Manila Standard - 2017 March 28 - Tuesday

Palace men at odds over oust-Leni move ANY move to impeach Vice President Leni Robredo would only derail the work of Congress in passing important legislative measures, the Palace said Monday.

“If they concentrate on that, their concerns on other measures, which are probably more important than impeachment, will be affected,” Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo told reporters in an interview.

The Palace, however, would not interfere with the plan of Congress to impeach Robredo over grounds that she betrayed the public trust by attacking the government in a message to the annual meeting of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Austria.

“If they feel that impeachment is a priority, they will concentrate on that. If they feel that priority is on measures that should be responded to, in relation to the needs of the country, then, they will make that a priority,” Panelo said.

“Those who initiated it must have their reasons for filing the

same,” he added.

President Rodrigo Duterte has asked his allies to back off, but two of his Cabinet members— Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II and Solicitor General Jose Calida—have vowed to support an impeachment case against Robredo, accusing her of treason.

Panelo said Aguirre’s actions were based on his “personal stand” and does not affect Duterte’s own conviction about Robredo.

“As far as the President is concerned, he already asked those behind the initiation to lay off, to stop it. It’s a different branch of the government. It’s independent body,” he said.

Despite the President’s call, House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, asserting the independence of Congress, said he would pursue Robredo’s impeachment.

Senator JV Ejercito on Monday opposed any plan to impeach either President Rodrigo Duterte or Robredo, saying this would not be good for the country. Next page

HOSTAGES RESCUED. Filipino soldiers assist and escort three remaining Malaysian

crewmen, rescued from eight months of being hostages, after they were left behind by escaping Abu Sayyaf terrorists, to a waiting aircraft at the capital town of Jolo in Sulu Monday. AFP VOL. XXXI • NO. 46 • 4 SECTIONS 20 PAGES • P18 • TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 2017 • www.manilastandard.net • editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Troops rescue 3 more hostages from Sayyaf

By Florante S. Solmerin and Francisco Tuyay GOVERNMENT troops on Sunday rescued the three remaining Malaysian crewmen who were left behind by escaping Abu Sayyaf terrorists in Sulu, Captain Jo-Ann Petinglay, spokesman of the Western Mindanao Command, said on Monday.

She said Mohammad Jumadil Rahim, Mohammad Ridzuan Bin Ismail and Fandy Bin Bakran were rescued around 11:30 p.m. at the boundaries of Sitio Kasanyangan in Tuyang village in Talipao and Jinggan village in Panglima Estino.

On Thursday, their fellow crewmen Tayudin Anjut and Abdurahim Bin Sumas were rescued off Kalinggalang Caluang near Pata island in Sulu.

The military has recognized the support it has been receiving from different groups who continue to provide information on the movements of the terrorists.

Wesmincom chief Major General Carlito Galvez Jr. said he was confident more kidnap victims would be rescued soon.

“Our troops are doing the extra effort just to be able to rescue all the kidnap victims,” Galvez said.

“We consider this a success on a higher level since we were able to rescue the kidnap victims without firing a single shot. This indicates that the people are coming together to go against the bandits and no longer want them in their communities.

“We are again reiterating our call to all the peace-loving citizens of Western Mindanao to continue supporting us.” Next page

Barangay polls up for resetting Palace seeks new law to declare posts vacant

By John Paolo Bencito and Macon Ramos-Araneta

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TOPPING narco-politicians from getting elected in the next barangay polls is far more important than the people’s right to vote, the Palace said Monday as it expressed readiness to certify as urgent any bill to postpone the village elections and declare all positions vacant.

“The people’s right to vote must be carefully weighed against the possibility that a number of barangay officials with links to the illegal drug trade may unwittingly be elected into office given the sad state of patronage in local politics,” Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella said in a statement.

Abella made these statements after Senator Francis Pangilinan, a member of the Senate minority, urged President Rodrigo Duterte to rethink his plan to once again suspend the barangay polls.

“To further postpone barangay elections and opt to instead Next page

New York Times presses B-day wish for sanctions on Manila for Duterte:

By John Paolo Bencito CALLING for international scrutiny and accountability for the thousands of deaths under President Rodrigo Duterte’s war against drugs, the US-based newspaper The New York Times is calling on Manila’s trade partners to hit the government “where it may hurt the most”—by suspending trade incentives and impose tariffs on Philippine goods.

Malacañang, however, shot back at the US-based publication, claiming that some individuals, including politicians, had paid the US-based publication to carry out

its “demolition work” against the President.

In an editorial piece titled “Accountability for Duterte,” the newspaper urged Manila’s trading partners to follow the European Union’s example of threatening to revoke trade privileges to hold Duterte accountable for his alleged support of the killings in his war against drugs.

“Outraged by Mr. Duterte’s behavior, as well as his government’s possible reinstatement of the death penalty and lowering the age for criminal prosecution to 9, the EU has proposed hitting Next page

Stay healthy

By John Paolo Bencito THE members of President Rodrigo Duterte’s Cabinet on Monday urged him to stay healthy and happy as he turns 72 years old today.

“The President has everything, and I can only wish for his birthday that he stays healthy and happy so he and all Filipinos can experience his vision for a peaceful, safer, drug-free and corruption-free Philippines,” Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said.

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AIRPORT TRADITION. Two TC-90 training and maritime surveillance aircraft from Japan get a touching

airport tradition with plumes of water following their touchdown at a naval base in Sangley Point in Cavite Monday for a handover ceremony from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force to the Philippine Navy. AFP

S’porean couple jailed for starving Pinay maid

LONG ARM OF THE LAW. Photo taken and released Monday by The Straits Times shows trader Lim Choon Hong, 48 (right), and his wife Chong Sui Foon, 48, both jailed after starving their Philippine maid Thelma Oyasan Gawidan in a case described as ‘shocking’ by the prosecutors who are appealing for stiffer sentences. AFP

SINGAPORE—A Singaporean couple who starved their Philippine maid until she weighed just 29 kilograms (64 pounds) were jailed Monday, in a case described as “shocking” by the prosecutors who are appealing for stiffer sentences.

Trader Lim Choon Hong, 48, was sentenced to three weeks in jail and fined S$10,000 (US$7,200), while his wife Chong Sui Foon, also 48, was jailed three months, the couple’s lawyer told AFP. Both were convicted last year of violating employment laws for failing to provide enough food for their maid, Thelma Oyasan Gawidan, over a 15-month period

in 2013 and 2014 at the couple’s condominium in the posh Orchard Road area.

State prosecutors, who have described the systematic starvation as “downright shocking in its extremity and severity” are appealing the sentences and pushing for the pair to be jailed for the maximum 12 months.

Gawidan, who is in her 40s, lost almost 20 kg during her time working for the couple, who only allowed her to eat two meals a day, usually a few slices of white bread and small portions of instant noodles prepared by Chong.

She had no access to her mobile phone, was not allowed to go Next page

Top cop sets ‘right tally’ on killings

By Rio N. Araja and John Paolo Bencito THE Philippine National Police on Monday disputed a commonly reported figure of 7,000 cases of extrajudicial killings since the war on drugs began.

“We just want to disprove the persistent and irritating claim by some sectors that there are 7,000 cases of EJKs,” said PNP chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa in a press conference in Camp Crame, Quezon City.

“Drug lords could be behind Next page

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attacks against campaign on illegal drugs,” he added.

From the start of the war on drugs in July 2016 to March 24, 2017, there were 6,011 homicide cases, Dela Rosa said. However, only 1,398 of these cases were drug-related.

“It’s important that people are happy. We are working for the Filipino people, not the foreigners,” Dela Rosa said, alluding to international criticism of the government’s war on drugs.

“They want to destroy the war on drugs because the war on drugs is the face of the Duterte administration,” he added.

PNP Directorate for Investigative and Detective Management chief Director Augusto Marquez said that out of the 6,011 homicide cases, about 23.7 percent were either cleared or solved.

The PNP DIDM said that the more than 6,000 homicide cases from July 2016 to March 2017 should not be blamed on the PNP. Marquez added that the DIDM investigators are still in the case buildup stage on the remaining 76 percent of the cases.

The DIDM chief also noted that 215 policemen were found positive for drugs, which is only 0.12 percent of the strength of the whole PNP. Commission on Human Rights chairman Chito Gascon vowed Monday to document every single case of extrajudicial killings and preserve the evidence so that those who were responsible would be held to account in the future.

At a forum on the war on drugs, Gascon said the victims were not limited to those who were killed, but included their families.

The forum was just the start of the commission’s information gathering and documentation of victims of drug-related summary execution, and the experiences of the mothers and children left behind by their breadwinners, he said.

He described the government’s war on drugs was one of the darkest chapters in the country’s history.

“Let us turn our grief into action. Let us inspire one another.

Let us hope that what we do today will strengthen us so we could do more tomorrow,” he said.

He also expressed disappointment over the government’s failure to file cases against those suspected of extrajudicial killings.

“All we can do is to only document their [victims] stories. No charges have been filed by the prosecutor,” he said.

The victims of the extrajudicial killings must not forever remain “nameless and faceless,” he added.

The Palace said Monday the war on drugs is not targeted against the poor, as the New York-based Human Rights Watch suggested.

In a statement, Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella scored HRW Deputy Asia Director Phelim Kine for claiming that Duterte had “finally acknowledged” that his drug war is “a war on the poor” that exposes his “contempt for the lives of the country’s urban slum dwellers.”

Duterte’s spokesman reminded the HRW, as well as other organizations criticizing Duterte, to be “more circumspect” about meddling in Philippine affairs.

“Their lack of appreciation of the context and local reality show a deep insensitivity to other cultures,” Abella said.

Abella also guaranteed the safety and security of the Filipino people, citing that eight out of 10 of Filipinos living in Manila “now feel safer and more secure under his administration.” With PNA

CA issues TRO on Veloso’s testimony vs recruiters

By Rey E. Requejo

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HE Court of Appeals has barred death convict Mary Jane Veloso from testifying in the criminal cases against her recruiters from her detention cell in Indonesia.

In a three-page resolution, the CA’s 11th Division through Associate Justice Ramon Bato Jr. issued a temporary restraining order enjoining the Nueva Ecija Regional Trial Court, Branch 88, from facilitating the taking of Veloso’s deposition or affidavit on April 27.

The appellate court granted the immediate relief sought in the petition filed by Veloso’s detained recruiters, couple Ma. Cristina Sergio and Julius Lacanilao, who are

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SEEING RED. Members of various affiliated groups of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines and underground revolutionary organizations under the banner of the Communist Party of the Philippines hold a lightning rally and blocked Aurora Blvd., cor. Edsa, Cubao, Quezon City on March 27, 2017 to mark the upcoming 48th Anniversary of the New People’s Army on March 29. The group also conducted an NPA military drill and the singing of the CPP’s anthem ‘Internationale.’ Lino Santos

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his government where it may hurt the most by imposing tariffs on Philippine goods. Other democratic trading partners should do the same,” the publication said.

It also urged the United Nations Human Rights Council to “initiate a thorough, independent investigation into the killings under Mr. Duterte’s watch.”

“The man [Duterte] is impervious to moral criticism, but he may not be immune forever from legal action,” The New York Times said.

The EU is currently reviewing whether the Philippines can still qualify for trade incentives that are pre-conditioned on compliance with international agreements, including those on human rights.

A monitoring team from the EU recently arrived in the Philippines for an assessment of the country’s trade perks under the Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP+), which allows the Philippines to export to the EU without duties or with reduced tariffs.

The newspaper noted that an impeachment case will not likely prosper in a Congress dominated by

Palace...

The three Malaysians were brought to the Kuta Heneral Teodolfo Bautista Station Hospital in Bus-Bus village in Jolo for a medical checkup.

The five Malaysian crewmen of the T/B Serudung 3 were abducted on July 19, 2016, in Dent Haven in Tambisan, Lahad Datu in Sabah by the group of Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Berham Lutian alias Vietnam.

“I am supporter of the President but I am against any impeachment,” said Ejercito, during Monday’s “Samahang Plaridel, Kapihan sa Manila Hotel” media forum.

“I would rather have stability. It [impeachment] will really create political instability. Our economy will not develop. It cannot reach the full potential. It’s a waste,” said Ejercito.

“We have been a divided nation

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out on her own to buy food, and only allowed to shower twice a week.

Gawidan ran away in April 2014 and called a compatriot for help.

She was taken to a migrant workers’ shelter that helped her file a complaint with the manpower ministry.

remedies to be able to proceed with the taking of Veloso’s testimony.

Prosecutors wanted to take Veloso’s testimony to bolster the cases against her recruiters, which the government has pursued to save her from death row in Indonesia where she was convicted of drug trafficking.

In its ruling in August last year, the RTC allowed the taking of Veloso’s deposition from the Indonesian jail by the Philippine consulate in the presence of the judge.

The recruiters argued in their petition before the CA that the deposition would violate Section 14(2), Article III of the Bill of Rights in the Constitution, which requires that they confront Veloso face-to-face.

Sergio and Lacanilao said the previous administration was only constrained to file cases against

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facing qualified human trafficking before the RTC. The TRO specifically directed RTC Judge Anarica Castillo-Reyes and the government “to cease and desist from implementing the assailed resolutions during the effectivity thereof and until further orders from this Court.”

The order was effective for 60 days from issuance last March 24.

The CA noted that the TRO was necessary “in order to maintain the

status quo ante as well as preserve the rights of the parties during the pendency of the instant petition and not to render ineffectual whatever judgment that may be rendered by this Court.”

Associate Justices Manuel Barrios and Renato Francisco concurred with the ruling.

Veloso’s volunteer lawyer Edre Olalia of the National Union of People’s Lawyers lamented the development, saying the deposition is already long overdue.

“A victim of injustice several times over, distressed migrant workers like Mary Jane expect from her compatriots not only to uphold fairness, reason and justice but also to demonstrate empathy and conscience at the very least,” he said in a statement.

Olalia vowed to exhaust all legal

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The couple’s lawyer Raymond Lye told AFP they will remain out on bail pending the prosecution’s appeal, adding that they were “remorseful and sincere in expressing their regret.”

Many Singapore households depend on foreign domestic help. In 2016, there were 239,700 foreign maids working in the affluent citystate, mostly from Indonesia and the Philippines. AFP

the President’s allies, centering on allegations of corruption, supposed murder and crimes against humanity in connection with his anti-drug crackdown.

At the same time, The New York Times issued a 15-minute documentary that delves into the victims of summary killings, their grieving relatives, and the journalists who cover them.

“We sent a film crew to the Philippines, where death, grief and fear fill the streets,” the publication said in a trailer for the documentary “When a President Says, ‘I’ll Kill You,’” highlighting the spate of alleged extrajudicial killings in the country, which was released Sunday.

Among those featured in the documentary is veteran photojournalist Raffy Lerma, who has covered nightly killings of drug suspects in Metro Manila, and a self-confessed hitman who was interviewed by the New-York based newspaper allegedly hired to murder drug suspects.

The video documentary and the editorial form part of the US-based newspaper’s series on the Philippine drug war. Earlier, the NYT released a feature on the President’s rise to the presidency, which was carried by a local broadsheet.

Presidential Spokesman Ernesto

Abella alleged that the 165-year-old publication appears to be part of a “well-funded campaign” to oust Duterte from office.

“The newspaper tries to stir global outrage in a nation that welcomes its newfound peace and order. One can only conclude that certain personalities and politicians have mounted a well-funded campaign utilizing hack writers and their ilk in their bid to oust [President Duterte],” Abella said in a statement.

Abella said the publication’s profile on Duterte depicts his rise to power under “the context of violence” while the editorial mouthed “unsubstantiated claims.”

“NYT’s very obvious demolition work flies in the face of the very high approval [that Duterte] enjoys,” Abella added.

Abella vowed that the administration will not be deterred from fulfilling its promise of building a progressive and inclusive nation free from drugs, crimes and corruption.

This was not the first time The New York Times scrutinized Duterte’s drug war. In August 2016, an editorial cartoon criticizing Duterte’s campaign was released while a special report entitled “They Are Slaughtering Us Like Animals” was published last December.

for so long. Maybe in the next five years, maybe we can unite,” he said.

Also on Monday, Senator Panfilo Lacson twitted Senator Antonio Trillanes IV for cautioning Vice President Leni Robredo against accepting a dinner invitation from President Rodrigo Duterte because it was “a trap” to neutralize her politically.

“I’d rather see our President and VP working together, not quarreling,” Lacson said on Twitter.

Trillanes, a staunch critic of Duterte, said the President had used the same tactic to offer Robredo

a Cabinet post belatedly, only to dump her when it was politically convenient.

Trillanes, meanwhile, said Duterte’s call to his allies was just a pretense, saying he was playing the role of “the good cop,” while his allies pursued his goal to oust Robredo as “the bad cop.”

“Be careful believing President Duterte. He is two-faced. This is all staged. You shouldn’t be fooled because we can see through him,” Trillanes said. John Paolo Bencito,

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He said his department believes in Duterte’s dream “to empower the bottom of the pyramid to empower the nation.”

“We in DTI would like to give him as our gift our 110 percent commitment and passion to make this dream a reality. Magbigay ng oportunidad at abilidad para lahat ay umunlad,” Lopez said.

Aside from wishing Duterte a long life, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and Chief Presidential Legal

Macon Ramos-Araneta, Sandy Araneta, PNA

Counsel Salvador Panelo asked God to protect him as he hurdles the challenges of his job.

“I wish him good health, happiness and a long life. May the Lord continues to bless and protect him and his family.

May the Lord guides and inspires him as he serve our people,” Lorenzana said.

Said Panelo: “Happy birthday to the President and we pray that the God Almighty sends his angels and spread their wings to spare him from any injury, any disease, any accident, and his wish to prolong his term in good health.”

Duterte’s communications men also

appoint the barangay officials means to impinge on the people’s right to vote and choose their leaders,” Pangilinan said.

Pangilinan also warned that Duterte’s move “encroaches dangerously into authoritarian ideologies” like those of former President Ferdinand Marcos.

Abella said postponing the barangay elections would need an amendment of the law to enable the President to appoint village officials.

“Without this new law, barangay elections will push through,” he said.

“The passage of a new law postponing the barangay elections will make all barangay positions vacant. Therefore, according to the Administrative Code of the Philippines, it is within the powers of the President to fill up declared vacant positions,” he added.

Interior Secretary Ismael Sueno said Duterte was considering proposals to end the term of all barangay officials and replace them with his appointees.

Upon his return from a four-day official visit from Myanmar and Thailand, Duterte claimed that 40 percent of all the barangay captains in the country were involved in drugs.

Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo said any move to postpone the barangay polls will be fully supported by the Palace.

“Those in Congress, knowing what the President wants, should consider that ... He may certify it as urgent,” Panelo said.

He also denied that Duterte’s move would be unconstitutional.

“It is true that they must be elected, but if you postpone the elections and there would be a gap, an expired term, then the Administrative Code allows the President to appoint officials,” he added.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said there is nothing illegal in the deferment of the barangay polls as long as Congress passes an enabling law.

He added that the reason raised

by Duterte—that 40 percent of barangay captains in 42,095 barangays nationwide are either drug users or protectors—is a valid ground for postponing the elections.

In the House, Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers filed a bill seeking to defer the October 2017 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections until May 2020 to stamp out the drug problem.

“The drug problem begins at the grassroots level, therefore, this is where we should start cleansing,” he said.

Barbers said incumbent barangay officials must be terminated and allow Duterte to appoint “incorruptible” officers-in-charge, which could lead to a “drug-free Philippines.”

But senators on both sides of the political fence have questioned the President’s plan, saying there should be a more compelling reason to suspend the polls again.

Senator Paolo Benigno Aquino IV urged the government to respect

wished Duterte well.

“With all the responsibilities that [President Duterte] has right now, I wish him more time for himself and the small things in life that make him happy,” Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said.

Duterte’s spokesman, Ernesto Abella, wished that the President’s “dreams for a great Filipino nation all come true.”

On Monday, the Palace said there won’t be any fanfare even if Duterte will celebrate his first birthday as the most powerful man in the Philippines.

“He spends some quality time with

them in convincing Indonesian authorities to stall Veloso’s execution.

The two also reiterated their denial of the allegation that they were part of an international drug syndicate that preyed on Veloso, claiming that they were arrested and prosecuted “in order to give a public impression, particularly to Indonesia, the fact that the accused were under arrest.”

In her affidavit, which she needs to personally subscribe before the court, Veloso said she was duped by Sergio and Lacanilao into bringing the drugladen luggage to Indonesia in 2010 where she was arrested upon her arrival at the Yogyakarta airport.

The death sentence on Veloso was temporarily postponed last April 29, 2015 after then President Benigno Aquino III appealed her case to Indonesian President Joko Widodo. the people’s right to choose their next barangay and youth leaders “Our barangay elections are a way for us to exercise our democracy. It is important that the elected officials should come from the people, especially at the smallest unit of governance, so that our officials are accountable to their constituents and serve the people,” Aquino said.

He added that appointing barangay officials would only strengthen the patronage system in local politics.

Senator Panfilo Lacson said he too was not inclined to support yet another postponement of barangay elections.

“I believe it’s time we should allow the 42,036 barangays to elect their new village leaders or give those who deserve their vote of confidence to continue serving them,” he said.

Senator Joel Villanueva said the last time they deliberated on the proposed suspension, it was clear to them that the polls would push through this year.

“So we need to have a more compelling reason why we should even consider suspending it again, much more the proposed appointment [of barangay officials, instead of electing them],” Villanueva said.

Senator JV Ejercito took to Twitter to express his apprehensions on the proposed deferment of the barangay polls.

“I have apprehensions on postponing barangay elections as to the legal basis. We just need to clarify justification [of] the said postponement,” said Ejercito.

“Being a former mayor myself, I understand where President Duterte’s proposal to postpone barangay elections [is coming from],” said Ejercito, who was San Juan mayor.

Lacson, Villanueva and Ejercito are all members of the Senate majority bloc.

Senate President Aqulino Pimentel III earlier said that postponing the barangay elections requires a law, especially if the President is proposing that elected barangay officials be replaced with appointees.

“If we will have to postpone, then this will now be the second year extension of the incumbent barangay official. I think it’s better to deem their term as expired. The law abhors a vacuum,” Pimentel said.

He said the appointive power is by default placed in the President.

The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting said the postponement of the barangay elections needs to be studied carefully, and there must be a valid reason to suspend the polls.

The church-back poll watchdog added that there is no substitute to periodic elections in a democracy to check the accountability of elected officials to get fresh mandate, and that includes barangay polls.

The National Movement for Free Elections, another poll watchdog group, said the elections should be held regularly and must push through.

“Postponing elections undermine a democratic process instituted to ensure every individual citizen’s right to choose their leaders and make them accountable,” said the group’s secretary-general, Eric Alvia. With Vito Barcelo, PNA

family and close friends. While certain offices may hold parallel celebration, the President usually veers away public attention on his private and personal affairs,” Abella said.

In an earlier press briefing at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Duterte said it had been a tradition in his family to keep things simple in such occasions.

He added that his birthday wish was to have the time and strength to surmount the problems of the country.

Duterte, who was born on March 28, 1945, in Maasin, Leyte, is the oldest candidate to be elected President.

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TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

IN BRIEF Consumers experience oil price cut CONSUMERS experienced another round of oil price cut as the oil firms rolled back the price of diesel by P0.25 per liter and kerosene by P0.15 per liter effective Tuesday.

The oil firms, however, did not cut gasoline prices. The latest price rollback, the fourth consecutive for March, reflected the softening of oil prices in the world market.

Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., Petron Corp., Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Unioil Philippines, Eastern Petroleum, Seaoil Philippines, PTT Philippines, and other oil firms implemented the price cut.

“Petron will implement the following price rollback effective 12:01 am March 28: P0.25 per liter for TurboDiesel and DieselMax and P0.15 per liter for kerosene,” Petron said.

On March 21, the oil firms also implemented a hefty price rollback of P1.20 per liter for kerosene, P1.10 per liter for diesel and P0.80 per liter for gasoline.

The oil firms also rolled back the price of kerosene by P0.70 per liter, diesel by P0.60 per liter and gasoline by P0.35 per liter on March 14.

Last March 7, the oil firms also cut gasoline prices by P0.55 per liter, kerosene by P0.20 per liter and diesel by P0.10 per liter.

Alena Mae S. Flores

INCENTIVE STRATEGY. The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency gives away Monday P4.9-million reward to four informants under the incentive scheme signed to encourage private citizens to report any suspected illegal activities in their community. Manny Palmero

Marcos asks PET: Junk Robredo’s plea

By Rey E. Requejo

Court junks graft charge against Baja THE Sandiganbayan has dismissed the graft charge filed against forrmer Philippine permanent representative to the United Nations Lauro Baja Jr. by the Office of the Ombudsman concerning reimbursements for alleged bogus expenses amounting to $28,935.

In its ruling dated March 20, 2017, the anti-graft’s Fourth Division said the prosecution failed to present sufficient evidence to overcome reasonable doubt even as there was an absence of categorical proof of fictitious or nonexistent representation expenses.

Associate Justice Geraldine Faith A. Econg penned the 35page resolution. Associate Justices Alex B. Quiroz and Reynaldo P. Cruz concurred.

Baja was accused of submitting improper documentation, such as photocopies or temporary receipts that are unacceptable under audit rules, in support of his applications for reimbursement amounting to $8,145 in 2003, $11,100 in 2004, and $9,689.96 in 2005, or a total $28,934.96.

The Ombudsman indicted the former ambassador for graft for causing undue injury to the government for the offense.

While agreeing with the prosecution that Baja did not comply with the requirements on documentation, the Sandiganbayan declared that the prosecution’s evidence fell short of the evidence needed to convict the accused. Maricel V. Cruz

F

ORMER senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has prodded the Supreme Court, sitting as Presidential Electoral Tribunal, to sustain its ruling last January allowing his election protest against Vice President Leni Robredo to proceed.

In a 25-page comment, Marcos asked the SC to junk Robredo’s plea and instead uphold its finding of sufficiency in form and substance of his protest.

Marcos, through his lawyer George Garcia, branded the appeal of Robredo as another dilatory tactic that should be set aside for speedy disposition of the case.

“More than nine months have already gone by and all protestee Robredo has done is to file one dilatory motion after another. If

protestee Robredo has nothing to hide, then she should do everything in her power to encourage —rather than hinder—this election protest to move forward,” the pleading stated.

“The millions of voters who trooped to the polls nine months ago deserve no less. They want the truth to come out. The sooner the better,” it said.

Marcos also asked the PET to order the immediate collection, retrieval, transport and delivery

of all ballot boxes in all 36,465 clustered precincts during the May 9, 2016 elections.

Marcos also appealed to the presidential electoral tribunal to now proceed with the preliminary conference in the case as provided in Rule 29 of its rules for the conduct of manual recount, judicial revision, technical examination and forensic investigation under Rule 37 as he sought in the protest.

In the same motion, Marcos cited recent developments involving Robredo, particularly her controversial video message against President Rodrigo Duterte and his administration sent to the United Nations commission on narcotics drugs.

The video is being eyed by administration allies as basis for impeachment of Robredo.

“There is clearly a well-funded concerted effort to undermine the Duterte administration, just recently, Robredo’s video message

on the alleged extrajudicial killings caused quite a stir among our patriotic countrymen,” he said.

“Robredo cannot have it both ways. She cannot keep claiming that she won the elections fair and square and yet, behind everyone’s back, she keeps finding ways to stop the truth from coming out,” Marcos alleged.

In its earlier ruling, the PET junked Robredo’s plea to have the case dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.

The tribunal rejected Robredo’s argument that the matter should have been raised before Congress when it was still acting as the National Board of Canvassers.

It pointed out that under Article VII, Section 4 of the Constitution pertaining to PET rules, “the tribunal shall be the sole judge of all contests relating to the election, returns and qualifications of the President or Vice President of the Philippines.”

OSG to defend De Lima arrest THE Supreme Court will hear today the arguments of the Office of the Solicitor General which is mandated by law to defend the validity of the Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court issuance of warrant of arrest against now detained Senator Leila de Lima and the appropriate charges filed by the Department of Justice against her.

Solicitor General Jose Calida will face the 15-member bench during the continuation of the oral arguments today on De Lima’s petition seeking her release, saying he will justify the legality of her detention.

The chief state lawyer stressed he would ask the SC to deny the plea of the beleaguered senator to be released from detention, while facing drug trafficking cases in the Muntinlupa City RTC by issuing a status quo ante order on the arrest warrant against her.

Calida argued there was no unmistakable

right of the senator being violated to warrant the issuance of the TRO. Calida serves as counsel of Judge Juanita Guerrero of Muntinlupa City RTC, Branch 204, who issued the arrest warrant against De Lima, and Philippine National Police officials named as respondents, in De Lima’s petition.

According to the Solicitor General, De Lima’s case was not an exemption to the general rule that criminal prosecutions may not be stayed or restrained.

Calida warned the Court that granting De Lima’s plea would be tantamount to deciding on the pending criminal case against her before the trial court when a full-blown trial was necessary to determine De Lima’s guilt for the drug charges against her.

The Solicitor General also vowed to dispute the jurisdiction issue raised by De Lima in her petition, saying drug cases fell exclu-

sively within the jurisdiction of RTCs and not the Sandiganbayan as the senator had insisted.

In an earlier manifestation, Calida questioned the validity of De Lima’s petition as he accused her of faking a certification and violating the rule requiring her to personally sign on the petition before a notary public.

In the first two hearings, lawyers of De Lima led by former solicitor general Florin Hilbay presented their arguments before the SC. They argued the RTC had no jurisdiction over the case that should have been forwarded to the Office of the Ombudsman instead.

Hilbay also stressed the allegations against De Lima did not actually constitute sale and trading of illegal drugs and liability of government officials under Republic Act 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act), but rather only direct bribery. Rey E. Requejo

Dominguez: Teamwork will expose tax evaders

By Julito G. Rada

KIDNAPPERS SUBDUED. Members of a kidnapping for ransom syndicate led by an Indian national that victimizes fellow Indians who do business in the country have been arrested in a follow-up operation by the PNP Anti-Kidnapping Group led by Supt. Glenn Dumlao in Lupao, Nueva Ecija.

FINANCE Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said on Monday that teamwork between government agencies would expose tax evaders in the country.

He said this as he commended the Bureau of Customs and Bureau of Internal Revenue for their sustained campaign against tax fraud following the BoC’s March 24 raid on two warehouses in Bulacan, which yielded P3.2 billion worth of Mighty Corp. cigarettes bearing fake tax stamps.

“The close cooperation we are now seeing between the BIR and the BoC against those who continue to undermine our re-

form agenda is the kind of teamwork we need in government,” Dominguez said in a statement.

“Their sustained operations against illegal activities demonstrate the Duterte administration’s firm resolve to expose tax cheats and bring action against them in court,” Dominguez said.

Dominguez said the BoC operation, conducted in Barangay Matimbubong in San Ildefonso, Bulacan, would enable the BoC and BIR to strengthen their legal action against Mighty Corp. for possession of cigarette packs with counterfeit internal revenue stamps, specifically for violations of Sections 263 and 265(c) of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997.

DFA refuses to disclose 10-year bond with APO

By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan THE Department of Foreign Affairs on Monday refused to disclose the 10-year contract with APO Production Unit due to its “confidentiality clause,” following allegations of overpriced passport fee.

DFA spokesman Charles Jose also maintained that as far as the agency was concerned, there was nothing irregular with its contract with APO, the group that bagged the multi-billion printing contract of electronic passport in 2015.

“There’s a confidentiality clause in the contract that prevents us from disclosing its contents,” Jose explained Monday.

“As far as we’re concerned, there’s nothing irregular with our contract with APO; everything is above board,” he maintained.

He added the DFA’s contract with APO went through a thorough review by inter-agency group under the Department of Finance and other concerned agencies.

Jose’s reaction was asked following reports from the Philippine Association of Free Labor Unions, urging Congress to look into the government’s e-passport project with a view to cutting down its cost and make it more affordable for the working class, particularly the overseas Filipino workers.

PAFLU president Terry Tuazon said the e-passports being issued by the DFA costs P950 plus P250 for “overtime charges” if the applicant was in a hurry and opted to use the express lane service.

He said the old maroon-colored machine readable passport cost only P550, or P700 “if you want it faster.”

“Except for the electronic chip that is embedded in the e-passport that captures data and security features there are no other enhancements to justify the high cost. Digital products are getting cheaper, not going expensive,“ Tuazon said.

Foreign Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs Frank Cimafranca, on the other hand, refused to comment and said he would wait for the Congressional probe instead.

“I have not heard about it yet.

We have not received any document from Congress so it would be premature to comment on the matter...let’s just wait for the Congressional probe if there’s any,” he said.

The memorandum of agreement that granted APO the authority to print the electronic passport through a new integrated system was signed Oct. 5, 2015 by then Foreign secretary Albert del Rosario and then Presidential Communications Operation Office secretary Herminio Coloma.

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Opinion

TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 2017

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

EDITORIAL

No more wild rides

P

RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte turns 72 today. While he might insist that he is not big on birthday celebrations and would like to be frugal, he may not be able to escape the profuse greetings that will flood him today, from supporters and critics, in the flesh or on social media.

There are many ways to spend a birthday, even when you are president.

One could pretend it is an ordinary day. There is much work to be done— and not only in terms of the war on drugs. More importantly, poverty and scandalous inequal-

Adelle Chua, Editor

ity hound the nation. Not one minute must be lost in working to change the situation.

One could, as the President wishes, spend it with the people who matter most. Mr. Duterte is not a conventional family man, but like anybody he

needs the warmth and familiarity of his children and grandchildren.

One can go away for a day and rest. Nobody will begrudge the President if he needs some time to be by himself. Sometimes a break is all one needs to think clearly.

Taking stock of what has happened in the past is also common. We wonder whether, on his birthday last year, Mr. Duterte imagined he would be where he is today. The nation, at around this time last year, most cer-

tainly didn’t. In the past few months, we have seen and heard more about him than we ever anticipated. He promised change—things do look different these days, even as we are still deciding whether the change is cosmetic, purely for effect, or whether it is substantive.

Most importantly, one can plan how one will spend the rest of his life —or at least, perform the job for the remainder of his term. Mr. Duterte’s leadership style has thus

far managed to bring out extremes: Some who extoll everything he says and does, and those who portray him as a dangerous person on whose whims our collective fate hinges.

We join the chorus of those who wish him well, but we would skip the saccharine part. His loyalists are doing enough of that already. Instead we wish him an even ride.

We do not doubt he has seen much wild action in his early life. Now that he is 72, and now that he is president, he no longer

has to prove he is a misunderstood maverick with a heart of gold. He just needs to be diligent and consistent and reliable, somebody we don’t need to second guess. We need to be able to take him for his word. It;s that basic, yes, but it’s that important.

And no, not everybody who sings him praises is on his side. Not everybody who points out his mistakes is an enemy.

What we wish for the President is to be able to tell them apart.

Duterte and the urban poor

Master of the House?

LOWDOWN

JOJO A. ROBLES SOMETIMES, I wonder if House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez is trying to out-Digong even Digong himself. Then I think about how President Rodrigo Duterte is actually a very smart political strategist and tactician and I wonder if what Alvarez really has is just attitude instead of real substance.

Alvarez can certainly be as impetuous as Duterte is supposed to be. The Speaker proved this when he warned that congressmen who would vote against the watered-down proposed law reimposing the death penalty would lose their positions of leadership in the House.

The measure did pass with a big majority, although the 54 lawmakers (more than a quarter of the House) who thumbed it down must have been worrisome, for a speaker who claims

an almost absolute “supermajority” in the chamber. But then, Alvarez made matters worse when he fell into a trap set by Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, who heckled the Speaker about his threat to sanction House members who would vote against the return of the penalty.

Then Alvarez showed again just how vastly different he was (and this is no compliment) from previous speakers known for their ability to compromise and to secure consensus in the House: He promptly ordered, on the last session day, the removal of all deputy speakers and committee chairmen who didn’t vote for the death penalty.

Alvarez is fast turning into a petty tyrant in a collegial House, where each member was either voted by a district constituency or by a nationally represented party list. And where previous speakers would quietly buttonhole congressmen in order to secure votes and push initiatives, Alvarez seems to believe that he can just order congressmen around.

The Speaker’s role in the House

is once again in focus, after all, now that moves to impeach both Duterte and Vice President Leni Robredo have either been filed or will soon be filed before the chamber. And Alvarez has al-

If I were Duterte, I’d think long and hard about the real value of having Alvarez as speaker. ready made his wishes known, calling the complaint against Duterte filed by Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano “stupid” and vowing to immediately have the one against Robredo transmitted directly to the Senate—a la Corona—as soon

as he secures the required 100 or so votes of the House.

I have no doubt whatsoever that Alvarez can deliver the House to Duterte as he says. But that’s not saying much about his abilities, really, because the House majority always looks to Malacanang anyway, under any administration, in order to secure pork, projects or whatever will benefit the individual congressmen.

But if I were Duterte, I’d think long and hard about the real value of having Alvarez as speaker, since he seems to be hell-bent on making more enemies for the President in Congress instead of being a calming and steadying influence on them. And some congressmen I’ve talked to, while they continue to support Duterte, are approaching a point where they see no real advantage in giving the same support to his designated speaker.

For instance, they point out, Alvarez has been remiss in that part of his job that requires statesmanship. Like when he ordered the virtual eviction of

the congressional spouses from the Batasan, another move that angered the wives of lawmakers who have done charitable and civic work for decades now.

And Alvarez has not clamped down on the shenanigans of congressmen, like the lucrative practice of one lawmaker who demands an upfront fee for the approval of franchises in the name of all the other congressmen. Nor has Alvarez been a force for unity and the settlement of disputes, like when he supposedly took sides after two lawmakers’ girlfriends quarreled during a recent presidential trip.

I don’t recall ever seeing the House under a more combative, petty and divisive leadership since the reinstatement of the bicameral Congress by the 1987 Constitution than it is under Alvarez. I think Alvarez actually considers himself, like the innkeeper in Les Miz, to be the Master of the House, instead of merely its conciliatory and statesmanlike primus inter pares.

If Alvarez is not careful, he

ALMOST one year ago, on 1 April 2016, three farmers died in a violent confrontation between protestors and police in Kidapawan, North Cotabato.

Months before the tragedy occurred, rice farmers had petitioned the government for access to rice stocks to prevent famine caused by an El Niño-induced drought. However, as Francisco Lara of International Alert puts it, “in the face of an emergency, the government compelled victims to adhere to the slow and bureaucratic process of testing their means and verifying their eligibility, a feature of its cash transfer and cash-for-work schemes.” With no forthcoming aid, the farmers, along with activists from Anakpawis, Bayan Muna, and other Leftist organizations, blockaded the Davao-Cotabato highway.

And, as we know, violence broke out and lives were lost.

In response to the tragedy, thenpresidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte said that “blood is written all over the hands of” President Noynoy Aquino and his family.

Moreover, he accused the government of being “impervious to the suffering of the people.” In this particular case, he clearly believed that it was wrong for the government to forcefully remove the protestors.

One year later, President Duterte finds himself in a similar situation. Two weeks ago, on March 8, members of Kadamay, a national alliance of urban poor associations, occupied more than 5,000 housing units located in Bulacan. They come from Pandi, Bocaue, Navotas, and Caloocan City. Their action was, according to a press statement, prompted by, “The very depressed wages, especially in the provinces, lack of regular employment and the privatization of housing services…”

On March 20, however, the government, with Duterte’s blessing, gave the occupants seven days to vacate the housing projects.

Disobedience will mean eviction.

Thankfully, Cabinet Secretary Jun Evasco said that “there won’t be any forced evictions for now” and that it will only be done if all other means have been exhausted.

He also added that a composite team will be made to monitor the problems related to housing.

This protest is a litmus test for the President who has defined himself against the perceived callousness and bureaucratic rigidity of the previous administration. After all, Duterte has portrayed himself as someone who will—rules and procedures be damned—act decisively and compassionately when facing an unjust situation. As articulated in one of his campaign taglines: “Matapang na solusyon;

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Opinion

THERE is no argument that plantation owned by the family President Duterte is on the right of Davao del Norte Rep. Tonyboy track in addressing the drug Floirendo—says the government menace. It could make us a nar- is entitled to profit-sharing.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano co-state. We don’t have quarrel with this; it has bedeviled the Aguirre II reportedly ordered a review of the Bucor-Tadeco country for so long.

In fact, according to the latest contract. It is alleged that it repsurvey, 82 percent of Filipinos resented only a fraction of the now consider themselves safer, prevailing market rate.

Alvarez vowed to look into both at home and on the streets, despite reports of summary kill- the veracity of these reports. Acings. Some 7,800 have already cording to Alvarez, the contract died in the context of the war on provides that the BuCor would receive its share of profits with drugs.

But along with drugs, and respect to the leased land where with corruption and criminal- bananas are planted.

Alvarez alleged that the existity, we have other problems like poverty, joblessness, terrorism, ing contract, “while guaranteeinsurgency and delivery of so- ing the BuCor a share of P26.54 million a year for 5,308.36 heccial services.

Among all these, I consider tares, actually prejudices the poverty the biggest problem. same since the prevailing price This must be attended to right of lease contracts in that area, away. It breeds other problems is not P25,000 per hectare per like drug addiction and trade, year.” This makes the lease agreement disadvantageous to and criminality.

My gulay, why do you think the government.

Observers say that this is the poor members of society take drugs and resort to a life of second time that the Speaker has gone after Rep. Floirendo. crime?

In many places, hunger results Rep. Alvarez had also accused in drug abuse. Hungry street Rep. Floirendo of trying to dischildren sniff solvents. This is lodge him from the speakership and installing President Gloria how they avoid hunger.

Macapagal Arroyo. This was *** The recent mob rule at the supposedly the reason Alvarez, seven National Housing Author- with the help of House Majority ity project sites in Pandi, Bula- Floor Leader Rodolfo Fariñas, can is the best example of how had to declare vacant the posipoverty can drive marginalized tions of those who voted against groups to do anything unless the death penalty bill.

That’s how it goes in politics. government does something to Soon, alliances and friendships prevent anarchy.

All the NHA can do is come will be broken because of politiout with a series of newspaper cal interests. *** advertisements after the leftHere’s someist Kadamay thing that the group took Insurance Comover on March mission must 8 and illegally look into. occupied 3,500 Poverty housing units For years, in the NHA breeds other ills, many in the inproject sites including drug dustry would previously eartrade stories marked for low- addiction and about the corsalaried perporate behavior sonnel of the trade. of UK-based inArmed Forces surance broker of the PhilipMarsh. The acpines, Philippine National Police, Bureau of counts are not flattering. Some Fire Protection, Bureau of Jail even question the legality of its Management and Penology, and Philippine operations, alleging Metro Manila squatters living that the broker took shortcuts in along danger zones and water- establishing business here in the Philippines. ways.

Recently, there was news Those advertisements look like the government agency is that this broker went too far and ambivalent on what should be crossed the wrong company (and done immediately if only to pre- the wrong person). What is survent Leftist groups from resort- prising is that they ostensibly being to mob rule in the name of trayed long-time partners Prudential Guarantee and Assurance. poverty.

Santa Banana, with friends President Duterte may have voiced concern over the incident like these, who needs enemies?

The broker, identified as but more has to be done. The government has to do more to Marsh by the Inquirer, and PGA stop this kind of rule. It can lead were collaborating on servicing to anarchy—which was what the insurance needs of a large exactly happened in Bulacan. In aviation company. PGA used fact, there were other attempts the service of Marsh to broker

by Kadamay to occupy other so- its placements. Two things are cial housing projects of the gov- worth noting here: first, PGA had held that aviation account ernment.

Why is this happening? The for almost 20 years. Second, government has plenty of unful- Marsh made a huge commission filled promises to provide hous- as PGA’s reinsurer of choice.

Sometime last year, howeving for the poor.

My gulay, we boast of having er, there was an exodus of key 14 Filipinos in the Forbes list of Marsh aviation personnel and billionaires. Indeed, economic PGA was left with no choice but growth is meaningless if the to select another insurer. Repoor cannot partake of it. portedly, what happened next For all these reasons, President was a series of backstabbing and Duterte has to make inclusive double crossing. growth a priority. All efforts of Marsh apparently went to the the Duterte administration to owner of the aviation company eradicate illegal drugs, crime and and concocted a story about how corruption will amount to nothing they were being overcharged. if poverty remains, or worsens.

As proof, it presented confiden*** tial information owned by PGA, Cracks are showing in the Du- with a few “alternative facts” terte administration. It validates thrown into it. the fact that in politics, there are Robert Coyuito Jr., owner and no permanent friends and ene- CEO of PGA, enlisted a team of mies. There are only permanent high-profile lawyers to file ininterests. formation with no less than the The Speaker of the House, UK High Court in London.

Pantaleon Alvarez, raised the isWith the noose slowly tightsue of the allegedly overpriced ening around their necks, Marsh and disadvantageous (to the reportedly admitted wrongdoing government) land deal by the and paid out-of-court settlement Floirendo-owned Tadeco with to avoid far greater damages. the Bureau of Corrections.

How much? Let’s just say The 25-year lease with that the space on the check—or the Tagum Agricultural cheque, to use the British spellDevelopment Co. owned by ing—had space for nine figures.

Mr. Duterte’s biggest campaign As the saying goes, if you play contributor—the banana with fire, you’ll get burned.

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mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Gray lady

TO THE POINT EMIL P. JURADO

Still the biggest problem

TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 2017

FORMATION GARY OLIVAR THIS is the affectionate nickname given to the New York Times, the second largest American newspaper (behind the Wall Street Journal), because of its implacably stolid format. Originally founded as a conservative mouthpiece, its politics began moving leftward in the twenties, and the paper has not supported a Republican for the US presidency since Eisenhower in 1956.

The Times’ liberal politics is understandable, and perhaps forgivable, in light of its cosmopolitan residence in New York City, where Manhattan residents tend to believe that the civilized world stops at the banks of the Hudson and East rivers. But even conservatives have long relied on the Times’ reputation as a stickler for the facts, although they might disagree on what the facts mean.

However, a highly visible opinion piece last Friday by “the Editorial Board” of the paper, no less, might upend that reputation. Not surprisingly, the piece was about the Philippines under Duterte, whose unyielding views are about as far from the politics of the Times as the oceans separating their two countries. Perhaps all those distances have managed to addle the minds of those editors in New York, which

would be no mean feat. *** Here’s what the Times first said: “More than 7,000 suspected drug users and dealers, witnesses and bystanders—including children— have been killed by the police or vigilantes…since last July.”

It’s the PNP that keeps getting cited as the original reference for this gross misstatement of facts. But even a cursory look at their statistics will tell you that 7,000+ is their total for ALL “deaths under investigation” over that period. In other words, most of that number is just “business as usual” in our un-pacific country.

The number of deaths described as possibly “drug-related” is actually 2,000+. And that includes internecine warfare, internal rubouts, opportunistic (look-alike) killings, legitimate casualties of police operations, as well as rogue cops and vigilantes—not just alleged State-sanctioned executions, which ought to be the ONLY acceptable description of “EJK” for human rights purposes.

Perhaps the Times might have double-checked their facts, had not the Vice President no less of this country brandished the same fraudulent figure before a UN event in Vienna. She sent her video to the UN on Feb. 5, only less than a week after the DILG received her written inquiry on the matter on Jan. 30, according to the date-stamp. Was she just being impatient? Or were our policemen simply played for patsies, stage props in her little moro-moro?

*** 2. “Last month, Mr. Duterte’s Justice Department ordered Senator Leila de Lima…arrested on spurious charges that she took bribes from drug traffickers. [She]… should be released immediately, and all politically motivated charges against her dropped.”

At least with the Times editors around, we could save a lot of money on courtroom costs. All by their supercilious selves, they’ve dismissed this country’s entire judicial system—the NBI, NBP, Solicitor General, DOJ, you name it—as spurious. From half the world away, without seeing the evidence or hearing the witnesses, they’ve proclaimed the disgraced senator’s innocence ex cathedra.

A tabloid like the New York Post would have done better by Leila’s case. They would have combed through the evidence and trotted out the mugs of all those drug lord witnesses under blaring headlines.

Most of all, they would have probed even deeper and followed the money, asking the most important question of all: How high up did all those drug payoffs go?

In journalism school, the old trope students learn is that reporters should stick to the facts, but editorial writers can be forgiven a bit because, after all, they’re just stating their own opinions. But this begs a more important question: Is journalistic integrity divisible? Can an editor who’s careless about what goes into his opinion pieces be relied

upon to be careful about what his reporters put into their news stories?

3. “Outraged by Mr. Duterte’s behavior,…the European Union has proposed hitting his government where it may hurt the most—by imposing tariffs on Philippine goods.

Other democratic trading partners should do the same.”

Upon this creaky scaffolding of thoroughly impeachable facts peddled by impatient vice-presidents and impudent mutineers, the gray dowager of American journalism has erected a bully pulpit from which she now harangues the entire democratic world to punish the livelihoods of a hundred million Filipinos.

This is a breathtaking display of liberal arrogance at its worst. It is not government that gets hurt by punitive sanctions, it is ordinary citizens on the street. Clearly the Times editors will be deterred neither by the mendacity nor by the human cost of the falsehoods they’ve put into print.

Then again, perhaps they got wind of the latest Pulse Asia survey showing that 82 percent of Metro Manila residents actually feel safer since the anti-drug war began. How dare these people feel that way, after all? They should be cowering in fear in their homes! And if they won’t do that because of Duterte, then maybe a little dose of extra economic hardship will persuade them to properly behave.

Readers can write me at gbolivar1952@yahoo.com.

Hard-sell attack vs Bong Go via David Lim HAIL TO THE CHAIR VICTOR AVECILLA CEBU City road rage suspect David Lim Jr. has surrendered to the local police authorities, and criminal charges have been prepared against him before the appropriate court.

Fortunately, it turned out that nobody was killed. Unfortunately, the alleged victim, a nurse who was shot at, was seriously injured.

Since the corresponding criminal charges have been filed against Lim in court, and since the alleged victim is spared the agony of spending time and money ascertaining the identity of the alleged perpetrator of the violence, both parties can confront each other in court.

Whether or not Lim is guilty and, if so, to what extent he must be held legally accountable for the incident, is up to the court to decide. The court’s decision, of course, will depend on the evidence presented by both the prosecution and the defense. Be it a judgment of acquittal or conviction, the court’s decision should not be based on the passionate and, on many occasions, opinionated remarks some of the news media often dissipate to the public in their coverage of high-profile court cases.

The Lim case is one such highprofile case, considering that he comes from a famous family in the city. For this reason, the coverage of his case will be constantly monitored by the local

Duterte...

From A4 mabilis na aksyon.” Well, as the Kidapawan massacre anniversary draws near, he, like President Aquino, finds himself confronted with the demands of a historically neglected and oppressed group of people: the urban poor.

It must be noted that these housing projects were built for soldiers, policemen, and other government employees. However, Kadamay argues that no one has been displaced since the houses they occupied have long been vacant and therefore derelict due to the refusal of the intended beneficiaries to move in. There are reports that the latter do not like the houses that were built for them.

In my view, the government should, under no circumstances, forcefully remove the occupants from the housing units. A win-win solution that satisfies the demands of both the protestors and the other stakeholders must be found.

Pitting the urban poor against the intended beneficiaries must be avoided.

But, more importantly, the government needs to address the economic and social causes of homelessness and urban poverty.

Of course, some will ask: Why extend maximum tolerance to these “lawbreakers”?

Master...

From A4 could lose his high office in a leadership coup soon. After all, even someone as politically astute a consensus-builder as Jose de Venecia lost the Speakership, once then-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has decided that he was doing more harm than good.

and national news media.

What is unsettling is that even before the criminal cases against Lim were filed in court, an on-line information hub pretending to be a legitimate news site made repeated attempts to link the Lim case with Presidential Assistant Christopher “Bong” Go, the man frequently seen standing beside President Rodrigo Duterte in many public functions, even as early as when Duterte was still campaigning for president last year. Because Go is often seen with Duterte in the news stories reported both in print and in broadcast, it is obvious that Go is very close to the President.

Anyway, the attempt to link Lim with Go arose from news stories stating that Lim sent out “feelers” to the effect that he is willing to surrender to the authorites, and that these “feelers” were sent to the city mayor and other local officials, and to a number of national officials and public personalities including Go. Speculations about the suspected link were further instigated when it was learned through the news media that Go helped in arranging, through the telephone, Lim’s surrender.

The attempt to link the Lim case to Go is unsettling because it insinuates that Lim and perhaps his family have close connections to Go and, ultimately, to President Duterte. It is also disturbing because the notion turned out to be false, because Go only helped his fellow government officials convince a suspect or fugitive avoid creating further complications in an already complicated situation, and to just turn himself over to the authorities and let the

law take its regular course.

Actually, there is no law prohibiting what Go did. In fact, the law requires everyone to cooperate with l aw enforcement authorities.

Subjecting the alleged link between Lim and Go to closer scrutiny indicates that the road rage case in Cebu City is actually a plain and simple news story, bereft of any substantial political color. Simply put, the incident was a traffic altercation which could have been avoided, but which unfortunately ended up violently. Unless it is clearly established that there is, indeed, a link between Lim and Go, and that Lim is using his ties with Go to avoid criminal prosection, the road rage incident in Cebu City must be treated for what it really is—a non-political news story.

The fact that criminal cases have already been lodged against Lim in a court of law discourages speculation that Go has gone out of his way to afford special treatement to Lim. What happened is an instance of political muckracking against a close associate of President Duterte, done in the guise of legitimate news reportage which, fortunately, exposed itself as a hard sell on-line attempt at discrediting the Duterte administration, undertaken possibly with the support of anti-government groups determined to disgrace the president.

Moreover, there have been occasions in the past when the real news story got drowned by marginal and impertinent distractions, masquerading as news stories or public interest revelations.

Take the example of Senator Leila de Lima. When the Depart-

ment of Justice was preparing criminal raps against De Lima for her alleged role in the drug trade in the national penitentiary, and after it was revealed that De Lima’s personal driver was her erstwhile lover, De Lima went on the offensive. In a press conference, De Lima decried the charges against her and insisited that they were politically motivated because she had been a staunch critic of President Duterte. De Lima also revived her accusation that Duterte tacitly supports extrajudicial killings in the country through his anti-drug campaign.

In the end, it turned out that while De Lima was oozing with tirades against Duterte, she had virtually nothing in her publicity arsenal to refute the charges against her.

Leni Robredo, the purported vice president of the country, provides another example. When Robredo was still a member of the Cabinet of President Duterte, she often made side remarks against the president in public functions and events. Robredo also barely concealed from the public her disapproval and contempt for the president. When Robredo was criticized for her behavior, she suggested that she was being subjected to political persecution as the leader of the political opposition party. Robredo also denounced Duterte for his alleged role in the supposed extrajudicial killings attributed by anti-government groups to the president.

Only a few gullible individuals fell for the story about the alleged link between Lim and Go. That’s an indication that propagandists should not take its readers for fools.

The answer is simply that the urban poor are among the most marginalized and neglected in our society.

When I was a member of the UP Paralegals in the University of the Philippines College of Law, we used to say—“Walang squatter sa sariling bayan!” There are of course professional squatters who make occupying other peoples’ property their livelihood, but these are not urban poor.

The demands of Kadamay, which are mainly to recognize the claims of the occupants and to provide free housing for the homeless, stem from the long-standing grievances of the urban poor in the country. In the words of urban specialist Mike Davis: “With land inflation raging even on the distant urban edge, the only choices seemingly left to the poorest Manilenos are either to risk death in the flood-prone metropolis by squatting in the beds of esteros or along the precarious banks of rivers, or to occupy the interstices of wealthier barangays where violent eviction is an imminent threat.” Faced with such choices, it becomes understandable why the urban poor feel compelled to ‘break the law.’

The government must be mindful though that this occupation in Bulacan could result in unjust outcomes for policemen and soldiers who are already under-compensated and overworked. It would be wrong to solve

one injustice by committing another.

Undoubtedly, if the situation deteriorates, then the government and their supporters will argue that the poor were “used” and “tricked” by the Leftists.

After all, this has always been the favored line of attack against marginalized sectors in protest. You can see this rhetoric at work against the campaigns of the Lumads, farmers, or, potentially, in this case, the urban poor. This argument disregards the agency of the urban poor, and their ability to calculate the costs and benefits of civil disobedience.

What then should the Duterte administration do?

First, the government should not, under any circumstances, forcefully remove the occupiers. Instead, they must approach the situation from a social justice perspective. The worst thing to do is to inflict further violence on a historically oppressed and neglected group of people.

Second, the DSWD is doing the right thing in providing assistance and food packs to the occupiers. That is the mandate of the Department and it is good that they are fulfilling it.

Third, both the government and the occupiers must not treat this issue as a zero-sum game. They must be open to a win-win solution that will provide proper and affordable housing to not only the occupiers, but also the policemen and military that likewise have

the same right to adequate and affordable housing. The government has failed to do its duty if it is true that the intended beneficiaries voluntarily rejected these housing projects because they are of poor quality. The men and women who risk their lives everyday for this country deserve better.

Fourth, most importantly, the problem of adequate and affordable housing must be solved. This means a successful peace agreement with the CPP-NPA-NDF and the subsequent ratification of the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms, which, among others things, calls for a “comprehensive nationwide program of mass housing for the working people especially, but not only, for the urban poor and semi-workers.”

In the past few months, the Duterte administration has been accused of, among other things, conducting a War on Drugs that is, in reality, a War on the Poor. The Kadamay situation is an opportunity for Duterte to show the poor, who voted for him in droves, that he is a man of the people.

This President, who promised swift and brave solutions, cannot afford to respond to the rightful demands of the urban poor with legalese and excuses.

The urban poor, treated with contempt by many, deserve no less.

*** I don’t know why the New York Times has decided to go on an all-out war against Duterte, mouthing the exact same lines as his political opponents and even calling, in an editorial, for higher tariffs and other economic sanctions against the Philippines to “hit his government where it may hurt the most.” I wonder why, as the NYT joins the European Union in glorify-

ing Leila de Lima and calling for her immediate release, not one of the foreign entities that have decided to destroy Duterte has even consulted the Filipino people.

Is the Philippines a rogue state like North Korea or a terrorist-occupied one like Syria? Does its government routinely ignore human rights for all its citizens like Saudi Arabia or some states in sub-Saharan Africa?

I don’t know. All I know is, the vast majority of Filipinos actually support Duterte and his government, like the 82 percent who agreed with his anti-drug campaign, as polled by Pulse Asia in a survey released just last Friday.

What gives, NYT? Are you guys so tired of bashing Donald Trump that you have to look for some other country that you have to ruin apart from your own?

Facebook: tonylavs Twitter: tonylavs

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TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

News Cops bust Ecija kidnapping gang

POLYMER HEROES. Artist Jerry Santos works on a large models of real life and comic book heroes at his shop on Lacson Avenue in Manila. Norman Cruz

THE Philippine National Police has neutralized a kidnapping syndicate victimizing Indian nationals.

“I am pleased to announce the neutralization of a kidnapping for ransom syndicate led by an Indian national that victimizes fellow Indians who are doing business in the country,” said PNP chief Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa in a press conference Monday in Camp Crame, Quezon City.

Gurmeet Singh, one of the leaders of the supposed kidnapping syndicate, was arrested in a follow-up operation by the PNP Anti-Kidnapping Group led by Senior Supt. Glenn Dumlao in Lupao, Nueva Ecija.

Singh was identified as the suspect who received the ransom payment from the family of kidnap victim Harvinder Singh who was abducted on March 9 at Barangay Sta. Barbara in Llanera, Nueva Ecija and was freed only last March 25.

During the same press conference, Dela Rosa presented to media the members of kidnapping ring led by the Indian who were all arrested in Nueva Ecija.

“This successful operation was made possible through the cooperation of the victim’s family who immediately reported the kidnapping to the PNP. This goes to show

Korean slams deportation

By Rey E. Requejo

K

OREAN businessman Kang Tae Sik on Monday asked the Court of Appeals to stop the deportation order that Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II issued against him purportedly because the matter was already decided in January 2016.

In a petition, Kang, through his lawyer Redentor Viaje, stressed that the March 7 resolution issued by Aguirre was done with grave abuse of discretion considering the earlier order of his predecessor barring the Bureau of Immigration from deporting the businessman.

Kang asked the CA to quash the warrant of deportation and commitment order against him because the matter was already

reversed in January 2016 by then Justice Secretary Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa.

“The March 7, 2017 resolution of the respondent Secretary of Justice, reversing the final and executed decision of the DoJ, was made without jurisdiction, grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack of jurisdiction and should be declared null and void,” the petition said.

The petitioner said that since

the Caguioa’s order has attained finality, his decision could no longer be disturbed.

Kang said Caguioa’s decision attained finality after the BI did not file any pleading to prevent it from becoming final and executory with then Immigration Commissioner Ronaldo Geron even issuing an order dated Feb. 19, 2016 clearing Kang of any derogatory records.

Kang’s lawyer lamented that Aguirre gravely abused his discretion when he gave due course to the motion for reconsideration of lawyer Alex Tan and made it as a basis in reversing the already final and executory decision of the DoJ. Tan was a former lawyer of Kang and the one who filed the deportation complaint against him.

Viaje said the BI should have

been the proper party to seek a motion for reconsideration and not Tan. The petitioner also took to task Aguirre for his claim during a Senate hearing on the kidnap-slay of Korean businessman Jee Ick Jo, that the case maybe the handywork of the “Korean Mafia” and that Kang should have been deported already because he has been trifling with the country’s laws.

Aguirre identified Kang as such citing an official of the Duterte administration whom he did not identify but the Korean Embassy in a statement vouched for Kang’s integrity saying he had no derogatory records and had nothing to do with Jee’s case.

Viaje said Aguirre’s statement coupled with the recent development of the case showed the need for the CA to stop the deporta-

tion and to declare the March 7 resolution null and void.

“As stated above, the respondent DoJ Secretary, for reason unknown to us, has taken the matter of deporting the petitioner, too personal and at all cost. By announcing in that august chamber and before the rolling cameras of national radio and televisions his relentless desire to deport the petitioner, is an [indisputable] proof that the Honorable Secretary became the prosecutor and the judge of the petitioner.

Thus, unless a TRO or a writ of preliminary injunction be issued, grave irreparable damage and injustice will be suffered by the petitioner,” he added.

Sought for comment, Aguirre defended his move to issue the resolution adding that Kang could be arrested since he is due for deportation.

PCSO reaches 319,091 Pinoys A TOTAL of 319,091 Filipinos nationwide became beneficiaries of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office medical assistance program under the Duterte administration and the figure is still expected to increase this 2017, PCSO general manager Alexander Balutan said.

He said this number shows an increase of 27.7 percent from the number of beneficiaries in 2015, which came up to 249,751.

The agency spent P3.96 billion for documentary stamp taxes, P2.5 billion for jackpot prizes, P700 million for the shares of local government units, P6.44 million for the shares of STL partners, and P1.7 million for calamity funds, to make up a total of 25.61 billion pesos.

He reported the figures during the meeting with PCSO partners at the Berjaya Hotel in Makati City where he also mentioned that medical assistance alone constituted more than 68 percent of PCSO’s total charity spending.

He said the total retail receipts of PCSO from January to December 2016 from its various game products reached to P39.56 billion.

“The revenues came from PCSO’s lotto, KENO, and Sweepstakes [P33.1 billion], and Small Town Lottery [P6.46 billion], Balutan said.

“We hope to increase our fund allocation for hospital assistance for 2017,” Balutan told PCSO partners.

Balutan has vowed to continue to reform and innovate PCSO’s charity games that will benefit more stakeholders.

“Changes that will have more significant impact for our gaming public and health beneficiaries,” he said.

Balutan also noted that the PCSO revenues come from 10,180 partner agents and with a workforce of 1,183 employees in 56 branches nationwide. The agency was also in the process of adding 35 more STL agents nationwide.

Reds demand truce before cop’s release

By Lance Baconguis CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—The National Democratic Front asked the military on Monday to suspend operations over 10 days in at least 74 villages in Bukidnon starting March 27 so it can release a detained policeman.

Police Officer 2 Anthony Natividad, who is assigned to the Kalilangan municipal police in Bukidnon, was on his way to the regional police headquarters for a medical examination when he was taken by New People’s Army rebels in Talakag town.

Cesar Renerio, spokesperson of the NDF in North and Central Mindanao, said they are willing to release Natividad on condition that the army and police order their forces to stand down in the towns of Talakag, Lan-

tapan, Baungon, Pangantucan and Kalilangan and the cities of Malaybalay and Valencia.

Renerio said the NDF through the NPA will declare its own temporary cessation of hostilities once law enforcers will agree to the condition.

The group has assured that Natividad is in good condition as it finds no reason to detain him further.

“After a thorough investigation and background check on his personal life and as a police officer, we found out that he committed no crime against the people and we see no reason to keep him,” Renerio said.

The communist rebels have also asked the local third-party facilitators, the local crisis committee of Bukidnon, as well as army officials and PNP regional and provincial leaderships.

PAMPANGA GATEWAY. The North Luzon Expressway Corp. president Rodrigo Franco (2nd from

left) shakes hands with Angelo Hizon, president of the food processor Pampanga’s Best Inc. after they signed an agreement on the right to name the NLEX San Fernando Interchange. Also at the signing were (left) Pampanga’s Best sales director Angelica Hizon and NLEX Corp. chief financial officer Maria Theresa Wells. Manny Palmero

Online identity theft cases rise

By Joel E. Zurbano MORE people are complaining about fraudsters stealing their profiles and photos online, prompting the authorities to warn the public against cyber identity theft common on social networking sites.

Officials said computer-related criminal acts still get the most number of walk-in complaints received and investigated by the police Anti-Cybercrime Group, which received a total of 197 identity theft complaints from January to March this year.

ACG acting director Marni Marcos Jr. said his office also investigated a total of 555 online scam cases from 2016 up to present which falls under the Article 315 of the Revised Penal Code or swindling (estafa).

“With the increasing number of internet users there is also an increase in the opportunity for cyber criminals to do their illegal online activities,” said Marcos.

Jennifer Comia, a mother of

two and resident of Batangas, said her niece Carnilda Carpio, who is working in Dubai, was also a victim of identity theft when a woman used her profile and photos to lure men seeking for relationships.

“On March 6, my niece was alarmed when she was messaged by a certain Herbert Panganiban Vergara, saying her photos were used by someone else,” she said.

Comia identified the poser as one Loraine Laurente, who was able to convince a man to marry “her niece.”

Twenty-seven-year-old businesswoman Jo Ann Borden also filed a complaint with the National Bureau of Investigation in 2016 after she learned that somebody used her social media profile to victimize product online buyers.

Another victim Shasha Han, a Korean-based Filipino, also complained that someone used her name and photo to victimize her friends on Facebook.

In 2012, call center agent Louella Tan was arrested after she was

caught receiving money from an Australian man whom she tricked through Facebook.

Tan reportedly created a fake account using photographs of Fil-Norwegian commercial model Janka Cederstam. Tan used the alias “Jen Matheson” on the site.

The Australian said he often chatted online with “Matheson” until she became his girlfriend and later asked money from him.

From 2013 to 2015, PNP- ACG recorded a total of 1211 cases that represents the number of cybercrime complaints received and investigated by the group.

The online scam complaints were reported by victims of online buying-selling, investment, pyramid and other forms of computerrelated fraud.

In order to address the increasing number of cybercrime, victims of illegal online activities or targets of suspicious online messages are encouraged to report the incidents to the ACG for proper evaluation and investigation.

how the police can work effectively with the cooperation of the victims,” Dela Rosa said.

The three other members of the syndicate were arrested in separate follow-up operations in Lupao and Rizal towns, also in Nueva Ecija.

They were identified as Jerry Cabading, alias “Tolox,” and Francis Castro alias “Gorilla,” both of Barangay Agupalo Weste in Lupao, Nueva Ecija, and Gregorio Peña, alias “Jun-Jun,” of Barangay Canaan East, Rizal, Nueva Ecija.

Recovered from the suspects were three handguns, a grenade and the P600,000 ransom money.

The recovered ransom will be returned to the victim while the firearms and explosives will form part of material evidence to be presented in court in the criminal case against the suspects.

The PNP-AKG is now conducting pursuit operations against another leader of the group identified as Kikker Singh, who remains at-large.

The syndicate is believed to be involved in eight other KFR cases, mostly involving Indian victims, in Pampanga, Bataan, Nueva Ecija and Metro Manila, including the kidnapping of Rakesh Kumar Sanny Singh in Nueva Ecija last May 2016. PNA

IN BRIEF Prime suspect in rental scam seeks quashal THE suspected architect of the so-called “rent-sangla” scam that victimized on hundreds of car owners in Central and Southern Luzon on Monday denied the criminal charges filed against her before the Department of Justice.

Appearing before the investigating DoJ panel headed by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Rosanne Balauag, Rafaela Anunciacion asked for the dismissal of the complaint for swindling and syndicated estafa under Article 315 of the Revised Penal Code and Presidential Decree 1689.

Anunciacion claimed that the complainants were only forced to file their criminal charges against her by the police through a threat that they would no longer recover their vehicles but when the car owners recovered their vehicles, they withdrew their charges against her.

Another respondent, Anastacia Cauyan also submitted her counter-affidavit and raised the same defense.

The DoJ panel set another hearing on Friday, March 31, for filing of answers of the other respondents—Tychicus Nambia, Sabina Torrea, Eliseo Cortez, Eleanor Constatino, Marilou Cruz, Jhennelyn Berroya, Ana Borlon and Lea Rosales. Rey E. Requejo

Labor group hits DO174 as ‘recycled’ THE labor group Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines on Monday described the new Department of Labor and Employment’s new DO174 as recycled and even broadened employers’ prerogatives to fire and hire workers.

“The new DO174 is nothing new. Regulation is not the same as prohibition. The policy framework has long been one of regulation, which has long been proven to be disadvantageous and ineffective in addressing the abuses and the insecurity of the workers on their livelihood,” Alan Tanjusay, ALU-TUCP spokesperson said.

He said the new DO has nothing new to ensure workers’ security of tenure and in fact broadened employers and labor contractors and cooperatives with greater management prerogatives to fire and hire workers at will, any time regardless of circumstances.

Vito Barcelo

Sports Locals clueless vs visiting Japanese LOCAL teams will be marching clueless when they battle Kobe Shinwa Women’s University in the final round of the Belo Philippine Superliga Invitational Conference starting Thursday at the FilOil Flying V Center in San Juan.

Seasoned coaches Shaq Delos Santos of Petron and George Pascua of Cignal admitted they have not yet scouted the fancied Japanese squad, which will serve as the fourth team in the race to the crown of this prestigious club tourney bankrolled by Asics, Mikasa, Senoh and Mueller with TV5 as official broadcast partner.

Delos Santos said they tried their best to search Shinwa’s past games online for any available video, but their attempts yielded negative results.

On the same note, Pascua said Kobe Shinwa remains shrouded with mystery as he has yet to get any information on how it plays.

“All I know is that it plays Japanese brand of volleyball to perfection,” said Pascua, who called the shots for Petron when it tangled with Japanese powerhouse Hisamitsu Springs in the AVC Asian Women’s Club Championship in Phu Ly, Vietnam in 2015.

“Other than that, we have no idea on how it plays. We tried looking for any available videos online, but we can’t get anything. I guess we’ll just work on the scouting when they arrive here on Tuesday.”

Even a veteran international campaigner in Moro Branislav of Foton admitted that facing Kobe Shinwa would be a major challenge, especially after they lost star spiker Dindin Manabat to a knee injury.

Manabat sustained a grade 2 MCL sprain and a partial ACL tear in their marathon match against Sta. Lucia last week, a development that would sideline her for the rest of the conference.

Foton would be the first to test the mettle of the Japanese followed by Cignal on Friday and Petron on Saturday in the final match of this tourney that also has UCPB Gen as official insurance provider and Gold’s Gym as official fitness partner.

“This is a very big problem for Foton,” said the noted Serbian tactician. “Although I know that this Japanese team from Kobe is very good, I have no idea on how it plays.

Let’s see what will happen. We will do our best to beat them.”

“Jovelyn (Gonzaga), Royse (Tubino) and Rachel (Daquis) were part of the Army team that beat the juniors team of Thailand last year,” said Pascua. “So we will be banking on the experience of our veterans to pull it off. It’s tough, but we will try our very best.”

Homegrown bet bags silver

By Abe Almirol

I

LAGAN CITY—A farmer’s son from Barangay Santa Isabel Norte here got the silver medal in boy’s high jump on the first day of the 12th SEA Youth Games at the City of Ilagan Sports Complex.

Wally Gacusan, a 17-year-old student of Santa Isabel National High School who was chosen to play for the Philippines-llagan City team, did his hometown proud after landing in second place as he tallied 1.81 meters, while compatriot Janmell Francis Gervacio settled for the bronze medal with 1.70 meters.

Vietnam’s Vo Ngoc Long Cao grabbed the gold with a record of 2.0 meters.

“I am happy with my performance, although I could have done better if not for the knee injury I suffered during training four days before this tournament,” said Gacusan in Filipino.

“This is my first international competition. I know the best players are here so I really gave my best,” added Gacusan, the youngest son of a corn farmer in the agricultural barangay of Sta. Isabel Norte here.

With Gacusan’s impressive performance, the Philippines barged into the fourth spot of the medal tally with three silvers and six bronze medals after the early morning action.

Vietnam, which registered two of the four new records, is on top with four gold medals, while Indonesia and Thailand are tied with three mints apiece.

Also making his presence felt in this tourney presented by the City of Ilagan and sponsored by Ayala Corporation with Milo, Philippine Sports Commission and International Amateur Athletics Federation as copresentor and Foton Pilipinas, UCPB Gen and Run Rio as minor sponsors, was Eduard Josh Buenavista, the son of local track legend Eduardo Buenavista.

Mayor Evelyn C. Diaz announced Monday noon that if anyone among the 32 Ila-

gan athletes participating in the 12th SEA Youth and the 2017 National Open would get a medal, she will give P10,000 incentive for gold, P8,000 for silver, and P5,000 for bronze.

The opening ceremonies of the 12th SEA Youth games on Sunday night drew over 5,000 people at the City of Ilagan Sports Complex, while thousands more were seated in bleachers located in other parts of the facility.

The Department of Education has organized cultural presentations performed by dance troupes of selected high schools of Ilagan City. The audience loudly cheered the group who performed the Tinikling folk dance of the Philippines. Traditional dances of eight other participating countries were also presented.

In her speech, DepEd Regional Director Estela Cariño emphasized the role of sports in molding the youth. Cariño proudly acknowledged the DepEd Division of Isabela for having sports as a formal education track.

Mayor Diaz proudly announced to the world Ilagan City’s readiness to be a major sports hub among Asean countries.

Gacusan

“We believe that sports can enrich our lives and help us prepare for the challenges of the future. And as early as your age, our dear athletes, you, the youth must be educated how sports can strengthen our bond as one Southeast Asian Community,” Diaz said in her speech.

La Salle, NU face tough FEU challenge

UNVEILING OF TITLES. Kurt De Guzman, San Beda College assistant athletic moderator; Edmundo Madolato, athletic moderator; Pons Preyster, senior alumnus; Fr. Aloysius Maranan; Mike Rubio, Prefect of Student Athletes; and Jose Mari Lacson, NCAA ManCom representative, are shown during the unveiling of the back-to-back NCAA Double Championships, recognizing contributions of individual athletes motivated by school pride at the school’s victory party at the San Beda Campus, Mendiola. Sonny Espiritu

Tanduay hosts 4th Chairman Kap golf TANDUAY Athletics is set to stage the 4th Chairman Kap, the annual golf invitational in honor of Dr. Lucio C. Tan also known in the industry as ‘El Kapitan’ on April 7 at Wack Wack.

“Under the Chairman’s stewardship, Tanduay has become one of the country’s biggest brands patronized and loved by many Filipinos.

Tanduay’s story is a successfully engineered rebirth of a company once on a verge of a collapse which today, survives as the most pioneer and biggest spirits manufacturer in

the country. This annual fellowship is one way to recognize all the hard work my father has done for the Company. We also recognize that all these would not have been possible without friends and partners who have been with us through the years,” said TDI President Lucio ‘Bong’ Tan, Jr. “At Tanduay, we value friendships and long-lasting partnerships. We will always be grateful that we are in the company of good people. Chairman Kap is the perfect venue to share what we

hope to accomplish with Tanduay Athletics,” he added.

Driven by his unmatched passion for sports, Bong Tan formed Tanduay Athletics to provide opportunities for Filipino athletes to grow and excel in their sport.

Tournament chairman is Gerard Cantada in the System 36 affair that culminates with an awarding ceremony and dinner party.

Giveaways and prizes include Usana products, gift certificates, gadgets and round-trip tickets Tan from PAL.

TITLEHOLDERS National University and De La Salle are trying to hold off traditional power Far Eastern University in their respective divisions as the UAAP chess tournament reaches the final two rounds.

The Bulldogs have a 12-round total of 38 points, three ahead of the Tamaraws, who have 35 points, while the Lady Archers are tied with the Lady Tamaraws in first place with 39.5 points.

With reigning MVP IM Paulo Bersamina and FM Austin Jacob Literatus leading the charge, NU carved out a 3.5-.5 win over Ateneo in Round 12 Sunday at the Henry Sy Sr. Hall inside the De La Salle University campus.

Starring last year’s MVP WIM Bernadette Galas and WFM Marie Antoinette San Diego, the Lady Archers overwhelmed the Lady Bulldogs, 4-0.

The Lady Tamaraws, led by WGM Janelle Mae Frayna and WFM Shania Mae Mendoza, easily beat the Lady Eagles, 4-0.

University of the East is locked in a tight battle with University of Santo Tomas in third place in the men’s division, 28-27.

The Lady Warriors are also ahead in the battle for third spot against the Tigresses in the distaff side, 25-22.5.

PSC Chairman Ramirez graces Benguet boxing

PSA Forum tackles ‘17 Palaro THIS year’s edition of the Palarong Pambansa in Antique serves as the point of discussion in today’s Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at the Golden Phoenix Hotel in Diosdado Macapagal Ave. Sunrise Drive, Pasay City.

To talk about the April 23 to 29 multi-sports event in the weekly session aired live over DZSR Sports Radio 918 are DepEd Assistant Secretary Tonisito Umali and Gov. Rhodora Cadiao.

Other matters to be tackled in the public sports program presented by San Miguel Corp., Golden Phoenix Hotel, Accel, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp are the Under Armour 3x3 basketball tournament and a chess meet organized by the Kasparov Chess Foundation.

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PSC Chairman Butch Ramirez at the boxing matches at the La Trinidad Multi-Purpose Hall in Benguet Province. Flanking him are ABAP secretary-general Ed Picson and La Trinidad Mayor Romeo Salda.

LA TRINIDAD—Philippine Sports Commission Chairman William “Butch” Ramirez graced the boxing matches held as part of the celebration of the 36th Strawberry Festival in this mountain town Sunday.

The event, organized jointly by the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines and the municipal government, led by Mayor Romeo K. Salda, was also the final box-offs for national boxers vying for a slot in the upcoming King’s Cup in Thailand to be held April 3 to 9 in Bangkok.

On the invitation of ABAP Secretary-General Ed Picson, Ramirez witnessed the box-offs as well as exhibition matches among promising local

boxers in the area. There were 11 matches featuring the nationals and 7 local bouts.

“This is a great opportunity not only to see our national boxers but also to take a look at promising boxers.The Commission is committed to helping boxing all over the country. I have been making the rounds of different places in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao specifically to see the grassroots programs of different sports”, Ramirez said in a short talk before a crowded La Trinidad Multi-Purpose Gym. Mayor Salda for his part, said this is just the beginning of a vibrant boxing program that he intends to launch in his area. “I plan to ask the

Global athletes, celebrities join Under Armour’s Test of Will THE Philippine leg of Under Armour’s ‘Test of Will,’ took place last weekend at Glorietta Activity Center in Makati City, with Filipino-American Bellator fighter AJ Matthews, Alliance Gym’s top coach George Castro, UAAP football player Kali Huff, volleyball player and TV Host Gretchen Ho, actor JC de Vera, MMA fighter Mark Streigl, fitness expert Elle Adda, three-time world Jiu-jitsu champion Meggie Ochoa and Olympic silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz joining.

Participants witnessed MMA fighters AJ Matthews and Mark Striegl slug it out

in the 4-minute challenge ‘Test of Will.’

Striegl won over Matthews, 119 to 101, in terms of total repetitions.

UA’s ‘Test of Will,’ now on its second year, is designed as “the most advanced urban fitness challenge,” and held last March 25 and 26 at Glorietta Makati City.

It offers athletes the chance to compete in a simple 4-minute circuit consisting of Burpees, One Arm Thruster, TRX Rows and Sandbag Throw.

It offers athletes the chance to compete in a simple 4-minute circuit consisting of

Burpees, One Arm Thruster, TRX Rows and Sandbag Throw.

The side-events also included arm wrestling challenge and a fitness session with Elle Adda.

Each competitor was scored based on the maximum number of repetitions they can achieve within 60 seconds. The highest scoring man and woman of the national Heats from each respective country will be sent to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on May 6, 2017, to face-off with other representatives from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand,

Indonesia and Brunei.

This year’s overall champion of the regional finals will walk away with S$2,500 cash prize, or around Php 88,000.00, winners will also get free head-to-toe gear and special discounts.

For more information regarding ‘Test of Will’ and other events, you may visit www. tripleready.com/events. Make sure to follow Under Armour Philippines via @underarmourph on Instagram and Twitter for updates as well as Facebook at www. facebook.com/underarmoursea.

Sanggunian to pass an ordinance that would energize boxing in La Trinidad.”

Salda also pledged to make the boxing exhibitions with national boxers a regular component of their more than a month long celebration of the Strawberry Festival. La Trinidad is known as the “Strawberry Fields of the Philippines”.

Among the national boxers who showed their wares were 2016 World Youth bronze medalist Carlo Paalam, 2015 SEA Games gold medalists Ian Clark Bautista, Mario Fernandez and Eumir Felix Marcial, China Open gold medalist James Palicte and SEA Games silver medalist Irish Magno.

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

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TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 2017

Azkals chase berth in AFC

By Peter Atencio GETTING over a heartbreaking loss back in 2014 will be the mission of the Philippine Azkals national men’s football team.

And it all starts tonight when they meet Nepal at the start of the third qualifying round of the 2019 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup football tournament.

But, this time, the Azkals are expected to be stronger and better even if they show up with replacements playing for them when they face the Gorkhalis in their 8 p.m. showdown at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.

“This is a big opportunity to make the first step [qualify],” said Azkals coach Thomas Dooley during a presentation yesterday at the Sheraton Hotel.

In 2014, the Azkals almost qualified to the Asian Cup when they made it to the finals of the AFC Challenge Cup in Maldives.

But, a 0-1 loss in the finals to Palestine denied the Azkals their golden opportunity. ìWe are presented with another great opportunity where we have a great chance,î said team skipper Phil Younghusband.

It won’t matter if the Azkals will be without retired goalie Roland Muller.

It won’t also be a big deal if striker Misagh Bahadoran is out with a knee injury along with midfielder Kevin Ingresso, who hurt his knee during practice on Monday.

Dooley is bringing in James Younghusband, a known scorer, into the game, along with Antonio Ugarte from Kaya FC. Another player will come in if needed and Dooley said he will decide during their practice.

The Philippines and Nepal are in Group F with with Tajikistan and Yemen.

The top two teams in their series of home and away games will make it to the tournament proper.

After regular skipper Anil Gurung was axed from the squad three weeks ago, veteran player Biraj Maharjan will now lead the team.

New coach Koji Gyotoku said the Gorkhalis will do their best, and it will be their toughest assignment yet since the Philippines ranks higher than them.

Boston Celtics forward Jae Crowder (99) protects the basketball against the Miami Heat on March 26 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. AFP

Celtics catch up to Cavs with victory over Heat

L

OS ANGELES – The Boston Celtics held off the Miami Heat 112-108 on Sunday to pull into a virtual tie atop the NBA’s Eastern Conference with the reigning champion Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Celtics’ fourth straight victory gave them one more win than the Cavs— who fell to the Washington Wizards on Saturday. But they also have one more defeat, leaving them technically just a few percentage points behind Cleveland.

Knowing plenty can happen with just over two weeks left in the regular season, the Celtics weren’t getting too excited.

“I mean, it’s nice. It’s just a tie though.

So it’s not that cool,” said Isaiah Thomas, who led the Celtics with 30 points.

“We hear it, but that wasn’t our focus tonight,” said Boston’s Jae Crowder, who scored a season-high 25 points and grabbed six rebounds. “Our focus was to come in, get another game, keep that momentum going before we start the playoffs.”

Russell Westbrook’s 36th triple-double of the season to silence the Oklahoma City Thunder 137-125.

The contest featured two top MVP candidates in Westbrook and Houston’s James Harden.

Westbrook, who scored 39 points with The Celtics have a day off on Monday, 11 rebounds and 13 assists, is within sight when Cleveland face the dangerous San of legendary Oscar Robertson’s 41 tripleAntonio Spurs. The Celtics and Cavaliers doubles of the 1961-62 season. will meet one more time in the regular But the Rockets’ superior depth was on season, on April 5 in Boston. display. Harden delivered 22 points with The defeat, and the Chicago Bulls’ 109- 12 assists, engineering an outstanding 94 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks, offensive effort by the Rockets that inleft Miami just a half-game ahead of Chi- cluded 31 points from Lou Williams and cago for the eighth and final playoff spot 24 apiece from Trevor Ariza and Eric in the East.

Gordon.

The Bucks are in a three-way tie for Houston made 63.3 percent of their fifth place in the East with the Atlanta shots and 20 three-pointers and are third Hawks and Indiana Pacers. in the West compared to the Thunder’s The Pacers snapped a two-game los- sixth place. ing streak with a 107-94 victory over “It’s important to have depth, and the the Philadelphia 76ers, while the reeling fact that we have so many versatile guys Hawks endured a seventh straight defeat or guys that can put the ball in the basket, —107-92 to the Brooklyn Nets. that’s a big, big key,” Ariza said.

In Houston, the Rockets withstood Meanwhile, the Golden State Warriors

won their seventh straight, pulling away in the fourth quarter for a 106-94 home win over the Memphis Grizzlies.

The Warriors took their record to 59-14 and pushed their lead over San Antonio atop the West to 2 1/2 games.

The Warriors led 83-81 going into the final period. Stephen Curry contributed two three-pointers to a 14-5 fourth-quarter run that saw the Warriors pull away.

Klay Thompson led the Warriors with a game-high 31 points. Curry added 21 and Andre Iguodala connected on seven of eight shots from the floor en route to 20 points.

The Utah Jazz didn’t play Sunday, but they clinched their first playoff berth since 2012 when the New Orleans Pelicans defeated the Denver Nuggets 115-90.

Anthony Davis led the Pelicans with 31 points and 15 rebounds. Jrue Holiday and Jordan Crawford scored 13 points apiece for New Orleans, who are now four games behind Denver for the eighth and final spot in the West. AFP

Veteran Iniong battles Hills CONSIDERED as one of the best female Filipino fighters that the local Philippine mixed martial arts (MMA) scene has ever produced, Gina “Conviction” Iniong has finally found her way to ONE Championship.

Iniong will make her much-awaited ONE Championship debut at Kings of Destiny at the Mall of Asia Arena on April 21 when she squares off against Filipino-English stalwart Natalie Gonzales Hills in a three-round atomweight contest.

The 27-year-old Baguio City native is a member of the renowned Team Lakay and has a professional MMA record of 4-2. Three of her four career victories have come by thrilling finish, which includes two impressive submissions.

Team Lakay’s 5-foot-2

LEADING LEGEND.

Rafael Nadal of Spain makes a backhand return against Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany at Crandon Park Tennis Center.

Nadal, the top star remaining in the competition, defeated Kohlschreiber to advance to the fourth round of the Miami Open.

AFP

atomweight standout also owns notable victories over the likes of French fighter Nathalie Heidel and Japanese veteran Mei Yamaguchi.

In her last bout under a regional MMA promotion in January 2016, Iniong submitted Spanish combatant Vanessa Rico Fernandez with a heel lock in the first round. Iniong sets her sights on establishing a lasting impression as she shares the cage with Hills.

“I am grateful for the opportunity that has been given to me by this well-respected MMA promotion. ONE Championship is the premier MMA organization in Asia. With my debut taking place this April, it’s a chance to show the world what I am capable of doing inside the cage,” she said.

“I’m not going to waste

this wonderful opportunity.

I am here to give every Filipino MMA fan who is going to watch the event live a night to remember,” Iniong added.

Iniong admitted that she feels the pressure, but Mark Sangiao’s talented female ward stressed that she thrives on it as it brings out the best in her.

“There will always be pressure, but it is about channeling it in a right way. Being nervous before a fight can be good in a certain way. I thrive on it because it motivates me to overcome it by doing my best,” she stated.

As a fierce cage competitor with the ability to finish opponents in a variety of methods, Iniong seeks a statement-making victory in her first assignment as a ONE Championship athlete.

Barroca named Player of the Week STAR Hotshots guard Mark Barroca displayed leadership and veteran smarts to gain the AccelPBA Press Corps Player of the Week nod after leading the Hotshots to a 2-0 start in the 2017 Commissioner’s Cup. The 5-10 Barroca beat Star teammate Peter June Simon, Meralco Bolts young guard Baser Amer and Jared Dillinger, Rain or Shine Elasto Painters sophomore point guard Maverick Ahanmishi, Mahindra Floodbuster’s Ryan Arana, Alaska Aces rookie forward Carl Cruz and TNT Ka Tropa’s Jayson Castro for the weekly citation for the period of March 20-26.

Stepping up in place of combo

guard Paul Lee, who is playing through a knee injury, Barroca came off the bench to provide the much needed spark, firing 17 points and adding two steals in 23 minutes as Star debuted this conference with a 101-82 rout of Phoenix last Wednesday.

Three days later, Barroca churned out an all-around effort of eight points, five rebounds, the same number of assists and two steals, while helping Star contain two-time PBA Scoring champion Terrence Romeo. The Hotshots registered a runaway 103-77 demolition of GlobalPort.

The Hotshots join the Meralco Bolts (3-0), defending champion Rain or Shine (3-0) and Alaska

Aces (2-0) as the unbeaten squads this conference. San Miguel Beer and Barangay Ginebra are the two remaining teams that have yet to see action this conference after figuring in the best-of-seven championship series in the Philippine Cup last month.

Barroca, the 2014 Philippine Cup Finals MVP, is expected to play a bigger role for a Star side that is looking to make a fitting followup to its semifinal appearance in the Philippine Cup where it eventually lost to Barangay Ginebra in seven games.

Star has several days to prepare, before returning to action against Star Hotshots star player Mark Barroca (left) guards GlobalPort winless NLEX this Friday at the Batang Pier scorer Terrence Romeo. Barroca led the Hotshots Smart Araneta Coliseum. past the Batang Pier to win Player of the Week honors.

San Beda launches camp LIMITED slot are still available as the San Beda basketball camps kick off their 12th season this summer.

The hoop camps will start again on April 3, Monday, with clinics for boys and girls at the San Beda Taytay campus, and on April 4, Tuesday at the San Beda Mendiola campus.

Interested parties may contact Oliver Quiambao at 735-6011, local 2104, or at 0929-1971071, and through program head, coach Edmundo “Ato” Badolato, at 09088624543.

The camp, supported by Gatorade and Molten Balls is open for children aged five years old and above, and is open for both students and outsiders.

Coaches from San Beda will handle the camp, and will be joined by other prominent coaches from other schools as well.

Registration is now open for classes in the San Beda Mendiola campus, which will be held every Tuesday and Friday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m, and at the San Beda Taytay campus every Tuesday and Friday.

Fees for the camp is set at P4,000. Those who enroll for both the April and May sessions will pay only P7,000, and this will include a jersey and a ball.

The camp will also teach the children important values such as hard work, discipline and respect for authority as well as other players. Peter Atencio

20 power plants to shut down B3

Business

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor business@thestandard.com.ph extrastory2000@gmail.com TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 2017

B1

Smart also reduces call rate to P1 IN BRIEF

Shakey’s net profit hit P760m in 2016

SHAKEY’S Pizza Asia Ventures Inc., the country’s leading chain of full-service restaurants, said Monday it booked a recurring net income of P670 million in 2016, up 40 percent from a year ago, led by stronger sales and expanded store network.

Shakey’s said including a onetime, non-recurring income of P90.3 million due to change in ownership and corporate restructuring implemented in the second half of 2016, net income stood at P760 million.

Shakey’s said in a disclosure to the stock exchange system-wide sales rose 14.3 percent to P7.34 billion, driven by same-store sales growth of 3.9 percent and increased contribution of new stores.

The company opened 17 outlets to end 2016 with a network of 184 stores.

Recurring revenues, including those from an in-house commissary, also grew 14.7 percent to P6.01 billion.

“Our industry leading performance is anchored on the superior value offering of Shakey’s, its strong management team, and a brand legacy that we have built over a 40 year history here,” Shakey’s president Vicente Gregorio said.

Shakey’s plans to open 20 new stores including its first ever overseas branch in Kuwait this year. It hopes to end 2017 with 204 stores.

Jenniffer B. Austria

By Darwin G. Amojelar

S

MART Communications Inc. on Monday announced a P1-per-minute call promo to all networks, signaling a price war after rival Globe Telecom Inc. initiated the move.

Smart Express Call 50 offers calls to any network for P1 per minute, or 50 minutes of all-net calls valid for three days. The P1 per minute all-net call rates are available for Smart postpaid subscribers who may enjoy the rates on top of their existing plan, the company said.

TNT and Sun will roll out similar offers, allowing users to

conveniently boost their existing TNT and Sun promos with 5 minutes of all-net calls for P5.

Globe earlier announced P1per-minute calls to all networks.

Globe and Smart P1-per-minute call rate was a result of reduced voice interconnect access charges across telecommunications companies.

Globe and PLDT Inc. signed

in November 2016 an agreement to reduce interconnection rate for voice calls between the two operators to P2.50 per minute from P4 per minute for mobile to mobile and landline to mobile voice calls.

Access charges for mobile to landline voice calls cost P3 per minute.

At present, calls between Smart and Globe cost P7.50 a minute.

Smart earlier said it was accelerating network improvement this year and expanding its 4G long term evolution coverage to include a total of 785 municipalities by the end of 2017, in line with its commitment to the National Telecommunications Commission.

Meanwhile, Globe Telecom on

Monday blamed home owner associations for poor mobile signal and internet services in their respective villages.

Globe said the adamant refusal of HOAs and even barangays to allow telecom facilities in the form of cell sites, outdoor distributed antenna system and fiber optic cables continued to deprive residents of much needed connectivity and reliable mobile services.

The company said aside from having to deal with villages that rejected cell site proposals, it was also having permitting difficulties in establishing right-of-way in subdivisions relating to the deployment of broadband fiber optics in line with its initiative to

PSE COMPOSITE INDEX Closing March 27, 2017

8000 7600 7200 6800 6400 6000

7,245.97 23.65

PESO-DOLLAR RATE

Closing MARCH 27, 2017

M. Water to finish sewerage by 2037

EAST-ZONE concessionaire Manila Water Company Inc. said it expects to achieve full sewer and sanitation coverage in its concession area by 2037.

Manila Water said as of 2016, the company installed 133,327 sewer connections in its concession area.

Last year alone, it installed 9,598 new sewer connections, benefitting more than 10,000 households. The company was also able to clean 246 kilometers of sewer pipes.

Manila Water said a new sewage treatment was also being constructed to further improve the company’s used water services. Currently being constructed is the Ilugin sewage treatment plant in Barangay Pinagbuhatan, Pasig City.

This is in addition to the Taguig North sewage treatment plant and the Marikina North sewage treatment Plant which were recently inaugurated.

“All three STPs have a combined capacity of treating up to 275 million liters per day of used water, which is targeted to benefit a total of 1.6 million population,” Manila Water said.

Anna Leah E. Gonzales

Inflation likely hit up to 3.8% in March

By Julito G. Rada BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said Monday inflation in March likely quickened to as high as 3.8 percent from 3.3 percent in February, led by higher power rates and weaker peso.

“The BSP forecast suggests that March inflation could settle within the 3 to 3.8 percent range,” Tetangco said in a statement.

He said the higher power rates in Manila Electric Co.-serviced areas following the Malampaya maintenance shutdown in February along with the weaker peso “could be partially offset by the decline in fuel and food prices this month.”

The government is scheduled to release the March inflation data next week.

Power distributor Meralco announced a P0.66-per-kilowatt-hour increase for a typical residential household in March, bringing the overall rate to P9.67 per kWh. This translated into a P132 increase in the total bill of a typical residential household consuming 200 kWh. The rate increase in March was mostly due to the upward movement in the generation charge, caused mainly by the 20-day Malampaya maintenance shutdown which took place on Jan. 28 to Feb. 16 this year.

improve the state of wireline internet in the country.

Globe chief information and technology officer Gil Genio said the company was experiencing permitting issues for right-ofway and cell site deployment in Corinthian Gardens, Dasmariñas Village, Magallanes, Las Vista, Greenhills North, Corinthian Hills, Alpha Village, Pentagon Village, Capitol Hills Golf Subdivision, Xavierville 1, Loyola Grand Villas, Montgomery Place, Valle Verde 3, Valle Verde 4, Ayala Heights, Capitol Homes, Vista Real 1 & 2, UP Campus, Don Antonio Royale Estate Subdivision, Woodside Homes and Rolling Hills Subdivision.

45.00 46.50 48.00 49.50

P50.120 CLOSE

51.00

HIGH P50.110 LOW P50.250 AVERAGE P50.177 VOLUME 497.200M

P496.00-P756.00 LPG/11-kg tank

THRIFT BANKS FORUM. The Chamber of Thrift Banks holds its annual convention with the theme “Maximizing Opportunities in

Countryside Development.” Sterling Bank of Asia president and chief executive Cecilio Paul San Pedro (center) served as this year’s convention chairman. With San Pedro during the opening ceremony are (from left) CTB immediate past president and RCBC Savings Bank president Rommel Latinazo, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas deputy governor Nestor Espenilla Jr., CTB executive director Suzanne Felix and CTB president Gregorio Anonas III.

QC backs MetroPac’s waste-to-energy project

By Jenniffer B. Austria THE Quezon City government granted an original proponent status to the consortium of Metro Pacific Investments Corp., Covanta Energy Llc and Macquarie Group Ltd. for a proposed P15billion waste-to-energy project.

Metro Pacific said in a disclosure to the stock exchange the unsolicited project would involve the construction of an integrated solid waste management facility capable of processing and converting up to 3,000 metric tons per day of Quezon City’s municipal solid waste into 42 megawatts of renewable energy.

This will be enough to pow-

er 60,000 to 90,000 homes.

The project will be undertaken through a joint venture between the LGU of Quezon City and the consortium.

Metro Pacific said as the original proponent of the project, the consortium would have the exclusive rights to enter into detailed negotiations with the QC LGU. Upon successful completion of negotiations, the project will be subjected to a competitive challenge consistent with government regulations.

“The volume of solid waste as a result of economic growth and urbanization has become a challenge for local governments to ensure effective and sustain-

able management of waste,” said Metro Pacific president and chief executive Jose Ma. Lim. “An integrated solid waste management facility is a sustainable approach to society’s use of resources to reduce the amount of waste that must be placed in landfills for disposal while being environmentally responsive,” Lim said.

Once the consortium is awarded the project, the development and construction would take three to four years.

The project will be funded through a combination of debt and equity.

The city government said the project would provide an environmental, sustainable, long-

term, world-class waste management solution to eliminate the need for landfilling and will provide QC with other important fiscal and socio-economic benefits.

Metro Pacific said it was pursuing waste-to-energy projects in the country to address issues on solid waste management and increased demand for electricity.

The infrastructure conglomerate earlier said it was looking at creating a portfolio of waste-toenergy facilities with a generating capacity of 300 MW in the coming years.

Metro Pacific currently has investments in hospitals, power generation, tollroads, logistics and water utility.

P39.40-P48.09 Unleaded Gasoline P28.05-P33.95 Diesel

OPRICES IL TODAY

P32.85-P41.15 Kerosene P20.75-P21.75 Auto LPG Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Monday, March 27, 2017

F OREIGN E XCHANGE R ATE Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

50.3500

Japan

Yen

0.009019

0.4541

UK

Pound

1.249400

62.9073

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.128760

6.4831

Switzerland

Franc

1.011839

50.9461

Canada

Dollar

0.748783

37.7012

Singapore

Dollar

0.715564

36.0286

Australia

Dollar

0.763000

38.4171

Bahrain

Dinar

2.652520

133.5544

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266660

13.4263

Brunei

Dollar

0.713012

35.9002

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000075

0.0038

Thailand

Baht

0.028909

1.4556

UAE

Dirham

0.272301

13.7104

Euro

Euro

1.084300

54.5945

Korea

Won

0.000896

0.0451

China

Yuan

0.145243

7.3130

India

Rupee

0.015291

0.7699

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.226091

11.3837

New Zealand

Dollar

0.703000

35.3961

Taiwan

Dollar

0.032934

1.6582 Source: PDS Bridge

GDP seen registering slower growth in Q1 ECONOMIC growth in the first quarter will likely slow to a range of 6 percent to 6.2 percent, on moderate fiscal spending, sluggish manufacturing and faster inflation, a foreign bank said Monday.

“The government expects first-quarter growth of between 6.5 percent and 7 percent. We are less optimistic. We expect first-quarter growth of around 6 percent to 6.2 percent,” ING Bank Manila senior economist Joey Cuyegkeng said in a report.

Cuyegkeng said government spending slowed in January.

Latest data from the Bureau of Treasury showed that the national government posted a P2.2-billion fiscal surplus in January 2017, a reversal of the P3.5-billion deficit a year ago, as revenue collections grew faster than expenditures.

“The more moderate government spending growth, together with higher unemployment,

slower manufacturing indices and higher inflation are likely to weigh on overall economic activities in the first quarter,” he said.

Unemployment rate increased to 6.6 percent in January 2017 from last year’s 5.7 percent.

While higher than the previous year, it was lower than the average of 7.4 percent recorded from 2006 to 2015.

The National Economic and Development Authority said the increase in unemployment rate was partly due to the temporary electionrelated jobs. This was also observed in January 2011, a year that followed the 2010 elections.

The growth of manufacturing in January decelerated to 9.3 percent from the 35.8-percent expansion a year ago, despite the increased production of basic metals, transport equipment, petroleum products and food manufactures for the month.

Julito G. Rada

BEST EMPLOYER. Accenture is recognized as the Best Employer of the Year in the Philippines at the recent International Information and Communications Technology Awards Philippines 2017. Accenture HR service delivery associate director Uzzal Mudoi (second from right) receives the plaque in recognition of Accenture’s human approach in attracting, developing, engaging, retaining and inspiring the top Filipino talent. With him are (from left) Accenture corporate marketing lead Nerissa Cordova, marketing and communications director Louise Sabariaga, operations HR managing director Jacob Dalevi, Miss World Philippines 2016 Catriona Gray and Globe Telecom senior advisor for enterprise Mike Frausing.

B2

Business

TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 2017 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Market falls; PLDT tops gainers Emperador’s profit S climbs 11% to P7.7b tocks fell Monday, as markets across the region slid following a US lead after the defeat of the bill to repeal and replace Obamacare on Friday.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, shed 23 points, or 0.3 percent, to close at 7,245.97, as three of the six sectoral indices—holding firms, industrial and financials—ended in the red.

The heavier index, representing all shares, also tumbled 6 points, or 0.2 percent, to settle at 4,370.00, on a value turnover of P7.8 billion. Losers outnumbered gainers, 90 to 81, while 51 issues were unchanged.

Eight of the 20 most active stocks ended in the green, led by

PLDT Inc. which climbed 3.1 percent to P1,619.00 and SM Prime Holdings Inc. which rose 1.8 percent to P28.50. Conglomerate LT Group Inc. of tycoon Lucio Tan gained 1.4 percent to P15.64.

Meanwhile, most Asian markets fell Monday and the dollar struggled on fears the collapse of Donald Trump’s repeal of Obamacare could mean he will struggle to push through his promised tax-cut and infrastructure spending policies.

In a severe early blow to the new administration, the healthcare reform was pulled Friday as it failed

to garner enough support among Trump’s Republican party, who have a majority in both houses of Congress.

While the tycoon said he would now move on to tax reform, the failure of the bill -- which was seen as a litmus test for his ability to push through his economy-boosting agenda—there is concern about future policies.

Global markets had surged since November on hopes the president’s pledges to overhaul the tax code, ramp up spending and deregulate markets would fire the already healthy economy.

“This was the first major attempt by the administration to reform the government and its miserable failure exposes the limits of President Trump,” Rodrigo Catril, a currency strategist at National Australia Bank in Sydney, told Bloomberg News Tokyo’s Nikkei index led losers,

shedding 1.4 percent as the dollar retreated against the yen, while Toshiba lost 2.1 percent on a report its troubled US nuclear unit is likely to start bankruptcy proceedings this week.

Sydney slipped 0.1 percent and Seoul gave up 0.6 percent. Singapore was 0.5 percent lower.

Hong Kong slipped 0.7 percent in the afternoon and Shanghai closed 0.1 percent off.

Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at AxiTrader, noted: “If healthcare was complex then so too will the tax be with the many moving parts and competing interests.”

On currency markets the greenback fell against its major peers and most high-yielding units, with the South Korean won up 0.9 percent, Malaysia’s ringgit 0.3 percent higher and the Indonesian rupiah up 0.2 percent. With Bloomberg, AFP

By Jenniffer B. Austria EMPERADOR Inc., the liquor unit of tycoon Andrew Tan, said net income climbed 11 percent in 2016 to P7.7 billion from P7 billion in 2015 despite a drop in revenues, as the company achieved higher margins brought about by cost efficiency measures.

Emperador said in a disclosure to the stock exchange revenues reached P41 billion last year. It did not provide comparative figure for 2015, but previous announcement pegged the 2015 revenues at P43.6 billion.

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS DAILY STOCKS REVIEW MONDAY, MARCH 27, 2017

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

FINANCIALS 3.39 8,000 48.8 7,500 99.7 1,064,220 120 1,857,380 1.15 63,000 41 684,700 16 1,000 19.92 318,900 1.61 19,000 800 590 0.66 4,580,000 75.05 17,612,350 0.7 532,000 14.72 17,900 25.2 14,100 55.75 54,580 244.2 2,280 123 320 87.85 30 38.95 221,100 201 851,810 1,715 90 79.65 36,640

26,370 366,000 106,089,203 222,752,507 77,980 28,037,450 16,010 6,354,368 31,640 472,000 3,030,390 1,322,885,913.50 376,760 263,132 356,010 3,051,406 556,144 36,880 2,635.50 8,612,775 171,176,589 154,350 2,916,175.50

336,720 6,236,271 -34,593,743 6,200 7,806,350 -2,389,852 -432,000 -205,726,492 -2,772,734 -93,350 87,952,081 -245,134

41.4 5.13 0.81 1.35 18.06 0.247 7.4 16.78 166.8 23.1 14.48 61 92 95.65 1.99 5.73 12.16 12.68 7.73 6.05 5.97 22 71.4 12.2 15.36 6.88 1.5 182.1 73.05 4.96 3.86 30.3 26.15 15.76 276.2 0.249 6.41 3.72 8.96 3.7 11.48 2.23 7.7 1.9 73.55 279 4.92 2.79 13.3 4.36 0.142 1.4 160 1.48 1

INDUSTRIAL 41.55 1,213,500 5.24 1,021,700 0.81 203,000 1.36 24,000 19.16 2,800 0.25 2,080,000 7.45 10,166,600 16.92 1,426,700 166.8 100 23.5 159,900 14.9 2,100 61 300 92.95 190 95.65 20 2 1,883,000 5.9 155,000 12.2 7,600 12.74 4,433,400 7.73 124,200 6.1 1,930,100 6 9,602,200 22.2 1,533,200 71.5 138,510 12.2 15,800 15.36 74,800 7.04 2,144,500 1.55 56,000 182.1 1,914,760 73.05 90 5.05 760,000 3.93 14,000 30.7 1,178,700 26.25 344,600 15.8 1,382,500 276.4 167,430 0.25 36,120,000 6.41 102,100 3.76 592,000 9 1,091,300 3.7 1,000 11.48 11,900 2.23 1,227,000 7.99 2,753,400 1.9 673,000 74.1 2,029,070 280 9,340 4.94 56,000 2.88 4,000 13.32 2,272,000 4.36 100,000 0.142 270,000 1.41 39,000 162.9 846,360 1.5 1,116,000 1 89,000

50,607,200 5,353,126 164,440 32,530 53,124 521,810 76,185,443 24,134,614 16,690 3,739,475 30,450 18,640 17,603.50 1,913 3,806,790 889,000 93,340 56,326,056 971,662 11,754,695 57,599,326 34,042,140 9,950,040 192,920 1,155,336 15,022,748 85,690 351,892,527 6,574.50 3,863,600 54,840 36,157,195 9,047,570 21,846,756 46,335,608 9,068,530 666,854 2,226,560 9,810,704 3,700 136,612 2,736,690 21,906,126 1,291,180 150,022,801.50 2,608,866 276,340 11,340 30,516,838 436,000 38,540 55,180 137,366,912 1,670,590 89,000

-28,404,785 597,401 31,334,682 6,609,002 -21,150 7,320 1,247,700.00 -27,052,938 -675,464 -6,254,164 38,824,550 -12,674,970 416,814 -595,080 4,051,126 -154,303,946 243,160 24,930,815 -7,370,710 1,218,530 6,052,370 -3,161,400 749,410 2,493,278 2,254,140 1,657,345 2,862,977.50 -22,284 -3,956,056 1,460 12,060,637 -300,000 -

0.38 75.75 13 1.11 6.06 0.315 837 8.84 11.6 8.02 1,193 6.4 82.45 1.04 7.98 15.8 6.1 3.8 0.054 104 2.83 665 1.4 273.6 0.29 0.194 0.255

0.37 75 12.84 1.11 6.02 0.31 818 8.7 11.5 7.9 1,171 6.2 80 1.01 7.9 15.22 5.98 3.6 0.052 102.2 2.75 653 1.39 272 0.29 0.186 0.25

HOLDING FIRMS 0.375 200,000 75.15 363,170 12.86 3,718,600 1.11 10,000 6.05 81,000 0.315 860,000 825.5 495,510 8.79 70,900 11.5 12,650,300 8 15,300 1,182 119,535 6.39 59,900 81 760,370 1.02 2,434,000 7.96 1,251,000 15.64 6,258,200 6.02 77,985,500 3.7 17,000 0.053 41,850,000 103 460,380 2.8 160,000 659 143,120 1.4 719,000 272 5,160 0.29 220,000 0.186 290,000 0.25 50,000

74,600 27,294,885.50 47,859,516 11,100 488,580 267,650 409,373,765 622,630 145,627,336 121,371 141,400,875 371,652 61,708,735 2,489,490 9,956,878 97,901,038 469,297,799 63,080 2,218,060 47,413,204 446,170 94,374,870 1,003,700 1,405,536 63,800 54,180 12,550

8,628,984 1,389,688 -46,101,910 313,813 -75,359,486 -1,710,730 284,580 -9,748,909.50 589,298 38,281,862 -139,843,267 8,560 -36,016,919 -84,900 10,459,970 -457,414.00 1,940 7,550

6.8 0.98 2.38 1.29 34.8 3.82 5.05 0.5 1.32 0.16 0.55 55.5 0.178 1.69 0.97 1.25 3.51 0.23

6.76 0.92 2.32 1.23 33.9 3.79 5.05 0.49 1.2 0.16 0.52 54.3 0.165 1.66 0.96 1.18 3.45 0.212

2,061,915 1,933,920 236,200 15,357,340 968,170,025 10,858,050 10,100 1,426,600 80,960 553,600 1,787,230 27,187,187 107,330 10,175,650 2,752,190 66,920 35,454,730 34,108,950

-1,246,091 276,370 -196,030,480 7,131,340 0 324,800 1,198,687.50 5,150 -8,883,400 -17,449,960 31,080

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

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

3.2 48.8 99.75 120.5 1.15 40.7 16.04 20 1.65 800 0.66 77.05 0.71 14.6 25.5 56.1 243 115 87.85 39.3 201 1,715 79.55

3.4 48.8 99.95 121.2 1.26 41.3 16.04 20 1.7 800 0.68 77.1 0.71 14.72 25.5 56.1 244.2 123 87.85 39.3 201.2 1,715 79.65

3.2 48.8 99 119.6 1.15 40.7 16 19.9 1.61 800 0.65 74.55 0.7 14.6 25.2 55.75 243 115 87.85 38.9 199 1,715 79.5

ABOITIZ POWER AGRINURTURE ALLIANCE SELECT ALSONS CONS ASIABEST GROUP BASIC ENERGY CEMEX HLDG CENTURY FOOD CHEMPHIL CIRTEK HLDG CNTRL AZUCARERA CONCEPCION CONCRETE A CONCRETE B 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 MABUHAY VINYL 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 PUREFOODS RFM CORP ROXAS HLDG SHAKEYS PIZZA SPC POWER SWIFT FOODS TKC METALS UNIV ROBINA VITARICH VULCAN INDL

42.3 5.29 0.81 1.35 18.06 0.255 7.52 16.82 167 23.35 14.48 63 92 95.65 1.99 5.73 12.38 12.68 7.85 6.15 6.02 22.4 72.75 12.3 15.5 6.88 1.53 189 73.05 5.09 3.87 30.3 26.5 15.78 278 0.26 6.55 3.72 9.06 3.7 11.48 2.24 7.76 1.96 73.95 280 4.94 2.79 13.88 4.36 0.146 1.42 161 1.49 1

42.3 5.3 0.82 1.37 19.2 0.255 7.59 17.06 167 23.5 14.9 63 92.95 95.65 2.08 5.9 12.38 12.78 7.99 6.15 6.03 22.4 72.85 12.32 15.5 7.09 1.55 190 73.05 5.15 3.93 31.05 26.5 15.98 278 0.26 6.69 3.78 9.06 3.7 11.48 2.24 8.03 1.97 74.1 281 4.94 2.88 13.88 4.36 0.146 1.43 162.9 1.51 1

ABACORE CAPITAL ABOITIZ EQUITY ALLIANCE GLOBAL ANGLO PHIL HLDG ANSCOR ATN HLDG A AYALA CORP COSCO CAPITAL DMCI HLDG FILINVEST DEV GT CAPITAL HOUSE OF INV JG SUMMIT LODESTAR LOPEZ HLDG LT GROUP METRO PAC INV MJC INVESTMENTS PACIFICA SAN MIGUEL CORP SEAFRONT RES SM INVESTMENTS SOLID GROUP TOP FRONTIER UNIOIL HLDG WELLEX INDUS ZEUS HLDG

0.375 75.3 12.92 1.11 6.06 0.31 833 8.84 11.5 8.02 1,187 6.4 82 1.03 7.94 15.4 6.1 3.7 0.054 104 2.8 657 1.39 273.4 0.29 0.194 0.255

8990 HLDG A BROWN ARANETA PROP ARTHALAND CORP AYALA LAND BELLE CORP CEBU HLDG CENTURY PROP CITYLAND DEVT CROWN EQUITIES CYBER BAY DOUBLEDRAGON EVER GOTESCO FILINVEST LAND GLOBAL ESTATE IRC PROP MEGAWORLD MRC ALLIED

6.8 0.93 2.33 1.28 34.7 3.81 5.05 0.495 1.2 0.16 0.54 55.5 0.178 1.69 0.96 1.24 3.48 0.228

VOLUME

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

PHIL ESTATES PHIL REALTY PRIMEX CORP ROBINSONS LAND ROCKWELL SHANG PROP SM PRIME HLDG STA LUCIA LAND SUNTRUST HOME VISTA LAND

0.33 0.68 4.39 23.3 1.72 3.38 28.15 0.99 0.88 4.8

0.335 0.7 4.39 23.5 1.73 3.38 28.95 0.99 0.88 4.9

0.325 0.66 4.2 23.15 1.72 3.38 28.15 0.96 0.87 4.8

0.33 0.66 4.2 23.4 1.73 3.38 28.5 0.99 0.88 4.9

1,630,000 17,085,000 547,000 688,100 333,000 44,000 8,546,600 8,852,000 297,000 4,391,000

536,250 11,538,370 2,336,670 16,080,445 573,800 148,720 243,755,360 8,641,270 260,560 21,392,180

-49,500 -430,500 9,071,550 55,236,690 58,660 2,574,200

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

8.78 46.5 1.46 0.51 0.05 12 5.36 7.45 0.075 2.17 92.6 9.75 8.65 2.28 4.98 1,000 1,942 6.12 15.72 3.3 3.56 88.8 0.0093 12.38 9.02 0.185 1.34 3.6 14.48 4.16 0.96 3.75 2.5 6.2 3.72 3 11.26 5.38 3.11 168 7.9 1,563 1.53 0.445 43.8 77.5 6.08 2.2 1.12 1.75 3.13 0.415

9.31 46.5 1.46 0.52 0.051 12 5.36 7.5 0.08 2.19 94.5 10 8.65 2.6 4.98 1,000 1,960 6.7 16.2 3.31 3.73 88.8 0.0093 12.38 9.02 0.185 1.34 3.6 14.98 4.32 0.96 3.9 2.65 6.2 3.72 3.03 11.26 5.38 3.19 169 8.11 1,619 1.54 0.445 44.05 77.5 6.08 2.25 1.13 1.75 3.14 0.415

8.78 46 1.46 0.51 0.049 12 5.36 7.2 0.074 2.13 92.15 9.75 8.5 2.28 4.8 1,000 1,910 6.12 15.72 3.17 3.56 85.75 0.0093 12.38 8.9 0.182 1.32 3.52 14 3.96 0.96 3.74 2.48 6 3.66 2.87 11.26 5.3 3.1 168 7.8 1,541 1.5 0.435 43.7 75.8 5.95 2.2 1.12 1.75 3.1 0.4

SERVICES 9.25 46.25 1.46 0.52 0.05 12 5.36 7.3 0.079 2.15 92.25 10 8.64 2.6 4.98 1,000 1,960 6.5 16.2 3.17 3.73 87 0.0093 12.38 9 0.183 1.32 3.6 14 4.09 0.96 3.86 2.61 6.12 3.72 2.87 11.26 5.3 3.1 169 7.9 1,619 1.52 0.435 43.8 76.05 5.99 2.23 1.12 1.75 3.13 0.405

1,133,500 13,300 1,000 30,000 35,640,000 1,400 1,500 9,247,800 231,940,000 1,574,000 332,190 700 25,000 32,000 27,000 40 11,260 3,165,200 69,900 3,480,000 36,000 710,070 3,000,000 100 343,000 2,080,000 279,000 114,000 22,200 2,199,000 15,000 761,000 1,410,000 11,281,500 500,000 4,089,000 100 300 164,000 15,130 555,500 166,835 33,529,000 1,480,000 1,465,000 986,330 129,300 296,000 1,781,000 1,000 280,000 430,000

10,313,034 613,915 1,460 15,500 1,778,270 16,800 8,040 67,764,547 18,145,620 3,390,070 30,686,091 6,975 213,230 79,420 133,920 40,000 21,948,205 20,606,518 1,128,780 11,231,540 130,130 61,629,279.50 27,900 1,238 3,089,440 380,290 369,080 404,380 312,042 9,125,770 14,400 2,926,820 3,656,170 69,578,077 1,842,970 11,941,670 1,126 1,598 508,840 2,555,519 4,434,674 266,367,140 51,048,970 649,650 64,168,170 74,988,789 776,492 659,250 1,999,650 1,750 876,190 175,100

-314,970 -6,232,482 -332,420 64,700 19,728,398.50 140,250 5,398,250 -15,800 116,800 14,597,920.50 9,300 -280,000 -578,070 -170,450 -89,760 -439,480 -474,860 169,380 139,460 -2,531,999 126,134.00 126,759,355 4,104,990 4,526,440 -20,965,066.00 -334,390 -58,810 187,980 -

ABRA MINING APEX MINING ATLAS MINING CENTURY PEAK COAL ASIA HLDG DIZON MINES FERRONICKEL GEOGRACE LEPANTO A LEPANTO B MARCVENTURES NICKEL ASIA NIHAO ORNTL PENINSULA ORNTL PETROL A PETROENERGY PHILODRILL PX MINING PXP ENERGY SEMIRARA MINING

0.0032 1.67 5.35 0.55 0.4 9.44 2.65 0.255 0.184 0.193 1.73 6.29 2.2 0.9 0.011 4.02 0.013 8.58 3.17 148

0.0033 1.83 5.38 0.57 0.4 9.45 2.66 0.255 0.184 0.193 1.74 6.4 2.21 0.9 0.012 4.02 0.014 8.64 3.35 149.8

0.0032 1.67 5.35 0.55 0.4 9 2.58 0.246 0.181 0.193 1.71 5.95 2.15 0.89 0.011 4 0.013 8.48 3.16 144.4

MINING & OIL 0.0033 39,000,000 1.83 6,216,000 5.36 54,700 0.56 4,182,000 0.4 350,000 9.36 400 2.65 3,327,000 0.255 170,000 0.183 26,900,000 0.193 100,000 1.72 706,000 6.35 5,693,400 2.2 12,000 0.89 2,000 0.012 800,000 4 16,000 0.014 2,100,000 8.6 998,700 3.19 3,919,000 146.5 1,008,400

125,300 10,980,220 293,192 2,324,390 140,000 3,725 8,767,710 42,110 4,876,290 19,300 1,213,690 35,577,116 26,370 1,790 9,400 64,250 27,400 8,532,700 12,749,850 147,955,134

6,600 -2,503,050 -12,327 -27,500 -1,267,360 5,050 19,300 -17,703,791 -2,547,311 -16,150 -37,223,192

ABS HLDG PDR ALCO PREF B DD PREF FGEN PREF F FGEN PREF G GMA HLDG PDR GTCAP PREF A MWIDE PREF PF PREF 2 SFI PREF SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2H

46 107 105.1 107.2 114.6 5.85 1,022 107.8 1,020 2.35 80.5 78.1

46.35 107 105.8 107.2 114.6 6.3 1,022 107.8 1,020 2.35 81 78.5

46 107 105.1 103.6 113.5 5.85 1,021 107.8 1,019 2.1 80.25 78.1

PREFERRED 46.3 98,500 107 2,100 105.8 5,170 103.6 50,000 113.5 50,000 6.1 2,110,200 1,021 3,880 107.8 600 1,019 3,735 2.1 22,000 81 83,490 78.5 6,910

4,560,680 224,700 544,536 5,240,000 5,691,550 12,839,850 3,961,490 64,680 3,806,505 48,950 6,761,197.50 542,071

4,273,550 -3,404,296 -3,819,275 -9,455,959 -3,951,270 -2,995,860 -2,490,180 -

LR WARRANT

2.37

2.44

2.26

WARRANTS 2.35 941,000

2,205,470

-

ITALPINAS PHILAB HLDG XURPAS

3.71 6.7 9.96

3.8 6.9 9.96

3.7 6.7 9.2

3.8 6.9 9.35

51,960 382,164 19,740,837

1,331,546

FIRST METRO ETF

119.7

120.4

119.6

615,580

-

MS

PROPERTY 6.8 0.97 2.38 1.24 34 3.8 5.05 0.495 1.27 0.16 0.54 54.85 0.17 1.67 0.96 1.18 3.45 0.213

303,300 2,023,000 101,000 12,243,000 28,484,200 2,857,000 2,000 2,880,000 65,000 3,460,000 3,348,000 495,890 640,000 6,092,000 2,842,000 54,000 10,213,000 155,550,000

TRADING SUMMARY

SHARES

FINANCIAL

28,881,948

INDUSTRIAL

95,511,967

HOLDING FIRMS

155,329,857

PROPERTY

280,122,869

SERVICES

358,065,254

MINING & OIL

95,610,606

GRAND TOTAL

1,015,673,732

SME

14,000 56,400 2,075,700

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 120 5,130

VALUE 1,806.99 (down) 8.41 1,986,335,202.854 FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL 10,807.53 (down) 42.61 1,352,943,030.35 HOLDING FIRMS 7,344.26 (down) 59.02 1,597,509,575.36 PROPERTY 3,170.47 (up) 0.86 1,516.30 (up) 14.19 1,629,141,016.76 SERVICES MINING & OIL 12,069.56 (up) 62.68 946,138,541.5685 PSEI 7,245.97 (down) 23.65 233,753,451.908 All Shares Index 4,370.00 (down) 6.74 7,766,611,483.3025 Gainers: 81; Losers:90; Unchanged: 51; Total: 222

“Driven by high-margin brandy and whisky products, we have been able to sustain our earnings growth. Our earnings growth per annum from 2011 to 2016 is 27 percent,” Emperador president Winston Co said.

“We also managed to realize our highest quarterly earnings in the fourth quarter of 2016, amounting to almost P2.8 billion and reflecting an increase of 23 percent over the fourth quarter of 2015,” he said.

Co said flagship brand Emperador Brandy would soon be sold in the US through California-based G.K. Skaggs.

“With market penetration in 51 countries today, Emperador Brandy has evolved into a global brand. We believe that our export business will grow over time. And with the acquisition of Fundador last year, our brandy business is stronger than ever before,” Co said.

Emperador owns Emperador Distillers Inc., Scotch whisky maker Whyte and Mackay Group and Bodegas Fundador in Spain.

The liquor company has been expanding its portfolio overseas since 2014 via acquisitions. The most recent deal was the purchase of Domecq brandies and wines of Pernod Ricard in Mexico in December.

The deal, which is subject to customary conditions including clearance by the Mexican Anti-Trust authorities, will further strengthen the company’s position as the world’s largest brandy company.

EDC bares tender offer to buy back dollar debt

By Alena Mae S. Flores ENERGY Development Corp. announced Monday a tender offer to note holders of $300-million bonds due 2021 to manage currency risk.

EDC said in a disclosure to the stock exchange it issued an invitation to holders of $300-million 6.50 percent notes due 2021 to tender notes up to $100 million.

EDC said it would purchase the notes for cash. The notes are listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Ltd. “The purpose of the offer is to better manage currency risk and better optimize EDC’s debt maturity profile,” the company said.

“In addition, the offer provides an opportunity to noteholders to gain liquidity with respect to the notes [by tendering their notes for purchase by EDC] that might not otherwise be available to such noteholders. Any notes acquired by EDC pursuant to the offer will be cancelled and will not be re-issued or re-sold,” it said.

EDC said it would announce whether to accept valid tenders of notes pursuant to the offer and the final aggregate nominal amount of notes by April 5, 2017. It said the announcement would also specify the expected settlement date.

“The acceptance for purchase by EDC of the notes validly tendered under the tender offer is, among other things, conditional on the meeting of certain financing conditions

by EDC, further details of which are described in the tender offer memorandum dated March 27,” EDC said.

The offer shall commence on March 207 and end on April 4, 2017, subject to adjustment by and at the sole discretion of EDC.

Business

B3

TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 2017 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Group pushing electric vehicles

By Othel V. Campos

CARBON REDUCTION BID. Ayala Land Inc. commissions Center for Conservation Innovations Inc. to provide technical services in support of ALI’s drive toward carbon neutrality by 2022.

CCI will prepare baseline and determine carbon pool conservation and protection approaches to further reduce ALI’s greenhouse gas emissions in all its properties. At the signing ceremony on March 14 are (from left) Gilbert Berba, ALI head of urban planning; Anna Ma. Margarita Dy, ALI senior vice president, group head of strategic land bank management and program lead of the ALI carbon neutrality project; Dr. Neil Aldrin Mallari, CCI president; and Edmund Leo Rico, CCI executive director.

20 power plants to shut down

By Alena Mae S. Flores

A

BOUT 20 power plants will go on scheduled maintenance shutdown during the dry months, affecting energy supply, the Energy Department said Monday.

Energy Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella, however, ruled out outages during the dry months when supply is expected to be tight.

Demand for electricity historically goes up during the dry months due to the hot temperatures and the curtailed output of hydro-electric plants in favor of irrigation and public

consumption.

“As far as our numbers are concerned, we are confident that we will not experience any interruption, so we are confident with that,” Fuentebella said.

He did not identify the power plants that would go on maintenance shutdown but said unit 1 of Pagbilao coal plant was included in the list.

Mitsubishi’s elevator unit sees 10% sales rise

By Othel V. Campos INTERNATIONAL Elevator & Equipment Inc., a unit of Mitsubishi Electric Corp. in the Philippines, expects revenues to grow 10 percent in fiscal year ending March 31, 2017 and increase to 15 percent in 2019 in anticipation of new projects coming on stream in two years.

IEEI president Ramoncito Ocampo said in a briefing Monday the Philippine subsidiary remained bullish on the local market amid the boom in the construction industry.

“Mitsubishi would like to be more competitive in the air-conditioning business. Right now, I can say we compete with all especially in the malls and hospitals as capture markets. We would really like to part of the growing construction industry,” he said.

Ocampo noted that while the company was mainly focused on the elevator segment of the business, it would market airconditioning products as well.

Mitsubishi Electric has the biggest market share in the elevator sector in Southeast Asia with a 35 percent to 40 percent share.

It also dominates the

Philippine market with a 40-percent market leadership.

“We believe we are still the market leader in the Philippines in terms of selling elevators. Almost all companies of Mitsubishi are doing good these past years.

For instance, Mitsubishi Motors (Philippines Corp.) has outpaced several automotive companies.

That is because our products carry the same quality and resiliency that are dependable for many, many years,” Ocampo said.

The company announced it would soon market cooling solutions by top market Italian air-conditioner manufacturer Climaveneta S.p.A. and RC Group S.p.A. to strengthen the local positioning in the airconditioning segment.

Mitsubishi Electric’s global acquisition of Climaveneta and RC Group in 2015 supported the company’s ambition to increase its presence globally.

“Climaveneta, being an esteemed European market leader is now under Mitsubishi brand portfolio, will help us provide more quality airconditioning products and services to meet the demands of our customers,” said Ocampo.

He said Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi had given strict instructions to ensure adequate power supply such as making sure the newly-completed Limay power plant of San Miguel Corp. went online.

“We are looking into the scheduling of the maintenance activities of the power plants...

What we have in the list is 20... they are not simultaneous,” he said.

Fuentebella added the Malaya thermal power plant was also on standby as a must-run unit when supply goes thin.

“It’s a must-run unit, so aside from the plants that we are looking into, the Malaya is ready to run.

And also, we have a massive campaign for conservation,

because the demand-side is forgotten sometimes that we play a very important role, the consumers,” the official said.

He assured the public of sufficient reserves across the three power grids.

Fuentebella said the government would continue to push for more power supply coming from new technologies, such as liquefied natural gas, especially as Malampaya gas field is set to run out within the next decade.

“By 2019, that is the target of Secertary Cusi, PNOC (Philippine National Oil Co.) should build that terminal, the LNG terminal,” Fuentebella said.

Manila Electric Co., the biggest

retailer of electricity, earlier said it was negotiating with First Gen Corp. to buy 200 megawatts from the latter’s 414-megawatt San Gabriel natural gas plant in Batangas to ensure adequate power supply during the dry months.

“It’s still in negotiations... We have ongoing negotiations,” Meralco senior vice president and head of customer retail services, corporate marketing and communications Al Panlilio said The 414 megawatt combinedcycle natural gas-fired San Gabriel power plant in Santa Rita, Batangas is a flexible plant designed to provide baseload, mid-merit and peaking power, depending on the grid’s demand.

International Elevator & Equipment Inc. president Ramoncito Ocampo (right) presides over a press conference during the launch of the Climaveneta Chiller Media product held at New World Hotel Makati City. With him are Shamsul Fazri Ramli (left), sales support manager of Chat Union Climaveneta Ltd.; and Itsuo Arakawa of the machinery/ global environment department. Lino Santos

THE Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines plans to replace two of the country’s mass transportation systems with electricity-powered jeepneys and e-trikes to help reduce fossil fuel consumption.

EVAP president Rommel Juan said the Philippines probably had the most potential for electric vehicles Southeast Asia, especially for public transport applications such as jeepneys and tricycles.

“We can see that once electric vehicles move to the mainstream level in the Philippine mass transport system, we will be looking at supplying the replacement vehicles in the large domestic market of 350,000 diesel-fueled jeepneys and 1.2 million gas-fed tricycles,” he said.

He noted business opportunities in modernizing the aging and ailing mass transport system and replacing them with electric jeepneys and tricycles.

“And with a large production volume, we can then have the economies of scale to become the manufacturing hub for electric vehicle and parts in the Asean region. This we hope will then open up the Asean region as the staging point for subsequently exporting to the other parts of the globe,” Juan said.

The group is coordinating with Asean counterparts in order to get the key players in the region to participate in the first ever Asean Electric and Hybrid Vehicles Summit on June 29 to 30, 2017 at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.

The event is being co-organized with the Board of Investments and Manila Electric Co. The summit will be part of the Asean National Organizing Committees series of events for 2017 since the Philippines will host the 50th anniversary of Asean.

The Board of Investments is supporting the event, which aims to promote the use of electric and hybrid vehicles in the region, spur local manufacturing and assembly and promote foreign investments.

Member companies will feature the latest electric vehicles and EV technologies in the country as well as hybrid vehicles from the local automotive manufacturers and assemblers.

FWD Life bares new health plan vs critical illness FWD Life Philippines plans to address the issue of critical illness, which continues to be the biggest cause of early death and disability in the Philippines.

FWD’s latest plan, “Set for Health,” provides the most comprehensive coverage in the market against 42 major and 15 minor critical illnesses, with protection for up to three

unrelated major critical illnesses, to the age of 75.

“Set for Health is a plan that provides financial peace of mind to Filipinos so that the threat of critical illness does not hinder them from pursuing their passions and living life worry-free,” said FWD Life president and chief executive officer Peter Grimes.

“With this innovative product, FWD Life Philippines is offering Filipinos and their families health benefits with the most comprehensive flexible coverage in the market and a ‘no claim” reward’,” he said.

Though medical advancement provides greater hope for recovery, and survival rates continue to

improve, today’s lifestyles may be at risk with more varied health problems as people live longer.

While most critical illness products offer claims against only one illness, FWD’s Set for Health plan protects customers against up to three unrelated major critical illnesses and covers customers up to the age of 75.

A Central Bank governor should have gravitas NOW that the term of the current Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas governor is drawing to a close, it is being suggested that the next governor should be a BSP insider. An insider would be a preferable option, it is being argued, because there would be no long learning curve for a governor-elect who is from the BSP’s ranks because that person would already be well-versed in BSP regulations and operational practices and would, in addition, be very familiar with the institutional culture of the nation’s monetary policymaking institution.

The part of the pro-insider argument that relates to the learning curve is a no-brainer. Of course, any organization facing a leadership transition has to take into consideration the reciprocal relationship between knowledgeability and length of time in a position; overnight experts are very much the exception rather than the rule. An individual who has been a deputy governor or managing director for twenty or more years will definitely make possible a seamless transition after July, when the current governor’s term

expires. By contrast, the appointment of someone from outside the BSP – say, from academe, the business community or the commercial banking system – will entail a lot of ropes-learning.

Undoubtedly, the incoming governor of the national monetary authority needs to be sufficiently knowledgeable about the nuts and bolts of the governorship, viz., the processes of the New Central Bank Act, the structure and powers of the Monetary Board, the structure of the financial system, the regulatory tools available to the MB and the statutory relationship between BSP and the Department of Finance. I think, however, that the incoming BSP chief needs to be more than a repository of knowledge of technical and operational data.

Indeed, I venture to say that there are two kinds of central bank governor.

One kind is the technically proficient governor with gravitas. The other kind is the technically proficient governor who is without gravitas.

What is gravitas? Webster’s and Oxford Dictionaries have definitions of this Latin word, but I prefer to define gravitas in terms of the personas and

professional standings of two governors that I had the good fortune to observe at close range. Truth to tell, gravitas is not easy to describe: you just know when you are in its midst.

One knew that one was in the presence of gravitas when one was in the company of the first governor of the Central Bank of the Philippines, Miguel Cuaderno.

Appointed by President Elpidio Quirino at a time of impending economic crisis – in the years immediately following World War II this country was rapidly running through whatever foreign exchange it had – Miguel Cuaderno lost no time preparing the Central Bank to prepare and administer a structure of import and foreign exchange controls.

Elected as the delegate of Bataan to the 1934-1935 Constitutional Convention, Miguel Cuaderno was named one of the “Seven Wise Men of the Convention.”

A lawyer by training, Cuaderno took a postgraduate course at the renowned London School of Economics and Political Science.

It was a pleasure being in Miguel Cuaderno’s company. A sharp lawyer with an equally sharp interest in sartorial

elegance (He had his suits tailored in London’s Saville Row), the first governor spoke good Spanish and was highly knowledgeable about politics—especially Quezonian politics—history, art, culture and, of course, law. When you were with Miguel Cuaderno, you knew you were in the presence of gravitas.

Being in the company of the sixth governor of the Central Bank of the Philippines, Jose Fernandez Jr. was no different. One knew that one was in the presence of a great mind. Jobo—the nickname by which he came to be known —Fernandez was fortunate enough to have been a member of a family that could afford to send him to the Ateneo de Manila and Harvard Business School (from which he graduated cum laude). No one doubted that he would quickly rise to the top of Philippine Bank of Commerce, which he joined upon his return to Manila.

Jobo Fernandez did not wait for that day to come; he chose to establish Far East Bank and Trust Co., of which he became the president and CEO. Having come from the ranks of the commercial-bank presidents, Jose Fernandez Jr. knew everything

that an incoming governor had to know about central bank policies and procedures and programs. But he was also knowledgeable about a lot of other things. He was as comfortable talking about French wine, Russian history and Baroque architecture as he was discussing reserve requirements, overnight lending rates and foreign exchange reserves. Like Miguel Cuaderno, Jobo Fernandez was a man of eclectic knowledge and eclectic tastes. It was a delight to be in their midst.

I am not for a moment suggesting that the individuals whose names are being proposed for the governorship lack the competence to run this country’s monetary establishment. Not at all. The incoming governor needs to be proficient in the techniques and procedures of monetary policymaking. What I am suggesting is that a central bank governor must be a person possessed of a world view and of broad knowledge.

In other words, the ideal central bank governor, who is seen and listened to here as well as abroad, is a person who possesses gravitas.

E-mail: rudyromero777@yahoo.com

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

B4

TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 2017

Business China Southern rises on talks to sell shares

Iraq’s Oil Minister Jabbar Al-Luaibi (right) speaks to the press during a meeting for the 2nd Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee of Opec in Kuwait City, on March 26, 2017. AFP

SHARES of China Southern Airlines Co. climbed in Hong Kong trading after Asia’s biggest carrier said it is in talks to sell a stake to American Airlines Group Inc. The negotiations are over “a possible major strategic cooperation with American Airlines Inc. involving, among others, proposed issue of shares of the company and other business cooperation,” China Southern said in an exchange filing Sunday.

The stock, which resumed trading Monday, gained 0.7 percent to close at HK$5.49, after advancing as much as 5.3 percent earlier.

Trading in the Guangzhoubased operator had been suspended since March 23 after Bloomberg News reported that Fort Worth, Texas-based American Airlines will likely make an investment of about $200 million in China Southern’s Hong Kong-listed shares through a private placement. American Airlines would nominate an observer without voting rights to the Chinese company’s board, according to people familiar with the matter.

The companies haven’t reached a binding or definitive agreement, and the cooperation may or may not proceed, China Southern said in its statement. American Airlines spokeswoman Polly Tracey declined to comment.

For American, a deal would strengthen its presence in the Chinese market after rival Delta Air Lines Inc. acquired a minority stake in China Eastern Airlines Corp. in 2015. China Southern would be the last of the nation’s top three airlines to bring in a non-mainland Chinese strategic investor. Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., based in Hong Kong, owns about 18 percent of flag carrier Air China Ltd. “All big US carriers will be making deals of one kind or another with major airlines all over Asia and certainly within China,” Robert Crandall, former chairman of American, told Bloomberg Television on Monday. “These things are going to grow and because of the network nature of the airline industry, everybody is going to play and everybody needs to play.”

An agreement will help boost the expansion plans of China Southern, which indicated in January that it was considering bringing in strategic investors. The carrier has been adding routes to Australia, New Zealand and countries in Southeast Asia as it competes with China Eastern and Air China. A tie-up will increase China Southern’s visibility in the US, said Will Horton, a senior analyst at the CAPA Centre for Aviation in Hong Kong.

Bloomberg

Opec considers longer output cut O IL producers pledged to consider extending their pact limiting supply, as half a dozen nations said more time was needed to drain swollen stockpiles.

Five Opec members and Oman backed an extension, with Kuwait saying it should be for six months. The ministers met this weekend in Kuwait City and asked the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to make a recommendation in a month on the possibility of prolonging the supply curbs.

“We are ready to support” extending the deal, which took effect in January, Venezuela’s Oil Minister Nelson Martinez said on Sunday. Fellow Opec

producers Iraq, Algeria and Angola have also backed an extension. “It does make sense to extend the agreement for another six months,” said Mohammed Al Rumhy, energy minister for non-Opec producer Oman.

Brent crude, the global benchmark, was trading down 6 cents at $50.74 a barrel as of 1:04 p.m. in Singapore on Monday.

Kuwait this month became the first nation to call for extending the production cuts, with Oil Minister Issam Almarzooq say-

ing inventories had grown more than expected. Opec and 11 other major producers including Russia agreed last year to slash production, spurring a 20 percent increase in Brent crude prices during the last five weeks of 2016. The rally stalled this year as US output and supplies continued to grow. Opec ministers will meet May 25 in Vienna to decide whether to extend the deal.

A compliance committee of Opec ministers from Kuwait, Algeria and Venezuela and their counterparts from Russia and Oman concluded meetings in Kuwait City on Sunday with a statement asking Opec to review the market and give them a recommendation in April on rolling

over the cuts.

Russia Energy Minister Alexander Novak said it’s too early to talk about an extension and that it won’t make any pledges until April. Russia needs more time to assess the market, inventories and production in the US and other non-Opec countries, Novak said in an interview with Bloomberg television.

After Sunday’s meeting, Kuwait’s Almarzooq, the compliance committee’s chairman, said Opec is assessing whether to prolong the cuts for another six months. But the committee in its final statement removed a section in the draft that said it recommended a six-month extension. It also added a sentence saying the ministerial committee “will deliberate before submitting

its recommendation to the participating countries.”

With US crude stockpiles swelling to record levels and prices sinking below $50 a barrel, Opec and its partners have little choice but to keep going, according to all 13 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Inventories in countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development are currently 282 million barrels higher than their five-year average, OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo said at the meeting.

Khalid Al-Falih, the energy minister of Opec’s biggest producer, Saudi Arabia, said in a Bloomberg Television interview on March 17 that the deal will be maintained if

oil stockpiles are still above their five-year average.

“Certain factors, such as low seasonal demand, refinery maintenance, and rising non-Opec supply, have slowed down the positive impact of the production adjustments on inventory drawdowns,” the committee said in its statement. “At the same time, the liquidation of positions by financial players in the market was also observed.”

Opec’s compliance rate was 106 percent in February, and non-Opec nations including Russia have reached compliance of 64 percent, Kuwait’s Almarzooq said Sunday. The combined compliance rate of both was 94 percent, he said. Bloomberg

Brexit job fears stalk Britain’s financial centers UK resilient so far Jackson Jean-Baptiste Oubrier but headwinds loom ByandRoland LONDON―Britain’s economy has for months defied the cataclysmic predictions made by campaigners for staying in the EU ahead of last year’s referendum but its smooth run shows signs of hitting the skids.

As Britain begins the delicate process of extracting itself from the European Union, headwinds are expected for the economy even though the forecast financial storm has so far failed to materialize.

Prime Minister Theresa May has been credited with a deft handling of the economy in the first nine months since the Brexit vote, aided by the Bank of England’s injections of liquidity into the banking system and unflagging consumer confidence.

The economy grew by a wholly respectable 1.8 percent in 2016 and could expand by 2.0 percent this year, according to the latest forecasts.

But economists say the positive results are due to the fact that nothing concrete has happened on the Brexit front since the referendum on June 23.

The real question is what will happen over the two years of likely fraught negotiations ahead and the worry is what happens if no deal is agreed.

“An absence of one would drag out the period of uncertainty, thereby threatening economic performance,” said Nina Skero, managing economist at the Centre for Economics and Business Research.

“Right now, it feels like we’re just reaching the top of the Article 50 rollercoaster,” said Paul Drechsler, head of the Confederation of British Industry, the country’s main big business lobby.

“Any minute now... we’ll suddenly drop into the twists and turns of negotiations,” he said.

Drechsler said the worst outcome would be if London and Brussels were to hammer out a divorce without a new trade deal in place that would allow businesses on both sides to prepare for the hefty cost of Britain leaving the European single market.

May, who has said she will take Britain out of the single market in order to be able to reduce immigration, has said she is ready to implement Brexit without a deal if the conditions put forward by EU negotiators are too demanding.

Businesses are warning against such an outcome and say that it would hit two key sectors particularly hard―the powerful financial sector and a car industry that is currently in full bloom.

By way of example, if Britain is forced to fall back on World Trade Organization rules for trading with the EU after it leaves, British car exports would face a 10-percent tariff at the EU border.

Any announcement by carmakers about their activities in Britain is already making the government jumpy, be that investment

by Nissan in Sunderland in northeast England, job cuts by Ford in Wales or PSA’s takeover of Vauxhall factories.AFP

MANCHESTER―Worries are whirring in Britain’s smaller financial centers―which together employ far more people than the glamorous City of London―that the looming EU departure will lead to heavy job losses.

In Manchester’s buzzing finance district of Spinningfields, a worker at an insurance company said he thought it would have “a huge impact.”

“Business are going to pull out, there will be a lot of job losses,” Mohammed, who declined to give his surname because of the sensitivity of the issue, told AFP. Financial and professional services, which rely heavily on access to Europe’s single market, employ 2.2 million people, or seven percent of Britain’s working population, according to TheCityUK, a lobbying group.

Two-thirds of those workers, or 1.5 million, are based outside London.

The northwestern English city of Manchester, for example, is one of Britain’s biggest finance hubs.

Fraser Morris, client director at Brown Shipley, a private bank in the city, said the loss of banking “passports” which allow firms to operate freely across the single market could spell trouble.

“If we lose the passporting, it might have a big effect because finance services are such a big area for the whole country,” he said.

“We are obviously a little bit nervous about the outcome,” he said, adding that he believed

A flag manufacturer stitches and finishes an EU flag at the factory of ‘Flagmakers’ in Chesterfield, northern England. AFP

negotiations would “last a few years.”

Prime Minister Theresa May is set to kickstart the process on Wednesday with a formal notification to the EU of Britain’s intention to leave after last year’s historic Brexit referendum.

240,000 jobs at risk?

“It’s difficult to get a full handle, purely because we do not know the outcome of the negotiations,”

said Keith Pilbeam, a professor at the Department of Economics at City, University of London.

“If they go well―which is a big if―there should not be too many job losses,” he said.

But if things go badly, he warned that up to 240,000 jobs could be cut, or around 10 percent of the financial sector workforce.

Back-office jobs, the support

roles that tend to be based outside London, were cut drastically after the 2008 global financial crisis―and also in the wake of rapid technological advances.

More tough times could now be ahead.

“Companies are engaged in contingency planning―and Brexit is an issue which obviously they need to think about,” said Gary Campkin, director of policy and strategy at TheCityUK. “Whether that actually means that ultimately jobs will go is unclear,” he said.

‘Jewel in the crown’ Britain’s much-envied status as a center of global finance will remain unchanged, Campkin said, but he cautioned against too much attention on London.

“Inevitably there’s going to be a focus on the jewel in the crown, which is London,” Campkin said.

“It’s what the country delivers as a whole for the industry that really makes it the world-beating financial center that it is. We believe that this position will be maintained in the future.”

Other key finance hubs include Birmingham in central England; Bristol in the southwest; Leeds, Liverpool and Sheffield in the north; Edinburgh and Glasgow in Scotland; Cardiff in Wales; and Belfast in Northern Ireland.

Back at Spinningfields, demand is still high for office space.

“Only time will tell what impact on growth Brexit will have,” said Howard Bernstein, chief executive of Manchester City Council.

But he added that since the referendum, “the market is not showing any lack of confidence.” AFP

LGUs

Governor recounts ‘druggie’ encounter BULUAN, Maguindanao—A drug-crazed assailant could break a hard stand to uphold the right to life.

Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu said he learned this lesson the hard way, even if he valued life “very much.”

On Thursday, Mangudadatu publicly declared for the first time that a man he had personally helped attempted to rape a close member of his family because of the ill effects of shabu or methamphetamine hydrochloride.

Maguindanao has 12,775 surrendered drug users and peddlers. Of its 36 towns, Datu Odin Sinsuat has the most number of surrenderers at 1,366, followed by Sultan Kudarat (875), and Parang (833). A drug-crazed man was also arrested in Parang for incestuous child rape.

Mangudadatu said because of the attack on his immediate family, he realized that some compelling circumstances could alter one’s firm stand in upholding the right to life.

“Out of rage, I found myself suddenly pulling a handgun from the bag of one of my bodyguards. But one of them drew a gun ahead of me and shot the man. My uncle had wanted to put up ‘blood money’ [meaning the man was killed].

But when I explained what really happened, the old man said, ‘Then let’s be watchful if he has any companion left watching us somewhere here,” Mangudadatu recalled.

Still, the governor said, he was not endorsing outright killing to address the local drug problem, but he urged the people of Maguindanao to follow due process, and to continue supporting the anti-illegal drugs campaign. Nash B. Maulana

QUEZON City is batting for the provision of free internet services in its 42 barangays.

The Quezon City Council has passed a resolution urging the city’s barangays to provide free internet services to enable the public to access government services online.

District 5 Councilor Aly Medalla authored Resolution 7005-2017, urging all barangays to provide free internet access, citing the move as necessary “to support the technological capabilities and needs of residents, especially those who still do not have internet access.”

“Despite the fact that almost each Filipino owns at least one phone or mobile device, a significant portion of the population still do not benefit from internet access,” the resolution read.

According to the 2014 edition of the State of Broadband report, only 37 percent of Filipinos were able to use the internet in 2013, which is below the world average of 37.9 percent, the resolution cited.

The findings have placed the Philippines at 106th out of 191 countries evaluated.

In Southeast Asia, four countries beat the Philippines in terms of Internet penetration —Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam and Vietnam.

Singapore placed 35th as 73 percent of its population accessed the internet in 2013. Malaysia is at the 45th spot at 67 percent, Brunei Darussalam at 51st at 64th.5 percent and Vietnam at 89th at 43.9 percent.

Other Asean countries were in the lower half of the list, including Thailand at 116th (28.9 percent); Indonesia at 138th (15.8 percent); Laos at 147th (12.5 percent); Cambodia at 166th (six percent); and Myanmar at 189th (1.2 percent). Rio N. Araja

TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 2017

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

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ROTARY AWARD. Former Parañaque City Mayor Florencio Bernabe Jr. (second from left) was recognized by the Rotary Homes District 3830 Development Foundation Inc. on Saturday. His efforts to build houses for informal settlers was dubbed as ‘an outstanding contribution’ to the foundation’s goals of making peaceful and sustainable communities.

Congratulating Bernabe are (from left) chairman of Rotary Homes PDG Sid Garcia, district governor of RI District 3830 Edna Sutter, and vice chairman of Rotary Homes PDG Romy Cruz. Norman Cruz

Peña hit with new charges T

By Joel E. Zurbano

QC wants internet free in all barangays

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

HE city government of Makati has filed a second complaint with the Commission on Elections against former mayor Romulo Peña Jr. for issuing letters of appointment effecting the promotion and transfer of personnel during the election period.

In a letter to Comelec Law Department head Norina Tangaro-Casingal, Makati City Legal Officer Michael Arthur Camiña requested assistance “in taking the necessary legal actions” against Peña for issuing appointments on Feb. 1, 2016 and March 1, 2016.

The letter, dated March 15, 2017, was received by Comelec Law Department on March 17.

Camiña cited in his letter

three city employees promoted and transferred by Peña whose appointments were subsequently invalidated by the Civil Service Commission for being “not in order.”

Based on records of the city Human Resource Development Office, Jeffrey Samson, Clerk III under the Education department, was transferred to the HRDO with the position of Administrative Assistant VI-Clerk

III effective Feb. 1, 2016.

On March 1, 2016, Fordeliza N. Silva and Aileen M. Soriano were promoted and transferred. From her previous position of Accountant IV under Accounting Department, Silva was promoted to Chief Administrative Officer-Cashier V under Finance Department.

Soriano, on the other hand, was promoted and transferred from Budget Officer IV under Budget Department to Accountant V under Accounting Department.

Comelec Resolution No. 9981, promulgated on Aug. 18, 2015, prescribed the election period from Jan. 10, 2016 to June 8, 2016.

Under the Omnibus Election Code, the transfer or movement of personnel in the civil service during election period is prohibited, except with prior authority from Comelec.

“Accordingly, we request your assistance on the matter, and trust that you will file the necessary actions to sanction Peña’s blatant disregard of the law,” Camiña said.

If found guilty, Peña faces a penalty of imprisonment of not less than one year but not more than six years, and shall not be subject to probation. In addition, he faces disqualification to hold public office and deprivation of the right of suffrage, under Section 264 of Article XXII of the Omnibus Election Code.

Last Feb. 22, the city legal officer filed his initial letter of complaint with Comelec against Peña, citing five personnel who were illegally promoted and transferred to other departments.

Camiña noted that during his short stint as acting mayor, Peña

appointed, promoted and transferred city government personnel but most of these have been invalidated by the CSC as they were made during the Election Period.

As of November, last year, the HRDO had recorded a total of 326 ‘midnight appointments’ issued by Peña revoked by the CSC for violating the Election Ban. These included 114 promotions, 175 regularization, 29 casual appointments, one reemployment and one original appointment.

A personnel review audit conducted by the new administration immediately upon assumption into office revealed that the Peña administration had bloated the city payroll with over 1,300 hires.

From July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016, they hired a total of 1,218 additional casuals, 22 contractuals and 78 consultants.

Firm gains naming rights to NLEX San Fernando nexus

HEALTH CENTER REHAB. To follow up its relief operations for Typhoon ‘Nona’ victims in Sorsogon City, BDO Foundation has rehabilitated Sorsogon West District Health Office to improve the delivery of healthcare services to residents, particularly the underprivileged.

The center’s improved facilities will help doctors and nurses serve 76,000 people from 23 barangays more efficiently. The initiative is in keeping with the disaster response advocacy of BDO Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of BDO Unibank.

CLARK, Pampanga—The NLEX Corp., previously known as Manila North Tollways Corp., on Monday formally signed an agreement with meat processing firm Pampanga’s Best Inc. for the naming rights of the NLEX San Fernando Interchange.

Signing the term sheet were Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. and NLEX Corp. president and CEO Rodrigo Franco and Pampanga’s Best Inc. president Angelo Hizon Jr. Witnessing the signing are Maria Theresa Wells, chief finance officer of NLEX Corp., and Pampanga’s Best Inc. sales and marketing director Angelica Hizon.

The signing signals the start of the 10year partnership between NLEX Corp. and Pampanga’s Best Inc., aimed at creating a strong and positive impact on stakeholders.

With the naming rights agreement, the San Fernando Interchange will be named as “San Fernando Pampanga’s Best.”

The Pampanga’s Best brand will also be added to the interchange structures as well as the 19 directional signs along the NLEX bearing the name San Fernando.

Renato Ticson, president of NLEX Ventures Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of NLEX Corp., said “Pampanga’s Best Inc. is the first food company to partner with NLEX. Being a catalyst of growth in Pampanga, it suits well for the naming rights to its home city, San Fernando.”

Franco said the naming rights agreement “is more than just building brand image. Reflecting Pampanga’s Best brand in NLEX structures will create a legacy that will stay from one generation to the next.” PNA

Calabarzon ‘war’ on vs gambling CAMP VICENTE LIM, Laguna—Police Regional Office 4 Calabarzon Director Chief Supt. Ma. O Aplasca has ordered the provincial police directors under him to conduct an all-out war against illegal gambling in the region.

Aplasca told Manila Standard he is sending a directive to the provincial directors in Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon to execute his orders and stress a “no-take policy” on possible bribes from illegal gambling opera-

tors or bookies.

The Calabarzon area is known for different types of illegal games such small town lottery or jueteng, “Devil Machine,” video “karera” (video game horseracing), and “color games” in “peryahan” or traveling amusement parks, known locally as “pergalan.”

The operation is based on a directive from Philippine National Police Director General Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, who told local authorities to not just

focus on anti-drug operations, Aplasca said.

He also strongly denied any connection to a certain Rodjie Legarda, who has reportedly been making the rounds of illegal gambling operations to collect “fees” supposedly on his behalf.

Aplasca has ordered the regional police intelligence officers to track down Legarda, whose existence was tipped off by a caller to a popular radio-television public service program. Roy Tomandao APLASCA

CYAN MAGENTA MAGENTA YELLOW YELLOW BLACK BLACK CYAN Manila Manila

Standard Standard TODAY

Republic of of the the Philippines Philippines Republic

ENERGY REGULATORY REGULATORY COMMISSION COMMISSION TODAY ENERGY

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San Miguel Miguel Avenue, Avenue, Pasig Pasig City City San

IN THE THE MATTER MATTER OF OF THE THE APPLICATION APPLICATION IN FOR THE THE CONFIRMATION CONFIRMATION AND AND FOR APPROVAL OF OVER/UNDER APPROVAL OF OVER/UNDER RECOVERIES FOR FOR THE THE YEARS YEARS 2014 2014 TO TO RECOVERIES 2016 PURSUANT PURSUANT TO TO ERC ERC RESOLUTION RESOLUTION 2016 NO. 16, 16, SERIES SERIES OF OF 2009, 2009, AS AS AMENDED AMENDED NO.

BY ERC ERC RESOLUTION RESOLUTION NO. NO. 21, 21, SERIES SERIES BY OF 2010 2010 OF SUBIC ENERZONE ENERZONE CORPORATION CORPORATION SUBIC (SEZ), (SEZ), Applicant.

Applicant.

ERC CASE CASE NO. NO. 2017-___CF 2017-___CF ERC

XX -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- XX

APPLICATION APPLICATION Applicant SUBIC SUBIC ENERZONE ENERZONE CORPORATION CORPORATION (“SEZ”), (“SEZ”), by by counsel, counsel, Applicant respectfully states: states: respectfully 1.

SEZ is is aa corporation corporation existing existing under under the the laws laws of of the the Republic Republic of of the the 1.

SEZ Philippines, with with business business address address at at Canal Canal Road Road corner corner Labitan Labitan Street, Street, Central Central Philippines, Business District, District, Subic Subic Bay Bay Freeport Freeport Zone, Zone, Olongapo Olongapo City.

City. ItIt is is the the duly duly authorized authorized Business operator of of the the power power distribution distribution system system of of the the Subic Subic Bay Bay Freeport Freeport Zone Zone located located operator in the the provinces provinces of of Zambales Zambales and and Bataan Bataan by by virtue virtue of of the the Distribution Distribution Management Management in Service Agreement Agreement (DMSA) (DMSA) entered entered into into with with the the Subic Subic Bay Bay Metropolitan Metropolitan Authority Authority Service (SBMA) on on May May 15, 15, 2003.

2003.

(SBMA)

FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2017

LGUs

Vizcaya taps brgys on solid waste mgt

By Ben Moses Ebreo

S

OLANO, Nueva Vizcaya —Sometime in July 2012, then-Rep. Carlos Padilla and his wife Ruth launched a localized Solid Waste Management Program initiative at the Tomas Dacayo Community Center in this town.

2.

On July July 13, 13, 2009, 2009, the the Honorable Honorable Commission Commission promulgated promulgated Resolution Resolution 2.

On No. 16, 16, series series of of 2009, 2009, entitled entitled “A “A Resolution Resolution Adopting Adopting The The Rules Rules Governing Governing No. The Automatic Automatic Cost Cost Adjustment Adjustment And And True True Up Up Mechanisms Mechanisms And And Corresponding Corresponding The Confirmation Process Process For For Distribution Distribution Utilities” Utilities” (the (the “True-Up “True-Up Guidelines”).

Guidelines”).

Confirmation 2.1 The TheTrue-Up True-UpGuidelines Guidelinesprovided providedthe theformulas formulasfor forthe thedetermination determination 2.1 of the the Generation, Generation, Transmission, Transmission, System System Loss, Loss, Lifeline Lifeline Subsidy, Subsidy, and and of 1 1 Franchise and and Business Business Taxes Taxes Rates.

Rates.

Franchise 2.2.ItItlikewise likewiseprovided providedfor forthe thecalculation calculationof ofoverover-and andunder-recoveries under-recoveries 2.2. on the the said said rates rates due due to to the the variance variance in in the the allowable allowable cost cost and and the the revenues revenues on billed using using the the applicable applicable formula. formula.22 billed 3.

On October October 18, 18, 2010, 2010, the the Honorable Honorable Commission Commission promulgated promulgated ERC ERC 3.

On wherein the the Honorable Honorable Commission Commission amended amended Resolution No. No. 21, 21, Series Series of of 2010, 2010,33 wherein Resolution the formula for the calculation of overand under-recovery for System Loss and the formula for the calculation of over- and under-recovery for System Loss and updated the the timelines timelines set set in inArticle Article 55 of of the the True-Up True-Up Guidelines.

Guidelines. updated 4.

The instant instantApplication Application is is being being filed filed pursuant pursuant to to the the above above Resolutions.

Resolutions.

4.

The Based on on the the formulas formulas on on the the various various automatic automatic cost cost adjustments adjustments and and true-up true-up Based mechanisms, SEZ SEZ incurred incurred overover- and and under-recoveries under-recoveries for for the the period period from from January January mechanisms, 2014 until December 2016, summarized as follows: 2014 until December 2016, summarized as follows: 2014 2014 Generation Generation

2015 2015

2016 2016

(Over) // Under Under (Over) Recoveries Recoveries

1,347.35 1,347.35

240.75 240.75

15,352,925.91 15,352,925.91

Transmission Transmission

(250,060.05) (250,060.05)

1,549,587.58 1,549,587.58

624,953.83 624,953.83

1,924,481.36 1,924,481.36

SystemLoss Loss System

(3,805,762.90) (3,805,762.90)

41,169.97 41,169.97

(3,719,638.06) (3,719,638.06)

(7,484,230.99) (7,484,230.99)

(999.85) (999.85)

37,885.60 37,885.60

7,076.03 7,076.03

43,961.78 43,961.78

(4,055,475.46) (4,055,475.46)

1,628,883.90 1,628,883.90

12,265,317.72 12,265,317.72

9,838,726.16 9,838,726.16

Lifeline Lifeline Total(Over) (Over) Total Under //Under Recovery Recovery

15,354,514.01 15,354,514.01

5.

Based on on the the foregoing, foregoing, SEZ SEZ has has incurred incurred aa net net under-recovery under-recovery in in the the 5.

Based amount of of PhP PhP 9,838,726.16 9,838,726.16 for for the the billing billing periods periods from from January January 2014 2014 to to December December amount 2016.

2016.

6.

In support support of of the the foregoing foregoing are are the the following following documents documents covering covering 6.

In the period period January January 2014 2014 to to December December 2016, 2016, attached attached as as Annexes Annexes of of the the instant instant the Application, to to wit: wit: Application, AnnexA: A: Annex

Summary of of the the Over/Under Over/Under Recoveries Recoveries Computation Computation Summary (per charges charges and and yearly yearly basis); basis); (per

Annex B: B: Annex

Proposed Scheme Scheme of of Refund/Collect Refund/Collect using using the the latest latest kWh kWh Proposed sales; sales;

Annex C: C: Annex

FullyAccomplished Accomplished Supplier Supplier and and Transmission Transmission Data Data Sheet; Sheet; Fully

Annex D: D: Annex

Power Bills Bills from from Suppliers, Suppliers, Proof Proof of of Payment Payment and and Debit/Credit Debit/Credit Power Memo; Memo;

Annex E: E: Annex

FullyAccomplished Accomplished Statistical Statistical Data Data Sheet; Sheet; Fully

Annex F: F: Annex

Report on on Other Other Implemented ImplementedAdjustments; Adjustments; Report

Annex G: G: Annex

FullyAccomplished AccomplishedActual Actual Implemented Implemented Rates Rates Sheet; Sheet; Fully

Annex H: H: Annex

FullyAccomplished Accomplished Lifeline Lifeline Discount Discount Sheet; Sheet; Fully

Annex I:I: Annex

Consumers Bills Bills per per Customer Customer Class Class (Non-Lifeliner); (Non-Lifeliner); Consumers

Annex J: J: Annex

Consumer Bills Bills per per Lifeline Lifeline Bracket; Bracket; Consumer

Annex K: K: Annex

Fully Accomplished Accomplished Uniform Uniform Reportorial Reportorial Requirement Requirement (URR) (URR) Fully Template; and and Template;

Annex L: L: Annex

Rate Computations Computations (Generation, (Generation, Transmission, Transmission, System System Loss Loss Rate and Lifeline Lifeline Rate) Rate) and PRAYER PRAYER

WHEREFORE, itit is is respectfully respectfully prayed prayed that that the the Honorable Honorable Commission, Commission, WHEREFORE, after due due notice, notice, hearing hearing and and examination, examination, confirm confirm and and approve approve Applicant’s Applicant’s overoverafter and under-recoveries for the January 2014 to December 2016 billing periods and and and under-recoveries for the January 2014 to December 2016 billing periods authorize SEZ SEZ to to recover recover from from its its customers customers the the amount amount of of PhP PhP 9,838,726.16 9,838,726.16 as as authorize net under-recovery. under-recovery. net Other reliefs reliefs just just and and equitable equitable under under the the premises premises are are likewise likewise prayed prayed for. for.

Other Taguig City City for for Pasig Pasig City, City, 22 22 March March 2017.

2017.

Taguig SUBIC ENERZONE ENERZONE CORPORATION CORPORATION SUBIC Applicant Applicant By: By: KATRINAM. M. PLATON PLATON KATRINA PTR No. No. 3245088 3245088 // January January 12, 12, 2017 2017 // Taguig Taguig City City PTR IBP Lifetime Lifetime No. No. 706864 706864 // Makati Makati City City IBP MCLE Compliance Compliance No. No. V-0018713/April V-0018713/April 13, 13, 2016 2016 MCLE Roll No. No. 38338 38338 Roll

PAUL B. B. SORIÑO SORIÑO PAUL PTR No. No. 3245089 3245089 // January January 12, 12, 2017 2017 // Taguig Taguig City City PTR IBP No. No. 1063741 1063741 // January January 12, 12, 2017 2017 // RSM RSM IBP MCLE Compliance Compliance No. No. V-0002591 V-0002591 // June June 9, 9, 2014 2014 MCLE Roll No. No. 55895 55895 Roll

LEW CARLO CARLO C. C. LOPEZ LOPEZ LEW PTR No. No. 3245087 3245087 // January January 12, 12, 2017 2017 // Taguig Taguig City City PTR IBP No. No. 1063739 1063739 /January /January 12, 12, 2017 2017 // RSM RSM IBP MCLE Compliance Compliance No. No. V-0014960 V-0014960 // March March 4, 4, 2016 2016 MCLE Roll No. No. 59128 59128 Roll

MA. MARGARITA MARGARITAS. S. LIM LIM MA. PTR No. No. 3245086 3245086 // January January 12, 12, 2017 2017 // Taguig Taguig City City PTR IBP No. No. 1063740 1063740 /January /January 12, 12, 2017 2017 // PPLM PPLM IBP MCLE Compliance Compliance No. No. V-0016454 V-0016454 // March March 31, 31, 2016 2016 MCLE Roll No. No. 64612 64612 Roll Floor, NAC NAC Tower Tower 16thth Floor, 16 St., Bonifacio Bonifacio Global, Global, Taguig Taguig City City 32ndnd St., 32 Telephone No. No. 886-2348/Fax 886-2348/Fax No. No. 886-2405 886-2405 Telephone VERIFICATION VERIFICATION AND CERTIFICATION CERTIFICATION OF OF NON-FORUM NON-FORUM SHOPPING SHOPPING AND Frederick L. L. Coronel, Coronel, after after having having been been duly duly sworn sworn in in accordance accordance with with law, law, I,I, Frederick depose and and say: say: depose 1.

That II am am the the Manager Manager for for Utility Utility Economics Economics and and Regulatory Regulatory Affairs Affairs of of 1.

That SUBICENERZONE ENERZONECORPORATION CORPORATION(SEZ), (SEZ),the theapplicant applicantin inthe theabove-entitled above-entitledcase; case; SUBIC 2.

2.

ThatIIhave havecaused causedthe thepreparation preparationand andfiling filingof ofthe theforegoing foregoingApplication; Application; That

3.

That II have have read read the the same same and and that that all all the the allegations allegations contained contained therein therein 3.

That are true true and and correct correct of of my my own own personal personal knowledge knowledge and and belief belief and/or and/or based based on on are authentic records records of of SEZ; SEZ; authentic 4.

That SEZ SEZ has has not not commenced commenced any any other other action action or or proceeding proceeding involving involving 4.

That the same same issue/s issue/s with with the the Supreme Supreme Court, Court, the the Court Court of ofAppeals Appeals or or any any other other tribunal tribunal the or agency; agency; or 5.

That, to to the the best best of of my my knowledge, knowledge, no no such such action action or or proceeding proceeding 5.

That, involving the the same same issue/s issue/s is is pending pending with with the the Supreme Supreme Court, Court, the the Court Court of ofAppeals Appeals involving or any any other other tribunal tribunal or or agency; agency; and and or 6.

That should should II hereafter hereafter learn learn that that aa similar similar action action or or proceeding proceeding has has 6.

That been filed filed or or is is pending pending with with the the Supreme Supreme Court, Court, the the Court Court of of Appeals Appeals or or any any other other been tribunal or or agency, agency, II hereby hereby undertake undertake to to report report such such fact fact within within five five (5) (5) days days to to this this tribunal Honorable Commission.

Commission.

Honorable Further affiant affiant sayeth sayeth none. none.

Further IN WITNESS WITNESS WHEREOF, WHEREOF, II have have hereunto hereunto affixed affixed my my signature signature this this 23rd 23rd day day IN of March March 2017, 2017, in in Olongapo Olongapo City, City, Philippines.

Philippines. of FREDERICK L. L. CORONEL CORONEL FREDERICK Affiant Affiant SUBSCRIBED AND AND SWORN SWORN to to before before me me this this 23rd 23rd day day of of March March 2017 2017 in in SUBSCRIBED OlongapoCity, City,Philippines.

Philippines. Affiant Affiantexhibited exhibitedto tome mehis hisDriver’s Driver’sLicense LicenseNo. No.C-09-88C-09-88Olongapo 027452 issued issued by by the the Land LandTransportation Transportation Office Office and and his his Community CommunityTax Tax Certificate Certificate 027452 No. 8815894 8815894 issued issued in in Olongapo Olongapo City City on on February February 21, 21, 2017 2017 No. ..

Doc. No. No. 506; 506; Doc. Page No. No. 103; 103; Page Book No. No. VIII; VIII; Book Series of of 2017.

2017.

Series 11 22 33

Article22ofofERC ERCResolution ResolutionNo No16, 16,Series Seriesofof2009.

2009.

Article Article4,4,Ibid.

Ibid.

Article Entitled“A “AResolution ResolutionAmending AmendingSection Section44ofofArticle Article44and andSection Section11ofofArticle Article55ofofthe theRules RulesGoverning Governingthe theAutomatic AutomaticCost Cost Entitled Adjustmentand andTrue-Up True-UpMechanisms Mechanismsand andCorresponding CorrespondingConfirmation ConfirmationProcess Processfor forDistribution DistributionUtilities”.

Utilities”.

Adjustment (MS-MAR.28, 28,2017) 2017) (MS-MAR.

MORE RESTROOMS. Rotary Club of Muntinlupa North officials, in cooperation with the local government of Muntinlupa, inaugurated eight comfort rooms in Muntinlupa Elementary School, Poblacion last March 15. Muntinlupa Mayor Jaime Fresnedi (pictured left) led the painting of the restroom’s outer walls with Councilor Stephanie Teves and Rotary Muntinlupa officials. Also attending the event were Rotary Club North ASTP Elvie Sanchez Quiazon, RTN Rose Morada, ASTP Sim Dayrit, Gov. Edna Sutter-AST Governor, District 3830-Rotary Club RTN Baby Bunye, PDG Herman Gamboa, Poblacion Barangay Chairman Allen Ampaya, and Schools Division Superintendent Dr. Mauro de Gulan.

PEZA bullish on economic zones

By Dexter A. See BAGUIO CITY – The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) is bullish on the establishment and identification of potential economic zones in the different parts of the country to help propel the development of reRepublicof ofthe thePhilippines Philippines Republic REGIONALTRIAL TRIALCOURT COURT REGIONAL NationalCapital CapitalJudicial JudicialRegion Region National Branch 117, Pasay City Branch 117, Pasay City

All persons persons having having an an interest interest All the subject subject property property are are hereby hereby inin the directed to to appear appear on on the the scheduled scheduled directed hearing and and file file such such claim claim as as they they hearing mayhave havebefore beforethis thisCourt.

Court. may

Let this this Order Order be be published, published, Let prior to to the the hearing, hearing, once once aa week week prior for three three (3) (3) consecutive consecutive weeks weeks inin aa for newspaper of of general general circulation circulation for for newspaper allconcerned concernedto toappear, appear,oppose opposeand/ and/ all orcontest contestsaid saidpetition. petition. Likewise, Likewise,let let or thisOrder Orderand andcopy copyof ofthe thepetition petitionbe be this posted at at the the main main entrance entrance of of the the posted Pasay City City Hall, Hall, the the Bulletin Bulletin Board Board Pasay of the the Hall Hall of of Justice, Justice, Pasay Pasay City, City, of the Office Office of of the the Register Register of of Deeds Deeds LRCCase CaseNo. No.R-PSY-17-24879-CV R-PSY-17-24879-CV the LRC ofPasay PasayCity Cityand andat atthe theplace placewhere where of the subject subject property property isis located located at at the least fifteen fifteen (15) (15) days days immediately immediately least MARKH. H.NAGTALON, NAGTALON, MARK precedingthe theaforesaid aforesaidhearing. hearing. The The preceding Petitioner.

Petitioner. publicationand andposting postingshall shallbe beat atthe the publication x--------------------------------------x expense x--------------------------------------x expenseof ofthe thepetitioner. petitioner.

IN RE: RE: PETITION PETITION FOR FOR IN THE ISSUANCE ISSUANCE AND/OR AND/OR THE REPLACEMENTOF OFSECOND SECOND REPLACEMENT OWNER’S DUPLICATE DUPLICATE COPY COPY OWNER’S OF TRANSFER TRANSFER CERTIFICATE CERTIFICATE OF OFTITLE TITLENO. NO.15253 15253 OF

ORDER ORDER On January January 4, 4, 2017, 2017, aa verified verified On petition was was filed filed and and raffled raffled to to this this petition Court for the ISSUANCE AND/ Court for the ISSUANCE AND/ OR REPLACEMENT REPLACEMENT OF OF SECOND SECOND OR OWNER’S DUPLICATE DUPLICATE COPY COPY OF OF OWNER’S TRANSFER CERTIFICATE CERTIFICATE OF OF TITLE TITLE TRANSFER NO. 15253 of the Registry of Deeds for NO. 15253 of the Registry of Deeds for Pasay City, City, covering covering aa parcel parcel of of land land Pasay located in Pasay City, Metro Manila, located in Pasay City, Metro Manila, consisting of of Four Four Hundred Hundred Fifty Fifty (450) (450) consisting squaremeters, meters,more moreor orless, less,registered registered square the names names of of Spouses Spouses Augusto Augusto inin the Bautista,Jr. Jr.and andPurita PuritaBaker-Bautista.

Baker-Bautista.

Bautista,

Furnish copy copy of of this this Order Order Furnish together with with aa copy copy of of the the petition petition together the Register Register of of Deeds Deeds of of Pasay Pasay City, City, the the Office Office of of the the Solicitor Solicitor General, General, the the Office Office of of the the Land Land Registration Registration the Authority, the the Land Land Management Management Authority, Bureau, as as well well as as Augusto Augusto Jewel Jewel Bureau, A.Bautista BautistaIII IIIand andSultan SultanHuzur HuzurR.S. R.S. A. Rusulla. Furnish Furnish also also the the petitioner petitioner Rusulla. andhis hiscounsel counselcopy copyof of this thisOrder.

Order. and The Register Register of of Deeds Deeds of of Pasay Pasay The City may may file file comment/opposition comment/opposition to to City thesubject subjectpetition petitionwithin withinfifteen fifteen(15) (15) the daysfrom fromreceipt receiptof ofthis thisOrder.

Order. days

SOORDERED. ORDERED. SO appearing that that the the petition petition isis ItIt appearing sufficient inin form form and and substance, substance, let let sufficient PasayCity, City,Metro MetroManila, Manila,January January Pasay the hearing hearing thereof thereof be be set set on on April April 4, 4, the 11,2017.

2017.

2017at at1:30 1:30o’clock o’clockin inthe theafternoon afternoon 11, 2017 before this this Court Court located located at at Rm. Rm. 406, 406, before (Sgd.)EUGENIO EUGENIOG. G.DELA DELACRUZ CRUZ (Sgd.) 4thFloor, Floor,Hall Hallof ofJustice, Justice,F.B. F.B.Harrison Harrison 4th PresidingJudge Judge Presiding St.,Pasay PasayCity.

City.

St., (MS-Mar.21, 21,28 28&&Apr. Apr.4, 4,2017) 2017) (MS-Mar.

mote villages and contribute to improving the living condition of the people around the archipelago.

PEZA Director-General Charito Plaza said various economic zones could be established by the PEZA, in coordination with the concerned local governments and even private landowners, to help generate employment opportunities for residents and facilitate the trickle-down effect of development projects to the rural areas of the country.

Among the possible economic zones that could be established in various parts of the country include agro-industrial economic zones, aqua-marine economic zones, and agro-forestry economic zones, all having a minimum land area of 25 hectares and ecotourism economic zones with a minimum land area of five hectares.

“We want to open our economic zones to prospective investors to help build a robust economy. Various parts of the country have their own potential economic zones that is why we are currently working on the possibility of putting up a PEZA map ready for aggressive promotion in the international market,” Plaza stressed.

PEZA is currently conducting aggressive consultations with concerned government agencies and local governments for the finalization of a map identifying existing economic zones in the different parts of the country where prospective investors can infuse their capital.

Because of its positive effect, the “Basura Itinapon, Dapat Ayusin – Kikita Ka Na, Iwas Sakit at Dagdag Allowance Pa” (Bida Kid) program was implemented in public elementary schools in the province. It encouraged schoolchildren in responsible solid waste management even in their young age.

The Bida Kid program encourages public students and their parents to collect and gather recyclable materials. They are brought to schools every Friday and subjected to a merit system, where every kilo of recyclable materials is equivalent to one point.

The points are reflected on each pupil’s Bida Card Kits given by school officials.

The points earned are then converted into equivalent packages, such as school supplies, personal accessories, and grocery items.

The BIDA KID program is now institutionalized in public elementary schools through the Department of Education (DepEd) and junk shop operators in the province.

“We are very glad that it gained overwhelming support from school officials, students, the business sector and parents as well,” Padilla said.

In 2014, Ruth Padilla, who won the gubernatorial post, made the SWMP as one of her priority programs. She asked the help of the provincial board to enact of an ordinance declaring every November each year as Environmental Awareness Month Celebration in Nueva Vizcaya.

This ordinance put the 275 barangays of the province in the spotlight, as one of the highlights of the monthly celebration was the Search for “Makakalikasang” Barangays (Environment-Friendly Villages).

“This search evaluates the programs, projects and activities of barangays in support of the SWMP, environmental protection and climate change mitigation and adaptation,” Padilla explained.

Through the search, good practices and unique initiatives are documented and rated by a team of evaluators, who personally visit their entries. They are also shared as excellent program and project models, which can be adopted by other barangays.

Gov. ’ Espino cites ‘Class of Achievers’ LINGAYEN – They may be elderly, but they’re “a fresh wind who can rev up tourism in Pangasinan.”

Thus said Gov. Amado ‘Pogi’ I. Espino III as he cited the group known as the “Class of Achievers” way back in their grade school days at the St. Columban’s Academy, Lingayen, then run by Irish nuns, some of whom were graduates of Sorbonne and Oxford universities.

Espino lauded the group “for attaining heights of achievements” even as he asked them to promote the province’s various tourist destinations.

The members of the group, led by their class valedictorian -book author, social philosopher, educator, and visual artist Margarita Ventenilla-Hamada, who founded the Harvent Schools in Lingayen and Dagupan City – held their reunion recently.

They went on a tour binge, and enjoyed the splendor of the San Roque power dam, a huge eco-park lush with vegetation and picnic huts in San Manuel town; the scenically romantic four-hectare arboretum of former Environment Secretary Vic Ramos; and the “nature church” in Baay, Lingayen, designed by multi-awarded architect Ben Soriano.

From there, the “Class of Achievers” explored the breath-taking mountain views of Mapita in Aguilar and the awesome Riverside restaurant in Banyaga, Bugallon -- where every summer, water adventure sports such as wind surfing, jet-ski riding and kayaking lure tourists on the clear river, the banks of which were developed by former governor, now Fifth District Rep. Amado T. Espino Jr. into a blissful evening promenaders’ lane.

Also in the group’s reunion tourism itinerary were the magnificent Sison auditorium within the Capitol complex in Lingayen, which is likened to the Royal Albert Hall of London; the historic Lingayen Cathedral; and the majestic residence of Dr. and Mrs. Titus Arcinue, built and incorporated by Ben Soriano into the ruins of the old Colegio de Sto. Rosario.

With Ms. Hamada in the “Class of Achievers” are former Energy Secretary Francisco Viray; former Lingayen Mayor Nolan Evangelista; Alberto Jimenez, head of the Rural Bank of Mangaldan; lawyer Vicente Jimenez, a San Beda College magna-cum-laude alumnus; chess master Ricardo Yuson; Araceli Soriano-Manaloto, who was head of Philippine National Bank in New York; Marirose Sison-Garcia, who retired as Vice President of Citibank in Florida and is now a Director of the Asian Institute of Management; Carmen Martinez-Pascual, civic leader and wife of past University of the Philippines president Alfredo Pascual; Catherine Badua-Fianza, wife of former traffic czar Gen. Florencio Fianza; and Mariska Angeles Castillo, wife of contractor Melquiades Castillo Jr., among a long list of successful professionals here and abroad.

CYAN MAGENTA MAGENTA YELLOW YELLOW BLACK BLACK CYAN

World

TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 2017

C3

Cyclone bears down on Australia T

OWNSVILLE―Thousands of people including tourists were evacuated Monday as northeast Australia braced for a powerful cyclone packing destructive winds, with warnings of major structural damage and surging tides.

PROTEST AGAINST CORRUPTION. Opposition supporters rally against corruption in central Saint Petersburg on March 26, 2017. Thousands of Russians demonstrated across the country to protest against corruption, defying the bans on the rallies that were called by prominent Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny , who was arrested along with scores of others. Navalny called for the protests after publishing a detailed report this month accusing Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev of controlling a property empire through a shadowy network of non-profit organizations. AFP

Arrest of ousted president sought SEOUL―South Korean prosecutors sought an arrest warrant on Monday for ousted president Park Geun-Hye, days after questioning her over the corruption and abuse of power scandal that brought her down.

Park, 65, had her removal from office confirmed by the country’s top court earlier this month, ending her executive immunity, and her prosecution has been a key demand of the millions of people who took to the streets to protest against her.

The former president is accused of multiple offenses including bribery, leaking government information and abuse of power in the scandal.

“The accused abused her enormous power and status as president to receive bribes from companies or to infringe upon the rights to freedom of corporate management, and leaked important confidential information on state affairs.

These are grave issues,” the prosecutors said in a statement.

“A large amount of evidence has been collected so far but the accused is denying most of the charges, and there is a risk of destroying evidence in the future,” it said.

Choi Soon-Sil, Park’s secret confidante at the heart of the scandal, is already on trial for forcing top local firms to “donate” nearly $70 million to non-profit foundations which she allegedly used for personal gain.

Prosecutors said it would be “counter to the principle of fair-

ness” if Park was not arrested.

The Seoul Central District Court will review their request on Thursday, they said.

If the warrant is approved, Park will become the third former leader to be arrested over corruption in Asia’s fourth-largest economy, where politics and big business have long been closely tied.

Two former army-backed leaders who ruled in the 1980s and 1990s -- Chun Doo-Hwan and Roh Tae-Woo -- both served jail terms for charges including bribery after they retired.

Another ex-leader, Roh MooHyun, committed suicide in 2009 by jumping off a cliff after he was questioned over graft allegations.

Park was impeached by parliament in December, as the scandal combined with mounting economic and social frustrations to trigger huge candlelit demonstrations. The Constitutional Court later upheld the decision.

Last week she underwent a marathon 21-hour interrogation session at the prosecutors’ office, having refused repeated requests to be interviewed while in power.

Park allegedly offered governmental favors to top businessmen who enriched Choi, including Samsung heir Lee Jae-Yong, who was arrested and charged with bribery last month.

She is also accused of letting her friend, a high school graduate with no title or security clearance, handle a wide range of state affairs including nomination of top officials. AFP

TOKYO―An avalanche killed eight high school students on a mountain-climbing trip in Japan Monday, with more than 30 people reportedly injured.

More than 100 troops have been deployed in a major rescue effort after the avalanche hit ski slopes in Tochigi prefecture, with television footage showing rescuers climbing mountains as ambulances stood by.

A group of 52 students and 11 teachers from seven high schools were on a three-day mountaineering outing when disaster struck, according to authorities.

A warning had been issued for heavy snow and possible avalanches from Sunday until Monday in the area north of Tokyo, with the local weather agency forecasting snowfall of some 30 centimeters (about 12 inches).

At least eight students, mostly from Otawara High School in Tochigi, were found with no vital signs, an official with a prefectural disaster task force told AFP. In Japan, deaths in such cir-

cumstances are not announced officially until doctors can confirm them.

More than 30 people have been injured according to news agency Kyodo.

“We still don’t know how many teachers are included among the victims,” an official said.

The avalanche struck in the town of Nasu 120 kilometers north of Tokyo on the final day of the excursion, Tochigi authorities said, adding that soldiers were sent for rescue operations at the request of the prefecture’s governor.

“This is an annual event and we never had a major accident before,” one of the teachers told Jiji Press. “I am really shocked.”

The ski resort had been closed for the season, according to the operator’s website, with the lift stopped and no skiers at the site.

But some of its facilities were made available for the high school mountaineering trip organized by local physical education authorities. AFP

Mackay were urged to head to higher ground amid fears the storm could cause a tidal surge up to 2.5 metres (8.0 feet).

Debbie was currently a category three cyclone but was expected to build to a four by the time it crosses land somewhere between Townsville and Proserpine, with wind gusts of up to 280 kph near the center, the meteorology bureau said.

“Storm surge is also a risk factor, and if the cyclone crosses the coast around high tide this will enhance these effects,” it said.

The cyclone is forecast to hit at around 8am (2200 GMT Monday), with high tide in the area at 9.44am.

More than 100 schools have been closed, along with local ports.

Palaszczuk pleaded with residents to do as emergency service personnel asked, amid reports some were refusing to leave, an appeal echoed by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

“If you have received an official evacuation order, you and your family must leave immediately,” he said.

But some were adamant they were staying, with Mike Kennedy saying he believed many in the small community of Cungulla planned to remain. AFP

Manila

Standard

Republic of the Philippines TODAY ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION Pacific Center Building San Miguel Avenue, Pasig City

IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION FOR CONFIRMATION AND APPROVAL OF CALCULATIONS OF OVER OR UNDER RECOVERIES IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF AUTOMATIC COST ADJUSTMENTS AND TRUE-UP MECHANISMS COVERING THE PERIOD 2014 TO 2016, PURSUANT TO ERC RESOLUTION NO. 16, SERIES OF 2009 AS AMENDED BY RESOLUTION NO. 21, SERIES OF 2010, AND ERC RESOLUTION 23, SERIES OF 2010

Folder 5

ERC CASE NO. _________

APPLICANT BUSUANGA ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE, INC. (BISELCO),through counsel, unto this Honorable Commission, most respectfully alleges, that: THE APPLICANT 1.

BISELCO is anon-stock, non-profit electric cooperative duly organized and existing under and by virtue of the laws of the Republic of the Philippines, with principal offices at Barangay Poblacion 6, Coron, Palawan; 2.

It holds an exclusive franchise from the National Electrification Commission, to operate an electric light and power distribution service in certain municipalities of the province of Palawan, namely: Coron, Busuanga, Culion and Linapacan.

LEGAL BASES FOR THE APPLICATION 3.

ERC Resolution No. 16, Series of 2009 as amended by Resolution No. 21, Series of 2010 establishes the procedure for the automatic recovery or refund of pass through costs and the confirmation process that would govern the automatic cost adjustment and true-up mechanisms approved by the Honorable Commission, with the objective of ensuring appropriate recovery of the pass through costs in an efficient manner and to put in place a fair and transparent process for the confirmation of the automatic cost adjustments implemented by Distribution Utilities and the true-up of other pass-through charges, involving Generation Rate, Transmission Rate, System Loss Rate, Lifeline Rate Recovery, Inter-Class Cross-Subsidy Removal, or Treatment of Prompt Payment Discount, as the case may be;

Net Results

Computation on how the computed pass-through charges were derived (if not implementing the URRcomputed rates)

NATURE OF DOCUMENT

Annexes Q and series

Proof of furnishing copies of the Application to the Sangguniang Bayan of Coron and SangguniangPanlalawigan of Palawan

Annexes R and series

Proof of publication of the Application in a newspaper in circulation in the applicant’s franchise area or where it principally operates

Generation Rate (GR) System Loss Rate (SLR)

Actual Revenue (PhP)

Lifeline Rate (LR) Senior Citizen Discount and Subsidy

276,391,331.67

(1,960,410.20)

39,945,037.64

2,427,788.24

74,171.60

30,588.78

(43,582.81)

315,591,062.80

1,165,306.68

276,391,331.67

(1,960,410.20)

42,372,825.88

39,945,037.64

2,427,788.24

Subsidy (PhP)

1,517,406.75

775,895.30

741,511.45

74,171.60

30,588.78

(43,582.81)

318,246,982.51

315,591,062.80

1,165,306.68

DECHAVEZ & EVANGELISTA LAW OFFICES1 Counsel for the Applicant BusuangaElectric Cooperative, Inc. (BISELCO) Unit 2008 Tycoon Centre Pearl Drive, Ortigas Center, Pasig City 1605 Tel. Nos. 9101587; 6619357 powerlawfirm@gmail.com By:

NELSON V. EVANGELISTA Roll of Attorneys No. 38075 PTR No. 2535714, February 08, 2017, Pasig City IBP Lifetime Member Roll No. 010192, Bulacan Chapter MCLE Compliance No. V - 0008307, June 3, 2015

741,511.45

318,246,982.51

274,430,921.47

Pasig City, Metro Manila, March 25,2017.

Subsidy (PhP) 775,895.30

(Over)/Under Recovery (PhP)

Other reliefs, just and equitable in the premises are likewise prayed for.

(Over)/Under Recovery (PhP)

42,372,825.88

Actual Revenue (PhP)

Discount (PhP)

Net Results

274,430,921.47

Senior Citizen Discount and Subsidy

Annex P

ANNEX MARKINGS

The results of its calculations are presented hereunder, as follows:

1,517,406.75

Submitted URR for the year

Allowable Cost (PhP)

6.

Applying the formulas provided under Resolution 16, Series of 2009 as amended by Resolution 21, Series of 2010 and Resolution 23, Series of 2010, applicant made calculations of the over recoveries charged or underrecoveries incurred as against its customers, in the implementation of certain automatic cost adjustments and true-up mechanisms, covering the period January 2014 to December 2016;

Lifeline Rate (LR)

Annex O

WHEREFORE, premises considered, it is respectfully prayed of this Honorable Commission, that after due notice and hearing, BISELCO’s calculations of over or underrecoveries in the implementation of subject automatic cost adjustments and true-up mechanisms covering the period January 2014 to December 2016, made pursuant to ERC Resolution 16, Series of 2009 as amended by Resolution 21, Series of 2010 and ERC Resolution 23, Series of 2011, be confirmed and approved, and the cooperative be allowed to refund the over recoveries or collectthe under recoveries, as the case maybe, to or from its customers, summarized as follows, to wit:

OVER OR UNDER RECOVERIES OF ALLOWABLE COSTS

Discount (PhP)

Senior Citizen consumer bills

PRAYER

5.

Foregoing resolutions further require the distribution utilities to file their respective consolidated applications once every three (3) years. Hence, the filing of the instant application, covering the period January 2014 to December 2016.

Generation Rate (GR)

Annex N OTHER DOCUMENTS

11.

Considering the foregoing, it is respectfully prayed that the applicant’s calculations of over or under recoveries in the implementation of subject automatic cost adjustments and true-up mechanisms be confirmed and approved, and the cooperative be allowed to refund the over recoveries or collect the under recoveries, as the case maybe, to or from its customers.

4.

On the other hand, ERC Resolution 23, Series of 2010, adopts the rules implementing the discounts to qualified senior citizen end-users and subsidy from subsidizing end-users on electricity consumption;

Allowable Cost (PhP)

Consumer bills per lifeline bracket (Lifeliner)

10.

Further, in compliance with the pre-filing requirements of the Honorable Commission, applicant is likewise submitting the following documents to form integral parts hereof, to wit:

APPLICATION

7.

Annex M

9.

Additionally, applicant is submitting herewith in support of the instant application, the required electronic copies of the Application and foregoing data and documents.

BUSUANGA ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE, INC.(BISELCO), Applicant. x---------------- --- --- --------x

System Loss Rate (SLR)

Eight students killed in avalanche in Japan

Cyclone Debbie has been forming off the coast of Queensland state over recent days, the Bureau of Meteorology said, and is expected to make landfall as a category four storm -- on a scale of five -- after daybreak Tuesday.

Residents, who have been sandbagging and boarding up homes, were being told to prepare for the worst storm to pummel the state since Cyclone Yasi in 2011, which ripped houses from their foundations and devastated crops.

“This is going to be a nasty cyclone,” said Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, adding that structural damage and power outages were likely.

“These wind gusts are going to be absolutely huge and my primary concern is making sure that families are safe.”

So far more than 3,500 people have been evacuated between the towns of Home Hill and Proserpine, around 100 kilometers south of Townsville, a tourist hot spot used to access the Great Barrier Reef.

Another 2,000 in the coastal town of Bowen were also on the move, Palaszczuk said, with cyclone shelters available for those with nowhere else to go.

Thousands more in low-lying areas of

SUPPORTING DATA AND DOCUMENTS

VERIFICATION AND CERTIFICATION OF NON FORUM-SHOPPING

8.

In support of the foregoing, applicant is submitting the following data and documents covering the period January 2014 to December 2016, attached hereto and made integral parts hereof as follows:

Ruth L. Galang, of legal age, Filipino and with office address at the main office of the Busuanga Island Electric Cooperative, Inc. (BISELCO), Barangay Poblacion 6, Coron, Palawan, after being sworn to according to law, depose and state that: 1.

I am the General Manager of the Busuanga Island Electric Cooperative, Inc. (BISELCO),duly authorized to represent the cooperative in filing the instant application as evidenced by the corresponding Board Resolution attached hereto and made integral part hereof;

FOLDER

ANNEX MARKINGS

NATURE OF DOCUMENT

Folder 1

Annex A

Summary of over/under recoveries computation for the entire period (Per charges and yearly basis)

Annex B

Proposed scheme of refund/collect using the latest kWh sales

2.

I caused the preparation and filing of the foregoing Application; have read the allegations contained therein, and certify that the same are true and correct based on my personal knowledge and on authentic records; and

Annex C

Fully accomplished Supplier and Transmission Data Sheet for the year

Annex D

Power Bills from Suppliers (Power bill, proof of payment, Adjusted bill/ Debit or CreditMemo)

3.

BISELCO has not heretofore commenced any other action or proceedings involving the same issues and parties before any court, tribunal or quasi-judicial agency; to the best of my knowledge no such action or proceeding is pending, and if I should learn that the same or similar action or proceeding has been filed or is pending, I undertake to report such fact to this Honorable Commission, within five (5) days therefrom.

Folder 2

Folder 3

Folder 4

SUPPLIER DATA

Further, affiant sayeth naught.

STATISTICAL DATA Annex E

Fully accomplished Statistical Data Sheet for the year

Annex F

Summary of Pilferage Cost Recoveries/Manifestation if no PCR

Annex G

Report of Adjustments

Annex H

MFSR – Sections A, B and E

implemented

Other

RUTH L. GALANG Affiant SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this 25th day of March 2017, by the affiant who exhibited to me her SSSI.D. bearing No.03-8520904-7.

Notary Public

ACTUAL IMPLEMENTED RATES DATA Annex I

Fully accomplished Actual implemented Rates Data Sheet for the year

Annex J

Fully accomplished Lifeline Discount Sheet for the year

Annex K

Fully accomplished Senior Citizen Discount Sheet for the year

Annex L

Consumer bills per customer class (Non-Lifeliner)

Doc. No. 186 ; Page No. 39 ; Book No. XXVIII; Series of 2017.

1

Pursuant to Office of the Court Administrator Circular No. 56-2015, hereunder are the MCLE Compliance Numbers of the undersigned Firm’s name partners, to wit: Partners Joseph Ferdinand M. Dechavez Nelson V. Evangelista

MCLE Compliance No. V-0005240 V-0008307

Date of Issuance Jan. 7, 2015 June 3, 2015 (MS-MAR. 28, 2017)

Cesar Barrioquinto, Editor

C4

TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 2017

Kremlin critic faces court after protests

World

UN set to start talks on Nuke ban UNITED NATIONS―More than 100 countries are set to launch the first UN talks on a global nuclear weapons ban on Monday over objections from the major nuclear powers.

Some 123 UN members announced in October that they would launch the UN conference to negotiate a legally binding nuclear ban treaty, even as most of the world’s declared and undeclared nuclear powers voted against the talks.

Britain, France, Israel, Russia and the United States voted no, while China, India and Pakistan abstained.

Even Japan -- the only country to have suffered atomic attacks, in 1945 -- voted against the talks, saying the lack of consensus over the negotiations could undermine progress on effective nuclear disarmament.

The countries leading the effort include Austria, Ireland, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa and Sweden. Hundreds of NGOs back their efforts.

They say the threat of nuclear disaster is growing thanks to mounting tensions fanned by North Korea’s nuclear weapons program and an unpredictable new administration in Washington.

Supporters point to successful grassroots movements that led to the prohibition of land mines in 1997 and cluster munitions in 2008.

“I expect that this will take a long time, let’s not be naive,” Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom said at the UN last week. AFP

Airline sets off Twitter storm WASHINGTON―United Airlines has run into a social media storm after it barred two teenage girls from boarding a flight in Denver because they were wearing leggings.

Another girl who was also wearing leggings was allowed to board the flight from Denver International Airport to Minneapolis after she changed, a witness said.

A United spokesman Jonathan Guerin told the New York Times that the two girls barred from flying “made an adjustment” to their clothing and were waiting for the next flight to Minneapolis. He did not know whether they made it aboard.

The incident was reported on Twitter by Shannon Watts -- founder of gun reform group Moms Demand Action -- who was a passenger at the airport waiting to board another flight to Mexico.

“She’s forcing them to change or put dresses on over leggings or they can’t board,” she said.

“Since when does @united police women’s clothing?”

“A 10-year-old girl in gray leggings,” she added of one of the girls. “She looked normal and appropriate.”

With that, the charges began to fly across the Twittersphere, with outraged travelers and celebrities weighing in with accusations of sexism and corporate ham-handedness.

“I have flown united before with literally no pants on. Just a top as a dress,” declared model Chrissy Teigen in one tweet.

“Next time I will wear only jeans and a scarf.”

United Airlines defended the gate agent’s decision in a series of tweets. AFP

‘DAY OF SILENCE.’ Balinese Hindu people prepare an effigy known as ‘Ogoh-Ogoh’ before a parade one day before ‘Silent Day’ in Denpasar on Indonesia’s resort island of Bali on March 27, 2017. The predominantly Hindu island of Bali in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-populated nation, will celebrate the ‘Day of Silence’ on March 28, locally known as Nyepi. AFP

MOSCOW―Top Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny was set to appear in court on Monday after he and more than 1,000 other people were arrested at an anti-corruption protest in Moscow.

The United States and the European Union voiced deep concern about the detentions, with the State Department describing them as an “affront to democracy”.

Navalny had called for the protests that swept the country Sunday after he published a report earlier this month accusing Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev of controlling a property empire through a murky network of nonprofit organizations.

As well as Moscow and Saint Petersburg, a number of provincial cities where protests are rarely seen also held demonstrations, attracting a significant number of minors born during President Vladimir Putin’s 17 years in power.

Navalny, who has announced plans to run for president in the 2018 election, was arrested as he was walking to the Moscow protest.

About 7,000 to 8,000 people demonstrated in the heart of the Russian capital, according to police, making it one of the biggest unauthorized rallies in recent years.

Navalny, who spent the night in police custody, could face up to 15 days in police cells for having called for unsanctioned protests, his spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh wrote on Twitter.

About 1,030 people were arrested at the Moscow rally, according OVD-Info, a website that monitors the detention of activists.

The vast majority were released overnight after being fined, while about 120 remained in police custody on Monday, OVD-Info said.

One policeman was hospitalized after suffering a head injury during the Moscow rally, the interior ministry said.

The European Union urged Russia to release the demonstrators “without delay”.

An EU spokesman said the police action had “prevented the exercise of basic freedoms of expression” association and peaceful assembly -- which are fundamental rights enshrined in the Russian constitution”. AFP

Hong Kong targets activists H ONG KONG―Police cracked down on Hong Kong democracy activists Monday saying they would be charged over the Umbrella Movement mass protests, a day after a pro-Beijing candidate was chosen as the city’s new leader.

Carrie Lam was selected as the new chief executive Sunday by a committee dominated by proChina voters, but promised to try to unify the deeply divided city.

The vote was dismissed as a sham by democracy campaigners who fear Beijing is tightening its grip on semi-autonomous Hong Kong and say Lam will be no different from its unpopular current leader, Leung Chun-ying.

Those concerns were heightened Monday when police informed several leading campaigners who took part in the Umbrella Movement of 2014 that they would be charged in connection with the rallies.

The protests saw tens of thousands take to the streets calling for fully free leadership elections, but failed to win concessions from Beijing.

Civic Party lawmaker Tanya Chan told AFP she had received a call from police Monday morning telling her she would be charged with causing a public nuisance, with a maximum sentence of seven years.

“They said it was related to the ‘illegal occupation’ of 2014,” she said, describing it as a “death kiss” from Leung, who will step down in July.

Chan said she had been arrested at the end of the protests, but had never been charged.

She will report to a police station later Monday and will go to court Thursday.

Democratic lawmakers said they would protest outside the police station Monday night.

Chan added she would take responsibility for participation

in “civil disobedience activity”, but said the timing undermined Lam’s unity pledge.

Activist Raphael Wong of the League of Social Democrats told AFP he would also be charged with public nuisance and blamed Leung after a call from police Monday.

“As Carrie Lam talks about unity, they are saying you don’t need it,” he told AFP. Professor Chan Kin-man, a founding member of Hong Kong’s Occupy Central, one of the groups behind the protests, also received a call Monday from police informing him of an impending charge and called the move “ridiculous”.

“It shows the government has no intention to heal the divisions,” Chan said.

Local media said police informed a total of nine activists that they would face charges.

Among them are reported to be the other two founders of Occupy Central, two student protesters and another lawmaker.

Chief executive-elect Lam did not directly respond over whether the move would further divide Hong Kong.

“Prosecution actions are undertaken independently by the department of justice,” she told reporters.

She repeated that she wanted unity, but said her approach “should not compromise the rule of law in Hong Kong”.

Pro-democracy campaigner Joshua Wong, one of the leaders of the Umbrella Movement, described the crackdown as “political persecution”. AFP

CHINA FASHION WEEK. A model parades a creation from POLY BRIGHT designed by Wang Fei at the China Fashion Week in Beijing on March 27, 2017. AFP

21 types of dinosaur tracks found in Australia SYDNEY―An “unprecedented” 21 different types of dinosaur tracks have been found on a stretch of Australia’s remote coastline, scientists said Monday, dubbing it the nation’s Jurassic Park.

Palaeontologists from the University of Queensland and James Cook University said it was the most diverse such discovery in the world, unearthed in rocks up to 140 millions years old in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

Steve Salisbury, lead author of a paper on the findings published in the Memoir of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, said the tracks were “globally unparalleled”.

“It is extremely significant, forming the primary record of non-avian dinosaurs in the western half of the continent and providing the only glimpse of Australia’s dinosaur fauna during the first half of the Early Cretaceous

Period,” he said.

“It’s such a magical place— Australia’s own Jurassic Park, in a spectacular wilderness setting.”

He added: “Among the tracks is the only confirmed evidence for stegosaurs in Australia. There are also some of the largest dinosaur tracks ever recorded.”

It was almost lost, with the Western Australian government in 2008 selecting the area as the preferred site for a massive liquid

natural gas processing precinct.

Alarmed, the region’s traditional Aboriginal custodians, the Goolarabooloo people, contacted Salisbury and his team to officially research what they knew was there.

They spent more than 400 hours investigating and documenting dinosaur tracks in the Walmadany area.

“We needed the world to see what was at stake,” Goolarabooloo official Phillip Roe said,

explaining the dinosaur tracks formed part of a songline that extends along the coast and then inland, tracing the journey of a Dreamtime creator being called Marala, the Emu man.

Aboriginal Australians have developed and are bound by highly complex belief systems -- known as the Dreamtime -- that interconnect the land, spirituality, law, social life and care of the environment. AFP

Isah V. Red, Editor Bernadette Lunas, Writer isahred@gmail.com TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 2017

Life CULTURE & MEDIA

D1

Antonio Catral Leaño’s

‘Descendants

Of Eden’ at ArtistSpace

A

T the ArtistSpace of Ayala Museum is Antonio Catral Leaño’s Descendants of Eden. Organized by Pinto Art Museum, the exhibit showcases Leaño’s latest creative foray into what he calls as “digital collage,” presenting, in surprising juxtapositions, appropriated photographs, maps, and scientific illustrations as well as painterly strokes to create searing narratives on the aspects of selfhood.

A major daily’s review of his previous show, East of Eden, calls the works “a multi-layered map; a generative system of signs; a palimpsest of text, images, gestural interventions and illustrations waiting to be deciphered.”

OUR ORIGIN. Visual artist Antonio Leaño’s digital collage aims to raise crucial questions on the origin of mankind.

On the heels of the success of East of Eden held at the Pinto Art Museum last year, Leaño continues to raise crucial questions on the origin of mankind, plumbing historical, biological, and artistic depths to reveal, at once, deep-seated fragmentation and intractable wholeness, ruptures and continuations, departures and returns.

For Leaño, as descendants of Eden, we are inherently migratory, spreading across

the four corners of the world, carrying our cargo of inheritance. This cargo is something we bear on the cellular level: the notion of good and evil, the impulse to create as well as destroy.

As one of the leading practitioners engaging social awareness through the language of various media, Leaño has always been on the lookout for points of connection between the individual and history, between history composed of various players and the story of mankind as a collective.

On view until April 5, Descendants of Eden is but a continuation of Leaño’s pursuit in defining the essential, unchanging qualities of the self against the background of the mutable postmodern and post-colonial conditions.

ArtistSpace of Ayala Museum is on Makati Avenue corner De la Rosa Street, Greenbelt Park, Makati City.

For inquiries on the exhibit, email artistspace@ayalafoundation.org. or contact Jenny Villanueva of Pinto Art Museum at 0927-7646270.– Carlomar Arcangel Daoana

DIGITAL MEDIA

YouTube creators’ meet

Top YouTube creators (backrow, from left): Janina Vela, Lloyd Cadena, Mikey Bustos, Gabe Bondoc, Jayden Rodrigues and Say Tioco. (front row, from left): Joanna Soh, Andrea Brillantes, Michelle Dy, Ana Victorino, Zendee, Anna Cay, Kristine Roces and Anne Clutz

AYALA Malls—the leading destination for shopping, entertainment and experiences—hosted a gathering of the country’s most dynamic YouTube creators at the YouTube Creators Meetup. Held on March 5 at the Glorietta Activity Center, the special event allowed fans and audiences to get up close and personal with top YouTube creators.

Opening the show were performances by talented up-and-coming YouTube creators: pop singer Karl Zarate, acoustic trio The Three of Us, singer and ukulele artist Renee Dominique; as well as an electrifying performance by 5th Gen, a singing group composed of winners of World Championships of the Performing Arts.

Over 500 fans filled the venue, and they shared their delight in seeing, hearing, and finally meeting their favorite YouTube creators. Hosted by Justin Quirino, the YouTube Creators Meetup brought together creators from different genres, starting with makeup mavens Say Tioco, Kristine Roces, Ana Victorino, Anne Clutz, Michelle Dy, and Anna Cay; along with teen sweetheart Janina Vela. These lovely ladies shared snippets of their inspiring journeys and encouraged other aspiring creators to embrace their own styles and beauty.

Bringing their signature humor to the stage were FilCanadian comedian Mikey Bustos and local funny man Lloyd Cadena. Musical performers were also present – with appearances by Fil-American artist Gabe Bondoc, and Zendee, a Filipina singer who garnered online fame after her video singing a Whitney Houston hit went

viral.

Making their way to Manila and joining the meetup were International YouTube creators – renowned Australian choreographer and dancer Jayden Rodrigues, and Malaysia’s lifestyle and fitness guru Joanna Soh. Ayala Malls is a keen advocate of innovation and creativity. Last year, Ayala Malls launched the YouTube Lounge in Glorietta, Greenbelt, Alabang Town Center, Market! Market!, TriNoma, and UP Town Center.

The YouTube Lounges in Ayala Malls offer mall-goers a cozy nook where they can relax, sit back and watch their favorite YouTube videos. But more than a place to get their YouTube fix, the YouTube Lounges are venues where mall-goers/aspiring creators can explore the different ways to create, connect, and express themselves.

Through the YouTube Lounge and initiatives like the YouTube Creator Roadshow, and YouTube Creators Meetup, Ayala Malls aims to further integrate the exciting digital lifestyles into the mall experience.

“We at Ayala Malls have always strived to give our patrons bigger, better and more exciting experiences,” shares Rowena Tomeldan, President of Ayala Malls. “Through these, Ayala Malls gives you more opportunities and avenues to celebrate the things that matter to you.”

For more information about Ayala Malls, subscribe to the Ayala Malls YouTube channel at I Love Ayala Malls; and follow Ayala Malls on social media: Facebook at facebook.com/AyalaMalls360; Twitter at @ AyalaMalls; Instagram at @iloveayalamalls.

Life

D2

MONDAY, MARCH 27, 2017 isahred@gmail.com

Over 40,000 art aficionados, art collectors, and millennial art enthusiasts trooped to the fourday Art Fair Philippines 2017 which showcased works from local and international galleries

Art Fair’s T record turnout

The fifth edition of AFP occupied four floors of The Link car park in Makati City

OPERA & CINEMA

CCP Met Opera in HD presents ‘Turandot’

his year’s edition of Art Fair Philippines (AFP) has further strengthened its position as the premium destination for modern and contemporary Philippine art in the world.

The four-day art fair saw a significant increase in number of visitors from 22,000 people in 2016 to over 40,000 art aficionados, from art collectors to students and millennial art enthusiasts this year.

The fifth edition of AFP that occupied four floors of The Link car park in Makati sold work from 46 galleries, not only from the Philippines, but also from neighboring countries such as Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

“Year on year, we strive to make the best of Philippine contemporary art accessible to more people, and continue

Bringing multimedia literacy to 100 schools

Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Metropolitan Opera in HD Season 4 presents Giacomo Puccini’s final opera ‘Turandot’

THE 5th offering of the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Metropolitan Opera in HD Season 4 features Giacomo Puccini’s Turandot on April 4, 6:30 p.m. at Greenbelt 3 Cinema 3.

Puccini’s final opera is an epic fairy tale set in China, of legend loosely based on a play by 18th-century Italian dramatist Carlo Gozzi.

Featuring a most unusual score with an astounding and innovative use of chorus and orchestra, it is still recognizably Puccini, bursting with instantly appealing melody. The unenviable task of completing the opera’s final scene upon Puccini’s sudden death was left to composer Franco Alfano.

Conductor Arturo Toscanini oversaw Alfano’s contribution and led the world premiere.

Nina Stemme takes on the title role of the proud princess of ancient China, whose riddles doom every suitor who seeks her hand, opposite Marco Berti as Calàf, the brave prince who sings “Nessun dorma” and wins her love. Anita Hartig and Leah Crocetto share the role of Liù, the faithful slave girl. Franco Zeffirelli’s golden production is conducted by Paolo Carignani.

The CCP’s Met Opera in HD series, in cooperation with The Filipinas Opera Society Foundation, Inc. features screenings of the latest operatic productions of the Metropolitan Opera in New York through High-Definition digital technology.

Next production scheduled for screening at Greenbelt 3 cinema is Tristan und Isolde (Richard Wagner) on May 9.

For more information, call Greenbelt 3 cinemas Customer Service Hotline: 757-7883 or CCP Sales and Promotions at 832-3706; e-mail address: ccpsalesandpromo@gmail.com.

Knowledge Channel Foundation, Inc. president Rina Lopez-Bautista and members of Rotary Club International turnover SkyDirect kits to students

OVER 200,000 students in various public schools in Luzon, Palawan, and parts of the Visayas will benefit from the proven efficiency of the modern multimedia tools that Knowledge Channel Foundation, Inc. (KCFI) has propagated for close to two decades.

The project entitled “100 for 100: The Knowledge Channel Project” is a partnership among Knowledge Channel Foundation, Inc., Rotary International, The Rotary Foundation, and Rotary Districts 3830 (Philippines), 3620 (South Korea), and 3500 (Taiwan). It was launched in two phases: first on Feb. 20 at Sto. Niño Elementary school in Paranaque, and second at the Muntinlupa National High School, Tunasan Annex, on March 3.

With the support of 60 Rotary Clubs, beneficiary public schools receive educational television systems via SKY’s direct-to-home service, SKYdirect or ABS-CBN TVplus, giving them access

to Knowledge Channel’s entire line-up of shows based on the K-12 curriculum of the Department of Education.

“With just one educational system, like a satellite dish or SKYdirect and ABS-CBN TV plus or a TV set, you’re already able to educate hundreds of thousands of students in many different subjects. Whether it’s English, Math, Science, Filipino, Araling Panlipunan; or all the different topics that are critical to a global Filipino like Reproductive Health, Peace Education, Climate Change, and Disaster Risk Reduction,” said Rina Lopez-Bautista, KCFI president.

Knowledge Channel Foundation also trains teachers and principals on how to maximize the use of multimedia in the classroom through LEEP or Learning Effectively through Enhanced and Evidence-based Pedagogies, a teacher training program developed with Dr. Fe Hidalgo, former secretary of the Department of Education.

to provide a massive venue for local artists to showcase their works with a spotlight that they deserve. And it’s apparent that with this year’s numbers we have met our goals,” said the fair’s co-founder Trickie Lopa. Together with Lisa Periquet and Dindin Araneta, they launched Art Fair Philippines in 2013.

Among the highlights of the fair were the Art Fair Ph/Projects, which featured interactive and thought-provoking installations by acclaimed Filipino visual artists such as Jose Tence Ruiz, Agnes Arellano, Elmer Borlongan, Tengal Drilon, Patricia Perez Eustaquio, Emmanuel Garibay, Dex Fernandez, Mark Justiniani, Erwin Romulo, and Maria Jeona Zoleta.

Art Fair Philippines 2017 also presented Art Fair Ph/Talks in partnership with the Ateneo Art Gallery and Museum Foundation of the Philippines.

“Over 600 people signed up for our talks, much more than we expected,” said Araneta.

The lineup of speakers included Canadian writer and sociologist of culture Dr. Sarah Thornton, Filipino historian, academic and journalist Professor Ambeth R. Ocampo, Ferran Barenblit, director of Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA), and Tobias Berger, head of art at Hong Kong’s revitalized Central Police Station (CPS). ”We’re excited for all the great things awaiting the vibrant Philippine art scene, and we’re looking forward to showcasing again the best of the best in Philippine contemporary art next year,” Periquet added.

Art Fair Philippines 2017 was copresented by Ayala Land, Bank of the Philippine Islands, Globe, Julius Baer, and Bench. Major sponsors are Make It Makati, Ayala Land Premiere, and Volkswagen.

“It’s very important for the teachers to be able to effectively use the multimedia learning resources by the Knowledge Channel,” says Lopez-Bautista. “There are a lot of new approaches in teaching that go beyond the blackboard. And being able to apply different strategies and methods in teaching is the key to learning.”

Aside from the global grant given by The Rotary Foundation and Rotary International, Rotary Club members involved in the project also volunteer their time to monitor, evaluate and help these schools. “What we are inaugurating today is more of a global brand project of The Rotary Foundation. Along with other organizations like Knowledge Channel Foundation Inc., we create various projects that involve several areas of focus. This one involves addressing the needs for basic education and literacy, thanks to Knowledge Channel,” said Red Laset, lead proponent of the project and president of the Rotary Club of Parañaque. Also present on March 3 were members of Rotary Club International District 3620 in Korea, including vice governor Ag Jeon Yong-Chul who said that education is one of the most important tools for progress.

The scope of the project will involve public schools within Rotary District 3830 as well as in other areas outside the district and Metro Manila. Sto. Niño Elementary School and Muntinlupa National High School, Tunasan Annex are the first two in a series of schools to receive educational television systems.

“Alam naman natin na ang mga bata ngayon ay mas exposed sa media. Mas gusto nila ‘yung napapanood nila sa TV,” said Beth Jose, English and Science teacher at Sto. Niño. “As teachers, mas magagamit namin ito as motivation sa mga bata kasi nakikita nila ang natututunan nila sa TV. Malaki ang maitutulong ng project na ito, kasi ‘yung nakikita nila ay hindi lang panay books o sulat, may interaction talaga.”

Founded in 1999, Knowledge Channel Foundation, Inc., is the only non-profit organization in the Philippines that offers curriculum-based, multimedia educational resources, and professional teacher-training to improve teaching skills, helping audiences learn better through technology.

FEU AYKON features world-renowned prima ballerina AS PART of its 89th anniversary celebration, Far Eastern University (FEU) continues its commitment to support the arts and culture through the annual AYKON, a program that introduces students to notable individuals who have been game changers of Philippine arts.

In the program, featured icons talk about their journey in perfecting their art and their contributions to enriching the Filipino culture.

Previous FEU AYKONs have included fashion designer Rajo Laurel, actress Nora Aunor, and chef Sandy Daza.

Joining the names of the FEU AYKON hall

of fame this year is prima ballerina Lisa Macuja-Elizalde who talked about her humble beginnings, struggles and successes, and her vision for ballet. With more than 40 years in ballet, Lisa aims to continue her legacy.

“All artists leave something behind through their art. We dancers leave behind a memory whenever we are on stage, without having to say a single word,” she said. Through her prestigious institution Ballet Manila, she aims to bring ballet to the people and the people to ballet.

Now on its third run, FEU AYKON continues to encourage students to be brave and work hard

in order to achieve the things they are passionate about.

“Our founder Dr. Nicanor Reyes has always believed that change happens through individuals who pursue to excel in their field, and AYKON aims to keep this legacy and mission alive. By giving our students an opportunity to listen to the stories of great Filipinos, we wish to inspire them to work hard towards becoming agents of change,” said FEU Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Maria Teresa Trinidad P. Tinio.

Far Eastern University, through its annual AYKON program, introduces prima ballerina Lisa Macuja-Elizalde to its students

TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 2017

T

U PUG Imatuy, a film by Arbi Barbarona won big in the full length category during the recent Sinag Maynila 2017 Film Festival’s Gabi ng Paranagal at the Samsung Hall at SM Aura Premier. It won six awards including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress award for the performance of Malona Sulatan. It was inspired by actual events in Mindanao where indigenous people have been subjected to abuse and attacks in the course of the government forces counterinsurgency campaign. Other Sinag award for the film: Best Screenplay for Arnel Mardoquio, Best Cinematography for Bryan Jimenez and Arbi Barbarona and Best Music for Arbi Barbarona.

‘Tu Pug Imatuy’ tops Sinag Maynila Awards

The "Tu Pug Imatuy" team, who won six awards, with Sinag Maynila CEO and Founder Wilson Tieng and Festival Director Brillante Mendoza and SM SVP for Marketing Millie Dizon

A joint project of Solar Entertainment, Centerstage Productions, and SM, the festival seeks to inspire, educate, and enlighten the viewing public. Now on its third year with a new tagline “Sine Lokal, Pang-Internasyonal” it provides independent filmmakers a brand-new platform to showcase their stories, Sinag Maynila featured films that reflect Filipino culture, while presenting social issues deserving of discussion among audiences here and abroad. These were showcased at SM North EDSA, SM Megamall, and selected cinemas.

Another film, Kristo, by HF Yambao won five awards including Best Production Design for James Arvin Rosendal, Best Sound for Albert Michael Idioma, and Best Editing for Diego Marx Dobles.

Kristo tells a story of a family fighting against the game of life. The exceptional acting of Julio Diaz also won him the Best

From left: Best Actor Raymond Francisco of "Bhoy Intsik," Best Actress Malona Sulatan and Best Director Arbi Barbarona, both of "Tu Pug Imatuy"

Supporting Performance.

There was a tie in the Best Actor Award: Kristofer King from Kristo and Raymond RS Francisco for Bhoy Intsik. Francisco’s acceptance speech was touching, particularly when he shared that it was his first time to receive an award since he started acting at the age of six. “It’s my first time na humawak ng (to hold an) award,” he said holding back tears.” Thank you to everybody.”

Special Awards were given to Bhoy Intsik by Joel Lamangan as the Sinag Box Office and Beyond the Block, a film by Ricardo Carranza, as the SM People’s Choice Award, based on the results of an exit poll held during the festival.

Hango by Avelino Balmes Jr., won Best Documentary, while Aliens Ata by Karl Barit topped the Short Film category.

Sinag Maynila’s distinguished board of judges for the Full Length category were Film Development Council of the Philippines Chairperson Liza Diño, film critic and columnist Oggs Cruz, and French film critic and historian specializing in Asian cinema, and cofounder of NETPAC France, Max Tessier.

The jury for the Documentary and Short Film categories were curator, art critic, writer and UP professor of Art Studies Patrick Flores, professor Rolando Tinio of the University of the Philippines Film Institute, and award-winning TV commercial and film director, writer and producer Paul Soriano.

Sinag Maynila is a partnership among Solar Entertainment, Centerstage Productions, and SM. Event sponsors were Metrobank, SM Aura Premier, 2nd Avenue, CT (City Television), and Jack TV.

Gabby-Sharon movie this year THE reportedly Gabby Concepcion-Sharon Cuneta film project is pushing through this year.

This is according to our sources from Star Cinema who confirmed that it was included in their meeting last week, after the Darna project was shelved temporarily.

“Matutuloy na,” our source said and denied that Gabby and Shawie demanded for bigger talent fee.

“Script lang talaga yung nirequire nila pareho na dapat bagay na sa mga age nila at emote sa buhay,” our sources added.

Gabby-Sharon fans worldwide have been clamoring for a movie featuring the two.

In fact some of them wanted KC Concepcion to be in it as well, but KC reportedly said “no” because she doesn’t want to cause any trouble.

“Besides, its them, their love

team that is being requested by their fans/supporters. I will just be here and be very happy for them. I also wish na matuloy iyan if only for those fans who are still there, wanting to see them together even in a movie,” said KC in a related interview.

In fact, Sharon said her husband, Senator Kiko Pangilinan, had asked her a couple of times if she’d be comfortable about it.

She’d always reply, “Our fans deserve it. If I’d do it, it’s because I love my fans.”

There it is. We will just wait for it to happen as both Gabby and Sharon said, that they still have fans across the globe that wish their dream of seeing them on screen as the sweetest couple ever is fulfilled. ****** Speaking of Angel Locsin, she has plans of taking a break had Darna pushed through.

According to MJ Felipe who was with us last Friday in Mismo

on DZMM Teleradyo, “May plano siyang mag-lay low kung hindi man mag-slow down sa showbiz to attend to other personal matters like business or even more personal ones.”

But God has other plans for her because the Pinay superhero role everybody is talking about is no longer hers.

This happened after her coach consulted her spine doctor when during their training he observed an imbalance with Angel’s shoulders and even her hips.

“Nakita daw kasi nung coach/trainer niya na hindi pantay ang balikat niya kapag may pinagagawang stunts sa kanya. Then, nung minsang pasubukin daw na pabuhatin ng weight si Angel, napansin ding hindi pantay ang bewang niya,”

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Tuesday, March 28, 2017

ACROSS 1 Wire nail 5 Jr.’s exam 9 Tim or Woody 14 Engineering toy 15 White vestments 16 Ripple pattern 17 Austrian ski resort 19 Lullabies 20 Society column word 21 Reclines 22 — Cristo 23 Rappel down 25 Onion goody 26 Turn sharply 27 Slickest 30 Brownie maker 33 Safari leader 34 Kind of humor 36 Maintain 37 Upper-crust 38 Pretty good 39 Root vegetable 40 Iowa commune 41 Fender nicks 42 Impending 44 Poet’s contraction 45 Use a blowtorch 46 Waits on 50 Hill or Goodman 52 Shrewd, ironically

53 Want-ad letters 54 Pie-chart lines 55 Cascade 57 — we all!

58 Omnia vincit — 59 Young lady of Sp. 60 Zestful 61 Antarctic sea 62 Soyuz launcher DOWN 1 Hunter’s station 2 Ms. Zellweger 3 “The Eve of St. —” 4 — and dont’s 5 KP chore 6 Fishtailed 7 The rudiments 8 My, my!

9 Smelling salts 10 Waiting room 11 Shopper’s guide 12 A Great Lake 13 Toshiba competitor 18 Dreary 22 Kanga and Roo creator 24 Movie mogul 25 Lariat 27 Due for payment 28 Long-necked bird

29 Math subj.

30 Round Table knight 31 Pecan shape 32 DJ’s disc 33 Flat-tasting 35 Birthday no.

37 A Bronte sister 38 Dragon’s breath 40 Motel pool, e.g.

41 Talk out of 43 Admitting, with “up” 44 Frisky mammals 46 Rest stop sight

47 Draws close 48 Shoulder muscles 49 Type of eclipse 50 Silent-screen temptress 51 TV genie portrayer 52 Army wear 54 Scoundrel 55 Kids’ card game 56 Tallahassee coll.

shared colleague MJ who did a report on Angel’s training.

The Darna role will require Angel not only to fly and kick and roll, but also to lift things especially Ding, a little boy who will be her sidekick.

“Kung sa training pa lang ay nahihirapan na siya, how much more sa mga ipapagawa sa kanya?,” asked the coach/ trainerwho referred the matter again to her doctor.

Angel’s doctor advised, “If same thing would happen again (like the first time she had bone dislocation and slip disc), she’d have a hard time and recover for a long time.”

So, Angel’s plans to lay low from showbiz will no longer happen in the next year or two as ABS-CBN and Star Cinema have lined up projects for her

like movies each with Coco Martin and James Reid and a soap of her own and the soonto-be-seen “mothering” of Angel to Kathryn Bernardo who will continue their saga in La Luna Sangre (the Imortal series she starred in with John Lloyd Cruz).

And yes, we heard too that her personal life nowadays is being inspired by this very good-looking non-showbiz guy from a rich clan.

Winner! ****** It’s a good breather to watch someone like Ted Failon, humming some good notes and displaying his toned muscles and sharing his kakulitan on the morning show Magandang Buhay.

The hard-hitting broadcast journalist known for his toughness and serious commentaries on any issue in the government and its leaders

showed his human side as he almost cried during his guesting in the said show.

His daughters and co-workers joined him in a segment that showed his being a father, boss, co-worker, and the naughty Ted. He even sang with one of the hosts of the show, something unexpected from him.

“Paminsan-minsan naman dapat may ganun di ba?

Nakakatuwa lang na sa likod pala ng tapang at angas ng isang Ted Failon ay meron itong soft side and talent na masarap panoorin. At hindi lang yun ha, talagang ipinakita niyang matikas siya at very healthy and fit sa edad niyang iyan. Nakakahiya naman sa mga bagets hahahaha,” reacted some colleagues, us included who saluted Kuyang Ted for his discipline and passion to look and feel very fit and sexy.

Hmmm...makapag-gym na din hahaha!

NEW VILLAIN ON THE BLOCK. Kapuso teen star Thea Tolentino finds her niche in playing baddy roles

Isah V. Red, Editor Nickie Wang, Writer isahred@gmail.com TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 2017

IN ‘DESTINED TO BE YOURS’

THEA TOLENTINO

plays the girl that cheated on Benjie

I

T SEEMS the Kapuso guys are bent on making the first soap with Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza a real audience drawer. Recently, the production staff added another character to the series –Trish.

Who did they choose to play the role? Well, it’s none other than the emerging diva of character roles – Thea Tolentino!

Tolentino, a very versatile young actress and homegrown Kapuso, has been proving in the industry how effective she is in playing antagonist in many series. Among the well-known roles she has played was the character of Ashley, the evil sister in GMA Network’s highly successful family drama series, The Half Sisters. Since then, Thea has become one of the network’s most sought-after contravidas. She was last seen in the recently concluded series Hahamakin Ang Lahat, also as the main antagonist.

“I have been groomed by the network to be the contravida,” she said during an interview with members of the press last week when the network decided to announce her entry to the primetime series with Richards and Mendoza.

She said that when she received the call telling her she should report to the set of Destined To Be Yours as she’d be playing an important part, she was overwhelmed even just by the thought that she’d be part of the show with the popular love team.

“Na-overwhelm ako, siyempre sila Alden and Maine yun eh,” Thea said. “Naghalo yung excitement, at kaba, kasi kailangan kong pantayan yung energy nung dalawa, kailangan makipagsabayan ako sa eksena.”

Trish, the character Thea is playing in the series, was raised in a refined family, ergo manifests poise as is usual among girls from a well-to-do families. Benjie loved Trish, the first and only ever loved, but she broke his heart. Trish cheated and left him for another man during their college days.

In the series Trish makes a dramatic come back and will she attempt to steal Benjie’s heart from Sinag.

Certainly, this creates complications in t h e already convoluted

ISAH V. RED

relationship between Benjie and Sinag.

Will Benjie’s feelings for her be reignited?

Thea’s addition to Destined To Be Yours will definitely make your nightly viewing even more exciting. That is if you’re an AlDub fan. *** Due to its very strong performance as gleaned from the high ratings it gets on its time slot, Ika-6 Na Utos has not only been extended but also added another day during the week.

Starting next month, followers of the classic soap opera about two women and a man wrestling for true love, it will be seen from Monday to Saturday.

The no. 1 daytime drama will be part of the family six days a week, the first ever in the history of daily drama series on television.

The stars of the series –Gabby Concepcion, Sunshine Dizon, and Ryza Cenon – are very happy now that their fans will have the chance to watch their top-rating drama for the entire week, non-stop, with only Sundays as break.

Which do you belong to? #TeamAsawa or #TeamKabit ? *** The timeless Japanese anime classic Voltes V returns to its home in the Philippines yesterday as it celebrates its 40th anniversary. Catch the Armstrong brothers with Jamie Robinson and Mark Gordon on GMA Astig Authority as they defeat numerous monster aliens while trying to overthrow the evil Boazanians led by Prince Zardoz.

The voices behind these iconic characters are the most sought-after Kapuso stars Derrick Monasterio as Steve Armstrong, Bea Binene as Jamie Robinson, Jak Roberto as Mark Gordon, Hiro Peralta as Big Bert Armstrong, and Ken Chan as the villain Prince Zardoz.

Fans can look back to this all-time favorite anime series and follow the story of five friends who edge on their harmony as a team in defeating the most evil creatures on the planet. Using five Volt Machines that make up the Voltes V robot, Steve, Jamie, Mark, Big Bert and Little John try to protect mankind by using state of the art weapons embedded in each machine. Tune in to Voltes V Monday to Friday, 8:25 a.m. only on GMA-7. *** By showing that not even body pain, pressure, and difficulty during training can stop them from entertaining viewers, the eight I CANdidates of ABSCBN’s talent-variety I Can Do That gained admiration and praises from viewers who have been watching the show as a weekend habit.

Recently, a photo of Cristine Reyes with a bruise above her eye made rounds online after she was accidently kicked in the face by her partner Arci Munoz for their flying sexy girl act. Gab Valenciano "Ika-6 Na Utos" lead stars Sunshine Dizon, Gabby and Daniel Matsunaga, on the Concepcion, and Ryza Cenon

Derrick Monasterio voices Steve Armstrong

Bea Binene as Jamie Robinson

other hand, developed blisters on their shoulders while practicing for their pyramid acrobat act. Last week, Daniel suffered a cut after being hit in the face with a yoyo.

Amid the sweat, tears, and frustration, teammates Pokwang and Sue Ramirez

(belly dancing with sword balancing) and JC Santos and Wacky Kiray (flow art) remain steadfast on perfecting their routines.

With each Twitter-trending episode, I Can Do That draws more viewers and positive comments about the I CANdidates’ skills and determination, as well as the moving stories of the original performers who mentor the I CANdidates.

As of now, Daniel is the top scorer among the I CANdidates after being named the back-to-back winner in the first two episodes.

I Can Do That airs every Saturday and Sunday, 9:45 p.m. on ABS-CBN. *** Hard Rock Café (HRC) closes the month of March with an exciting lineup of artists. Come and see the shows at HRC and party all the night long with the music of Arpie & The Multivitamins (Monday), Silk (Tuesday), First Five (Wednesday), Red Picasso (Thursday), and Part 3 (Friday).

Music lovers and certified hard rockers can enjoy HRC’s worldclass cuisine and look forward to five solid evenings of beautiful music as these top Filipino bands dish out live a sampling of today’s hottest chart-toppers, homegrown favorites, standard classics, and party anthems.

All shows start at 9:30 p.m.

Cristine Reyes and Arci Munoz practicing their flying sexy girl act

Gab Valenciano and Daniel Matsunaga training for their pyramid acrobat number

Scarlett Johanson as a cyborg counter cyber terrorist

Smart Giga Movies presents

‘Ghost in the Shell’

SMART Giga Movies rolls the red carpet anew for Smart subscribers with the block screening of Ghost in the Shell following the recent successful screenings of Logan.

“This event is exclusive to our valued postpaid subscribers. Like what we said when we did the ‘Logan’ advance screening a couple of weeks back, this is not a one-time event. Our subscribers will be treated to the biggest movie releases throughout the year,” said Patrick Tang, head of Smart/Sun Postpaid.

Smart Giga Movies’ Ghost in the Shell screening happens 7 p.m. at the Cinema 4 of Power Plant Mall in Rockwell, Makati tomorrow. Based on the Japanese manga of the same name, the science fiction stars Scarlett Johansson as The Major, a cyborg counter cyber terrorist tasked to thwart criminals and hackers.

To win tickets to Smart’s special screening of Ghost in the Shell, log on to your FB accounts and go to Smart’s FB page where users will have to count and spot how many times the invisible Major appeared in a lengthened Facebook GIF. There will be a beginning and an end supers to indicate the start and end of the GIF. Smart Postpaid subscribers who will guess the number correctly in the comments section with the hashtag #SmartGigaMovies will get a chance to win tickets.