Manila Standard - 2017 February 7 - Tuesday by Manila Standard

Duterte gives in to Kris’ plea for brod By John Paolo Bencito

VOL. XXX • NO. 360 • 4 SECTIONS 20 PAGES • P18 • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2017 • www.thestandard.com.ph • editorial@thestandard.com.ph

GALLANTRY HONORED. President Rodrigo Duterte honors the gallantry of Cpl. Owen Yee at the latter’s wake at St. Ignatius de Loyola Parish in Cagayan de Oro City on Sunday, after hitting the rebels for launching several attacks against the military even before the New People’s Army’s announced termination of its unilateral ceaseﬁre on Feb. 10.

New crackdown on Reds snags 4 Du30 calls on Interpol to arrest Joma; NDF invokes Jasig By Florante S. Solmerin, Pearl A. Gajunera and John Paolo Bencito

nance technical staff and ﬁnance staff of the revolutionary movement based in the region. The military said in spot report that they were arrested by virtue of a warrant of arrest issued by a regional trial court for multiple attempted murder. NDF chief Fidel Agcaoili said all NDF consultants are protected by the Joint Agreement on Security and Immunity Guarantees (Jasig) that was recently reinforced during the third round of talks in Rome, Italy. Arbitrario was accompanied by Roderick Mamuya, a regional liaison of the Southern Mindanao Regional Command of the New People’s Army. The two were immediately turned over to the police. Next page

NDF: Soldiers’ rubout meant to mislead Rody By John Paolo Bencito and Maricel V. Cruz COMMUNIST rebels on Monday claimed that the Armed Forces of the Philippines killed three of its own soldiers in Bukidnon to pin the blame on the New People’s Army and to provoke President Rodrigo Duterte into cancelling peace talks. “It could be a rubout from the AFP to pin the blame on

By Maricel V. Cruz, Gabrielle H. Binaday and Anna Leah E. Gonzales

PILOT STATION. Light Rail Manila Corp. president Rogelio Singson (left) briefs LRTA Administrator Reynaldo Berroya (second from left), Jaime Zobel de Ayala, Ayala Corp. chairman, and Fernando Zobel de Ayala, president and chief operating ofﬁcer of Ayala Corp. during the launch of the pilot station Doroteo Jose in the LRMC improvement project. Lino Santos

THE Chamber of Mines of the Philippines on Monday asked President Rodrigo Duterte to review the closure and suspension orders issued by Environment Secretary Regina Lopez, calling them “irresponsible, unfair and illegal.”

In a statement, COMP chairman Art Disini said Lopez’s decision to close 23 large-scale operating mines and suspend five others would hurt 1.2 million Filipinos whose livelihood depend on legal mining and cripple local governments that benefit from the taxes paid by the industry. “Her actions have finally revealed her true bias: to stop all mining in the Philippines,” the Next page group said.

378 erring cops told to clean Pasig SoKor wants By Macon R. Araneta PHILIPPINE National Police [PNP] chief Dir. Gen. Ronald dela Rosa on Monday said he will bring 378 police scalawags from the National Capital Region Police Ofﬁce to Malacañang, where they will be made to clean the Pa-

sig River. In a press conference, Dela Rosa said the move was in line with President Rodrigo Duterte’s order to bring the errant policemen to him instead of subjecting them to retraining. Dela Rosa said the President wants the policemen to remove

the water lilies clogging the Pasig River as they are becoming a problem for the barge which shuttles the President from Malacañang to Bahay Pangarap across the river. He added that most of these 378 policemen are not involved in Next page

MM classes suspended amid strike By Joel E. Zurbano and Rio N. Araja AFTERNOON classes in some colleges and universities in Metro Manila were suspended on Monday because of a transport strike to protest the reported phaseout of old passenger jeepneys. The city governments of Manila and Malabon announced the suspension of classes in all levels in both public and private schools at noon due to the nationwide strike led by an organization of jeepney drivers. The transport strike was expected to end by 7 p.m. on Monday. The jeepney drivers struck even as the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board approved a provisional

JEEPNEY PHASEOUT. The PNP

and military Monday help transport passengers from Taft Avenue in Manila (above) while stranded passengers wait for their rides along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City (left) after a transport coalition group challenged the no-strike policy for public utility vehicles and to protest the planned jeepney phaseout. Norman Cruz/ Manny Palmero

twitter.com/ MlaStandard

the NPA,” said Luis Jalandoni, chairman of the negotiating panel of the National Democratic Front [NDF]. “It could be possible that the military themselves killed the soldiers [to railroad the peace talks] ... Because the NPA doesn’t have this policy to waste bullets in a single encounter,” Jalandoni told GMA-7 in a TV interview from Utrecht, The Netherlands. Three soldiers were killed by

Mines group hits out at ‘unfair, illegal audit’

HE military has begun arresting communists after President Rodrigo Duterte ended peace talks with them over a spate of rebel attacks on government troops. Reports reaching Camp Aguinaldo Monday said Ariel Arbitrario, a consultant for the National Democratic Front, was arrested at a checkpoint in Davao City. He had been released last year to join peace talks with the government. Arbitrario’s arrest was confirmed by Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate at a news briefing. “The members of the government panel were already made aware of this. I hope this will be resolved soon so it will not complicate matters,” Zarate said. On Saturday, the military and police arrested a communist couple in Ozamiz Port, Misamis Occidental. The military identified the suspects as Lito Elmidolan alias Gary and wife Maria Bella Elmidolan alias Lalay or Thelma, ord-

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Monday said he would no longer proceed with the creation of an “alternative commission” to probe the botched raid in Mamasapano, Maguindanao in January 2015, in which 44 police commandos were killed. In a speech during the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s campaign to encourage large taxpayers to pay taxes, Duterte said he would instead wait for the results of the cases filed before the Ombudsman on the culpability of officials under the previous Aquino administration on the ill-fated encounter between police and Muslim rebels. “I am not going ahead with the creation of a commission, because, apparently, the Ombudsman has said that it’s still pending before them. I do not want to have a multiple incongruity, especially if one is finding fights with the other. So I will wait,” the President said. Duterte said actress and television host Kris Aquino, sister of former President Benigno “NoyNoy” Aquino III, has texted

facebook.com/ ManilaStandardPH

thestandard.com.ph

PH to deliver ‘swift justice’ By John Paolo Bencito THE South Korean government has asked President Rodrigo Duterte to “deliver swift justice” to the family of slain Hanjin executive Jee Ick Joo and to resolve the other cases ﬁled by Korean nationals against scalawag cops, chief presidential counsel Salvador Panelo said Monday. He made his statement even as Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said the Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation were jointly looking into the possible involvement of an alleged Korean maﬁa in Jee’s kidnapping and killing. Next page

Church urged not to meddle in state affairs SENATOR Aquilino Pimentel on Monday said the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines had the right to speak against the Duterte administration’s campaign against illegal drugs but reminded the group about the separation of Church and State. Next page

Missed your copy of Manila Standard? Call or text our Circulation Hotline at 0917-8848655 or email: circ@manilastandardtoday.com

News

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2017

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

New... From A1

Over the weekend, Duterte ordered the military to arrest those he had released last year to join peace talks between the NDF and the government. He said he would ask Interpol to issue warrants of arrest against CPP members living abroad, including their founder Jose Maria Sison. The NDF reiterated that Duterte cannot just order the arrest of their members since they are covered by the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantee. Duterte tagged the the CPPNPA-NDF as a terrorist group following a series of encounters between the NPA and the military in which several soldiers were killed. The attacks came while a rebel-declared unilateral ceasefire was still in place. Duterte visited the wakes of the soldiers who were killed by the NPA in different areas of Mindanao. On Sunday, a rebel was killed when his group encountered soldiers from the 76th Infantry Battalion Sunday in Sitio Kalibun Libunan, Barangay Pinagturilan, Sta. Cruz, Occidental Mindoro. 1st Lt. Xy-zon Meneses, spokesman of the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division, said the encounter happened at around 2p.m. “The [rebels] were believed to be part of [a] group that attacked a security detachment in Nasugbu, Batangas last Jan. 31.... The firefight lasted for 30 minutes and resulted in the death of one NPA [rebel],” Meneses said. Soldiers seized two improvised bombs, a cal. 45 pistol with magazine, magazines of the M16A1, a pair of binoculars and four backpacks containing personal belongings and documents. Clashes between government troops and rebels were also reported in Barangay Hinimbangan, Kitcharao, Agusan del Norte; in Barangay Cabatangan, Lambunao, Iloilo; and in Sitio Bantolinao, Barangay Amutag, Aroroy, Masbate, on Saturday, but no casualties were reported. In the Masbate encounter, the military said they recovered a Garand rifle, an SAS-12 shotgun with ammunition, an improvised shotgun, a cal. 38, a short M16 magazine fully loaded, two improvised bombs and documents. Duterte on Monday continued his tirades against communist rebels, branding them “spoiled brats” for asking too much from the government. “I tried my best to make peace with everybody... But these communists, they’re spoiled brats. They make demands as if they’re the government. They said [they would rescind their ceasefire] Feb. 10 but they already killed my soldiers, even the police. Sons-of-bitches, now we’re at war,” Duterte said. “Peace is not possible during our generation. I’m sorry. I’m not about to talk to them again,” he said. Duterte told reporters that he no longer was interested in negotiating with the communists who had fooled him. He also reiterated that he would not give in to their demands that he release all political prisoners. “I released their leaders to enable them to go to Oslo. I released the Tiamzons, the ideologues. But from six, it became 18, and now they want 400,” the President said. “They said that they’re already excempted [from arrest], but once they arrive here… they will be arrested and they should go back to prison,” he added. Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said the 17 consultants of the NDF who participated in the peace talks would be rearrested. “Once they turn themselves in or are arrested, they will be returned to their detention,” Aguirre said. NDF legal consultant Edre Olalia, however, said consultants released on bail cannot be arrested again, even if Duterte ordered it. Olalia said the peace talks had not been properly terminated, so the consultants still enjoyed immunity from surveillance, harassment, search, arrest, detention, prosecution and interrogation. With Maricel V. Cruz, Sara Susanne D. Fabunan

Pump prices up by 50c T

WO oil companies on Monday raised the price of gasoline by P0.50 and diesel and kerosene by P0.30 per liter, respectively. PTT Philippines and Seaoil Philippines made the announcement and the others were expected to follow suit. Seaoil said it made the price adjustments “to reflect the movements in the international petroleum market.”

The Energy Department said higher oil prices were supported by indications that the major oil producers were complying with the supply cut agreed on. It said the increase in US crude inventories was putting pressure on the Organization of

NDF:...

in the Philippines know that the CPP-NPA-NDF and the negotiating panel are united.” “If there are intrigues, these are coming from the military because they don’t want to have peace talks,” he added. A leftist lawmaker on Monday expressed hope that the President would reconsider his decision to scuttle peace talks with the communists. Bayan Muna Rep.Carlos Isagani Zarate, vice chairman of the House committee on peace, reconciliation and unity, described Duterte’s decision as “very unfortunate.” “We hope that the President will reconsider his decision because in less than a year the peace talks have significantly progressed. In the same breath, the peace process should continue even without a ceasefire in place,” Zarate said. “Considering the advances already made in so short a period these past months in the substantive agenda of the talks, these troubling developments do not augur well in solving the root causes of the armed conflict in our country,” Zarate said. “It will only embolden the militarists in and out of the government to continue a system that impoverished our country and people, as well as spawned widespread violations of human rights.” Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Alfredo Garbin, on the other hand, supported the President’s decision. “We strongly support the Presi-

From A1

a group of armed men believed to be NPA rebels in Malaybalay City, Bukidnon Wednesday last week, with soldiers sustaining 76 gunshot wounds among them. The military dismissed the NDF suggestion. “That’s a big lie,” said Col. Edgard Arevalo, AFP Public Information Office chief in a TV interview. “It’s never [the practice] of the military to kill its own soldiers,” he said. Jalandoni rejected Duterte’s pronouncement that the CCPNPA-NDF was a terrorist group, saying they have been working with the government to achieve peace. Jalandoni said this might have been an “emotional reaction” from the President following the soldiers’ deaths. “We reject [President Duterte’s] statements agains the NPA, because he himself cooperated for more than 30 years with revolutionary forces in Mindanao,” he added. Jalandoni also said the NDF is in full control of its armed wing amid doubts raised by Malacañang over the apparent disconnect between the communist negotiators and their ground forces. “We are sure,” Jalandoni said. “Those who know the situation

Mines... From A1

The group also said that it was ironic that Lopez focused on legitimate operations, but turned a blind eye to illegal, undocumented, non-taxpaying and non-compliant mining operations that were “the real violators of [the] environment.” The chamber also accused Lopez of creating an unstable policy environment that threatened the economic growth momentum under the Duterte administration and “putting in limbo $22 billion worth of investments.” “She is attacking the only industry in the country that has actually replanted over 20 million trees nationwide in the past few years alone, deceptively using images of active mining areas as ‘evidence’ that no rehabilitation is happening...and slowly killing an industry that has faithfully paid billions in taxes and fees annually.” “We respectfully appeal to the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte to thoroughly review the actions of the DENR secretarydesignate relating to the minerals sector, and their serious repercussions [on] the country as a whole as they are without basis, fairness and legality,” the chamber said. The chamber noted that Lopez’s predecessor required the mining companies to subject themselves to a yearlong certification process

Church... From A1

President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday told his supporters to join him in hell if they want to rid the country of the drug problem. “You Catholics, if you want to believe in priests and bishops, join them. If you want to be in heaven, be with them,” he said. “But those

MM... From A1

one-peso increase in jeepney fares in Metro Manila, Central Luzon and Southern Tagalog. The agency said the minimum jeepney fare will increase to P8 from P7 15 days after the publication of its order approving the increase. The women’s group Gabriela slammed the increase and said that would only add to the suffering of poor workers and students. The colleges and universities that suspended afternoon classes

Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi

dent’s decision to withdraw from the negotiations with the NDF. The government, through our President, has already given too much in terms of concessions to the members of the NDF in the hopes of having a fruitful peace talks,” Garbin said. Garbin said the recent declarations and actions of the communists belie their claim that they are willing to continue with the peace talks. Surigao del Sur First District Rep. Prospero Pichay and former AFP chief Rodolfo Biazon on Monday appealed to Duterte and the CPP-NPA-NDF to pursue the peace negotiations. At a media forum at the Manila Hotel, both Pichay and Biazon urged both sides to stop the armed struggle and to pursue peace instead. “We cannot end the peace process. The only problem is we have to study the structure of the peace process itself. The issue, number one, is who should they talk to? Preconditions should not be imposed before the peace process, before the talks. Whatever concessions that are being sought, whatever changes or reforms are being sought, should be products of the final peace agreement,” said Biazon. Also, both sides must understand that not all that is being asked by the CPP-NPA-NDF in terms of reforms are within the powers of the President to grant, he added.

under the ISO 14001, which Lopez herself described on July 1, 2016 as “another way of saying responsible mining.” In the House, Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Rodel Batocabe urged Congress to exercise its oversight powers to determine if Lopez’s actions were legal. Batocabe said that while he supports responsible mining, the DENR should ensure that its decision will not hurt the industry that has contributed significantly to the economy. exercise its oversight functions and look into the factual, scientific and legal bases for such a decision,” Batocabe said. The Finance Department on Monday ordered local treasurers to assess the revenue impact the mine closures would have on their respective areas. Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said he ordered the assessment because the mine closures could imperil the fiscal state of local government units in areas that host the mining operations. “Our primary concern is the revenues of the municipalities. That’s why we asked the treasurers already to give us a quick-round assessment of how much is going to be lost in revenues,” Dominguez said. Preliminary data from the department’s Bureau of Local Government Finance show that at least 10 municipalities and one city would be hurt by the DENR’s order to close down 23 mine sites, while one city and four municipali-

who want the problem on drugs ended, join me in hell.” In the CBPC’s pastoral letter released on Sunday, the bishops said they were “deeply concerned” by the deaths and killings in the campaign against illegal drugs. “CBCP, being citizens of the republic, can also comment but let’s try to keep Church and State separate but not totally air-tight separate from each other,” Pimen-

were the University of Santo Tomas, the De La Salle University campuses in Makati City, Taft Avenue and Taguig City and the College of St. Benilde. Colegio de San Juan de Letran, Far Eastern University Manila, Adamson University, University of the Philippines Manila and National University also suspended classes in the afternoon. Metro Manila Development Authority acting chairman Thomas Orbos said the areas affected most by the strike were Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, Valenzuela and parts of Quezon City. With PNA

Petroleum Exporting Countries to reduce oil production. The US gover nment’s Energy Information Administration earlier reported a substantial increase in gasoline stockpiles of 6.8 million bar rels along with cr ude oil inventories that went up by 2.8 million barrels. The price of gasoline has increased by P1.54 per liter so far this year and diesel by P0.90 Alena Mae S. Flores

Pichay emphasized the importance or pursuing the peace negotiations. A peace advocacy group also appealed to Duterte to change his mind. The Kapayapaan Campaign for a Just Peace said a termination or even suspension of the talks would reverse the “positive and substantial” gains achieved in three rounds of talks between the government and the NDF. Senator Paolo Benigno Aquino IV said if the communists were serious about resuming peace talks, they should surrender those responsible for killing the soldiers in Bukidnon. While peace is the ultimate goal, he said, parties must go to the negotiating table in good faith. “Only then can we end this conflict and, finally, build a path toward prosperity for our poor countrymen,” said Aquino. Senator Panfilo Lacson said the President did the right thing, and said the CCP and NDF needed to coordinate with their armed wing, the NPA. On Feb. 3, the AFP issued a memo to all unit commanders to lift the suspension of military operations and ordered full combat operations against the NPA. The memo also ordered attached units prone to rebel attack to pull out from their areas to secure military installations. With Sandy Araneta, Macon Ramos-Araneta and Florante S. Solmerin

ties would be affected by the suspensions. Dominguez said that initially, he had discussed with the heads of the Office of the Cabinet Secretary and the Departments of Labor and Employment, Social Welfare and Development, Public Works and Highways, and Trade and Industry how to address the impact of the DENR move on jobs and LGU revenues. Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said that while emergency employment can be provided to displaced workers, this would only be temporary. Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar, meanwhile, said he will look into additional projects in communities hardest hit by the mine closures so that jobs for the laid-off workers can be provided under a proposed supplemental budget. “The Cabinet members are obviously also very concerned about unemployment and people not having income, so we will put our shoulder to the wheel to address that issue first,” Dominguez said. The Philippines is the world’s top supplier of nickel ore and the main exporter to China. The order has already caused a rise in global nickel prices and a fall in local mining shares. “I don’t think [Lopez] did it arbitrarily but anything like this would need a response like more scientific and data-driven studies,” said SocioEconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia. With Macon Ramos-Araneta, AFP

tel told reporters. He made his statement after the bishops released a pastoral letter on their stand against illegal drugs, summary killings, and the death penalty. Senator Leila de Lima said the pastoral letter merely reminds the Filipinos of the universal moral values that apparently had been lost and forgotten by the people since the start of the drug war.

Duterte... From A1

him, pleading “not to put his brother in jail.” Duterte, however, reiterated he is not vindictive toward political enemies. “‘Si Kris [Aquino] nag-text. Sabi, ‘Huwag mo namang ipakulong si Noynoy.’ [She said, ‘Please don’t send Noynoy to jail.] No Kris. I am not out to find faults. I just want to know the truth,” Duterte said. “I’m not into the business of putting former officials into jail.

“As the statement says, life as a universal value cannot be debated. Due process as a basic civil right cannot be dispensed with,” De Lima said. “Care, love and empathy for our fellow countrymen who were carried away from the mainstream because of poverty is a spiritual and social obligation that is unconditional.” PNA, with Macon Ramos-Araneta and Vito Barcelo

I am not into the habit of sending to prison the guys from the other side of the political fence or whatever,” Duterte told Aquino’s sister via the BIR audience. “I just want to give the Filipino people the truth.” Edwin Lacierda, the presidential spokesperson under Aquino, earlier denied Duterte’s claim the former President deliberately hid the truth about the ill-fated incident. He also downplayed Duterte’s decision to form a commission to revisit the “untold stories” during the Mamasapano clash two years ago.

Chest pains send Rody to undergo ECG test By John Paolo Bencito PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte admitted to having his heart checked on Monday after experiencing chest pains, adding in jest, quoting his doctor, the pain was merely “extrajudicial.” “I went to [have my medical check], that’s why I’m late, pardon me, I had EKG. Because I was not feeling well. It’s because I felt pain in the heart,” Duterte said during a speech before large-scale taxpayers in Pasay City. He was referring to an electrocardiogram [EKG or ECG], a test that checks for problems with the electrical activity of the human heart, with line tracings on paper, the spikes and dips in the line tracings being called waves. Duterte had his medical check with Dr. Agnes Del Rosario of the Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan City, where he was checked for any abnormal activity in the electrical pulses in his heart. “When Dr Del Rosario of Cardinal Santos came over, she brought with her her EKG (machine), there seemed to be nothing wrong with me,” the President said.

378... From A1

illegal drugs and are only guilty of minor infractions such as being frequently tardy or absent. The PNP chief earlier said the PNP has to implement immediate disciplinary action on erring cops even for minor offenses so that they do not become accustomed to disregarding rules, which would eventually lead them to think that they can get away with murder. Also on Monday, Senator Risa Hontiveros said there was no returning to “Oplan Tokhang,” the anti-illegal drug program that was suspended in the wake of revelations that police officers had kidnapped and killed a South Korean businessman, Jee Ick Joo. Hontiveros said the suspension of Oplan Tokhang was a recognition that a simplistic crime and punishment approach is simply ineffective. “There is a need for a new and sustainable strategy that is humane, rehabilitative and less susceptible to abuse. We cannot kill our way out of this problem,” said Hontiveros as she filed on Monday a bill that seeks to replace the government’s antidrug campaign with an “alternative health and law enforcement strategy.” With PNA

SoKor... From A1

“Every angle and theory will be covered by the joint investigation. The investigation will continue,” Aguirre told reporters. NBI Director Dante Gierran and PNP Chief Ronald Dela Rosa met last week at the office of Senator Panfilo Lacson and agreed to conduct a joint investigation to solve Jee’s case. Panelo, whom Duterte had tasked to fly to Seoul, met with Prime Minister and acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn on Feb. 3 and he accepted the Philippine government’s apology over the case. “[The prime minister] asked me to convey to President Rodrigo Duterte that swift justice must be given to the widow ... and he hoped also that it will not occur again,” Panelo told reporters. “The prime minister also told me there had been pending cases filed by Korean nationals to offenders and he hoped that will proceed smoothly and that justice will be served. “Prime Minister Hwang thanked me for conveying the message of apology by the Philippine Government and said he will share President Duterte’s words of comfort to the Korean people. Prime Minister Hwang also requested I extend his gratitude and appreciation to President Duterte.” With PNA

News

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

High court disbars 1, suspends another

DIAGNOSTIC RADIOLOGY. Dr. James Dy (left), president and chief executive ofﬁcer of the Chinese General Hospital and Medical Center, with China’s Minister Qui Yuan Ping during the launching Monday of the center’s newly renovated computed tomography, ultrasound and diagnostic radiology which has a CT-scan department open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Lino Santos

IN BRIEF Govt mulls high real property tax for idle lands THE government will be implementing a steep increase in the real property tax rate for idle property left undeveloped, President Rodrigo Duterte said Monday. “To those who are waiting for vacant properties to increase in value before using, I will tax idle lands heavily,” the President said at the launch of the “Hardin ng Lunas” of the Presidential Security Group in Malacañang Park. “If it hasn’t been developed for 10, 20 years, I will double or triple your real estate [tax] unless you are willing to lend it to somebody, to the barangay so the people can use it,” he added. Duterte’s pronouncements run counter to the proposal of the Finance department for Congress to pass a sharp reduction in estate tax rates to promote the faster development of idle real estate and encourage more people to pay taxes on the transfer of land from deceased persons to their heirs. The Finance department proposal includes a lowering of the current estate tax rates of 20 percent to be cut to as low as six percent of the value of the property being transferred. John Paolo Bencito

BoC seizes P20m worth of iPhones THE Bureau of Customs confiscated some P20 million worth of iPhone mobile phones declared as wall clocks, furniture shoe racks and shoes at the Manila International Container Port. The seized shipment was consigned to Autum Way Enterprises with address in Binondo, Manila while a certain Mario Botona Jr. was named as its licensed customs broker, Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon said. “The shipment was initially put on alert by Atty. Zsae Carrie de Guzman of the Intellectual Property Rights Division after receiving derogatory reports that the shipment aboard contain high-end cellular phones,” he said. The BoC found more than 400 pieces of iPhones surreptitiously hidden and concealed in sacks with the declared goods. Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service Director and BoC spokesperson Neil Estrella said the shipment was originally declared to contain wall clocks, furniture shoe racks, fabrics and Marlin shoes. “The flagrant attempts of crooked importers to smuggle high-value communication items through misdeclaration will definitely be checked by BoC, and both the importer and broker will end up facing sanctions without prejudice from possible criminal charges that we will file in courts,” Estrella said. Vito Barcelo

‘DOTr must hold payment for new MRT-3 coaches’ By Maricel V. Cruz

PARTY-LIST lawmaker on Monday urged Congress to look into allegations the Metro Rail Transit- 3 management had approved the payment of P2.7 billion to its Chinese train supplier although they were not when delivered operational.

Pwersa ng Bayaning Atleta party-list Rep. Jericho Nograles questioned MRT-3 OIC-general manager Deo Leo Manalo over what the lawmaker described as “over-enthusiasm” in endorsing a 70-percent payment to Dalian Locomotive and Rolling Stock Corp. amounting to P2.7 billion for the purchase of 48 new MRT coaches which were delivered but were practically unusable due to the absence of some com-

ponents and the lack of critical tests and documentation. Nograles stressed the administration was being put in bad light by the continuing mismanagement of the MRT-3 under Manalo as he noted that persistent breakdowns of the MRT-3 was becoming a major source of resentment of many Filipinos. “This is very unfortunate, because the MRT was once seen as a symbol of the past administration’s incompetence

and therefore people have high expectations that things will get better under the present government,” said Nograles, vice chairman of the House committee on appropriations. “The present MRT 3 management is failing our people and is giving the Duterte administration a bad name. Manalo should really shape up and make sure he is protecting the interest of our commuters and not these big business interests and contractors,” Nograles added. Nograles said Manalo’s position the government should already pay P2.7 billion out of the P3.8 billion purchase contract for new MRT coaches without even making sure that all the units that were delivered were working and compatible with MRT system was absolutely reckless and irresponsible. “What happens if it turns out that all these coaches are not compatible with our present sys-

tem? Can Manalo make a guarantee that Dalian would immediately replace them after giving them the P2.7 billion downpayment?” Nograles asked. Before paying Dalian, Nograles said the MRT3 management should first exercise due diligence by conducting all the necessary test and by ensuring that all specifications stipulated in the purchase contract were fully complied with to make sure people’s taxes would not go to waste in case the coaches that were delivered were defective and incompatible with the present MRT system. “They should at least wait for all the coaches to be fitted with all the on board electronic and mechanical components and conduct tests, including inter-operability test with the old MRT coaches before we make the payment. I can’t understand why Manalo is in rush to pay Dalian. If you do it, do it right,” Nograles said.

THE Supreme Court penalized two lawyers for various infractions—one was disbarred while the other was suspended from law practice for one year. The Court disbarred Ryan Rey L. Pasagui and ordered him to return with interest the proceeds of a loan amounting to P1 million which he appropriated in violation of the agreement to use the money for the transfer of title of a piece of property under his client’s name. The Court granted complainant Eufemia A. Camino’s Motion for Issuance of a Writ of Execution of its Per Curiam Decision, dated Sept. 20, 2016 finding respondent Pasagui guilty of deceit, malpractice, and gross misconduct. The decision also ordered respondent’s disbarment and for him to return the loan proceeds of P1 million with interest as well as all relevant documents to complainant. The Court ruled that since it had stated in its Sept. 30, 2016 Decision that it was final and executory, execution was already a matter of right and the SC Clerk of Court should issue the Writ of Execution prayed for. But inasmuch as it does not have a sheriff to execute its decision and considering that complainant resides in Tacloban City, the Court directed the Ex-Officio Sheriff of Tacloban City to execute the money judgment against the respondent. The Court also suspended for one year a lawyer who acted as counsel for conflicting interests and refused to return two certificates of title entrusted to him by his client. The Court found Rufino Lizardo guilty of violating Canons 16 and 17, and Rules 15.03 and 16.03 of the Code of Professional Responsibility and suspended him from the practice of law for one year upon the finality of the decision. The Court also ordered Lizardo to return Transfer Certificates of Title Nos. 3900 and 13866 to complainant Silvestra Medina within 15 days from notice of the decision, and warned him that repetition of the same or similar offense shall be dealt with more severely. The Court further ordered that copies of the decision be furnished the Office of the Bar Confidant to be appended to respondent’s personal record as attorney and be furnished the Integrated Bar of the Philippines and all courts in the country for their information and guidance. PNA

Du30 wants to copy agri program Fisherfolk want moratorium By John Paolo Bencito PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte said the Philippines could have been in a far better position had programs of then President Ferdinand Marcos on agriculture and food security been continued. “You know, Marcos, for whatever his faults were, was really an enterprising Ilocano ... his Biyayang Dagat and even the Masagana 99 [programs], if [they were] brought to the Filipinos without corruption, we would have been better off,” the President said at the launch of the “Hardin ng Lunas” of the Presidential Security Group in Malacañang Park on Monday. Duterte, at the same time, defended the former President’s perceived lapses during his term.

“He could have done something wrong, but let’s not single him [out] as if he did not do anything. But in his mind, I said he was the most enterprising President that we ever had because he’s not rich, [and] he came from a province where he grew up in a simple country life,” he added. Duterte earlier said he planned to revive two of the most successful projects initiated by Marcos, the Masagana 99 and the Biyayang Dagat Project. Masagana 99 was a program which promoted the planting of Green Revolution varieties of rice developed by the Los Baños-based International Rice Research Institute which began in 1973. The rice varieties used in the program were capable of high yields when grown with heavy use of fertilizer, herbicides, pesticides, and irrigation.

MEMORIAL SERVICE. Former President Gloria Macapagal, now representing her Pampanga

congressional district in the House of Representatives, attends a memorial service Monday at the Camp Crame Multipurpose Hall for slain South Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo and expresses her deepest sympathy to South Korean ofﬁcials. Manny Palmero

on boat, fish registration By Sandy Araneta THE militant fisherfolk group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas on Monday called for a temporary suspension of some of the provisions on the amended Fisheries Code of 1998 or Republic Act 10654, particularly the Boat Registration (BoatR) and Fisherfolk Registration (FishR), one of the new highlights in the amended Fisheries Code. Pamalakaya said this was another burden for the small fisherfolk who barely earn enough to sustain their families’ daily expenses. The BoatR, according to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, is designed to fasttrack and complete the nationwide fishing vessels registration with capacity of three gross tons and below while the FishR aims to register fisherfolk in the country to come up with a national database system. Pamalakaya said under the BoatR and FishR, fisherfolk register their fishing boats and gears and even themselves with their respective municipal governments annually with corresponding fees. Pamalakaya Chairperson Fernando Hicap, also a fisherman in Rosario, Cavite, said he had paid at least P5,000 for the registration of his fishing boat and other gears.

Hicap said: “This registration scheme is ridiculous and absurd. Why would the government require the fisherfolk and even their fishing gears to get registered? “Fishing sector is the poorest in the country; they bear the brunt of commercial fishing proliferation and the decreasing income due to decreasing fish catch in the municipal fishing waters. “What they need is concrete government support and aid, not another hefty fees and taxes.” Hicap said this registration scheme was prone to corruption among local government and even officials. “Local government units are empowered to impose exorbitant fees and regressive taxation in accordance with the Fisheries Code. Even before the registration scheme, fisherfolk were already paying different taxes and fees and it has become the milking cow and money making scheme of some local and national government officials,” said Hicap. The fisherfolk group is gearing on a nationally coordinated protest on the 19th year anniversary of the Fisheries Code of 1998 on Feb. 24 to call for the abrogation of the said law and push for a new and genuine fisheries reform law that will truly benefor the interest of the small fisherfolk.

Opinion

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2017

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

EDITORIAL

Speaking to its ﬂock

HURCH leaders have spoken to their flock through a pastoral letter read Sunday during Mass.

Catholic bishops were quick to establish, early on, that they agree illegal drugs is a menace that must be fought and that they were one with the many who seek change. Change, however, must be guided by truth and justice. The local clergy said it was deeply concerned over the killings that accompanied the government’s campaign against

Adelle Chua, Editor

illegal drugs. The deaths have reached more than 7,000 by latest estimates. The killings have also worsened the condition of the families of the dead and have established a reign of terror in many places of the poor. A greater cause for concern, though, is the apparent indifference of many to what is happening. “It is considered normal, and even worse, something

that needs to be done.” In the letter, several teachings were reiterated, among them that the opportunity to change is never lost in every person, that destroying a life does evil to society, that everyone has the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, that the drug problem is rooted in poverty and corruption, and that to keep silent before evil is to be an accomplice to it. In response, the Palace said the Church was out of touch with the reality happening on the ground.

A few weeks ago, the President called out the Church for its erring members; some of the stories are in the book Altar of Secrets by the late investigative journalist Aries Rufo. He also accused Bishop Emeritus Teodoro Bacani of having two wives, which the latter denied. It is noteworthy that the letter said: “We in the Church will continue to speak against evil even as we acknowledge and repent of our own shortcomings.” The message though would have been stronger if it had asserted

it was doing something concrete about those shortcomings aside from seeking forgiveness. There is no pretense of perfection in claiming the moral ground. The bishops were well within their rights in issuing the letter and having it read during Sunday Mass. They were speaking to their flock and exhorting them to act based on the teachings of the faith. The Philippines remains predominantly Catholic. In fact, the letter is overdue—the Church had been silent, too, for

a while, even as the number of those killed was rising and the manner of their deaths was becoming alarming. This is not an issue of religious meddling, or which institution is the dirtiest of all. The perfect and the infallible do not have the monopoly of speaking out against violence and injustice. The messages too do not have to be shot down at once just because of who is delivering them. If it were so, nobody would be speaking out, and listening, anymore.

Lopez is right about mining

DENR does ‘tokhang’ LOWDOWN

JOJO A. ROBLES YOU could call it the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ version of “tokhang,” the controversial police campaign to visit suspected drug users in order to convince them to mend their ways. Except that the police appeared to have a real basis for identifying those involved in the drug trade, while DENR doesn’t even want to disclose how it went after the mining companies that it shut down last week. Let’s make this plain at the start: If the mining companies ordered shuttered by Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Regina Lopez violated the law, then by all means, they should be shut down. But Lopez, who ordered the closure of 23 mining sites across the country and the suspension of five others, also needs, at the very least, to declare the

specific violations that precipitated her action. Sadly, Lopez refuses to release the results of the purported seven-month audit that she conducted on the mining industry, on which the closures and suspensions are reportedly based. Because of the lack of disclosure, Lopez cannot even say how 12 other mining concerns that were also audited by her department’s Mines and Geosciences Bureau passed the audit. And if Lopez really intends to be fair to the two million or so Filipinos dependent on mining for their livelihood, according to the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines, she will reveal the results of the MGB evaluation. But how can Lopez be expected, at this late date, to be transparent about the audit when she did not even make the officials of the MGB attend the press conference she called last Feb. 2, during which she announced the closures and suspensions? And what is the real role of a former undersecretary of DENR who used to head up MGB in the previous administration, but who

was removed by President Rodrigo Duterte—only to find his way back as a “special consultant” of Lopez, who put him in charge of the mining audit? According to Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers,

I don’t know if Duterte appointed Lopez to be DENR secretary or if he made her queen over all she surveys.

whose province has been one of the hardest-hit by the Lopez closure orders, former MGB head and Undersecretary Leo Jasareno, who is now the secretary’s foremost adviser on min-

ing, should be instead haled to court for granting the same mining permits (as MGB head) that he advised Lopez to close. “How can Jasareno advise Lopez on mining, in the first place, when he was the one who gave these companies their permits?” Barbers asked. But don’t take my word for it. Here’s Lopez herself, telling journalists her reason for not disclosing the audit results of her very own “tokhang:” “I don’t have to have you privy to the processes on which I make my decisions,” Lopez said. “What I’m sharing with you are the principles on which I stand by, and I truly hope you share the same principles because you’re Filipino. I’m not going to show you…because I don’t want anything complicated. Just leave it already, I’ve made my decision and accept it. Don’t try to make things complicated.” I don’t know if Duterte appointed Lopez to be DENR secretary or if he made her queen over all she surveys. At the very least, Lopez can be accused of trying too hard to become the

“Punisher” of the mining industry—even if the punishments she metes out should never, ever be questioned. *** Despite Lopez’s faux-regal position on the closures, not all of the Duterte administration is backing her up. The silence of Duterte himself on Lopez’s precipitate action is also telling; Duterte is known to declare his displeasure about something without ever feeling the need for a Cabinet member to do the job for him. What I do know is that Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, one of the most senior Cabinet members and a trusted Duterte adviser, has expressed concern over the adverse impact of the closures in three areas. The closures and suspensions, Dominguez said, will cause the loss of many thousands of jobs at the mining concerns, wreak havoc on the fiscal conditions of local governments that rely heavily on the taxes and fees paid by the mining companies, and even put a damper on the national

FIVE years ago, in an Eagle Eyes column, I wrote that we are a country rich in mineral resources. But our islands also are also full of people, as well as rich in other living or non-living resources that sustain economic activities such as farming, ecotourism, and fishing. Mining operations necessarily involve the alteration of the land or seabed, such that people who use the land or sea for settlement and/or livelihood are likely to be displaced by mining operations. The lands where mineral resources are located may also have cultural or ecological values not easily measured in monetary terms. The benefits derived from mining must therefore balance its costs on people and the environment. Compensation for losses must be provided on top of the rightful share of the country and local people of the income from mineral wealth. The impact of mining operations in the Philippines is magnified because their scale is large compared to the total area and population affected (often in small islands, with many communities living in the area intended for mining, with high risk of natural disasters). This is in contrast to the impact of mining operations in continental settings (e.g., Australia, Canada, the United States) where the size of mining operations is small compared to the vastness of the continent, with a sparse population and less diverse natural ecosystems. Mining operations are either large-scale or small-scale. Unfortunately, the policy criteria for categorizing small- versus large-scale mining do not always match the criteria for determining the scale of environmental impacts or economic benefits. But for both types of mining, these questions must be addressed: (a) Should mining prevail over current land uses? Are the benefits from mining sufficient and fairly distributed? Are the social and environmental costs fully considered and compensated? Are the risks of adverse impact reduced to a minimum and socially acceptable to those who bear them? When local stakeholders decide that the risks are unacceptable, can the national government override that decision based on broader criteria? In 2012, I also asked these fundamental questions that are

Turn to A5

Rolando G. Estabillo Publisher can be accessed at: thestandard.com.ph

Benjamin Philip G. Romualdez Former Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno

Philippine Press Institute The National Association of Philippine Newspapers

Anita F. Grefal Baldwin R. Felipe Edgar M. Valmorida

ManilaStandard

Published Monday to Sunday by Philippine Manila Standard Publishing Inc. at 6/F Universal Re Building, 106 Paseo de Roxas, corner Perea St., Legaspi Village, Makati City. Telephone numbers 832-5554, 832-5556, 832-5558 (connecting all departments), (Editorial) 832-5554, (Advertising) 832-5550. P.O. Box 2933, Manila Central Post Ofﬁce, Manila. Website: www.thestandard. com.ph; e-mail: contact@thestandard.com.ph

ONLINE MEMBER

PPI

Chairman Board Member & Chief Legal Adviser Treasury Manager OIC-Ad Solutions Circulation Manager

Ramonchito L. Tomeldan Chin Wong/Ray S. Eñano Francis Lagniton Joyce Pangco Pañares

Managing Editor Associate Editors News Editor City Editor

Emil P. Jurado

Adelle Chua Honor Blanco Cabie Romel J. Mendez Roberto Cabrera

Chairman Emeritus, Editorial Board

Opinion Editor Night Editor Art Director Chief Photographer

Opinion

WHILE the nation was fixated, in the past weeks, on the kidnapping and strangling of a Korean businessman by members of the Anti-Illegal Drugs Group of the Philippine National Police, right inside Camp Crame, a strange and suspicious event took place at the Commission on Elections warehouse in Sta. Rosa, Laguna where Smartmatic automated machines were stored. The ceiling of the Memory Configuration Room of the warehouse collapsed, affecting the servers of the machines used during the May 9, 2016 national and local elections. These servers contain sensitive information— vital data that are the subject of election protests by former Senator Bongbong Marcos against Vice President Leni Robredo, and former Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman Francis Tolentino against no. 12 Liberal Party Senator Leila de Lima. Tolentino placed 13th. Given the allegations that the Liberal Party and the “Yellowtards” conducted massive cheating in the last poll to make their candidates win, the collapse of the ceiling of that warehouse must be investigated. Tolentino, in an urgent motion to the Senate Electoral Tribunal, expressed dismay that the Comelec informed the SET about the incident only last Jan. 16. The poll body asked the tribunal “to reboot, conduct diagnostics and shut down the servers covered by the election protests to determine the extent of damage to the data in the servers” when the incident occurred. Knowing full well that there are claims by Marcos and Tolentino that both the Comelec and Smartmatic machine officials connived to make Robredo win over Marcos, and De Lima over Tolentino, the SET and the National Bureau of Investigation should dig deeper. A report to Comelec chairman Andres Bautista on the incident said technical people of the commission went to the warehouse and investigated the incident. They found out the dangerous condition of the servers (and the data they contain) because the air-conditioning system was not working. I am sure there are CCTV footages of the Smartmatic warehouse. *** When President Duterte appointed heiress Gina Lopez to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan said that “it is like putting an elephant in a room.” Now Lopez has closed 23 mining firms and suspended five more for allegedly violating the law for polluting the environment with dangerous tailings. These actions on mining firms put 67,000 direct jobs at risk with P66.6 billion worth of annual production expected to be lost. No less than Finance Secretary Carlos “Sonny” Dominguez expressed concern that P16.7 billion would be lost in taxes, my gulay! Dominguez did not mince words when he said that his next concern is the impact on local governments to which mining

firms pay taxes. Dominguez is also concerned about the effects of Lopez’s action on the Gross Domestic Product. The mining industry represents .05 percent of the country’s total production. And most of all, the country will lose its dominance in nickel exports. The country controls 20 percent of the world market, with most of the mining firms producing nickel closed. Perhaps, that’s the reason why up to now, the affected mining firms have not been shown the audit reports. This violates the Transparency Act. My gulay, Lopez claimed, “it’s too complicated.” It’s complicated because there was no due process, and the audit report was totally baseless. President Duterte should instruct Lopez to make her audit report public. The mining firms affected have a contract with government. As such, their investors both foreign and local are guaranteed due process. I can almost foresee multiple lawsuits filed by the affected firms against government. Is the Duterte administration sending the message that foreign investments in the mining industry are not welcome? Representatives of the mining industry sought a meeting with Dominguez together with the Interagency Minerals Coordinating Council. This is to assess the impact of the Lopez audit report and likewise, its impact on the national economy. It’s bad enough that President Duterte has turned the country into “killing fields” with his bloody war on illegal drugs. More than 7,000 have already been killed. And now, this audit report. My gulay lay, Mister President, don’t you realize that with Gina Lopez as DENR secretary, your problems of poverty and joblessness can only get worse? *** The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines has finally broken its self-imposed silence on the President’s war on illegal drugs. This was contained in a pastoral letter read by Catholic priests nationwide during Mass last Sunday. I agree with the CBCP which has a moral duty to tell its faithful what the situation is and what should be done about it. In the same pastoral letter, the CBCP also told the faithful that keeping silent about all the killings, which have somehow become the “new normal,” would be conniving in the killings. The CBCP is not “out of touch.” The bishops and priests are committed to lead the faithful in realizing that they should act to stop the killings. How and to what extent, it remains to be seen. Perhaps it’s for fear that they will be next targets that many Filipinos have not taken to the streets to protest the killings. This has been validated by a recent survey that eight out of 10 Filipinos fear they will be next in the war against illegal drugs. They are also mostly poor. The CBCP has gotten out of its shell with that pastoral letter. Its impact should not be underestimated. The country is still predominantly Roman Catholic.

DENR... From A4

Lopez to rescind her closure and suspension orders. She only has to explain the basis for her decision. If she can produce the results of her audit and is able to defend them, then she will silence her critics. (She need not worry about how complicated they are; if they make sense and are based on real evidence, they will be upheld.) But if the Duterte administration can suspend “tokhang,” the President’s centerpiece campaign, because of alleged abuses, it should also revisit Lopez’s extrajudicial killing of an entire industry. And it is Lopez’s responsibility to disclose the results of her audit and her basis for the closures and suspensions. Actual lives and livelihood— to say nothing of billions in actual investments—depend on it.

The ceiling collapsed in the room that housed sensitive information on election protests.

economy, particularly the country’s gross domestic product. In exports of nickel (a raw material used in the production of steel) alone, the Philippines is ranked as the world’s numberone supplier. In 2015, the Philippines produced about 24 percent of the nickel consumed worldwide, according to the Morgan Stanley investment house. Data released this week by the US Geological Survey placed overall Philippine nickel production for 2016 at 530,000 tons, or 21 percent of total global output. And the mines that Lopez ordered closed account for half of the country’s nickel ore output. Again, nobody is asking

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Ideologues

TO THE POINT EMIL P. JURADO

Strange and suspicious

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2017

FORMATION GARY OLIVAR THE local communists and both their armed and unarmed cadres have just broken the months-old ceasefire that was supposed to be part of the ongoing peace process in Rome (transferred there from wintry Oslo to suit the warmblooded Filipino negotiators). President Duterte responded by ordering his troops back into the field, labeling the communists as terrorists (I can hear the Americans crowing, “We told you so!”) and ordering the NDF negotiators arrested should they be foolhardy enough to return to Manila. Now what are the local Reds complaining about? They were already given two and a half Cabinet seats by Duterte, unprecedented in post-war history. This builds on the leftist bloc of nearly two dozen congressmen they have accumulated over the years by claiming “marginalized” status under the party-list system, having been unable—as Duterte himself earlier pointed out—to win a single congressional district on their own merits. They secured the release from imprisonment of key leaders just by agreeing to restart the peace process, including my old friend and fraternity brother Benny Tiamzon, whom my brods and I had high hopes of pushing as a party-list candidate in the 2019 mid-term elections if he were so

minded. Throughout the ceasefire, as they have done before, they bought time and space to preserve and even expand their military presence in the countryside—certainly enough to mount the latest killings and kidnappings of soldiers. They cited military provocations as an excuse, but no details of these have been offered by the usually garrulous guerrillas. So what do the Reds say they want? Nothing short of the release of all four hundred of their comrades still languishing in prison. Never mind if they offer nothing in exchange except for agreeing to resume a peace process, which, having done so before, they can also walk away from all over again. I suspect that the real reason they’re walking away today is to ratchet up the pressure on government negotiators as the two parties now begin to negotiate a Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-Economic Reforms (CASER). This will be the “heart and soul” of the peace process, and its most difficult part. This is the golden opportunity for the radical Left to enshrine their agenda after nearly a century of failing to do so, first through the Leninist way, then Mao’s. After Duterte responded in kind to their walk away, the communists, echoed as usual by wellintentioned peaceniks, claimed it was still possible to “talk and fight.” Did they think they could pull off their bluff with the streetsmart gun-lover in the Palace? Or do they think the people will really believe what they’re saying?

I understand that the ageing Party leaders in Utrecht really, really want to go home and spend their last years here. As a fellow senior, I totally sympathize with them. But now they’ll have to earn that privilege by proving that they do control their troops, not only at the negotiation table but also out in the field. *** Ideological intransigence comes in other colors as well—not just red, or yellow, but also of the green variety. I’m talking here about Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Gina Lopez, who’s never met an environmental cause she didn’t fall in love with. Sec Gina’s recent decision to close down 23 mining companies for environmental violations predictably plays havoc with so many constituencies: the 1.2 million people whose livelihoods will reportedly be directly or indirectly affected; the billions of dollars of foreign exchange and tax revenues that will be lost; the loss of confidence that will ripple throughout the investor community at this latest display of on-again, off-again policy. In fact, her very own review team—which already includes some well-known green militants—reportedly advised that some of the violations they found were in fact rectifiable and did not warrant permanent closure, perhaps just suspension. The way she responded to reporters’ questions about this is pretty instructive about her ideological passion: “Don’t try to make

things complicated. You cannot have any kind of mining operations in a watershed. Water is life.” Well. Unfortunately for the good secretary, complications are a fact of life in her elevated position. Also, it is possible with modern technology to conduct ecologically safe mining operations in the unlikeliest places. It is mainly the small-scale mines, who can’t afford to use such technology, who thus end up being the most common violators. As for water being life, nobody would argue with that. However, jobs and livelihoods are also indispensable for life. I would like to think that Sec Gina, who belongs to an extremely business-savvy family, is simply being a good negotiator, i.e. staking out an extreme position at the start so the inevitable compromise in the middle will leave you closer to where you always wanted to be. If that’s all it is, then kudos to her! But if not, and if she really believes what she’s saying, then that does no good for the country—already one of the most mineralized in the world (especially gold, copper and nickel) but still unable to fully benefit from such God-given wealth. The good secretary should not forget the “NR” in her title. This makes her squarely responsible for maximizing the use of those natural resources. Neglecting the development of that wealth is no less an abandonment of responsibility than neglecting the environment. *** Readers can write me at gbolivar1952@yahoo.com.

No such thing as ‘VP duties’ HAIL TO THE CHAIR VICTOR AVECILLA UNDER the Constitution of the United States, the president is the head of the executive department, and his successor is the vice president. Although the vice president is the second-highest executive official in America, he cannot exercise executive power, or any power which the US Constitution vests exclusively and personally in the president. At best, and only because there is no provision in the US Constitution or in federal legislation prohibiting it, the president can designate the vice president as his representative in important ceremonial state functions. There are, however, functions which the president cannot delegate to the vice president. For instance, while the vice president can represent the president in an international summit abroad, the vice president cannot approve or veto, for and on behalf of the president, any bill approved by Congress and sent to the White House for the latter’s approval or veto. This function must be exercised exclusively and personally by the president himself. In legal theory, the vice president of the United States is a mere spare tire in the highest echelons of executive power, one to be remembered only when the president dies, or is unable to perform his duties. That is not so in legal and political reality.

Lopez... From A4 still relevant today: Who has the right to decide? How are decisions made, and on what basis? Unfortunately, the dynamics of “who decides” keep changing as policies change. When decisions and decision-making are inconsistent or unstable because of the lack of empirical bases, stakeholders tend to appeal to the highest power that can enforce a decision in their favor. This opens up venues for arbitrary decision-making based on factors other than facts. The net effect is the absence of stability and consistency in decision-making. Conflicts persist. Where there is convergence of mineral resources, people, and richness of biological and natural life, complicated further by social inequity and bad governance, you have understandably an explosive situation. Five years later from when I wrote the column I mention here, which was based on a comprehensive legal and policy review conducted by a multi-disciplinary team (lawyers, economists, and environmental experts) of the Ateneo School of Government, this is the state and challenge of mining in the Philippines. Responsible mining is possible but it can only happen with the right enabling

The US Constitution explicitly provides that the vice president shall be the presiding officer in the Senate, but he may not vote on any piece of legislation, except when his vote is needed to break a tie. Because the vice president has a job in the Senate, and a full time one at that, nobody in America sees him as a mere spare tire in the White House, or as a sidekick of the president, or one who simply tags along with the president wherever the latter goes. Since the US Constitution mandates that the vice president must serve as the presiding officer of the US Senate, the president may not appoint the vice president to a cabinet position. Morever, since the vice president works as the presiding officer in the US Senate, the vice president can honestly say that he worked for and earned the salary he draws from the American taxpayers. In other words, the salary which the vice president draws is a salary duly earned, not as the president’s constitutional successor, but as one who works in the US Senate. Sadly, the foregoing system does not obtain in the Philippines, even if the Philippine constitutional and political system is designed after the American model. The 1987 Constitution of the Philippines does not impose a specific job or duty for the vice president of the Philippines. It simply mandates that the Vice President shall be the successor of the President. That is not a job or a duty; that is mere a default template. Although the Constitution allows the president of the Philippines to appoint the vice president

to a position in his Cabinet, the vice president has no vested right to any Cabinet post. If the president does not want to appoint the vice president to his Cabinet, he cannot be legally compelled to do so. As the head of the executive department, the president can also fire the vice president from the Cabinet. Despite the fact that the vice president of the Philippines has no specific job or duty under the 1987 Constitution, the vice president is still paid a salary from taxpayers’ money. That’s a salary drawn from public funds for glorified unemployment. It’s a salary for a mere waiting game, with no work done or required. On the other hand, if the vice president were at least a member of the Cabinet, the vice president deserves being compensated with public funds, not as vice president, but as a member of the Cabinet. Vice President Leni Robredo is currently enjoying the perks of a high, pompous position in the national political hierarchy. Since she is no longer a member of the Cabinet of President Rodrigo Duterte, Robredo’s compensation from public funds is for her glorified unemployment as vice president, and not for any other work in the civil service. Poor taxpayers! Robredo is also provided a “vice presidential mansion” in Quezon City, one owned by the government and maintained with public funds. No other vice president in recent memory was given a mansion, and for a “job” consisting of nothing more than waiting for a vacancy in the big seat in Malacañang. Poor taxpayers!

Her administrative staff are also paid salaries taken from the public treasury. To all intents and purposes, they are paid to assist a boss who has nothing to do in the first place. Poor taxpayers! Robredo could have avoided her current predicament if she remained in President Duterte’s Cabinet. A position in the Cabinet, of course, requires that one should not openly espouse views that contradict the President’s. Robredo repeatedly violated that protocol, and as such, her discharge from the Cabinet was inevitable. Thus, Robredo blew her only chance to justify her salary from taxpayers’ money. If Robredo is the righteous public official she portrays herself to be, she should resign her high office posthaste, if only to stop the shameless wastage of public funds for her salary, the maintenance of her mansion, and the payment of the needless expenses of her office, particularly the salaries of her assistants who help her in their “official” pursuit and accomplishment of nothing. In the event that Robredo does not want to resign on the sweeping assumption that she was “elected by the people,” she should at least waive her salary as vice president, and the budget Congress annually allocates for her. Robredo should also vacate the “vice presidential mansion” and live in her own house, like other elected officials (other than the President) do. Come to think of it, although a senator does more work than the vice president does, the vice president enjoys free housing. The senator does not. Hmmm.

conditions. Good governance is key, transparent and fair revenue sharing is essential, and strict compliance with environmental and other laws must be absolute. The imperatives of responsible mining is why Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Gina Lopez is right in closing down this week 21 operating mines and suspending six others. These closure and suspension decisions were done after an industry-wide environmental audit that started immediately after the inauguration of the Duterte administration and the appointment of Secretary Lopez. The mines closed were in watershed areas while those suspended were found to have violated environmental rules and regulations. Above all, no-go areas like watersheds must be completely off-limits to mining, which unfortunately is a rule that has been frequently disregarded. President Duterte says it very well, reiterating his support of Secretary Lopez as reported by GMA 7: “You know, I support her. And there was never a time that I called her to slow down a little bit, because … on one hand is the strict implementation of the mining laws. She’s so passionate about, not about the mining laws but about the little men on the land tilling.” The President also pointed out

that Secretary Lopez was just being pro-people and pro-poor policies. His instructions to her when she was appointed, “You can have your way, just be fair and make it legal.” The mining companies closed and suspended have of course objected to the decisions of Secretary Lopez, invoking lack of due process. As my administrative law students would know, the essence of administrative due process is notice and hearing. Although I do not know the details of each case, from what I have observed based on news reports, that basic requirement seems to have been followed. I do agree with the industry that the audit findings must be fully disclosed and the additional processes the DENR followed to arrive at a decision must likewise be explained to the public. Secretary Lopez is of course right that she is the one that must make the decision here; as long as there is substantial evidence for that decision, even if the recommendations of the audit may have been different, it is the Secretary’s decisions that should prevail. The economic consequences of the closure and suspension decisions—to the companies, workers, local government revenues, and our GNP—have also been highlighted by critics of Secretary Lopez. This has been echoed by Finance Sec-

retary Sonny Dominguez who is rightly concerned. While the impact is real and the affected workers must be given a just transition, some of the claims are not justified by the evidence. For example, the projection that more than a million workers will be affected by the closures does not pass the laugh test. Economist Dr. Cielo Magno of the UP School of Economics and Bantay Kita has pointed out that official government data states that as of the third quarter of 2016, total industry employment is 219,000 and that already includes employment from the non-metallic mining sector. According to Dr. Magno: “We have 40 operating metallic mines Sec. Gina is closing about half of the operating mines. Even if she closes all the mines and multiply it by 3 to factor in indirect jobs, it won’t reach 1.2 million (that’s only 750k).” I personally think that the multiplier effect is much smaller and number of jobs lost is smaller. In any case, Secretary Lopez has promised to provide for or enable green investments alternative livelihoods. Responsible mining requires us to be just and smart. That in my view is what Secretary Lopez is doing. Facebook: deantonylavs Twitter: tonylavs

News

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2017

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

DAR suspends ‘arbitrary’ order By Rio N. Araja

ECRETARY Rafael Mariano of the Department of Agrarian Reform issued on Monday Administrative Order No. 1 to suspend the guidelines requiring farmers to sign promissory notes, or the application to purchase and farmers’ undertaking document, to qualify as beneﬁciaries of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.

“APFU is arbitrary, discriminatory and self-incriminating. It is a ground for the farmer or farmworker to be stricken out of the list of beneficiaries and be replaced by other qualified beneficiaries,” he said. AO No.1 of 2017 would suspend the guidelines, and at the same time amended Section 19 of AO No. 3 of 2012 and Section 60 of AO No. 7 of 2011 in compliance with President Rodrigo Duterte’s directive to fast track the distribution of lands to farmers. Citing Hacienda Luisita Inc., some 111 farmer-benefi-

ciaries in Tarlac were disqualified by then agrarian reform secretary Virgilio delos Reyes over their refusal to sign the APFU document. On April 24, 2012, the Supreme Court voted 14-0 to order the total distribution of Hacienda Luisita to about 6,000 farmer-beneficiaries. In an Aug. 26, 2014 order, DAR disqualified the 111 farmers from becoming awardees of the lands covered by the agrarian reform program for failing to sign the promissory notes for the farm lands’ amortization. AFPU binds the farmer-

beneficiaries to pay for their monthly amortizations and real-estate taxes over a 30-year period. Under the administration of Delos Reyes, after a promissory note is signed, the certificate of land ownership award shall be issued. “Refusing to sign the APFU should not be a ground for disqualifying an individual as beneficiary of land reform,” Mariano said. He said requiring the farmers to sign the AFPU has become a common practice to disenfranchise them. Under AO No. 1, an agrarian

reform beneficiary who qualifies under the screening process shall state under oath before the judge of the city or municipal court that he or she is willing to work on the land to make it productive and to assume the obligations under CARP. The beneficiary’s oath shall be in a language or dialect known and spoken by the farmer-beneficiary. The agrarian reform chief, however, clarified that failure to take the oath shall not be construed as a waiver of the right to become a beneficiary or as an exemption from fulfilling the obligations.

TO THE RESCUE. Stranded commuters board an MMDA truck in Caloocan City during a jeepney strike, which also affected other parts of the metropolis. Manny Palmero

11 charged DoLE seeks to save condemned OFW in Kuwait for various By Vito Barcelo offenses at airport By Joel Zurbano THE Manila International Airport Authority has filed criminal charges against 11 persons engaged in various illegal activities at the airport. Among those charged before the Department of Justice were two taxi drivers namely—Daniel Sallan and Victorino Duldulao— who were involved in robbery and assault of arriving passengers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, and airport station loaders Erickson Sindayen and Jil Cabigayan. Sallan was charged with robbery, resistance and disobedience while Duldulao was slapped with direct assault, unjust vexation, and resistance and disobedience. Sindayen and Cabigayan, on the other hand, were charged with qualified theft. The other seven suspects were Vergel Tenorio (illegal solicitation and other forms of deceit), Rey Anonuevo (alarm and scandal), Nersita Baul (alarm and scandal), Danjo Alfon (illegal solicitation ad resistance), Brando de Lara (illegal possession of deadly weapon), Agustin Diva (concealing true name and unjust vexation) and airport building attendant Christoffer Philipson Co (theft). MIAA-Airport Police Department manager Romeo Labador said his office filed the cases against the suspects last month. The filing is also in line with the directives of MIAA general manager Eddie Monreal to go after erring Naia personnel and abusive taxi drivers as three of the suspects charged were employees at the airport and two others were cab drivers.

THE Department of Labor and Employment said on Monday that it is exerting all efforts to save the life of overseas Filipino worker Elpidio Lano who was sentenced to death for killing a fellow Filipino worker in Kuwait, even as the department appealed to the victim’s family to forgive Lano and accept the “blood money” being offered. Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said he has appealed to the

family of Nilo Macaranas to forgive Lano who is on death row in Kuwait. Bello met with the wife of Macaranas, an engineer whom Lano allegedly stabbed to death two years ago. Under the Kuwait judicial system, Lano can escape the death sentence if he pays the required amount to the victim’s family. “I have already talked with Mrs. Macaranas. I told her that maybe, she can ﬁnd it in her heart to forgive Lano,” Bello said.

He added: “It’s now up to her and their family to decide kung mapapatawad nila si Lano and accept the offer of blood money.” However, the DoLE did not say how much the family is asking as “blood money”. “I’m still hoping for the best for Lano. Hopefully, we can get at least a commutation of his death sentence, or better yet, his freedom,” Bello also said. In 2014, Lano was arrested after he was accused of killing Macaranas. He was sentenced

to death by hanging by the Kuwait Court of First Instance. The court, however, has yet to set the execution. Lano’s case resurfaced following the hanging last month of Jakatia Pawa, a household service worker sentenced for the killing in 2007 of her employer’s 22-year-old daughter. Pawa allegedly stabbed the victim several times with a kitchen knife while the latter was sleeping. Pawa professed innocence until the time of her death.

ALTERNATIVE STRATEGY. Senator Risa Hontiveros personally ﬁles a bill which she said intends to replace the government’s “corrupt and abusive” anti-drug campaign with an ‘alternative health and law enforcement strategy’ to address the country’s drug problem. Lino Santos

House mulls relocating capital, seat of govt By Maricel V. Cruz THE House of Representatives is open to a proposal for incity mass housing projects for informal settler families (ISFs) and relocate the capital and seat of government to decongest Metro Manila. Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo Benitez, the House committee on housing and urban development chairman, said his panel has created a technical working group to review the proposal to create an Administrative Capital City Planning Commission tasked to conduct a feasibility study on the mass housing proposal. Benitez, author of the proposal contained in House Bill 83, said based on the data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority, Metro Manila is home to 11.9 million people in 2010, making it one of the world’s most densely populated areas. “Overpopulation, trafﬁc congestion and high vulnerability to natural disasters have made Metro Manila or the National Capital Region (NCR) a pariah among world cities. There is a need to rethink and develop a masterplan that will decongest Metro Manila,” Benitez said. At a congressional hearing, Benitez showed an audiovisual presentation which summed up the results of the National Housing Summit piloted two years ago and which culminated last year. Among the consensus reached was the construction of medium-rise buildings which would accommodate the ISFs sprawled over Metro Manila and eating up valuable urban space. Out of the 1.5 million ISFs in the country, Benitez said nearly 600,000 are found in the NCR. The off-city government programs for the ISFs failed because many of the those who had been relocated have returned to the NCR as their relocation sites are far from their source of income, he added. “If it can be done in the local level, then the implementation on a larger scale, on a national level, is really feasible,” Benitez said.

Cagayan city exec dismissed THE Office of the Ombudsman ordered on Monday the dismissal from service of Cagayan’s Tuguegarao City Mayor Jefferson Soriano for grave misconduct and abuse of authority. In a decision, the Ombudsman said Soriano “committed a corrupt act when he gave unwarranted benefit, advantage or preference to One Way Parking Terminal Inc. through manifest partiality by issuing the provisional permit without prior ordinance and authorization from the Sanggunian.” “OWPTI was allowed immediately to operate the terminal even without going through the proper process of seeking legislative franchise from the Sanggunian,”it added. Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales directed Interior and Local Government Secretary Ismael Sueno to immediately implement the dismissal order. “Soriano abused his authority and flagrantly disregarded established rules since he put the cart before the horse by issuing the permit without authorization by the Sanggunian,” she said. The dismissal order comes with the accessory penalties of perpetual disqualification from holding public office, forfeiture of retirement benefits and cancellation of eligibility. Rio N. Araja

Sports

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2017 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

World PH champs to be cited A

LONG list of citations will be handed out by the Philippine Sportswriters Association during its traditional Awards Night presented by San Miguel and MILO next Monday at the LE PAVILLON in Pasay City. A couple of world champions led the total of 41 personalities and entities to be cited by the country’s oldest organization in the Feb. 13 event also co-presented by CIGNAL/ HYPE HD. On top of the list are newlycrowned world boxing champions Jerwin Ancajas and Marlon Tapales, Mixed Martial Arts’ star

Michael Brandon Vera, the Philippine Dragon Boat team, wushu bets Divine Wally and Arnel Mandal, and lady boxer Gretchen Abaniel. Asian Beach Games gold medalists Annie Ramirez and Margarita Ochoa, taekwondo jin Pauline Lopez, and the pair of Olympic boxers Rogen Ladon and Charly Suarez are also recipients of citations in the

two-hour program which counts on Smart, Rain or Shine, Phoenix Petroleum, Mighty Sports, Gold Toe, Globalport, Foton, and ICTSI as major sponsors. Others to be cited are Ernest John Obiena, Chezka Centeno, Criztian Pitt Laurente, Ariana Thea Patrice Dormitorio, Sofia Chabon, Bernice Olivarez-Ilas, Joseph Myers, Orencio James delos Santos, Jacob Ang, Kenneth San Andres, Juvenile Faye Crisostomo, Patrick John Tierro, Monica Torres, August Benedicto, Ramon ‘Tats’ Suzara, Johnny Tan, National University Lady Bulldogs, National University Pep Squad, Pocari Sweat, RC Cola-Army, and

Philippine fencing team. Completing the list of citations are the Philippine sailing team, Philippine sepak takraw team, Philippine Canoe Kayak Federation, United Football League, Women’s Volleyball League, Pru Life, TV 5, and UNTV. Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz leads the top sports achievers of 2016 and is the unanimous choice as PSA Athlete of the Year by virtue of her silver medal feat in the Rio De Janeiro Olympics. Meanwhile to be recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Award in the gala night also backed by the PBA, SM Prime Holdings Inc.,

Philippine Sports Commission, ACCEL, MVP Sports Foundation, PCSO, Meralco, NLEX, and Federal Land is Asia’s first Grandmaster Eugene Torre. Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association president Philip Ella Juico will receive the Executive of the Year award, while 16 others led by Rio De Janeiro Paralympics bronze medalist Josephine Medina are going to be honored with a major award. June Mar Fajardo is Mr. Basketball, Mika Reyes is Ms. Volleyball, Miguel Tabuena is Mr. Golf, while Misagh Bahadoran and Jeordan Dominguez are Mr. Football and Mr. Taekwondo, respectively.

Lady Stags shoot for volley title Games today (Filoil Flying V Center) 10 a.m.- LPU vs UPHSD (Jrs Finals Game 1) 1:30 p.m.- CSB vs UPHSD (Men’s Finals Game 2) 3:30 p.m.- SSCR vs AU (Women’s Finals Game 1)

SAN Sebastian College seeks to accomplish what it failed to do last year as it shoots for the title against a dangerous Arellano University at the start of their best-of-three duel for the women’s title in the 92nd NCAA volleyball tournament at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan City. The Lady Stags swept all their nine games in the elimination round to barge straight to the finals, where they will enjoy a thrice-to-beat advantage against the Lady Chiefs, who made it through by dethroning the St. Benilde Lady Blazers, 19-25, 25-23, 19-25, 25-13, 15-9, Friday. It was the second straight time San Sebastian advanced straight to the finals via sweep, but unlike last season when they blew its advantage by losing to eventual winner St. Benilde, it would want to finish the job this time. “We waited the whole year to get another chance of winning a championship and we will do our best not to let this one pass again,” said San Sebastian coach Roger Gorayeb in Filipino. Grethcel Soltones, who is tipped to claim her third straight MVP award, will be in the forefront of the Lady Stags’ campaign in what could be perhaps her final season. “We will give it all to win this year,” she said. Arellano University, meanwhile, has returned to the finals for the first time since winning the crown two seasons ago and like Gorayeb, Arellano University mentor Obet Javier seeks an opportunity to win it again.

Zambo golfest at Southlinks ALL is set for the holding of the annual Ateneo de Zamboanga Metro Manila Alumni Association golf tournament at the Southlinks Golf Club in Ayala Southvale Village, Barangay Almanza Doz in Las Pinas City on March 17, tournament director Jimmy Panganiban said. Panganiban said the 15th ADZUMMAA Golf Classic 2017 is open to all members, friends, guests, and sponsors of ADZUMMAA, an association of Ateneo de Zamboanga alumni residing in Metro Manila and its nearby provinces. Panganiban said regular golf players from Zamboanga City, as well as a number of Zamboangueno golfers from overseas, notably from the United States, have expressed their intention to join the tournament. Tee off starts at 6:30 a.m. on a first-come-first-served basis on a group of three or four, Panganiban disclosed. Lunch, fellowship, awarding, and a raffle will be held at the club house immediately after the games. Fellowship will follow after the awarding ceremonies.

Matsuyama repeats in LA

GOLF CHAMP. Miguel Tabuena (left) holds his huge trophy as he receives the replica of his check worth P1.5 million from ICTSI chairman and president Ricky Razon after completing a come-from-behind victory over Juvic Pagunsan in The Country Club Invitational-Don Pocholo Razon Memorial Cup at the TCC course in Sta. Rosa, Laguna last Sunday.

Super... From A8

The 30-second Airbnb spot showed a series of faces of people from different races, genders and ages with a running line of text saying “No matter who you are, where you’re from, who you love or who you worship, we all belong.” On Twitter, Airbnb founder and chief executive Brian Chesky also announced the group would donate $4 million over four years to the International Rescue Committee to assist refugees. It provoked considerable reac-

tion on Twitter, both positive and negative. Budweiser, the US beer brand from Anheuser-Busch InBev, told the story of the journey of founder Adolphus Busch, a German immigrant. While the company had said it did not intend to make a political statement, the ad nonetheless drew praise from critics of Trump’s immigration plan, but also calls for a boycott. A spot from home improvement retailer 84 Lumber showed the journey of a mother and daughter who appeared to be traveling in the

Mexican desert seeking to reach the United States, and invited viewers to watch the full ad online. On YouTube, the five-minute film described as “too controversial for TV” showed the pair arriving at a large wall, unable to cross. At the end of the spot, viewers saw the message “The will to succeed is always welcome here.” The retailer had to revise its spot for television after it was rejected for being overtly political. According to analysis of social media activity by iSpotTV, the Budweiser immigration ad had the most impact, followed by a Netflix ad for

its “Stranger Things” series, a spot with a sexy Mr. Clean, and a whimsical Justin Bieber ad for T-Mobile. Coca-Cola’s ad featuring “America the Beautiful” sung in different languages and featuring images of people of various ages and cultures was among those generating the most “positive tweets,” according to the TD America Ad Challenge. A ranking by Northwestern University marketing students put at the top a spot in which a female homemaker drools over a muscle-bound Mr. Clean. “Mr. Clean drew on its brand equity, making its position clear in a

LOS ANGELES (AFP)--Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama won his second straight Phoenix Open title on Sunday, and just like last year he needed a fourth playoff hole to do it. Matsuyama holed a 12-foot birdie putt at the fourth playoff hole, the parfour 17th at TPC Scottsdale, to edge former US Open champion Webb Simpson. Simpson’s 20-foot birdie attempt to win at the third playoff hole, the par-four 10th, had stopped one roll of the ball short. Simpson charged up the leaderboard with a seven-under par 64, with birdies at 17 and 18 giving him the clubhouse lead at 17-under 267. Matsuyama had his chances to seize the win in regulation, but it went to a playoff when his 20-foot putt at the 72nd hole stopped inches short. AFP

modern way,” said professor Derek Rucker. “Conversely, 84 Lumber scored at the bottom of our ad review. This spot took a long time to get to the message -- and even then, it wasn’t clear what the message actually was.” Michigan State University marketing students rated as the best ad a message from Honda with several celebrities speaking from their school yearbook photos. The worst was from the American Petroleum Institute, said professor Robert Kolt: “No one wants to hear about big oil during the game.” AFP

Emotional Boston farewell for Pierce NEW YORK —Retiring NBA star Paul Pierce made an emotional farewell appearance in Boston on Sunday, sinking the final basket for the Los Angeles Clippers in their 107-102 loss to the Celtics. Pierce, a 10-time NBA All-Star, played 15 seasons for the Celtics and was the 2008 NBA Finals Most Valuable Player in leading Boston to the title. The 39-year-old forward kissed the middle of the Boston Garden court before making a rare start for the Clippers, playing the first five minutes as the Celtics seized a 15-6 lead. Pierce shed tears from the bench as the crowd gave him a standing ovation during a video highlight display, fans chanting “We Want Paul” and “Thank You Paul” much of the second half. Their screams were rewarded

when Clippers coach Doc Rivers called upon Pierce with 20 seconds remaining and he responded by making a 3-pointer, extending his run of having never gone scoreless in Boston. “I’m thankful he gave me that opportunity and that I got out here and made a bucket,” Pierce said. “Truly great to play for the best fans in the world for 15 years and they showed it tonight. They just showered me with love.” Pierce, second on the Celtics all-time scoring list, has averaged 20.0 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.3 steals a game for his 18-year NBA career, including stops in Brooklyn and Washington as well as LA. But nowhere loves him more than Boston. “I’ve been enjoying every moment of it,” Pierce said. “Great fans. They have enjoyed every-

thing I have been able to do. It’s great to come in here one last time and get all this attention.” Isaiah Thomas scored 28 points to lead the Celtics, who took a club-record 52 3-point shots and made 16 of them, while the Clippers, who never led, had 23 points each from Blake Griffin and Jamal Crawford. The Celtics improved to 33-18, second in the Eastern Conference by two games to defending NBA champion Cleveland, and stretched their win streak to seven games. The Clippers fell to 31-20, fifth in the Western Conference. - A hard-earned triple double Toronto’s Kyle Lowry shrugged off illness and stitches for his ninth triple-double with 15 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds, sparking the Raptors over the Brooklyn Nets 103-95. AFP

Paul Pierce of the LA Clippers kisses the leprechaun after the game against the Boston Celtics at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. AFP

Sonsona, Bentillo share Palawan Pawnshop net crown

STEVEN Sonsona hacked out a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Brent Cortes to pocket the boys’ 16-and-under crown while Minette Bentillo trounced Casey Padilla to capture the girls’ 14-U title in the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala Butuan regional age group tennis tournament at the Butuan Capitol and Luz Village Tennis Club yesterday. Sonsona, from Tubod, Lanao, fended off Vaughn Codilla, 7-6(3),

4-6, 10-3, in the semis then imposed his will against Cortes while Bentillo thwarted Joshea Malazarte, 6-4, 6-4, in the Final Four before dominating Padilla as they led the winners in the Group 2 tournament sponsored by Palawan Pawnshop and presented by Slazenger. Sonsona and Bentillo, from Sultan Kudarat, also came away with runner-up finishes to earn the MVP honors in the four-day event which served as the third leg of

the 58-stage circuit put up by the country’s leading pawnshop and remittance center to boost the sport and help produce future national players. “With no player scoring a twinkill only underscored the level playing field which we hope will inspire more young players to join our series of nationwide tournaments,” said Palawan Pawnshop president/CEO Bobby Castro. “Aside from providing

exposure, the circuit also offers ranking points for those aspiring to become members of national pool.” Steven Sonsona fell short against sibling Renest, 3-6, 3-6, in the 18-U finals while Bentillo also dropped a 3-6, 3-6 loss to top seed Dana Abad of Davao in the 16-U championship. The 14-year-old Bentillo also reached the semis of the 18-U division of the event backed by new sponsor Asiatrad-

ers Corp. and sanctioned by Philta. Meanwhile, Cagayan de Oro will host the fourth leg on Feb. 9-13 at the Nazareth Tennis Club with a free clinic to be conducted by coach Patricia Concon-Puzon, a pro tennis mentor with master pro level 3 of Australia Tennis Professional Coaches Association. Listup is ongoing. For details, call Bobby Mangunay, the PPSPEPP sports program development director at 0915-4046464.

LOTTO RESULTS 6/55 00-00-00-00-00-00 6/45 00-00-00-00-00-00 4 DIGITS 0-0-0-0 3 DIGITS 0-0-0 2 EZ2 0-0

P0 M+ P0 M

Sports

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

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2017

Star back in familiar territory By Jeric Lopez BACK in the semifinals. That’s where sizzling Star is headed after finishing off Phoenix in emphatic fashion, 91-71, to sweep their best-of-three quarterfinal series in the 2017 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup yesterday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. Paul Lee once again led the charge for the Hotshots, scoring 17 points, while Marc Pingris had 16 markers for more firepower. Jio Jalalon and Ian Sangalang each scored 11 points to add more for Star. The renaissance continues for Star as it is now riding a six-game winning streak. After several conferences, the Hotshots are now back in familiar territory, the semis. “We really worked hard for this. Our chemistry just got better and better,” said Star coach Chito Victolero. “I’m really thankful sa commitment and dedication ng player.” They will play either No. 2 Alaska or No. 7 Barangay Ginebra, in the next round in a best-of-seven series. Star opened the game with a 12-2 run midway the second period to carve out a 36-22 advantage. There was no looking back from there as the Hotshots kept the pounding until the final horn, maintaining their commanding lead and their foot on the gas pedal. The scores: STAR 91 - Lee 17, Pingris 16, Jalalon 11, Sangalang 11, Maliksi 8, Barroca 7, Abundo 6, Ramos 6, Melton 5, Brondial 4, Reavis 0, Javier 0, Dela Rosa 0. PHOENIX 71 - Wright 24, Enciso 12, Intal 10, W. Wilson 6, Borboran 5, Baguio 4, J. Wilson 3, Torres 3, Kramer 2, Alolino 2, Dehesa 0, Miranda 0. Quarterscores: 22-18, 42-35, 6549, 91-71.

Tom Brady of the New England Patriots celebrates with his children after his team defeated the Atlanta Falcons during Super Bowl 51 at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. The Patriots won, 34-28. AFP

Brady inspires greatest comeback in Super Bowl H

OUSTON—Tom Brady inspired the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history on Sunday as the New England Patriots stunned the Atlanta Falcons 34-28 in an epic overtime duel.

In an extraordinary finale to the most challenging season of his career, Brady confirmed his right to be regarded as the best quarterback gridiron has ever seen with a fifth Super Bowl crown. Brady rallied the Patriots brilliantly to overturn a 28-3 third quarter deficit, completing a thrilling win on a night of improbable drama at Houston’s NRG Stadium.

Brady, 39, collapsed to the turf with emotion after James White burrowed over from close range to score the winning touchdown on the opening drive of overtime. “We all brought each other back,” Brady said. “We never felt out of it. It was a tough battle.” The win capped a tumultuous season for Brady, who was banned at the start of the cam-

paign for four games over the “Deflategate” saga. National Football League commissioner Roger Goodell —widely viewed as Brady’s arch-nemesis— was subjected to deafening boos as he presented the Patriots with the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Brady, who threw for 466 yards and two touchdowns, shrugged off suggestions that the win amounted to a personal redemption. “This is all positive,” he said. “It took a lot of mental toughness. We’re going to remember this for the rest of our lives.” The Falcons meanwhile were left shellshocked after snatch-

ing a defeat from the jaws of victory which ensures they remain on the list of teams never to have won a Super Bowl. “There’s nothing you can really say,” said dejected Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan. “That’s a tough loss. Obviously very disappointed, very close to getting done what we wanted to get done, but it’s hard to find words tonight.” The Patriots had looked dead and buried after the Falcons scored three first half touchdowns and an early score in the third quarter to power 25 points clear. No team had ever come back from more than 10 points to win the Super Bowl before, and

Super Bowl ads caught Torre: Let’s not pressure So in political whirlwind By Peter Atencio

WASHINGTON—The ads appearing during the Super Bowl on Sunday weren’t supposed to be political— but some brands wanted to make a statement, and others may have been just caught in the crossfire. In the biggest US sporting event of the year which is also a huge event for marketing, political overtones were part of the story, intended or not. The Super Bowl was played amid a heated debate following President Donald Trump’s order to block all refugees and

travelers from seven Muslimmajority nations, and a clash of views over open borders and multiculturalism. Some companies may have been swept up in the desire to make a statement of principle. But marketing professor Larry Chiagouris of Pace University said it was a risky strategy. “The people who buy these products come from all political persuasions,” he said. “No brand can afford to alienate any of them.” Northwestern University marketing professor Tim

Calkins said some of the ads aimed to show a theme of “inclusiveness.” “While many brands were lighthearted and product focused, there were others that embraced a theme of inclusiveness, including Google, Airbnb and Budweiser,” said Calkins, who is co-director of the school’s ad rating project. Some notable spots: The home-sharing giant injected a surprise political message into a television spot, highlighting multiculturalism and the hashtag #WeAccept. Turn to A7

FOR now, there’s no need to ask Filipino grandmaster Wesley So if he has a desire to join the Philippines as part of the national team in international meets. GM Eugene Torre said this after he learned that the Caviteborn So has officially risen to no. 3 in the world rankings, according to the February ratings released by FIDE. Torre, who became the national chess coach last June, said any efforts to ask So to join the national squad would be distracting on So’s current bid to improve on his game and rise up in the

world rankings. “Bigay na natin kay Wes. In the first place, he will have a higher goal. OK lang kung gusto niya. Pero ‘wag na nating bigyan ng pressure,” said Torre. Torre said the Philippines won’t be preparing for any chess competitions in the coming 2017 Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur, where the event was scrapped. Instead, preparations for the formation of a national squad is now geared for next year’s 2018 World Chess Olympiad in Batumi, Georgia, and in the Asian Games in Indonesia. So is coming off a title

run in the 13-round 2017 Tata Steel Masters Chess Tournament in The Netherlands and the Professional Rapid Online (PRO) Chess League playing for Saint Louis Arch Bishops. The 23-year-old So is now within reach of world no. 1 Magnus Carlsen and no. 2 Fabiano Caruana with his ELO rating of 2822. Carlsen has an ELO of 2838 at the end of the Tata Steel chessfest, while Caruana has a 2827. “After his (So’s) achievements, there’s a reason for people to believe that he can be a world champion,” added Torre.

Navy-Standard bet grabs solo Ronda lead

NavyStandard’s Rudy Roque struck when no one was looking.

ANGELES CITY—Navy-Standard Insurance bet Rudy Roque was just in his teens when two-time Tour champion Renato Dolosa told him he has the potential to be a cycling a star. Fast forward to the future and the the 25-year-old Roque is making a genius out of the 1992 and 1995 Tour king. While no one is looking, Roque came out of nowhere, rode like a wind and blew away everybody with a pair of second-place finishes up North in Ilocandia to seize the solo overall individual lead of the LBC Ronda Pilipinas 2017 that put himself into prime position to snare perhaps his biggest victory in his career. And Roque said he has Dolosa to thank for, for inspiring him to dream big. “He told me I could be somebody someday, he was the one who opened the doors for me,” said Roque in Filipino, referring to Dolosa, who travelled to the mountainous barangay of Tibo, Bataan to get the then teenager to play for the latter’s American Vynil-LPGMA team in the inaugural edition of Ronda. From there, Roque has actually blos-

somed and even placed an impressive ninth in the first staging of this annual race. He also consistently figured in the Top 20 in the next editions. After two stages, Roque is on top with an aggregate time of five hours, three minutes and three seconds, leading Navy teammates Ronald Lomotos and Archie Cardana, who are at Nos. 2 and 3 with clockings of 5:03:23 and 5:03:31, respectively. He is more than five minutes ahead of the big guns, headed by last year’s champion and fellow Navyman Jan Paul Morales, who is at No. 17 with 5:08:11, and Kinetix Lab-Army’s Cris Joven, who is at No. 18 with 5:08:18. Roque said the next three stages--all uphill climbs--will make or break his campaign. The 137-km Angeles-Subic Stage 3 on Wednesday and the 111-km Subic-Subic Stage 4 the next day will both go around the mountains where the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant is located. The Lucena-Pili Stage 5 on Sunday is the longest stage this year, stretching 251 kms that include a pass at the Tatlong Eme in

Atimonan, Quezon. “If we’re still on top after those three stages, then I can say we have a strong chance of winning it all this year,” said Roque. Pagnanawon, who is eyeing to win the country’s biggest cycling race and make his father, 1986 Tour champion Rolando, proud, leapt from No. 7 to No. 5 with 5:06:44 while Jay Lampawog, another young turk from Navy, is at No. 6 with 5:06:56. Completing the Top 10 are Ilocos Sur’s Ryan Serapio (5:06:57), Go for Gold’s Jonel Carcueva (5:07:00), Quitoy (5:07:01) and Go for Gold’s Orlie Villanueva (5:07:07). Navy continued to dominate the team race with a total time of 20:17:32, a whopping nine minutes ahead of Go for Gold’s 20:26:49 and Kinetix Lab Army’s 20:30:49. This race, the biggest in the country today, is staking P1 million to the champion courtesy of presentor LBC, in partnership with MVP Sports Foundation, Petron, Mitsubishi, Versa.ph, Partas, Maynilad, Standard Insurance, CCN, Bike Xtreme, NLEX, PhilCycling and 3Q Sports Event Management. AFP

the Patriots looked to be heading for a crushing defeat as the Falcons ran riot. But Brady, who had looked a pale imitation of himself for much of the game, suddenly fired into life in the second half to produce a performance that will go into National Football League folklore. The Falcons, who had gone into the game boasting one of the most potent offenses in history, were left distraught and still waiting for their first Super Bowl crown. They had appeared to be roaring to the championship with quarterback Ryan pulling apart the Patriots in the first half. AFP

Katsuragawa leads stellar roster in RVF Cup golf THE 22nd W Express RVF Cup Amateur Golf Championship fires off Tuesday at the North Course of the Canlubang golf complex in Laguna with a spirited battle for top honors in both the men’s and women’s divisions expected given the depth of the competing field. Yuto Katsuragawa headlines a stellar cast that includes Ira Alido, Kristoffer Arevalo, Luis Castro, Aidric Chan, Carl Corpus, Dan Cruz, Weiwei Gao, Jolo Magcalayo,, Ryan Monsalve, Carlo Villaroman and former national champion Ruperto Zaragosa while Yuka Saso, Harmie Constantino and Pauline del Rosario tipped to slug it out in the distaff side of the annual event held in honor of the late golf patron Rod Feliciano, who also served as president of the organizing National Golf Association of the Philippines. Also tipped to contend for this year’s crown in one of NGAP’s flagship tournaments held as part of the PLDT Group National Amateur Golf Tour and backed by the MVP Sports Foundation, Cignal and Metro Pacific Investments are Matthew Abalos, Eric Gallardo, Josh Jorge, GJ Katigbak, Perry Bucay, Marc Lu, Lester Lagman, Aniceto Mandanas, Carlo Quimson, Pierre Ticzon and Paolo Wong. A slew of foreign bets are also in the fold, including Koreans Hyeon Seung Back, Tommy Jeong, Kim Joo Hyung, Kim Jun Sik, Won Yong Hwi and Kim Yeon Hab, Japanese Koji Yasuma and Kai Yasuma, Luke Barblan of Vietnam and Marc Newman of United Kingdom.

Citra bullish, eyes more toll road projects in PH

Business

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor business@thestandard.com.ph extrastory2000@gmail.com TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2017

Japan ﬁrm to rebuild Cavite factory IN BRIEF

Business groups back 12 reforms

LOCAL and foreign businessmen on Monday asked the Duterte administration to support 12 economic legislative reform measures. The Makati Business Club, Management Association of the Philippines, Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Inc. and Joint Foreign Chambers made the request in a letter to Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea. “We understand that your office, along with the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office under Secretary Sitoy and Neda [National Economic and Development Authority], are coordinating proposals of the various departments and cabinet clusters in preparation for consideration by the Ledac [Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council] and President Duterte,” the business groups said in the letter. The groups said many of the measures were considered in the last Congress but were unable to complete the legislative process. These measures included the Bank Secrecy Law amendment, emergency powers to address traffic and transportation crises and the Retail Trade Act amendments. Three more measures – the Public Service Act amendments, telecom reforms and the Water Sector Reform Act – were also regarded as exigent. The groups also pushed for BOT [build-operate-transfer] Law amendments, Freedom of Information Act, Corporation Code amendments, apprenticeship program reforms, Comprehensive Tax Reform Package and constitutional amendments on foreign equity restrictions. Othel V. Campos

By Othel V. Campos

HE Japanese company that lost P15 billion when a ﬁre hit its threehectare factory complex in Cavite province last week committed to rebuild the facility and continue hiring Filipino workers.

House Technology Industries Inc. Pte. Ltd., one of the largest investors in the country which used to employ 13,871 workers in the burnt factory at the Cavite Export Processing Zone, committed to continue operations in the country, according to the Philippine Economic Zone Authority.

A ﬁre hit the three-hectare facility on Feb. 1 and lasted for three days. It left one worker dead, 104 other wounded and displaced a total of 13,871 workers. Peza director-general Charito Plaza said the company made a commitment to continue its operations and rehire the workers that would be temporarily deployed to four other companies under HRD Group of Companies. HRD Group is one of the biggest employers in Peza-managed zones with combined 24,523 workers across all ﬁve companies including HTI. “I don’t think they will give up that easily. They have invested so much already [and] that there is a growing community for workers inside the 88-hectare zone, with a 1,800-unit lodging facility for workers, a school for trainees and kindergarten school for their kids,” Plaza said in

a news briefing Monday. HTI, which manufactured bathroom tiles and fixtures for export to Japan, occupied three hectares within the companyowned industrial zone. It was the biggest employer among the five companies under HRD Group. Plaza said despite the lack of fire insurance, the company promised to continue giving salaries to displaced workers and vowed to pay for the medical bills of those who were injured and for the funeral bill of the sole person who perished at the hospital. Company officials said HTI would be rebuilt in a different area within the economic zone, but plans were still being finalized. Peza said while it might take time to rebuild the structure, the company wanted to resume operations as soon as possible.

Plaza said the incident was an eyeopener to the agency. She said there was a need to enhance security and safety measures, beef up firefighting equipment and add more zone policemen and firemen in every Peza-managed economic zone. She said Peza would sign a memorandum of agreement with concerned government offices such as the Interior Department, Philippine National Police, the Labor Department and other agencies that could contribute to the safety of workers inside the ecozones. At present, the ratio of police to workers is about 1:28. Peza said its investigation showed no foul play was detected in the incident. The agency also did not find any violation on fire safety and on the worthiness of the building, according to Plaza. Peza conducts safety assessment and routine inspections twice a year.

PSE COMPOSITE INDEX Closing February 6, 2017

8000 7600 7200 6800 6400 6000

7,294.40 67.70

PESO-DOLLAR RATE

Closing FEBRUARY 6, 2017 45.00 46.25

Napocor wants to recover P1.1b

STATE-OWNED National Power Corp. filed a petition with the Energy Regulatory Commission to recover P1.1 billion in universal charges for missionary electrification. Napocor said the amount represented the shortfall in the universal charge for missionary electrification in 2015. Recovering the amount would translate into power rate increase of P0.0134 per kilowatt-hour. Napocor asked ERC to direct the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. to remit monthly to Napocor “the actual universal share for missionary electrification collected from all electricity end users.” “The amount proposed for recovery is already an incurred cost of NPC and within the reasonable cost of servicing the consumers in the missionary areas considering the nature of operation and the level of demand in the off-grid areas,” it said. Napocor, which is mandated to provide electricity to areas served by Small Power Utilities Group, said the additional funding would ensure uninterrupted electricity in the areas it serves. Napocor said that given the increasing demand for electricity in the off-grid areas, the funding would ensure available fuel supply for its power plants. Alena Mae S. Flores

Big firms paid P963b last year By Gabrielle H. Binaday TAX collection from large companies increased 9.3 percent last year to P963 billion from a year ago, but fell short of the P1-trillion target, the Bureau of Internal Revenue said Monday. BIR said its Large Taxpayers Service division missed the P1trillion collection target by 3.7 percent. However, it increased from P885 billion in 2015 and doubled from P457 billion in 2010. The LTS collection in 2016 accounted for the biggest share in BIR’s total revenues. Classified as large taxpayers by the BIR are conglomerates, their subsidiaries and affiliates, multinational companies, universal/commercial and foreign banks and companies with an authorized capital of at least P300 million. The LTS collected taxes from 2,320 large corporate taxpayers and contributed 62.44 percent of the BIR’s revenue collection last year. The division was given the task to collect P1.105 trillion this year. LTS assistant commissioner Teresita Angeles, who leads a team of 561 revenue officials and personnel, said she expected to breach the P1-trillion collection mark this year.

47.50 48.75 50.00

HIGH P49.680 LOW P49.760 AVERAGE P49.729 VOLUME 365.900M

P471.00-P690.00 LPG/11-kg tank P39.80-P48.90 Unleaded Gasoline

LENDING PROGRAM. President Duterte (standing, third from left) leads the ceremonial launching of the Pondo sa Pagbabago at Pag-

asenso (P3) in Tacloban City as a part of the administration’s commitment to provide affordable micro-ﬁnancing program for the micro, small and medium enterprises. Shown with Duterte are (standing from left) Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council Secretary Jun Evasco, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez and Tacloban Mayor Cristine Gonzales Romualdez.

BDO readies contingency measures in Cebu By Julito G. Rada BDO Unibank Inc., the country’s largest lender controlled by tycoon Henry Sy, said its whole operations will not be affected by the possible closure of 26 branches by the Cebu City government over business permit issue. The Cebu City government reportedly threatened to shut down 26 BDO branches which had yet to renew their business permits. Cebu City mayor Tomas Osmeña was quoted as saying all branches of BDO in the city were operating without business permits. Osmeña also ﬁled a case against BDO Magallanes-Plaridel branch for allegedly not declaring their correct gross annual

income. BDO, in a statement, expressed an apology to its customers in Cebu “for whatever inconvenience the recent threat of branch closures in Cebu City has created.” “We have complied with the requirements but despite that, the city government has refused to accept payments for local taxes and fees, and issue the permits contrary to what they did in the past,”BDO said. “We have made the necessary arrangements for the clients to be serviced in alternative locations. This is a local issue and has no bearing whatsoever on the operation of the bank as a whole,” BDO said.

A local newspaper quoted Osmeña as saying that “we will survive without Banco De Oro. They’re not the only bank here in the city.” The local official said he would announce the specific date when he would order the closure of the bank branches. He said business establishments without permits should not be allowed to operate as required under the law. BDO president and chief executive Nestor Tan said last week BDO was planning to put up 50 to 70 branches this year. He said most of these branches would be built outside the National Capital Region. BDO is eyeing a 10-percent growth in net profit in 2017 to

P28.810 billion from the 2016 projection of P26.129 billion amid the robust domestic economy that would sustain the expansion of its core businesses. BDO y posted a net income of P19.321 billion in the ﬁrst nine months of 2016. BDO expects net interest income to grow 16 percent this year to P76.556 billion from the projected P65.780 billion in 2016. Total assets are expected to reach P2.6 trillion this year. BDO has more than 1,000 operating branches and over 3,000 ATMs nationwide. It also has a branch in Hong Kong and 26 overseas remittance and representative ofﬁces in Asia, Europe, North America and the Middle East.

P27.90-P33.80 Diesel

OPRICES IL TODAY

P28.50-P36.85 Kerosene P20.75-P21.75 Auto LPG Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Monday, February 6, 2017

F OREIGN E XCHANGE R ATE Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

49.8010

Japan

Yen

0.008892

0.4428

Pound

1.249800

62.2413

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.128903

6.4195

Switzerland

Franc

1.008166

50.2077

Canada

Dollar

0.767342

38.2144

Singapore

Dollar

0.710732

35.3952

Australia

Dollar

0.766900

38.1924

Bahrain

Dinar

2.652520

132.0981

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266638

13.2788

Brunei

Dollar

0.708215

35.2698

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000075

0.0037

Thailand

Baht

0.028519

1.4203

UAE

Dirham

0.272301

13.5609

Euro

1.079800

53.7751

Korea

Won

0.000879

0.0438

China

Yuan

0.145503

7.2462

India

Rupee

0.014886

0.7413

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.225938

11.2519

New Zealand

Dollar

0.729600

36.3348

Taiwan

Dollar

0.032416

1.6143 Source: PDS Bridge

LRT 1 expansion line set to start in March By Darwin G. Amojelar LIGHT Rail Manila Corp., a consortium led by Ayala Corp. and Metro Paciﬁc Investments Corp., said Monday it expects to start the construction of the Light Rail Transit Line 1 Cavite extension project by early March. “As committed, we are ready to ground break by late February or early March,” LRMC president and chief executive Rogelio Singson told reporters. Singson said the company expected to complete the construction of the project by 2020 or 2021. LRMC earlier won the P65billion LRT Line 1 extension project, with a premium bid of P9.35 billion in September 2014. LRMC is a responsible for the construction of the 11.7-kilometer extension from the present

end point in Baclaran to Niog area in Bacoor, Cavite. It will consist of elevated guideways throughout most of the alignment, except for the guideway section at Zapote which will be located at grade. It will consist of the satellite depot and new station. The extended rail line is expected to help increase the capacity of LRT 1 from 500,000 to 800,000 passengers daily and beneﬁt more than four million residents in Cavite and the southern part of Metro Manila. Singson said LRMC was also working on the rehabilitation of LRT 1 stations at United Nations, Gil Puyat, Abad Santos, Pedro Gil and R. Papa. The company completed the rehabilitation of Doroteo Station, which is part the P500-million station improvement project.

IMPROVED LRT STATION. Light Rail Transit Line 1 operator Light Rail Manila Corp. inaugurates the

improved Doroteo Jose Station which will serve a daily average of 27,000 passengers interconnecting to LRT-2. Doroteo Jose station is the pilot for the company’s P500-million station improvement project, which includes the enhancement of passenger exchange and the advertising environment.

Business

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2017 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Stock index seen rising to 8,100 Eastern Petroleum sues rival LPG ﬁrm S By Jenniffer B. Austria

TOCKS rebounded Monday, after the Trump administration’s plan to roll back ﬁnancial regulations sparked a rally in global bank shares.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, advanced 67 points, or 0.9 percent, to close at 7,294.40. This pushed up total gains this year to 6.6 percent. The heavier index, representing all shares, also picked up 22 points, or 0.5 percent, to settle at 4,397.60, on a value turnover of P8.2 billion. Advancers led losers, 97 to 91, while 48 issues were unchanged. All sectoral indices, except

mining and oil, advanced, while 13 of the 20 most active stocks ended in the green, led by developers Philippine Realty & Holdings Corp. which surged 36.4 percent to P0.90 and Arthaland Corp. which jumped 21.7 percent to P1.40. Megaworld Corp., the property arm of tycoon Andrew Tan, gained 5 percent to P3.82, while food manufacturer Universal Robina Corp. rose 2.8 percent to P166.50.

Online brokerage ﬁrm COL Financial Inc. said the PSEi could return to 8,100-point level this year if the key economic policies by the Duterte administration, such as tax reforms and increased infrastructure spending were implemented. COL Financial chief technical analyst Juan Barredo said in a news brieﬁng the market under a strong scenario could trade between 7,700 and 8,100 levels within the year. Barredo said on a weak scenario, the bellwether could go back to 6,500 level. “The local market may have to keep its wide band [6,500 - 8,130] open for the time being as investors may be driven to act on the moment when key policy changes or reforms are made or re-molded. But some strong technical points have been sighted that

could justify the higher-low base of 6,500 or thereabouts holding good support,” Barredo said. COL Financial head of research April Lynn Tan said investors should take advantage of the current market condition to accumulate stocks. “While the changes that the Duterte administration wants to implement are painful in the short term, they will have a favorable impact over the long term. The government needs to implement tax reforms to raise enough funds to meet its goal of increasing disbursements from around 18.2 percent of GDP in 2016 to around 20.2 percent of GDP in 2019, led by the growing share of capital outlays from 4.5 percent of GDP in 2016 to 6.3 percent of GDP in 2019,” Tan said. With AFP, Bloomberg

By Alena Mae S. Flores

EASTERN Petroleum Corp., an independent petroleum company, said Monday it filed a case against rival Pryce Gases Inc. for alleged unauthorized liquefied petroleum gas refilling. Eastern Petroleum said in statement its anti-illegal LPG refilling campaign gained ground with the resolution issued by the Provincial Prosecutors’ Office of Imus, Cavite against Pryce for the alleged unauthorized refilling of EC Gas cylinders.

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS DAILY STOCKS REVIEW MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2017

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

FINANCIALS 3.45 135,000 48.3 16,200 91.85 778,790 4.16 25,000 114 1,634,910 1.27 448,000 38.6 32,000 16.34 2,500 20 102,300 6.76 2,100 1.72 104,000 0.79 38,325,000 81 1,458,620 0.77 889,000 14.2 11,700 55.9 111,710 238.6 390 120 3,100 90.3 160 37 159,300 212.8 236,230 1,770 110 79.5 66,530

458,680 782,590 71,514,949 101,710 186,270,598 568,890 1,235,120 40,852 2,045,111 14,182 176,060 30,966,850 118,223,718 676,310 166,300 6,185,047 93,170 389,298 14,448 5,844,410 50,186,082 194,700 5,278,106.50

666,850 -41,399,217.50 64,088,597 -254,000 -238,113 434,160 -37,303,162 13,650 28,560 98,389 3,724,090.00 19,416,682 -165,089

42.45 5.02 0.85 1.43 17 0.195 95.5 11.36 16 22.7 15.2 58.55 94 2.02 6.19 11.98 12.3 7.85 6.93 5.77 22.4 71.4 12.3 16.7 6.1 1.7 206.4 70 3.82 28.35 30 27.05 14.62 285.2 0.26 5.2 3.3 9.41 3.75 11.46 2.39 6.84 1.52 77.9 5.1 266 4.92 2.03 3.31 12.6 4.15 0.149 1.52 162.4 4.49 1.74 1.07

INDUSTRIAL 43.4 1,120,400 5.23 2,752,400 0.86 2,717,000 1.44 1,740,000 18.68 9,700 0.2 50,000 95.5 140 11.42 4,123,600 16.04 12,806,900 23.5 233,200 15.2 45,800 58.85 46,980 94 260 2.02 354,000 6.19 761,900 11.98 69,000 12.5 1,944,800 8.01 684,400 7.04 298,900 5.82 11,985,700 22.45 2,665,900 72.15 147,310 12.34 7,600 17.1 267,300 6.13 178,900 1.72 1,396,000 208 346,070 70 260 4.19 1,258,000 28.35 1,000 30.3 1,182,700 27.05 403,300 14.64 265,800 285.4 188,480 0.31 37,140,000 5.2 4,700 3.3 407,000 9.49 3,248,200 3.85 6,000 11.58 5,100 2.4 4,776,000 7 1,751,900 1.54 292,000 78.6 461,320 5.2 202,100 271.8 13,130 4.94 61,100 2.03 4,000 3.79 2,179,000 12.76 3,980,100 4.15 27,000 0.15 1,290,000 1.59 836,000 166.5 704,990 4.49 10,000 1.77 6,367,000 1.07 77,000

48,087,885 14,367,505 2,330,380 2,526,340 166,834 9,900 13,370 47,028,476 207,588,428 5,399,475 699,960 2,757,594 24,540 718,860 4,753,662 827,584 24,276,728 5,478,224 2,093,876 69,634,226 59,894,990 10,609,194.50 93,532 4,535,224 1,094,801 2,421,660 71,937,870 18,200 5,114,250 28,350 35,845,350 10,937,285 3,894,226 54,025,972 11,001,250 24,738 1,350,270 30,816,782 23,000 58,662 11,569,910 12,234,570 445,100 36,201,625 1,035,671 3,564,400 302,116 8,120 8,064,400 50,859,830 112,600 192,670 1,287,170 116,141,482 45,170 11,254,980 82,390

-10,437,220 -44,860 -17,200 14,900 5,042,982 3,808,266.00 -481,700 2,756,418 -24,250 9,350,632 -902,820 -1,273,297 12,020,697 1,666,955 1,567,877 3,518,886 360,520 177,920 -13,012,336 28,350 4,310,875 -7,153,920 -2,272,624 -11,660,642 -5,600 747,270 -13,430,236 4,374,670 -34,750 12,158,293.50 -612,460 -222,741 17,630 -580,628 14,463,975 119,910 -

0.4 74.5 12.74 1.15 6.1 0.36 0.345 801 9.25 13.12 8.14 6 0.205 1,243 6.07 74.65 1.13 7.95 13.3 0.445 6.82 0.044 1.22 1.99 102.2 2.25 700.5 0.9 1.45 265 0.345 0.208 0.265

0.385 73.7 12.66 1.1 6.1 0.335 0.345 795 9 13.04 8.01 5.9 0.187 1,200 5.92 73.8 1.11 7.77 12.94 0.44 6.64 0.041 1.13 1.98 99.4 2.25 690 0.85 1.4 263.2 0.315 0.184 0.265

HOLDING FIRMS 0.395 12,910,000 74.5 1,383,390 12.66 10,256,300 1.15 84,000 6.1 5,900 0.345 2,950,000 0.345 60,000 800 143,340 9.15 2,145,800 13.1 6,502,300 8.01 108,400 6 30,600 0.196 450,000 1,221 386,175 6.07 26,300 74.5 1,819,830 1.12 4,051,000 7.95 837,700 13.22 4,017,200 0.44 110,000 6.71 45,448,200 0.043 119,900,000 1.13 42,000 1.99 56,000 102.2 1,346,690 2.25 6,000 697.5 216,590 0.85 53,000 1.41 791,000 265 16,000 0.34 14,080,000 0.208 4,230,000 0.265 50,000

5,011,000 102,810,029.50 130,060,892 93,510 35,990 1,011,600 20,700 114,617,460 19,644,838 85,080,000 877,154 180,830 89,900 470,115,315 155,711 135,254,514 4,513,080 6,616,268 53,000,666 48,500 305,653,580 5,112,400 49,350 111,380 136,306,714.50 13,500 151,182,405 47,550 1,131,930 4,227,620 4,634,550 850,390 13,250

-22,771,352 -94,766,670 20,700 -32,690,730 2,010,898 2,785,012 496,540 -193,069,165 -49,841,905.50 -87,360 -3,404,528 24,335,554 -33,686,551 -245,100.00 -3,825,234 76,203,260 -919,074 -52,000 54,180 -

7.19 1.35 2.63 1.67 35.7 3.36 0.54 1.08 1.32 0.176 0.61 54 0.73 0.143 1.68 1.05 1.19

7.12 1.3 2.52 1.17 35.2 3.31 0.51 1.04 1.27 0.164 0.56 52.5 0.72 0.142 1.63 1.01 1.15

4,303,504 6,478,790 1,369,390 306,202,980 396,305,925 3,721,920 9,451,730 60,390 495,830 19,419,750 19,404,790 22,635,126 343,120 68,530 39,048,330 5,609,830 830,610

-3,855,849 13,400 1,306,280 -10,340,760 -1,135,030 -197,160 129,900 1,650 220,080.00 3,842,571 -292,000 4,290 3,886,130 -47,210 -

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

AG FINANCE ASIA UNITED BANK PH ISLANDS BDO LEASING BDO UNIBANK BRIGHT KINDLE CHINABANK COL FINANCIAL EAST WEST BANK FILIPINO FUND IREMIT MEDCO HLDG METROBANK NTL REINSURANCE PB BANK PHIL NATL BANK PHIL STOCK EXCH PHILTRUST PSBANK RCBC SECURITY BANK SUN LIFE UNION BANK

3.45 48.2 92 4.16 114.5 1.3 38.7 16.18 20.2 6.62 1.69 0.84 81.8 0.77 14.2 54.6 239 130.3 90.3 36.3 210.4 1,770 78.85

3.45 48.4 92 4.16 114.5 1.3 38.7 16.36 20.2 6.76 1.72 0.87 82 0.77 14.28 55.9 239 130.3 90.3 37 214 1,770 79.5

3.25 48 91 3.93 113.5 1.26 38.5 16.18 19.94 6.62 1.69 0.77 80 0.75 14.2 54.6 238.6 120 90.3 36.3 210.4 1,770 78.85

ABOITIZ POWER AGRINURTURE ALLIANCE SELECT ALSONS CONS ASIABEST GROUP BASIC ENERGY BOGO MEDELLIN CEMEX HLDG CENTURY FOOD CIRTEK HLDG CNTRL AZUCARERA CONCEPCION CONCRETE A CROWN ASIA DAVINCI CAPITAL DEL MONTE DNL INDUS EEI CORP EMPERADOR ENERGY DEVT FIRST GEN FIRST PHIL HLDG GINEBRA HOLCIM INTEGRATED MICR IONICS JOLLIBEE LIBERTY FLOUR LMG CHEMICALS MACAY HLDG MANILA WATER MAXS GROUP MEGAWIDE MERALCO MG HLDG PANASONIC PEPSI COLA PETRON PHIL H2O PHINMA PHINMA ENERGY PHX PETROLEUM PHX SEMICNDCTR PILIPINAS SHELL PRYCE CORP PUREFOODS RFM CORP ROXAS AND CO ROXAS HLDG SHAKEYS PIZZA SPC POWER SWIFT FOODS TKC METALS UNIV ROBINA VICTORIAS VITARICH VULCAN INDL

43.05 5.18 0.87 1.5 18.96 0.195 95.5 11.52 16 23.7 15.24 58.7 95 2.05 6.3 12.04 12.5 8.08 7.04 5.8 22.45 72.1 12.3 16.8 6.12 1.85 206.6 70 3.88 28.35 30.45 27.9 14.9 289.2 0.26 5.37 3.33 9.41 3.75 11.46 2.44 6.84 1.54 78.5 5.11 271 4.96 2.03 3.31 12.7 4.2 0.149 1.57 162.4 4.54 1.84 1.07

43.4 5.38 0.87 1.5 18.96 0.2 95.5 11.54 16.52 23.7 15.58 58.9 95 2.05 6.3 12.06 12.58 8.08 7.04 5.82 22.75 72.15 12.34 17.1 6.14 1.85 208.2 70 4.2 28.35 30.45 27.95 14.9 289.4 0.315 5.39 3.35 9.55 3.85 11.58 2.47 7.07 1.54 79 5.46 272 4.97 2.03 4.12 12.86 4.2 0.15 1.6 166.5 4.54 1.84 1.07

ABACORE CAPITAL ABOITIZ EQUITY ALLIANCE GLOBAL ANGLO PHIL HLDG ANSCOR ATN HLDG A ATN HLDG B AYALA CORP COSCO CAPITAL DMCI HLDG FILINVEST DEV FJ PRINCE A FORUM PACIFIC GT CAPITAL HOUSE OF INV JG SUMMIT LODESTAR LOPEZ HLDG LT GROUP MABUHAY HLDG METRO PAC INV PACIFICA PRIME MEDIA PRIME ORION SAN MIGUEL CORP SEAFRONT RES SM INVESTMENTS SOC RESOURCES SOLID GROUP TOP FRONTIER UNIOIL HLDG WELLEX INDUS ZEUS HLDG

0.4 74 12.68 1.14 6.1 0.34 0.345 795.5 9.25 13.04 8.05 5.9 0.198 1,240 5.92 74.45 1.11 7.89 12.94 0.445 6.64 0.043 1.22 1.98 99.5 2.25 695 0.9 1.4 264 0.34 0.196 0.265

8990 HLDG A BROWN ARANETA PROP ARTHALAND CORP AYALA LAND BELLE CORP CENTURY PROP CITY AND LAND CITYLAND DEVT CROWN EQUITIES CYBER BAY DOUBLEDRAGON EMPIRE EAST EVER GOTESCO FILINVEST LAND GLOBAL ESTATE IRC PROP

7.19 1.35 2.55 1.17 35.2 3.34 0.52 1.08 1.27 0.17 0.57 53.8 0.72 0.143 1.65 1.02 1.16

VOLUME

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

KEPPEL PROP MEGAWORLD MRC ALLIED PHIL ESTATES PHIL REALTY PRIMEX CORP PTFC REDEV CORP ROBINSONS LAND ROCKWELL SHANG PROP SM PRIME HLDG STA LUCIA LAND SUNTRUST HOME VISTA LAND

4.3 3.66 0.169 0.285 0.72 4.96 27.3 25 1.66 3.39 30 1.09 0.93 5.04

4.3 3.83 0.169 0.375 0.96 5 27.35 25 1.7 3.39 30.8 1.09 0.98 5.05

4.3 3.65 0.16 0.285 0.69 4.81 27.3 24.35 1.66 3.25 30 1.04 0.93 4.98

4.3 3.82 0.162 0.375 0.9 4.81 27.35 24.75 1.68 3.3 30.8 1.05 0.97 5.04

50,000 50,520,000 57,080,000 14,860,000 307,510,000 2,081,000 200 1,504,800 373,000 17,000 4,307,900 62,138,000 210,000 14,098,800

215,000 191,338,810 9,311,390 4,854,200 258,504,550 10,098,660 5,465 37,250,830 625,980 56,230 131,686,455 65,579,930 197,470 71,049,605

67,636,800 269,190 -18,250 2,217,000.00 -34,020 -4,304,290 -275,840 81,498,770 -498,559

2GO GROUP ABS CBN ACESITE HOTEL APC GROUP APOLLO GLOBAL ASIAN TERMINALS BLOOMBERRY BOULEVARD HLDG CALATA CORP CEBU AIR CENTRO ESCOLAR DFNN INC DISCOVERY WORLD EASYCALL GLOBE TELECOM GMA NETWORK GOLDEN HAVEN HARBOR STAR IMPERIAL A INTL CONTAINER IP EGAME IPM HLDG ISLAND INFO ISM COMM JACKSTONES LBC EXPRESS LEISURE AND RES MELCO CROWN METRO RETAIL MLA BRDCASTING NOW CORP PACIFIC ONLINE PAL HLDG PAXYS PHILWEB PLDT PREMIUM LEISURE PRMIERE HORIZON PUREGOLD ROBINSONS RTL SBS PHIL CORP SSI GROUP STI HLDG TRAVELLERS WATERFRONT

7.38 46.7 1.38 0.51 0.062 10.7 7.57 0.068 2.58 96 9.9 9.3 2.3 2.91 1,683 6.28 16.5 3.43 15.8 77.05 0.0095 9.07 0.2 1.4 2.97 14.5 4.1 4.85 3.98 19.4 2.84 11.2 5.35 3.3 9.16 1,481 1.39 0.45 44 81 6.5 2.67 1.07 3.2 0.435

7.41 46.7 1.59 0.59 0.062 10.7 7.62 0.068 2.58 96.9 9.9 9.35 2.3 2.91 1,720 6.28 16.86 3.84 16.5 78 0.0095 9.07 0.2 1.42 3.03 14.6 4.16 4.87 3.98 19.4 2.84 11.2 5.35 3.35 9.43 1,505 1.42 0.45 44 83.95 6.5 2.78 1.08 3.24 0.47

7.36 46.1 1.38 0.51 0.057 10.7 7.33 0.064 2.45 94.95 9.9 9 2.27 2.91 1,666 6.21 16.4 3.4 15.32 76 0.0095 9.05 0.19 1.38 2.96 14.5 4.08 4.76 3.83 18.98 2.63 11.2 5.26 3.3 9.1 1,481 1.39 0.415 43.5 80.75 6.26 2.64 1.06 3.2 0.42

SERVICES 7.4 46.1 1.44 0.55 0.06 10.7 7.39 0.065 2.46 95 9.9 9 2.29 2.91 1,700 6.21 16.86 3.71 16.3 76.2 0.0095 9.06 0.194 1.41 2.96 14.6 4.1 4.8 3.9 18.98 2.68 11.2 5.26 3.35 9.25 1,500 1.4 0.415 43.85 80.75 6.27 2.73 1.06 3.23 0.47

69,200 24,100 363,000 5,212,000 213,210,000 2,000 6,982,400 57,240,000 28,632,000 1,250,240 600 539,700 130,000 1,000 44,840 92,300 60,600 11,595,000 15,000 746,620 26,000,000 501,000 25,460,000 384,000 68,000 9,600 715,000 9,507,000 2,234,000 200 4,864,000 12,000 12,700 2,000 1,074,900 98,785 4,462,000 23,920,000 1,092,600 1,479,620 332,100 8,526,000 13,807,000 259,000 10,270,000

512,060 1,116,285 543,720 2,853,200 12,621,640 21,400 51,991,131 3,748,200 72,123,400 118,956,564.50 5,940 4,907,433 297,720 2,910 75,716,875 576,214 1,011,658 42,086,090 235,588 57,043,950 247,000 4,538,830 4,943,430 533,980 202,210 139,530 2,928,760 45,974,220 8,655,340 3,838 13,195,350 134,400 67,846 6,650 9,872,746 148,256,015 6,245,460 10,143,150 47,883,935 119,799,956 2,102,239 23,222,970 14,781,280 834,880 4,666,850

-97,040 -103,120 -21,400 -19,129,010 132,000 -273,680.00 -11,235,563 2,970 -2,257,835 -17,236,115 11,550 17,650 -606,736.50 165,540 -9,719,450 368,860 -295,150 220,795 -54,411,610 -3,111,740 356,750 6,704,515 58,361,254 -5,800,050 -195,640 -3,760 -17,400

ABRA MINING APEX MINING ATLAS MINING ATOK BENGUET A BENGUET B CENTURY PEAK COAL ASIA HLDG DIZON MINES FERRONICKEL GEOGRACE LEPANTO A LEPANTO B MANILA MINING A MANILA MINING B MARCVENTURES NICKEL ASIA NIHAO OMICO CORP ORNTL PENINSULA ORNTL PETROL A ORNTL PETROL B PETROENERGY PHILODRILL PX MINING PXP ENERGY SEMIRARA MINING TA PETROLEUM UNITED PARAGON

0.0032 2.65 5.66 9.64 1.8 1.92 0.55 0.495 11.68 2.32 0.255 0.187 0.185 0.011 0.012 1.65 6.87 2.65 0.46 0.94 0.011 0.011 4.08 0.013 9.19 3.65 135 2.91 0.0089

0.0032 2.67 5.66 11.48 1.8 1.92 0.58 0.495 11.68 2.58 0.265 0.187 0.191 0.012 0.012 1.8 6.87 2.69 0.46 0.94 0.012 0.011 4.08 0.014 9.2 3.65 136.4 2.91 0.0094

0.0032 2.6 5.4 9.64 1.77 1.91 0.52 0.47 11.04 2.26 0.25 0.178 0.184 0.011 0.011 1.61 6.65 2.59 0.46 0.89 0.011 0.011 4.08 0.013 9.12 3.51 135 2.88 0.0089

MINING & OIL 0.0032 659,000,000 2.62 1,424,000 5.41 456,600 11.48 1,100 1.8 62,000 1.91 53,000 0.52 10,636,000 0.475 3,900,000 11.04 47,200 2.58 44,903,000 0.255 480,000 0.184 13,200,000 0.191 2,670,000 0.011 31,800,000 0.012 825,100,000 1.76 6,749,000 6.8 4,143,900 2.59 288,000 0.46 260,000 0.92 2,081,000 0.011 23,300,000 0.011 500,000 4.08 7,000 0.014 30,300,000 9.2 466,100 3.54 3,235,000 135.8 818,630 2.88 93,000 0.0094 29,000,000

2,108,800 3,736,850 2,481,841 12,060 111,350 101,360 5,837,580 1,864,650 523,506 109,195,470 123,850 2,382,310 495,970 349,900 9,124,700 11,332,440 27,917,253 751,900 119,600 1,898,090 266,300 5,500 28,560 405,700 4,274,397 11,533,260 111,125,935 269,100 261,700

64,000 -996,390 -42,116 -29,550 -11,040 -6,721,840 -65,120 73,830 -9,405,750 7,140 537,054 1,474,500 -1,596,011 -

ABS HLDG PDR ALCO PREF B DD PREF FGEN PREF G GMA HLDG PDR GTCAP PREF A SMC PREF 2B SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2E SMC PREF 2F SMC PREF 2G SMC PREF 2I

47 105.1 104.8 115.1 5.9 1,020 77.3 81.05 78.4 79.85 78 79

47.2 105.1 104.8 115.1 5.9 1,020 77.3 81.5 78.4 79.85 78 79

46 105.1 104.5 114.5 5.88 1,020 77.3 81 78 79.75 78 78.05

PREFERRED 46.5 521,400 105.1 2,000 104.5 10,690 114.5 10,000 5.89 1,697,200 1,020 1,000 77.3 3,810 81 29,780 78 14,000 79.85 15,940 78 16,600 78.05 4,700

24,246,960 210,200 1,117,150 1,148,100 9,996,636 1,020,000 294,513 2,413,059 1,093,680 1,272,539 1,294,800 371,110

-505,060 -836,000 -400,940 -1,069,300 -

LR WARRANT

2.19

2.2

2.17

WARRANTS 2.2 277,000

604,110

ALTERRA CAPITAL ITALPINAS MAKATI FINANCE XURPAS

6.6 3.9 2.93 7.98

6.75 3.9 2.94 7.98

6.49 3.83 2.93 7.63

6.55 3.83 2.94 7.85

1,401,013 545,190 49,830 13,693,002

-32,712 -38,330 -1,834,809

FIRST METRO ETF

119.5

120

119.3

253,719

PROPERTY 7.13 1.31 2.63 1.4 35.7 3.32 0.53 1.04 1.3 0.171 0.59 52.95 0.73 0.142 1.68 1.03 1.16

601,900 4,926,000 531,000 215,148,000 11,116,400 1,117,000 17,916,000 57,000 381,000 113,720,000 32,838,000 422,470 471,000 480,000 23,278,000 5,469,000 716,000

TRADING SUMMARY FINANCIAL

46,027,634

INDUSTRIAL

220,738,218

HOLDING FIRMS

234,719,129

PROPERTY

943,980,385

SERVICES

464,313,181

MINING & OIL

1,696,480,150

GRAND TOTAL

3,608,400,657

SME

214,400 141,000 17,000 1,767,300

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 120 2,120

VALUE 1,769.26 (up) 6.16 626,830,521.456 FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL 11,170.26 (up) 85.33 2,855,485,012.236 HOLDING FIRMS 7,377.62 (up) 42.81 1,770,159,566.618 PROPERTY 3,348.88 (up) 61.74 SERVICES 1,425.02 (up) 3.40 1,617,907,224.32 MINING & OIL 11,881.59 (down) 33.56 973,895,836.75 PSEI 7,294.40 (up) 67.70 356,845,420.429 All Shares Index 4,397.60 (up) 22.57 8,217,067,265.606 Gainers:97; Losers: 91; Unchanged: 48; Total: 236

The Provincial Prosecutors’ Office of Imus said in a resolution it found probable cause to indict Pryce Gases president and chief operation officer Efren Palma for two counts of violation of Batas Pambansa 33, as amended by Presidential Decree 1865, and two counts of violation of Republic Act 8293 of the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines of 1997. Eastern Petroleum said the resolution was penned by prosecutor Anita GaduangRosales and was based on results of two test buys conducted by members of the Philippine National PoliceCriminal Investigation and Detection Group which confirmed that the refilling plant of Pryce in Maguyam, Silang, Cavite was engaged in illegal refilling of LPG. Eastern Petroleum said results of the two test buys where EC Gas cylinders were being refilled by Pryce were sufficient to establish the illegal activities being undertaken in Pryce’s plant in Silang and were punishable under said laws. “The Office of the Provincial Prosecutor’s resolution confirms our allegations of illegal LPG refilling and gives a legal cover to pursue our case [against Pryce Gases],” Eastern Petroleum said. The company said illegal refilling activities imperiled not only the lives of consumers but could also cause damage to properties. The Energy Department earlier assured the Independent Philippine Petroleum Companies Association, where Eastern Petroleum is a member, that it would go against illegal LPG refilling activities in the country.

Audiowav bares Asia expansion AUDIOWAV Media Inc., a technology company that aims to list in the Philippine Stock Exchange next month, disclosed a plan Monday to expand to other Asian markets. Audiowave said it would use the proceeds from the planned P2.66-billion initial public offering to enter Thailand, Vietnam and China in the second quarter and infuse additional equity to existing subsidiaries in Singapore and Indonesia. Audiowav, which supplies technologies that provide sensory branding and hardware solutions to various businesses in hospitality and retail, said the four new markets were selected because of their huge potential for growth. The company said the hospitality industry in Thailand closed out 2015 with an overall occupancy rate of 61.72 percent - representing the third highest occupancy rate in 10 years and the fourth highest in 20 years. It was also up by 11.05 percent from 2014. “The growth prospects in Thailand therefore are inspiring and such growth is further enhanced by the fact that Thailand serves as the gateway to other nearby regions. The company can thus potentially take advantage of such wave to potentially serve the approximately 25 million tourists that visit the country annually, more particularly the thousands of retail, hospitality, tourism and food & beverage industries that serve such tourists,’ Audiowav said. Audiowav said while other industries might have reached a saturation point in China, its hospitality industry was far from slowing down with 2.5 million hotel rooms unable to accommodate its 133 million inbound tourists. Jenniffer B. Austria

Business

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2017 extrastory2000@gmail.com

TransCo owes P4b to renewable plants By Alena Mae S. Flores

‘PARTNER OF THE YEAR AWARD.’ ePLDT Inc., an industry-leading enabler of digital business solutions to enterprises in the Philippines,

receives the 2-Tier Partner of the Year Award from Cisco Philippines during the Cisco Partner Conference 2017 at Solaire Resort and Casino, Manila City. The award is given to organizations that set the standards in revenue growth performance and commitment to innovation. Shown displaying the award are (from left) Jovy Hernandez, ﬁrst vice president and head of PLDT Enterprise; Eric Alberto, ePLDT Group president and CEO; and Nerisse Ramos, ePLDT Group chief operating ofﬁcer.

Citra bullish, eyes more toll road projects in PH By Darwin G. Amojelar

ITRA Group of Indonesia said Monday it plans to expand its toll road assets in the Philippines and Indonesia.

Padma Funds LP., the funds manager of the Citra Group of Companies of Indonesia, has consolidated 76.5 percent of the Citra Group shares under the PT Citra Marga Nuphasala Persada Tbk (CMNP) consortium to support its strategic business move to expand toll assets and other infrastructure-related businesses. “With a strong capital structure, the new CMNP consortium is poised to undertake new infrastructure projects not only in Indonesia and the Philippines but in other Asian countries as

well,” the company said. CMNP shareholders in December approved the issuance of $3.8 billion worth of shares and convertible notes to fulﬁll the equity commitments for its project in the cities of Jakarta, Bogor, Bandung and Surabaya. CMNP is a leading publiclylisted toll road and infrastructure company in Indonesia. Its new projects in Indonesia will expand its toll road concession areas to 1,098 kilometers from 444 kilometers. One of its subsidiaries, PT Citra Persada Infrastruktur, sub-

mitted to the Philippine government a proposal for a P50-billion, 17.7-kilometer Manila-Taguig Expressway, now under evaluation by the Department of Public Works and Highways. Other CMNP subsidiaries engaged in toll road construction and maintenance and other integrated infrastructure businesses continue to boost CMNP’s ﬁnancial performance. The Citra Group conceptualized the Metro Manila Skyway Project Stages 1, 2 and 3, and the Metro Manila Expressway or C6 in partnership with the government-owned Philippine National Construction Corp. in 1993. The Citra Group developed, funded and built MMSP Stages 1 and 2, ahead of governmentmandated schedule and within project budget.

Padma Funds is the partner of San Miguel Holdings Inc. under Atlantic Aurum Investment Ltd. B.V., which was formed to integrate the toll road concessions south of Luzon. It includes the concessions for MMSP Stage 1 and 2, MMSP Stage 3, and South Luzon Expressway under Citra Metro Manila Tollway Corp., Citra Central Expressway Corp. and South Luzon Tollway Corp., respectively. Eventually, it will include Citra Intercity Tollways Inc., Star Infrastructure Development Corp. and Vertex Tollways Development Inc. as concessionaires, respectively, of MME-C6, Star Tollway and NAIA Expressway. The proposed Manila-Taguig Expressway is solely a CPI/Citra project.

Fair BIR probe of cigarette tax stamp row urged DEPUTY Speaker Mylene Garcia-Albano of Davao City 2nd District welcomed the initiative of the Bureau of Internal Revenue to conduct an industry wide investigation on the massive proliferation of fake tax strip stamps on cigarette packs. “It is the government’s duty to ensure impartiality in investigating all players in the [cigarette]

industry. You cannot single out a local manufacturer just because some paid hacks are throwing baseless accusations. The proper way to do it is to investigate everybody,” the PDP Laban lawmaker said. BIR Deputy Commissioner for Legal Services Jesus Clint Aranas disclosed last week the agency would investigate ciga-

rette industry players, including market leader and multinational tobacco company Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corp. Excise tax collections last year fell 7.9 percent to P91.6 billion from P99.5 billion in 2015. BIR Deputy Commissioner Nestor Valeroso attributed the decrease to the proliferation of fake tax stamps and smuggled cigarettes.

PANCAKE HOUSE IN PANSOL. Pancake House franchisee Dalta-Jonelta Group represented by Lt. Col

Richard Moran Tamayo and sister Joseﬁna ‘Nena’ Tamayo leads the ceremonial ribbon cutting of the newlyopened Pancake House at So Y Viento mountain resort in Pansol, Calamba City, Laguna. With them are (from left) Bernie Corpus , president of Sol Y Viento Hotel and Resort; Grets Rivera, chief operating ofﬁcer of Max’s Group Inc.; and Cherrie Quilloy, general manager, University Food Service. Pancake House So Y Viento is the 129th branch in the land and the third opened in 2017.

While Garcia-Albano commended the BIR for expanding its investigation, she said the agency also needed to ensure fairness in its probe. She said it was crucial for the BIR to address the problem of fake tax stamps and smuggled cigarettes since revenue generation would be critical for the Duterte administration’s economic development program. The deputy speaker said Congress was doing its best to plug revenue leakages to make up for the projected revenue losses from the reduced personal income tax being pushed by the Duterte administration. She said a higher excise tax on cigarettes was one of the measures approved by the House to shore up revenues without creating new taxes. House Bill 4144, which was passed in December, seeks to reintroduce the two-tier tax system for cigarettes, which was replaced by a unitary tax at the start of this year. Aside from raising revenues, the bill also aims to address related issues such as the productivity and livelihood of local tobacco farmers and universal healthcare. HB 4144, authored by Rep. Eugene de Vera of ABS Partylist, proposes a two-tier tax system where cigarette packs priced P11.50 below will be levied P32.00 and those priced P11.50 above will taxed P36.00, plus a ﬁve percent annual price increase thereafter.

THE total unpaid obligations of National Transmission Corp. to renewable energy developers under the feed-in tariff regime have reached over P4 billion, an ofﬁcial said Monday. “Yes, we are delayed because the P0.1240 per kilowatthour FIT-All (feed-in tariff allowance) is not enough. We are paying dues of about ﬁve months ago. More or less P4 billion as of now,” TransCo feed in tariff team head Dina Dizon. TransCo president Melvin Matibag said the company did not obtain approval of the Energy Regulatory Commission on the feed-in tariff allowance, or the per kilowatt-hour rate charged to consumers for using renewable energy sopurces. “No FIT yet but yes we have a backlog (on the payment to developers),” Matibag said. TransCo has a pending new FIT-All petition of P0.2291 per kWh, which should have been effective starting this year. TransCo is currently collecting P0.1240 per kWh from consumers under the FITAllowance line item in the power bills. The rate will be increased to P0.2291 per kWh, if approved by the ERC. The amount totaling totaling P16.488 billion, including under-recoveries in 2016, represents payments to eligible

renewable energy developers. TransCo also asked the ERC to make the approval of the rate permanent, “or in the alternative, such other amount as may be found by the Commission to be consistent with the FIT-All guidelines and on the basis of new and updated information not heretofore available to the applicant at the time of the present application.” TransCo primarily relied on the most updated list of renewable energy projects that were projected to be eligible to the feed-in tariff system in 2014 to 2018, as provided by the Energy Department. TransCo also tapped its own database containing historical information and the available submission of the developers on actual or forecast generation. The state-owned firm added the department’s list provided the best estimate of the timing of the renewable energy plants but it did not give a preemptive right to the identified projects to be counted under the final feedin tariff eligible projects, nor did it limit the payment to these projects. The company limited the determination of the 2017 FITAll rate to include eligible capacities up to the installation targets set by the department, namely 500 megawatts for solar, 400 MW for wind, 250 MW for hydro and 250 MW for biomass.

Housing department is long overdue TWO recent developments drew attention once again to one of the most serious problems—nay, gravest crisis—facing this country. One development was the debate over the wisdom of covering up the informal settlers’ (formerly squatters’) dwellings during the Miss Universe pageant period. The other development was the resignation (read: de facto firing) of Vice President Leni Robredo from the position of chairperson of HUDCC (Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council). Clearly, the national problem to which I am referring is this country’s enormous and unrelentingly growing housing backlog. Official estimates of the magnitude of the backlog place it at 4.5 million housing units. At an average five members per family, that translates into around 20.2 million Filipinos with no decent homes of their own. The Miss Universe matter was of no moment. No major policy issue was involved there. The organizers of the 1974 and 1996 pageants merely wanted the foreign visitors to leave this country believing that there was no poverty in the Philippines—at least not in Metro Manila. The firing of Vice President Robredo—and the housing backlog over which she presided as HUDCC chief—was, and is, a different matter. It is not a matter of cosmetics and PR. It is about millions of Filipinos not being able to live decent lives. The time has come for the government to tackle the housing backlog in a manner suggestive of probable success. If the management experts are right when they say that the key to an undertaking’s success is organization, the key to a successful approach to the national housing backlog is an improved housing-sector organization. In the case of the national housing backlog, the way toward organizational improvement is transforming HUDCC from an entity merely coordinating the operations of a number of housingrelated agencies to a unitary, muscular department of housing and urban development. Coordinating is good; controlling is much better. A lot of negative things have been said about Imelda Romualdez-Marcos—and most of them have validity—but one thing that the former First Lady (now Representative) did right was to bring about the creation of a Cabinet-level entity that brought together all the housing-related agencies under one roof in a single-minded assault on the national housing problem. That roof was the Ministry of Human Settlements, which she then proceeded to head. MHS was composed, as HUDCC is, of five agencies, namely Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG), National Housing Authority, Home Guaranty Corp., National Home Guarantee and Loan Fund and BLISS. HLURB (Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board) was subsequently added to the list of HUDCC components. The structure of the Cabinet is not engraved in stone, and, realizing this, Congress has acted to restructure the Cabinet whenever it decided that restructuring was necessary. Thus, in recent years Congress has created the Department of Information and Communication Technology and the Department of Transportation out of the remainder of the Department of Transportation and Communications. The creation of a Department of Housing and Urban Development is a long-overdue Cabinet structure change. It is also a no-brainer. Under present arrangements, HUDCC’s chairperson possesses Cabinet rank. And all that Congress would have to do would be to replace ‘Council’ with ‘Department.’ Congress should keep the millions of inadequately housed Filipinos waiting not one session longer. E-mail: rudyromero777@yahoo.com

Ray S. Eñano, Editor business@thestandard.com.ph extrastory2000@gmail.com

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2017

Business

Indonesia’s growth slowed in Q4

AKARTA—Indonesia’s efforts to reboot its economy were dealt a blow Monday as ofﬁcial data showed growth ticking up in 2016 but undershooting expectations for the ﬁnal quarter.

President Joko Widodo came to power in 2014 on a pledge to boost economic expansion to seven percent but his government has struggled to lift growth rates in Southeast Asia’s largest economy, which is rich in resources but has suffered from a slump in commodity prices. After several years of subdued economic output, government ﬁgures showed a glimmer of acceleration for 2016, with growth of 5.02

percent, compared with 4.88 percent a year earlier—the smallest expansion since 2009. But a weaker-than-expected quarterly performance of 4.94 percent in the period October to December overshadowed the annual data compared with the median estimate of economists for a 5 percent growth. The growth in the fourth quarter was dragged down by a dip in government spending. The statistics agency

said that the top contributors for growth last year were manufacturing and agriculture. Authorities unleashed a series of economic stimulus last year to reinvigorate growth, while the central bank cut the key interest rate six times. Now analysts say there is little room for maneuver. “Looser fiscal and monetary policies have helped to support growth over the past year, but further easing is unlikely over the next year,” said Gareth Leather of London-based Capital Economics. Economists said while growth won’t slow further, it won’t accelerate further either, with Capital Economics maintaining its estimation for Indonesia at a flat rate of five percent for this

year and next. Southeast Asia’s biggest economy is still undershooting Widodo’s growth target of 7 percent amid a slowdown in China and lower commodity prices. That’s even after the central bank cut rates six times last year in a bid to boost lending and growth. While the economy is expected to pick up this year, with the International Monetary Fund forecasting 5.1-percent growth, the government is warning of headwinds from global uncertainty, including from policies being introduced by US President Donald Trump. The recent rise in commodity prices has provided a strong terms-of-trade tailwind, said Weiwen Ng, an economist at Australia & New Zealand

Banking Group Ltd. in Singapore. “This, along with a stabilization in domestic demand, has mitigated the negative impact that ﬁscal spending cuts―needed to minimize ﬁscal slippage in 2016―have on Q4 growth.” The data is disappointing with growth now expected to remain stuck at about 5 percent over the next couple of years as policymakers run out of scope for further stimulus, said Gareth Leather, senior Asia economist at Capital Economics Ltd. in London. “The upshot of all this is that while growth is unlikely to slow further, we don’t expect it to accelerate either,” Leather said. AFP, Bloomberg

Korea, Taiwan currencies face risks ASIA’S top two performing currencies so far this year are unlikely to enjoy prolonged gains, with the new US administration’s increasing turn toward protectionism set to hit the economies of South Korea and Taiwan. Rhetoric from US President Donald Trump’s administration blasting the alleged manipulation of exchange rates abroad has helped Taiwan’s dollar and the South Korean won advance 4.3 percent and 6.2 percent against the dollar since the year started. The thinking: these two open-market US allies would scale back intervention aimed at slowing gains in their currencies. Traders are underestimating the risks in Asia from Trump’s protectionism, Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Societe Generale SA said in recent reports. With their economies so reliant on exports―at the equivalent of 60 percent gross domestic product for Taiwan, and about 50 percent for South Korea―the two economies are particularly vulnerable. “They could be targeted by the new administration,” Rajeev De Mello, who oversees about $11.7 billion as head of Asian ﬁxed income in Singapore at Schroder Investment Management Ltd., said of South Korea and Taiwan. While De Mello has long positions on both currencies, he said he’s “a bit careful,” given the looming risks. As major suppliers for Chinese manufacturers, South Korea and Taiwan could suffer collateral damage in any trade war between the US and China, the nation singled out for criticism by Trump on the campaign trail last year. Along with China, South Korea and Taiwan were listed in the US Treasury Department’s currency watch list in October, given their large currentaccount surpluses. Taiwan’s surplus was projected to reach more than 14 percent of GDP in 2016, the most in the region after Singapore and Thailand, based on Bloomberg surveys of economists. Korea’s is equivalent to about 7 percent, the nation’s central bank said. The won was at 1,137.48 per dollar as of 11:21 a.m. in Seoul on Monday, and Taiwan’s dollar was at NT$30.935. By year-end, the won will weaken to 1,250 and Taiwan’s currency to NT$33 per dollar, said Masakatsu Fukaya, a Tokyobased emerging-markets trader at Mizuho Bank Ltd. The likely declines wouldn’t be what Trump’s team wants, as depreciation makes the countries’ products cheaper and more competitive in global trade. Bloomberg

‘WEALTH GOD.’ Motorcyclists ride past a gold shop with decorations on the Day of the Wealth God in Hanoi on February 6, 2017. People believe that buying gold on the Day of the Wealth God, which falls on the 10th day of the ﬁrst month of the lunar calendar, will bring prosperity and luck to their families. AFP

Apple loses out to China brands CHINESE smartphone brands Oppo and Huawei are tightening their grip on the world’s largest market, grabbing local share and squeezing out Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. After including Vivo, Chinese vendors held the top three slots and accounted for 48 percent of shipments in the country during 2016, research firm IDC said. With a line-up of flexible- and curved-screen devices, they look set to dominate the market in 2017. A decline in Apple shipments in the fourth quarter highlighted how the iPhone 7 failed to make as big a splash in the face of escalating competition. Apple and Samsung have steadily ceded ground in China to aggressive local manufacturers since Xiaomi Corp. came on the scene around 2011. Xiaomi itself was ranked fifth in 2016, as Oppo, Huawei Technologies Co. and Vivo phones were the top three sellers, accounting for 48 percent of shipments last year and relegating the US company to fourth spot, IDC said in a report released Monday. “Even though the new black colored iPhones caught the attention of consumers, overall, the new launches did not create as much of a frenzy compared to the past,” IDC said in its report, a regular and closely watched release. Chinese vendors are marketing higher-end gadgetry that appeals to consumers seeking Apple-like quality and innovation. IPhone shipments plummeted 23.2 percent in 2016, shrinking Apple’s market share to just 9.6 percent― the lowest in about two years. Samsung didn’t even figure in the top five. China had for years driven Apple’s spectacular growth even as smartphone demand elsewhere faltered. But the country’s slowdown, regulatory tangles and―critically– the ascendancy of cheaper but just-as-good local alternatives took its toll. The country remains pivotal to the company’s business, especially with developed markets saturated and Apple still exploring promising countries such as India, where price is king and the US company barely registers in market rankings. Bloomberg

Japan cuts out middleman to help struggling fishermen RYOHEI Nomoto wants to put fresher sashimi on your plate, and more money in the wallets of Japan’s struggling fishermen. His venture airfreights freshly caught fish from across Japan, processes them on the grounds of Tokyo’s Haneda airport, and distributes the produce to the city’s notoriously choosy eaters and restaurants across Asia―but Nomoto’s goal isn’t just freshness. He wants to reinvigorate a declining fisheries industry by cutting out the middleman and giving more income to the nation’s underpaid fishermen. “We turn freshness of fish into money through speed and traceability,” said Nomoto, who runs CSN Chihou Sousei Network Co. “So much time is usually wasted getting fish to customers, which results in loss of freshness and an increase in expenses.” At Tokyo’s iconic Tsukiji market, fish caught on Monday might not be on sale until Friday, Nomoto says―he aims for sameday turnaround. Flying Fish Japan’s fish-loving but finicky eaters have a wealth of choices and a keen appreciation of freshness. CSN aims for “lightning fast fresh fish,” using a tie-up with ANA Holdings Inc. to fly the chilled cargo from ports around the country to the airport in Tokyo and out again. In a pristine environment reminiscent of a semiconductor clean room, just hundreds of meters from the international terminal’s baggage claim area, workers clad in protective masks and caps scoop organs and bones out of freshly arrived fish. The processed product is vacuum sealed and shipped to restaurants and retailers by noon the same day. Some 40 percent of the pro-

Sorted fresh ﬁsh sit in a basket at CSN Chihou Sousei Network Co.’s ﬁshing processing and distribution center in the restricted zone of Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japan, on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2017. Fishes (inset) delivered from CSN Chihou Sousei Network are sold at a Takashimaya department store in Tokyo. Bloomberg Bloomberg

duce is sent overseas, and can be rotating on the conveyor belts of sushi restaurants in Singapore or Shanghai the same day it was caught. By eliminating fishing cooperatives that buy at a flat rate, or markets such as Tsukiji, CSN says it can pay fishermen more for their catch. The nation’s fishermen need any help they can get. Many are not far from the poverty line, with average income for coastal fishing households in 2014 at 1.99 million yen ($17,500), about half the national average of 4.15 million yen. Makoto Higasayama, a 45-year-old fisherman in Kagoshima, southern Japan, sells fish to CSN. He works the waters of Koshikishima island and says the venture has helped boost the popularity of the island’s special-

ty, kibinago, a type of herring. “It used to take more than a day to reach places beyond Kagoshima, but now we can sell kibinago anywhere in Japan on the same day as we catch them,” he says. “We’re hearing from customers that the freshness is like nothing they’ve ever tasted.” CSN has contributed to rising prices and better income stability, he says. Fishermen Gutted Although it has the sixth-longest coastline in the world, Japan’s population has been turning away from fishing. The number of fishermen has dropped almost by half since 1998, government statistics show. “In order to survive, fishermen need to change their mentality and think about ways to sell at a high price,” says Kanta Kubo.

After 10 years as an engineer, he joined a fishing company in Tsushima, an island in the Sea of Japan, after attending a jobmatching fair for inexperienced fishermen. Now he runs the company. The Haneda market buys at a price 1.5 to 2 times higher than the local rate, Kubo says. And customers are willing to pay for quality. On a Friday evening at the upscale Takashimaya department store in Nihonbashi, Yusako Yoshida, a housewife in her 40s, bought a 2,500-yen ($22) platter of fish. It was caught that morning in Miyazaki and hauled 870 kilometers (541 miles) to the Tokyo Haneda Market. “Freshness is key,” she says. “Sashimi isn’t that cheap at supermarkets anyway, so if the

taste is significantly different and the freshness is outstanding, I don’t mind paying slightly more.” CSN President Nomoto says a Ginza fish store he opened in January counts shoppers for Michelin-starred sushi restaurants among its clientele. The premium paid by those customers is crucial to restoring Japan’s struggling rural areas, he says. His company’s name―Chihou Sousei―means regional revitalization. “You can sell fresh fish locally for nothing, but people are willing to pay three to five times for freshness in big cities,” he says. “People in rural areas send good quality products to cities, and people now living in the cities repatriate money by paying higher prices.” Bloomberg

Taguig, US renew English tutor ties

LGUs

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2017

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

By Joel E. Zurbano THE city government of Taguig on Monday announced it has renewed a partnership with the United States government to continue a scholarship program to help students improve their English language skills. Citing the importance of proficiency in English for global competitiveness, Mayor Laarni Cayetano said her administration will relaunch the English Access Micro Scholarship Program. The program, which started three years ago, selects 50 students from 14 to 18 years old who are “economically disadvantaged but academically inclined.” It offers 360 hours of afterschool classes and intensive sessions for two years, and aims to improve the English skills of the participants to enhance their academic and employment prospects. During the relaunching last Jan. 23 at the Taguig National High School, Cayetano said she is honored and grateful the US program found Taguig as one of its beneficiaries. “Education is a fundamental right and it has been, and continuous to be, a primary advocacy of my administration. Through this program, our students gain self-confidence and find a new sense of self-worth and respect that propel them to achieve more and in the process to embrace a more holistic development,” the mayor said. US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim, the first American envoy to the country of Asian lineage who also graced the event, congratulated the new scholars and explained the program is more than just learning the English language. “There’s also learning about the culture and values of America and I think, as US ambassador, I’m discovering that the heart of our relationship is the very strong bond between Americans and Filipinos, and all of you will be helping to promote those deep ties between the people of two countries,” Kim added. Beneficiaries each received Certificates of Award and a Merriam-Webster pocket dictionary from the program, first launched in Taguig in May 2014. The scholars are officially among the program’s 416 current beneficiaries throughout the Philippines.

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

‘TYPE NG BAYAN.’ The DU30 Cabinet Spouses Association and the Department of Health has launched ‘Type Ng Bayan’ a free blood typing program that will help Filipinos get much-

needed blood donations from outside their family circles. At the program launch and memorandum of agreement signing at the Mandaluyong City Hall were (seated from left) Metro Manila Mayors’ Spouses Foundation president Janet Olivarez, Health Secretary Paulyn Jean Ubial, and Jocelyn Sueno, president of the DU30 Cabinet Spouses Association. Standing are (from left) Presidential Communications Office Secretary Martin Andanar, Peace Process Secretary Jesus Dureza, and Interior Secretary Ismael Sueno. At right is Ricky Reyes, executive director of the DU30 Cabinet Spouses Association. Manny Palmero

Caloocan’s Asistio dies, 80 F By Jun David

ORMER Caloocan City Mayor Macario “Boy” Asistio Jr. passed away Monday morning after falling into a coma for almost a week following a stroke. He was 80. Starting his political career as a councilor, Asistio first served as mayor of the northern Metro Manila city from 1980 to 1986, and again from 1988 to 1995. He died at 10:55 a.m., according to doctors at Metro Antipolo Hospital He is survived by his life partners, actress Nadia Montenegro—who confirmed the news in an Instagram post—and Veronica Jones, along with 26 children, relatives and friends.

His remains will lie in state at the Loyola Memorial Chapels on Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City, the family announced. Interment will be announced later. The former mayor was part of the second generation of the Asistio clan that has ruled Caloocan since 1941. His father, Macario Sr., was mayor from 1952 to 1972, and an uncle, Alejandro Asistio Fider, served from 1976 to 1978.

but lost to Enrico “Recom” Echiverri and incumbent Mayor Oscar Malapitan. His namesake and nephew, Macario “Maca” III, is the current vice mayor. Last Friday, the ex-mayor was rushed to the hospital due to dizziness and vomiting. He showed symptoms of a mild stroke, said his niece, Caloocan City Councilor Aurora “Onet” Henson. “His right arm was numb, his face was slightly swollen, and he could hardly talk,” the councilor told Manila Standard in a phone interview. Asistio with actress-daughter Ynna, Doctors tried to revive from an Instagram post. Asistio upon his admission, but the effort, which lasted He ran for reelection in the for 15 minutes, only led to 2013 and 2016 local elections, brain bleeding that led to the

Manila starts anti-drug drive vs ‘narco-barangays’ By Sandy Araneta WITHIN the year, around 270 “narco-barangays” in Manila will be cleansed of illegal drugs, Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada said on Monday. Estrada has ordered the Manila Police District to initially target barangays that are “slightly affected,” a police term for communities that have at least one drug user or pusher. “Our mission this year, is 30 to

50 percent of our barangays will be identified as drug-free, which means zero presence of illegal drugs and abusers,” the twoterm city mayor said. Manila has 896 barangays. For the first quarter of 2017, MPD will take on 32 slightly-affected barangays, city police director Chief Supt. Joel Coronel said. “With the all-out support of the city government and the barangays, we’ll be able to do that. It’s doable and hopefully, within

our target,” Coronel said. With the temporary suspension of the Philippine National Police’s anti-drug “Oplan Tokhang,” Coronel said the MPD will conduct “ugnayan” or dialogues in every barangay to convince drug dependents to surrender for rehabilitation. Estrada has also launched the “Sagip Buhay, Sagip Pangarap” community-based drug treatment program to aid the recovery of drug dependents.

Coronel said the city government’s active outreach programs will be enough to contain abusers and traffickers in these barangays. He said “moderately affected” barangays, or communities where two percent of the population are involved in drugs, will be next. “We’ll shift to those barangays, up to the time we clear the 896 barangays. Hopefully, we can clear as many as we can for this year,” the police chief said. Recently, Estrada confirmed

that some barangay chiefs have tested positive for drug use after the mandatory drug testing held last November. Estrada said he will publicly announce who these barangay officials are once confirmatory drug tests have been completed. “We want to be sure. We don’t want to give names which have not been confirmed,” he said, while promising to file criminal and administrative charges against the erring officials.

Bambanti Festival unwraps in Isabela By Jessica M. Bacud ILAGAN CITY, Isabela—Isabela Gov. Faustino ‘Bojie’ G. Dy III and Vice Governor Antonio ‘Tonypet’ T. Abano led the annual Bambanti Festival here over the weekend. The Bambanti Festival “revealed the best about Isabela, its impressive beginning, intense growth and bountiful harvest,” Dy said. Albano, as Director General of the festival, said the event capitalized on the province’s gains in agricultural productivity, tourism, and other drivers of the economy. This year’s theme, “Isabela for the World,” showcased the province’s farming efficiency, tourist industry, cultural potential, different food products of each town, various indigenous world-class products, lifestyle merchandise, and native cuisine, Albano said. The festival celebrated the province’s triumph “that it proudly shares with the world,” Dy said.

Isabela “aims to become a model for economic expansion and display the natural charms of its local culture, agriculture productivity and disaster preparedness. This is what the province offers to the whole world,” Albano stressed. “Bambanti” is the Ilocano word for scarecrow, and the festival is Isabelenos’ thanksgiving for their consistently abundant harvests. The event also celebrates the resilience and diligence of the farmers, who fulfilled the province’s vision as the country’s biggest corn and rice surplus producer, said Provincial Administrator Atty. Noel Lopez. The bambanti symbolizes protection for the Isabela farmer’s crops. Made of straw and grass and wrapped in farmers’ clothes, these scarecrows are positioned in the middle of the field to drive away the birds and ensure a good, abundant harvest, Lopez added.

AETA HARVEST. Workers and volunteers of SM Foundation join Aeta farmers in Bamban, Tarlac in

celebrating the season-long Kabalikat sa Kabuhayan Farmers Training Program. The program aims to train farmers of indigenous tribes to run a sustainable farm, make them food self-sufficient to address malnutrition, and inspire them to become entrepreneurs.

coma, Henson said. Asistio first served as Caloocan mayor during the Marcos administration. He is the third in a brood of seven, followed by his brother Rep. Luis “Baby” Asistio, and Henson’s mother, Aurora the elder, is fifth. Boy and Baby Asistio shared a passion for race horses, while being one of Metro Manila’s most colorful political personalities. On Saturday afternoon, Henson told the Manila Standard her uncle’s condition was improving, but it took a turn for the worse during a 48-hour observation period, doctors said. At presstime on Saturday, his vital signs were stable, she added. Last April, Asistio was rushed to the hospital for sleep apnea.

P381m in DSWD aid for ‘Lawin’ BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya—Typhoon “Lawin” victims in Cagayan Valley will get cash assistance to repair and rebuild their houses with the release of P381.3 million in shelter aid by the Department of Social Welfare and Development. Franco Lopez, DSWD’s protective services unit chief, said out of 79,502 beneficiaries of the Emergency Shelter Cash Assistance Program, 76,275 were already accommodated. “This represents our 95-percent accomplishment under the Escap, and we are still processing the remaining cash assistance,” he said. More than 182,000 houses were in Cagayan Valley based on the report of affected local government units, but this figure was trimmed down to 79,502 after a massive validation process conducted by the DSWD, Lopez said. Under the Escap, beneficiaries are entitled to receive P10,000 for partially damaged houses and P25,000 for totally damaged houses. Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo ordered the immediate release of the shelter aid in October after local government units submitted a validated count of houses damaged by “Lawin.” Ben Moses Ebreo

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK Manila

Standard REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES TODAY REGIONAL TRIAL COURT

NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION QUEZON CITY

ADM. MATTER NO. NP-148 ADM. MATTER NO. NP-150 ADM. MATTER NO. NP-151 ADM. MATTER NO. NP-152 ADM. MATTER NO. NP-153 ADM. MATTER NO. NP-154 ADM. MATTER NO. NP-155

Pursuant to Sec. 5 of A.M. No. 02-8-13-SC, let this notice of hearing be published in a newspaper of general circulation to be chosen by raffle and at the expense of the petitioners, as well as posted in a conspicuous place in the offices of the Executive Judge and of the Clerk of Court. SO ORDERED. Quezon City, January 27, 2017.

(Sgd.) CECILYN E. BURGOS-VILLAVERT

Acting Executive Judge GENTA YELLOW BLACK

(MS-Feb. 7, 2017)

ORDER

This is a verified petition filed by the petitioner praying that after due notice, publication and hearing in accordance with the provision of PD1529 and other allied and applicable laws thereon, judgment be rendered as follows: 1) Granting the instant petition; 2) Ordering the Registry of Deeds of the City of Mandaluyong to forthwith issue a Second Copy of the Owner’s Duplicate Certificate of Transfer Certificate of Title No. 2760 in favor of SPS. RICARDO B. VALDEZ and CAROLINA VARGAS VALDEZ, both of legal age, Filipino, and a resident of 715 Pantaleon St., Hulo, Mandaluyong City; 3) To release the issued Second Copy of the Owner’s Duplicate Certificate of Transfer Certificate of Title No. 27260 as no longer valid and effective; 5) Other reliefs just and equitable are likewise prayed for.

That sometime on December 2015, petitioner CAROLINA VARGAS VALDEZ tried to retrieve and/or locate the Owner’s Duplicate Certificate of TCT No. 27260 from her personal files at the house but the same could no longer be found in the said files. That efforts were exerted by petitioner to locate the missing Owner’s Duplicate Certificate of Transfer Certificate of TCT No. 27260 but said efforts were all in vain as it could no longer be found. That after consultation and advice of counsel, petitioner executed an Affidavit of Loss which was duly annotated in TCT No. 27260. That the TCT No. 27260 was valid and effective at the time it was lost and duly registered and covered by the torrens system of land registration. That the said realty is declared for taxation purposes. That the said realty has no other existing mortgage except the registered mortgage to the National Housing Authority which was already cancelled. It has no other liability and encumbrances of whatever nature or kind and either it is in the possession of a third person who has a lien or negotiations and/or transactions over the real property pending registration with the Register of Deeds.

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK That the petitioners tried to cause the registration and annotation of the Deed of Cancellation and Release of Real Estate Mortgage Contract executed by the National Housing Authority but the Register of Deeds of Mandaluyong City refused to act as there is a need to present the Owner’s Copy of TCT No. 27260. Petitioners cannot present the same because it was lost sometime on December 2015.

That there is an imperative need to secure a Second Copy of Owner’s Duplicate of TCT No. 27260 in order to remove any That petitioners are the registered owner cloud or doubt as to its existence, validity of a parcel of land located at the Bo. Of and efficacy thereof and in order to protect Hulo City of Mandaluyong covered by TCT the property rights and interests of the No. 27260. registered and lawful owner. That said realty was acquired by the Acting on the petition, this Court hereby petitioners from the National Housing orders petitioners to cause the publication of Authority and was paid in installment. a copy of this Order at their own expense The National Housing Authority required before the hearing on February 28, 2017 the petitioners to execute a Deed of Real at 8:30 o’clock in the morning before the Estate Mortgage in their favor to secure the Regional Trial Court, Branch 211, 2nd Floor, payment of the balance in the amount of Old Municipal Hall Building, Maysilo Circle, P28,424.00. The Real Estate Mortgage Mandaluyong City. Let a copy of this Order Contract was duly annotated in page 2 of be published in the Manila Standard, a the Certified True Copy of TCT No. 27260 newspaper of general circulation in Metro under Entry No. 60686-T 27260. Manila selected by raffle pursuant to PD No. That sometime on February 2005, 1079, once a week for three (3) consecutive petitioners have completed the payment weeks. of the mortgage obligations to the National Any interested person may appear and Housing Authority. As a result of the full oppose the petition. payment of the Mortgage Obligation, the Petitioner is further directed to cause the National Housing Authority executed the Deed of Cancellation and Release of Real service of copies of this Order together with Estate Mortgage dated February 4, 2005. the petition and annexes upon the Register of Deeds of Mandaluyong City, the Director That after the issuance by the National of the Bureau of Lands, the Commissioner Housing Authority of the Deed of of the Land Registration Authority, the Cancellation and Release of Real Estate Secretary of the Department of Environment Mortgage Contract, the National Housing and Natural Resources and the Office of Authority released to the petitioners the the Solicitor General, the proofs of service Owner’s Copy of Transfer Certificate of to be duly proven and established to the Title No. 27260. satisfaction of the Court. That after the acquisition of the said SO ORDERED. Owner’s Copy of TCT No. 27260 from Mandaluyong City, January 03, 2017. the National Housing Authority, petitioner (Sgd.) OFELIA L. CALO CAROLINA VARGAS VALDEZ was Judge Copy Furnished: entrusted the custody and kept the Owner’s - Atty. Julian T. Tutanes; - Register of Deeds; - Bureau of Lands; Copy and other documents related thereto - Dept. of Envl. & Natural Resources; - Land Registration Authority in her personal files at their house. - Office of the Solicitor General (Manila Standard 1/24,31 & 2/7,’17)

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK Republic of the Philippines National Capital Judicial Region REGIONAL TRIAL COURT Mandaluyong City Branch 211

2 cols. x 15 cms.

METRO UTOPIAN CONTRACTING, INC. Petitioner, x--------------------------------------------------x

That petitioner is the registered and absolute owner of condominium unit and parking space located at Brgy. Wack Wack, Mandaluyong City, and described under Condominium Certificate of Title (CCT) Nos. 0082015005599 and 0082015005600 of the Register of Deeds for the City of Mandaluyong, with area of ONE HUNDRED FOURTEEN SQUARE METERS AND NINETY EIGHT SQUARE DECIMETERS (114.98 sq.m.) and THIRTY SEVEN SQUARE METERS AND FIFTY SQUARE DECIMETERS (37.5 sq.m.), respectively. That petitioner is in actual possession and occupation of the real estate properties and they have been declared for taxation purposes as evidenced by hereto attached latest Tax Declaration Nos. D-027-22910 and D-092722911. That the Owner’s Duplicate Copies of the said titles were being kept by Mr. Doculan at petitioner’s then principal office at Unit 1075-3G, 3rd Floor, LEL Building, No. 1075, J.P. Rizal Street, Makati City. That in December 2015, petitioner transferred its principal office to No. 455 Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong City. By reason of this, all things which are being kept in the office were brought to the new office, including CCT Nos. 008-2015005599 and 0082015005600. That all along, Mr. Doculan thought that all documents from the old office were placed and kept in their respective cabinets in the new office, only to find out that, in November 2016, CCT Nos. 008-2015005599 and 008-2015005600 are beyond recovery. In fact, they had a hint that those titles were lost during that time when petitioner transferred from one

For: Declaration of Nullity of Marriage

Pasay City Bids received in excess of the ABC per Cluster shall be automatically rejectedGREETINGS: at Bid Opening. You are hereby directed to enter your appearance in the above entitled case within thirty (30) days from the last issue of publication hereof in a newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines once a week for two (2) consecutive weeks and answer the Petition filed by petitioner Marissa Samson Dagami wherein the petitioner prays that judgment be rendered declaring the marriage between petitioner and respondent as null and void on the ground of the parties’ incurable psychological incapacity under Article 36 of the Family Code and furnish a copy thereof to petitioner’s counsel, Atty. TREBONIAN C. TABANG with address at CATRAL TABANG & IRAL LAW OFFICES, Suite 505 Artex Bldg., 435 Gen. Luna St., Binondo, Manila. If you fail to answer within the time fixed, as per the Rules of Court, the petitioner shall take judgment against you and demand from this Court the relief applied in this petition. Moreover, you are reminded of the provision of the IBP-OCA Memorandum on Policy guidelines dated March 12, 2002, to observe restraint in filing a Motion to Dismiss and instead alleged the grounds thereof as defenses in the answer. If you fail to answer within the time fixed, the Court shall order the Public Prosecutor to investigate whether or not collusion exist between the parties and intervene for the state to see to it that the evidence presented is not fabricated or suppressed. Witness the HON. TINGARAAN U. GUILING, Presiding Judge of this Court this 20th day of December 2016.

Contract Duration - - - - -March 6 to 11, 2017

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a nondiscretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of RA 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”. Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorship, partnerships or organizations with at least sixty percent (60%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines, and to citizens or organizations of a country the laws or regulations of which grant similar rights or privileges to Filipino citizens, pursuant to RA 5183 and subject to Commonwealth Act 138. A complete set of Bidding Documents may be purchased by interested CLEOTILDE P. PAULO bidders on February 7, 2016 (Sgd.) at DepED Region IV-A BAC Secretariat Officer-In-Charge (MS-Jan. 24 & 31, 2017) (Supply Office) located at Gate 2 Karangalan Drive, Cainta, Rizal, upon accomplishing a Bidder’s Information Sheet and payment in cash of a nonrefundable fee by the interested bidders to the DepED IV-A Cashier in the amount of One Thousand Pesos Only (Php1,000.00). Only bidders who purchased the Bidding Documents will be allowed to submit Bids. The DepED IV-A procurement activities for the above bidding requirements shall be as follows: Issuance of Bidding Documents --February 6, 2017 to February 20, 2017 Monday to Friday at 8:00 to 4:00pm Pre-bid Conference ------------------ February 8, 2017 at 11 :00 am RDs Conference Room Submission & Opening of Bids---- February 20, 2017 at 11 :30 am Prospective bidders are strongly encouraged to order from the PhilGEPS website: www.philgeps.net for them to be included in the Document Request List of the Project.

Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidder’s representative/s who choose to attend the opening of bids at the address, date and time stated herein. Late bids shall not be accepted. The DepED Region IV-A reserves the right to accept or reject any and all bids, declare a failure of bidding, not award the contract or annul the bidding process without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

office to another, and that they were not kept in the new office. That accordingly, an Affidavit of Loss was executed which was later submitted for registration. Photocopy of the said Affidavit of Loss which was submitted for registration as Entry No. 2016010470 on December 2, 2016 at 1:47:07 PM for both CCT Nos. 008-2015005599 and 008-2015005600, before the Register of Deeds for the City of Mandaluyong. Meanwhile, copy of the Memorandum of Encumbrance evidencing such registration on the said titles can be seen on the second and third pages of each title. That the said CCT’s are not mortgaged nor given as security to any loan whatsoever. Neither said CCT’s are being subject of any attachment, execution or proceeding in any judicial or administrative body. And finally, said CCT’s have not been sold to any person or entity to guarantee any obligations or for any other purpose. That the original copy the titles subject matter this petition is existing the Register of Deeds Mandaluyong City.

Antamok water tests pass EMB standards—BC

of of at of

Acting on the petition, this Court hereby orders petitioners to cause the publication of a copy of this Order at their own expense before the hearing on February 27, 2017 at 1:30 o’clock in the afternoon before the Regional Trial Court, Branch 211, 2nd Floor, Old Municipal Hall Building, Maysilo Circle, Mandaluyong City. Let a copy of this Order be published in the Manila Standard Today, a newspaper of general circulation in Metro Manila selected by raffle pursuant to PD No. 1079, once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks. Any interested person may appear and oppose the petition. Petitioner is further directed to cause the service of copies of this Order together with the petition and annexes upon the Register of Deeds of Mandaluyong City, the Director of the Bureau of Lands, the Commissioner of the Land Registration Authority, the Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Office of the Solicitor General, the proofs of service to be duly proven and established to the satisfaction of the Court. SO ORDERED. Mandaluyong City, January 13, 2016.

(Sgd.) OFELIA L. CALO Judge Copy Furnished: -Atty. Nesauro H. Firme -Register of Deeds -Bureau of Lands -Dept. of Envi. & Natural Resources -Land Registration Authority -Office of the Solicitor General -Manila Standard Today (MS-Jan. 31, Feb. 7 & 14, 2017)

NOTICE OF HEARING

Hundred Forty Seven Thousand Two Hundred Pesos (PhP1,447,200.00) being Witness the Hon. Esteban A. Tacla, Jr., Executive the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to cover eligible payments under Judge, this participants 9th day of January 2017 at Mandaluyong the contract for the Provision of Venue (Board and Lodging) - to the of the “Capacity Building & Certification of Training Program City. Facilitators”, as follows: (Sgd.) ATTY. ERWIN N. BARATA No. of pax Region Clerk of Court VI REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 70 Region IV-A (MS-Jan. 13, 2017) REGIONAL TRIAL C OURT 60 JUDICIAL REGION Region IV-B NATIONAL CAPITAL 32109, PASAY CITY Region V BRANCH By Dexter A. See 14 NCR MARISSA SAMSON DAGAMI Facilitators/Mgt.Team Petitioner, 25 -versus – Total - 201 CIVIL CASE NO. R-PSY-16-23464-CV The Department IV-A, through ZHANG WEI, of Education UnderRegion Art. 36 of the Family Code its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) now invites bids for the above project. Bidders must have Respondent. x------------------------------------x completed within five (5) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar toBY the project with an amount of at least 50% of SUMMONS PUBLICATION the ABC be bid. TheWEI description of an eligible bidder is contained in the TO:to MR. ZHANG Bidding Documents, i.e., in Section II, Instruction to Bidders. #43 Lourdes St., F.B. Harrison St.,

(SGD) ANN GERALYN T. PELlAS BAC Chairman

Republic of the Philippines DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION REGION IV-A CALABARZON Gate 2 Karangalan Drive, Cainta, Rizal (website:www.depedcalabarzon.ph) INVITATION TO BID The Department of Education Regional Office of Region IVA through the FY 2016 General Appropriation Act intends to apply the sum of Four Million Two Hundred Ninety Four Thousand Four Hundred Pesos (PhP4,294,400.00) being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to cover eligible payments under the contract for the Provision of Venue (Board and Lodging) – to the participants of the “Senior High School Mass Training of Teachers on Common Topics - Second Tranche n, as follows: Cluster No. of pax No. of days Approved Budget in Php I ------Rizal 366 4 Php1 , 171 ,200.00 II ------Batangas 238 4 761,600.00 III -----Laguna 155 4 496,000.00 IV -----Cavite 331 4 1,059,200.00 V ------Quezon 252 4 806,400.00 Total Budget Php4,294,400.00 The Department of Education Region IV-A, through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) now invites bids for the above project. Bidders must have completed within five (5) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the project with an amount of at least 50% of the ABC to be bid. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, i.e., in Section II , Instruction to Bidders. Bids received in excess of the ABC per Cluster shall be automatically rejected at Bid Opening. Contract Duration - - - - -March 7 to 10, 2017 Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a nondiscretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of RA 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”. Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorship, partnerships or organizations with at least sixty percent (60%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines, and to citizens or organizations of a country the laws or regulations of which grant similar rights or privileges to Filipino citizens, pursuant to RA 5183 and subject to Commonwealth Act 138. A complete set of Bidding Documents may be purchased by interested bidders on February 7, 2016 at DepED Region IV-A BAC Secretariat (Supply Office) located at Gate 2 Karangalan Drive, Cainta, Rizal, upon accomplishing a Bidder’s Information Sheet and payment in cash of a nonrefundable fee by the interested bidders to the DepED IV-A Cashier in the amount of One Thousand Pesos Only (Php1,000.00). Only bidders who purchased the Bidding Documents will be allowed to submit Bids. The DepED IV-A procurement activities for the above bidding requirements shall be as follows: Issuance of Bidding Documents ---- February 6, 2017 to February 20, 2017 Monday to Friday at 8:00 to 4:00pm Pre-bid Conference -------------------- February 8, 2017 at 10:00 am RDs Conference Room Submission & Opening of Bids------ February 20, 2017 at 10:00 am Prospective bidders are strongly encouraged to order from the PhilGEPS website: www.philgeps.net for them to be included in the Document Request List of the Project. Bids must be delivered to the address stated herein on or before February 20, 2017 at 10:00am. All Bids must be accompanied by a Bid Security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB. Bids will be opened in the presenceRepublic of the bidder’s representative/s who of the Philippines choose to attend the opening of bidsREGIONAL at the address, date and time stated TRIAL COURT herein. Late bids shall not be accepted. National Capital Judicial Region Office of the Clerk of Court & Ex-Officio Sheriff

The DepED Region IV-A reserves the Mandaluyong right to accept City or reject any and all bids, declare a failure of bidding, not award the contract or annul the bidding process without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder NOTICE OF HEARING or bidders.

M S - F E B . 7, 2 017 )

Notice is hereby given that a summary hearing (SGD) ANNCommission GERALYNofT. PELlAS on the petition for Notarial ATTY. RAMON L. CARPIO will beBAC held Chairman on January 16, 2017, at 1:00 o’clock in the afternoon at the office of the Honorable Executive Judge, Session Hall of Branch 208, 2nd Floor, New Hall of Justice Building. Any person who has any valid reason or cause to object to the grant of the petition may file with the

ADM. MATTER NO. NP-071 ADM. MATTER NO. NP-072 ADM. MATTER NO. NP-073 ADM. MATTER NO. NP-074 ADM. MATTER NO. NP-075 ADM. MATTER NO. NP-076 ADM. MATTER NO. NP-077

Notice is hereby given that a summary hearing on the petition for notarial commission of the above-named petitioners shall be held on JANUARY 19, 2017 at 3:00 o’clock in the afternoon at the OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE JUDGE of the REGIONAL TRIAL COURT of QUEZON CITY. Any person who has any cause or reason to object to the grant of the petition may file with the Executive Judge a verified written opposition thereto before the date of the summary hearing.

Any person who has any valid reason or cause to object to the grant of the petition may file with the undersigned before The Department of Education Regional Office of Region IVA through thethe FYdate of the summary hearing a verified written opposition 2016 General Appropriation Act intends to apply the sum of One Million Four thereto.

INVITATION TO BID

M S - F E B . 7, 2 017 )

ORDER

That petitioner is a corporation organized and existing by virtue and operations of Philippine laws with principal place of business at No. 455 Boni Avenue, Mandaluyong City. For the purpose, petitioner is represented by its President Enrico A. Doculan.

(website:www.depedcalabarzon.ph)

Bids must be delivered to the address stated herein on or before February 20, 2017 at 11:30 am. All Bids must be accompanied by a Bid Security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB.

IN RE: PETITION FOR THE ISSUANCE OF NEW OWNER’S DUPLICATE COPY OF CONDOMINIUM CERTIFICATES OF TITLE NOS. 008-2015005599 AND 008-2015005600 IN LIEU OF THE LOST TITLES LRC Case No. MC16-865

This is a verified petition filed by the petitioner praying that the Court cancel and declare null and void the owner’s duplicate copy of CCT Nos. 008-2015005599 and 008-2015005600 which were lost, and to order and direct the Register of Deeds for the City of Mandaluyong, after payment of the fees prescribed by law, to issue in lieu/replacement thereof, a new owner’s duplicate copy of CCT Nos. 008-2015005599 and 008-20155005600 which shall in all respect be entitled to like faith and credit as the original duplicate and in exactly the same terms and conditions annotated therein whatsoever, in accordance with Section 109 of Act No. 456, as amended by P.D. No. 1529, in relation to R.A. No. 26.

ATTY. GODOFREDO T. LIBAN II ATTY. LEA M. ROMERO ATTY. JASON DEMETRI O. BENITEZ ATTY. FRANCES MAE CHERRIE K. ONTALAN ATTY. THEOBEN JERDAN C. OROSA ATTY. NORBERTO D. VITUG ATTY. AISON ALEJANDRO S. GARCIA Petitioners.

is hereby given that a summary hearing Republic of the Philippines onNotice the petition for Notarial Commission of ATTY. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION RAMON L. CARPIO will be held on January 16, REGION IV-A CALABARZON 2017, at 1:00 o’clock in the afternoon at the office Gate 2 Karangalan Drive, of the Honorable Executive Judge, Session Hall of Cainta, Rizal Branch 208, 2nd Floor, New Hall of Justice Building.

NOTICE OF HEARING

IN RE: PETITION FOR ISSUANCE OF SECOND COPY OF THE OWNER’S DUPLICATE CERTIFICATE OF TRANSFER CERTIFICATE OF TITLE NO. 27260 LRC Case No. MC16-861 SPS. RICARDO B. VALDEZ and CAROLINA VARGAS VALDEZ, Petitioners, -versusTHE LAND REGISTRATION AUTHORITY, THE REGISTRY OF DEEDS OF MANDALUYONG CITY, Respondents. x-------------------------------------------x

-oOo-

IN RE: PETITION / APPLICATION FOR RENEWAL OF NOTARIAL COMMISSION (2017-2018) FOR AND IN QUEZON CITY

NOTICE OF HEARING

Notice is hereby given that a summary hearing on the petition for notarial commission of the above-named petitioners shall be held on FEBRUARY 09, 2017 at 3:00 o’clock in the afternoon at the OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE JUDGE of the REGIONAL TRIAL COURT of QUEZON CITY. Any person who has any cause or reason to object to the grant of the petition may file with the Executive Judge a verified written opposition thereto before the date of the summary hearing.

Republic of the Philippines National Capital Judicial Region REGIONAL TRIAL COURT Mandaluyong City Branch 211

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES REGIONAL TRIAL COURT NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION BRANCH 89, QUEZON CITY

Republic of the Philippines REGIONAL TRIAL COURT National Capital Judicial Region Office of the Clerk of Court & Ex-Officio Sheriff Mandaluyong City

-oOo-

IN RE: PETITION / APPLICATION FOR NOTARIAL COMMISSION (2017-2018) FOR AND IN QUEZON CITY ATTY. NATALIA O. GUINTO ATTY. FRANCIS JAY E. REMIGIO ATTY. ROMERICO S. ESPERA ATTY. JANA D. HORTILLOSA-ARROYO ATTY. GENE EDWARD DELA CRUZ LOPEZ ATTY. WILFREDO M. SANTOS ATTY. BUENAVENTURA R. PUENTEBELLA Petitioners.

LGUs

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2017

SO ORDERED. Quezon City, January 9, 2017.

(Sgd.) CECILYN E. BURGOS-VILLAVERT Acting Executive Judge (MS-Jan. 17, 2017)

Standard Manila

TODAY

TOGON, Benguet—Water samples from three rivers affected by the tailings leak of Benguet Corp.’s shuttered Antamok mine have passed the standards of the Environmental Management Bureau, meaning the accidental leak has been contained, the company said.

The sampling was part of an independent examination of water and waste water. study jointly commissioned by Benguet Corp. Lawyer Froilan Roger C. Lawilao, BC adminand the EMB to validate the contamination of istration department head, said the company’s the Ambalanga, Liang and Agno river systems cleanup along the stretch of the Liang river and from the accidental leak of the underground its downstream was completed by Jan. 7. They Antamok mine’s tailings impoundment area reported it to the EMB-CAR and the regional oflast October, caused by heavy rains triggered fice of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau before by Super Typhoon “Lawin.” their joint inspection to validate such report. One of the large-scale mining compaLawilao said the final decision on the nies operating in the province, Benguet possibility of the country’s first and oldest Corp. traces its operations back to 1903. Its mining company being fined for the acciAntamok underground mine stopped oper- dental tailings leak now lies with the Polluating in 1989, and its open-pit counterpart tion Adjudication Board, thus earlier reports last operated in 1998. on Benguet facing millions of pesos in fines BC management submitted to the Cordil- “are considered premature.” lera EMB office the results of the independSince the accidental tailings leak, Benguet ent third-party laboratory analysis of the Corp. had mobilized volunteers and personwater sampling made by CRL Laboratories nel in a massive cleanup of the Liang River. along different areas of the affected rivers. This “illustrated their desire to perform the CRL, an accredited laboratory of the needed measures to prevent the various rivEMB, reported the samples taken from the er systems from being contaminated,” the various water sampling stations were below company said in a statement. the limits set by the Department of Environ“We remain committed to our responsiment and Natural Resources. bility to clean up whatever areas that were Among the water sampling stations sub- affected by the accidental tailings leak. We jected to assessment and evaluation included believe we were able to comply with the Manila that the river the Asin Dalupirip; Depey, Tinongdan; Ba- mandates of the law to ensure Standard REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES of the parties’ incurable loy, Tinongdan; Apechay, Poblacion; Ape- systems will be spared fromTODAY the hazards of REGIONAL TRIAL COURT psychological incapacity under of the Family mining,” Code NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION Article 36 chay-Ambalangan convergence; Colbath, Lawilao stressed. and furnish a copy thereof PASAY CITY petitioner’s counsel, Atty. Balisong;BRANCH Laing109, penstock; andto Liang Dam. The EMB-CAR and the MGB-CAR are MARISSA SAMSON DAGAMI TREBONIAN C. TABANG with Tests conducted Petitioner, on the water samples expected to come out with their own REPUBLIC OF THEfindPHILIPPINES address atincluded CATRAL TABANG & IRAL LAW OFFICES, Suite 505 and recommendations, REGIONAL TRIAL COURT shimadzu -versus analytical methods, atomic absorption ings to be transmit– Artex Bldg., 435 Gen. Luna St., NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION Manila. spectrophotometry, and standardBinondo, methods for the ted to the PAB for final adjudication. BRANCH 109, PASAY CITY CIVIL CASE NO. R-PSY-16-23464-CV For: Declaration of Nullity of Marriage If you fail to answer within the time fixed, as per the Rules Under Art. 36 of the Family Code of Court, the petitioner shall take judgment against you and ZHANG WEI, demand from this Court the Respondent. relief applied in this petition. x------------------------------------x Moreover, you are reminded SUMMONS BY PUBLICATION of the provision of the IBPOCA Memorandum on Policy TO: MR. ZHANG WEI guidelines dated March 12, #43 Lourdes St., 2002, to observe restraint in filing a Motion to Dismiss and instead F.B. Harrison St., alleged the grounds thereof as Pasay City defenses in the answer. If you GREETINGS: fail to answer within the time You are hereby directed to fixed, the Court shall order the enter your appearance in the Public Prosecutor to investigate above entitled case within whether or not collusion exist thirty (30) days from the last between the parties and issue of publication hereof intervene for the state to see to in a newspaper of general it that the evidence presented is circulation in the Philippines not fabricated or suppressed. once a week for two (2) Witness the HON. consecutive weeks and answer TINGARAAN U. GUILING, the Petition filed by petitioner Presiding Judge of this Court Marissa Samson Dagami this 20th day of December 2016. wherein the petitioner prays

MARISSA SAMSON DAGAMI Petitioner,

Mayor hails health caravan to remote P’sinan villages -versus –

CIVIL CASE NO. R-PSY-16-2 For: Declaration of Nullity ZHANG WEI, Under Art. 36 of the Famil Respondent. x------------------------------------x

SUMMONS BY PUBLICATION TO: MR. ZHANG WEI #43 Lourdes St., F.B. Harrison St., Pasay City

GREETINGS: Services offered to residents during the LINGAYEN, Pangasinan—Infanta Mayor You are hereby directed to enter your appearance in the a case within thirty (30) days from the last issue of publication a supplemental feedMarvin Martinez recently thanked Gov. health caravan include newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines once a wee consecutive weeks and answer the Petition filed by petitioner Ma consultations, dental Amado I. Espino III for bringing the “I Love ing program, medical Dagami wherein the petitioner prays that judgment be rendered between petitioner and respondent as null and void on services, malaria control Pangasinan” Kalusugan Karavan to the most and laboratory marriage the parties’ incurable psychological incapacity under Article 36 Code and furnish a copy program, thereof to petitioner’s counsel, Atty. TR program, tuberculosis control skin remote barangay of the province. TABANG with address at CATRAL TABANG & IRAL LAW OFFIC Artex Bldg.,flu 435 Gen. Luna St., Binondo, RCA, Manila. vaccination, “Thank you for taking the time to reach diseases consultation, If you fail to answer within the time fixed, as per the Rules dengue the remote barangays of Pita and Babuyan hygiene kits distribution, petitioner shall take judgment againstcontrol you and demand from t relief applied in this petition. program, potable water access, and rabies for the services we sorely need,” Martinez Moreover, you are reminded of the provision of the IBP-OCA M that judgment be rendered Policy guidelines dated March 12, 2002, to observe restra (Sgd.) CLEOTILDE declaring marriage control program.on said during thethe23rd legbetween of the mobile healthP. PAULO Motion to Dismiss and instead alleged the grounds thereof as de Officer-In-Charge and respondent as you fail to answer within the time fixed, the Court s The governor answer. also Ifassured to have an incaravan,petitioner which Espino null and void on the attended. ground Public Prosecutor to investigate whether or not collusion exist (MS-Jan. 24 & 31, 2017) parties and intervene for the state to see to it that the evidence building in Pita completed The mayor noted Espino was the second tegrated school not fabricated or suppressed. Witness the HON. TINGARAAN U. GUILING, Presiding Judge governor to reach the remote villages after in due time. this 20 day of December 2016. Martinez said the projects supported byCLEOTILDE his predecessor and father, current fifth dis(Sgd.) 24 & 31, 2017) the governor and(MS-Jan. the provincial governmentOfficer-In-C trict Rep. Amado T. Espino Jr. “I wish the health caravan led by the pro- “will spur tourism and agricultural growth That more sometime Panon Decemberas2015, well as bolster the promotion of basic vincial government will benefit Republic of the Philippines National Capital Judicial Region petitioner CAROLINA VARGAS VALDEZ tried he to retrieve and/or his locate the education.” Owner’s REGIONAL TRIAL COURT gasinenses,” Martinez said, as urged Duplicate Certificate of TCT No. 27260 from Mandaluyong City her personal files at the house but the same 211 Present during the mobile health caravan townmates to Branch support the advocacies and could no longer be found in the said files. IN RE: PETITION FOR ISSUANCE OF That efforts were exerted by petitioner were other Infanta town officials led by Vice health programs bytothe provincial SECOND COPY launched OF THE OWNER’S locate the missing Owner’s Duplicate DUPLICATE CERTIFICATE OF Certificate of Transfer Certificate of TCT No. TRANSFER CERTIFICATE OF Mayor Virgilio Vallarta, barangay councils administration. 27260 but said efforts were all in vain as it TITLE NO. 27260 could no longer be found. The governor the Kalusugan Kara- of Pita and Babuyan, Provincial Health OfLRCjoined Case No. MC16-861 That after consultation and advice of SPS. RICARDO B. VALDEZ and petitioner executed an Affidavit of van team headed byVALDEZ, his wife, counsel, First Ka- in ficer CAROLINA VARGAS Loss whichLady was duly annotated TCT No. Anna Maria Teresa de Guzman, Western Petitioners, 27260. rina Padua-Espino, to manifest his sincerity to Pangasinan District Hospital Chief Susan Rita -versusThat the TCT No. 27260 was valid and the time it was lost and duly THEto LAND REGISTRATION and Dasol Community Hospital Chief reach out far-flung villages effective that atneed most registered and covered by the Merino, torrens AUTHORITY, THE REGISTRY system of land registration. That the said OF DEEDS OF MANDALUYONG Eugenie Guiang. Dexter A. See quality and realtyservices. is declared for taxation purposes. CITY, professional medical th

Respondents. That the said realty has no other existing x-------------------------------------------x mortgage except the registered mortgage to

ORDER

IN BRIEF

the National Housing Authority which was already cancelled. It has no other liability and encumbrances of whatever nature or kind and either it is in the possession of a third person who has a lien or negotiations and/or transactions over the real property pending registration with the Register of Deeds.

Macatao new head of anti-drug council

That the petitioners tried to cause the registration and annotation of the Deed of Cancellation and Release of Real Estate Mortgage Contract executed by the National Housing Authority but the Register of Deeds of Mandaluyong City refused to act as there is a need to present the Owner’s Copy of TCT No. 27260. Petitioners cannot present the same because it was lost sometime on December 2015.

ROWENA Macatao is the new executive director of the Quezon City Anti-Drug Abuse Advisory Council, Mayor Herbert Bautista announced recently. That there is an imperative need to Macatao, who will continue her Copy roles as Duplicate chief of staff of the Office of the Vice secure a Second of Owner’s of TCT No. 27260 in order to remove any MayorThat and officer-in-charge the asQC and Rehabilitation Center or petitioners are the registered owner cloudof or doubt to its Drug existence, Treatment validity of a parcel of land located at the Bo. Of and efficacy thereof and in order to protect Hulo City now of Mandaluyong covered by city TCT thegovernment’s Tahanan, leads the policymaking council toward establishing property rights and interests of the No. 27260. registered and lawful owner. and maintaining drug-free Quezon City. That said realty wasaacquired by the Acting on the petition, this Court hereby petitioners from the National Housing orders petitioners to cause the publication of and was paid in provided installment. a copyfor HerAuthority appointment, under Office Order 7 issued by Bautista on Jan. 30, of this Order at their own expense The National Housing Authority required before the hearing on February 28, 2017 the petitioners to execute a Deed of Realof at service 8:30 o’clock inand the morning before the was made “in the interest for the effective formulation of the plans and Estate Mortgage in their favor to secure the Regional Trial Court, Branch 211, 2nd Floor, payment of the balance in the amount of Old Municipal Hall Building, Maysilo Circle, programs ofThe theRealQCADAAC.” P28,424.00. Estate Mortgage Mandaluyong City. Let a copy of this Order Contract was duly annotated in page 2 of be published in the Manila Standard, a the Certified True Copy of TCT No. 27260 newspaper of general circulation in Metro under Entry No. 60686-T 27260. Manila selected by raffle pursuant to PD No. That sometime on February 2005, 1079, once a week for three (3) consecutive petitioners have completed the payment weeks. of the mortgage obligations to the National Any interested person may appear and Housing Authority. As a result of the full oppose the petition. payment of the Mortgage Obligation, the Petitioner is further directed to cause the National Housing Authority executed the Deed of Cancellation and Release of Real service of copies of this Order together with Estate Mortgage dated February 4, 2005. the petition and annexes upon the Register of Deeds of Mandaluyong City, the Director That after the issuance by the National of the Bureau of Lands, the Commissioner Housing Authority of the Deed of of the Land Registration Authority, the Cancellation and Release of Real Estate Secretary of the Department of Environment Mortgage Contract, the National Housing and Natural Resources and the Office of Authority released to the petitioners the the Solicitor General, the proofs of service Owner’s Copy of Transfer Certificate of to be duly proven and established to the Title No. 27260. satisfaction of the Court. That after the acquisition of the said SO ORDERED. Owner’s Copy of TCT No. 27260 from Mandaluyong City, January 03, 2017. the National Housing Authority, petitioner (Sgd.) OFELIA L. CALO CAROLINA VARGAS VALDEZ was Furnished: REPUBLIC OFJudge THE PHILIPPINES entrusted the custody and kept the Owner’s Copy - Atty. Julian T. Tutanes; - Register of Deeds; - Bureau of Lands; Copy and other documents related thereto - Dept. of Envl. & Natural Resources; - Land Registration COURT Authority REGIONAL TRIAL in her personal files at their house. - Office of the Solicitor General (Manila Standard 1/24,31 & 2/7,’17)

Calabarzon cops add 743 recruits

CAMP VICENTE LIM, Laguna—The Police Regional Office in Calabarzon recently swore in 743 new recruits, including 200 women, that passed its stringent recruitment process. The new recruits are all under the 2nd Cycle PO1 Recruitment Program for the calendar year 2016, and they went through the tedious selection process that included drug tests, physical examinations, and a neuro-psychiatric examination. Calabarzon Police Regional Director Chief Supt. Valfrie Tabian told the recruits that now they are police NATIONAL officers, CAPITAL “they should have the determination to serve and JUDICIAL REGION BRANCH 89, QUEZON CITY protect the country.” -oOoIN RE: PETITION / APPLICATIONto FOR Tabian also challenged recruits not be influenced by illegal activities and RENEWAL OF NOTARIAL COMMISSION 2 cols. x the 15 cms. (2017-2018) FOR AND IN QUEZON CITY end up as police scalawags. T. LIBAN II ADM. MATTER NO. NP-071 “Learn the valuesATTY. andGODOFREDO of the service as you will undergo your training. ATTY. LEAtraditions M. ROMERO ADM. MATTER NO. NP-072 ATTY. JASON DEMETRI O. BENITEZ ADM. MATTER NO. NP-073 You should be competent, motivated, values-oriented disciplined police officers. ATTY. FRANCES MAE CHERRIE K. ONTALAN ADM. MATTERand NO. NP-074 ATTY. THEOBEN JERDAN C. OROSA ADM. MATTER NO. NP-075 Do not waste this chance givenD. VITUG to you,” he added. ATTY. NORBERTO ADM. MATTER NO. NP-076 AISON ALEJANDRO S. GARCIA MATTER NO. NP-077 The recruits were ATTY. turned over to Petitioners. the NationalADM. Police Training Institute to start their six-month Public Safety Basic Recruits Course. Roy Tomandao NOTICE OF HEARING Notice is hereby given that a summary hearing on the petition for notarial commission of the above-named petitioners shall be held on JANUARY 19, 2017 at 3:00 o’clock in the afternoon at the OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE JUDGE of the REGIONAL TRIAL COURT of QUEZON CITY. Any person who has any cause or reason to object to the grant of the petition may file with the Executive Judge a verified written opposition thereto before the date of the summary hearing.

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Pursuant to Sec. 5 of A.M. No. 02-8-13-SC, let this notice of hearing be

World IN BRIEF Battle to reach avalanche survivors KABUL―Rescuers are battling to reach survivors of avalanches in Afghanistan’s remote, mountainous north, as the death toll topped 100 and fears are growing for dozens of people still believed trapped beneath the snow. Aid is being delivered by helicopter to worst-hit Nuristan province, where at least 64 people have been killed -- including 53 in one village, provincial governor Haﬁz Abdul Qayyom told AFP. But there has been no word yet from some villages in Nuristan which Qayyom said received nearly three metres (10 feet) of snow, with blocked roads and mountainous terrain slowing the rescue effort. “We will evacuate wounded victims to the city of Jalalabad for treatment,” he said, adding that skies were clear Monday. The snowfall had also blocked roads and killed at least 19 people in neighboring Badakhshan, provincial governor’s spokesman Naweed Ahmad Froutan said, adding that relief workers were struggling to get aid through by helicopter. The series of avalanches over the weekend destroyed dozens of homes and killed livestock mostly in central and northern provinces. Unusually, snow even fell in the southern province of Kandahar. The updated tolls from Nuristan and Badakhshan brought the number of deaths across the country to at least 137 Monday, though authorities were due to update the ﬁgures later. AFP

Massage parlor fire kills 18 people BEIJING―Police detained one person Monday in connection with a fire at a foot massage parlor in China that killed at least 18 people and injured another 18, media said. The fire broke out at around 5:26 pm (0926 GMT) Sunday in eastern Zhejiang province, the official Xinhua news agency reported. It was extinguished in less than two hours. Eight lost their lives in the fire, while another 10 died in hospital, according to Xinhua. Video posted on Chinese social media website Weibo showed thick black smoke billowing from the massage parlor and people jumping out of the second-floor window of the six-story building. Shards of broken glass were strewn across the floor of the massage parlour. “Windows in the third and fourth floor, where residents lived, were also shattered,” the Beijing News said, quoting a witness. The cause of the fire is unclear, Xinhua said. Fire safety procedures are routinely ignored in China, with exit doors often locked and escape passages blocked in buildings across the country. AFP

500,000 Romanians call on government to resign B

UCHAREST―An estimated half-million Romanians took to the street in another night of protests Sunday, with many calling on the government to quit even after it scrapped the corruption legislation that sparked the week of public outrage.

Maduro seeks Vatican’s help to start talks CARACAS―Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday said he was seeking more Vatican help to try to jump-start political talks with the opposition. “A meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican is being worked on. I hope it can be worked out,” the embattled president said during his Sunday program on state television. “I hope that it will take place soon. And that at that gathering we and the delegation on the right... can finish it with a hug,” Maduro said. He gave no time frame. The South American oil-exporting country has been hard hit by low crude prices, with food and medicine shortages sparking riots and looting in recent months. The center right-dominated coalition has declared Maduro unfit for office due to his handling of the crisis. But the socialist president has overruled all their efforts to hold a vote on removing him from office over the past year. He says the crisis is the result of a US-backed capitalist conspiracy. Vatican-backed talks to get dialogue going among the parties have not made much progress since December. Critics say Maduro -- who is seeking to maintain the socialist “revolution” launched by his predecessor Hugo Chavez -- has run the economy and country into the ground. AFP

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2017

GRAND FINALE. Indian Bollywood actress Pooja Hegde attends the Grand Finale of the Lakme Fashion Week Summer Resort 2017 in Mumbai on February 5, 2017. AFP

Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu stood firm, however, saying his government, which has barely been in office a month, “has a responsibility to the people who voted for us” and would not resign. The last six nights of noisy protests thronging cities and towns around the country have been the biggest outpouring of public anger since the toppling and summary execution of communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989. The object of public anger is an emergency decree passed on Tuesday night which critics at home and abroad feared marked an alarming retreat in the battle against corruption, long the scourge of the EU’s second-poorest country. Grindeanu’s cabinet earlier on Sunday repealed the decree, but this failed to assuage protesters, many of them chanting “Resign! Resign!” as they waved flags, brandished signs and blew whistles and plastic horns in the national colors. “They are corrupt. We want justice... The government will still try something (with the decree),” said Emma, 24, one of between 200,000 and 300,000 people media estimated had gathered at Victory Square in downtown Bucharest “They are liars and bad people,” said her friend Nicole, 25. “The government has to fall... We are going to come back here every night.” The government decree, which had been scheduled to enter into force on February 10, was to make abuse of power a crime only punishable by jail if the

sums involved exceeded 200,000 lei (44,000 euros, $47,500). The government still also aims, via a separate decree to be reviewed by parliament, to free some 2,500 people from prison serving sentences of less than five years. Grindeanu’s Social Democrats (PSD) have argued the measures were meant to bring penal law into line with the constitution and reduce overcrowding in prisons. But critics see the moves as a brazenly transparent attempt to let off the many PSD officials and lawmakers who have been ensnared in a major anti-corruption drive of recent years. That push saw almost 2,000 people convicted for abuse of power between 2014 and 2016, and a serving prime minister, five ministers, 16 lawmakers and five senators go on trial. Critics say that one beneficiary -- although he himself denied this -- would be Liviu Dragnea, the powerful head of the PSD who helped the party win a resounding election victory only in December. Dragnea is already barred from serving in government because of a conviction for voter fraud, and he is currently on trial for alleged abuse of power. He denies wrongdoing. On Sunday a defiant Dragnea accused unspecified shadowy forces of instigating the demonstrations. “The organization of these protests and their scale show that this is a political gathering. Who is organizing this? Hard to say but I hope that the state institutions have this information,” he said. AFP

Louvre attack suspect refuses to talk to police PARIS―The suspected Louvre Museum attacker refused to talk to French police during two rounds of questioning on Sunday, a judicial source said. The man, believed to be an Egyptian national, was shot in the stomach and seriously wounded after lunging at soldiers with two machetes on Friday. The attack was the latest in a string of assaults in France and thrust the issue of security back into the headlines three months ahead of the presidential election. Investigators questioned him twice at his hospital bed where

he is receiving treatment after his condition improved but he “still refuses to speak”, the judicial source said. The suspect has been held at a Paris hospital since the attack near the museum on Friday morning. Based on his phone and visa records, he is thought to be Abdallah El-Hamahmy, a 29-year-old Egyptian living in the United Arab Emirates, who entered France legally on a ﬂight from Dubai on January 26. Investigators believe Hamahmy rented an expensive apartment near the Champs Elysees avenue.

The accommodation, which cost 1,700 euros ($1,830) a month, was booked online in June, a source close to the investigation said. Investigators say the attacker, who was carrying two machetes and wearing a black T-shirt with a skull design, lunged at four soldiers shouting “Allahu Akbar” (“God is greatest”). President Francois Hollande said that “there is little doubt as to the terrorist nature of this act”. French investigators have contacted Egyptian ofﬁcials in hopes of conﬁrming the suspect’s iden-

tity through DNA testing, a source close to the inquiry said. They also plan to contact ofﬁcials in the UAE and in Turkey, since Hamahmy’s passport had two visas from Turkey in 2015 and 2016. Police are also examining Hamahmy’s Twitter account after around a dozen messages were posted in Arabic just minutes before the attack. “In the name of Allah... for our brothers in Syria and ﬁghters across the world,” he wrote, before referring to the Islamic State jihadist group in another tweet a

minute later. Speaking to AFP in Cairo on Saturday, a retired police general, Reda El-Hamahmy, said he believed the wounded suspect was his son, Abdallah, who had been in Paris on a business trip. But he said there were no signs his son had been radicalized. “He went on a company trip and when it was over visited the museum. He was supposed to leave on Saturday,” he told AFP, saying his son was married and his pregnant wife was currently staying in Saudi Arabia with their sevenmonth-old son. AFP

Albanians scarred by cosmetic treatments TIRANA―Emira Sela covers her face with her hand to hide a disﬁguring abscess, the traumatic result of unregulated cosmetic treatments now rampant across Albania. The 31-year-old began to worry when wrinkles appeared on her face. Sela’s hairdresser told her that a simple injection, costing around 60 euros ($65), would banish the signs of ageing. “She assured me that I would not risk anything. She even listed well-known names” of women who had undergone such treatment, said Sela. “I did not think twice, I trusted her without asking questions,” said the blonde woman with green eyes, her voice trembling. Albanian hair and beauty salons lacking expertise and medical supervision are offering such cosmetic treatments, unregulated in a legal vacuum, much to the alarm of qualiﬁed doctors. A single injection of a product whose content and dosage Sela knew nothing about was enough to ruin her life in late August. Despite antibiotics she has per-

manent pain, fever and nausea, while the abscess on her right cheek forces her eye to half-close and her face is nearly paralyzed. “I am so disﬁgured that I tried to commit suicide,” said Sela, who lost her job in a bank. Her only hope now is corrective surgery at an Italian hospital, scheduled for this month. “There are more and more impostors with syringes,” said Panajot Papa, a plastic surgeon at a private clinic in Tirana. “The problem is also the products... Forbidden in Europe, they enter illegally from Turkey or China.” Eriona Shehu, a dermatologist at Tirana’s university hospital, said these unregulated synthetic products, such as injected liquid silicone and acrylamide, were being offered at temptingly low prices. “Cosmetic interventions have become a lucrative industry. The patient is only a customer, exposed to a number of risks.” Shehu said the desire to look like voluptuous US reality television star Kim Kardashian was “destroying the lives of young Albanian girls looking for beauty”. AFP

FILM FESTIVAL. Actor Casey Afﬂeck attends the Cinema Vanguard Award during the 32nd Santa Barbara International Film Festival at the Arlington Theater on February 5, 2017, in Santa Barbara, California. AFP

Cesar Barrioquinto, Editor

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2017

Student back in US after deportation

World

War kills 11,500 Afghan civilians KABUL―Civilian casualties in Afghanistan in 2016 were the highest recorded by the UN, the world body said Monday, with nearly 11,500 non-combatants -- one third of them children -killed or wounded. Fighting between Afghan security forces and militants, especially in populated areas, remained “the leading cause of civilian casualties” more than two years after NATO’s combat mission ended, said the United Nations, which began documenting civilian casualties in 2009. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said there were 11,418 civilian casualties (3,498 deaths and 7,920 injured), an increase of three percent over 2015, underscoring growing insecurity. More than 3,500 children were among the victims, a “disproportionate” increase of 24 percent in one year, the report said. This was mainly due to a 66 percent increase in casualties, most of whom were children, from unexploded ordnance. The UN’s special envoy to Afghanistan Tadamichi Yamamoto said the new figures were “deeply harrowing” and highlight “the gruesome reality of the conflict”. He called on all parties -- militants as well as pro-government forces -- to cease fighting in populated areas, and stop using schools, hospitals and mosques for military purposes. “The continuation of attacks targeting civilians and indiscriminate attacks by AntiGovernment Elements—in particular, IED and suicide attacks in civilian-populated areas—is illegal, reprehensible and, in most cases, may amount to a war crime,” the report said. AFP

Aussie priests accused of abuse SYDNEY―Seven percent of Catholic priests were accused of abusing children in Australia between 1950 and 2010 but the allegations were never investigated, “shocking and indefensible” data showed Monday during an inquiry into pedophilia in the church. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard that 4,444 alleged incidents of pedophilia were reported to church authorities and in some dioceses, more than 15 percent of priests were perpetrators. Australia ordered the Royal Commission in 2012 after a decade of growing pressure to investigate allegations of child abuse across the country, with the inquiry now in its ﬁnal phase after four years of hearings. “Between 1950 and 2010, overall seven percent of priests were alleged perpetrators,” said Gail Furness, the lawyer leading questioning at the inquiry in Sydney. “The accounts were depressingly similar. Children were ignored or worse, punished. Allegations were not investigated. Priests and religious (ﬁgures) were moved,” she added. “The parishes or communities to which they were moved knew nothing of their past. Documents were not kept or they were destroyed. Secrecy prevailed as did cover-ups.” The average age of the victims at the time was 10 for girls and 11 for boys. Of the 1,880 alleged perpetrators, 90 percent were men.AFP

FOGGY MORNING. An Indian horse carriage driver sits near a bonﬁre to keep warm on a cold foggy morning on the outskirts of Amritsar on February 6, 2017. AFP

LOS ANGELES―An Iranian student deported in the wake of Donald Trump’s travel ban was back in the United States on Sunday, one of thousands of travelers rushing to enter the country after a judge temporarily blocked the ban. Sara Yarjani was met at the Los Angeles airport by her sister -- who flew in from nearby Washington state -- and several attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union who fought for her return. Several people clapped and one woman shouted “welcome to the United States” as the visibly shaken 35-year-old made her way through a throng of reporters and cameramen. “I am so grateful to all the lawyers and others that helped me... because to me that is America and I am very grateful,” she said tearfully. Ironically, many of the same customs and border patrol agents who had been involved in her deportation the previous week were on hand Sunday to greet her and rush her through immigration. “They came and they said ‘We’re just gonna get you through so you get out faster,’” she said. “I knew a lot of them because I was here, detained for 23 hours last time” before being deported. Yarjani, a graduate student in holistic health at the California Institute for Human Science, near San Diego, had her student visa revoked and was sternly put on a plane back to Vienna last week after Trump’s executive order blocking citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Iran, went into effect. The controversial order, which set off an uproar and caused travel chaos, was temporarily suspended by a federal judge on Friday. Trump’s administration appealed the judge’s decision over the weekend, prompting visa holders to rush to board US-bound flights while the ban remains blocked. A fierce legal battle was shaping up between the government and various parties who accuse Trump of overstepping his authority with the travel ban and illegally discriminating against Muslims. “The legal landscape has been shifting and we are hopeful that the courts will continue to challenge this unconstitutional order,” said Ian Kysel, an ACLU attorney who worked on Yarjani’s case and who was at the airport to greet her Sunday. AFP

Banned travelers returning P ALM BEACH―After a US appeals court refused to restore President Donald Trump’s controversial immigration order, travelers who had been banned from entering the country trickled in Sunday as the White House vowed to prevail in the high-stakes legal battle.

The early-morning ruling from a federal appeals court was the latest chapter in a saga which began on January 27, when Trump issued a blanket ban on all refugees and travelers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. For now, the decision maintains one made by a federal judge in a lower court, who temporarily suspended Trump’s order on Friday pending a wider legal review. The next deadline comes on Monday, when all parties must submit additional documents to the appellate judges, according to a schedule determined by the court. Trump initially dispatched Vice President Mike Pence to convey the White House’s position on Sunday’s political talk shows. Pence called the decision “frustrating.” “We will move very quickly,” he told Fox News. “We are going to win the arguments because we will take the steps necessary to protect the country, which the president of the United States has the authority to do.” But in the mid-afternoon, after taking an uncharacteristic, nearly day-long break from Twitter, Trump came out swinging again. “Just cannot believe a judge would put our country in such peril. If something happens blame him and court system. People pouring in. Bad!” he wrote. “I have instructed Homeland Security to check people coming into our country VERY CAREFULLY. The courts are making the job very difﬁcult!” Trump already had unleashed a string of ﬁery tweets on Saturday defending his policy and at-

tacking “so-called” federal judge James Robart, who issued Friday’s decision in Seattle. Asked by multiple networks whether Trump’s comment about Robart was out of line, Pence defended his boss. “Every president has a right to be critical of the other branches of the federal government,” Pence told CBS News. But Republican Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell told CNN: “I think it is best not to single out judges for criticism.” “We all get disappointed from time to time at the outcome in courts on things that we care about,” he said. Trump’s executive order slapped a blanket ban on entry for nationals of the seven countries for 90 days and barred all refugees for 120 days. Refugees from Syria were blocked indefinitely. In its appeal to Robart’s decision filed late Saturday, the Justice Department said suspending the ban was causing “irreparable harm” to the American public. It said Robart’s ruling had run afoul of constitutional separation of powers, and “second-guesses the president’s national security judgment.” But the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the request for the travel ban to be immediately reinstated, without offering a reason. The court asked the states of Washington and Minnesota, which had filed the original suit over the ban, to provide additional documents by 0759 GMT Monday. AFP

HAFTIME SHOW. Lady Gaga performs during the Pepsi Zero Sugar Super Bowl 51 Halftime Show at NRG Stadium on February 5, 2017, in Houston, Texas. AFP

Trump under fire for saying he respects Putin PALM BEACH―President Donald Trump is drawing ﬁre from Republicans and Democrats alike after playing down the political assassinations in Russia and Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Trump -- now two weeks into his four-year term -- showed no signs of yielding to the demands from within his own Republican Party to distance himself from President Vladimir Putin’s regime, instead plunging himself

into a fresh political ﬁrestorm. “I do respect him. Well, I respect a lot of people, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to get along with them,” Trump said in an excerpt of an interview with Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly that aired before the Super Bowl on Sunday. When pressed in relation to Putin’s alleged links to the extrajudicial killing of journalists and dissidents, Trump said, “we’ve got a lot of killers. You think our

country’s so innocent?” “Take a look at what we’ve done too. We’ve made a lot of mistakes.” Trump’s fellow Republicans, including Senate leader Mitch McConnell, were quick to criticize the president’s remarks. “I don’t think there is any equivalency with the way the Russians conduct themselves and the way the United States does,” McConnell said.

“He is a former KGB agent, a thug, not elected in a way that most people consider a credible election,” he told CNN. That criticism was echoed by Michael McFaul, a former ambassador to Russia and adviser to president Barack Obama, who described Trump’s comments as “disgusting.” “This moral equivalency that Trump continues to draw between the USA and Russia is disgusting

(and inaccurate),” he said on Twitter. Mainstream Republicans have repeatedly called on Trump to distance himself from Putin, with little impact. Throughout the election campaign, Trump refused to criticize the Russian leader, saying better relations with the Kremlin would be in the US national interest. The new president has advocated working with Russia to combat

Life CULTURE & MEDIA

Isah V. Red, Editor Bernadette Lunas, Writer isahred@gmail.com TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2017

HISTORY RISING

A new Cultural Center of Philippines

The artist rendition of the New Performing Arts Theater, a 1,000-seat theater designed by Leandro Locsin and Associates. It will be the main performance venue of the Cultural Center of the Philippines scheduled to open in 2019.

By Nickie Wang

HE Cultural Center of the Philippines has been the country’s symbol of Filipino ingenuity, a venue that showcases incomparable local and world-class talents, a catalyst for a major leap in cultural development and preservation, and the world’s window to the Philippines as the Asia’s Mecca of culture and the arts.

There are many reasons to be opti- theater designed by Leandro Locsin mistic in CCP’s new season. For one, a and Associates, will be the main perfornew lineup of festivals and events will mance venue. fill the center’s venues once more. “The target opening date for the two And, the most buildings is in exciting of all? 2019, in time The CCP for the CCP’s will soon have anniverWe hope to hit the one- 50th two additional sary. Once the buildings that two buildings million-mark in terms of will give the enare opened, audience attendance this tire complex not the CCP main just a whole new building will year look but a difbe closed for ferent vibrancy – Millado major renoaltogether. vations. This The new Artbuilding is ists Center and more than 50 the new Performing Arts Theater are years old. It’s way past its shelf-life,” two of the new iconic buildings that will said Millado. form the centerpiece of the CCP ComHe added that the goal of this major plex Master Development Plan, which redevelopment is to provide world-class is aimed at redeveloping the 62-hectare facility for arts and culture while enproperty on the reclaimed land on Rox- hancing public interest and appreciation as Boulevard. of distinctive Philippine arts in various According to CCP Vice President and fields. This effort is also well aligned Artistic Director Chris B. Millado, with the CCP’s goal to breach the one the P2 billion budget has already been million-audience mark this year. approved and will be released in a few Millado said that from 2010 to 2015, tranches to finally begin the construc- the combined audience count at the tion of the two new edifices in addition CCP has reached 770,000. The CCP to the P50-million and 300-seater Black was presenting 775 shows and cultural Box Theater, which had its ground- activities in 2010. By 2015, it was prebreaking last year. senting 1,182 shows. Additionally, The The New Artists Center will have Pasinaya Festival reached a peak of rehearsal halls for the artists, black 50,000 viewers while the Cinemalaya boxes, and restaurants, while the New reached a high of 100,000. Performing Arts Theater, a 1,000-seat The spike in audience attendance was

brought about by the vigorous development of new and original contents, which contributed to the development of new audience for the arts which lead to the strengthening regional arts and culture. “The CCP holds at least six festivals in a year making it the epicenter of creative expression and audience engagement. We hope to hit the one-millionmark in terms of audience attendance this year. The number of artists under our mantle has grown from 11,351 to 25,755. It is this growth that has spurred the need for more venues within the complex,” Millado explained.

Opening salvo

CCP’s calendar of activities started with the annual CCP Pasinaya Open House Festival, the Philippines’ largest multi-arts festival, which coincided with National Arts Month. Apart from presenting previews of performances in store later in the year by CCP’s resident companies, this year saw more days for workshops and an arts market. The event, which was held on Feb. 4 and Feb. 5, also featured crash workshops, film screenings, visual arts exhibitions and activities for children. The CCP will also host Fringe Manila from Feb. 8 to 26, a celebration of fresh

The 50-year-old Main Theater, the centerpiece of CCP complex will soon be closed for major renovation.

and daring works in theater, literature, dance, music, spoken word, film, and visual art. Meanwhile, due to insistent public demand, there will be a rerun of the concert in which the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra plays the music of the pop rock band Aegis. The rerun, called Symphonic Aegis - Aegis in Symphony: The Repeat (Hugot pa more!), will be held on Feb. 11 at the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (Main Theater). From June 28 to July 16, the CCP will host the annual Virgin Lab Fest out of the Tanghalang Huseng Batute. Last year the festival of new and untested plays found itself with fewer seats available than people who wanted to watch the plays, so it will now be held at the CCP Little Theater, which seats 400. Also in July is the 3rd Andrea Ven-

eracion International Choral Competition and Festival. The festival is named after the founder of the world renowned Philippine Madrigal Singers, the late National Artist for Music Professor Andrea O. Veneracion, an esteemed choirmaster and choral clinician who was instrumental in the promotion of choral music all over the country. One of this year’s highlights is the CCP’s independent film festival Cinemalaya, now on its 13th year, which will be adding an animation category following the success of Saving Sally, an official entry in the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) in 2016. Cinemalaya will run from Aug. 4 to 13. For more information on CCP programs and festivals, visit www.culturalcenter.qov.ph.

Due to insistent public demand, the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra plays the music of Aegis in a one-night spectacle called ‘Aegis in Symphony.”

CCP broadens Kaisa sa Sining Regional Art Centers

CCP President Raul M. Sunico (standing, 6th from left) and Vice President and Artistic Director Chris Millado (standing, 5th from left) with the heads of regional art centers and university art associates at the Kaisa sa Sining event. Photo by Orly Daquipil

TO further increase public participation in the arts, promote artistic excellence and facilitate a dynamic collaboration between and among communities, the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) broadens its network of Regional Art Centers (RACs) thru its partnership program billed as “Kaisa sa Sining” (KSS). Since it was launched in January 2014, the KSS network has already grown to a total of 18 partner organizations. In the past three years, the cooperation and exchanges between CCP and the KSS network have become more dynamic. It is a continuing partnership and collaboration to further enrich, develop and promote arts and culture in the regions and the whole country. The CCP Cultural Exchange Department renewed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) of the first batch of regional partners who have sealed their cooperation with the CCP last 2014. These were the St. Louis University-Baguio, Barasoain Kalinangan Foundation Inc.-Bulacan, City of Batangas, Central Philippine University-Iloilo, Silliman University-Dumaguete, Negros Cultural Foundation, MSU-Iligan Institute of Technology, and Musikahan sa Tagum Foundation Inc.

On Feb. 3, at the CCP Little Theater Lobby, the CCP signed MOUs with a new batch of partners to include the City of Angeles-Pampanga; Sorsogon Community Based Theater Guild; Municipality of Sampaloc-Quezon; Science City of Muñoz-Nueva Ecija; Casa San Miguel Foundation in Zambales; Leyte Normal University in Tacloban; University of Eastern Philippines in CatarmanSamar; Consortium of Private Universities in Cagayan de Oro; Ateneo de Davao University High School; and the Dumendingan Arts Guild in Pagadian City-Zamboanga del Sur. The key areas of the partnership include training and apprenticeship, touring and move-over productions, sharing of relevant cultural resource materials, access to arts and cultural information, venues and facilities; and participation in major cultural events. Even with the establishment of regional art centers, the CCP will continue to collaborate with all other organizations in the regions, either on a per program or project basis. The CCP is confident that the regional partnership will result to the further flourishing of arts and culture in the whole country. For more information about Kaisa sa Sining, contact the CCP Cultural Exchange Department at (02) 8321125 locals 1708-1709.

Life

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2017 isahred@gmail.com

By Pablo A. Tariman

HE golden boy of ballet Joseph Phillips of Primorsky Ballet in Russia returns to Manila as Siegfred in the re-staging of Swan Lake, Feb. 24 to March 3, with the OdetteOdile of Candice Adea dancing the part for the first time.

Adea is the first Filipina to win gold medal in the Helsinki International Ballet Competition in 2012 and silver medal at the 2010 USA International Ballet Competition. Last seen at the CCP as the sensational Nutcracker Prince and Basilio in Don Quixote two years ago, Phillips’ Siegfred will be seen for the first time in Manila with Nonoy Froilan restaging the coming production. Danseur Nonoy Froilan—who danced the lead part in a 1980 production with Maniya Barredo—recalled that the Filipina who first set her eyes on the role of Odette-Odile in the 70s was Tina Santos but she had to cancel because of knee injury. After close to four decades, Santos is in town to coach the lead dancers. Recalled Nonoy, “That 70s Swan Lake production pushed through with a foreign Swan in the person of Christine Walsh of Australia. When Maniya Barredo did the part for the first time in Manila, I was her Siegfred. Swan Lake was one of my memorable roles as premier danseur.” One saw snatches of Swan Lake with the icons of Philippine ballet keeping a watchful eye namely Santos, Eddie Elejar and Froilan. To be sure, this is the new generation of dancers one was watching and got magical excerpts from Act 1 Pas de Trois, White Swan and Black Swan with alternating Odette-Odile of Denise Parungao and Jemima Reyes with the Siegfred of Victor Maguad. Huffing and puffing after the excerpts, ballerinas Parungao and Reyes agree on one prerequisite of the ballet warhorse. “This ballet needs a lot of stamina. We have to secure our technique first but we should not lose sight of the characterization. We are white swans and black swans in this ballet. For sure, nothing is easy doing these dual roles.” When Barredo danced Odette-Odile with Froilan in the 80s, he knew he was in the presence of a strong technician. He recalled, “Apart from being a very lyrical dancer, Maniya is strong technically. I don’t have to work hard to support her because she can do balance with very little help from her partner.” Wrote the late National Artist for Dance Leonor Orosa Goquingco of Barredo’s first Swan Lake, “Supremely poetic as Odette the Swan Queen and imperious and subtly evil as Odile the deceiver, the petite, long-necked and

BALLET SENSATION

Joseph Phillips in ‘Swan Lake’ Danseur Joseph Phillips plays Siegfried in Swan Lake with Irina Sapozhnikova as Odette and (inset) with Denise Parungao as Odette

The author with Nonoy Froilan, Victor Maguad, Denise Parungao and Jemima Reyes after rehearsal in preparation for Feb. 24 ‘Swan Lake’ premiere

nobly formed Maniya had blossomed into a superb artist, indeed, one who could favorably compare with the greatest the world had to offer.” After Barredo, Ballet Philippines’ Swan Lake had a new Odette-Odile in the person of Japan’s prima ballerina Yoko Morishita who did it in the 80s and said farewell to the part in the early 90s.

Morishita is a gold medalist in the Varna Competition and one of the few performing arts celebrities who became a Rolex endorser. She was also the favorite Giselle of the late Russian premier danseur Rudolf Nureyev who danced in Manila in the 70s. In the 80s, Morishita danced Swan Lake not just with Froilan, but with

Fernando Bujones, America’s superman of dance for her Siegfred. Her luminous moments as Odette no doubt made her an instant ballet sensation in Manila. In the ballet’s introduction as far as one could recall, she was radiant until Baron Rothbart (Armin Wild) appeared to threaten her. In the Act II White Swan episode, Morishita’s dancing was sheer poetry in motion in the adagio part. Indeed, she essayed bird-like qualities that shimmered near the end of Act II where her feet, her arms and even her entire body muscles trembled and portrayed a swan in distress. In the Black Swan episode, one saw Manila’s balletomanes counting in unison literally curious if she could complete the required 32 killer fouettes. The alternate cast included Denise Parungao and Jemima Reyes with the Siegfred of Victor Maguad. Maguad said the hard part of the ballet is not just portraying the prince but being a good and reliable partner. “Good partnering is another equally difficult requirement for a Siegfred aside from projecting his princely character. It is not enough that you can lift the ballerina without effort. Foremost of all, she should look good up in the air and down.”

The young ballerinas can only sigh with the gargantuan challenge awaiting them. Added Parungao, “I think you should also be obsessed with going into the heart and soul of Odette if you are going to succeed in this role. We are expected to be pure and chaste in Act II and devilish as Odile in Act III.” One remembered Barredo confiding after two weekends of Swan Lake in the early 80s, “I couldn’t believe that it was actually over. Because deep down within me, I don’t want it to end. At the same time, I am glad it’s over because it went so well.” As the icon of choreography George Balanchine once noted, “All leading dancers want to dance Swan Lake at least once in their careers and all audiences want to see them dance it. To succeed in Swan Lake, is to become overnight a ballerina. Petipa and Ivanov (the composer and choreographer) are to the dancer what Shakespeare is to the actor. If you can succeed in their choreography parts, there is a suggestion that you can succeed at anything.” Swan Lake runs at the CCP on Feb. 24, 25, 26 and March 3, 4, 5. Call the CCP box office at 832-1125 or 832-3704 for tickets.

KOMIKET now on its 3rd year ARTISTS, writers, readers and enthusiasts are expected to converge again in the third Filipino Komiks and Art Market (KOMIKET). This year, there will be two different events: the Feb. 25 Komiks and Art Market at the Elements at Centris and the Feb. 26 Artist Talks at the U-View Theater at Fully Booked, Bonifacio Global City. Whether you are a curious newbie or an art market enthusiast, organizers are inviting everyone to two days of fun as a way to support Filipino comics or “komiks.”

Saturday Art Market

School) and Tori Tadiar, Jess Santiago and Jez Nabong (Komiket’s Comic Book Creator’s Workshops).

Sunday Artist Talks

Listen and learn from superstar comics creators like Arnold Arre, Manix Abrera, Carlo Vergara, Eugene Madayag (Libreng Komiks) as they talk back with readers at the Komiket Artist Talks on Feb. 26, from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the U-View Theater at the Basement of Fully Booked BGC. Only limited seats (70 per set) are available for the talks, and tickets will be sold at the venue. The winners of the Komiket Awards will also be announced. The Best Komiks, Best Komiks Writer, Best Komiks Artist and Best Student Komiks will win komikstarter prizes—a five thousandpeso reimbursable fund to help kickstart their next komiks.

Meet and greet over 300 authors, illustrators and komiks creators who eagerly want to share what they have worked on the past few months. Get a first crack at their latest works, story compilations, graphic novels, stickers, postcards, art prints and original artworks up for grabs on Feb. 25, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Elements at Centris. The Komiket Inc. will also release its first book, Komiks Cum Laude, a student comic book anthology featuring 10 of the top student creators today—Mich Cervantes, Juan Carlos Panlilio, Aljon Perdon and Jose Victor Perey (De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde); Danielle Riña, Gia Duran, Danielle Dy-Liacco and Japhet Marquez (UP Diliman); Richard Mercado, Kevin Samala and Ianthe Pimentel (Ateneo de Manila University); Diklap Aytin The third staging of Filipino Komiks and Art Market (KOMIKET) aims to (Ateneo Junior High promote and nurture local komiks creators

Love Local, Support Local

The KOMIKET aims to help cultivate, promote and nurture local creators who would like to share their work to more readers. To those who want to show their support, go to the 3rd Filipino Komiks and Art Market. Entrance tickets cost 50 pesos each. Registration to the talk is at 550 pesos. Elements at Centris is located at Eton Centris, Edsa corner Quezon Avenue, QC. Fully Booked BGC is at B6 Bonifacio High Street, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. Like KOMIKET on Facebook for more details.

Mindanao State University’s Darangan Cultural Dance Troupe performs the traditional dances and rituals of Maranaos

Lanao Night at MSU DARANGAN Cultural Dance Troupe of the Mindanao State University showcased the Maranao culture with an impressive performance. The show, a colorful spectacle featured the traditional dances and rituals of the Maranaos, was a huge success with an SRO audience at SKCC. In attendance were the top officials of the ARMM, most notably Regional Governor Mujiv Hataman, who said ARMM would continue to showcase the Muslim heritage in future anniversary celebrations to implant the distinctive Muslim culture in Filipino youths. Others in attendance were Regional Vice Governor Haroun Al Rashid Lucman and wife Omaima, Lanao Del Sur Vice Governor Bombit Adiong,

Jr., Assemblymen Zia Alonto and Odin Sumagayan. ARMM Heavyweights Atty. Ras Mitmug, Laisa Masuhud Alamia, Maguindanao Prosecutor Kookai Lao, Secretaries Amihilda Sancopan and John Magno. Some took part in the presentation as parents of the bride and groom in a reenactment of courting and marriage rituals of the Maranaos. The audience wore traditional Muslim attire and looked just as impressive as the performers onstage. A group of judges chose 10 of the audience members whom they deemed the best dressed that evening. The list included five men: Hadji Ayunan Gunting, Atty. Ras Mitmug and five women; and Atty. Kookai Lao. – Text and photos: Ayunan G. Gunting-Al Hadj

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2017

Anne-Erwan, Coleen-Billy

LOVE STORIES

TARSUDIO’s February issue is a must have for fans of newly engaged couples Anne Curtis and Erwan Heussaff, and Coleen Garcia and Billy Crawford. The two pairs’ full and detailed love stories are the main stories in the showbiz magazine.

As Anne is the last ‘it’ girl to get married, StarStudio asked the country’s top fashion designers how they envision her in her wedding gown. The magazine also features an exciting wedding plan for the couple – from the wedding’s theme and style, down to food and cocktail ideas. Fans can also read the story on #BiCol’s biggest life adventure, right from the time Billy pulled off an intimate and lovely proposal for his #bosslady, with exclusive interviews of Coleen’s father Jose and her cousin Ria Atayde. Also, colorful photos of their best adventures are spread on the pages and ﬁnd out why you should try them too. StarStudio adds more kilig

LOVE MONTH. Soon-to-wed celebrity couples Billy Crawford and Coleen Garcia, and Erwan Heussaff and Anne Curtis, grace the cover of showbiz magazine, StarStudio. vibes with the heartwarming love story of best friends-turnedlovers Kaye Abad and Paul Jake Castillo. An exclusive treat is a set of the couple’s beautiful Cebu wedding photos. Readers also get tips on the

cool places to have a Valentines’ date straight from PBB Lucky 7 teen couples #KissMarc and #MayWard. The new issue also brings journalist Atom Araullo to readers on a deeper and more

intimate level through a feature on his photography. All these and more in StarStudio Magazine’s February 2017 issue, available from ABS-CBN Publishing in newsstands nationwide.

THE VOICE, DANCE KIDS, AND OTHERS

Nationwide auditions for first- season for teens FOR the ﬁrst time in Asia, topAside from The Voice Teens, rating singing reality show The ABS-CBN will also hold Voice is letting the voices of teens auditions in the said venues and be heard as it opens an all new dates for Dance Kids for kids season for teens in 2017. aged four to 17, who can go solo The new season has already or form a duo or a group. started scouting the next singing Also joining the audition superstar in auditions held in many caravan is the country’s no.1 parts of the country, attracting noontime show, It’s Showtime. more than 6,000 in Quezon City, It will hold auditions for its Bataan, Cavite, and Tacloban segments “Star Circle Quest” for early this January. 13 to 19-year-olds and “Funny This month, the program will One” for aspiring comedians 18 continue to look for talented artists 13 and above. Singers can also join to 17 years old who have what it takes “Tawag ng Tanghalan” (people to ﬁght for their dream and voice. aged 14 and above) and “Tawag Singing hopefuls who want to ng Tanghalan Kids” (kids aged try out for the singing competition The top-rating talent reality show, “The Voice,” opens its doors to seven to 13). are encouraged to prepare their aspiring teen singers The Filipino Channel (TFC) audition song and troop to subscribers and Filipinos who live Robinsons Townville in Pulilan, overseas, meanwhile, can audition Bulacan (Feb. 11), KCC Mall De Zamboanga (Feb. 11 and 12), for The Voice Teens and “Tawag ng Tanghalan” by visiting and uploadRobinsons Townville Cabanatuan and Robinsons Townville BF ing their audition videos to audition.abs-cbn.com. Paranaque (Feb. 18), Robinsons Supermarket Perdices in Dumaguete Watch out for The Voice Teens this year on ABS-CBN. (Feb. 19), and Vista Mall Pampanga and Vista Mall Taguig (Feb. 25). For updates on the program, visit thevoice.abs-cbn.com, like www. From what part of the country or the world will the next The Voice facebook.com/thevoiceabscbn, or follow @thevoiceabscbn on Twitter grand champion come from? and @abscbnthevoice on Instagram.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Tuesday, February 7, 2017

ACROSS 1 Anchor’s place 5 Low-lying clouds 8 Perfume bottle 12 Campfire remains 14 Adventurer, often 15 Earthen jar 16 New Orleans gridder 17 Familiar auth. 18 Roman historian 19 Indulging 21 Necessarily involve 23 At our wit’s — 24 — Paulo, Brazil 25 Forensic science tool 26 Arcade classic (hyph.) 30 Kind of knife 32 Cube inventor 33 Make easier to swallow 37 Byron’s works 38 “— and Bess” 39 A single time 40 Almost 42 “Captain Blood” lead 43 Nozzle choice 44 Karen — (Isak Dinesen) 45 Plea at sea

48 Boathouse gear 49 “Snow” veggie 50 Dilate 52 Cockpit reading 57 Muddy 58 The lowdown 60 Like a tablet 61 — fixe 62 Usher’s quest 63 Four-door model 64 Uses rods and cones 65 Corn serving 66 Lobby furnishing DOWN 1 Pinch of salt 2 Hairy twin 3 Thin wedge 4 Vegas game 5 — shui 6 Juan’s gold 7 Taken off (2 wds.) 8 Battery word 9 Old war story 10 Lead Chipmunk 11 Clapton hit tune 13 Talk a blue — 14 “The Mummy’s —” 20 Quaint lodging 22 Roulette color 24 Waterlogged 26 Ont. or Que.

27 BMW rival 28 Driver with a handle 29 Refreshes the fern 30 Muscular 31 Rod-shaped bacteria (2 wds.) 33 Kind of energy 34 Black gemstone 35 Teen bane 36 Dollywood loc. 38 Idyllic place 41 Fairy-tale word 42 Thrashes about

44 Make a wager 45 Freight haulers 46 Water or rust 47 Shopping — 49 Conspiracy 51 Skippers’ OKs 52 Nowhere near 53 Men’s furnishings 54 Disentangle 55 Like Beethoven 56 Ferber or Millay 59 PBS funder

Politico’s friendly date with ‘thank-you-girl’ HOW true is the chismis that a Miss Universe candidate who failed to take home the crown for her country allegedly gave in to a politician’s request for a “friendly-date” after the pageant? Many beauty pageant fans are itching to find out if this rumor were true and if it were, they’d scream “nakakahiya!” According to our Miss U sources, when the organizers were checking on every candidate during the “after-party”, no one could find this particular Miss U delegate. Oh la la! Even her mobile phone was mysteriously on off mode. They almost reported she was missing to authorities until someone told them the missing delegate was seen having a chit-chat with this famous politician, who was also nowhere to be found at that time. When after almost three hours had passed, the missing Miss U delegate came back. Guess what? Despite being eliminated, she had wide grin on her face. “She perhaps won more than what was there to be won. She was an early favorite for nothing.” Hmmm...can this be true? ***** Still on the very successful Miss Universe, our very own Maxine Medina who also failed in her back-to-back win bid is reportedly eyeing a career in hosting on TV. “Whaaaatttt?” That was everybody’s reaction as we all saw and witnessed the way she answered the questions from the members of the media covering the even and during the coronation show. “If she’d train harder and follow every instructions, baka puwede pa,” reacted one colleague. “I beg to disagree. Training can only do a few for her. The best thing that she needs to do is to go back to school and learn, again, the basics in life,” added one. Super ouch! Puwede ba, mag-move on na, because we really and truly expect our local organizers next time to do something better in that aspect of finding our most deserving official representative in any international pageant. “Sa totoo lang, malaki ang fault ng local organizer kung bakit lagi tayong nabibitin o kinukulang pagdating sa mga kagayang nasaksihan natin sa Miss Universe,” a bitchy one added. ***** “Secret lovers,” jokingly replied teen heartthrob Enrique Gil when asked on the status of his love for Liza Soberano. He further stated, “Sabi ko nga po, we don’t put labels to it. Whatever you see, is what you get.” In a sponsored press conference of them for the movie My Exs and Whys, the young actor admitted to having a grand time with Liza, definitely among this generation’s most beautiful young actresses, if not the most beautiful. It was a fun presscon as Liza herself answered questions, which she believes “lagi akong pinapahamak.” As pretty as she is transparent, Liza is vocal with her emotions for Quen whom she keeps on thanking for the relief and comfort the handsome actor gives her. “I don’t know po. Since day one, that’s his magic and charm to me. I don’t find him so presko and mayabang like what others may have said. In fact, I feel most comfortable even when he is half-naked with me,” said Liza. In the said movie, Quen and Liza had this scene where they were “put inside a box” in a room where Quen was half-naked. In that scene, Liza shared she doesn’t feel anything weird unlike her encounter with hunk actor Joseph Marco in one of their projects, where she felt nervous and could not even look at Joseph’s eyes. “With Quen kasi, I feel no worries. His body is like a baby. I then realized, I am not fan of hunk bodies. Walang malice talaga,” said Liza. “Luka-luka talaga yun,” a smilingly Quen reacted on Liza’s words. But according to our fave mareng tugang direk Cathy Garcia-Molina, “They are not yet ready for those (sexy and daring scenes). Walang intimate-intimate. Hindi pa yun bagay sa mga anak ko, and no such scene in this movie,” the boxoffice rom-com director said. Well, let’s just wait and see come Feb. 15, as their movie opens in more than 200 theaters. If this time they’d make it again, they can be sure to be called the most consistent tandem in showbiz. Success will mean an added power and strength for them.

The cast and crew of “Doble Kara” led by Julia Montes (third from right, front row) during the thanksgiving presscon of the top rating afternoon soap

Isah V. Red, Editor Nickie Wang, Writer isahred@gmail.com TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2017

2016 longest running daytime soap’s explosive ending D

AYTIME Drama Queen Julia Montes thanks viewers for their ISAH V. RED unwavering support for Doble Kara, 2016’s longest running daytime soap for more than a year. “Every day, you warmly welcome me into your homes. I am beyond thankful for the memories and the people I met throughout this journey,” said Julia. “Thank you because you made me feel that I am not alone, that I am part of one family.” Since it started airing in August 2015, Doble Kara has become a big part of Filipino viewers’ afternoon viewing habit, with its thrilling and touching scenes making it a consistent top-rater and the most watched afternoon drama in the country. According to data from Kantar Media, the show recorded its all-time high national TV rating of 21.7 percent last year, and remained unbeaten by the several shows pitted by the rival network against it. Aside from nationwide ratings, it is also a consistent trending topic on Twitter, garnering praises from netizens and receiving thousands of tweets daily. The drama series also highlighted family values that resonated with viewers. It showed the unconditional love

a mother has for her family, as demonstrated by Laura (Mylene Dizon) and Lucille (Carmina Villarroel). The strength and bravery of fathers were also seen in Ishmael (Ariel Rivera) and Antonio (Allen Dizon). Sebastian (Sam Milby) and Edward (EA Guzman), meanwhile, demonstrated true and pure love as they pursued and built a family with Kara and Sara. Doble Kara has also bagged several honors from awardgiving bodies such as the PMPC Star Awards and ALTA Media Icon Awards. Julia, meanwhile, was recognized by the 14th Gawad Tanglaw and Anak TV Awards for her portrayal of twins Kara and Sara. As the soap nears its muchawaited ﬁnale, more explosive surprises are coming viewers’ way as Alex puts all her evil plans to work against Sara and Kara and Lucille returns to their lives. Will Alex and Lucille connive against the twins? Who else will risk their lives to protect their family? Can Kara and Sara be

able to protect their families from harm? Also included in the cast are Rayver Cruz, Mickey Ferriols, Alicia Alonzo, Anjo Damiles, John Lapuz, Nash Aguas, Alexa Ilacad, Polo Ravales, and Patricia Javier. Do not miss the finale of the top-rating afternoon teleserye in the next two weeks Doble Kara, weekdays after It’s Showtime on ABS-CBN or on ABS-CBN HD (SkyCable ch 167). Catch up via iWanTV or skyondemand.com. ph for Sky subscribers. *** Want to fall in love and laugh your heart out this Valentine’s Day? The “unkabogable” boxoffice movie star Vice Ganda invites singles and those happily in love to a date with him at the Araneta Coliseum for his major solo concert 8 p.m. on Feb 14. Produced by Star Events and ABS-CBN Events, the concert, titled Pususan Mo si Vice Ganda sa Araneta (Nagmahal. Nasaktan. Nag-concert), is guaranteed to be filled with colorful humor and spectacular performances from surprise guests, including Maja Salvador, Awra Briguela, Daryl Ong, Michael Pangilinan, Kris Lawrence, and Daniel Padilla. “Let’s celebrate Valentine’s Day differently this time; let’s laugh together. To those who don’t have a love life, let’s

TV host and comedian Vice Ganda stages another concert at the Smart Araneta Coliseum

laugh at our heartaches. You can also come with your friends and family,” said Vice. Pusuan Mo si Vice will be the TV host-comedian-recording star’s ﬁfth major solo concert, following the sold-out Eh ‘Di Wow! in 2015, I-Vice Ganda Mo Ako Sa Araneta in 2013, Eto na! Vice Ganda Todong Sample sa Araneta in 2011, and May Nagtxt. ‘Yung Totoo!! Vice

Ganda Sa Araneta in 2010. Vice also holds the record for having the most attended concert by a Filipino artist at the Araneta Coliseum. Trade those tears of sorrow for tears of joy this Valentine’s Day. Ticket prices are at P5,975 for VVIP, P5,210 for VIP, P4,575 for Patron A, P2,575 for Patron B, P1,195 for Box Premium, P625 for Box Regular, and P280 for

General Admission. Tickets are now available at Ticketnet outlets and at the Araneta Coliseum Box Ofﬁce. Simply call 911-5555 or log on to www.ticketnet.com.ph. For more information, visit Starmusic.ph or follow Star Music’s ofﬁcial social media accounts at Facebook.com/ starmusicph, or @starmusicph on Twitter and Instagram.

Up close with the Goo Goo Dolls in Manila

Get your tissues ready because “Dance Moms Season 6 Special: Final Farewell” is happening this month

Feel the love with LIFETIME IT’S THE season of love on LIFETIME with a line-up of shows that will make your heart skip a beat. In this LIFETIME original movie for the Valentine’s season, follow the dating adventures of Gabby, Nell, Billie and Margot who try to balance their love lives alongside their career ambitions at an upscale digital magazine in Los Angeles. As these ladies navigate the ups and downs of modern dating, romance, exes and friendships, they learn what they really want out of life and love. Love By The 10th Date airs 9 p.m. on Feb. 15. Here’s an interesting look at the arranged marriages in the modern age. Premiering 10 p.m. on Feb.13, season 2 of Arranged follows three

couples from different backgrounds that have been set up by their parents. From a young Jewish modern Orthodox couple in New York City, to a southern couple from Texas, to a couple raised by East Indian parents living in California, each of them has a unique journey onto marriage. And with immense pressure from their families and communities to make the marriages work, the arranged couples must learn to overcome hurdles to succeed. Get your tissues ready because Dance Moms Season 6 Special: Final Farewell is happening 8 p.m. on Feb.13. The Girls Say Goodbye Special, a special episode where the girls of the Abby Lee Dance Company say

a tearful goodbye to two members, Maddie and Mackenzie. Witness the girls’ heartfelt goodbyes to the Ziegler sisters and watch them dance together for the very last time. “Maddie and Mackenzie Say Goodbye Special” airs 8 p.m. on Feb. 14. For the ﬁrst time ever, Maddie and Mackenzie sit down with Abby and give an exclusive take on Dance Moms journey before they say their ﬁnal farewell. We’ll relive their triumphs and heartbreaks plus we’ll hear about what’s to come for the Ziegler sisters after Dance Moms. Lifetime™ is available on SKYCable Ch 65 and Lifetime™ HD Ch 199; Cable Link Ch. 223; Dream Satellite Ch 28; Destiny Ch 44.

ALL-TIME f a v o r i t e American alternative rock band, Goo Goo Dolls, is ﬁnally set to heat up the Philippine stage. Get 15 percent off on tickets when you use your Citi card and watch the band performing their Billboardtopping hits like “Iris,” “Slide,” “Before It’s Too Late” and “All The Goo Goo Dolls is coming to Manila. The American rock That You Are” band is set to hold a concert for their Filipino fans on Feb. 11 at the Big Dome. live. Purchase ticket Citi credit cardholders can choose until Feb. 11 through www.TicketNet. to purchase tickets at any TicketNet com.ph and use the ﬁrst six digits of counter or via www.ticketnet.com.ph. To your Citi credit card as the promotion complete the online transaction, be sure code to avail of the discount. to input both your Citi card number and For Citibank Debit cardholders, visit your mobile number to be able to receive any TicketNet outlet to avail of the the One-Time PIN (OTP) needed. same discount. Save up to P1,050 when Get this exclusive Citi discount now you buy a VIP ticket originally priced and join in the fun and excitement in at P7,000, P900 off the Patron ticket the upcoming concert by the worldworth P6,000, and P750 off from the renowned Goo Goo Dolls live at Lower Box ticket with standard selling Araneta Coliseum on February 11, price of P5,000. Pay only P2,550 when 2017. you buy an Upper Box ticket and only For other exclusive Citi promotions, P1,020 for a General Admission ticket. visit www.citibank.com.ph or call the