotiating Nafta,” the free trade agreement that has linked the three countries since 1994. According to a statement from Trudeau, the leaders “reiterated the importance of the Canada-United States bilateral relationship, and discussed various areas of mutual interest.” Trump condemned Nafta on the campaign trail, claiming it had contributed to job losses, lost manufacturing and economic decline, and threatened to impose big tariffs on imports from Mexico. “President Trump is committed to renegotiating Nafta,” the White House said. “If our partners refuse a renegotiation that gives American workers a fair deal, then the President will give notice of the United States’ intent to withdraw from Nafta.” Following the stark nationalist tones of Trump’s inaugural address, the swift announcement was another sign the new administration intended to make good on a central theme of the campaign, which had attracted

supporters in the industrial US midwest. The rules established for free trade agreements like Nafta allow the president to withdraw simply by notifying other parties. This would start a 180-day clock to allow for new negotiations. But without a new agreement approved by the legislatures of all member states, the trade agreement would be dissolved. The United States currently runs trade deficits with all major trade partners, Canada, Mexico and China, with the latter amounting to more than $30 billion a month, which helps fuel Trump’s case. However, according to the US Trade Representative, the United States exports about $2 trillion a year which supports 14 million US jobs. The White House also announced the Trump administration’s “pro-growth” plan to create 25 million jobs in a decade and nearly double economic growth to four percent a year, by cutting taxes on all income earners and slashing regulations. AFP

DAVOS TREAT. DAVOS, Switzerland—Afghanistan’s ﬁrst all-female orchestra performs during the closing ceremony of the World Economic

Forum on January 20,2017 in Davos. Afghanistan’s ﬁrst all-female orchestra brought the curtain down on this year’s World Economic Forum on Friday with a culture-crossing performance that overcame tradition and death threats in their homeland. Zohra, an ensemble of 35 young musicians aged 13 to 20, some orphans or from poor families, performed before a Davos audience more in tune with talk of deal-making than the strains of Afghan classical music. AFP

SWEDISH POP

DTI Sec Mon Lopez (7th from L); Minister Mikael Damberg ( 8th from Left) ; and Amb. Harald Fries (10th from L) with Swedish business delegation and Philippine counterparts

MENTION Sweden and POP or “popular” comes to mind: popular furniture, popular cars and trucks, popular music, popular BPO employer, popular fashion or clothing, and popular award. Swedish companies, brands or products are not unfamiliar to Filipinos, perhaps, though, not conscious that they come from Sweden. There’s IKEA for pop furniture with ingenious designs; VOLVO which is touted as the maker of the safest cars and trucks in the world; TRANSCOM as the largest Swedish employer in the country; and, of course, the highly-popular H&M home and fashion brand. Popular music would count such bands and artists as ABBA, Ace of Base, The Cardigans, Roxette and, most recently. Avicii and the very sultry Zara Larsson. And then there is the Nobel Prize, perhaps the most prestigious of its kind in the world. Sweden has had excellent business and diplomatic relations with the Philippines for 70 years now. However, in 2008, the Scandinavian country decided to close its embassy here and just maintain a consulate because relations between both countries never waned. Last year saw a new era to the strong and existing business and diplomatic relations as Sweden re-opened its embassy with the new Swedish Ambassador to the Philippines, His Excellency Harald Fries. Prior to the opening, a Swedish business delegation arrived on the strength of increased interest in partnerships and opportunities. The Wallenberg family is a world-renowned Swedish family of industrialists and bankers who have often entered into politics and foreign service. They are considered the Rockefellers or Gettys of Sweden. The Wallenbergs have developed Swedish business for 160 years and have substantial

investments in large Swedish corporations such as Ericsson, Electrolux, SAS, ABB, Atlas Copco and others, exercised through their investments and holding companies, Investor AB and Foundation Asset Management AB. According to an internet source, it is said that at one time or the other, the Wallenberg family controlled one-third of the GDP of Sweden. There was a plan for the Wallenbergs to send a representative here this year for a visit. Last year, however, Mr. Jacob Wallenberg, a ﬁfth-generation member and acknowledged head of the Wallenberg family, came over as part of the Business Sweden delegation. This was a good sign as it further showed how bullish Sweden was about the Philippines. Of course, equally bullish about the prospect of Swedish investments here are Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez who, from day one of his stint with the DTI, has been tirelessly promoting not just MSMEs but also international trade relations. Equally up to the task together with Secretary Mon are his able Undersecretary for Industry Promotions and Board of Investments Governor Nora K. Terrado, as well as Undersecretary for Industry Development and Board of Investments Vice-Chairman and Managing Head Dr. Ceferino Rodolfo, Ph.D. You cannot get more powerhouse than that. Indeed, more Swedish investments in the country would mean more conﬁdence of the European Community in doing business here. As they say in Sweden, Slutet Gott Allting Gott! Meaning, “all’s well that ends well”.

Singapore 2G switchoff highlights digital divide By Toh Ting Wei SINGAPORE―When Singapore pulls the plug on its 2G mobile phone network this year, thousands of people could be stuck without a signal―digital have-nots left behind by the relentless march of technology. From technophobic pensioners to cash-strapped migrant workers, some 140,000 people in highly-wired Singapore still use the city-state’s second generation (2G) network and cheap, robust handsets. First rolled out in 1994―when playing Snake was the pinnacle of mobile entertainment―2G has long been superseded technologically, with new gold standard 5G offering lightning fast connectivity for a generation used to streaming movies and TV directly to phones. Singapore, which has one of the world’s highest rates of smartphone penetration, plans to turn off 2G in April in order to re-allocate scarce radio frequency spectrum and meet surging consumer demand for highspeed data. “It makes sense for a market like Singapore as operators need more capacity for data services,” Charles Moon, an analyst with information technology research ﬁrm Ovum, told AFP. Japan and South Korea and US telecom giant AT&T have already shut down their 2G net-

This photograph taken on January 17, 2017 shows an elderly man displaying his 2G mobile phone in Singapore. High-tech Singapore will unplug its second generation (2G) mobile network in April, ofﬁcials have said, affecting thousands of subscribers, among them foreign laborers and the elderly looking for cheaper bills and simplicity. AFP

works and Australia is set to stop the service in September. Singapore recently banned the sale of 2G-only mobile phones and new prepaid SIM cards no longer work on 2G handsets. But globally, 2G is not set to vanish, even as the number of smartphones is projected to soar from four billion last year to some six billion by 2020, according to IHS Markit data. By 2021, 2G will still account for some 11 percent of total mobile subscriptions worldwide― mostly in Africa and Latin

America, analyst Moon said. “Affordability is the major factor driving continued use,” he said, adding that the longer battery life and durability of 2G handsets was also important. ‘Use a payphone’ In wealthy Singapore, those most affected by the shift are likely to be the city’s migrant worker population, who rely on cheap 2G phones to stay in touch with family back home. “This is really their connection to the rest of the world,” said Debbie Fordyce of migrant

worker welfare group Transient Workers Count Too, which is asking the public to donate old 3G phones to help affected laborers. Bangladeshi construction worker Roshid Mamunun said his three-year-old Nokia handset was all he could afford. “I can talk my family, I can call them, if I need help, I can contact people,” he told AFP. Sahadat, 26, another Bangladeshi worker, who goes by one name, said he was worried he would not be able to afford a 3G phone to make his daily call to hear his one-year-old son say “Papa”. The cheapest 3G-enabled phones ranged from Sg$35 to Sg$99 ($25 to $70) in local phone shops. Normal voice calls and text messages on 2G and 3G networks cost the same. For others devotees of 2G, it is the simplicity of the solid, old handsets that is the main selling point, and 80-year-old retiree Tan Ah Phong said he is dreading the April deadline. “We only need phones to make calls,” he said. “Just looking at the number of functions on a lot of phones nowadays gives me a headache.” Lee Soo Eng, 86, says her daughter gave her a touchscreen smartphone two months ago but she regrets giving up her 2G device. AFP

At the Swedish business delegation meeting with Minister for Enterprise and Innovation and Head of Delegation Mikael Damberg ; Swedish Ambassador to the Philippines Harald Fries; DTI Usec. Nora Terrado; Investor AB Board Chairman Jacob Wallenberg, Business Sweden CEO Ylva Berg; Ikea Philippines Business Development Manager George Platzer; BPI EVP Dennis Montecillo; Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. First VP for Business Dev Roman Azanza III; SGV Country Managing Partner J. Carlitos Cruz; SPV Group JJ Samuel Soriano; Makati Business Club Executive Director Peter Perfecto and Projects Unit Director Roxanne Lu ; Volvo Bus CEO Jan Vandoreen; Swedish Match AB Lars Dahlgren; Consilio’s Erik Belfrage; Ericson’s Shawn Gowran; Atlas Copco Sanjeev Sharma; Scania’s Marie Sjodin Enstrom; and HCG for Sweden in the Philippines Carla Limcaoco

DTI Secretary Ramon M. Lopez

DTI Usec. and BOI Managing Head Dr. Ceferino Rodolfo Business Sweden CEO Ylva Berg

LGUs

Jimbo Owen Gulle, Editor Roger M. Garcia, Assistant Editor jimbo.gulle@gmail.com mslocalgov@gmail.com MONDAY, JANUARY 23, 2017

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

NATURAL WONDER. Tourists take shade and stand on top of one of the rock formations on Biri Island in Northern Samar. Sculpted by the wind and waves in an area between the San Bernardino Strait and the Pacific Ocean, the rocks are between 23 to 25 million years old, according to geologists from the University of the Philippines. Mel Caspe

‘Peña padded Makati offices’ By Joel E. Zurbano

AKATI City’s chief legal officer has accused former mayor Romulo Peña Jr. of padding the number of city employees by more than 1,300 during his term, among them his relatives, acquaintances, and political allies.

Lawyer Michael Arthur Camiña said Peña’s administration did not open to public bidding about half a billion pesos in city contracts, and merely extended them. “Contrary to the posturings of good governance, the Peña administration treated the city government as an employment agency for relatives and allies.

As a result, the city payroll was bloated and it was at the expense of taxpayers,” Camiña said. From July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016, the Peña administration hired a total of 1,218 additional casual employees, 22 contractuals and 78 consultants, the lawyer said. Camiña said a personnel review and audit they conducted

soon after Mayor Abigail Binay assumed office revealed most of the new employees had no clear function or responsibility, and had dubious qualifications. “The hirings made by Peña were not based on merit, skill or necessity. These were hirings for political purposes,” he said. “Merit and competence apparently took a backseat to political connections and blood relations in the hiring, promotion and regularization of employees.” Peña, who stepped down from office on June 30, 2016 following his defeat to Binay, has denied all allegations against him, including rumors he spent the taxpayers’ money unscrupulously during his stint. He said during his 11-month administration, fiscal disci-

pline was strictly observed by his “Bagong Makati leadership.” Citing a report from the budget office, Peña said the city government spent only P685 million of the total P4.83-billion budget allocated for the period January to June 2016. The city legal office’s audit, however, also uncovered cases of double compensation, with the appointees receiving salaries and benefits from the Office of the Mayor and the barangays, Camiña said. Cases of “ghost employees” who collected salaries and benefits without ever reporting for work were also documented. “For the first two months, we also reviewed and evaluated all programs and services and uncovered contracts amounting to a total

of P568,873,353 that were simply extended by the previous administration, without benefit of bidding. This is contrary to their public posturings,” Camiña said. Extending contracts was the Peña administration’s template for the Ospital ng Makati, which they found in dismal conditions last July, the lawyer said. “We found our hospital—a recipient of an ISO certification— lacking in the most basic needs. There was a shortage in laboratory and medical supplies. Major diagnostic equipment and a nonfunctioning air-conditioning system were left unserviced,” he said. Camiña assured the constituents of Makati that Binay’s administration has done away with the practice. “We have opened Turn to C2

Closer Caloocan fetes 23 CPA board passers watch on Tañon waterway CONCERNED government agencies and local government units will conduct more sea patrols and file cases against illegal and commercial fishers in Tañon Strait, the country’s largest marine protected area between Cebu and Negros islands. “Regular patrols and surveillance activities are necessary for the detection and intelligence gathering of violations within the protected area, as part of an enforcement plan,” said Am Prospero Lendio, area superintendent of the Tañon Strait Protected Seascape, under the supervision of the Biodiversity Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Lendio said the enforcement plan harmonizes the initiatives of government agencies to protect Tañon Strait. It includes regular inspection of fishing vessels along the strait, a stepby-step strategy for operations and surveillance, and filling of cases against violators. Tañon Strait is a critical marine habitat and important migratory path for 14 of the 27 species of whales and dolphins in the Philippines. It is a rich fishing ground, providing livelihood to thousands of fisherfolk and their families in the 42 coastal cities and municipalities in Cebu and Negros Islands.

CALOOCAN City Mayor Oscar Malapitan recently congratulated 23 certified public accountants, products of the University of Caloocan City, who passed the board examinations last year. Joined by his son, First District Rep. Dale Gonzalo Malapitan, the mayor distributed cash rewards to the new accountants at City Hall. The new accountants are Leslie Ann Ablen, Jennylyn Alteza, Arnel Apostol, Sweet Seil Aton, Erwin Joseph Borromeo, Ylaine Cabrera, Joan Capinig, Brandon Clavero, Christella Dela Torre, Gregor Junn Largo, Sarah Mae Leonoza, Jazelle Lizada, Abegail Madeja, Edward Joseph Maglinte, Jusmine Mendador, John Daryl Rosario, Frances Ann Rovillos, Joanne Santua, Sir Win Tambong, Ailene Tutor, Christopher Valiente, John Villa, and Monalyn Villaralvo. Free tertiary education is among the flagship programs of the Malapitans. “We believe that providing the residents with free quality college education is the key to the city’s progress,” the mayor said. Joining the new CPAs in the event were UCC officials led by its president, lawyer Rene Richard Salazar, vice president for

Caloocan First District Rep. Dale Gonzalo Malapitan (right) congratulates one of the 23 CPA board passers from the University of Caloocan City as City Mayor Oscar Malapitan waits on the other students in a simple ceremony at the Mayor’s Office at City Hall.

administration Marilyn de Jesus, vice president for academic affairs Joel Feliciano, College of Business Accountancy dean Shirley Saragcon, accountancy department coordinator Ryan

Alejo, and Junior Philippine Institute of Accountants adviser Ryan Sagum. Salazar said the university’s guiding principle is “Better UCC, Better City.” UCC is

known for generating hundreds of professional board passers yearly in licensure examinations for teachers, criminologists, psychologist, and psychometricians. Jun David

Herbert to DDB: Change policies By Rio N. Araja QUEZON City Mayor Herbert Bautista called on the Dangerous Drugs Board to change its policies in determining the degree of the drug problem in a specific barangay, saying its current parameters “are no longer realistic,” especially in thickly populated areas. Bautista’s call came days after Quezon City Police District director Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar and Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte declared Damar, West Triangle, Blue Ridge B, Libis, Quirino 3B, Mangga, Valencia, Horseshoe and Kalusugan as drug-cleared villages. Belmonte earlier said the Quezon City Anti-Drug Abuse Advisory Council under her watch came up with the expanded parameters with help from the DDB, QCPD, the Department of the Interior and Local Government-National Capital Region, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, Liga ng mga Barangay, Ugnayan ng Barangay at mga Simbahan, and Mamamayang Ayaw sa Iligal na Droga to identify drug-free villages. But as far as Bautista is concerned, there is a need to change the parameters. Citing Barangay Batasan Hills with a population of at least 250,000, he asked: “Does it mean to say that if there is one drug suspect there, the place is already drug-affected?” “We should have a clear-cut policy so that those not included in the list (of drug-cleared barangays) would not experience stigma,” he said. Should there be changes in the DDB’s policy, Bautista said he expects the number of drug-affected barangays to go down. He ordered Eleazar to continue to intensify the police drive against all forms of criminality, especially on illegal drugs and gun-for-hire syndicates.

Erap begs Manila traffic officers to shape up MANILA Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada has implored traffic enforcers of the Manila Traffic and Parking Bureau to stay away from illegal activities that would only harm them and the motoring public and corrode the image of the city.

In his message to the 82 traffic enforcers who graduated from an extensive retraining course Wednesday at the City Hall, Estrada said he expected each graduate to “become a model of public service and ut-

most dedication to duty.” “You all have felt what’s like losing your job, your source of income. But now that you have successfully completed this training course, I expect every one of you to become a professional,

God-fearing, and competent public servant. Stay away from corruption that would only tarnish your image and that of our city,” Estrada told the MTPB enforcers. “I hope you all learned from your mistakes,” he added.

The retraining was ordered by Estrada on Nov. 28 after he terminated the work contracts of 690 traffic personnel of MTPB in anger due to numerous complaints of extortion and other illegal activities. Sandy Araneta

LGUs

MONDAY, JANUARY 23, 2017 Standard C2 TODAY Manila

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Panagbenga road closures set By Dexter A. See

AGUIO CITY—The City Council has approved the closure of several main roads here on specific dates for the major events of the 22nd Baguio Flower Festival or Panagbenga from Feb. 1 to March 5.

On Feb. 1, South Drive Road from its junction with Teachers Camp up to Panagbenga Park, Upper Session Road up to Lower Session Road, Magsaysay Avenue up to its junction fronting the Baguio Center Mall, and Harrison Road up to

its junction with Lake Drive will be closed to vehicles from 1 a.m. to 3 p.m. for the Panagbenga grand opening parade and elimination round of the street dancing competition. Burnham Lake Drive, from the Ganza up to the Solibao res-

‘Peña... From C1

schools, health centers, police headquarters, fire station, parks, Makati Coliseum and other cityowned public facilities, P102.5 million (2016) and P125.6 million (2015); janitorial services for various facilities, P66.2 million (2016) and P92.7 million (2015); solid waste management services, P38.3 million (2016); and building maintenance services, P8.6 million (2016) and P2.8 million (2015).

these services and programs to public bidding in compliance with procurement laws,” he said. The extended contracts included the supply of medicines and other medical supplies, P33.3 million (2016) and P98.9 million (2015); security services for city hall buildings, public

taurant, was already one-way to traffic starting Jan. 19 to let landscapers put up their respective masterpieces for the opening of the month-long Baguio Blooms Exposition and Exhibition on Feb. 1. Burnham Lake Drive and Juan Luna Drive will be totally closed to vehicular traffic from Feb. 1 to March 5 to enable the fullblast operation of the Baguio Blooms Expo. The legislators also approved the use of the Melvin Jones football field for the grand opening parade on Feb. 1, the “Let a Thousand Flow-

ers Bloom” Panagbenga kiteflying challenge, Panagbenga variety show, and other familyoriented events on Feb. 12, the grand street dancing competition on Feb. 25, and the grand float parade on Feb. 26. On Feb. 25, South Drive from the Military Cut-Off rotunda to Lower Session Road, Magsaysay Avenue and Harrison Road will be closed to vehicles from 1 a.m. to 3 p.m. for the grand street dancing parade. On Feb. 26, Upper Session Road from Military Cut-Off to Lower Session and Harrison will

be closed from 1 a.m. to 3 p.m. for the grand float parade. The whole stretch of Session Road from SM rotunda to Malcolm Square will be closed to traffic from Feb. 27 to March 5 to pave the way for the “Session Road in Bloom” exhibit. The use of Wright Park on March 4 was approved for the Pony Boys Day, and the Baguio Athletic Bowl will be used for the closing and awarding ceremonies and the grand fireworks display on March 5. The council also approved the usual rerouting of Victory Liner buses to have their passenger

loading and unloading at the Baguio Convention Center grounds instead of their new terminal from 5 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Feb. 1, 25 and 26. That would ensure the unobstructed use of Upper Session Road as assembly point of all participants on those dates for the events. However, the council said trucks cannot enter the Melvin Jones football field, and heavy vehicles will only be allowed at the Ganza parking area. Equipment thus has to be manually carried to the stage and other portions of the football ground.

REGIONAL TRIAL COURT FOURTH JUDICIAL REGION ORIENTAL MINDORO BRANCH 40 City of Calapan -000ANDREW THOMAS NORMAN, Petitioner ,

CIVIL CASE NO. CV-12-6505 - for -

- versus-

DECLARATION OF ABSOLUTE NULLITY OF MARRIAGE

JANET ANGELES NORMAN, Respondent. x----------------------------------------x DECISION

This is an action for Declaration of Absolute Nullity of Marriage filed by the petitioner Andrew Thomas Norman against the respondent Janet Angeles Norman praying that a decision be rendered granting the instant petition and that a Decree of Absolute Nullity be issued declaring the marriage of said petitioner with respondent to be null and void for having been celebrated during the subsistence of the respondent’s first marriage. ACCORDINGLY, judgment is hereby rendered declaring the marriage between the petitioner Andrew Thomas Norman and the respondent Janet G. Angeles-Norman solemnized in Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro on 18 October 2005 as NULL and VOID. The Office of the Local Civil Registrar of Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro and the National Statistics Office, Manila are hereby directed to cancel from the records of their registries of marriage the Certificate of Marriage entered into between the herein petitioner Andrew Thomas Norman and the respondent Janet G. Angeles-Norman. Considering that the respondent Janet G. AngelesNorman was summoned by publication and pursuant to Rule 13, Section 9 of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure, as amended, let the dispositive portion of this Decision be published once in a newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines at the expense of the petitioner. Let copy of this Order be furnished the Office of the Local Civil Registrar of Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro, the Civil Registrar General, National Statistics Office, the Provincial Prosecution Office of Calapan City and the Office of the Solicitor General for their information and guidance. SO ORDERED City of Calapan, 09 February 2016. (SGD) TOMAS C. LEYNES Judge (MS-JAN. 23, 2017)

Republic of the Philippines Province of Bataan City of Balanga BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE OFFICE INVITATION TO BID NO. GOODS-010-2017 The Provincial Government of Bataan, through the General Fund10intends to apply the below listed procurement w/ corresponding Approved Budget of the Contract (ABC). Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected a bid opening. Name of Project

Approved Budget of the Contract (ABC)

1. Security Services in Securing Properties of the Bataan Provincial Government in the 1st Bataan Command Center, Balanga Motorpool, Bataan Tourism Center, Bataan Provincial Health Office & NPC/Transco Lot Limay & Mariveles District Hospital Bataan covering the period from March 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017

=P=11,108,160.00

The Provincial Government of Bataannow invites bids for the above listed Procurement. Delivery of goods is required on or before the maturity date stipulated on contract. Bidders should have completed, at least one (1) contract that is similar to the contract to be bid. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders. Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using nondiscretionary pass/fail criterion as specified in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 9184 (RA 9184), otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”. Bidding is open to all interested bidders, whether local or foreign, subject to the conditions for eligibility provided in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”. Interested bidders may obtain further information from Office of Bataan Bids & Awards Committee and inspect the Bidding Documents from 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. at the same office. Bid documents will be available only to eligible bidders upon payment of a nonrefundable amount of using standard rates approved by GPPB as stated on their Resolution No. 04-2012 listed below. Approved Budget for the Contract

Maximum Cost of Bidding Documents (in Philippine Peso)

500,000 and below

500.00

More than 500,000 up to 1 Million

5,000.00

More than 5 Million up to 10 Million

10,000.00

More than 10 Million up to 50 Million

25,000.00

More than 50 Million up to 500 Million

50,000.00

More than 500 Million

75,000.00

The Provincial Government of Bataan will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on January 30, 2017 at 10:00 A.M at Provincial BAC Office, PEO Capitol Compound, Balanga City, Bataan. Bids must be delivered on or before February 13, 2017 at 2:00 p.m. at Provincial BAC Office, PEO Capitol Compound, Balanga City, Bataan. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated on IRR of RA 9184 or Bid Securing Declaration in standard form. The winning bidder has the option to deliver the items requested by the end-user with higher technical specification & better technology provided it will be beneficial to the government & will not incur additional expenses on the part of the procuring entity. Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend opening of Bids at Bataan BAC Office. Late bids shall not be accepted. In case of the above dates is declared a special Non-Working Holidays, it will automatically reset on the next working days. Other necessary information deemed relevant by the Provincial Government of Bataan. Activities Advertisement/Posting of Invitation to Bid Eligibility Check Issuance and availability of Bidding Documents Request for Clarification Opening of Bids

Schedule January 23 - 29, 2017 Refer to date of Opening of Bids January 23 - February 13, 2017 February 3, 2017 February 13, 2017

The Provincial Government of Bataanr eserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders. For further information, please refer to: Engr. Josephine R. Valenzuela Provincial BAC / PEO Bataan Provincial BAC / PEO Office, Capitol Compound, BalangaCity, Bataan 047-237-9316 bac@bataan.gov.ph

(MS-JAN. 23, 2017)

Plant abaca, Paolo D. tells Davao farmers DAVAO CITY—Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte urged Davaoeño farmers to venture into the abaca industry, with demand for abaca fiber rising internationally. During the Japanese Occupation in World War II, Davao was well-known for its big abaca plantations, and their products were exported to different countries. However, most plantations were

converted to residential areas or banana or pineapple plantations.’ “I am urging all the farmers to venture into abaca, especially since there is high demand for abaca fiber not just in the Philippines but also in the international market,” Duterte said. The city can still accommodate abaca plantations since some agricultural areas remain

unused, the vice mayor said. Also, several Japanese investors are willing to enhance the city’s banana industry, Duterte added. They noted Davao’s highquality banana produce that can be exported internationally. “I’ve talked to several Japanese investors and they told me they are willing to invest in the agricultural sector of the city, especially the

Gaisano mall in big trouble DAVAO CITY—The management of Gaisano Capital Mall in Sto. Niṅo, Tugbok District here is facing several violations for not complying with Davao’s zoning and building code. Assistant City Planning and Development coordinator Roy Ryan Rigor said the Gaisano building was constructed in “total violation of the law” since its permit did not pass through their office and did not comply with the requirements of the City Engineer’s Office. “The construction was illegal in the first place since they did not have any permit. When we found out about it, we imposed an administrative fine since it is stated in the ordinance of the city that we will impose fine if the building does not have a locational clearance,” Rigor said.

To apply for a building permit in Davao, a company must go to the City Planning Office first for locational clearance, then proceed to the Engineering office for the building permit. Rigor said they cannot issue a locational clearance to Gaisano since its location is a residential zone. “Malls should be in the commercial zone, so we really cannot issue a locational clearance,” he said. He said Gaisano management has a pending application for allowable use in the city planning office after they found out they cannot operate the building due to their lack of permits. Rigor said he still does not have any idea if Gaisano would be granted a permit for allowable use since it will undergo several procedures. Management also did not go to the City

Council to apply for reclassification of the building site, since the area is allocated for residential use. City Engineer Officer in Charge Engineer Joseph Dominic Felizarta said as early as June, his office issued a stoppage order to Gaisano after discovering it does not have any building permit. “They showed interest to comply with the requirements of the locational clearance, that is why we gave them time to comply,” Felizarta said. The office reissued its stoppage order in August 2016 since Gaisano still failed to comply with its building requirements. The mall was scheduled to open last Dec. 9, 2016. Last week, a fire hit the mall’s warehouse, with damages estimated at P3 million. F. Pearl A. Gajunera

1,000.00

More than 1 Million up to 5 Million

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

AMBULANCES FOR MARINES. Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office General Manager Alexander F. Balutan (fourth from left) hands the symbolic key of a new ambulance from the PCSO Ambulance Donation Program to Maj. Gen. Andre M. Costales Jr. (beside Balutan), Commandant of the Philippine Marine Corps at the PCSO head office in Mandaluyong City. With them are (from left) PCSO’s Office of the GM Executive Assistant VI Manuel Fraginal Sr., Chief of Staff Raymondo Liwag, Consultant for Branch Operations Edwin Mackay, Philippine Navy Chief Surgeon Col. Jocelyn Turla, Marine Corps Surgeon Lt. Col. Reynaldo Capuz, and Assistant Chief of Staff for Civil Military Operations Lt. Col. Joseph Dominic Conta.

(SGD.) ENRICO T. YUZON BAC CHAIRMAN

More NLEX exits in the works WILL heavy traffic be a thing of past at the Meycauayan and Paso de Blas Valenzuela exits of the North Luzon Expressway? It will be once additional exits are installed at the northbound portion of Libtong and the southbound portion of Pandayan in Meycauayan by the end of the first quarter of 2017, Manila North Tollways Corp. president and CEO Rodrigo E. Franco said.

A new exit will also be constructed at the southbound side of Lingunan in Valenzuela City, added Franco. “This will minimize queuing in these areas during rush hours,” the chief of the MNTC, which oversees NLEX, said. The construction of two additional exit ramps in Meycauayan City and one new exit ramp in Valenzuela City is part of MNTC’s continuing program to make travel at the NLEX and the NOTICE OF DISSOLUTION Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway or SCThis is to inform the public and TEX faster and all interested parties that Excellar more convenient for Pet Products Incorporated has motorists. Queuing of large filed its application for dissolution trucks and containeffective on July 31, 2016 with er vans usually hapthe Securities and Exchange pens during peak Commission. hours at the exits to both cities where several industrial (MS-JAN. 23,30 & FEB. 6, 2017)

compounds are located. “Apart from improving travel, these new exits also aim at further stimulating commerce and development in our host communities,” Franco pointed out. The City Government of Meycauayan, led by Mayor Henry Villarica, said: “We are working closely with MNTC to ensure smooth traffic flow in Meycauayan. A comprehensive traffic management program has been developed for the long-term traffic solutions in the city.” Meycauayan has deployed more traffic enforcers and is strictly implementing ordinances that prevent illegal parking, loading and unloading along local roads. MNTC is also undertaking the signalization of the Meycauayan east roundabout as part of the Meycauayan Interchange Improvement Project.

exportation of banana,” he said. Several banana-producing companies have also put up their offices here. Other foreign investors are willing to invest in the city’s infrastructure projects and hotels, and a Korean investor inquired about a possible railroad here, the vice mayor said. F. Pearl A. Gajunera

3 GenTri villages ‘cleared’ of drugs

GENERAL TRIAS, Cavite —Three barangays here are certified “drug-cleared” after successfully complying with parameters set by the Dangerous Drugs Board. Barangays Dulongbayan, 1896, and Bagumbayan got the clean bill from General Trias Component City Police Station officer in charge Superintendent Sandro Jay Tafalla, deputy Chief of Police Chief Inspector Bismark Mendoza, and Senior Inspector Xelacor Garcia, Admin PCO. The police officers issued certificates to barangay chairmen Alain Barbuco of Bagumbayan, Leonida Villanueva of 1896 and Alfred Ching of Dulongbayan declaring their “drug-cleared” status. Cavite Police Director Senior Superintendent Arthur Bisnar, the acting provincial director, applauded the General Trias police for the project. “Clearing barangays of illegal drugs is the result of our intensified campaign in almost 24/7 operations in compliance with the order of Chief PNP Ronald ‘Bato’ dela Rosa and the program of President Rodrigo Duterte to rid the country of this menace,” Bisnar said. Hundreds of local drug personalities surrendered last year during PNP’s “Oplan Tokhang.” Tafalla promised to work harder to clear more barangays—General Trias has 33 villages—until all are freed from illegal drugs. “This is the result of our intensive campaign against drugs, and the city government of General Trias will continue to support programs like this,” City Mayor Antonio “Ony” Ferrer said.

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

World IN BRIEF Lucky diver survives shark attack SYDNEY―An experienced diver was lucky to be alive after he was mauled by a large shark in a remote area near the Great Barrier Reef, Australian paramedics said Sunday. The 55-year-old was diving with friends about 60 nautical miles east of Murray Island in the Torres Strait on Saturday when he was attacked by the 13-foot bull shark. “He has severe bites to his left arm and some minor lacerations across his stomach,” Queensland Ambulance Service paramedic David Cameron told AFP. The man was taken by boat to Murray Island, three hours from the dive site, where he was treated by a nurse. He was in a stable condition on Sunday and due to undergo microsurgery, Cameron said. “There are several different types of sharks out near Murray Island, but the bull shark can be quite aggressive, so he is very, very lucky,” he added. Although sharks are known to inhabit the area -- which is popular for crayﬁshing and free diving -- attacks were uncommon, the paramedic said. Experts say shark attacks are increasing as water sports become more popular and bait ﬁsh move closer to shore, but fatalities remain rare. AFP

MONDAY, JANUARY 23, 2017

Another train crash kills 32 N

EW DELHI―Rescuers battled Sunday to pull survivors from the wreckage of a train crash that killed 32 passengers in southern India, the latest in a series of disasters on the country’s creaking rail network.

No more avalanche survivors PENNE, Itally―Rescuers combing the wreckage of an Italian hotel in a bid to find survivors of a devastating avalanche detected no signs of life overnight, officials said Sunday. As the painstaking rescue operation entered a fourth day, firefighters and mountain rescue experts again had to battle extreme weather conditions as they tried to locate the 23 people thought to be trapped under a vast pile of snow and the mangled ruins of the Hotel Rigopiano. Nine people have been pulled alive from the rubble since rescuers first reached the remote hotel in the mountains of central Italy early on Thursday. All of them were located on Friday and no other potential survivors have been identified since then. But with scores of them working round the clock, the rescuers were refusing to give up hope that more people could still be clinging to life somewhere under the wreckage. Five bodies have been recovered so far and there were two other survivors who were outside the hotel when the avalanche struck at nightfall on Wednesday. It followed a series of powerful earthquakes in the region earlier in the day and some 36 hours of heavy snow. AFP

Pope warns against populism MADRID―Pope Francis on Saturday warned against populism, saying it could lead to the election of “saviors” like Hitler. In an hour-long interview with the Spanish newspaper El Pais conducted as Donald Trump was being sworn in as US president, the pontiff also condemned the idea of using walls and barbed wire to keep out foreigners. “Of course crises provoke fears and worries,” he said but added that for him “the example of populism in the European sense of the word is Germany in 1933. “Germany... was looking for a leader, someone who would give her back her identity and there was a little man named Adolf Hitler who said ‘I can do it’.” “Hitler did not steal power,” the pope said. “He was elected by his people and then he destroyed his people.” The Germans at that time also wanted to protect themselves with “walls and barbed wire so that others cannot take away their identity,” he said. “The case of Germany is classic,” he said, adding that Hitler gave them a “deformed identity and we know what it produced.” Pope Francis, however, underscored that it was too early to pass judgment on Trump. “Let’s see. Let’s see what he does and then we will evaluate,” he said. AFP

TRIBUTE. Visitors lay flowers at a floral tribute on Bourke street in Melbourne on January 22, 2017, after a man went on a rampage in a car. A three-month-old baby has become the fifth victim of a deadly car rampage in Australia’s second-largest city that left four others fighting for their lives and dozens injured. AFP

Death toll from market bombing up to 24 PESHAWAR―The death toll from a bomb blast at a market in a mainly Shiite area of Pakistan’s northwestern tribal belt has risen to 24, officials said Sunday. The explosion, which occurred on Saturday in Parachinar, capital of the Kurram tribal district, initially killed 20 people and was claimed by the Pakistani Taliban. It was the first major militant attack in the country in 2017. “The number of dead people from the blast is now 24 as four more injured have lost their lives,” Naseerullah Khan, an administration official in the region, told AFP, adding the number of wounded stood at 90.

“Some 33 injured are being treated in the district hospital in Kurram while 25 have been shifted to a military hospital in Peshawar. Others with minor injuries have been discharged after first aid,” Khan said. The new toll was confirmed by police officials. Video footage from Saturday showed chaotic scenes with people running and shouting in panic and victims strewn in front of vegetable stalls among smashed crates and pushcarts. Ikramullah Khan, a senior government official in Parachinar, said that the blast was caused by an IED (improvised explosive device) hidden in a vegetable box.

In a telephone call to AFP, the Hakimullah Mehsud faction of the Tehreeke-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claimed responsibility for the attack. “It was to avenge the killing of our associates by security forces and to teach a lesson to Shiites for their support for Bashar al-Assad,” said the group’s spokesman, Qari Saifullah, referring to the Syrian president. Saifullah warned that his Sunni Muslim group will continue attacking Shiites if they back Assad, whose regime is entrenched in a civil war that began in 2011 and has claimed more than 310,000 lives. AFP

Officials were investigating whether Maoist rebels had tampered with the track, after eight coaches and the engine of the JagdalpurBhubaneswar express were derailed at around 11:00 pm (1730 GMT) on Saturday. The accident happened near Kuneru railway station in the remote district of Vizianagaram in Andhra Pradesh state. “The death toll has gone up to 32, unfortunately. But it should settle at that. It shouldn’t rise any further,” J. P. Mishra, a spokesman for East Coast Railways, told AFP. He said some 50 injured have been moved to nearby hospitals. The accident came only two months after nearly 150 people were killed in a similar disaster, highlighting the malaise on a network which is one of the world’s largest. National railway spokesman Anil Saxena said government officials and emergency workers worked through the night to try to find survivors. Saxena said investigators were considering possible sabotage of the tracks by Maoist rebels, who were active in the area. “It is being looked into, it is one of the many angles we are looking into,” he told AFP. “There is some suspicion (of sabotage) because two other trains had crossed over smoothly using the same tracks earlier in the night.” Television footage showed a line of carriages lying on their sides as rescuers in neon orange safety vests and hard hats tried to hoist passengers through the windows while locals looked on. Workers carried a half-naked passenger covered in dust on a stretcher out of a tilted carriage. Another TV image showed a man lying faced down, crushed under mangled heaps of wreckage. Injured victims lay on hospital beds and stretchers, their limbs swathed in bandages. Mishra told the NDTV news network there were some 600 people in the carriages that derailed. He added that 10 buses have been arranged for passengers who escaped injury to travel to Bhubaneswar, capital of neighbouring Odisha state. The train was travelling from the city of Jagdalpur to Bhubaneswar when it came off the track nearly 160 kilometers from Visakhapatnam, the nearest city to the accident site. Rail traffic on the coast line has been suspended. Chief ministers of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh expressed their grief over the latest tragedy, while Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said he was rushing to the spot. AFP

India turns to AI as cyber threats grow NEW DELHI―In the darkened ofﬁces of a tech start-up, a handful of computer engineers sifts through a mountain of intelligence data that would normally be the work of a small army of Indian security agents. “We use artiﬁcial intelligence to look for patterns in the past to predict future behavior,” says Tarun Wig as he explains why he hopes his company Innefu can do more business with India’s government. “Cyber warfare isn’t a movie, it’s happening right now.... We lost out on the industrial revolution, we lost out on the defense revolution -- let’s not lose out in the cyber revolution.” While other countries have long relied on AI to gather intelligence, India -- sometimes seemingly addicted to paperwork -- has continued to use agents to eyeball reams of data gathered over the years. It’s a process that sucks up time and can often miss crucial information. India has been in three wars with its neighbors since independence and the target of numerous cross-border attacks, including in 2008 when Pakistan-based extremists killed more than 160 people in Mumbai. Now the threat from cyber attacks is growing and its vulnerability has been exposed. Some 22,000 pages of data related to submarines that a French government-owned company was building for the Indian navy were leaked to the media last year. Opposition leader Rahul Gan-

dhi’s Twitter account was hacked in November while the elite National Security Guard’s website was reportedly defaced with profanity-laden messages for Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month. “Our idea starting out was that if the next war is fought on cyber, we need our own weapons,” said Wig as he talks through software developed for India’s needs. Innefu got a foot in the lucrative business of government contracts after resolving a thorny test case for a law enforcement agency that wanted to determine the background to an incident along one of India’s borders. The agency handed over two CDs with about 1,500 intelligence documents, including social media snippets, such as posts on planned protests. Innefu had to train the machine to read the agency’s language, including abbreviations, and then began extracting information on what happened, who were the main players and how they interacted with each other. Its newest offering Prophecy is modeled on products made by Palantir Technologies, a private security ﬁrm whose founders include Paypal co-founder Peter Thiel and whose clients include the CIA and the FBI. “Prophecy is like an octopus with multiple tentacles that pulls data from multiple places,” said Wig’s co-founder Abhishek Sharma. While the use of AI is commonplace elsewhere in Asia, it is still in its infancy in India. AFP

NAMM SHOW. Msuician Alice Cooper performs onstage at the TEC Awards during the NAMM Show 2017 at the Anaheim Hilton on January 21, 2017, in Anaheim, California. AFP

Cesar Barrioquinto, Editor

MONDAY, JANUARY 23, 2017

World

2 million women join march against Trump W ASHINGTON―More than two million people flooded US cities on Saturday as women opposed to Donald Trump led a peaceful, stunning rebuke against the new US president that was echoed in sister protests around the world. As a sea of demonstrators brought downtown Washington to a standstill, streaming past the White House in a joyous parade of pink “pussyhats,” Trump launched a withering attack on the media, accusing it of downplaying the attendance at his swearing-in a day earlier. Trump did not acknowledge the mass protests that marked his ﬁrst full day in ofﬁce. But their scale illustrated the depth of resistance to the Republican hardliner, who many fear will roll back the rights of women, immigrants and minorities. Although the US capital does

not release crowd counts, organizers of the main protest, the Women’s March on Washington, told AFP they estimated turnout at one million -- quadrupling initial expectations -- with some 600 sister protests held around the globe. “I’m part of history, and one day will tell my children about this,” said 16-year-old Maria Iman, who traveled to Washington with fellow high school students from Illinois. “It feels amazing.” A tide of women and men -teens, pensioners, parents with toddlers on their shoulders -swelled into the streets around

the National Mall for hours before ﬂowing towards the White House in a determined show of unity. “Women won’t back down,” “Women’s rights are human rights” and “Thank you Trump -- you turned me into an activist,” read some of the thousands of handmade signs held aloft in the capital. Educator Tanya Gaxiola, 39, who ﬂew in from Tucson, Arizona, expressed concern that Trump will seek to restrict abortion laws and otherwise clamp down on women’s rights. “He’s a narcissist and seeks approval, and this is a big display of disapproval,” Gaxiola said. “Hopefully, it catches his attention.” More than half a million people packed the streets of Los Angeles, according to police there, and similar numbers gathered in New York. Other marches took place in Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, St. Louis, Denver and elsewhere. In Boston, where up to 175,000

people demonstrated, fiery Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren took aim at Trump’s campaign of “attacks” on women and minorities. “We can whimper. We can whine. Or we can fight back!” Warren said to a loud roar. Saturday’s rallying cry was heard far beyond America’s shores, with protests held from Paris to Prague, Sydney to Johannesburg, and in some 20 cities across Canada. One of the largest was in London, where tens of thousands of women, men and children marched chanting “Dump Trump.” The human tide flooding Washington appeared to dwarf the throngs of Trump supporters in red “Make America Great Again!” caps who had cheered his swearing-in. The knitted “pink pussyhats” they wore were an allusion to Trump’s videotaped boasts of being able to grab women’s genitals with impunity. AFP

SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL. Actress Elizabeth Olsen attends the

‘Wind River’ Party at the Acura Studio at the Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2017 in Park City. AFP

President criticizes media’s reporting

Rights lawyers set sights on smog

WA S H I N G T O N ― D o n a l d Trump and his chief spokesman launched an unprecedented assault on the media Saturday for a US president’s first full day in office, accusing reporters of downplaying the turnout at his inauguration. Trump, visiting the Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in nearby Langley, Virginia, insisted against all evidence that he drew 1.5 million people to his Friday swearing-in ceremony. “I made a speech. I looked out, the field was, it looked like a million, million and a half people,” he told CIA staff. “They showed a field where there were practically nobody standing there. And they said, Donald Trump did not draw well,” he added. Trump said one network estimated turnout at 250,000. “Now, that’s not bad. But it’s a lie,” Trump said. He falsely claimed there were people stretching from the steps of the Capitol, where he spoke, along 20 blocks back to the Washington Monument. “So we caught them and we caught them in a beauty and I think they’re going to pay a big price,” said Trump. White House press secretary Sean Spicer doubled down on the accusation, using his first press conference in the White House briefing room to blast the journalists seated before him for “deliberately false reporting” on crowd size. “This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period!” Spicer said, his loud and abrasive tone catching nearly everyone in the room off guard. “These attempts to lessen the enthusiasm of the inauguration are shameful and wrong.” Spicer left the briefing without taking questions. An estimated 1.8 million people flooded the National Mall area in 2009 when Barack Obama was first sworn in as president, according to federal and local agencies at the time. Washington authorities reportedly predicted 800,000 to 900,000 would attend Trump’s inauguration Friday, about half of the 2009 crowd. Spicer appeared eager to lay down the new law with the press, whom his boss repeatedly criticized on the campaign trail and even branded mainstream media outlets “fake news.” AFP

BEIJING―Toxic smog has found itself in the dock in China as the authorities are taken to court over a problem that has choked entire regions, put public health at risk and forced the closure of schools and roads. At the helm is a group of human rights lawyers, who despite increasing government hostility to their work on some of China’s most sensitive cases, say popular feeling is behind them when it comes to pollution that is literally off the charts. “Chinese people aren’t too concerned about societal problems and things that aren’t happening to them personally, but this issue is different: everyone is a victim and is personally influenced by breathing polluted air,” lawyer Yu Wensheng told AFP. He is among a group of six lawyers who began filing their suits in December after a choking cloud of haze descended on China’s northeast, affecting some 460 million people. The campaign comes amid growing public anger over China’s bad air, which has fueled protests and spurred emigration among the wealthy. Yu, who has defended prominent civil rights lawyers targeted by the government and people detained for supporting Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, said the importance and impact of the pollution suit “far exceeds” his previous human rights cases. Even acquaintances opposed to Yu’s politics and police at a client’s detention centre had expressed support, he said, noting it was “very unusual”. However, there are concerns authorities might be trying to muzzle online discussion on the issue and quell discontent by suppressing information on air quality. In December, a week of thick haze forced cities across the northeast to go on “red alert” for nearly a week, closing schools, factories and construction sites and taking around half of vehicles off the roads. As visibility dropped and airports canceled hundreds of flights, people took to social media to vent their rage against a government that had long promised to solve the problem. But comments about the heavy smog quickly began disappearing from the web. AFP

POLICE SHOW. Indian Bollywood actress Elli Avram performs at the ‘Umang Mumbai Police Show 2017’ in Mumbai on January 21, 2017. AFP

Gambia’s leader leaves power after 22 years BANJUL, Gambia―Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh flew out Saturday from the country he ruled for 22 years to cede power to President Adama Barrow and end a political crisis. Jammeh refused to step down after a December 1 election in which Barrow was declared the winner, triggering weeks of uncertainty that almost ended in a military intervention involving five other west African nations. The longtime leader, wearing his habitual white flowing robes, waved to supporters before board-

ing a small, unmarked plane at Banjul airport alongside Guinea’s President Alpha Conde after two days of talks over a departure deal. He landed in Conakry, Guinea’s capital but set off again for Equatorial Guinea, where he will remain in exile, the president of the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS), Marcel Alain de Souza, said at a Dakar press conference. “No legislative measures” would be taken that would infringe the “dignity, security, safety and rights” of Jammeh or his fam-

ily, ECOWAS said in a joint declaration with the African Union and United Nations. Jammeh could return to The Gambia when he pleased, the statement added, and property “lawfully” belonging to him would not be seized. Jammeh ﬁnally said he would step aside in the early hours of Saturday morning and hand power to Barrow, who has been in neighbouring Senegal but is expected back in The Gambia imminently. “I call on President Barrow to come in immediately and take

over the supreme responsibility of president, head of state, commander in chief and ﬁrst citizen of our republic,” Jammeh said, according to remarks read out on state television before he left the country. It would be improper not to “sincerely wish him and his administration all the best,” he added. Jammeh took power in a 1994 coup from the country’s only other president since independence from Britain, Dawda Jawara, making this The Gambia’s ﬁrst democratic transition of power. AFP

Life FOOD

Isah V. Red, Editor Bernadette Lunas, Writer isahred@gmail.com MONDAY, JANUARY 23, 2017

EAT your way

to PROSPERITY THE JOYCE OF EATING JOYCE BABE PAÑARES

An explosion of flavors: shredded roasted duck on a bed of fruit salad

CCORDING to local feng shui experts, the Year of the Fire Rooster will be a fiery and intense one. Tensions abound and cash flow may be tight. But there is innovation, creativity, and even romance with the “peach blossom luck.” If you believe in feng shui – or maybe not, but one can never be too cautious – there are several ways to enhance one’s luck and usher in good fortune just as there are means to bar negative sectors from dampening your 2017.

Pomelos give a sweet, tangy contrast to the oven-baked cod fish fillet.

Or you can take the happier route and eat your way to prosperity and abundance. At Crystal Dragon, a signature restaurant of the luxury integrated resort City of Dreams Manila, there are two set menus as well as a la carte dishes that are full of symbolisms and auspicious wishes to ring in the Year of the Fire Rooster.

“Every Chinese New Year, you will see the same traditional food. So this year, we decided to introduce three new dishes – all equally symbolic of good fortune,” says Crystal Dragon’s Assistant Manager Alan Goh. There’s the shredded roasted duck with fresh fruit salad dressing, a “neater” alternative to the messy but delicious salmon fish yusheng – a traditional salad that is tossed in the air using chopsticks while wishing lo hei (Mandarin for scoop it up), with the belief that the height of the toss reflects the height of one’s growth in wealth. I was pleasantly surprised that the fruit Turn to D2

Wok-fried king prawns Chinese New Year will not be complete without tikoy, served three ways at Crystal Dragon.

Appreciating Baguio at Hill Station’s newest café ENJOY a perfect meal with mouthwatering dishes and magnificent view as Hill Station, one of the country’s distinguished restaurants, opened its newest joint—Café Adriana—at the view deck of the first DMCI Homes’ residential Outlook Ridge Residences in Baguio City. Café Adriana, opened in Nov. 18 last year, is the third venture of the renowned food maven in Baguio City, Mitos Benitez-Yñiguez, who, at first sight, has found Outlook Ridge Residences perfect for her new business. With Outlook Ridge Residences’ excellent location, seamless architectural symmetry and sterling engineering, offering a one-of-a-kind living experience in Baguio City, Yñiguez knows that her newest café would flourish in this remarkable location. “I like the location, the view, the mountain. Actually I was quite inspired by the place. It’s so beautiful. I didn’t expect it. You know when I walked in to the Outlook Ridge Residences, all I could say was ‘wow!’” Yñiguez beams in an interview adding she couldn’t contain her excitement and immediately consulted her Feng Shui master who, after checking the place, informed her that the site is a “perfect location” for her new café. Completed in 2013, Outlook Ridge Residences is a boutique leisure condominium that offers a rare residential experience in the summer capital city. Nestled amid the lush flora of Baguio’s verdant pines, this property provides a show of the breathtaking

Adriana further reveals, “And then when it’s raining, you want something hearty and slow. So that’s our specialty. All breads, all desserts are made by us. All hams, sausages, bacon, are made by us; chorizo, we make it all. So, we try from every beginning and for every outlet, It’s all from scratch.” A piece of the Igorot tradition was introduced at Café Adriana’s soft opening ceremonies, with a Cañao ritual to bless the place and the business. Cañao or kanyaw is a local tradition of tribal dances and/or ritual sacrifices Turn to D2

Paella de Legumbres is one of Cafe Adriana’s main dishes

Baguio City’s renowned food maven Mitos Benitez-Yñiguez

Baguio scenery—the foggy north mountains adorned by the abundant forest of pines. With Café Adriana at the view deck of Outlook Ridge Residences, both locals and travelers would surely enjoy the restaurant’s signature Spanish dishes with a certain Pinoy zest. Its menu’s specific chart-buster is Paella in five different varieties, all freshly made and prepared by skillful chefs. Café Adriana also plans of introducing five more additional Paella flavors for Baguio foodies to watch out for. “For one, in my menu, I’m only starting with five kinds of Paella like there’s vegetarian, there’s all seafood, there’s black paella, there’s chorizo. And then mostly slow cooked stews,” shares Yñiguez. The owner of Café The breathtaking view of Baguio from DMCI Homes Outlook Ridge Residences

Life

MONDAY, JANUARY 23, 2017 isahred@gmail.com

Two comfort food recipes

to chase the cold weather blues away

O BEAT the cool days and cold nights, here are two recipes that will definitely satisfy your tummy with a warm broth and a filling meal using first class sotanghon as one of the main ingredients.

SUKIYAKI (Serves 8)

Ingredients: 300gms Good Life Premium Vermicelli ½ kilo thinly sliced beef, cut into bite-size pieces 8 pcs shiitake mushrooms, stems removed 1 bunch enoki mushroom, trimmed 200gms white mushrooms, washed 1 pc leek, washed and sliced into 2-inch lengths 1/2 pc Napa cabbage, washed and cut into 2-inch wide pieces 1 tofu cut into bite-size pieces Sukiyaki Sauce Ingredients: ½ cup Kikkoman ½ cup sake

Sukiyaki is a Japanese classic meat dish that is very popular around the world. When the whole family is cooped up inside the house on a cool day, a steaming bowl of Sukiyaki will surely lift everyone’s

½ cup mirin 2 tbsp sugar 1 cup chicken broth Preparation: 1. Soak Premium Vermicelli in water for 10 minutes, and then blanch in boiling water for 10 seconds. Drain. 2. Mix soy sauce, sake, sugar and water to make sukiyaki sauce. 3. In a deep skillet, heat a little oil. Fry some beef slices, and then pour sukiyaki sauce in the pan. 4. Add broth and simmer for 1 minute. 5. Add the other ingredients and simmer until all ingredients are softened. Serve in the skillet.

mood. The other dish, Tinola Sotanghon, is a favorite Filipino comfort food that warms not only the belly, but also the heart. Made from premium potato starch, Good Life Premium

Vermicelli is great to use for a variety of dishes not only limited to sotanghon soup dishes, but it can be used to make your own versions of Chapchae, Vietnamese Rolls and many other popular

TINOLA SOTANGHON (Serves 8) Ingredients: 300gms Good Life Premium Vermicelli 1 pc whole chicken, cut up 1 pc onion, chopped 1 tsp garlic, minced 2 tbsps ginger, cut into strips 5 cups water 2 cups upo or sayote chunks 2 tbsps oil sili leaves salt or fish sauce to taste

dishes. And since it does not turn soggy, the crystal-like and firm-to-bite vermicelli is perfect for soups and hot pot meals such as these two delicious recipes: Sukiyaki and Tinola Sotanghon.

Preparation: 1. Soak Premium Vermicelli in water for 10 minutes, and then blanch in boiling water for 10 seconds. Drain. 2. Sauté garlic and onion in a pot. Add ginger and sauté for 1 minute. 3. Mix in chicken and cook for 3 minutes. 4. Add water and simmer for 30-40 minutes. Season with fish sauce or salt. 5. Add upo or sayote and cook for 5 more minutes, or until soft. Turn off heat and add sili leaves. 6. Place cooked sotanghon in a soup bowl and transfer the tinola into sotanghon bowl.

B ITES

Apple Streusel Coffee Cake at Andrew Cafe LIVEN up your mornings and teatime with Andrew Café’s Apple Streusel Coffee Cake. An original creation by chefs Timothy Robert Gonzalez and Erna Canatoy, this German classic is topped and layered with apple chunks, chopped walnuts and cinnamon sugar streusel to provide a sweet partner to your morning coffee or afternoon tea. Andrew Café has a selection of cakes and pastries that are perfect for your holiday celebrations. For inquiries and orders, call 230-5100, local 1888. Andrew Café is located at the DLS-CSB Taft Campus, at Arellano corner Leon Guinto Streets, Malate, Manila.

Relish the ‘siksik sarap’ goodness of Gardenia Pandesal

iPhoto

Italian culinary institute trains Filipino students

THE Filipino’s all-time favorite pandesal has been part of every household’s breakfast table. Whether you eat it on its own, dunk it in a cup of hot coffee, or serve it with your favorite sweet and savory dish, the pandesal truly has become a part of the Filipino culture. But now this timeless favorite is made more special by Gardenia with its Gardenia Premium Pandesal that is soft yet enjoyably full-to-the-bite. Savor the mouth-watering taste of Gardenia not just during breakfast, but anytime of the day. It is your modern-day pandesal baked and packed fresh everyday. It is made from premium ingredients making it deliciously soft inside and delightfully crusty outside. It is also rich with vitamins and minerals like Vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, Folate, Iron and Calcium essential in maintaining a healthy body. The Gardenia Premium Pandesal is one of the variants in Gardenia bun category, also available is Gardenia Soft Delight Pandesal, Gardenia Whole Wheat Pandesal and Gardenia Cheese Buns, and Gardenia California Raisin Buns. Gardenia Pandesal is available in supermarkets, convenience and grocery stores near you. For more information about the Gardenia Premium Pandesal, visit www. gardenia.com.ph

THE Italian Food Style Education Culinary Institute (IFSE) in the comune of Piobesi Torinese in Turin, Italy, recently hosted culinary students of De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde for their internship, to be credited under the students’ practicum requirement. The four-week training covered lessons in preparing authentic local dishes, as well as Italian cooking techniques and skills, followed by eight weeks of hands-on experience in several Michelin star restaurants around Italy. The college’s School of Hotel, Restaurant and Institution Management (SHRIM) has an existing partnership with IFSE, which is known for being the most innovative school for Italian cuisine and pastry. It has received an Excellence Award by the General Secretary of the Italian Republic. In photo are the students who participated in the seminarworkshop: John Vincent Katigbac, Jasmin Buensalida, Mariel Catungal, Pauline Tolentino and Angela Leonor.

Eat... From D1 salad had pomelos, with its sweet, tangy flavor providing good contrast to the shredded duck. It has elements similar to that of a yusheng, such as crispy wonton pillows that not only give the salad texture and crunch but symbolize gold as well. Another new dish is the roasted chicken roll filled with foie gras and wild mushrooms. It looked like a mini-version of the Cebu lechon belly roll, with the chicken skin perfectly crisped. There was, however, only a hint of the foie gras and wild mushrooms, and not as much filling as I would have wanted. And lastly, there’s the three-flavor Chinese New Year nian gao (tikoy) platter – tikoy covered in dried shredded coconut; water chestnut cake wrapped in deep-fried rice net; and red bean tikoy wrapped in pandan roll

and topped with crushed cashew nuts. For those who would prefer a set meal, Crystal Dragon’s Chinese New Year Happiness Menu is priced at P3,680++ per person, while the Chinese New Year Treasures Menu is at P6,680++, both for a minimum of four persons. These will be available until Feb. 11. The Happiness Menu starts with salmon fish yusheng, followed by seafood and shredded abalone soup, Hong Kong-style steamed cod with baby cabbage, wok-fried king prawns with reduced soy sauce; Shanghaistyle rice cake with seafood, and chilled mango pudding with vanilla ice cream and tikoy platter for dessert. The Abundance Menu serves the salmon fish yusheng as well, along with seafood with baby abalone soup; steamed sea grouper with shredded ginger; roasted chicken roll with foie gras, stewed pork belly with see cucumber; rice cake with

seafood; and the tikoy sweetener. After having your fill at Crystal Dragon, participate in fun activities lined up by City of Dreams Manila to mark the Chinese New Year. From Jan.27 to 29, there will be classes on Chinese calligraphy, fortunetelling and caricature art as well as performances by Chinese opera singers, cultural dancers and Wushu martial artists. A “God of Fortune” will be roaming the main gaming area on the ground floor and the upper ground level to hand out ang baos containing gift certificates, discount coupons and chocolates to lucky guests. One’s good fortune may very well be shaped by hard work and a dose of luck. But it never hurts to observe auspicious traditions, and eating your way to health and wealth is always a good choice. For feedback, send comments to joyce.panares@gmail.com

Appreciating... From D1 performed at feasts and celebrations in the highlands of the Cordilleras. The owner herself believes in the power of the offerings to bless the good spirits in the area. An adult pig and a rooster were chosen as offerings. Raised in Baguio City, with a certain air from a Spanish descent, Yñiguez is a product of a culture-rich ancestry. With Café Adriana, she plans of fusing these two cultures of her own, and blend them together in her passion for cooking. Prior her newest cafe, Yñiguez has been managing Bistro and Hill Station, which was included in the prestigious Miele guide of Asia’s best restaurants and recognized as one of the best restaurants in the Philippines by Asia Tatler in 2012. With the rising number of Baguio tourists and the inf lux of residential developments in the area, Outlook Ridge Residences stands a cut above the rest. Sitting atop 4,005.7 square meters of

prime land, offering only 150 residential units in its two-building abodes, residents, lessors, and transients would find the property a haven in the city. An added convenience to the residents was also brought by Café Adriana, that apart from Spanish dishes, the café will also serve all-day breakfasts intended for vacationers and travelers who prefer waking up on different times of the day. Likewise, non-stayers can simply visit Café Adriana, and enjoy the scenery that Outlook Ridge Residences offers. Outlook Ridge Residences is one among DMCI Homes’ roster of exemplary projects, located at V. Delos Reyes Street, Outlook Drive in Baguio City. Another project to set eyes on is Bristle Ridge, a midrise development along Pacdal Road. For more details about the developer and its projects, visit www.dmcihomes. com. For updates on Café Adriana, kindly visit Café Adriana by Hill Station on Facebook.

MONDAY, JANUARY 23, 2017

HE up-and-coming band Blue Way— composed of Ace Agamata on guitar and vocals, Josh del Mundo on saxophone, Nathan Manansala on guitar, Paul Matcott on drums and Stephen Lachica on bass— is ready and raring to bring something new to the local music scene. As of this writing, the members are putting the ﬁnishing touches on their debut EP, which features six original songs written by Ace himself.

Ace describes Blue Way’s music as blues (hence the band’s name) with a little bit of classic rock and soul thrown in for good measure. Although he admits that blues isn’t a very well-known genre in these parts, Ace and his band mates believe they do have what it takes to win the hearts and ears of the public. Nathan says, “Blues isn’t too far from rock, so I think it’s just a matter of having catchy songs with good lyrics. The musicians in the local blues scene are really talented and the blues scene itself is still growing. So if artists from the blues scene will be able to bring their songs to the masa, then maybe the genre will become more popular.” “Some of our songs have the OPM feel, but the way we approached them is from a blues perspective. If you listen to our EP, you’ll see na parang kundiman yung melody and structure nung ibang kanta namin. So even if our approach or genre is foreign, Pinoy na Pinoy pa rin ang dating ng mga kanta namin,” Ace adds. Blue Way’s music isn’t the only thing that’s foreign yet very Filipino at the same time. While three of its members were born and raised in the Philippines, the other two spent their formative years and then some in Australia and the USA. Even so, they’re all Pinoy at heart.

Make way for blue way Up-and-coming band Blue Way gives classic rock and soul music an interesting twist

Ace, Nathan and Stephen started playing together in 2014. “At first I started the band with two other guys, tapos naging busy yung bassist namin, so we had to find a replacement for him. That was when Stephen came on board. Nathan joined us a year later,” Ace says. “As for Paul, he used to do session work for us whenever our previous drummer wasn’t available for gigs, so when we needed a new drummer, Paul was our first choice.” Josh is the baby of the band in more ways than one. (“I’m the newest addition and the youngest member,” he says.) But he quickly adds that he didn’t find it hard to gel with the rest of them—same as Paul, even though the drummer is the oldest member of the band. Long before he married a Filipina named Brenda and settled in Manila in 2010, Paul lived and worked in his native Australia as a music teacher. He says he didn’t have trouble adjusting to life in the Philippines because all the people are so nice, especially his bandmates. “They’re the kind of guys you can

just sit down and have a beer with,” Paul explains. “They’re very easygoing. Actually, Filipinos in general are very friendly, so I found the transition from my hometown of Victoria to here easy to make.” That easygoing vibe is reflected in how they work with each other. For example, Ace is the chief songwriter, so he usually starts a song then presents a rough cut of it to the rest of the band. Although Ace is more than capable of finishing a song, he prefers to enlist Josh, Nathan, Paul and Stephen to help him do so. According to the members of Blue Way, cooperation is crucial to their success. “Sometimes he’ll have the whole song in mind, so he’ll just tell us how he thinks the bass, drums, guitar, or saxophone should sound. We’ll make a few suggestions and then we’ll run through the song once or twice just to try it out,” Nathan shares. The band’s first single is titled “Simbang Gabi,” and Ace wrote it about his wife. “I wrote it four years ago, mga

December yata. My wife works at night kasi for an American bank, and at the time matagal na kaming hindi nakakaattend ng Simbang Gabi, so I wrote that song kasi miss ko na magsimba na kasama siya.” The song “Simbang Gabi” may not sound like most of the songs playing on Philippine radio these days, but Ace believes even the masa will find it relatable because it’s about a universal subject—missing someone you love. Ace says the rest of the tracks on Blue Way’s upcoming EP (“Long Legged Woman,” “The Doctor,” “Romansa Blues,” “My Woman” and “Eleksyon Na Naman”) are just as relatable. “Whether you’re happy or you’re sad, our songs can be the soundtrack of your life. You can play them when you want to relax, when you want to dance and have fun at a party, or if you want to impress your date. Our songs reflect what happens in people’s lives — which actually what influences my songwriting. Everyday life lang,” he says.

According to Ace, he and his band mates are determined to introduce blues to the masa because doing so is their way of revitalizing the OPM scene. There are a lot of people doing hip-hop, pop and rock these days. More and more Filipino artists are getting into EDM as well. But no one has been able to bring blues to the mainstream yet, and that’s exactly what Blue Way plans to do. “I think, with our songs, we write and record partly because we want to express ourselves,” Ace says. “We can actually always go on and rather be known for playing a lot of instrumental jams and covers of classic songs since that’s the common public perception of blues artists; but that’s not what Blue Way is all about. We also consciously write original songs that other people can relate to, because that’s our main objective as a band. We want to share and promote Philippine blues and contribute to make it a permanent part of OPM.” There you have it. Make way for Blue Way!

Paolo Ballesteros busy in 2017 AFTER the critical and commercial success of his movie Die Beautiful (one of the top-grossers in the recently-concluded Metro Manila Film Festival and won for him the Best Actor plum), Paolo Ballesteros said that he has numerous movie projects for 2017. “I’m really happy with this turn of event. Die Beautiful opened doors of opportunities for me. I’ll forever be grateful to said project,” he said. Many say he became more popular because of the movie. “Well, thank you! I tend to think that my role as Trisha made the viewing public rediscover my acting side. That apart from my wacky antics in Eat Bulaga’s ‘Kalye-serye’, I can also be a serious actor. So, if I became more popular due to the movie, it’s my honor.” Personally, is there a particular type of movie that he wants to appear in? “Actually, there’s a lot I want

to venture into. For one, I love to do a musical or anything that has singing in it. I really want to perform. I would also like to try news-casting. I think it’s challenging to do. I know that there’s still a lot that I can offer or give the audience so, I hope and pray that there will be projects like that in the coming days.” Pao admits he has already chosen his next big screen project. “Yes! I’ve already accepted an offer. I like the material, but as of now, I cannot spill out the details. In the coming days, you guys will know.” In spite of this, the talented star reiterates that “Eat Bulaga” remains to be his top priority. “Of course! I have to report daily to ‘EB’ before I can shoot. I told the producers who are interested to get my services that we have to work our way around that,” ends Paolo. ********

Kris Bernal conﬁrms her decision to remain as a Kapuso following her earlier pronouncement that she wants to have a new manager and move to another network. “Actually, we had a one-year negotiation of my contract, the reason why I wasn’t visible and didn’t have a regular show then. During this period, I had the chance to talk with other managers, networks and people for advice,” she says. People are curious as to what made her think of leaving her mother studio initially. “Well, it’s like I’m 27 years old and I thought I was already in the position to make decisions for myself including my career. I wanted to try other options to maximize my artistic capabilities. But eventually, I chose to stick with GMA mainly because

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Monday, January 23, 2017

ACROSS 1 Electrical unit 4 Nina of fashion 9 Take the plunge 12 Do meringue 13 Potential oak 14 Translucent gem 16 Skip past 17 Fixed up 18 Comic-strip hyena 19 “Prince Igor” composer 21 Smorgasbords 23 Theme 25 Emergencies 26 Tedious account 29 Singer — John 31 Repair a wrong 32 Toward shelter 33 Barbarian 37 Lion’s quarters 38 Drop in the ocean? (2 wds.) 41 Large parrot 42 Fictional pirate 44 Gym iterations 45 Mild expletive 47 Renter’s agreement 49 Court cases 50 Imitation 53 Banister post 55 Elvis’ home 57 Hot dog go-with

61 Now hear —! 62 Borden’s spokescow 64 Flying prefix 65 Bargain event 66 Without corners 67 More than want 68 King-sized item 69 Gulps down 70 Wily DOWN 1 Post-it message 2 Narrow margin 3 Hassock 4 Unusual thing 5 Boadicea’s people 6 — liver oil 7 Cattle stall 8 Drafted 9 Devouring 10 Non-aluminum foils 11 Florentine poet 12 Fishing float 15 Laird’s daughter 20 Gift recipient 22 To’s opposite 24 Highlighter (2 wds.) 26 Apt rhyme for tads 27 News morsel 28 Firm up

30 Grass-skirt accessories 32 Fortas and Vigoda 34 Kan. neighbor 35 Kiss and — 36 Fodders 39 Charcoal grills 40 Snowy-white bird 43 Passed by 46 They have spouts 48 Afr. nation 49 Sporty wools

50 911 responders 51 Fixed-up building 52 You may crack one 54 Barely getting by 56 Like a tortoise 58 Scoundrel 59 Heavy hydrogen discoverer 60 Husk 63 — generis

I believe in them. In my heart, there’s that certainty that they’ll still be the one to bring out the best in me.” The petite actress wants to clarify that she didn’t announce her plan to move to another station in an attempt to ask for a higher talent fee. “That’s not true! To be honest, I’m not really after the money nor the fame. They’re just bonus factors. My main consideration is to improve my craft since acting is my passion. That’s it.” Based on what she knows, her next project for GMA is an afternoon drama series. “Yes! From what I’ve heard, it’s a fantasy drama where I will play a dual role. This early, I’m already excited to start with the project!” Kris states. ******** The Kapisanan ng Mga Artista sa Pelikulang Pilipino at

Telebisyon (KAPPT) has a new president in the person of Asia’s Sentimental Songstress Imelda Papin. She replaces Rez Cortez. “This is a new challenge for me,” says Mel. “It’s an honor to be the ﬁrst woman president of the Actors’ Guild. I know that it’s not an easy post but I’m up for it armed with the conﬁdence from my colleagues when they voted for me.” The veteran singer is aware that there are some who don’t like her for the position, citing that she’s not active anymore as an actress. “Well, it’s just normal. I’ve been Vice-Governor of Camarines Sur, remember? Things like this are inevitable in politics. But of course, you should prove your detractors wrong and show them your real worth. At the end of the day, it’s still your good and clean intention to serve that would matter.

“When it comes to my qualiﬁcation, I would like to point out that before I made it big as a recording star, I was already acting in movies, like Tagisan ng Lakas, King of the Dragon, They Call Me Trinity and Batang Bicol. At the height of my singing career, I did Mahal, Saan Ka Nanggaling Kagabi with showbiz royalties Ms. Susan Roces and the late Fernando Poe, Jr.. I also starred in Pag-ibig, Bakit Ka Ganyan? along with then ‘70s matinee idol Roel Vergel de Dios.” Asked about her immediate programs for the guild, Imelda reveals, “I would like to introduce the cooperative for our stars. It will be a big help especially to those small players. Also, I would like to push for the members to have SSS contribution and Health Card for their protection. To promote camaraderie among the stars, I plan to revive as well the Star Olympics.”

Isah V. Red, Editor Nickie Wang, Writer isahred@gmail.com MONDAY, JANUARY 23, 2017

NEW SHOWS

as reward to

Kapuso audience ISAH V. RED

MA Network soars even higher this 2017 as it delivers a new roster of trendsetting and pioneering programs that will surely excite and captivate the hearts of Kapuso viewers.

DESTINED TO BE ON TV. The phenomenal love

team of Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza in their ﬁrst romantic TV series entitled “Destined To Be Yours”

entertainment as it brings in new shows and adds flavor to its trademark programs. On Jan. 15, People vs. The Stars debuted with Drew Arellano and Iya Villania as hosts. The program allows celebrities to play for a chance to win P200, 000.00 by answering eight questions with equivalent cash values. If the stars failed to answer any of the questions correctly, the audience by simply by answering the “People Question of the Week” through text question could win the cash value. Celebrity Bluff, the multi-awarded comedy game show on Philippine television with Eugene Domingo and Edu Manzano as the Master Bluffer as a daily afternoon fare. Full House Tonight is another pioneering weekly comedy-musical show with Regine VelasquezAlcasid. The show will feature comedians, actors and musical artists beginning Feb. 18. So, there you are Kapuso. Your favorite network has revealed its cache of shows for the first quarter of the year. Will their ratings leadership continue with these programs or is the competition just waiting for the right time to unleash it power programs? We will know in a couple of weeks if the network war would rage on in 2017. *** Barbie Forteza as the only rose among the thorns Ken Chan, Ivan Dorschner, Addy Raj, and Jak Roberto in TV romcom “Meant To Be” GMA Heart of Asia airs The Big One with Kim Young Kwang as Harvey Lee, Jung So Min as Daphne Jung, Ha Suk Jin as William Han beginning tonight. The three play skilled doctors who ace the challenge of saving lives in the midst of a natural disaster. Harvey and William are both surgeons at the internationally acclaimed Mirae Hospital. Harvey is compassionate and usually easy going while William is cold and arrogant. With their opposite personalities, they struggle to help one having the same goals. Meanwhile, Daphne is a young doctor from Busan who encounters a street accident in Seoul and finally gets the chance to meet her idol, the famous robotic Doctor William. When a 6.5 magnitude earthquake hits Seoul, they all decide to take over and meet the medical needs of the people. But with the challenge of having no water and electricity, and the city streets blocked by debris, how will they survive the threat of running out of medicine? Will they fulfil their sworn oath as doctors and deliver what has to be done or will they turn to their personal safety? Follow their struggles and triumphs in The Big One, Mondays “My Love The Star” lead cast Gil Cuerva and Jennylyn Mercado Derrick Monasterio and Bea Binene join the cast of to Fridays at 9:40AM only on GMA. “Mulawin vs Ravena”

Produced by the GMA Drama Group, these shows are top billed by only the brightest, hottest and up-and-coming Kapuso actors and actresses in Philippine show business. First on the list is the original primetime soap is Meant To Be, a romantic-comedy series that revolves around Billie (Barbie Forteza), a struggling millennial who meets four guys with different nationalities: Ken Chan as the Chinese-Pinoy Yuan, Jak Roberto as the Pinoy Macoy, Ivan Dorschner as the Fil-British Ethan, and Addy Raj as the Indian Jai. All four boys will fall in love with Billie. Meant To Be premiered on Jan.9 and has beaten consistently its competition on its pilot week. For its Valentine offering, the network unleashes Destined To Be Yours with the phenomenal love team of Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza. In the story, Alden breathes life to the character of Benjie, a hardworking and charming architect who wants to acquire a piece of land owned by the family of Sinag played by Maine. Soon to soar viewership ratings is the muchawaited Pinoy remake of the hit Koreanovela My Love From The Star with Jennylyn Mercado as the popular actress and endorser Stefﬁ who falls for Matteo, the cold extraterrestrial being that will be played by the new Kapuso actor and heartthrob Gil Cuerva after endearing to the production staff during an audition. In line with GMA Network’s Lipad 2017 battle cry, Kapuso viewers are in for something grand and spectacular this year with the launch of Mulawin vs. Ravena. This telefantasya is the network’s big production in 2017 with Dennis Trillo. Making this primetime series extra special is Regine Velasquez-Alcasid who agreed to star in her full-length telefantasya. It also features the Kapuso love teams of Miguel Tanfelix and Bianca Umali and Derrick Monasterio and Bea Binene. In the network’s Afternoon Prime block, a series adapted from one of Regal Films’ blockbuster movies in 1987 Pinulot Ka Lang Sa Lupa premiers on Jan. 30 with Julie Anne San Jose, Benjamin Alves, Martin del Rosario, and LJ Reyes. The original Afternoon Prime series Legally Blind is also being retooled with Janine Gutierrez playing a rape victim who gets blind but lives on to become a lawyer and seeks justice. She will be paired with Mikael Daez and Rodjun Cruz. Another remake will join Kapuso’s Afternoon Prime. Remember Impostora. It is also the ﬁrst GMA-produced TV drama adapted by a foreign country. This soap tells the story Nimfa, an ugly street vendor who willingly undergoes surgery and complete facial reconstruction to pretend to be Rosette, a wealthy and beautiful but unhappily married wife seeking to escape her husband. This highly controversial drama will star Kris Bernal opposite Rafael Rosell and Ryan Eigenmann. GMA Drama unveils another original show using the elements of interview, dramatization, actual videos and photos with Case Solved. Dingdong Dantes is being tapped to host this newest docu-drama. GMA Network continues to offer all-out Regine Velasquez

Dennis Trillo

Dingdong Dantes