Manila Standard - 2017 March 30 - Thursday

Satellites over Benham eyed

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

VOL. XXXI • NO. 48 • 4 SECTIONS 20 PAGES • P18 • THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2017 • www.manilastandard.net • editorial@thestandard.com.ph

A TOP security official on Wednesday recommended the procurement and use of satellites to better monitor marine activity in Benham Rise, an undersea region 250 kilometers east of the northern coastline of Dinapigue, Isabela.

“When you have an exclusive economic

zone [EEZ] that is as big as what we have, then we would require... awareness of everything that’s going on there,” National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon said during a Senate panel hearing on the proposed creation of a Benham Rise Development Authority.

Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Philippines Next page

Du30 sees vigilantes’ rise Vows protection for cops against drug syndicates

By John Paolo Bencito

P

RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday said more vigilantes are likely to spring up in the coming days as he vowed to grant absolute pardon to cops implicated in drug killings.

“These vigilantes, they exist. They got it from me,” Duterte said in Filipino during a speech at the People’s Day Celebration at Socorro, Oriental Mindoro.

Duterte said that more vigilantes are likely to rise because not all Filipinos will let the country fall to illegal drugs.

“Really, if I will not do it, there will be people who will do it for me. Because not all Filipinos are afraid and [will] let the country be crippled because of drugs.

Believe me, there will be many others who will come out,” he said.

While he denied operating the socalled Davao Death Squad, Duterte said he is ready to kill vigilante-style if his loved ones are killed by drug addicts or contaminated by narcotics.

“If my daughter gets raped, I won’t have a choice but to buy a gun and a silencer. I will walk down the streets and

find you. If I see you, bang, bang, bang.

Even if I’m not President, I will do that,” he said.

He also warned drug syndicates to stop peddling drugs or die.

In the same speech, the President reaffirmed his support for police who were just following his instructions.

“It is within the power of the President ... I will grant absolute pardon. They will have my protection. You can charge them with anything,” he said.

Human rights groups accused Duterte of encouraging vigilante killings of drug suspects and condoning police misconduct.

Criticism however, of police conduct and alleged vigilante groups committing extrajudicial killings came to a head earlier this year, after it was discovered that police officers were responsible for the Next page

Feud over House control spills into legal system

By Christine F. Herrera and Maricel V. Cruz

HEAT NEUTRALIZER. Children at the Baseco compound in Manila’s Port Area compete with their rhythm in gliding as they dive for a dip in the roily waters to quickly address the summer’s scorching heat, which registered 33 degress Celsius at 1 p.m. Wednesday. Norman Cruz

Gina’s order makes mines govt milking cow

By Christine F. Herrera ENVIRONMENT Secretary Regina Lopez was accused of milking the suspended mining firms by requiring them to put up multi-million-peso trust funds amounting to P2 million per hectare of “disturbed land” before they could be given a permit to remove or ship out of the country their nickel ore stockpiles.

The trust fund that could run up to billions of pesos would be assigned to nongovernment organizations of Lopez’s choosing to do the rehabilitation.

Lopez issued a memorandum allowing the suspended mining firms to remove their stockpiles from the affected areas.

The new fee was separate from and on top of the existing rehabilitation trust fund set up by the government as required un-

der the law.

Dated Jan. 30, 2017, Lopez’s memorandum, a copy of which was furnished the Manila Standard, shows that all suspended mining firms were ordered to each open a trust fund account in the amount of P2 million forr every hectare of disturbed land before they can be allowed to remove their stockpiles from mining areas Next page and given export permits.

DAVAO del Norte Rep. Antonio Floirendo Jr. said Wednesday he is ready to face the graft case filed against him by Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez over an allegedly anomalous lease contract between his company and the Bureau of Corrections.

“I welcome any complaint to be filed against me and I am ready to face them with a clear conscience,” Floirendo said in a statement on Pantaleon Alvarez Wednesday, after a row between two of Duterte’s biggest Davao-based allies, allegedly spurred by their bickering paramours, spilled into the court system Tuesday.

Floirendo, President Rodrigo Duterte’s biggest campaign contributor, is on the board of Tagum Agricultural Development Company Inc., which has a 25-year lease contract with BuCor for its 5,308-hectare banana plantation within the Davao penal colony.

Floirendo denied any wrongdoing.

“Admittedly I am hurt [by] the action of Next page

Bishop wary of barangay appointees

Machine keeps Rody ‘energized’

By Vito Barcelo, Macon Ramos-Araneta and Sandy Araneta

By John Paolo Bencito PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday admitted using an oxygen concentrator to help him get a good night’s rest following the ill effects of smoking on his body.

Duterte, who marked his 72nd birthday on Tuesday, said that he was using a machine that concentrates oxygen from a gas supply after netizens observed that he has the machine beside his bed.

“I cannot smoke. Iyong pinost diyan, iyong oxygen ko. Kasi matulog ako, ganoon lang. Oxygenation ko hindi maganda because of smoking,” Duterte said in a speech in Socorro, Oriental Mindoro.

He lamented not being able to eat or drink everything he wanted because of his disease.

“I am 72 yesterday. I cannot eat na gusto ko. Sabihin, ‘Cholesterol, mataas. Sugar mo, bantayan mo kasi six na.’ Wala na.

Hindi na makainom kasi may Barrett.”

Photos shared by Duterte’s son-in-law, Manases Carpio, revealed that Duterte is using the device that is beside his Matina Next page bed in Davao.

Antonio Floirendo

ANTI-DRUG WAR. This picture, taken Tuesday night, shows an alleged drug dealer killed by an unidentified assailant in Manila as the Duterte

administration continues its campaign against illegal drugs, while the President confirms the presence of vigilantes, adding he will grant absolute pardon to cops implicated in drug killings. AFP

Reds go for young blood; younger cadres take over

By John Paolo Bencito YOUNGER cadres took over the leadership of the Communist Party of the Philippines’ central committee as the rebel’s armed wing, the New People’s Army,

celebrated its 48th anniversary on Wednesday.

The CPP in a communique said that, after more than 50 years, it held its Second Party Congress on Oct. 24 to Nov. 7 last year with more than 120 attending and non-

attending delegates―the first since the revolutionary organization was founded by reaffirmists led by its founder Jose Maria Sison.

With 60 percent of the delegates at 45 to 59 years old, more than half of the newly elected central

committee members are from the young and middle-aged cadres of the party, the communiqué said. “[This is] ensuring that the Party leadership will remain vibrant, tightly linked with the lower levels Next page

A CATHOLIC bishop warned Wednesday that appointing barangay officials nationwide would lead to an authoritarian rule, and that the barangay captains’ loyalty will remain with the appointing authority and not with their constituents.

Novaliches Bishop Emeritus Teodoro Bacani said allowing the President to appoint thousands of barangay leaders all over the country could signal the start of authoritarian rule.

He made his statement even as Senator Sherwin Gatchalian urged the filing of charges against the barangay captains involved in illegal drugs as he branded as “alarming” President Rodrigo Duterte’s remarks that 40 percent of all barangay captains across the country are involved in drugs.

He said it was important to remove the 40 percent in the system.

“I believe that if the 40 percent is indeed involved in illegal drugs, he [political candidate] can use what he got from illegal drugs in his campaign activities,” Gatchalian said.

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THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Du30...

From A1 kidnapping and killing of a South Korean businessman in October 2016.

On Wednesday, Duterte blamed jailed Senator Leila de Lima for the mounting pressure from the European Union.

In a speech at Socorro, Oriental Mindoro, Duterte denied the claim of the European Parliament that De Lima is a victim of political persecution.

“I’m being castigated by the EU. For their naivety, I pity those guys.

Without offending, these white people, they’re rotten. Terrible. No you’re not the one, but members of the EU Parliament,” Duterte said after noticing some Caucasians in the audience.

“Because there is a lady here, would you believe that De Lima is a political prisoner? They’re calling for her release because she’s a political prisoner, because of politics?

Then they wanted me arrested?” he added.

Duterte denied claims by the European Parliamentarians that he killed thousands.

On Tuesday, the regional bloc summoned the Philippine envoy based in Brussels to explain Duterte’s “unacceptable” comments that he would be happy to hang foreign officials who oppose his anti-drug campaign and the reinstatement of the death penalty.

The EU also denied Duterte’s claim that it wanted him to put up “shabu clinics” where addicts could get their fix, similar to the “supervised injection sites” in several countries in Europe.

Duterte’s series of tirades came after the EU lawmakers, in a resolution, called for the “immediate release” of De Lima, who is currently detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame, Quezon City on drug charges.

The EU said the senator should be given “free and fair” trial to prove her innocence.

Duterte also alleged that De Lima is receiving special favors even while in prison.

Also on Wednesday, the Philippine National Police said the level of human rights abuses committed by lawmen has dropped 50 percent amid the government’s much-criticized war on illegal drugs.

Chief Supt. Dennis Siervo, director of the PNP-Human Rights Affairs Office, noted that since 2014 there was a downtrend in the cases of human rights violations filed against PNP personnel.

Statistics showed that there 174 PNP personnel charged for human rights violations in 2014; 131 in 2015 while 105 in 2016.

“So there is a downward trend on personnel involved in human rights violations,” Siervo said.

“If you think the war on illegal drugs will escalate the number of human rights violations, the statistics show it did not,” he added.

With Francisco Tuyay

Bishop...

From A1

Senator Francis Pangilinan opposed Duterte’s plan to postpone the barangay elections slated this October and appoint the village executives, saying it should be the voters who should weed out those involved in illegal drugs.

He told a forum in Manila that barangay postponing the elections would defeat the purpose of democracy.

“It is inconsistent with our representative, republican form of government … these are representatives of the people, voted with a mandate,” Pangilinan said.

In a radio interview, Bacani feared that the current administration was slowly turning the country into a dictatorial form of government, where it could dictate rules down to the smallest administrative division.

Bacani, a former member of the 1986 Constitutional Commission, said the barangay, the smallest administrative division in the country, was rooted in the country’s “elementary democracy” where citizens could practice their right and freedom to vote for their chosen leaders.

“Under the Constitution, the power to choose barangay leaders rests on the people and not on the President,” he said.

“He [Duterte] cannot appoint a barangay leader and that is against the law. It is stated under the law that the people have the right to choose their leaders and not appointed by the president,” Bacani said.

The Philippines has 42,036 barangays, according to data from the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers has filed a bill calling for the postponement of the 2017 Barangay and SK elections until the fourth Monday of May 2020.

Vito Barcelo, Macon RamosAraneta and Sandy Araneta

Du30 sees Martial Law as cure-all for PH woes T

HREE turbulent decades after the Philippines shed dictatorship, President Rodrigo Duterte is offering a return to authoritarian rule as a solution to all the problems democracy has failed to fix.

In a series of recent speeches, Duterte has repeatedly said Martial Law may be needed to save his nation of 100-million people from descending into drug, crime and terrorism-induced anarchy.

Duterte’s warnings echo back to dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who was toppled in a 1986 “People Power” revolution, and are placing intense scrutiny on the democratic institutions that have been slowly rebuilt since then.

“I think the situation today is the closest we’ve been to an authoritarian form of government in 30 years,”

Jose Manuel Diokno, dean of law at Manila’s De la Salle University and one of the nation’s leading human rights lawyers, told AFP. “There are so many parallels between what’s happening today and what happened before [during the Marcos dictatorship].”

Diokno said one commonality was a climate of fear, created partly by Duterte’s controversial drug war that has claimed thousands of lives since he took office nine months ago.

“The situation today is similar to the Marcos period in the sense that

both are fueled by the barrel of the gun,” he said.

Marcos justified his authoritarian rule by what he said was the threat of communism, while Duterte is doing the same based on drugs and criminality, according to Diokno.

Diokno said some relatives of those killed by the police and unknown vigilantes feared retribution if they complained, while intimidation tactics were being used against dissenters.

Nevertheless, like US President Donald Trump and other populist leaders around the world who are posing challenges for democracy, Duterte is operating atop a solid base of support.

Many Filipinos have cheered his drug war and believe he is the strongman needed to radically change a deeply corrupt political system that has created one of Asia’s biggest rich-poor divides.

Duterte intends to fundamentally reshape Philippine democracy by changing the constitution to create a federal and parliamentary system.

He has promoted it as a way to end the injustices served out by “Imperial Manila”, portraying the capital as home to corrupt elites― in much the same way that Trump has described Washington as a “swamp” that must be drained.

The President’s many supporters believe federalism can work and, with a commanding majority in Congress, he will be able to achieve it.

His critics fear constitutional change, which limits the President to a single term of six years, could cement authoritarian rule.

Duterte has further raised alarm by proposing the return of the Marcos-era Philippine Constabulary, a combined military and police force that was one of the dictator’s main

Satellites...

Feud...

From A1

has the exclusive right to over 200 nautical miles off its coast.

“We have our Nomad [planes] which are giving us some good pictures but we don’t even have satellites. We are one big country with a big EEZ that doesn’t have image satellites much [less] communication satellites,” he added.

Esperon said the government should build up those capabilities to have a better view and management of Philippine resources.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Committee on Economic Affairs, agreed with Esperon, noting that it is important to use such technologies to determine what a Chinese survey ship was doing when it was seen plying Benham Rise for around three months last year.

The Chinese Embassy maintained that they simply passed by international waters and that they had the right of freedom of navigation.

“We lack technology and equipment. The security adviser recommended the use of satellites to know not just the direction of the ship but also what the ship is doing,” Gatchalian said.

Gatchalian pointed out that while the government did have technology to find out where the ship is, it did not have technology to find out what the ship is doing.

“I think what we need to know right now is what the [Chinese] ship exactly did,” he added.

The senator also pointed out that because President Rodrigo Duterte is the country’s chief policy maker, agencies had to synchronize their policies with the President’s views.

“We clarified from the Department of Foreign Affairs what are the process and protocols. They need to synchronize this with the policy of the President. The President is our chief policy maker and from that policy emanates the process,” he said.

Benham Rise became part of the Philippines in 2012 when the UN Commission on the Limits of the

Speaker Alvarez against me. It not only affects me, but also my family, as well as the people of Davao del Norte. But that’s politics “What is important is that I know deep down my conscience that I have not done anything wrong nor have I committed any criminal act,” Floirendo said.

Alvarez on Tuesday filed a graft complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman against Floirendo over what he said was an anomalous contract with BuCor. At the same time, Alvarez filed a resolution seeking a congressional investigation into what he called a questionable deal, in which Floirendo’s company renewed its contract without the benefit of bidding.

In his complaint, Alvarez accused Floirendo of violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act by entering into an agreement with the government while he was a congressman.

Floirendo, who is said to have contributed P75 million to Duterte’s presidential campaign last year, said he was open to settling his differences with Alvarez.

“I still offer a hand of friendship to Speaker Alvarez amidst all that happened for the benefit of the people of Davao del Norte,” he said.

He also denied rumors that he is behind moves to oust Alvarez as Speaker.

“If ever there is an iota of truth to the ouster plot, I am 100 percent not a part of it,” Floirendo said.

He also said he would continue showing his “full support to the Duterte administration that is doing amazingly well for the past nine months.”

Formerly close buddies, Alvarez and Floirendo are not locked in political and legal battle.

Alvarez, from the First District of Davao del Norte, wanted Floirendo, from the Second District of the same province, removed from the House roster for seeking to unseat him as Speaker. This suspicion was fueled after Floirendo protested Alvarez’s plan to remove former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as House deputy speaker for failing to vote in favor of the administration bill seeking to reinstate the death penalty.

Alvarez now denies Floirendo was a close friend and a political and financial backer that made it possible for him to become Speaker.

“He’s heading towards jail,” Alvarez warned.

“When Congress resumes its sessions, a probe will scrutinize the anomalous contract between [Floirendo’s] Tagum Agricultural Development Co., Inc. [Tadeco] and the Bureau of Corrections,” Alvarez told an interview over radio dzMM. But Floirendo denied he was trying to oust Alvarez.

“I never attempted to talk to Arroyo nor would I ever support any plot to oust Speaker Alvarez who, in the first place, is a good friend of mine and whom I fully supported during the last election and in his bid for the speakership,” Floirendo said.

Alvarez denied that Floirendo helped him become Speaker.

“He may have been the major contributor to the President [during the

From A1

Gina’s...

From A1 Several suspended mining firms are reported to have been required to put up trust funds ranging from as low as P150 million to as high as P300 million depending on the volume or area of affected mining sites before they are allowed to remove their stockpile and issued an export permit.

At least eight suspended firms complied with the order and were allowed to remove and ship their mined ores out of the country.

Some mining firms have questioned the order for being redundant and burdensome since most of them mine large of tracts of land.

Sources from the mining industry also said that apart from the trust fund, suspended mining outfits are also required to deposit P1 million to the fund for every vessel of ore shipped out.

However, there is no such requirement under DENR Memo-

Machine...

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Duterte, the oldest candidate to win the presidency, has previously admitted that he has Buerger’s disease and Barrett’s esophagus.

Buerger’s disease, associated with smoking, causes inflammation and thrombosis in small and medium-sized blood vessels, usually in the legs.

National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. testifies at a Senate inquiry on the proposed law creating the Benham Rise Development Authority on Wednesday, March 29, 2017. (Story on A1) Ey Acasio Continental Shelf ruled that the area fell under the country’s exclusive economic zone.

At the Senate, Esperon said there was no threat from any country over the Philippines’ claim to Benham Rise.

He noted that the Chinese foreign ministry had recognized the country’s soveright rights over the area.

He said foreign ships may pass through Benham Rise as provided by their freedom of navigation and innocent passage, but they may not exploit the resources in the country;s seabed.

He also said the security cluster of the Cabinet was set to discuss reports that a drone was spotted over Benham Rise.

He also said the drone spotted by the Philippine Navy’s BRP Ramon Alcaraz is “not necessarily unfriendly.”

Senator Juan Edgardo Angara said the administration must protect the nation’s marine wealth, including Benham Rise.

“We must ensure that the enjoyment of the benefits of Benham Rise accrue to our citizens in the swiftest manner,” Angara said.

Since the Philippines was awarded

sovereign rights over the area, it is imperative that the country have an inventory of the untapped resources that it’s safeguarding or protecting.

He said this would entail a level of research and development that is pursued in a concerted and efficient manner.

He pointed out the UN ruling does not preclude the country to conduct joint ventures if they are perceived to be advantageous for the country.

In 2012, the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf ruled that under the Unclos, Benham Rise is part of the Philippines’extended continental shelf.

With the ruling, the Philippines has the sovereign rights in exploring and exploiting the natural resources of Benham Rise, which is believed to be rich in natural gas. These rights are exclusive in the sense that no other country may undertake such activities without Philippines’ express consent.

Estimated to be a much larger landmass than Luzon, it is a natural breeding ground and habitat for marine species―making it a prime fishing spot. With John Paolo Bencito, Sara Susanne D. Fabunan, PNA

randum Order No. 2010-07 or previous guidelines before a mineral ore export permit is granted.

Sources added that the mining firms who followed the DENR on the trust fund were likewise subject to the guidelines set by the Lopez in the creation of the trust fund, including the setting up of an NGO that would identify the recipients of the trust fund, the drafting of all company documents and the undertaking of the rehabilitation operations.

In one case, added the sources, DENR Undersecretary Philip Camara ordered a suspended mining firm to hire a lawyer from a favored outfit to handle all the documents pertinent to the trust fund and its recipient NGO, including the provision that in the event of a corporate failure, the entire trust fund would be turned over to the Natural Resources Development Corp. and the Philippine Forest Corp., both of which Lopez controls.

“Lopez is gravely abusing her power as DENR secretary as she is unduly legislating here and using her power to force companies to set up

NGOs to manage the trust funds and deciding how and to whom the funds should be used. This could be extortion. This should be looked into very seriously,” one source said.

Lopez is up against at least 20 oppositors at the Commission on Appointments) and reports about her lawyering for a company controlled by her foreigner-friend, a Frenchman, have cast serious doubts about her reputation.

She admitted lobbying with the Department of Energy to speed the release of the permit for a $100-million solar farm in Zamboanga on behalf of the French company, EcoGlobal Inc. whose head was her former subordinate at the DENR. EcoGlobal, Inc. footed the P2million bill for Lopez’s recent trip to Paris purportedly to thresh out matters about the Pasig River Rehabilitation Project to be carried out by EcoGlobal Inc. Lopez is facing graft charges with the Ombudsman as a result of her week-long all-expense paid Paris trip.

With Rio N. Araja

Barrett’s esophagus is a complication in the lining of the esophagus, usually due to chronic severe gastrointestinal reflux disease.

Duterte said he will soon sign an executive order on a nationwide smoking ban due to the effects of smoking on his health.

“In the coming months, we will be implementing a no smoking law in the Philippines,” he said.

Reds...

From A1

of leadership and capable of leading the practical work and day-to-day tasks of the Party, especially in waging revolutionary armed struggle against the reactionary state,” the CPP said.

“The combination of senior Party members with the young

and junior Party cadres will ensure the ideological, political and organizational training of a new generation of Party leaders who will be at the helm of the Party in the coming years.”

In Davao City, an official said the city government will establish a Specialized Cafgu Active Auxiliary or SCAA that will secure the outskirts of the city to answer the call of President Rodrigo Duterte to stop

ways of suppressing dissent.

He also last week raised the prospect of bringing back a Marcos order allowing security forces to conduct searches and arrests without warrants.

“It is a cruel process and it is taken care of by the military,” Duterte said of warrantless arrests, referring in that context to him being “just like Mr. Marcos”.

With his style of governing, Duterte is subjecting the Philippines’ democratic institutions to stresstests, according to Ronald Mendoza, the Harvard-educated dean of the school of government at Ateneo University in Manila.

But Mendoza said this could turn out to be a positive by identifying the weakest parts of the nation’s young democracy and proving that strong institutions can withstand pressures. AFP campaign], but that doesn’t give him the license to steal from the country,” Alvarez said in Filipino.

Floirendo, on the other hand, said there was no truth to the rumor that he wanted to replace Alvarez with Arroyo.

He said when rumors of this spread, he did not comment on them because there was no truth to the reports.

In accusing Floirendo of graft, Alvarez said Floirendo was paying the government only P5,000 per hectare in rental for the land annually without having to go through a public bidding.

The joint venture, he said, was inimical to the government as Tadeco would only give the government a share of P1.30 per box of bananas being exported.

He demanded that the Commission on Audit scrutinize the books of Tadeco and find out exactly how much it paid BuCor. Alvarez said Floirendo did not divest himself of his shareholdings from Tadeco, making it illegal for him to do business with government while sitting as a congressman.

He said he also wanted Floirendo to be investigated for conflict of interest.

House sources said the personal bickering that developed into a political war started when their respective women interfered in their work and battled with their men to make sure that they got more power and the President’s attention.

The source said Floirendo confronted Alvarez when he learned that Alvarez’s alleged mistress wanted Alvarez’s wife shooed away from the House premises.

Alvarez heeded the woman’s wish and announced that the Congressional Spouses Foundation Inc., headed by his wife, would have to vacate the House premises, the source said.

In a news conference last month, Alvarez told House reporters the CSFI had to be removed from the House premises as it was a private foundation that occupied a room in the House.

The Speaker said the spouses needed to free the room because some party-list congressmen might need the room.

The wife, along with the congressional spouses, vacated the room.

Alvarez neither confirmed nor denied the rumor about the bickering paramours and insisted that it had nothing to do with his filing of a case against Floirendo before the Ombudsman.

He said talk of paramours was aimed at diverting public attention from Floirendo’s anomalous contract.

“If our quarrel stems from a personal matter between Speaker Alvarez and myself, I appeal to the Speaker to meet with me personally so that we can settle this like gentlemen,” Floirendo said.

“Let me make it clear that Speaker Bebot and I have no fight with each other. If ever there is a conflict, it could be likened to a brotherly misunderstanding which I am sure would be patched up in no time at all. And I would like everyone to know that I tried and reached out to him but he refused to talk to me since this all started,” he added.

“For now, I ask the public not to be swayed by false allegations, especially my constituents in District 2, Davao del Norte,” Floirendo said.

the insurgency in Davao.

Public Safety and Security Command Center chief Benito de Leon said three companies or 360 SCAA will be deployed for additional security in the entire Davao City.

“This is to answer the call of President Duterte to give priority to the insurgency here in the region. He required us to put a stop to it,” De Leon said.

Duterte on Wednesday said

the unilateral ceasefire between the communists and the government broke down due to a “misunderstanding” between government negotiators and the top guns of the CPP. “You see, we are talking with the NPA’s, there’s no more killings, but they had a misunderstanding with [Jesus] Dureza, Bebot [Bello] and the others” Duterte said. With F. Pearl A. Gajunera

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THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Sereno to SolGen: Explain active role

By Rey Requejo

FIGHTING TERRORISM. The Sulu Provincial Police has received for the first time 30,000 rounds ammunition for M16 rifles, 5,000 rounds for 9mm pistol and 32 pieces of

Glock pistols from Regional Police Director Chief Supt. Reuben Theodore Sindac during his Sulu visit last week to give additional muscle to police authorities in their fight against terrorism. Mark Navales

IN BRIEF Various groups want BBL Okd by lawmakers A GROUP of Muslim businessmen, religious leaders and sultanates sought on Wednesday the passage of the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law, called on Christians and Muslims to unite, and urge lawmakers to approve the bill.

At a news conference in Quezon City, Allan Balangi of 1Bangsa called on the Senate and Congress to give much attention to the approval of the new Bangsamoro enabling law toward the attainment of a long lasting peace and genuine political autonomy in Mindanao.

Royal Sultanate Faizal Benaning Bansao of Batangas, for his part, said with President Rodrigo Duterte’s executive order that expanded the Bangsamoro Transition Commission from 15 membership to 21 membership, the draft BBL could be passed into law “on the last week of May or before the President’s [second] State-of-the-Nation Address [in July].”

The crafting of the enabling law is part of the implementation of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro signed between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in March 2014.

Rio Araja

Matobato arrest is welcomed MALACAÑANG on Wednesday welcomed decisions from a Panabo City court ordering the arrest warrant for selfconfessed Davao Death Squad member Edgar Matobato and a man identified as Sonny Custodio for kidnapping.

“Mr. Matobato is a selfconfessed assassin and kidnapper. He admitted his crimes in full view of the public,” Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a statement.

He added: “It is to be expected that cries of political persecution would be raised by the opposition, and others who have vested interests in destabilizing the administration.

“However, the long arm of the law has finally caught up with Matobato and demonstrates that though the wheels of justice in the Philippines grind rather slow, [they] eventually catch up.”

The arrest order came after the National Bureau of Investigation-11 filed cases against the self-confessed hitman in connection with the kidnapping of Sali Makdum, a Turkish national in Samal, whom Matobato claimed to have killed in 2002. John Paolo Bencito

NBI to summon persons to shed light on print jobs

By Francisco Tuyay, Sandy Araneta and Sara Susanne Fabunan

T

HE National Bureau of Investigation is set to summon several personalities for the formal investigation on the alleged anomalies at the National Printing Office involving printing jobs for the Social Security System amounting to P74 million.

NBI Deputy Director for Intelligence Vicente de Guzman said they would also order engineer Rolando Calauag, NPO officer-in-charge, to face the investigation.

In related develpments: • De Guzman said they have started a probe on the printing jobs for the SSS following a request from the Presidential Communications Operations Office.

The NPO is PCOO’s attached agency.

• Amid allegation of overpriced travel-booklet, the Department of Foreign Affairs is also

eyeing additional congressional budget to augment consular offices and manpower to address backlog of passport processing.

In an interview, DFA Assistant Secretary Frank Cimafranca said the true reason fort some backlog was not due to the technology that APO-Production Unit had but the lack of offices and manpower.

“The backlog is because of lack of capacity,” Cimafranca said.

Also given summons are former members of NPO-Bids and Awards Committee: lawyer Sher-

win Prose Castañeda, Ma. Cristina Morales, Michelle Japson, Benedict Sagun, Amado Valsorable; BAC Secretariat members Teres Tobias, Dina Badua, Winon Balmores, Wilma Delansig, Federico Israel Ramos III, Jennifer Tomas and NPO director Francisco Vales.

The investigation was tentatively set on April 3, 2017.

Earlier, de Guzman confirmed they have started an initial investigation on how the P74-million contract was awarded to Best Forms Security Printer, Tri-Print Work and Metro Color Co. Records show the contract was first awarded to Western Visayas Printing Corp.

The issue was earlier investigated by PCOO Legal Affairs as directed by Secretary Martin Andanar.

It was learned that Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Enrique Tandan III decided to refer the matter to the proper investigative offices for further investigation and possible filing of criminal complaints.

This prompted members of the Bids and Awards Committee head-

ed by Castañeda to resign.

Malacañang’s investigation revealed there was sufficient basis to believe that criminal and administrative offenses were committed by those involved.

“The investigation uncovered several irregularities and violations of, among others, the Procurement Reform Act [Republic Act 9184] and the Anti-Corrupt Practices Act [RA 3019],” said Tandan.

Reports said the NPO already had a P74-million contract with Western Visayas Printing Corp. but it still granted work orders to three other firms—Best Forms Security Printer for P34 million, Tri-Print Work for P27 million, and Metro Color for P15 million.

Advocacy group Filipino Alliance for Transparency and Empowerment earlier urged the PCOO to verify allegations there were individuals allegedly acting as “collectors” or “middlemen” for NPO printing contracts.

FATE also called on the Commission on Audit to investigate the alleged redundant printing orders.

THE Supreme Court has required Solicitor General Jose Calida to justify his active role, particularly in helping the private complainants in the drug cases against Senator Leila de Lima during the preliminary investigation.

Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno ordered Calida to explain his role in the preliminary investigation of the drug trafficking charges against De Lima before the Department of Justice.

During the continuation of the oral arguments on De Lima’s petition against her indictment and detention on Tuesday, Sereno interpellated Calida for lawyering for the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption and appearing in the DoJ hearing.

“What is the policy of the OSG (office of the solicitor general) in representing private parties in preliminary criminal investigations?” Sereno asked Calida, referring to the latter’s attendance in the DoJ hearing on Dec. 21 last year.

The chief magistrate stressed that the OSG was supposed to represent only government offices and instrumentalities.

The Solicitor General admitted he attended the hearing as a former member of the VACC and helped them in “his capacity as the tribune of the people.”

“I believe it was my duty to be there,” the chief state lawyer told SC magistrates.

Sereno then asked for more explanation from Calida through a memorandum to be submitted after 20 days.

“Can you please expound on the duties of the OSG in your memorandum—whether, in fact, this is common criminal investigation or prosecution, or it has already reached a persecution component,” she said.

The SC chief cited the allegation in the petition of De Lima that she was being persecuted by the administration for being the most vocal critic of President Duterte’s war on drugs.

In the same hearing, Associate Justice Marvic Leonen raised the same issue.

He cited the affidavit of inmate Jaybee Sebastian that Calida went to the New Bilibid Prison and talked to him prior to his testimony against De Lima in the House of Representatives.

Kam gets maximum 14 years jail Pangilinan calls for

By Maricel V. Cruz A FORMER Northern Samar provincial officer-incharge will be jailed for 14 years at the maximum for failure to return P18,050 worth of government property entrusted to him.

In a 16-page decision issued March 7, the Sandiganbayan convicted John E. Kam of malversation of public property over possession of two handguns and a Yamaha DT-100 motorcycle as OIC governor of the province in 1987 and failed to give them back when his term was over.

Based on the complaint filed by former Northern Samar Gov. Harlin Abayon, Kam failed to return the property despite demands for him to do so.

The anti-graft court also said Kam shall be fined

P18,050—an amount equivalent to the total value of the handguns and motorcycle that he returned belatedly.

In his testimony during trial, Abayon said civil cases were filed against Kam at a local court for the return of the properties to the provincial government.

The respondent, however, only returned the motorcycle after the civil case had been filed in court.

Kam was issued a clearance on May 25, 2001, indicating return of all remaining government property in his custody, including one .38 caliber Smith and Wesson Airweight revolver and one Bingham revolver issued to him as OIC governor 14 years earlier.

STRENGTH IN UNISON. Mountaineers walk upward and downward in unison at the south wing stairway of the former Manila Film Center in Pasay City Wednesday to improve their agility and motor skills they direly need for their mountain efforts. Ey Acasio

PCA investigation

By Sandy Araneta IN ORDER to shed light on the issues surrounding the Philippine Coconut Authority, Senator Francis Pangilinan has filed Senate Resolution 338 directing the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee to conduct an inquiry in aid of legislation on the alleged corruption at the agency.

Last March 15, Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr., chairperson of the PCA Governing Board, issued a resolution suspending PCA Administrator Avelino Andal for his alleged extortion of P1.50 per board foot of trees being cut in Basilan, Mindoro, Marinduque, and Quezon as well as his alleged order to collect fees on transport permits.

The collected fees purportedly amounted to as much as P90 million in Basilan alone.

In an earlier statement, Pangilinan refuted Andal’s accusation that the “yellows” were behind the so called “evil scheme to undermine the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.”

“Blaming the Liberal Party for their own internal conflict concerning serious accusations of corruption has become the easy recourse of top government officials,” Pangilinan said.

Pangilinan is the former

Presidential Assistant on Food Security and Agricultural Modernization.

Andal also specifically accused Cabinet Undersecretary Halmen Valdez for orchestrating such a “scheme” in viewing Valdez’s purported connection with the OPAFSAM, which was under Pangilinan during the previous administration.

Pangilinan noted in the resolution that he resigned as Secretary of OPAFSAM on Sept.

30, 2015, months before Valdez joined OPAFSAM. Andal has said the accusations hurled against him are in connection with the anticipated enactment of Senate Bill 1233 or the Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Act. “The ongoing rift and grave accusations heaved between PCA and the Office of the Cabinet Secretary cast serious doubt on the integrity, capacity, and reliability of PCA to administer the proposed trust fund which must be investigated,” Pangilinan noted in the resolution.

The bill, pending on second reading in the Senate, proposes to establish the Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund estimated at about P100 billion in cash and assets for the benefit of the coconut farmers and the development of the coconut industry.

A4

Opinion

THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2017

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

EDITORIAL

Adelle Chua, Editor

Not business as usual

C

AN a government official make outrageous statements in social media then avoid accountability because the Facebook or Twitter account is personal?

This seems to be what Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo believes, given her remarks about the misadventures of her assistant secretary, Lorraine Badoy, who suggested on her Facebook page, among other things, that European officials who had a problem with President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody anti-illegal drug war stick to online child pornography because that is what they do best.

The European Union’s Ambassador to the Philippines, Franz Jessen, promptly registered his objections to Badoy’s statement.

“The issue of child pornography is extremely serious and a grave crime.

It should be addressed in a serious and responsibly manner,” he said.

Badoy’s statement did nothing to improve relations between the Philippines and the EU, which had already been strained by President Duterte’s comment that he would be happy to hang European officials who objected to his plan to reinstate the death penalty.

But this did not matter to Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo, who defended Badoy, saying that the issue “has been twisted out of context and sensationalized.”

“To what purpose, we do not know; but what is evident is that this is being blown out of proportion,” she said.

“Asec. Badoy loves children and cares about their welfare, so to even imply that she trivializes the issue is unfair and misleading,” Taguiwalo said. “She is an outspoken critic of social injustice, and we have no doubt as to her stand against child pornography.”

Taguiwalo also said it was “unfair” to question Badoy’s personal character “because of one sarcastic sentence she

wrote in her own social networking page.”

Taguiwalo conceded that as government officials, they all should be more circumspect and careful about what they post on social media.

“We always run the risk of being— deliberately or not, maliciously or not— misinterpreted. All of us in the DSWD executive committee and even our staff will take lessons from this incident,” she said.

“In the meantime, it is business as usual for all of us in our work to serve the poor and those in need, and this includes helping children who are victims of child abuse, sexual violence, and pornography.”

With all due respect to the good secretary, it isn’t business as usual when a government official of a department charged with the welfare of minors makes sarcastic or facetious remarks in public about child pornography.

Nor is it evident to us that the issue been blown out of proportion or twisted out of context.

Assistant Secretary Badoy’s love of children is not the issue here; her complete lack of tact and discipline are, given her position in the government. In this age of social media, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and a host of other networks comprise a rapid public address system, and government officials cannot hide behind the notion that it is all right to issue irresponsible statements simply because the accounts they use are personal, not institutional.

If Secretary Taguiwalo wishes to speak to us of fairness and malice, she should consider the fairness that her subordinate exhibited when she branded EU officials as being good in child pornography—and tell us if that was not malicious.

At the risk of being misinterpreted, we suggest Taguiwalo stop wasting time defending erring subordinates and get the ubiquitous homeless underage beggars off Metro Manila’s dangerous streets. Now that would be a good way to look after children’s welfare.

DUTY CALLS FLORENCIO FIANZA

Defending our territorial integrity

Lying Leni LOWDOWN

JOJO A. ROBLES I WONDER where Vice President Leni Robredo got the idea that she is “losing the propaganda war,” as she complained in a recent interview. Perhaps she found it in the same store where she discovered that she was really in favor of a recount of the contested votes for vice president in the elections last May. After less than a year in office, Robredo can already lie as well and as often as Noynoy Aquino.

And she has the straight face and the even tone of voice down pat, as well—until you realize that she’s just lying through her teeth.

I honestly don’t know where Robredo, the darling of the foreign and local mainstream media, found the temerity to say that she is losing the propaganda battle.

That may be true on social media, where I think that Robredo has already become the most hated

opposition figure in the land, grabbing that title from the maddog ex-putschist Senator Antonio Trillanes and his incarcerated colleague, Leila de Lima.

But as far as traditional media is concerned, Robredo is venerated like the second coming of Cory Aquino. In nearly every newspaper and television and radio news broadcast, Robredo’s every move and speech is covered, every day, like she actually has a job.

She only has to fix her googlyeyed gaze on a camera or read a pre-written sentence into a microphone and she can command front-page, prime-time treatment that no vice president in my memory can get. Even if she invents new “palit-ulo” schemes or cites discredited statistics on the number of drug suspects killed.

And Robredo doesn’t have to talk or even smile to get the sort of coverage that Trillanes and De Lima, to cite just two other politicians, would have to froth in the mouth to get. All she has to do is to wait for a bus in a place where no vehicle never stops, go

down a back stairway or walk barefoot in a rice field and get the kind of media “play” that any of her fellow pols would die for.

If the wall-to-wall favorable coverage that Robredo gets on a daily basis means she is losing the propaganda war, then Noynoy is

After less than a year in office, Robredo can already lie as well and as often as Noynoy Aquino.

truly the greatest president of all time, as the Yellows have always believed. And anyone who says an occasional bad word about Robredo is a Marcos loyalist, a Dutertard or some other lower

political life form.

That is just the first lie that Robredo told us this week, by the way. The second one is a doozy, as well. *** According to Robredo, she is in favor of a recount of the contested votes in the last elections, in order to remove, in her own words in an interview last Tuesday, “the shroud of legitimacy” over her victory. (Let’s not quibble over grammar here: What she meant is that cloud of doubt over her head, of course, which has been throwing shade on her supposed win over former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for the longest time.)

But the latest move by Robredo and her lawyers before the Supreme Court, which is hearing the election protest of Marcos at the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, is just another delaying tactic. Robredo asked the PET to reconsider its earlier decision—rendered in an unusually glacial pace, many months after the protest was filed— finding form and substance to

Marcos’ complaint.

If Robredo really wanted to once and for all settle the dispute, she would direct her lawyers to stop setting roadblocks to the actual recount demanded by Marcos. And before anyone gets any ideas that this is going to be a very long and exhaustive process, bear in mind that Marcos is not contesting all the votes cast for vice president but only those in key places where he got very little votes or none at all.

These includes those precincts in Lamitan, Basilan, for instance, where despite a sizable membership of the bloc-voting Iglesia Ni Cristo (which has not just one but several chapels in the municipality) Marcos got big fat zeros in the final tally. This, despite the endorsement by the INC leadership of Marcos’ vice presidential bid—something that netted him not a single vote.

If all the precincts where Marcos has questioned the final balloting just put him even-steven with Robredo, he would easily overhaul her 200,000 or so lead Turn to A5

ONE of the most important duties of the President is safeguarding the territorial integrity of the country. On this, he must not only be resolute but also demonstrative.

During the last presidential elections, President Rodrigo Duterte was the only one who clearly had a different vision in the area of fighting crime, corruption, federalism and the peace process with the different militant factions.

In the area of foreign affairs, however, he only had this to say about the West Philippine Sea dispute. He will ski to the Scarborough Shoal and plant the Philippine flag. Otherwise, he basically kept quiet on the other issues.

He did not say anything about what he will do with our relationship with our long-standing allies, the United States, Japan and the European Union, three of our biggest trading partners.

He kept most of his ideas and beliefs on defense and foreign relations close to his chest. It is only now that he is president that the nation is beginning to see what his positions are.

Rightly so, it is beginning to rile not only our traditional allies but also many of our nation’s establishments. Eight months into his presidency, except on his war on drugs of which he has personally taken charge, President Duterte has more or less left the running of most of the government bureaucracy (except perhaps foreign affairs and defense) to his department heads.

Mr. Duterte was mayor of a big city for over two decades.

Many expected that he would focus his energies on domestic issues and depend on senior government officials with more experience on defense and foreign affairs. This has not happened. He has now directly taken over the conduct of foreign affairs, a field in which he has very little experience.

Consider the following: He has lambasted both the pope and former US President Obama, threatened to pull the country out of the United Nations, told the European Union to mind its own business and lectured them on their history, and praised Vladimir Putin as his hero, saying Turn to A5

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Opinion TO THE POINT EMIL P. JURADO

Our greatest tragedy OUR greatest tragedy is not tate the pace of legislation and dirty politics, or the fact that congressional investigations! *** some 7,800 have already been I can only sympathize with killed in the war on drugs, and that crime and corruption seem Palace Spokesman Ernesto Abella when he tries to get his far from being eradicated.

What is tragic is that we have boss, the President, out of a tight spot. Now he says Mr. Duterte’s sunk so low, morally.

Is it the fault of the Catholic words should not be taken litchurch that the nation’s values erally. They should instead be have sunk so low? Do we now re- taken in context.

When the European Union gard morality as passe? Have we been desensitized by mass com- criticized the Duterte administration and raised concerns over munications and Hollywood?

Killings have become the new thousands of Filipinos killed in normal. People are no longer President Duterte’s war on ilalarmed that too many are los- legal drugs and violation of huing their lives in the bloody war man rights, President Duterte answered back that the drug against drugs.

If we are to believe in Presi- war was an internal affair and dent Duterte’s list of narco- that foreigners had no business politicians, then we would think interfering with these things.

The President then claimed that the Philippines is no longer a the EU had proposed a healthstaunch Catholic country.

We exalt those who openly based solution that involved disflaunt the values we Filipinos pensing shabu, cocaine and heroin. hold dear. Many of our officials He likewise slammed their concern have live-in partners and com- over the Death Penalty Law. Not content with this, Mr. mon-law wives. We ignore that fact that these elected officials Duterte said: “I will be happy live below the usual Filipino to hang you. If I had any preference, I’d hang all of you!” standards.

The President’s remarks were When I was a boy in Abra, before the Japanese occupation, taken literally so much so that priests, teachers and judges the EU summoned the Philipwere the most respected mem- pine envoy based in Brussels and The Hague to explain Dubers of the community.

Now we admire officials who terte’s unacceptable comments.

To make matters worse, in also engage in gambling, drug trading, and smuggling. This is Manila, EU Ambassador Franz because they have the money to Jessen decried the social media post of an spread around. assistant secPolitical paretary of the tronage is the Department of name of the Social Welfare game.

How have we and Devel*** opment who Santa Ba- sunk so low? suggested that nana, take the those from the case of erstEU should just while best engage in onfriends Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez of Davao del line child pornography because Norte’s first district, and Antonio that is what they are good at.

Despite these, Abella claims “Tonyboy” Floirendo Jr. of the 2nd district. They are now in conflict that the President’s remarks because Alvarez is going after the should not be taken literally. But latter’s Tadeco banana plantation. these were all said in plain EngThe company has a lease contract lish! Abella and company blame with the Bureau of Corrections. the press for not using creative Inmates of the Davao penal colo- imagination in interpreting the President’s words. ny act as workers.

If Mr. Duterte does not want In fact, the Speaker has filed graft charges against Rep. to get into trouble, he should just Floirendo and another resolu- be careful with his language. *** tion to investigate the TadecoVice President Leni Robredo BuCor lease contract for allegedly being grossly disad- cannot lead the opposition. She vantageous to the government. does not seem to know where There is also a conflict of inter- she belongs. For example, she sought to be a member of the est case against Floirendo.

Reports have it that the two Cabinet—until she was ousted.

Robredo is inconsistent in her Davao representatives’ quarrel arose from their girlfriends’ positions. When she appears quarrel. Neither has denied this. in public, she sports that sweet The Speaker is very much mar- smile. It really seems she is neiried while Floirendo is estranged ther here nor there. Does she really think we believe that she from his Miss Universe wife.

It is also said that President is that nice girl from Naga City Duterte has tried to pacify the who somehow found herself Speaker and Rep. Floirendo to swept into the vice presidency? no avail, since the girlfriends of People know that the Liberal Party cheated for her, hence the two are involved.

Has the House of Repre- her victory over former Senator sentatives sunk so low? First Bongbong Marcos.

Now Robredo says she is it has become a House of Bullies when it punished those who accepting President Duterte’s voted against the death penalty. dinner invitation.Can even the Now, girlfriends’ quarrels dic- Yellowtards still trust her?

Lying...

From A4 in the final national tally. And that is not something you will ever hear Robredo say.

No wonder Robredo’s and her lawyers’ strategy is to keep delaying the recount, in the hope that is will be able to complete her six-year term before an actual revisiting of the ballots is even started. Forget about shrouds of legitimacy—this is all about delaying the game with every trick known to that veteran election lawyer who represents her in the PET. The truth is, Robredo just lies with utmost confidence, secure

Defending...

From A4 that if China and Russia would form another world order, the Philippines would join. In a recent statement reported by the media, he also said that China has word of honor, something that the United States does not have.

He also blames the US for not stopping China when the Chinese began building islands in the South China Sea. Such is his scorn that if the US were not a treaty ally and trusted by the vast

perhaps in the belief that her awesome propaganda machinery will be able to convince the public that she is actually propounding the gospel truth. (When Robredo isn’t out-and-out lying, she’s doing some jesuitic jiu-jitsu with the truth, like claiming that she never said that 7,000 people were killed extra-judicially, only that the same number were summarily executed; you figure that one out.)

In one respect, the people who say that President Rodrigo Duterte is like his American counterpart, Donald Trump, are just dead wrong. In the lying department, at least, Trump and Robredo are practically indistinguishable. majority of Filipinos, he probably would have signed a treaty of friendship and defense with China.

For the moment, he seems to be getting a lot from China. Billions of dollars have been promised. The President also called on China to help in the development of Mindanao and the building of bridges across the Pasig River. But at what cost?

Some would say that the president is being naïve. China, is being so generous not because of altruism but because of geopolitics. He seems to have made up his mind however, that

THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2017

A5

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Cleaning house OVERSIGHT DANILO SUAREZ

BY VIRTUE of Republic Act No. 10923, the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections, originally scheduled on Oct. 31, 2016 was postponed to Oct. 23, 2017. Hence, the incumbent barangay and SK officials were to serve an extended term of office, until their successors are duly elected and proclaimed.

President Duterte approved the postponement of elections out of fear that it might be infiltrated with drug money should it push through. I have previously

expressed my support to the postponement of elections as it is an opportune time to address and resolve the issue of narcopolitics on the barangay level. It was reported that 40 percent of barangay officials are still allegedly involved in illegal drugs, despite the President’s firm stand against drugs. Barangay officials have grass roots exposure, and are able to develop familial relationships with their constituents. We cannot allow these officials to exploit their positions, and violate their mandates. Barangay officials should be our first line of defense, in the community.

Those who are uncooperative in the government’s campaign

against terrorism and rebellion, will also not be appointed. The Department of the Interior and Local Government shall proceed with the selection of barangay officials to be appointed once the Congress approves the law cancelling the October 2017 barangay and SK elections. Rest assured, the Minority will push for its passage in the plenary.

I support the President’s direction of appointing the barangay officials. However, I insist that the selection process for the appointees be done thoroughly.

Besides being clear from involvement in illegal drugs and terrorism, the prospective appointees must also meet the requirements, as

stated in Section 39 of the Local Government Code; and any candidate shall be disqualified based on the grounds stated in Section 40. Let us take advantage of this opportunity of choosing our leaders in the barangay level by selecting those who are not only equipped with the right skills and knowledge that their positions require, but possess integrity and uprightness in order to maintain peace and order in their community.

We call for a fair selection process, one that is free from biases and influence of powerful people. This is an opportune time in our history to address the problems of the basic unit of government.

Going rogue SOON after US President Donald Trump was voted into power, several US government agencies came out with “rogue,” or “alternative,” Twitter accounts in response to his gag instructions on the external communications of these agencies regarding climate change and other now-sensitive topics.

The first to sprout up was connected to the US National Parks Service. This alt account defiantly tweeted information about human effects on climate change, something denied by many in the Trump government.

This was followed by “Rogue Nasa” (the US space agency), and many other agencies, particularly those science-based.

It is unknown, however, if those running these alt accounts are truly employees of these government agencies. For those on the on the other side of the fence—“The Resistance” (showing the immense effect popular culture has on the zeitgeist)—the hope is that these alt accounts are genuine.

Because “it’s more fun in the Philippines,” several such alt accounts have also been opened by people purporting to be insiders of major Philippine agencies,

spilling the beans on secrets that they’re supposed to keep.

First, there’s @AltMalacañang.

Their header says, in white text on a black background: “They are slaughtering us like animals.”

Their bio: “Your insider info into the gruesome state of PH presidency. We represent no political affiliation. Democracy is color blind.”

One of their most recent tweets as I write this goes: “Who is Felipe Villamor? Palace ordered PCO to “search with extreme prejudice” this super anti-PRRD @nytimes reporter.”

Their information also pertains to who’s in and out in the rigodon of Cabinet secretaries; allegations that a Cabinet secretary is “funneling funds and aid to Communist groups” thus earning the ire of “Alvarez and the military;” and Palace anger at Bato de la Rosa for allowing the New York Times to take a photo of Senator Leila de Lima in her jail cell: “Sympathy has grown exponentially.”

Next there’s @roguehrepstaff: “This house is doomed, replacing DPWH as the worst government agency established.”

This account has some salacious goodies that I will not repeat here (scroll through their account to find them), while their other news pertains to the questionable behavior of the denizens of the Lower House.

The Upper House has a mole too - @RogueSenStaff: “Your insider to the Philippines’ most compro-

mised legislative branch. Public Service doesn’t have any political color.” They retweet RogueHreps a lot, maybe because there are only 12 senators, and their inside info reveals alleged corruption inside their august institution.

Meanwhile, @AltTeamAFP— “Securing the sovereignty of the State and the integrity of the national territory in the time of Mr. Duterte”—sounds more formal and serious, as befits the military.

As they tweeted recently, “We appreciate questions, reactions, and suggestions, but we will not attend to anything nonsensical.

Only sensible ones will be addressed.” Now drop down and give me 10 pushups.

This account shares information about risks and threats to national security and ably explain issues such as their movements against the Abu Sayyaf and the New People’s Army.

Legit or not, this account made me feel safe when they tweeted: “Duty comes first. Do not worry, Philippines, we got you covered.”

There could be other such alt accounts but as far as I’ve found, these are the most popular. Are they really run by employees who see the rot behind the façade, using social media to bring about change? If yes, then perhaps they are hoping that the information they are leaking will stir people to action.

According to these accounts,

there is much going on among our leaders that the majority of Filipino people don’t know about, but should be worried about. Now that’s an alternative that is not acceptable. *** I suggest that communication students and researchers looking for a topic to study investigate the phenomena of these alt Twitter accounts.

And by golly, there’s an app for that: “FCX: Filipino Communicative Experience.” This is the title and theme of this year’s National Communication Research Conference, to be held 23-24 November in Baguio City.

The conference is organized by the Department of Communication Research, College of Mass Communication, University of the Philippines-Diliman; Department of Communication, College of Arts and Communication, UP Baguio; and the Philippines Communication Society.

Abstracts must be between 350 and 500 words, in Filipino, English, or Filipino languages (if in the latter, with translation in Filipino or English). Submit by July 12.

For more details, including the full list of suggested FCX topics, see their Facebook page @ NCRCPhilippines.

Dr. Ortuoste is a Californiabased writer. FB: Jenny Ortuoste / Twitter: @jennyortuoste / IG: @artuoste

The great global warming disconnect FIFTY-PERCENT of Americans are now “concerned believers” in global warming. That’s the finding of a new Gallup “cluster analysis” of responses to a poll conducted earlier this month. It’s also a record—although the percentage was actually pretty similar (49 percent) back in 2001, when the data series began.

The analysis currently places 31 percent of US adults in the “mixed middle” on climate change, and classifies 19 percent as “cool skeptics.”

If you prefer your polling data raw rather than analyzed in clusters and given nicknames, here’s how Americans have responded to Gallup’s questions since 1989 about their level of concern about global warming (Gallup didn’t ask the question every year; the dotted lines in the chart represent years with no data): Public concern about global warming seems pretty high these days! A Quinnipiac University poll conducted this month backs this up: 73 percent of the registered voters polled said they were “very concerned” or “somewhat concerned” about climate change, and 63 percent said they didn’t think President Donald Trump should “remove specific regulations intended to combat climate change.” Yet another set of polling data, from the Yale Program on Climate Communication, found that in 2016 a majority of adults in every congressional district in the country thought the government should limit carbon dioxide emissions from existing coal-fired power plants.

So why is it that the president signed an executive order today that “begins unraveling a raft of rules and directives to combat climate change,” including limits on carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants? I guess you could attribute

some of this disconnect between public opinion and executive action to the vagaries of the American electoral system, which often seems to promote extreme views over consensus-seeking and favors deep pockets over broad public sentiment. Then there’s the president’s understandable distrust in polls, his campaign pledges to bring back coal (which he almost certainly won’t be able to do, but maybe he figures he’ll get credit for trying), and the hard transitionteam work that veteran anti-environmentalist Myron Ebell put in to shape administration policy on this topic.

But after looking through the polling data over the years, I have another thought that is not unrelated to the above reasons but seems worthy of separate consideration: Most Americans really aren’t sure what to think about climate change. Yes, levels of concern are high right now, but that seems to be in large part a partisan reaction to who is in the White House. Just as climate-change skeptics grew in number in the early years of Barack Obama’s presidency, climate worriers are coming out of the woodwork with Trump.

Over the past couple of decades, about 25 percent of Americans have consistently worried about climate change, and about 15 percent consistently dismissed it. The other 60 percent of the adult populace appears to be open to persuasion. Also, very few Americans see addressing climate change as their top priority. It shows up nowhere on Gallup’s regular tally of what people think is the most important issue facing the country, while environmental and pollution-related topics were named by only two percent of those polled in February.

Here’s another interesting polling result, from the Pew Research Center: Only 27 percent of US

adults agree with the statement that “almost all climate scientists agree that human behavior is mostly responsible for climate change.” Now I guess we could quibble a little over the meaning of “almost all,” but it is a well-established fact that about 97 percent of active climate scientists believe that human activity is the cause of recent global warming. This is in part testimony to the success of Ebell and his allies in deliberately sowing doubt.

But it could also be a sign that the “scientific consensus” framing just intrinsically isn’t all that persuasive.

I’ll admit, I’m biased here: I wrote a book about a scientific consensus that has largely unraveled, and I have watched with fascination (and eaten with satisfaction) as the scientific consensus over the merits and demerits of carbohydrates and fats has pretty much reversed itself. So the fact that 97 percent of the scientists in a field believe something is not in itself all that persuasive to me.

What is persuasive? This is a topic I hesitate to weigh in on because (a) people get so worked up about it and (b) I’m no expert, but here’s what my thought process has looked like: More than a century ago, Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius theorized that rising concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from industrial emissions would cause global temperatures to rise.

Since then, carbon dioxide concentrations have risen, and so have temperatures. That’s not proofthat the two are linked but, over time, objections and alternatives to Arrhenius’s hypothesis have tended to fall by the wayside.

Remember when the satellite temperature series maintained by John Christy and Roy Spencer at the University of Alabama at Huntsville

didn’t back up surface readings that showed rising temperatures? I do, because I wrote an article about them for the Birmingham News in the early 1990s. Not long after that, the satellite temperatures began showing a clear upward trend. Remember the surface warming pause that lasted from the late 1990s to 2013?

That seems to have ended, with new global temperature records set in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Remember the theory that increased sunspot activity was warming the earth? That unraveled when new data showed that sunspot activity hadn’t increased.

Global temperatures have been on an upward trend since the early 1900s. The best explanation currently available is that carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels have been the main cause. I’m pretty sure a great majority of Americans (75 percent? More?) would agree with those assertions. Beyond that, there’s lots of uncertainty and debate about what will happen next, whether warming is such a terrible thing, whether the positive impact of increased carbon dioxide concentrations on plant growth is something to cheer about, how to weigh time and uncertainty in climate cost/benefit analyses, and so on and on.

I pay more heed to the alarmists on climate change than I used to, because it seems like they’ve been right more often than the skeptics have, but I get why people still have doubts and differing opinions, and why they struggle to assign a priority to the issue. This is an issue where it makes sense for views to fall along a continuum—and that seems to be exactly what the polls show is happening among American voters.

Now if we could only get our politicians to think and talk that way, too Bloomberg

China is a big brother and that what he is doing is paying dividends. He even joked that China would like to make the country a province.

At the rate the President is allowing the Chinese into the country, it might still become true. Right now, however, the President is on a roll. Everything seems to be going his way but it would be prudent on his part to take a step back, “go to the balcony” and study the whole situation before going any further. The stakes for the country and for the region are so great that the President will have to carefully weigh

the consequences of what he is doing.

Yes, China is the predominant country in the region and we should try to maintain friendly relations and also try to maximize trade with the country. We should, however, be mindful of protecting our national interests and without having to give up our traditional allies. It does not have to be one or the other.

Yes, we cannot win a war with China but it does not mean we have to acquiesce to everything that China is doing.

The President seems to be trying too hard not to say or do anything that might

offend China. Defending our interests robustly does not mean that we want to go to war that we will lose anyway. It simply means that we are willing to defend the integrity of our territory and the President can do no less.

Right now, we do not know the actual game plan of the president. He and his Cabinet secretaries do not seem to be of one voice. But the people have the right to know where all these are going. After all, it will be the people and not the President alone who will bear the brunt of what will happen as a result of his foreign policy adventures.

Given that what he is doing is drastic, it stands to reason that he should harness the collective wisdom of the people to craft a foreign and defense policy foreign that is consistent with what the people want. Maybe part of the problem is the lack of a strategic national plan or a blueprint to follow so that no president can easily change it based on his own personal experiences and beliefs.

What will happen to us as a country is too important for one single official to be deciding even if that official is a popular president.

By Justin Fox

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THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

IN BRIEF Mimaropa execs sign MOA on health TO ENSURE the delivery of health services and facilities at the local level, the Department of Health–Mimaropa (Oriental/Occidental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan) together with the local governments of the member-provinces recently signed the Local Investment Plan for Health.

During the Memorandum of Agreement signing ceremony held at the Ramada Hotel in Binondo, Manila, Regional Director Eduardo C. Janairo said the LIPH will benefit the three-million residents of the region.

“We must strengthen our primary health care at the local level and empower our local government units to enable them to implement programs and projects and ensure the delivery of these services to the community,” Janairo said.

“We are expediting the implementation of essential health services and programs to further improve the health, safety and welfare of the three-million residents of the region and we can ensure this in partnership with the local health leaders through the LIPH,, he added.

He lamented that health services and the people of Mimaropa have been neglected for years.

“That is why we are working double time to provide them what they needed and deserved,” he added.

Macon Ramos-Araneta

News

SC dismisses Cavite RTC judge for ignorance of law T

By Rey E. Requejo

The SC also ordered the forfeiture of Faller’s retirement benefits as judge.

HE Supreme Court has dismissed The decision came after the from service a Cavite Regional Trial high court upheld the findings Court judge who has been found of the Office of the Court of Administration, which found Faller administratively liable for dismissing the guilty of gross ignorance of the case against 10 members of the Lex Leonum law and for violating Rule 1.01 and Rule 3.01, Canon 3 of the fraternity involved in the fatal hazing of San of Judicial Conduct, but Beda law student Marc Andrei Marcos in 2012. Code modified its recommended penIn a decision, the high court ra-Faller, presiding judge of Re- alty. ordered the dismissal from gional Trial Court, Branch 90, Instead of imposing a sixservice of Judge Perla V. Cabre- Dasmariñas City, Cavite. month suspension from the

service without salary as recommended by the OCA, the high tribunal also resolved to dismiss the respondent judge from the service.

Faller’s dismissal stemmed from her orders issued in 2013 recalling the arrest warrants against the accused, saying that these were inadvertently issued despite the earlier finding of probable cause for the issuance of such; for sending the record of the case to the archives, and for hastily dismissing the criminal

SolGen ready to tackle Marcos cases

Immaculate Conception a holiday THE House of Representatives approved on third and final reading a bill declaring Dec. 8 a special non-working holiday in the entire country to commemorate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, the nation’s Principal Patroness.

House Bill 5241, authored

by House Majority leader and Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas, was endorsed for plenary approval by the committee on revision of laws chaired by Pangasinan Rep. Marlyn Primicias-Agabas.

Fariñas said Dec. 8 was declared a holy day of obligation

by Pope Clement XI in 1708 for Catholics all over the world, in honor of the holiness and purity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

He said the Catholic Church has continuously propagated the doctrine concerning the original innocence of the undefiled Blessed Virgin Mary and by this most significant fact, the Church declared that the conception of Mary must be venerated as extraordinary, wonderful, eminently holy, and different from the conception of all other human beings.

“Hence, the Church requires public devotion and veneration of the faithful during the Feast of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In fact, in some countries such as Guam and Malta, Catholics take the day off from work and school to observe said feast,” said Fariñas.

Fariñas said as one of the titles under which Mary is venerated in the country, the Immaculate Conception is one of the most prominent and its feast highly observed by members of the Catholic Church. Maricel V. Cruz

case without hearing the side of the prosecution.

“Without a quibble, Judge Cabrera-Faller demonstrated lack of knowledge and understanding of the basic rules of procedure when she issued the questioned orders,” the SC said.

On May 8, 2013, the Office of the Prosecutor issued a resolution recommending the prosecution of several Lex Leonum fraternity members for violation of Republic Act No. 8049, otherwise known as the Anti-Hazing Law.

SAVING THE SARDINES. Dr. Milagros Morale, officer-in-charge of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (second from left), and Atty Gloria Estenzo Ramos, vice president, Oceana Philippines show baskets filled with different types of sardines during the launch of SAGIP SARDINAS held in Quezon City.

Also in photo are Dr. Jose Ingles-BFAR, Raffy Ramiscal-BFAR and Jimely Flores, Senior Marine Scientist, Oceana Philippines. Manny Palmero

End 5-6, strengthen microfinance NGOs—Bam

By Macon Ramos-Araneta MILLIONS of Filipinos can now stop going to loan sharks and other informal lenders who burden them with unreasonable and high interest rates if the government would strengthen microfinance institutions in the country, said Senator Bam Aquino on Tuesday.

“The government should strengthen microfinance institutions to put an end to Filipinos being dependent on 5-6, which exact excessive payments and impose unjust interest that further burden them,” said Aquino.

With the help of Microfinance

NGOs, Aquino said poor and small-scale businessmen would have an alternative to secure loans with low interest and without collateral.

Aquino made the statement following reports that around three-million Filipinos, mostly small-scale entrepreneurs, are indebted to loan sharks and informal lenders.

Despite the high interest, many Filipinos are enticed to obtain financing from loan sharks because they are not required to submit documentary requirements and collateral, unlike in banks.

“We no longer need to go to 5-6 because we have microfinance NGOs which are ready to give us loans,” Aquino said.

Microfinance NGOs provide Filipinos access to low-interest, no-collateral loans to pay for housing, medical, and educational needs as well as loans for small businesses.

Aquino is the principal sponsor and co-author of Republic Act 10693 or the Microfinance NGOs Act during his term as chairman of Committee on Trade, Commerce and Entrepreneurship in the 16th Congress.

“The main objective of this

law is to discourage the poor from paying high interest to loan sharks and to support the government’s aim to do away with the 5-6 system,” he said.

The law gives incentives to microfinance NGOs to continue helping Filipinos overcome poverty not just through financing but also through financial literacy, livelihood, and entrepreneurship training.

The law also provides microfinance NGOs the needed support and incentives, including access to government programs and projects, technical assistance and exemption from taxes.

SOLICITOR General Jose Calida vowed to pursue the government’s bid to recover the remaining ill-gotten wealth of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos and his heirs.

Calida said he is ready to pursue the ill-gotten wealth cases against the Marcoses, despite supporting former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. in the vice presidential elections last year.

Calida was the leader of the Alyansang Duterte-BongBong or AlDub” that backed the tandem of President Duterte and Marcos in the elections held last year.

“I am now a government official. The elections [last year] has no more bearing on my duty as a government official so it doesn’t matter to me,” the chief state lawyer stressed.

Calida said he has no choice but to fulfill his duty, if House Bill 5233, which seeks to expand the functions of his office to include the recovery of the Marcos’ ill-gotten wealth, among others, is passed into law.

“That is the prerogative of Congress, they enact the laws and we will implement that law if it is passed,” he said.

Calida earlier defended before the Supreme Court President Duterte’s order for the burial of the former strongman at the Libingan ng Mga Bayani.

Apart from the Marcos cases set to be transferred from the Presidential Commission on Good Government to his office, the proposed law also seeks to transfer to the OSG the work of the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel.

HB No. 5233 also proposes to place the OSG, which is currently an attached agency of the Department of Justice, under the supervision of the Office of the President to ensure that it becomes a “truly independent and autonomous office.”

Rey E. Requejo

‘PH maritime security crashing down’ A MARITIME security has said that maritime security in the country is crashing down, citing some loopholes in the security plan being implemented by the government.

National Maritime Safety and Security Agency director general, Capt. Jesser Cordova made the assessment following the abduction of a captain and chief engineer of the passenger carrier Super Shuttle Roro 9 who were snatched recently in the vicinity of General Santos City by alleged Abu Sayyaf bandits.

Cordova said that the abduction, which transpired last March 23, could have been prevented if there was a maritime security plan in vessels and in ports, which according to him had been deserted and neglected.

“This is a clear implication that crimes does not happen only in the streets. Piracy and terror attack is happening in the waters of the country since we are an archipelago, and we are also talking about lives here,” said Cordova He added that it is quite clear that the main focus of the administration is fighting land-based

crimes, especially on the war on illegal drugs and is less focused on maritime secuirty that must also be acted upon by the government immediately.

“Maritime security is indeed being neglected, as international criminals such as drugs smugglers/peddlers, terrorists etc. utilize most of our maritime ports, vessels and the sprawling waters of the country in diffusion of their crimes. 90 percent of the trade, legal or illegal, is carried by ships and happens at ports.

Does the government has a blind spot on these?” asked Cordova, also the president of Deckman Sea Experts, a Philippine-based high standard maritime training center.

He added that a continuous and sustainable effort on the strict implementation of the International Ship and Port Facility Security code and the high awareness among ports and personnel nowadays as well as in the coming years will assure safe and secured port facility and travel.

“If there is no implementation of Maritime security, how do we control the access of illegal contraband, threat, terrorist attack

that can happen anytime?” Cordova said.

Cordova said the problem of Maritime security was somehow been resolved during the time of then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and President Benigno Aquino had the executive orders of the two former presidents were pursued and implemented by the Department of Transportation and Communications, now the Department of Transportation.

He said Arroyo in 2004, signed Executive Order No. 311 or the “Designating the Office of Transport Security as the Single Authority Responsible for the Security of the Transportation Systems of the Country, Expanding its Powers and Functions and for other Purposes.”

Section 1B of the EO states that in the case of Sea Transport and Maritime Infrastructure, the International Maritime Organization-International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (IMOISPS) must be implemented, and that a National Security Program for Sea Transport and Maritime Infrastructure is formulated, developed and implemented.

FRUIT BREAK. Garbage collectors atop a loaded waste collection truck in Makati City use a bamboo pole to pick a duhat fruit from a tree. Aside from duhat, other sun-ripened fruits such as makopa, santol and chico are easy pickings from passersby. Diana B. Noche

Sports

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THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2017 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

German young gun ousts Wawrinka in Miami MIAMI—Top seed Stan Wawrinka crashed out of the Miami Open on Tuesday falling 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 to German young gun Alexander Zverev, who booked his first Masters 1000 quarter-final.

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Kei Nishikori advanced to the quarter-finals on cue.

But Wawrinka, beaten by fellow Swiss Federer in the final of Indian Wells earlier this month, looked weary as he struggled through the third set of a match played on his 32nd birthday.

“I had one bad game to start the second set and then it was tough for me,” Wawrinka, the reigning US Open champion, said. “I don’t know. I completely went down physically and mentally, and also my tennis was completely out. I had no more gas.”

“For sure it’s a disappointing match. I think the level was quite up and down. We were both fighting a little bit in the first set to find good level. It was really humid, not easy to play some great tennis,” he added.

The 19-year-old Zverev saved four of five break points and won 75 per cent of his service points.

“I had to be aggressive. I felt like he was the one controlling all the points all the time, so I had to change that. It worked out well for me,” Zverev said.

The German, seeded 16th, will now face Australian Nick Kyrgios, who was impressive in a 7-6 (7/5) 6-3 win over Belgian David Goffin.

Federer had to work hard for his victory against 14th seed Roberto Bautista Agut, emerging with a 7-6 (7/5) 7-6(7/4) win setting up a last eight meeting with Czech Tomas Berdych, the 10th seed, a 6-3, 7-5 winner over France’s Adrian Mannarino.

“It was a different kind of match,” said Federer, who is in an excellent run of form having won the Australian Open and Indian Wells already this year.AFP

YOUTHFUL CHESSERS. Part of the 700 strong budding chess players display their prowess in the Kasparov Chess Foundation Asia Pacific Young Talents Rapid Chess

Championships at Alphaland Makati Place. KCF president Michael Khudarkovsky, KCF Asia Pacific director Ignatius Leong, KCFAP Projects Manager Peter Long, NCFP vice presidents Neri Colmenares and Cliburn Anthony Orbe and KCFAP Director for Philippines Red Dumuk graced the event.

Warriors hold off Rockets L

OS ANGELES—Stephen Curry scored 32 points as the Golden State Warriors withstood Houston star James Harden’s 20th triple-double of the season in a 113-106 NBA victory over the Rockets on Tuesday.

The league-leading Warriors stretched their winning streak to eight games, thwarting the Rockets’ comeback bid and sending fans in Houston home unhappy.

Curry drained a three-pointer with 1:46 remaining as the Warriors stretched their lead back to double digits after seeing it dwindle.

Draymond Green scored 19 points, pulled down nine rebounds and came up with three

steals in a characteristically energetic performance for the Warriors, clamping down defensively as the Rockets sought to close the gap down the stretch.

Klay Thompson added 25 points for the Warriors, who improved to 60-14 and will host the 41-23 Rockets—third in the West behind Golden State and San Antonio—on Friday.

Harden finished with 24 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists. But he connected on

just five of 20 shots from the field and was one-of-nine from three-point range. He also coughed up six turnovers as the Warriors came up big defensively—limiting one of the league’s most explosive offenses to just 38.8 percent shooting.

“It’s attention to detail, knowing where their shooters are, especially in transition,” Curry said. “We do a great job of trying to stay on a string so when two guys commit to the ball and there’s a pass out to the wing, the next guy is on alert ready to rotate, kind of a chain reaction. Try to make them uncomfortable and contest as many (three-pointers) as you can.”

Warriors coach Steve Kerr

notched his 200th victory, reaching the milestone faster than any coach in league history—in 238 games.

Whiteside the hero for Heat While the Warriors were strengthening their grip on the West, the Miami Heat clung to the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with a 97-96 victory over the Pistons in Detroit.

Hassan Whiteside’s tip-in beat the buzzer after a wild scramble during which the Heat missed two attempts on their final possession.

Whiteside, who needed 13 stitches in a cut on his right hand last week, managed to maneuver

Breezy Bros. nails 2nd win

NY’s Noah says sorry NEW YORK—New York Knicks center Joakim Noah apologized on Tuesday for the failed drug test that resulted in a 20-game ban, vowing to bounce back from what he called a “mistake” that “backfired.”

Noah, the son of French tennis legend Yannick, was suspended by the NBA on Saturday after testing positive for an illicit substance reputed to have effects similar to anabolic steroids.

Noah has said he ingested the drug unwittingly in an over-thecounter supplement which is banned under NBA rules.

“I made a mistake,” Noah said.

“It was a tough year for me and the team and I want to start by apologizing to my teammates, to the Knicks, to the organization. I let a lot of people down. It was a mistake and I got to learn from it and bounce back.

“This is a tough moment but I’m going to learn from it. I tried to take supplements to help me and everything I was going through. I was going through a lot of injuires.

I tried to take something to help me and it backfired.

“It didn’t come from a bad place.

I’ve been working with the league on this for a while. I got punished. Twenty games is severe but it is what it is and I’ve got to bounce back.”

The National Basketball Players Association has noted that Noah was “completely forthcoming and cooperative” throughout the league’s investigation. AFP

the ball to his left and get it in the basket just in time.

“We’re mentally tough,” Whiteside said. “We’ve been in so many close battles like this.”

They are one game ahead of the Chicago Bulls for the last playoff spot in the East, while the Pistons slipped 2 1/2 games behind the Heat.

The Milwaukee Bucks bounced back from a 15-point home defeat to the Bulls on Sunday with a convincing 118108 victory over the Hornets in Charlotte.

The Bucks connected on 72.5 percent of their shots in the first half as they built a 22-point halftime lead. AFP

PREMIER VOLLEYBALL LEAGUE. ABS-CBN Sports and Sports Vision Management Group, Inc. announced their

partnership this for the inaugural season of the Premier Volleyball League, which will open on April 30, with live TV coverage on S+A and livestreaming on sports.abs-cbn.com. SVMGI chairman Moying Martelino, SVMGI president Ricky Palou, ABS-CBN S+A channel head Vince Rodriguez, and ABS-CBN Sports finance head Berg Capiz made the broadcast partnership official in a contract signing held in ABS-CBN. The Premier Volleyball League season will kick off with the Reinforced Conference featuring foreign players this April followed by the All-Filipino Conference and Collegiate Conference later in the year. Palou said there will be six teams competing in the first conference, which will have a double round-robin elimination round. Rodriquez, meanwhile, teased a new feature in S+A’s sports coverage—the multi-cam livestreaming—which will be experienced first in PVL. For more information and stories, visit ABS-CBN’s sports hub sports.abs-cbn.com and follow @ABSCBNSports on Facebook and Twitter.

BREEZY Brothers of Quezon City breezed past Goto Pilipinas, 82-74, in the elimination round of the Brotherhood Basketball League ‘WCA Travel Cup’ Basketball Tournament recently at the Trinity University of Asia in Quezon City.

Nico Villena led all scorers with 25 points to help push Breezy Brothers to its second win in four outings in the Passion Division. The team also stayed on track in the tournament organized by BBL Chairman Erick Kirong of Macway Travel and presented by World Cruisers Adventures Travel and Tours, headed by CEO Engr. Joven Diaz.

Trailing double digits mostly in the game, Goto Pilipinas’ Mico Pallares ignited a lastditch uprising in the payoff period to close the gap, but the game’s best player in Villena drained a rare four-point play to seal the win for the team of Quezon City District 3 Councilor Nino Villena, In another Passion Division matches, Cocolife continued its winning form as it was powered by prized slotman Tolits Natividad, streak shooter Rey Alao and defense specialist Topet Ronquillo outscored Dok Manok of Dr. Marichi Ramos, 107-102; while R. Lapid Kingstone outshone Wolfpack, 94-87, in the Expert Class.

Alcoseba, Nillasca clinch Brookside Open tennis berths JHUN Alcoseba posted three lopsided victories while Reisha Nillasca survived Celeste Cabotaje to lead 10 others into the main draw of the PPS-PEPP Brookside Open, which got going Wednesday at the Brookside Hills Tennis Club in Cainta.

Alcoseba routed Marco Ayala, 8-1, trounced Elijah Arevalo, 8-4, then overpowered Danny Olosin to clinch one of the eight seats in the tournament proper of the P300,000 event sponsored by Palawan Pawnsho-Palawan Express Pera Padala and hosted by BHTC president Allan del Castillo.

Hans Asistio eased out Sam Cruz, 8-3; Arvin Ruel crushed Christian Deyro, 8-1; Eurydice Gaspar scored a walkover win over Carl Catedral; Neil Co got past Stephen Pilares, 8-2; Radharani Reyes whipped Franklin Encarnacion, 8-2; and Gerry Manlangit outsteadied Kyle Joseph, 8-6, to join the 32-player men’s main draw of the event backed by PPS-PEPP, Slazenger, Rep. Jack Duavit, Mayor Johnielle Nieto, Victoria Construction, Mitsubishi Mirage, Rublou Mall, 9 One 9 Security Agency, chairman Buboy Sauro, BHTC president Allan del

Castillo and Phoenix 5R Solid Waste Enterprises.

Nillasca, meanwhile, hung tough to foil Cabotaje, 8-6, and led Danielle Carranza, Grace Melchor and Moira Velicaria in the 16-player women’s main draw headed by sisters Clarice and Christine Patrimonio.

Carranza rolled past Cianna Villaflor, 8-2; while Melchor and Velicaria won via default.

The Brookside Open, backed by Asiatraders Corp., offers a total prize fund of P300,000, including P200,000 from BHTC and P100,000 from PPS-PEPP.

Johnny Arcilla, who has dominated the PPS-PEPP Open events the last three years, banners the stellar cast that includes the country’s other top players, headed by PJ Tierro, Leander Lazaro, Fritz Verdad, Ronard Joven, John Altiche, Rolando Ruel Jr. and Marc Reyes.

Competition in the ladies side is also expected to be fierce with Miles Vitaliano, Rachelle de Guzman, Charito Capadocia, Mikaela Vicencio, Nicole Paez, Khrizelle Sampaton, Chloe Saraza, Melanie Dizon, Jennylyn Magpayo, Nicole Eugenio out to foil the Patrimonio

Beach Volleyball Republic goes to Kahuna Beach, La Union THE beach volleyball fever is bound to get hotter as “Beach Volleyball Republic” brings its tournament to the Kahuna Beach Resort in San Juan, La Union featuring 16 teams in the Men’s and Women’s tournaments this coming April 1 and 2.

BVR founders Charo Soriano, Dzi Gervacio, and Bea Tan and Richard Emslie of Kahuna Beach Resort announced the format and lineup of the leg, which includes teams from the top colleges and universities, in a presscon held at the Kahuna Restaurant in Bel-Air, Makati last March 23.

Joining them are UST Tigress Kassie Gormley, Gervacio’s partner in the Lakawon leg, and former UAAP beach volleyball champion from Adamson, Amanda Villanueva.

For the La Union leg, participating in the Women’s division are two pairs composed of BVR founders, UST, PNPDavao, Air Force, San Beda, and University of Perpetual Help System-Dalta.

Over at the Men’s division, UST, FEU, Cebu, Air Force, Navy, Bacolod, UPHSD, and Lyceum will duke it out

for cash prize and a slot in the National Championships happening this June.

BVR has gone to Cabugao, Ilocos Sur, Dagupan, Pangasinan, and Lakawon Island, Negros Occidental this year for the first three legs of the 2017 BVR tournament. After the La Union leg, it will also go to Visayas this May and then to Ilocos Norte before the culmination on June.

For this tournament, there is double elimination where winners of the previous leg will automatically be seeded.

Winners in the first leg were UST’s

Kris Roy Guzman/Anthony Arbasto (1st), FEU’s Jeremiah Barrica/Kevin Hadlocon (2nd), and BVR1’s Emir Akdogan/AJ Pareja (3rd) in the men’s tourney. Topping the women’s division were BVR1’s Bea Tan/Charo Soriano, BVR2’s Dzi Gervacio/Jackie Estoquia (2nd), and Air Force’s Camille Abanto/Jocemer Tapic (3rd).

Stay tuned to “The Score” on S+A for updates on the “BVR On Tour” or log on to ABS-CBN’s sports hub sports.abscbn.com and follow @ABSCBNSports and @bvr_ph on Facebook and Twitter.

sisters’ bid.

For details, call PPS-PEPP Regional Age Group Tennis Event organizer and Sports Program Development director Bobby Mangunay at 0915-4046464.

The event, backed by the new Unified tennis group, led by PPSPEPP, Cebuana Lhuillier, Wilson Toby’s and B-Meg, also serves as the first of a two-week tennis festival at Brookside with the juniors and doubles set next week featuring the 10-unisex and the boys’ and girls’ 12-, 14-, 16- and 18-and-under competitions and 10-U, 14-U and 18-U doubles.

LOTTO RESULTS

6/55 00-00-00-00-00-00 P0 M+ 6/45 00-00-00-00-00-00 P0 M 4 DIGITS 0-0-0-0 3 DIGITS 0-0-0 2 EZ2 0-0

Azkals: Playing tough teams is a boost

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

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THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2017

Sports Alaska’s Jake Pascual is double-teamed by Mahindra’s Prince Caperal and Gary David in a PBA Commissioner’s Cup game won by the Aces, 98-92.

Alaska banks on import’s 30 points to rip Mahindra

By Jeric Lopez

A

LASKA remained sharp and unbeaten as it steamrolled Mahindra, 98-92, for its third straight victory in the 2017 Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City yesterday.

Cory Jefferson continued to impress, tallying a double-double of 30 points and 11 rebounds to once again lead the Aces.

His fellow frontliners Calvin Abueva and Sonny Thoss contributed 17 and 11

markers, respectively.

The win allowed the Aces, who led from start to finish, to improve to 3-0 and be guaranteed solo second place at the moment.

“We didn’t like the way we ended the game, but we had a good start.

It also helps when you import’s on fire,” said Alaska coach Alex Compton. “Sonny Thoss was awesome, he played like an import.”

Two other unbeaten teams, Rain or Shine and Meralco, who are both at 3-0 at this time, are fighting it out to see who eventually goes on to take solo leadership and improve to 4-0.

The loser is bound to fall to third place with the Aces climbing to solo second.

The Aces, just like in their first two games, came out of the gates firing, immediately taking an 18-8 advantage after the first six minutes.

They never looked back as

Games tomorrow

(Smart Araneta Coliseum) 4:15 p.m. – Blackwater vs. Talk N Text 7 p.m. – NLEX vs. Star Hotshots

they continued pouncing on the helpless Mahindra side.

Alaska took an 18-point lead, 68-50, after two free throws from rookie Carl Cruz at the 4:43 mark of the third and that basically became the dagger.

The Aces held a 74-61 cushion entering the fourth.

While Mahindra made a lastditch effort in the final 12 minutes to make things a bit interesting and narrow the final tally, the Aces weren’t threatened seriously.

On the other hand, the Floodbuster fell to 1-4 near the bottom as it was unable to sustain the momentum it got from its first win the last time out.

The scores: ALASKA 98—Jefferson 30, Abueva 17, Thoss 11, Racal 8, Cruz 8, Enciso 6, Exciminiano 5, Galliguez 5, Pascual 2, Casio 2, Mendoza 2, Andrada 2, Magat 0.

MAHINDRA 92—White 30, Yee 13, Revilla 12, David 10, Mallari 7, Celda 5, Paniamogan 5, Guevarra 2, Teng 2, Galanza 2, Ballesteros 2, Elorde 2, Deutchman 0, Caperal 0, Salva 0.

Quarterscores: 28-18, 50-40, 74-61, 98-92.

Visiting Japanese test mettle of PSL squads

By Peter Atencio THE visiting Kobe Shinwa of Japan is preparing for the collegiate season back home.

Playing against the top three teams that made it to the final round of the Belo Philippine Superliga Invitational Conference will allow them to test how good they are.

Coach Kiyozaku Yamamoto said this during a team presentation yesterday at the Robinson’s Magnolia in Quezon City.

“We are looking forward to meeting the Top 3 teams. We would like to see how our defense can work against their offense,” said Yamamoto.

In its opening game today at 7 p.m., Shinwa clashes with the Foton Tornadoes at the FilOil Flying V Center in San Juan.

For Foton coach Moro Branislav, this will be a chance for the Tornadoes to face another Japanese squad and prove his team’s mettle.

The last time around, the NEC Rockets of Japan unraveled a fast-paced game and

outplayed the Tornadoes, 25-13, 25-7, 25-15, in the classification matches of the Asian Volleyball Confederation Asian Women’s Club Championship last September at the Alonte Sports Arena in Binan City.

“The team is now good after playing them (Japanese) in the Asian Club. This is an important match,” said Branislav.

Coach George Pascua said their game with the Japanese will be a learning experience for the Cignal HD Spikers when they meet them on Friday.

Pascua had a chance to face a Japanese team when he was still calling the shots for Petron, which tangled with Japanese powerhouse Hisamitsu Springs in the AVC Asian Women’s Club Championship in Phu Ly, Vietnam in 2015.

The Tornadoes will play without star spiker Dindin Manabat, who sustained a Grade 2 MCL sprain and a partial ACL tear in their marathon match against Sta. Lucia last week.

UP seeks Final Four Matches today (Moro Lorenzo Field) 2 p.m. – UST vs UP (Men) 4 p.m. – DLSU vs NU (Men)

Members of the Kobe Shinwa Team of Japan flash the victory sign during their PSL presentation.

Roman Prospero

Cray leads PH team hopefuls

Eric Cray

ILAGAN CITY—The big guns are expected to show up to punch their respective slots in the national team when the 2017 Ayala Philippine National Open Invitational Athletics Championships goes full blast Thursday at the sprawling Ilagan City Sports Complex here.

Two-time Olympian Eric Cray banners the list of track and field luminaries, who will slug it out for 98 gold medals and a slot in the national team that will see action in the 29th Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur this August.

The Texas-based Cray, the fastest man in Southeast Asia, is already in this sun-baked city and is expected to formally register his entry together with stars Donovant Arriola, Zion Corrales and Marestella Torres-Sunang, leaving thrower Caleb Stuart and sprinters Kayla and Kyla Richardson as the only members of the national team who will not see action.

COACH Thomas Dooley knows that they will be playing against tough teams in their third qualifying-round campaign the 2019 Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup football tournament.

To prepare against dangerous opponents, the Azkals will have to play in friendlies against opponents, who are higher in the world rankings.

That’s why the Azkals will have to look forward to an encounter against China before their June 13 encounter with Tajikistan.

“This friendly game against China will prepare us against Tajikistan. (It’s) Great to play games that will prepare us,” said Dooley.

Dooley said this after the Azkals pulled off a a 4-1 stopping of the Nepal Gorkalis Tuesday night at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.

This put them in the early Group A lead with Yemen, which beat Tajikistan, 2-1, on Tuesday evening at the Suheim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha, Qatar.

The Azkals played with intensity and urgency in the first 30 minutes and their efforts paid off.

Team skipper Phil Younghusband scored two goals to lead the team to the win.

He could have scored the first one, but Younghusband’s penalty shot was saved by goalie Kiran Kumar Limbu in the 12th.

Bothered by that missed attempt, Younghusband bounced back and finally struck in the 21st and 23rd minutes.

“My dad always told me that when you miss the first one, it’s important that to you take the next one. Because that one (you missed) will play in your mind until the time you score,” said Younghusband.

The Gorkhalis showed that they were more fit than the Azkals after three weeks of high altitude training back home.

But as the Azkals stepped on the gas in the first half, they managed to hold on to a 3-1 advantage at halftime.

Things changed in favor of the Azkals after the Nepalis played with only 10 men in the 13th minute. This was after Nepali midfielder Bikram Lama was given a red card for a hand ball violation.

After this, Nepal’s Japanese coach Koji Gyotoku said they had difficulty controlling the right wing, with Azkals’ wingers Jeffrey Christaens and Iain Ramsay taking charge. Peter Atencio

A total of 17 gold medals from 10,000-meter run, shot put, high jump, 110-meter hurdles and long jump will be at stake in the opening salvo of this prestigious tournament presented by the City of Ilagan and sponsored by Ayala Corporation with Milo, Philippine Sports Commission and International Amateur Athletics Federation as co-presentors.

Philippine Amateur Track and Field Association president Philip Ella Juico said the National Open serves as a selection process that everybody has to go through, including those who have already qualified and emerged with medals in the previous SEA Games in Singapore.

“We require all our national athletes to take part in the National Open meet,” said Juico, who is also a former chairman of the Philippine Sports Commission. “We don’t want to simply rely on submitted best performance record. We want to see ac-

tual performance for Patafa’s benefit and for the stakeholders and general public to see the faces responsible for these performances.”

He added that the only player exempted from competing in this battle is pole vault specialist EJ Obiena, who is currently training in Italy under Olympic legend Vitaly Petrov in a bid to qualify in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

“He already hit the SEA Games standard. His training abroad supported by the PSC, IAAF and Patafa was rigorously structured several months again with the schedule of the SEA Games as the focal point.”

National coach Jojo Posadas echoed Juico’s statement, adding that the athletes’ performance in this tourney that also has Foton Pilipinas, UCPB Gen and Run Rio as minor sponsors will ultimately determine their fate in the national team.

“We have a total of 12 new national team members that have

actually qualified to the Malaysia SEA Games and 19 who brought home medals in the previous SEA Games, so we have now 31 bets in the Kuala Lumpur Games,” said Posadas, husband and mentor of track legend Elma Muros-Posadas.

Aside from the Fil-Heritage athletes, other teams competing are those from Brunei, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Kinabalu Montana, Sabah, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Timor Leste.

“However, they still have to perform in the next four days to justify their inclusion in the national delegation.”

A colorful opening ceremony ushered the start of hostilities with no less than Sen. Manny Pacquiao serving as keynote speaker, and Isabela 1st district Rep. Rodito Albano, Mayor Evelyn Diaz and former Mayor and overall coordinator of this event Josemarie Diaz serving as guests of honor.

DEFENDING champion University of the Philippines seeks to join Katipunan rival Ateneo in the Final Four as it clashes with University of the Philippines today in the UAAP Season 79 men’s football tournament at the Moro Lorenzo Field.

Undefeated in the second round, the Fighting Maroons are in second place in the table with 24, two behind the Blue Eagles, who have clinched the first semis slot after collecting 26 points.

With leaders Daniel Gadia and Ian Clariño back in harness after fulfilling their national under-22 team commitments, UP is looking good in the 2 p.m. match.

National University and De La Salle collide in the day’s other game at 4 p.m.

The Growling Tigers, who are locked in a three-way race with the Bulldogs and the Green Archers, are in fifth place with 13 points.

NU is on a two-match roll, having beaten bottom dwellers Adamson and University of the East in succession to move up at 16 points.

But the Bulldogs will be tested by De La Salle, which is four points behind NU with 12.

The Archers will have to be wary of Lawrence Colina and Patrick Valenzuela, the Bulldogs’ top goalscorers.

De La Salle drew with Far Eastern University, 1-1, last Sunday to stay unbeaten in the second round.

Ayala prepares power investment in Vietnam

B3

Business

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor business@thestandard.com.ph extrastory2000@gmail.com THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2017

IN BRIEF

GAMING SUMMIT. Philippine

Jollibee expects to keep leadership

Amusement and Gaming Corp. chairman and chief executive Andrea Domingo (third from left) opens the inaugural Asean Gaming Summit at Conrad Manila. Domingo is welcomed by (from left) Asia Gaming Brief managing director Luis Pereira, Solaire Resort and Casino president and chief operating officer Thomas Arasi, Okada Manila president Steve Wolstenholme, Resorts World Manila chief operating officer Stephen Reilly and City of Dreams Manila property president Geoff Andres.

JOLLIBEE Foods Corp. said Wednesday it expects to maintain its position as the country’s leading fast-food chain despite different challenges, including the increased competition from rival McDonalds and the government’s new regulation on contractualization.

Jollibee issued the statement in reaction to a report from investment bank Macquarie that McDonalds was closing in on Jollibee in terms of preference and that the new labor rules could affect its leading position in the local fast-food industry.

Alliance Global Group Inc. president Kingson Sian, whose group owns a 49-percent interest in Golden Arches Development Corp., the master franchise holder of McDonalds in the Philippines, was optimistic about McDonalds expansion.

“We have always said if we [Jollibee and McDonalds] are in the same location, we are confident we can compete toe to toe with Jollibee.

But right now, they have more locations than us,” Sian in a recent interview. “So the strategy for us is to increase the number of stores. If we can match in terms of size then we can complete head on,” he said.

Jenniffer B. Austria

PSE COMPOSITE INDEX

Century Pacific’s profit rises to P2.7b

Closing March 29, 2017

8000 7600 7200 6800 6400 6000

7,324.00 7.46

PESO-DOLLAR RATE

Closing MARCH 29, 2017 45.00

PAL restructures equity ahead of investor’s entry

By Darwin G. Amojelar

46.50 48.00 49.50

P50.185 CLOSE

51.00

HIGH P50.185 LOW P50.245 AVERAGE P50.221 VOLUME 441.400M

P496.00-P756.00 LPG/11-kg tank P37.85-P47.40 Unleaded Gasoline P27.33-P38.49 Diesel

B1

OPRICES IL TODAY

P32.85-P41.15 Kerosene P20.75-P21.75 Auto LPG Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Wednesday, March 29, 2017

F OREIGN E XCHANGE R ATE Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

50.1800

Japan

Yen

0.008999

0.4516

UK

Pound

1.245200

62.4841

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.128735

6.4599

Switzerland

Franc

1.007760

50.5694

Canada

Dollar

0.747272

37.4981

Singapore

Dollar

0.715461

35.9018

Australia

Dollar

0.763300

38.3024

Bahrain

Dinar

2.655267

133.2413

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266667

13.3814

Brunei

Dollar

0.712911

35.7739

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000075

0.0038

Thailand

Baht

0.029037

1.4571

UAE

Dirham

0.272301

13.6641

Euro

Euro

1.081400

54.2647

Korea

Won

0.000897

0.0450

China

Yuan

0.145307

7.2915

India

Rupee

0.015380

0.7718

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.226552

11.3684

New Zealand

Dollar

0.701200

35.1862

Taiwan

Dollar

0.033059

1.6589 Source: PDS Bridge

P

AL Holdings Inc. is implementing an equity restructuring to wipe out its existing deficit and a new one that will be booked after the acquisition of Zuma Holdings Management Inc. and subsidiary Air Philippines Inc.

The parent company of Philippine Airlines announced the equity restructuring ahead of the expected entry of a strategic investor this year. The investor is expected to acquire up to 40 percent of the flag carrier.

PAL Holdings, which controls both Philippine Airlines and PAL Express, said in a disclosure to the stock exchange its board approved the reduction of its authorized capital stock from P30 billion, divided into 30 billion common shares with a par value of P1 to P18 billion divided into 30 billion common

shares with a par value of P0.60 per share, without returning any portion of the capital to stockholders.

“The resulting reduction surplus from the foregoing transaction shall thereupon be used by the corporation, together with its existing additional paid in capital and the additional paid-in capital to be booked upon the completion of the acquisition of Zuma to wipe out its projected deficit as of 30 April 2017 [tentatively], on a consolidated basis,” PAL Holdings said.

Zuma owns 99.97 percent of Air Philippines Corp., operator of PAL Express.

The board of Philippine Airlines Inc. also approved a similar equity restructuring where PAL shall reduce its par value from P0.20 to P0.13 per share so that it can apply the resulting reduction surplus against its deficit as of December 2016.

PAL shall decrease its authorized capital stock from P20 billion divided into 100 billion common shares with a par value of P0.20 per share to P13 billion divided into 100 billion common shares with a par value of P0.13, without returning any portion of

the capital to stockholders.

“The resulting reduction surplus from the foregoing transaction, together with its existing additional paid in capital, shall thereupon be used by PAL to wipe out its deficit as of 31 December 2016,” PAL Holdings said.

PAL said after the equity restructuring was approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission, it would increase its par value to P1.

PAL said it was expecting a new strategic investor within the first half of the year. PAL president Jaime Bautista did not disclose the identity of the strategic investor, but said it’s an “airline in the world.”

Bautista said PAL was expecting to sell up to 40 percent to the new investor.

The airline, now wholly-owned by tycoon Lucio Tan after he bought back a 49-percent stake that San Miguel Corp. purchased from him in 2012, posted a net income of P2.55 billion in January to September 2016, lower by 57 percent than a year ago.

Revenues increased 3.5 percent in the nine-month period to P85.35 billion, with passenger revenues rising 4.7 percent to P71.47 billion.

DTI plans to discontinue suggested retail prices

By Othel V. Campos THE Trade Department plans to discontinue the price setting or the so-called suggested retail price scheme to allow market forces to determine the appropriate cost of consumer products including food.

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said the agency would review the existing price regulation and determine if there was a good reason to suspend or totally disallow the SRP scheme in products where

there were many competitors.

“Let the market decide. We should deregulate the industry, since more competition assures us of competitive pricing in the market,” Lopez said.

Lopez said consumers should be allowed to have options on the brand.

He said prices were different among manufacturers, with some offering low, premium and mid-range costs.

Lopez said for some products, generic and/or unbranded items

were tempering the price of the commodity. “Or we can allow imports to compete so manufacturers will be forced to temper their increase,” he said.

The Trade Department is also studying if it should take down the SRP scheme on products with less or no competition at all.

Lopez said the principle of SRP was to reduce bureaucracy and not to regulate.

“The SRP is structured such that it can avoid collusion. And as long as we see competition,

SRP is not relevant. There will be a fight for market share,” said Lopez.

The Trade Department’s consumer protection group approves the SRP and the petition or requests to increase the price of a basic commodity.

SRP is a pricing guidance that protects consumers from sudden spikes in the price of basic commodities due to calamities, lack of supply, fluctuation of the price of raw materials or as a result of an international incident.

Govt debt hits P6.2t as peso falls vs dollar

By Julito G. Rada

ENERGY EFFICIENCY. The Energy Department teams up with the Institute of Integrated Electrical

Engineers of the Philippines and other organizations to hold a workshop on energy efficiency policy and on minimum energy performance in the commercial and industrial sectors. Shown during the workshop at Marriott Hotel Manila are (from left) Energy assistant secretary Leonido Pulido III, IIEE project manager Marvin Ryan Bathan and European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines director for projects and sector advocacy events Gerry Constantino. Teddy Pelaez

THE national government’s outstanding debt increased P267 billion, or 4.5 percent, to reach a record P6.208 trillion as of endFebruary from a year ago, as the weak peso bloated the value of foreign obligations.

Data from the Bureau of Treasury showed government debt increased from P5.94 trillion registered in February 2016. It was also 1.5 percent higher than the January 2017 figure of P6.115 trillion.

Data showed of the total debt, 36 percent was sourced from foreign creditors and 64 percent was sourced domestically.

Domestic debt climbed P135

billion, or 3.5 percent, to P3.985 trillion in February from a year ago, while foreign debt increased P132 billion, or 6.3 percent, to P3.985 trillion.

Domestic debt rose 0.8 percent, or P31.93 billion, month-on-month to P3.985 trillion, in February. “The increment was primarily due to the net issuance of government securities amounting to P31.68 billion and the effect of peso depreciation on the value of onshore dollar bonds amounting to P0.25 billion,” the Treasury said.

The peso depreciation against the US dollar increased the peso value of foreign debt by P21.64 billion to P2.223 trillion alongside net availments worth P39.31 billion.

CENTURY Pacific Food Inc., the Philippines’ largest canned food company, said consolidated net income climbed 37 percent last year to P2.66 billion from a year ago, on sustained revenue growth and the consolidation of a coconut subsidiary.

Century Pacific said in a disclosure to the stock exchange revenues grew 21 percent to P28.29 billion in 2016, supported by a double-digit increase in branded sales and robust top line from the coconut exports business.

“We continue to benefit from consumers’ increasing demand for affordable, convenient and healthy products,” said Century Pacific chief finance officer Oscar Pobre.

“While fourth quarter was slower than previous periods which benefitted from an election bump, our branded businesses have maintained market leadership in core segments and we have likewise gained traction in emerging product categories,” Pobre said.

Jenniffer B. Austria

PSALM cancels Malaya auction

By Alena Mae S. Flores POWER Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. canceled the bidding of the 650-megawatt Malaya thermal power plant in Pililla, Rizal.

“Bidding is deferred until further notice,” PSALM officer-in-charge Lourdes Alzona said.

PSALM was supposed to conduct the bidding for the Malaya power plant on March 30.

PSALM, however, deferred the bidding indefinitely, taking into consideration the proposal of the Energy Department to convert the facility into a liquefied natural gas plant.

Four bidders earlier submitted letters of interest to PSALM for the Malaya facility, including APT Global Inc., Phinma Energy Corp., Riverbend Consolidated Mining Corp. and AC Energy Holdings Inc. The bidders submitted letters of interest in December last year prior to the announcement of Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi that he wanted the winning bidder to convert the plant into an LNG facility.

Alzona earlier said PSALM would defer the final decision to the board chaired by the Finance Department and co-chaired by the Energy Department.

“The final transaction document will take into consideration the requirement of DOE for the Malaya’s conversion to a baseload LNG plant. This is currently under discussion and we will defer to the board,” Alzona said earlier.

Cusi said he recommended the conversion of the facility “so that we will not lose power of about 600 MW and we want to have available capacity.”

B2

Business

THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2017 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Global Ferronickel cuts share sale to P2b

By Jenniffer B. Austria NICKEL miner Global Ferronickel Holdings Inc. scaled down the size of its planned share sale to P2 billion from the previous target of P31 billion.

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday approved GFNI’s plan to sell 250 million primary shares at an offer price of up to P8.10 apiece.

Share price of the mining firm closed at 2.58 Tuesday.

Net proceeds from the followon offering will be used to refinance maturing debt and fund working capital requirements.

Religare is the sole global coordinator while Philippine Commercial Capital Inc. is the domestic underwriter. Up to

200 million shares will be sold to overseas investors while the remaining 50 million will be alloted to domestic investors.

GFNI president Dante Bravo said in a text message the company would push through with the planned share sale. The nickel mining firm, formerly Southeast Asia Cement Holdings Inc., disclosed a plan in 2014 to raise up to P31.03 billion involving 7.079 billion shares at P4.38 apiece.

It later reduced the size of the offering to P21 billion by lowering the number of offer shares to 4.98 billion and maintaining the maximum offer price of P4.38 apiece. The follow-on offering was deferred due to weak metal prices.

Market drops; Jollibee up

S

TOCKS fell Wednesday on concerns over rising inflation rate and weakening peso on the domestic front and worries about the future of US President Donald Trump’s economy-boosting agenda on the external side.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, shed 7 points, or 0.1 percent, to close at 7,324.00, as four of the six major sectors— financials, industrial, property and mining and oil—registered losses.

The heavier index, representing all shares, retreated 6 points, or 0.2 percent, to settle at 4,404.30, on a value turnover of P14.3 billion. Losers outnumbered gainers, 107 to 79, while 46 issues were unchanged.

Ten of the 20 most active stocks ended in the green, led by casino operator Bloomberry Resorts Corp. which climbed 3.6 percent to P7.72 and Jollibee Foods Corp. which rose 3 percent to P188. Conglomerate SM Investments Corp. of tycoon Henry Sy gained 2 percent to P694.

Meanwhile, Wall Street scored solid gains Tuesday to snap an eight-day losing streak for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, as higher oil prices and a

record reading on US consumer confidence boosted sentiment.

The dollar traded at 111.27 yen in early Asian trade, unchanged from New York late Tuesday but higher than the mid-110 yen levels in Asia earlier that day.

A weaker yen helps boost the profitability of exporters and spurs demand for their shares. But investors in Japanese stocks, who often take their cue from US movements, were cautious.

News that the consumer confidence index had hit a 16-year high helped soothe worries that President Donald Trump’s economy-boosting agenda could have been thrown off the rails by the collapse of his healthcare bill owing to splits in his Republican party.

Friday’s debacle over repealing Obamacare hammered world markets on speculation the tycoon would not

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS DAILY STOCKS REVIEW WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29, 2017

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

FINANCIALS 3.12 70,000 48.9 11,000 100.7 1,030,030 119.8 3,777,110 1.16 28,000 41.4 149,400 16.2 506,200 20.7 481,800 1.62 15,000 800 40 0.66 1,246,000 78.1 1,866,240 0.71 71,000 55.2 113,000 239.8 920 115 770 88.9 2,800 38.5 26,300 202 1,000,820 1,730 400 79.7 25,520

217,780 537,350 103,793,534 453,593,201 32,740 6,193,325 8,200,564 9,895,675 24,230 32,000 818,060 145,555,986.50 50,410 6,258,807 220,210 89,289 246,085 1,017,175 202,211,498 688,350 2,031,649.50

498,655 20,439,153 -136,477,939 5,750 858,395 -8,190,760.00 -938,210 267,300 10,743,797 -5,601,304.50 126,734 -764,610 45,675,454 -827,051

41.8 5.27 0.81 1.35 18.38 0.24 105.8 7.43 16.9 23.15 14.5 61 92 1.95 5.82 12.1 12.68 7.73 5.97 6.02 1.7 21.9 71.25 12.2 15 7.25 1.49 183.1 72 5.21 3.85 30.65 26.3 16.16 271 0.249 6.44 3.71 8.8 11.4 2.22 7.9 1.85 73.5 4.88 281 4.8 2.76 13.54 4.45 0.143 1.37 161 4.28 1.52 1.05

INDUSTRIAL 41.85 3,726,300 5.39 667,700 0.81 11,000 1.36 132,000 19.28 3,500 0.242 5,480,000 105.8 10 7.55 12,824,100 16.94 1,951,500 23.5 306,700 14.7 12,300 62.5 820 92 150 1.95 2,408,000 5.91 30,200 12.24 5,800 12.7 2,961,100 7.76 471,000 6.03 4,237,800 6.05 10,756,300 1.7 7,000 22 1,639,600 71.35 64,450 12.5 32,900 15 124,200 7.37 1,497,200 1.51 207,000 188 1,231,100 72 200 5.58 3,737,800 3.9 6,000 30.8 871,900 26.4 257,300 17 5,995,900 271 183,780 0.25 4,440,000 6.57 33,500 3.71 740,000 8.8 3,674,100 11.56 400 2.23 389,000 8.02 3,858,300 1.88 696,000 74.15 631,480 4.9 63,000 282 8,960 4.8 2,269,000 2.8 42,000 13.7 1,595,500 4.45 43,000 0.143 230,000 1.41 763,000 161.8 1,308,240 4.28 13,000 1.53 1,333,000 1.05 10,000

156,257,990 3,572,180 8,910 179,350 67,188 1,364,440 1,058 96,698,422 33,123,936 7,188,645 178,818 50,235 13,800 4,761,520 178,174 70,776 37,717,698 3,654,117 25,449,443 65,095,965 11,900 36,085,090 4,597,039.50 409,184 1,873,612 10,955,639 310,910 230,277,788 14,400 20,218,979 23,150 26,837,675 6,791,110 100,704,998 50,186,636 1,108,940 219,845 2,753,010 32,499,085 4,576 865,380 30,868,980 1,298,270 46,869,779 307,660 2,526,294 10,895,470 117,080 21,877,268 191,350 32,890 1,054,210 211,549,137 55,660 2,052,040 10,500

62,835,985 46,872 15,564,567 -11,418,736 -773,150 483,650 -1,242,444 -2,842,249 -16,015,464 29,963,162 2,634,410 -384,415 -1,425,128 969,758 15,000 -2,355,282 -294,078.00 12,494,130 -193,210 -6,210,968 -11,694,020 -70,670 -9,553,609 13,280 -2,434,251 1,146,947.50 248,880 408,990 -244,260 -19,320 12,902,122 186,900 5,581,610 -542,500 -

0.37 75 12.44 1.1 6.02 0.315 830 8.63 11.68 7.9 0.181 1,178 6.2 82 5.22 1.01 7.95 16.1 6.06 3.42 0.054 1.07 1.97 102.6 2.56 670 0.86 1.4 272.4 0.28 0.186 0.245

HOLDING FIRMS 0.37 3,860,000 75.15 559,000 12.44 11,470,200 1.16 11,000 6.02 8,000 0.32 30,000 842 318,180 8.7 805,400 11.74 34,205,200 8 1,700 0.181 60,000 1,188 56,755 6.4 900 82.6 1,517,520 5.22 300 1.03 3,092,000 7.97 142,200 16.1 11,702,700 6.06 76,205,200 3.42 8,000 0.056 116,800,000 1.07 12,000 1.97 384,000 103 134,120 2.58 49,000 694 897,710 0.86 100,000 1.42 225,000 273.6 4,410 0.28 620,000 0.186 120,000 0.25 90,000

1,431,750 42,039,524 143,578,976 12,200 48,240 9,550 267,378,205 7,009,187 401,514,678 13,510 10,860 67,268,550 5,600 124,919,822.50 1,566 3,162,210 1,133,102 192,427,222 466,624,757 27,360 6,487,330 12,890 756,560 13,823,511 127,550 621,273,110 86,000 319,470 1,204,414 175,700 22,320 22,250

22,250,321 -11,834,430 -2,243,640 3,586,316.00 -268,830,040 -3,249,530 57,195,755.50 206,228 -46,107,722 -146,908,151 5,400 -1,548,862 227,678,030 -86,000 -43,528 -

4,084,690 799,170 14,927 860,280 19,858,790 220,042,190 27,816,930 503,470 3,833,200 157,080 2,142,330 3,256,260 14,172,698.50 1,395,710 7,800,240 1,632,050 117,559,540 51,263,500 189,650

-3,442,846 13,629 -109,890.00 -78,982,175 742,410 74,402 387,550 161,340 1,427,262.50 47,850 -3,982,610 -10,860,350 -78,960 3,200

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 PHIL NATL BANK PHIL STOCK EXCH PHILTRUST PSBANK RCBC SECURITY BANK SUN LIFE UNION BANK

3.11 48.9 101.9 121.5 1.16 41.5 16.5 20.3 1.61 800 0.66 77.4 0.71 55.5 238 119.7 87.85 39 202 1,720 79.5

3.12 48.9 102 122 1.21 41.55 16.5 20.75 1.62 800 0.67 78.35 0.71 55.5 240.8 120 88.9 39 203 1,730 79.7

3.1 48.05 100 119 1.15 41.3 16.18 20.2 1.61 800 0.65 77.35 0.71 55.2 238 115 87.85 38.5 201 1,720 79.5

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

42.1 5.29 0.81 1.36 19.5 0.25 105.8 7.44 17 23.4 14.52 61 92 2 5.82 12.12 12.86 7.9 6.12 6.05 1.7 21.95 71.3 12.32 15.12 7.4 1.51 183.1 72 5.3 3.85 30.65 26.9 16.26 276 0.255 6.44 3.73 9 11.4 2.23 7.99 1.91 74.4 4.9 281 4.9 2.76 13.8 4.45 0.143 1.39 164 4.29 1.52 1.05

42.2 5.39 0.81 1.36 19.78 0.255 105.8 7.65 17.06 23.5 14.8 62.5 92 2 5.91 12.26 12.9 7.9 6.12 6.1 1.7 22.25 71.5 12.5 15.12 7.4 1.52 189 72 5.58 3.9 31 26.95 17 276.4 0.255 6.58 3.75 9 11.56 2.24 8.03 1.94 74.4 4.9 282 4.9 2.8 13.9 4.45 0.143 1.41 164.4 4.29 1.55 1.05

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

0.375 75.3 12.8 1.1 6.1 0.315 841 8.78 11.68 7.9 0.181 1,190 6.2 82.9 5.22 1.04 7.98 16.36 6.1 3.42 0.054 1.08 1.97 104 2.56 670 0.86 1.42 273.8 0.29 0.186 0.245

0.375 75.9 12.8 1.16 6.1 0.32 845 8.78 11.86 8 0.181 1,191 6.4 82.9 5.22 1.04 7.98 17 6.17 3.42 0.057 1.08 1.99 104 2.64 694 0.86 1.47 273.8 0.3 0.186 0.25

8990 HLDG A BROWN ANCHOR LAND 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 MEGAWORLD MRC ALLIED PHIL ESTATES

6.78 0.97 6.49 2.35 1.37 34.05 3.81 5.13 0.495 1.22 0.157 0.54 54.75 0.17 1.68 0.96 3.49 0.232 0.32

6.81 0.98 6.49 2.38 1.4 34.3 4.01 5.14 0.495 1.26 0.161 0.55 54.8 0.186 1.68 0.97 3.55 0.242 0.32

6.78 0.93 6.49 2.3 1.29 33.5 3.81 5.13 0.49 1.22 0.157 0.52 54 0.165 1.66 0.96 3.47 0.216 0.305

VOLUME

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

PHIL REALTY PRIMEX CORP PTFC REDEV CORP ROBINSONS LAND ROCKWELL SHANG PROP SM PRIME HLDG STA LUCIA LAND VISTA LAND

0.65 4.12 27.75 24 1.71 3.34 28.5 0.97 4.95

0.66 4.49 27.75 24 1.74 3.34 28.7 1 4.95

0.59 4.1 27.7 23.55 1.71 3.34 28.3 0.97 4.85

0.61 4.3 27.7 23.7 1.71 3.34 28.5 0.97 4.92

55,419,000 656,000 2,000 808,500 142,000 8,000 25,807,800 4,338,000 7,005,000

34,286,730 2,768,170 55,425 19,153,315 245,640 26,720 737,320,295 4,272,820 34,382,620

-35,780 -206,540 482,414,415 178,360 -7,511,300

2GO GROUP ABS CBN ACESITE HOTEL APC GROUP APOLLO GLOBAL BLOOMBERRY BOULEVARD HLDG CALATA CORP CEBU AIR CENTRO ESCOLAR DFNN INC DISCOVERY WORLD EASYCALL GLOBE TELECOM GMA NETWORK GOLDEN HAVEN GRAND PLAZA HARBOR STAR IMPERIAL INTL CONTAINER IP EGAME IPEOPLE IPM HLDG ISLAND INFO ISM COMM JACKSTONES LBC EXPRESS LEISURE AND RES 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 TRAVELLERS

9.4 46.7 1.46 0.52 0.049 7.5 0.078 2.11 94 10 8.45 2.32 5 1,992 6.55 15.98 15 3.25 3.75 85.55 0.0092 12 9.02 0.182 1.3 3.66 13.52 4.04 3.88 2.5 6.43 3.67 2.89 11.28 5.61 3.09 178 8 1,622 1.52 0.435 43.6 77.25 5.9 2.23 1.11 3.17

10 46.7 1.46 0.52 0.05 7.8 0.081 2.14 94.55 10.96 8.63 2.32 5.95 2,042 6.58 16.4 15 3.41 3.75 86.25 0.0092 12 9.03 0.182 1.3 3.68 15.8 4.3 3.91 2.63 6.75 3.77 2.94 11.38 5.82 3.09 178 8.04 1,655 1.59 0.44 43.95 77.25 5.98 2.23 1.13 3.22

9.38 46 1.46 0.51 0.048 7.47 0.078 2.05 93.75 10 8.45 2.32 5 1,992 6.5 15.98 15 3.19 3.7 85.55 0.0092 12 9 0.178 1.29 3.55 13.52 3.97 3.72 2.45 6.43 3.67 2.86 11.28 5.3 3.09 167.2 7.77 1,605 1.52 0.43 43.5 73.8 5.89 2.08 1.1 3.15

SERVICES 9.5 46.55 1.46 0.51 0.048 7.72 0.08 2.08 93.9 10.96 8.63 2.32 5.6 2,020 6.5 16.4 15 3.23 3.74 85.95 0.0092 12 9.03 0.178 1.29 3.66 15 4.26 3.75 2.62 6.73 3.69 2.89 11.38 5.3 3.09 177 7.78 1,624 1.58 0.43 43.75 76.6 5.93 2.08 1.12 3.19

1,119,700 6,800 33,000 29,000 90,900,000 16,834,700 48,780,000 7,392,000 870,540 48,000 84,300 1,000 91,100 104,840 2,132,100 45,500 500 1,936,000 34,000 456,750 4,000,000 700 331,000 8,000,000 394,000 277,000 31,200 3,918,000 749,000 488,000 11,928,300 11,014,000 1,480,000 4,400 363,700 18,000 200 244,100 69,270 51,253,000 1,900,000 1,237,900 318,000 255,800 3,818,000 1,409,000 4,120,000

10,811,730 316,165 48,180 14,830 4,381,200 129,957,928 3,892,760 15,315,880 81,776,853.50 513,688 720,934 2,320 499,227 211,937,905 13,943,713 740,418 7,500 6,424,940 127,100 39,277,408.50 36,800 8,400 2,984,630 1,439,190 509,920 994,860 481,808 16,493,420 2,842,010 1,242,850 79,269,357 40,697,380 4,286,770 49,972 2,037,517 55,620 35,452 1,914,891 112,420,655 79,986,040 819,300 54,193,815 24,248,920.50 1,511,814 8,144,740 1,573,380 13,143,330

-354,020 144,000 -21,113,677 0 1,403,190 9,886,626 485,192 142,815,530 16,600 18,500 -10,335,479.50 194,340 -4,614,430 304,140 -75,000 -4,761,106 210,410 -11,970 -33,780 87,623 33,045,830 -2,795,270 11,987,465 -1,201,563.50 -1,866,220 279,300 9,613,200

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

0.0033 1.69 5.33 0.56 0.4 9.31 2.57 0.255 0.181 0.191 0.011 0.012 1.72 6.21 2.12 0.86 0.012 0.012 4.01 0.014 8.51 3.3 147.8 2.51 0.0086

0.0033 1.71 5.33 0.59 0.42 9.31 2.71 0.255 0.181 0.191 0.012 0.012 1.72 6.29 2.21 0.86 0.012 0.012 4.01 0.014 8.51 3.32 148.5 2.67 0.0086

0.0032 1.44 5.28 0.56 0.4 8.64 2.57 0.248 0.181 0.191 0.011 0.012 1.72 6.21 2.1 0.86 0.011 0.012 4 0.013 8.44 3.25 147 2.51 0.0086

MINING & OIL 0.0032 14,000,000 1.45 28,649,000 5.3 338,800 0.59 3,483,000 0.41 1,010,000 9.3 900 2.71 5,451,000 0.25 480,000 0.181 920,000 0.191 900,000 0.012 85,400,000 0.012 10,000,000 1.72 17,000 6.21 672,700 2.21 17,000 0.86 8,000 0.011 5,500,000 0.012 100,000 4.01 16,000 0.014 155,500,000 8.5 380,800 3.3 1,444,000 147.1 1,030,730 2.61 16,000 0.0086 2,000,000

45,200 43,571,000 1,795,510 2,003,040 409,750 7,909 14,608,370 119,460 166,520 171,900 939,700 120,000 29,240 4,189,593 36,200 6,880 63,400 1,200 64,090 2,174,900 3,227,399 4,744,780 151,763,804 41,830 17,200

6,600 -18,311,670 -21,184 -3,906,110 2,500 18,920 -1,491,807 2,100 1,400 -407,454 -13,200 13,552,437 -

ABS HLDG PDR AC PREF B1 ALCO PREF B DD PREF GMA HLDG PDR GTCAP PREF A MWIDE PREF PCOR PREF 2B PF PREF 2 SFI PREF SMC PREF 2B SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2D SMC PREF 2F SMC PREF 2G SMC PREF 2H SMC PREF 2I

46.3 537 107 105.3 6.1 1,021 108 1,142 1,020 2.1 77.9 81 76.7 80 78 78 79.25

46.3 537 107 106 6.19 1,021 108 1,142 1,020 2.1 77.9 81 76.7 80 78 78 79.25

45.95 537 107 105.3 6.08 1,021 107.7 1,142 1,019 2.1 77.9 80 76.7 80 77 78 79.25

PREFERRED 46 118,000 537 20 107 950 106 10,010 6.09 856,000 1,021 500 107.7 1,700 1,142 3,825 1,019 1,555 2.1 7,000 77.9 500 80 33,030 76.7 20,000 80 112,080 77 54,420 78 700 79.25 162,720

5,431,675 10,740 101,650 1,054,060 5,231,129 510,500 183,240 4,368,150 1,585,100 14,700 38,950 2,654,700 1,534,000 8,966,400 4,215,340 54,600 12,895,560

3,912,025 -3,037,726 -

LR WARRANT

2.2

2.4

2.18

WARRANTS 2.3 549,000

1,299,460

-

ITALPINAS MAKATI FINANCE PHILAB HLDG XURPAS

3.67 2.94 6.8 10.2

3.76 2.94 6.8 10.5

3.64 2.94 6.6 10.06

3.76 2.94 6.78 10.1

179,730 2,940 350,750 83,986,240

-132,000 -6,197,698

FIRST METRO ETF

121.7

121.7

121.2

516,295

-

MS

PROPERTY 6.8 0.93 6.49 2.32 1.3 33.8 3.95 5.14 0.49 1.25 0.159 0.53 54.4 0.17 1.67 0.96 3.51 0.218 0.305

600,700 844,000 2,300 373,000 14,724,000 6,498,800 7,047,000 98,100 7,790,000 127,000 13,460,000 6,146,000 260,450 8,150,000 4,680,000 1,700,000 33,612,000 221,660,000 620,000

TRADING SUMMARY FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL

SHARES

10,922,741 1,030,164,344

HOLDING FIRMS

293,823,921

PROPERTY

431,037,268

SERVICES

280,937,112

MINING & OIL

317,462,854

GRAND TOTAL

2,372,584,091

SME

49,000 1,000 53,100 8,128,500

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 121.5 4,250

VALUE 1,824.44 (down) 11.02 1,042,294,069.20 FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL 10,843.56 (down) 33.06 7,445,390,229.517 HOLDING FIRMS 7,493.76 (up) 24.90 2,843,324,214.078 PROPERTY 3,170.29 (down) 5.73 1,530.18 (up) 3.01 1,549,760,182.395 SERVICES MINING & OIL 10,843.56 (up) 33.06 1,090,025,763.964 PSEI 7,324.00 (down) 7.46 230,341,454.26 All Shares Index 4,404.30 (down) 6.91 14,286,171,991.919 Gainers:79; Losers:107; Unchanged: 46; Total: 232

be able to ram through promised tax cuts and infrastructure spending.

But Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at AxiTrader, noted the US reading “goes a long way to support the notion that the US economy is doing well”.

He added: “It’s not just about the hope of change via president Trump’s policies.

It’s about actual improvement in data flow and a real sense that the globe is reflating.”

Hong Kong edged up 0.2 percent in late trade while Tokyo gained 0.1 percent, Sydney closed 0.9 percent higher, Seoul added 0.2 percent and Singapore jumped 0.7 percent. Wellington rallied one percent while Jakarta and Bangkok also advanced.

But Shanghai slipped 0.4 percent. In early European trade London, Paris and Frankfurt each rose 0.4 percent.

Energy firms were among the big winners as an outage in Libya wiped 250,000 barrels a day out of the global market, easing worries about a supply glut, while a US stockpiles reading came in on target.

Both main crude contracts rose more than one percent Tuesday and extended the gains in Asia.

In Hong Kong, CNOOC put on 0.4 percent, while Tokyo-listed Inpex was up more than two percent and Woodside Petroleum in Sydney jumped one percent.

With AFP, Bloomberg

MetroPac hikes stake in toll road company

By Darwin G. Amojelar THE tollway unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. acquired another 7-percent stake held by France’s Egis Projects SA in Tollways Management Corp. for P442.3 million.

Metro Pacific Tollways Development Corp. signed a share purchase agreement with Egis, which is expected to be completed by April 4 this year.

MPTDC acquired a 14-percent share of Egis in TMC for P884.7 million in December last year.

After the completion of the 7-percent acquisition, MPTDC will own 67 percent of the issued share capital of TMC. “The company believes that TMC’s business in the operation and maintenance of the North Luzon Expressway and the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway, its facilities, interchanges and related works will generate positive returns for the group and therefore increasing the group’s shareholding. And thereby its entitlement to such returns is beneficial to the group, the company and its shareholders,” MPTDC said.

TMC’s audited profit reached P637 million in 2015, higher than P626 million in 2014.

Shareholders of MNTC and TMC approved the merger, with MNTC as the surviving corporation that will operate North Luzon Expressway, Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway and Manila-Cavite Expressway.

MNTC is the concessionaire of both NLEx and SCTEx projects. It is also one of the original proponents for the Connector Road Project linking North Luzon Expressway and South Luzon Expressway.

The transaction will be done through a share swap where shareholders will be given 2.7 MNTC common shares for every TMC share and 16.63 MNTC preferred shares for every TMC share.

Business

B3

THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2017 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Southeast Asia’s 2 golden institutions

AROROY INTEGRATED PLAN. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Filminera Resources Corp., Philippine Gold Processing & Refining Corp. and the local government of Aroroy, Masbate sign an agreement to implement an integrated area development plan for the municipality. Signing the agreement are (from left) Filminera director Gloria Tan Climaco; Philippine Gold chairman Johan Raadsma, Environment Undersecretary Philip Camara, Aroroy Mayor Arturo Virtucio and Aroroy Vice Mayor Eric Castillo.

Ayala prepares power investment in Vietnam

By Alena Mae S. Flores

A

C Energy Holdings Inc., a unit of conglomerate Ayala Corp., plans to invest in another Southeast Asian country in the next 12 to 18 months, a company official said Wednesday.

AC Energy president John Eric Francia told reporters the company was closely looking at investment opportunities in Vietnam, after building a project in Indonesia.

“In terms of being systematic, putting our limited resources to work outside the Philippines, it’s really Indonesia first and number two is Vietnam. The rest, it will be opportunistic,” Francia said.

He said any future overseas investment should have “a good local partner with values that are aligned, (with) local capabilities,

(and) a good pipeline of projects.

“We’re flexible in terms of technology. It could be renewable energy, gas, coal, it could be (a) combination,” he said.

“I would prefer to have small, mid-size where we can be a more meaningful partner as opposed to a very large platform where we are a financial minority investor,” the official said Francia said Vietnam was a good investment opportunity because of the big demand for power, citing the company’s presence through Manila Water Co. Inc. He said AC Energy was transforming itself into a regional energy company with investment, development, operations and retail capability.

“AC Energy is at a critical inflection point.

Our transformation is enabled by rapid organic growth and key strategic acquisitions,” he said.

The company recently achieved two major milestones. AC Energy, through a consortium with Star Energy and Egco

of Thailand, won the bidding for Chevron’s geothermal assets and operations in Indonesia in December 2016.

Francia expects to close the Indonesia asset acquisition in the next few days.

AC Energy also broke ground to start the construction of the 75-megawatt Sidrap wind farm in Sulawesi, Indonesia, the country’s first commercial project.

AC Energy plans to expand its presence in Indonesia by working with existing partners in pursuing greenfield projects.

“While it will take time to strengthen our presence in Indonesia, we have started to look around the Southeast Asia region and we hope to make our second regional investment in about 12-18 months,” Francia said.

AC Energy, meanwhile, reached 1,000 MW of attributable capacity in 2016 in just five years.

The company recently set a new target of reaching 2,000 MW of attributable capacity by 2020, with half accounted by renewable energy projects.

Maynilad building 6 sewage facilities

By Anna Leah E. Gonzales MAYNILAD Water Services Inc., the water concessionaire in the western part of Metro Manila, is constructing six new sewage treatment plants to expedite the provision of sewerage and sanitation services to customers.

Maynilad said the facilities in Cupang and Tunasan in Muntinlupa, Pasay, Parañaque, Valenzuela and Cavite City would have a combined treatment capacity of 269 million liters per day.

The company is also installing a 125-kilometer conveyance system for the new treatment plants.

Once completed, the new wastewater facilities will serve approximately 1,475,000 Maynilad customers, collecting and treating wastewater to render it safe for discharge to receiving bodies of water.

“We ask the general public to bear with us, as we facilitate completion of these vital facilities in line with our goal of protecting community health and the environment,” said Maynilad president and chief executive officer Ramoncito Fernandez.

From only two wastewater facilities in 2007 before reprivatization, Maynilad has already built 18 additional wastewater treatment facilities within its concession area, enabling it to treat 458,231 million liters of wastewater by the end 2016.

Maynilad is the largest private water concessionaire in the Philippines in terms of customer base.

NEW ECOZONE EXPORTER. Bandai Wireharness Philippines Inc. president Sunao Oda (left) receives the company’s certificate of registration from Philippine Economic Zone Authority officer–in-charge and deputy director-general Justo Porfirio Yusingcoas as an export enterprise. Bandai will manufacture different types of wire harness at the First Industrial Township–Special Economic Zone in Tanauan City, Batangas. At right is Hiroyoshi Nozaki of parent Bandai Co. Ltd.

TWENTY-TWO years after the end of World War II, the geographical identity known as Southeast Asia was composed of two large archipelagic nations— the Philippines and Indonesia—and the Malay Peninsula. The three countries were granted independence by their colonial masters—the US in the case of the Philippines, The Netherlands in the case of Indonesia and the United Kingdom in the case of Malaysia—as a result of the wave of decolonization that rolled over the developing world in furtherance of the United Nationsfavored concept of self-determination.

It was only natural that in their new geopolitical situation, the Philippines, Malaysia (formerly the Federation of Malaysia) and Indonesia sought to establish to close ties. The peoples of the three countries were the same racial stock and the three countries shared a common Western colonial heritage and a developingcountry type of economy. The first result of the three countries’ desire to form a sub-regional grouping was Maphilindo (Malaysia, Philipines, Indonesia). Maphilindo in due course morphed into ASA (Association of Southeast Asia). Amid indications of slow ASA progress, and considering the desire of other Southeast Asian nations—especially Thailand and the island city of Singapore, which in 1965 broke away from Malaysia—the decision was made by the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia to broaden the concept of Southeast Asia and to create a new grouping that would encompass Thailand, Singapore and the Bornean enclave of Brunei, which had chosen not to join Malaysia.

Thus was Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) born.

The year was 1967 and the Founding Six were the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and Brunei. With the end of the Vietnam War and the return of peace to what used to be called French Indonesia, the now-independent former French colonies—Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos—were soon knocking at Asean’s door requesting membership. Asean was now a nine-member grouping. With the rest of the Mekong River delta countries admitted into Asean, could Myanmar be denied entry? Of course not, and so the grouping that started out with three members was now a fully region-wide association with 10 member-states.

Recognizing that in the aftermath of World War II and their release from colonialism the developing countries would require the existence of an institution that would provide a steady inflow of financial assistance for development purposes, the founders of the United Nations established the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, better known as the World Bank. Until the mid-1960s the World Bank was the only noncommercial source of development finance for the developing countries of Asia. That changed in 1967, fifty years ago, with the start of operations of the Asian Development Bank. Now Developing Asia had two non-commercial sources of financing for its developmental projects.

The argument for the establishment of a mini-World Bank for Asia was made up of two parts. The first part was that Asia’s developing countries no longer had to compete so strenuously with the rest of the World Bank’s 190-odd members for loans.

The second part of the argument was that, being in Asia and of Asia, ADB would be more attuned to Asia and would be familiar with the development financing needs of the continent. (ADB’s membership only covers Asia east of Iran). ADB’s 50-year record of operations, during which the Bank has given loans and made grants totaling billions of dollars to Asia’s developing countries, has fully validated the argument for establishing ADB. Being an international institution operating in one of the most geopolitically sensitive parts of the globe, ADB has had to deal, during the last 50 years, with the tensions and rivalries between the US—one of the Bank’s two largest shareholders— and the major Asia-Pacific powers. Those tensions and rivalries have included the Vietnam War (1965-1975), and the territorial disputes involving China, Japan and host-country Philippines and the standoff between the two Korean states. More recently, it has had to deal with the entry into the development-financing picture of the China-sponsored Asian Industrial Infrastructure Bank.

Through all the challenges ADB has not only survived but has emerged more experienced, stronger and wiser.

Asean, too, has had its share of travails and trials during the first half-century of its existence, At the start of its operations, it had to navigate the conflict between the members aligned with the US (the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore) and the three former Indo-Chinese colonies of France (Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos).

During the following decades it had to help mitigate the effects of successive world economic downturns on the economies of its member-countries. More recently, there has been the East China Sea-West Philippine Sea problem involving an expansionist China and six Asean member-countries. And all the while maintaining an agreed policy of non-intervention by members in the domestic affairs of other Asean members.

Truly 1967 was a blessed year for the ten members of Asean; for it brought them two valuable gifts: an association that would lead their region along a path of productive unity and a source of development financing that they could call their own.

I add my small voice to the voices of Asians in felicitating Southeast Asia’s two golden institutions. Here’s to the next fifty years.

E-mail: rudyromero777@yahoo.com

Apo Cement, China’s Sinoma building waste-to-heat energy plant

By Jenniffer B. Austria CEMENT maker Cemex Holdings Philippines Inc. said unit Apo Cement Corp. signed an agreement with Sinoma Energy Conservation Ltd. of China to build and operate a waste-heatto-energy facility.

Cemex Philippines said in a disclosure to the stock exchange the planned 4.5-megawatt power facility would have a capacity to capture excess heat from the cement plant’s

kiln and convert it into usable energy. The technology is expected to generate 25,000 megawatt-hours annually.

The waste-to-heat facility will mitigate the negative effects of power service interruptions, help reduce dependence on high-cost sources, and reduce the cement plant’s carbon footprint, Cemex said.

“Promoting energy efficiency is one of Cemex’s objectives in advancing resource generation best practices. We are delighted

to see the good results of our partnership with Sinoma since the successful construction of the first WHTE project in one of our plants,” Cemex Philippines president Pedro Palomino said.

“We are pleased to be working with Cemex once again and we are positive that the upcoming project will contribute significantly to Cemex’s operations,” said Sinoma-EC chairman Zhang Qi, Sinoma Energy is the core member companies of China Na-

tional Materials Group Corp. Its business scope mainly includes investment in waste heat power generation projects, engineering technology development, consultancy and design of waste heat power generation, turn-key contracts, supply of clean development mechanism and development proposals and technology consultancy.

Meanwhile, Cemex said it was improving its performance as an efficient, agile and innovative company by identifying, shar-

ing and implementing best practices across its global network of plants and facilities.

Cemex operates two cement plants—Apo Cement in Cebu and Solid Cement in Rizal—with a aggregate installed annual capacity of 5.7 million tons of cement.

It is an indirect subsidiary of Cemex, S.A.B. de C.V., one of the largest cement companies in the world based on annual installed cement production capacity.

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

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THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2017

Business

UK launches EU exit process

L

ONDON―Britain formally launches the process for leaving the European Union on Wednesday, a historic step that has divided the country and thrown into question the future of the European project.

Just days after the EU’s 60th birthday, Britain will become the first country ever to seek a divorce, striking a blow at the heart of the union forged from the ashes of World War II. Nine months since the shock referendum vote to leave the EU, Prime Minister Theresa May will trigger Article 50 of the bloc’s Lisbon Treaty, meaning Britain is set to leave in 2019.

“We must no longer be defined by the votes we cast in the

referendum but a determination to make a success of the result,” May will tell MPs later Wednesday, according to pre-released extracts of her speech.

“The triggering of Article 50 is the moment for the country to come together,” May will say, a day after Scotland’s parliament voted in favor of holding a fresh referendum on independence from Britain, in a bid to hold on to EU ties.

May has already signed the

Brexit letter to be delivered to EU president Donald Tusk on Wednesday and the two leaders spoke by phone ahead of the momentous event.

After the historic triggering of divorce proceedings, Brussels and London face months of monumentally difficult negotiations over outstanding bills, immigration and future trade ties.

The EU is expected to issue a first response to Britain on Friday, followed by a summit of leaders on April 29 to adopt their own guidelines―meaning it could be weeks before formal talks start.

As with many divorces, negotiations could rapidly turn nasty over money.

The priority is settling Brit-

ain’s outstanding obligations, estimated between 55 and 60 billion euros ($59-65 billion)―an early battle that could set the tone for the rest of the talks.

Both sides also want to resolve the status of more than three million European nationals living in Britain after Brexit, and one million British expats in the EU. Forging a new trade agreement and tensions in Northern Ireland―which will become the country’s only hard border with the EU―will also provide major headaches.

Many business leaders are deeply uneasy about May’s decision to leave Europe’s single market, a free trade area of 500 million people, fearing its impact on jobs and economic growth.

The Brexit vote sent the pound plunging, although the economy has been largely stable since then.

Despite May’s call for unity, Britons appear as divided now as in June’s referendum, which the “Leave” camp won by a narrow 52-48 margin.

Tens of thousands marched through London on Saturday demanding Britain keep its 44-yearold EU membership, with one banner urging politicians to “stop this madness.”

But many are elated after waiting years for this moment, including 66-year-old pensioner Christine Garrett, shopping at an East London street market.

“We could stand on our own two feet as a country. What do they do for us? Nothing,” she said. AFP

Gold seen increasing to $1,500 this year GOLD is poised to rally to levels last seen four years ago as rising inflation and negative real interest rates combine to boost demand, according to Incrementum AG, which says that the precious metal may be in the early stages of a bull market.

Prices may climb to $1,400 to $1,500 an ounce this year, said Ronald-Peter Stoeferle, managing partner at the Liechtenstein-based company, which oversees 100 million Swiss francs ($101.5 million). Spot bullion―which was at $1,249 on Wednesday―last traded at $1,400 in September 2013.

Gold has climbed this year as investors weigh risks that President Donald Trump won’t be able to implement his agenda, adding to uncertainty surrounding European elections and the Brexit process. Against that backdrop, investors are on alert for signs of faster inflation, with the Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge jumping recently to near the bank’s target. Policy makers raised rates this month, and kept forecasts showing two more hikes in 2017.

“For the short term, it’s in a bit of a technical no-man’s land, we also see that seasonality is not really favorable,” Stoeferle said in an interview in Singapore on Tuesday. “The real pick up in momentum might start beginning of summer. It’s in the very early stages of the bull market, so everybody is still kind of cautious or slightly negative, but this will improve.”

Bullion is traditionally regarded as an effective hedge against rising inflation, gaining in value to help holders preserve their wealth. While higher US rates typically buoy the dollar and can hurt bullion, the commodity has advanced during previous hiking cycles.

Trump’s recent talking down of the greenback’s strength should also be positive for gold, according to Stoeferle.

Stoeferle manages 30 million Swiss francs in the renamed Incrementum Inflation Diversifier Fund, which he started in 2014 with partner Mark Valek. The fund uses its own inflation indicator, which is currently neutral to slightly negative. “As soon as we get the signal for rising inflation, we’ll invest in inflation-sensitive assets again such as silver equities, gold equities, energy and the broad commodity complex,” Stoeferle said.

Not everyone is bullish. Societe Generale SA recommends selling on rallies as it sees gold declining amid further tightening by the Fed and only limited impact from political events.

Bloomberg

Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May, signs the official letter to European Council President Donald Tusk, invoking Article 50 and signaling the United Kingdom’s intention to leave the EU, in the cabinet office inside 10 Downing Street on March 28, 2017. AFP

Vietnam’s economy slowed in 1st quarter VIETNAM’S economy grew at a slower pace than economists estimated in the first quarter as industrial output eased and Samsung Electronics Co. cut production of smartphones.

Gross domestic product rose 5.1 percent from a year earlier, the General Statistics Office said in Hanoi Wednesday.

That was lower than all eight forecasts from economists in a Bloomberg survey and below the median estimate of 6.25 percent GDP expanded 6.68 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016, according to previously reported data.

Samsung’s output in Vietnam fell 38 percent in the first quarter from a year ago, dragging down electronics production Vietnam outperformed most of its Southeast Asian peers last year as export growth remained resilient. The economy has become a manufacturing hub for companies such as Samsung, which is Vietnam’s biggest exporter, accounting for about 20 percent of the nation’s shipments. Samsung took the dramatic step in October to end production of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphone, a decision that businesses said at the time would hurt the economy.

Global trade risks are also mounting, with Vietnam among the countries in Asia most vulnerable to a rise in protectionism in the US. The government is increasing spending on infrastructure to retain its role as a top investment destination in Southeast Asia as others like the Philippines catches up. The World Bank forecasts Vietnam’s economy will expand more than 6 percent this year and next, among the fastest in the world.

“The upshot is that we expect GDP growth in Vietnam to accelerate in 2017,” Gareth Leather, a senior Asia economist at Capital Economics Ltd. in London, said in a report.

“There are some factors that should help to support growth this year,” he said, citing a recovery in agricultural output, loose monetary conditions and a strong export sector.

Bloomberg

British expats gloomy on Spain’s Costa del Sol as Brexit starts

By Daniel Silva BENALMADENA, Spain― The day after Britain voted to leave the European Union last June, British pensioner David Frost noticed his left leg was severely swollen.

He walked over to his local public health clinic in the southern Spanish city of Malaga and was promptly diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis, in which a blood clot blocks off blood flow deep in the veins, a potentially fatal condition.

Frost, who has lived in Spain since 1991, received daily injections of expensive blood thinners for several months at virtually no cost to himself until his life was out of danger.

Now the 74-year-old is one of thousands of British retirees in Spain who fear they will be forced to move back to Britain if they lose their free access to Spanish public health care as a result of Britain’s exit from the bloc.

“I couldn’t afford to live here without free health care,” he said as he sat on the sofa of his 13th floor apartment in central Malaga on Spain’s Costa del Sol which offers sweeping views of nearby mountains.

“This is my home now. I want to stay here. I want to die sitting on a balcony looking at a view, watching a sunset, having a glass of red wine. Not in some miserable grey street in Manchester with grey skies and no view.”

‘Worried and anxious’ Spain is the number one destination for British nationals living outside Britain, far ahead of France and Ireland.

The country is home to just over 300,000 Britons, around a third of them aged over 65. The

figure rises to around one million if Britons who live only part of the year in Spain are included.

With British Prime Minister Theresa May expected to invoke Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty on Wednesday to launch the process of leaving the bloc, anxiety is running high among this huge expat community.

“Nobody really knows how it is going to go,” said Julie Payne, 65, of Brexpats in Spain, one of several groups that lobbies to protect the rights of Britons living in Spain, as she sat by the pool of her seaside villa in Benalmadena up the coast from Malaga.

“People are worried and anxious,” added Payne, who moved to Spain in 2000.

Aside from fearing the loss of free health care, many retirees fear their pensions will take a hit when Britain leaves the EU, she said.

‘Cutting out luxuries’ Under existing rules any British state pensions collected in Spain or any other EU nation get the same annual increase to compensate for inflation as those collected in Britain.

But it is not clear if this arrangement will be kept after Britain leaves the bloc.

The annual increases are not paid to Britons living outside of the EU in countries like Australia and Canada, whose state pension is frozen at the amount it was when they left Britain.

British retirees in Spain are

already feeling the pinch from the drop of the pound, which has shed about 15 percent of its value against the euro since Britain voted for Brexit in a June 2016 referendum.

“For some this has meant cutting out on luxuries such as having a meal out. For others this means not being able to turn on the heating or cutting back on paying for personal care,” said Kelly Hall, a lecturer in social policy at the University of Birmingham who has studied British retirees in Spain.

The drop in the pound was especially hard for the “numerous” British nationals living in Spain who are entirely reliant on a British state pension―which

is capped at around 480 pounds (555 euros/$600) a month―as their only form of income, she added.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy says he thinks a deal can quickly be worked out with Britain to defend the rights of British expats in Spain after Brexit―a view shared by Mark Sampson, the owner of the Eurobar in Benalmadena which sells pints of beer for just one euro.

“They wouldn’t want us all to leave and take all of our money and wealth out of Spain,” said the burly 50-year-old, who moved to Spain from the northern English seaside resort of Blackpool five years ago and voted for Britain to leave the bloc. AFP People drink at a terrace bar in Benalmadena, Spain on March 27, 2017. The country is home to just over 300,000 Britons, with the figure rising to around one million counting Britons who live only part of the year in Spain. British Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to invoke Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty Wednesday triggering two years of Brexit negotiations, a divorce that has anxiety running high among this huge expat community.

AFP

LGUs

IN BRIEF Suspect in cop death shot dead in buy-bust A SUSPECT in the killing of a Manila Police District policewoman was shot dead by Manila policemen during a buybust operation on Tuesday night in Tondo.

MPD identified the suspect as Daniel Batac of Tondo district, who was killed after firing at policemen during a buy-bust operation in Mayhaligue Street, Tondo at 10:15 p.m.

Drugs and two firearms were recovered from the suspect. The MPD said Batac is a suspect in the killing of Police Officer 1 Jorsan Marie Alafriz last March 19.

Alafriz was driving to a police community precinct, where she was assigned, when two men shot her to death. MPD records also showed the suspect had been detained for a car theft case. Sandy Araneta

Cop posing as NPA nabbed for extortion LEGAZPI CITY—A policeman posing as a member of the New People’s Army to allegedly extort money from businessmen in the region has been arrested by operatives of the Camarines Sur police provincial command based in Pili, Camarines Sur. Bicol police regional director Melvin Buenafe identified the policeman as Police Officer Gilbert San Juan Embestro, 40, of the Pamplona Municipal Police Station. Buenafe also ordered an investigation into the involvement of other policemen in a suspected extortion ring, saying Embestro “could not have worked alone.”

Embestro was arrested after an entrapment operation at a money remittance outlet in Naga City. He claimed the money was sent to him by China Geo Construction Corp., based in Capalonga, Camarines Sur. It also dovetailed with reports an extortion ring was harassing contractors throughout the Bicol region. Manilyn B. Ugalde

Jimbo Owen Gulle, Editor Roger M. Garcia, Assistant Editor jimbo.gulle@gmail.com mslocalgov@gmail.com THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2017

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

Peña brushes off complaint

By Joel E. Zurbano

F

ORMER Makati City mayor Romulo Peña Jr. is unfazed by the second complaint filed by the city government with the Commission on Elections against him about the promotion and transfer of city hall personnel during the election period.

“I will answer this complaint in the proper forum, but in the meantime let me do things to serve the people,” said Peña.

Peña made the statement in reaction to the second complaint lodged by Makati City chief legal officer Michael Arthur Camiña, asking the Comelec to take necessary legal actions against him for issuing Letters of Appointment on Feb. 1, 2016 effecting the promotion and transfer of personnel.

“Once more, the Personnel Selection Board of the city government had acted in good faith through proper screening and deliberation of promoted and regularized personnel. More people still need our public service, and we will do it even if I’m not in the gov-

ernment office anymore,” he said.

Peña said all officers-in-charge and department heads appeared before the PSB to defend their recommendations, which included traffic aides and street sweepers, who have been in the city government’s roster for 25 years as casual employees.

“It is only during the regime of Bagong Makati when they were given regular plantilla positions,” he added.

Peña also denied the allegations of the presence of ghost employees during his term, saying those personnel got proper clearance from the city’s Human Resources Department Office before getting their 13th month pay and other benefits last December.

The former mayor asked his critics and political rivals to unite for the welfare of the people of Makati.

“I feel sorry for some persons who are trying to ride on my popularity to bankroll their ambition in Makati. Sadly, the outpour of support we’re receiving in our weekly ‘Kamustahan, Intindihan at Damayan’ shows otherwise.

The people of Makati knows who are really posturing in contrast to true blue public servant,” said Peña.

Camina’s letter, dated March 15, stated that 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 Devel-

opment Office, Jeffrey Samson, Clerk III under the Education Department, was transferred to the HRDO with the position of Administrative Assistant VI-Clerk III effective February 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 August 18, 2015, prescribed the election period from January 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.

Earlier this month, Camina also wrote a letter asking the Comelec Law Department head Norina TangaroCasingal to file a case against the former mayor over the transfer of personnel without prior authority from the poll body.

Peña served the city for more than a year after Jejomar Erwin Binay was dismissed from the service as elected mayor of Makati for his involvement in the alleged overpriced City Hall Building III.

Makati fetes 2 seniors

QC opens second animal bite center QUEZON City Mayor Herbert Bautista has opened a satellite animal bite treatment center in Barangay Batasan Hills on Wednesday, the second such facility maintained by the city government after the one located at city hall.

The new center provides at least four free post-exposure treatments to animal bite patients. Bautista underscored the importance of establishing additional animal bite centers for rabies prevention and control.

Plans are under way for the establishment of animal bite centers at the Quezon City General Hospital and Novaliches District Hospital, the mayor said. In 2016, the city health department recorded 20,083 animal bite exposures.

Rio N. Araja

Mt. Province honors officials on 50th year BONTOC, Mountain Province —The first set of provincial officials, appointed and elected, and all past governor and congressmen will be honored with Plaques of Recognition on April 7, 2017, the golden anniversary of Mountain Province.

The first set of appointed provincial officials, after the division of the old Mountain Province in 1967, were Alfredo Lamen Sr. as governor, Victor Dominguez as vice governor, and Pio Felwa and Alejo Manao as board members. Luis Hora was the congressman.

Governor Lamen, Vice Governor Jaime Gomez, and Board Members Alejo Manao and Alfonso Layog were the first set of elected provincial officials in 1968. Dexter A. See

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BIZ ON WHEELS. An ambulant vendor pushes his carriage full of household goods early on a Wednesday morning, hoping to sell the native merchandise to households in Manila. Ey Acasio

Salceda is chair of DND advisory council ALBAY Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda was recently elected chairman of the Department of National Defense Multi-Sector Advisory Council, tasked to provide direction towards the desired goals of the Philippine Defense Transformation Roadmap 2028.

MSAC was established along the principles of the Performance Government System or PGS, which promotes “good governance, transparency and accountability within the framework of stakeholders’ engagement and consultations, in accordance with the council protocols.”

The council aims to ensure

that DND can perform its defense mandate, and guide and help assess the implementation of its various policies and programs for the protection of the people and the state under PDTR 2028.

Salceda, who was first appointed as MSAC adviser prior to his election as its chairman, also sits as chair of the Regional Advisory Committee for Philippine National Police Transformation and Development in the Bicol Region. He presently holds the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the AFP reserve force, and is the regional commander of the 33rd Air Force

Group Reserve in Bicol.

Salceda and other MSAC members took their oath of office last March 9 at Camp Gen. E. Aguinaldo in Quezon City in front of senior defense officials.

Present during the rites were Gen. Alexander Yano, former AFP chief of staff; Bai Rohaniza Sumndad-Usman, founder of Teach Peace, Build Peace; Marife Zamora of the Management Association of the Philippines; Alexander Lacson of the Institute for Solidarity in Asia; Antonio La Viña of Manila Observatory; Danilo Concepcion, UP President; Donald Dee of the

Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines; Antonio Aquino of Makati Property Ventures; and Maria A. Ressa, CEO of Rappler, Inc. Aside from policy recommendations to the DND, MSAC encourages participation from various sectors of society to ensure that defense strategies are responsive to the needs of Filipino people, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said.

MSAC has four committees —Policy and Governance, Assessment and Review, Strategic Communications, and Resources Generation.

THE Makati City government gave P100,000 cash gifts to a former stockbroker and an entrepreneur who were named as the city’s 37th and 38th Centenarian awardees.

On Tuesday, Mayor Abigail Binay visited Alejandro Trinidad de Castro of Barangay San Lorenzo, who turned 100 last Feb. 27, and Magdalena Oribello Ollero of Barangay Cembo who turned 100 on Dec. 16 last year.

Binay visited their homes to personally award the P100,000 check and plaque of recognition from the city government, as tribute to their significant contributions to the development of Makati.

The two BLU card holders bring to 38 the total number of centenarians feted by the city government since January 2013, consisting of five men and 33 women.

Records from the Makati Social Welfare Department and Office of the Senior Citizens Affairs showed that De Castro, a native of Iba, Zambales, finished Banking and Finance at Far Eastern University.

De Castro worked in several banks before joining Manila Stock Exchange, and organized his own company in 1963 upon being invited to be a founding member and broker of the Makati Stock Exchange, where he still works. He married Salud Donato in 1956, and they have five children Ollero has 11 children with her husband, a World War II veteran, and now has several grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Apart from her buy-and-sell business, she also supplied meals to Army soldiers in Fort Bonifacio, and later put up her own sarisari store. Joel E. Zurbano

ARMM allots P132.5m for Basilan infra projects DESPITE the perception that Basilan is a conflict-ridden province, the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao is bullish about developing its far-flung communities.

The war-torn town of Al-Barka in Basilan province, for instance, will receive P132.5 million in infrastructure projects from the regional government.

For so long, Al-Barka was the main defense camp of the Abu Sayyaf, and was a battleground between the Special Armed Forces and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. The locals fled during military operations that ravaged the town.

Today, it is poised to become a modern and safe community. In the works are a seven-kilometer road, several water systems, and bridges.

In the past five years, ARMM has invested P7.865 billion for road networks, bridges and waterworks. The Duterte administration has so far appropriated P887 million worth of infrastructure projects for Basilan, most of it earmarked for roads.

ARMM Governor Mujiv Hataman said the government has given attention to many municipalities to improve its quality of life. Now, AlBarka and other conflict-ridden areas will be the main priority.

Said Sarifa Anzala, a resident of Al-Barka, in the local dialect: “We have lived in appalling conditions for many years. Now we see hope, as we see projects being built here...

People are coming back to our town again, and more are coming to serve the community.” Ayunan Gunting-

Alhadj

ARMM Governor Mujiv Hataman (center) holds up the documents showing the terms of the infrastructure assistance for the province of Basilan.

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THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2017

LGUs

Cop chief, 5 others sacked B ACOLOD CITY—The acting director of the Negros Occidental Provincial Police, Sr. Supt. William Señoron, and five other police officers were relieved of their posts Monday afternoon due to their alleged involvement in illegal drug operations.

The relief order was issued by Chief Supt. Renato Gumban, acting director of Police Regional Office-18 in the Negros Island Region, according to spokesper-

son Sr. Insp. Armilyn Vargas.

Sr. Supt. Rolando Miranda, chief of PRO-18 Regional Directorial Staff, took over the post of Señoron.

The five others relieved were Supt. Edel Jose Manzano, chief of the Cadiz City Police; Supt.

Placido Gentoleo of the Bacolod City Police; Supt. Antonietto Cañete of PRO-18; Chief Insp.

Edison Garcia of the Regional Intelligence Division; and Police Officer 1 Eric Alcosaba of the Bacolod City Police Station 7.

Five, including Señoron, were transferred to the Regional Personnel Holding and Accounting Unit. Alcosaba was assigned to

the Regional Public Safety Battalion.

Gumban issued the relief order days after the region’s top drug suspect Ricky Serenio issued a supplemental affidavit that mentioned the names of the six police officers.

Señoron has denied the allegations stated in Serenio’s affidavit.

He said he has not yet received a copy of the relief order, but committed to follow the di-

rective despite his misgivings.

“The truth will prevail,” he added.

Serenio, in his affidavit, stated that the six police officers were receiving protection money from the “Berya” drug group.

Earlier, Gumban said he referred Serenio’s affidavit to the Regional Internal Affairs Service for the filing of administrative cases, if the police officers are proven guilty following the investigation. PNA

‘LAKBAY ARAL.’

Noveleta, Cavite Mayor Dino Reyes Chua (in white polo) leads Team Noveleta together with 16 barangay chairmen and councilors as they listen to a lecture at the waterlily handicraft center at the Villar Sipag center in Talon Dos, Las Piñas City.

Bauko LGU to manage Mount Data hotel and museum BAUKO, Mountain Province —The municipal government was tasked by the State-owned Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority to manage the Peace Museum that will be part of the historic Mount Data Hotel and the indoor and outdoor recreational facilities, once the rehabilitation of the hotel shall have been completed.

Mayor Abraham B. Akilit said the local government’s proposal to manage the historic

Mount Data hotel was overtaken by the earlier proposal of the state-run Mountain Province State Polytechnic College to manage the hotel and restaurant because of the existence of courses offered by the higher education institution that is related to hotel and restaurant management among others.

“We have tasked our technical personnel to prepare the required detailed plans for the museum and the indoor and outdoor recreational facilities which will be

submitted to TIEZA for review and consideration in the budgeting of the funds for the project,” Akilit stressed.

He explained the museum will house the necessary historical accounts that led to the signing of the historic Mount Data peace agreement entered by the Philippine government and the Cordillera Peoples Liberation Army on Sept. 13, 1986, done at the old building of the Mount Data hotel.

Further, Akilit added the mu-

seum will also host the memorabilia of the peace agreement that will serve as a living testament to the contributions of Mount Data in achieving lasting peace in the Cordillera.

He said the municipal government plans to put up a billiard hall, bowling lanes, zip line and improve the area where garden weddings are being usually held to increase the available activities in the area to allow visitors to spend more time in enjoying their stay in

the government facility.

Akilit said the management of the museum will be one of the local government’s income-generating initiatives to contribute in increasing the internally generated resources that could be plowed back to the people through the funding and implementation of priority development projects and enhance the delivery of basic services to the people in the 22 barangays of the municipality.

Dexter A. See

Baguio CCTV ordinance questioned BAGUIO CITY—Former Councilor Fred Bagbagen has questioned the City Council for enacting an ordinance governing the installation of close-circuit television cameras in business establishments because it merely expanded the coverage of an existing local legislative measure passed in 2008 with the same purpose.

Bagbagen, in his letter to Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan, stated the consolidated ordinance requiring business establishments to install CCTV cameras, video recorders and monitors for security purposes should not have been a new ordinance but it should be an amendment to Ordinance No. 88, series of 2008.

The newly approved ordi-

nance was authored by Councilor Edgar M. Avila under Proposed Ordinance No. PO 0086-2016, Vice Mayor Edison Bilog under PO 0050-2012 with Bagbagen as the co-author and consolidated by Councilor Benny O. Bomogao under PO-2016.

Bagbagen pointed out Ordinance 88, series of 2008 which he authored is not a mere proposal as it was already enacted into an ordinance when it was approved by the former City Council during its regular session on Oct. 20, 2008.

“Secondly, it is of course not legally tenable for a former councilor to be a co-author to the new ordinance but the authors should have referred to the original ordinance as their basis

and made it an amendatory local legislative measure,” Bagbagen stressed.

While the intention of the proponents was noble because they expanded the coverage of the original measure, the former councilor claimed the proponents should have given credit to where credit is due by recognizing the existence of a similar proposal that was even enacted as an ordinance way back in 2008 and treated their proposals as a clear amendment to the existing one.

Per him, there is a need for the present council to do the appropriate remedy to correct the newly passed CCTV ordinance to reflect the original proposal for better legislation. Dexter A. See

TOURISM ADVOCATES. Some of the ‘Class of Achievers’ of St. Columban’s Academy recently lauded

by Pangasinan Gov. Amado ‘Pogi’ Espino III for their contributions in promoting tourism in the province are (from left): Manuel and Carmelita del Castillo, Eddie Badua, Corazon Joaquin-Castillo, Mariska Angeles-Castillo, Araceli Soriano-Manaloto, Marirose Sison-Garcia, Carmen Martinez-Pascual, Margarita Ventenilla-Hamada, former secretary Francisco Viray, former mayor Nolan Evangelista, and Joselito Bilbao.

Japan builds bridge for IPs

By Ben Moses Ebreo DUPAX DEL SUR, Nueva Vizcaya—When a group of Japanese exchange students were stranded by a swelling river in barangay Carolotan here in 2013, it sparked their initiative to propose the construction of a bridge upon their return.

Though they did not personally return, the Japanese government heeded their plea to fund the construction of a bridge to address the perennial problem of the villagers, mostly indigenous people, farmers and school-goers, including other residents of nearby barangays.

Now, the bridge has been fully constructed, hastening economic development in the municipality.

“We owe this laudable project to our international exchange students, who made strong recommendations upon their return in Japan,” said Yoshinori Fukubayashi, representative of Japan’s Community Road Empowerment, a Japan-based non-government organization that facilitated the bridge project.

CORE provides funding assistance in various countries in a bid to empower the youth through the building of roads and bridges.

The P1.4-million project, also named the Japan-Philippines Friendship Bridge for the Community of Carolotan, was funded by Japan International Cooperation Fund in collaboration with Global Link Management Institute and the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement.

The provincial government of Nueva Vizcaya, municipal government of Dupax del Sur, and the barangay local government unit of Carolotan also served as partners that provided manpower and heavy equipment needed during the bridge’s construction stage.

This also opened an employment for villagers of Carolotan and nearby barangays.

Dupax del Sur Mayor Ruben Basconcillo praised the construction of the bridge, not only for the savings it brought to the LGU but because of its sentimental value between the municipality and Japan.

Electric home lines installed for free ALICIA, Isabela—Virgilio Montano, general manager of the Isabela Electric Cooperative–I, has called on household owners here to visit their offices and avail of their free electricity installation services.

The installation is part of a program of the Department of Energy’s National Intensification of Household Electrification, which intends to ensure all households within the service area of ISELCO I will be able to have electricity in their homes, Montano said.

Apart from free installation, which is charged against the DoE program’s budget, the scheme provides other materials to be used for the installation, such as drop wires from the electrical post to the households, Montano stressed.

ISELCO I management has already profiled the households without electricity and have already submitted these to the DoE for funding this year.

Montano advised household owners in its area who were not included in the list to visit the ISELCO I offices for enlisting, and be included as recipients of the program for 2018 implementation. Jessica M. Bacud

World IN BRIEF Convicted for possessing ivory chopstics HONG KONG―A Hong Kong court has convicted two men for illegal possession of ivory chopsticks after radiocarbon dating proved it was produced after 1990 and therefore unlawful, local media reported.

Hong Kong, a key hub for the ivory trade and manufacturing, announced plans last year to phase out sales completely by 2021.

Government officials bought the pair of ivory chopsticks from a crafts shop during an operation last August in the city’s Sheung Wan district, which is dotted with curio and antique vendors.

Radiocarbon dating showed the ivory was obtained after 1990, according to an earlier government press release.

The pair were Tuesday handed fines of US$770 and US$1,000 respectively.

“It’s the first time the Hong Kong government has ever used radiocarbon analysis to determine the age of ivory -- that’s a total game changer in the market,” WildAid wildlife campaigner Alex Hofford told AFP. While environmental groups welcomed the use of forensic evidence, they condemned the light penalty, compared with the maximum punishment of a US$640,000 fine and two years in jail. AFP

THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2017

Set for war against Trump L

OS ANGELES―California, one of the most progressive in the US on climate issues, is heading toward a legal showdown with the Trump administration over its environmental policies.

Banker held for violating Iran sanctions ANKARA―A senior official at a state-owned Turkish bank has been detained in the United States on charges of helping Iran violate the US sanctions against the country, the bank said Wednesday.

“Our deputy general manager in charge of international banking, Mehmet Hakan Atilla, was taken into custody in the United States where he was for business purposes on March 28,” Halkbank said in a statement.

Halkbank, owned by the Turkish state, said it was working with the authorities and would provide more information when available.

The state-run Anadolu news agency reported that Atilla was accused of two crimes by the chief prosecutor when he appeared in front of the judge in New York on Tuesday: conspiring to violate US sanctions against Iran and banking fraud.

The agency said Atilla faced up to 50 years in prison in a case that could cause tensions between Washington and Turkey ahead of US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s visit to Ankara on Thursday.

Atilla is accused of working with Reza Zarrab, an IranianTurkish gold mogul, and others to process millions of dollars of illegal transactions through US banks for the Iranian government and other Iranian institutions, Anadolu reported.

Zarrab, 33, was arrested in Miami in March last year en route to Disney World on charges that could see him sentenced to up to 30 years in prison. AFP

Drone strike kills four jihadists ADEN―A drone strike killed four suspected members of Al-Qaeda in south Yemen Wednesday, a security official said, as the United States intensifies air raids on jihadists in the war-torn country.

Two missiles hit a vehicle on the outskirts of the town of Mudiyah in Abyan province, killing all four people inside, the official said.

The raid comes two weeks after US President Donald Trump’s administration reportedly gave the CIA new powers to conduct drone strikes against extremist targets in the Middle East.

Since March 2, the US has launched dozens of strikes against Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula targets in Abyan and the neighboring provinces of Shabwa and Baida.

In the first three days of the strikes at least 22 suspected AQAP fighters were killed, security officials and tribal sources have said.

More than two years of civil war in Yemen between government forces and Shiite rebels who control the capital have created a power vacuum which AQAP has exploited to consolidate its presence in the south and east.

Washington regards AQAP as the jihadist network’s most dangerous arm and says that in recent months it has been plotting attacks on the West. AFP

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CHINA FASHION WEEK. This photo taken on March 28, 2017, shows models parading creations from the HUQIU Bridal City Presents: JUSERE Collection by Yu Aiping at China Fashion Week in Beijing. AFP

Debt collector Tillerson heads to NATO WASHINGTON―US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will present a meeting of the NATO allies on Friday with a demand from President Donald Trump that they increase defense spending.

The annual NATO foreign ministers talks in Brussels were brought forward at the last minute after Tillerson warned he would not be able to attend on the long-planned date.

Washington’s top diplomat is reportedly keeping time free in early April to take part in a possible golf resort summit between Trump and China’s leader Xi Jinping.

But Tillerson needs to meet with his colleagues to prepare for Trump’s first full NATO summit, on May 25.

And his apparent reluctance to commit to the NATO meeting only served to reinforce the impression that Trump places little stock in America’s decadesold alliances.

This month, Trump’s conviction that the allies must somehow pay Washington for the reassuring presence of

US forces in Europe cast a pall over talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

“Germany owes vast sums of money to NATO and the United States must be paid more for the powerful, and very expensive, defense it provides to Germany!” he tweeted.

In barnstorming speeches on the campaign trail last year, Trump declared NATO to be obsolete. But since coming to office his administration has taken a more positive stance.

Acting as the good cops while bad cop Trump lays out cash demands, Vice President Mike Pence and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis have reaffirmed the US commitment to NATO. Tillerson, having finally agreed to meet his colleagues at his first NATO talks, must now translate Trump’s tweets into a diplomatic strategy to strengthen the alliance.

The press-shy former oilman has kept his thoughts to himself but State Department officials -- speaking on condition

of anonymity -- briefed reporters.

“The first goal that Secretary Tillerson’s going to push is to get the allies to renew their commitment through increased resources for NATO defense spending,” one said.

“It’s essential that the allies honor their commitment from the last two previous summits to spend two percent of their gross domestic product on defense,” he explained.

In addition to the two percent goal, the official said, Tillerson will push very hard for allies to spend a fifth of their defense budgets on military-capacity building.

The 28-member alliance met in Wales in 2014 and agreed that each would boost defense spending to the two percent goal by 2024 -- leaving them today with a seven year grace period.

But Trump has made it clear he regards previous shortfalls in this goal -- even before the Wales deal -- as representing a growing debt from member states towards the alliance. AFP

The battle is shaping up as President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday rolling back key Obama-era measures to combat climate change.

Trump insists the order will benefit American workers, notably coal miners.

But the measure has environmental groups and officials in California -- which has led the fight to curb climate change and has the largest automobile market in the country -- up in arms and vowing a showdown.

“Gutting #CPP is a colossal mistake and defies science itself,” California Governor Jerry Brown said in a tweet, referring to the Clean Power Plan aimed at curbing global warming.

“Erasing climate change may take place in Donald Trump’s mind, but nowhere else,” he added.

Brown has led California’s climate change crusade, which saw the state in the last decade significantly slash its yearly climate-warming emissions by about 35 million metric tons.

It has pledged to cut them even further by 2020, with other states looking to follow suit.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti joined Brown in saying on Tuesday that Trump would meet with fierce resistance over his new directive.

“No matter what happens in Washington, we will work to meet our Sustainable City Plan goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050, move toward zero emissions transportation, and pursue our vision of a 100 percent clean energy future,” the mayor said.

Although the federal government sets emission standards for cars in the United States, that is not the case in car-crazy California. In 1970, the state struck an agreement to adopt stricter air quality rules to combat the smog that plagues the vast Los Angeles metropolitan area.

While the auto industry initially pushed back at the stricter measures, today the state has more than half of the plug-in electric cars in the country.

But there are fears that this could change, should Trump -- who has called global warming a hoax -direct the Environmental Protection Agency to roll back on the state’s special waiver for tougher emissions rules.

California leaders have already said that they would not go down without a fight and have vowed to push forth with even stricter measures.

Experts say Trump could very well rescind the waiver -- which would lead to fierce legal battles -- or adopt new federal regulations without challenging those of California and 13 other states that have adopted the same stringent clean air standards as California.

“The third option is to go to Congress to revoke the Clean Air Act and that’s what we fear the most,” said Stanley Young, a spokesman for the California Air Resources Board.

Cara Horowitz, co-executive director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at UCLA, said that while it is impossible to predict the outcome of a showdown between California and the Trump administration, the state’s track record in combating pollution was a plus.

“My sense is that California has a long history of aggressively regulating pollution and getting these waivers,” she said. AFP

Hope for elephants as ivory prices fall NAIROBI―The price of ivory has fallen by nearly twothirds in the last three years, according to research conducted in China and published on Wednesday by the conservation group Save the Elephants.

At its peak in 2014 the wholesale prices for raw ivory stood at $2,100 (1,900 euros) per kilogram at Chinese markets, but by 2017 the price had fallen to $730 per kilogram, according to the report by two ivory trade experts, Lucy Vigne and Esmond Martin.

“Findings from 2015 and 2016 in China have shown that the legal ivory trade especially has been severely diminished,” Vigne said in a statement.

Chinese demand has driven a decade-long spike in elephant poaching in Africa, where the population has fallen by 110,000 over the last 10 years to just 415,000, according to a recent continental survey.

Vigne said both the amount of ivory for sale as well as prices had fallen at 130 licensed outlets in China, reflecting a drop in demand in the world’s biggest ivory market.

The researchers said China’s economic slowdown, plus a crackdown on corruption that sharply reduced the giving of ivory trinkets as gifts to officials, had also crimped demand.

At the end of this month China’s 34 remaining licensed ivory-carving factories will be closed, after a recent government order putting an end to the legal trade.

But it remains unclear how the closing of the legal market will affect the illegal trade in elephant ivory.

International trade in ivory was banned in 1989, yet poaching continued and has accelerated in recent years, feeding a black market controlled by criminal gangs.

Iain Douglas-Hamilton, Save the Elephant’s founder, said it was a critical but hopeful moment for the future of elephants.

“With the end of the legal ivory trade in China, the survival chances for elephants have distinctly improved,” DouglasHamilton said.

“There is still a long way to go to end the excessive killing of elephants for ivory, but there is now greater hope for the species.” AFP

ONSTAGE. Singer Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco performs at The Forum on March 28 in Inglewood. AFP

Cesar Barrioquinto, Editor

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THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2017

World

Cyclone-ravaged region begins picking up pieces A YR, Australia― Towns remained cut off in northern Australia Wednesday after being pummeled by a powerful cyclone that washed battered yachts ashore and ripped roofs off houses, as the military mobilized to help with the clean-up.

The category four storm slammed into the coast of Queensland state between Bowen and Airlie Beach on Tuesday afternoon, packing destructive winds and devastating some of the region’s tourist ho tspots.

It has since been downgraded to a tropical low but the Bureau of Meteorology still warned of damaging wind gusts with “intense” rain, sparking flooding fears as river levels rise.

“This rainfall is likely to lead to major river flooding over a broad area this week,” it said.

Some areas have been drenched in “a phenomenal” 1,000 millimeters (39 inches) of rain in just 48 hours -- the equivalent of half a year’s worth, according to the weather bureau.

Roads to the towns of Bowen, Airlie Beach and Proserpine were inaccessible, with more than 60,000 homes without power and communications down in many areas. But no deaths were reported and only one significant injury -- a man crushed by a collapsing wall.

Emergency crews began assessing the damage but blocked roads and flash flooding hampered efforts, as soldiers, military helicopters and planes started deploying to help restore infrastructure and supply emergency food, water and fuel.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk flew by helicopter to Bowen, which bore much of the brunt, and said mass evacuations helped save lives.

Tens of thousands of people moved to higher ground or cyclone shelters or left the region before Cyclone Debbie made landfall.

“Thankfully the extent of the damage here is not as widespread as we first anticipated, but of course there are lots of trees down... we’ve seen the impact of roofs being blown off people’s houses,” she said.

The premier was due to head to the town of Proserpine where “we expect there to be some more widespread damage”. AFP

Neighbors resent pricey Trump visits MIAMI―Since Donald Trump took office and dubbed his Florida estate the “Winter White House,” local authorities have been demanding he reimburse the county for the high cost of his visits.

Now, they say, he should pay up or just stop coming.

“We understand the president wanting to be here. We understand that. This is paradise, right?,” Lois Frankel, a member of the US House of Representative from West Palm Beach, told reporters Monday.

“What we are asking again is help in getting reimbursement to this county and to this city.”

Instead of frequenting his mansion inside his upscale Mar-a-Lago resort and golf club, Trump “could go to Camp David. He can make that choice to limit the expense on our area,” she argued, referring to the presidential retreat in Maryland’s Catoctin Mountains.

Frankel was joined by Jeri Muoio, mayor of West Palm Beach.

“Our police and fire, on the weekends the president is here, have to work at 120 percent capacity. That means hiring and paying overtime,” she explained.

Since taking office in January, Trump has visited his mansion for five weekends.

That means closing local airspace, closing some roads, deploying special services and dealing with protesters for and against the president, which is overwhelming for a small resort accustomed to quiet, wealthy and few residents.

In addition, if the real estate mogul plans to continue visiting Mar-a-Lago, the county will need funds to defend against cyber attacks and prepare to avoid and respond to terrorist attacks.

To top it off, Trump and a big Chinese delegation will be here next week, Paulette Burdick, Palm Beach County Mayor, told AFP. She and other authorities have been asking the federal government for two months to reimburse the extra costs of Trump’s visits. So far, they have had no reply.

The Trump-Xi summit at Mar-a-Lago will cost $280,000, Democratic lawmakers Lois Frankel, Alcee Hastings and Ted Deutch, all Florida representatives, warned in a letter to Trump last week AFP

Palestinian pints spell trouble in pub

DINNER. Amanda Steele attends the H&M Conscious Exclusive Dinner at Smogshoppe on March 28 in Los Angeles. AFP

Studios promote coming blockbusters LAS VEGAS―Some of Hollywood’s biggest movie studios took center stage at the CinemaCon on Tuesday―wheeling out a vast array of stars to promote their coming slates of blockbusters.

Historic “major” Paramount competed with new kid on the block STX for the loudest applause at the annual Las Vegas gathering for the “exhibition community” of theater operators and audio and visual tech innovators.

And while Disney traditionally keeps back most of its juiciest surprises for its own D23 Expo, the studio treated delegates to a world premiere of the latest “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie, “Dead Men Tell No Tales.”

Hollywood decamps to the Nevada desert for four days every year, taking over the iconic Caesar’s Palace hotel to

show theater operators what they can expect to be making their money from over the following 12 to 24 months.

STX, in business for just two years, was first up, putting forward legendary sci-fi director Luc Besson to present footage from his latest adventure,”Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.”

The 58-year-old French auteur has made a string of hits, including “The Fifth Element,” “Leon: The Professional,” “Lucy” and “Nikita.”

But he said his coming movie has been a passion project since he began reading the serialized 1960s comics from Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mezieres on which it is based.

“There was no internet, no YouTube, nothing and you had to wait a week to get two more pages,” he told delegates at

CinemaCon. “I got totally addicted... It was so cool at the time, really new and I never stopped thinking about it.”

The $180 million “Valerian” -- which comes out on July 21 -- centers on a dark force threatening Alpha, a vast metropolis and home to species from a thousand planets.

Blacks ops agents Valerian (Dean DeHaan) and Laureline (Cara Delevingne) race to identify the marauding menace and safeguard the universe.

The audience was treated to a new trailer, a surreal but self-aware fever dream in vivid 3-D featuring a huge, drooling CGI dog-like monster that rips a bus apart, as well of plenty of large Zenlike aliens and desert vistas with echoes of Mad Max. AFP

HAIFA-Just when it seemed there was nothing else left to divide Israelis and Palestinians, some Jewish hardliners have found a new one: beer.

The recent decision by a trendy pub in the northern Israeli city of Haifa to make Shepherds beer available sparked the controversy.

The problem: Shepherds is a Palestinian beer recently launched by a brewery in the occupied West Bank.

The decision by the bar, the Libira, led to drunken-sounding diatribes from some.

“Traitors’ bar! I call on everyone not to go there,” read one of the comments on the Facebook page of the pub located at the traditional port in Haifa’s Old City.

“This Palestinian beer is made with Jewish blood,” said another.

When he saw the insults, co-owner Erik Salarov, said he was shocked.

At the bar that he opened with friends, “we don’t do politics”, he said.

“We offer a drink with friends. We have highlighted a Scottish beer, a beer from Tel Aviv and Taybeh beer,” he added, naming the most popular Palestinian brew.

For Salarov, those who call for a boycott of Libira are “a handful of racist nationalists who do not accept the idea of co-existence”.

He says co-existence is a part of life in Haifa, where 10 percent of the residents are Arab Israelis, or the descendants of Palestinians who remained after the creation of Israel in 1948.

Salarov says that dynamic is particularly strong in the Old City. Jews and Arabs gather together -- rare in Israel -- at bars and restaurants in the neighborhood.

He has seen hardliners seek to cause trouble before. AFP

Stumbling on path to democracy YANGON―For decades Myanmar’s people dreamed of democracy, but a year into office Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government is struggling to revive a sluggish economy and shake off the vestiges of the still powerful military.

Swept into power on a wave of optimism and hatred of the generals who ruled for 50 years, Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) vowed to boost prosperity and end decades of bloody civil war.

But while “The Lady”, as she is widely known, still draws widespread personal adoration in many areas of the country, dissenting voices are rising.

Suu Kyi cuts an increasingly aloof figure, say analysts, ducking press conferences and remaining silent over a bloody army crackdown on Rohingya Muslims.

Her reticence to speak out on the violence in Rakhine state is fast losing her fans among an international community that was once bedazzled by her power as a rights defender.

Expectations of what the NLD could achieve in a year governing one of Southeast Asia’s poorest countries were unreasonably high, according to Myanmar watchers.

But now many are questioning whether the government will ever be able to piece the country back together.

“There is a growing sense among the politically engaged urban electorate that the government is not meeting their expectations,” said political analyst Richard Horsey, a consultant for the International Crisis Group.

“Partly, that is because those expectations were inevitably far

too high... but partly it is due to government under-performance.”

Most MPs have little or no political experience and many spent years languishing in jail under the former junta that gorged itself and its cronies on Myanmar’s resources and brutally suppressed dissent.

The government is hobbled by a military constitution that bars Suu Kyi from the presidency and guarantees them a quarter of parliament seats -- enough to block any changes.

It also gives the army control over the three most important ministries: defence, borders and home affairs.

A prominent NLD lawyer who was trying to scrap the charter, Ko Ni, was murdered in broad daylight at Yangon airport in a killing allegedly masterminded by a former military officer. AFP

SUPPORT. Demonstrators wave the flag of French Guiana during a march in support of the general strike in Cayenne, on the French overseas territory of French Guiana, on March 28, 2017. Several thousand people took to the streets on March 28 in support of the general strike. A group called The 500 Brothers took part as well as the Amerindians of Guiana. French Guiana was paralyzed by a general strike on March 27, closing schools, disrupting airline traffic and further stoking fears of instability in the French overseas territory that has been gripped by protests since last week. AFP

Isah V. Red, Editor Bernadette Lunas, Writer isahred@gmail.com THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2017

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T a small gathering at Fairmont Hotel’s ballroom recently, Anthony Paul Semerad, a popular basketball player led a phalanx of young men with well-sculpted torso in introducing a new line of sports nutrition products for health and bodybuilding buffs in the country.

Life

Anthony Semerad supplements his workout and diet with Euphoria Maxx sports nutrition products to maintain his perfect physique

HEALTH & WELLNESS

New line of

The other Semerad, David John was in an important meeting with his team he barely made it. He came just in the nick of time when the event was about to get into its conclusion.

Yet, Nino Bautista, Managing Director and Founder of Bargn Farmaceutici Phils Co. (BFPC), makers of Euphoria Maxx, proudly announced the newest addition to its premium line of Sports Nutrition products – Euphoria Maxx Creatine, Euphoria Maxx BCAA, Euphoria Maxx Glutamine and Euphoria Maxx L-Arginine capsules.

Each product, said Bautista, is formulated with premium and high-grade materials to help kick start the high intensity workout, promote lean muscle development and support faster muscle recovery.

“With each ingredient carefully formulated and added to Euphoria Maxx we set a new standards for active sports nutrition. Consumers, specially bodybuilders want a product with high quality formulations to help them keep up with their game and get the most out of their workout,” added Bautista,.

“With a fast growing market for Sports Nutrition, we are happy to sign up a partnership with Watsons Personal Care Store. BFPC and Watsons share the same vision of making each and every Filipino feel good about themselves by offering products that truly delivers amazing results,” added Red Gatus, also Managing Director and Founder of BFPC. Anthony Semerad said the new line of nutrition products would definitely help him maintain his now perfect physique that has become the envy of most men. He said, “I will definitely continue my daily workouts and keep my high-protein and low carb diet

sports nutrition Make refreshing smoothies made of seasonal fruits

Love your body this summer Plunge into your best and healthiest summer yet by following simple steps to keep your body in tiptop shape

Taking a cold shower refreshes the body and provides numerous health benefits

THE season of getaways and fun activities is upon us again. But summer is not all clear skies and ice cream trucks; it’s also the time when sunburn, heatstroke, flu, sore eyes and eyestrain are common.

To be able to make the most out of summer, take note of the following tips: Be physically active Engaging in physical activities will keep you healthy and beachbody ready—like hitting two birds with one stone. Dr. Nicky Montoya of MediCard recommends calorie-burning and fun exercises like hiking, swimming, martial arts or zumba. For a relaxing workout, try yoga at Surya Fitness Yoga that offers hatha, vinyasa, ashtanga and basic yoga classes.

Eat and drink healthy While this is an all-year-round key to being healthy, you may make it summer-themed by incorporating more seasonal fruits and vegetables to your meals. Make a nutrient-rich smoothie using bananas, watermelons, berries and mangoes. And as much as possible, avoid or limit fatty food in your diet, such as junk food and take-out meals.

Apply sunscreen Before you step out in the sun, it’s essential that you apply sunscreen to protect you from harmful UV rays, slow down skin aging, and reduce risk of getting skin cancer. Dr. Montoya recommends sunscreen that has at least SPF 30. He also emphasizes reapplying every two hours, especially after swimming or sweating.

Keep your cool Combat intense heat by staying under the shade and taking cold showers. Taking cold showers is not only refreshing during hot and humid days of summer but also provides numerous health benefits. It may increase alertness, strengthen immune system by increasing the amount of disease-fighting white blood cells, and improve blood circulation by transporting blood to the organs. Cold showers also refine hair and skin by tightening cuticles and pores.

Give your eyes a break Our eyes are more at risk of getting eyestrain from overexposure to sunlight. Too much sunlight can cause painful eye conditions, including eyelid twitches, eye pain, and extreme sensitivity to bright light. In severe cases, overexposure can permanently damage central vision.

“The effects of overexposure to UV rays and harmful blueviolet light may only be visible during adulthood, when vision problems like Age-Related Macular Degeneration set in. So we strongly advise the Filipino public to take preventive measures against them,” says Essilor Philippines general manager Dr. Emelita Roleda.

Dr. Roleda recommends using Crizal Prevencia multi-coated lenses, which selectively filters bad blue light and lets in essential good light. She also advises getting a comprehensive eye exam at least once a year and taking frequent breaks from reading or looking at the monitor.

along with the supplements.”

BFPC has been committed to quality and innovation since the business was founded in 2006. The Euphoria Maxx extensive line of Sports Nutrition Supplement is produced at company owned and operated facilities that are FDA cGMP Certified. The company’s commitment to superior quality is matched only by its pursuit of continuous improvement. Euphoria Maxx scientists work to improve existing products while developing breakthrough technologies for exciting new formula.

EuphoriaMaxx Sports Nutrition is exclusively available at Watsons Personal Care Stores. For more information about the product, workout and diet tips, visit the Facebook fanpage at @euphoriamaxxfanpage.

Always apply sunscreen before you step out in the sun

Life

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THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2017 isahred@gmail.com

Go away, warts Know the ways to prevent warts and the proper measure to get rid of them

By Robbie Pangilinan

WWF ambassadors teach kids about health and environment

SUMMER is here. Time for vacation, beach, and warts!

You don’t want the last one to ruin your summer, so make sure you do not get warts or have them under control.

Warts on the feet are common during the hot summer months because people usually do not wear shoes or socks and go barefoot. Always walking on wet floor, especially around the pools and in the showers, you can get warts as well. Warts can also appear on hands and knees.

“Warts are typically small skin growths on a person’s hands, feet or other body parts caused by viruses, particularly one of several kinds of HPV (human papillomavirus). They are usually harmless, but common warts are actually an infection on the skin’s top layer,” says Dr. Olga Reyes Roque, resident doctor of YSA Skin and Body Experts.

Warts are easily spread by direct contact with HPV, such as when you touch the wart and then touch another part of your body or another person’s skin. Warts are also spread by sharing objects used by someone with warts, like towels or razors.

To prevent warts, Dr. Roque recommends avoiding contact with warts (including your own), leaving warts alone because picking at them will spread the virus, and maintaining good hygiene including using and not sharing personal items. Frequent and proper hand washing also helps.

When you do get warts, do not try to remove them at home.

“Some think it’s easy to remove warts, but some methods may be harmful to the skin. Home remedies can backfire and cause more damage. It’s best to consult a professional,” says YSA Operations Director Sheila Nazal.

In YSA, warts are removed by electrocautery or burning of the wart with a thin needle-like tool with a hot tip. It’s painless and gives instant results. Warts are gone in 45 minutes.

“I went there with warts on my feet and tried the procedure. The doctors are very helpful and assuring because I was scared of electrocautery. I was surprised I didn’t even feel a thing. No pain. Wala na akong warts and I am very happy,” shares a 20-year-old YSA client.

Book your appointment now at one of YSA’s many clinics nationwide. Check out ysa.com. ph for branches and more information.

Let there be light

World Wide Fund for Nature Philippines national ambassador Marc Nelson explains to students of General Roxas Elementary School how the burning of fossil fuels exacerbates climate change

IT’S a chilly morning but the classrooms at General Roxas Elementary School in Quezon City are heating up, abuzz with the chitter-chatter of nearly 100 students, discussing ideas and listening to WWF-Philippines national ambassadors Marc Nelson and Rovilson Fernandez, plus a team of environmental educators from WWF-Philippines and Pascual Laboratories.

“Can you guys name all the vegetables in the song “Bahay Kubo”?” asked Rovilson. “Regularly eating vegetables can build up your immune system and shield you from cough, colds and other sicknesses brought on by stronger typhoons,” he explains.

In the adjacent classroom Marc was explaining how climate change is exacerbated by the burning of fossil fuels. “Switching to renewable energy sources like wind power and solar parks can stop global warming,” he said as teachers hand out climate change brochures.

The two recently participated in WWF and Pascual Laboratories’ SEED (Sowing to Empower, Educate and Develop) Programme to enhance local communities’ resilience to climate change by eliminating diseases and switching to healthier lifestyles through proper diet, exercise, vitamins and good hygiene.

In the last five years, the program has taught thousands of elementary school students about the vital link between climate change and health. Health conditions and diseases like asthma, heatstroke, leptospirosis, typhoid fever, cholera and so forth are spurred by climate change.

A study released in 2012 by the New York Academy of Sciences shows how climate change can dramatically spread vector-borne diseases such as malaria to many areas. The World Health Organization estimates that climate shifts are responsible for 6 percent of global malaria cases and that many communities in Asia and Africa are unprepared for more disease outbreaks.

“The floods caused by rains or the incessant summer heat can drive up incidences of leptospirosis or heat stroke,” explains WWF-Philippines Environmental Educator Dino Calderon, who also taught 80 students’ parents during the learning drive. By simply washing our hands or remembering to hydrate before we go out of our homes, we can bolster our resilience to climate change. Our aim is simple – to promote better health via a better environment.”

The education sessions were held on Jan. 6 for nearly 200 parent and pupils at General Roxas Elementary School.

Concludes Pascual Laboratories’ Mia PascualCenzon, “We cannot overemphasize the role of education in improving people’s lives. We are a poor country and are very vulnerable to climate change.

By educating the next generation of kids, we can inculcate the right values to allow them to adapt to and help stop climate change. We’ve been doing this for five years and we hope that our partnership will have an impact on the lives of our students.”

KPMG R.G. Manabat & Co. (KPMG RGM&Co.), the Philippine member firm of KPMG International, recently conducted a donation drive and relief and rehabilitation operations for the benefit of Typhoon Nina victims in the Bicol Region. The firm partnered with JLo Big Heart Foundation, Inc., a DSWD-accredited non-profit organization based in Pili, Camarines Sur. KPMG RGM&Co., its partners, principals, and employees contributed cash to purchase 500 rechargeable solar lamps and shelter rehabilitation kits consisting of basic construction materials to help build homes of families in the affected areas.

The firm’s tax partner and people, performance, and culture department head Maria Myla S. Maralit, together with senior manager Joselle Anne Marie G. Sanchez and volunteer employees, joined volunteers from JLo Big Heart Foundation, Inc., headed by Mariefe N. Maralit, to distribute the lamps and shelter rehabilitation kits to affected families in San Roque Communal, Ocampo, Camarines Sur; Rotary Village Community, Pili Camarines Sur; and Bagong Sirang, Pili, Camarines Sur. Other beneficiaries include affected families in Saguring and San Jose, Pili, Camarines Sur. A total of 510 families were beneficiaries of rechargeable solar lamps, 10 of which were recipients of shelter rehabilitation kits. Two hundred lamps were also given to affected families in Bato, Catanduanes through Mayor Leo Rodriguez.

Typhoon Nina struck the Bicol Region last year affecting a total of 446,496 families. The donation drive and relief and rehabilitation activity is part of KPMG RGM&Co.’s corporate social responsibility program.

KPMG RGM&Co partnered with JLo Big Heart Foundation, Inc. to distribute lamps and shelter rehabilitation kits to families affected by Typhoon Nina in the Bicol Region

THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2017

TACLOBAN BEAUTY VIES

Tacloban native Ana Patricia Asturias hopes to win one of the crowns at the Binibining Pilipinas annual pageant

at 2017 Bb. Pilipinas pageant

A

NA Patricia Asturias is making Tacloban City proud by being one of the 40 official candidates of Bb. Pilipinas 2017 search. Fondly called “Patrik,” a nickname given by her parents who were wishing for a boy for their third child, Asturias is a 24-year-old, fun-loving and confidently beautiful young woman.

The 5-foot-6 graduate of Interior Design at University of Santos Tomas is a trained barista, an Italian word for male or female bartender, or a especially trained person in the making and serving coffee drinks as in a coffee bar. Asturias helps her mother run a café in Tacloban, a project that has become her favorite since Coffee and Design has been her passion.

A freelance model, Asturias has all the making of a beauty queen and could follow in the footsteps of Leyte Representative Yedda Marie Kittilstvedt-Romualdez who was Bb. PilipinasInternational and represented the country in the Miss International 1996 pageant and finished as semi-finalist.

Asturias always maintains a positive outlook in life.

She considers joining Bb. Pilipinas as the beginning of a new chapter in her life. She wants to take advantage of the platform that the pageant provides, to share her story, dreams and aspirations and personal advocacy that is closest to her heart.

The restaurateur, who comes from a big family, also loves to travel the world and read books. She has gone to some of the top destinations in the world like Barcelona, Venice, Milan, Reykjavik, Japan and others. She picks namesake Patricia Schultz’ “1,000 Places to See Before You Die” as her favorite book.

She loves to put her reflections into words since her teens, Asturias posted on Instagram, “I started to (sic) vision life as a journey to self-discovery. While this is just another beginning of a chapter in my life, my journey in Bb. Pilipinas has taught me great lessons that are worth sharing, starting with lesson number 1: Know yourself and what you want out of life.”

“The biggest problem you will face in life is not knowing how you want to truly live it. Listen closely to your heart. Once you start knowing yourself in a deeper level, it becomes easier to find a middle ground in what you think and what you feel. Maturity is knowing what you want, and acting upon it. When you trust your inner self, you will always feel secure that you are in the right path,” the proud barista shared. Eton B. Concepcion

‘WOMEN OF SPARTA’

Filipinas rise above the world’s most brutal race THROUGH mud, sweat, and pain—anyone who has participated in a Spartan Race can attest to the strength, skill, and willpower needed to outmatch the obstacle race. But for Filipina Spartans Meladee Igamen and Wheng Dichoso, the challenges they were made to face proved worth the thrashing.

Meladee Igamen moved to Singapore to pursue a career in an IT firm. Her first year of living away from family didn’t come without difficulties, and life in an unfamiliar city meant that she had to become strong to look after herself.

In early 2015, she saw on television that an actor had participated in a Spartan Race. Finding out online that the race would be coming to Singapore, she signed up for an outdoor boot camp—a high-intensity fitness program designed to hone strength, balance, flexibility, mobility, agility, stamina, and teamwork through group workouts.

It was this training experience with the Lion City Spartans that helped build not only her physical capabilities, but also her courage and determination to take on the coming challenge.

“Since then I became a part of the community and started training with them,” Igamen said. “I felt I was never alone and that I’m part of the family.”

Igamen competed in Singapore’s inaugural Spartan Race, the 2015 Singapore Spartan SPRINT, which consisted of tough obstacles including wall climbs, sandbag carries, and rope pulls. For her first Spartan event, Igamen finished fourth among female participants under the team category. She would run once again in succeeding Spartan Races the following year in Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, and Indonesia.

Wheng Dichoso, like Igamen, moved to Singapore to work in a multinational company. She is an active member of badminton and volleyball teams, as well as a photography group that shoots almost all running events in Singapore. For her, living an active lifestyle isn’t exactly new.

Dichoso learned about the inaugural Spartan Race in 2015 from ads in Singapore. She then signed up thinking that the event looked fun. The race would surely put her athletic skill to the test, but she still took Spartan Workouts at her gym to ready herself.

After her first Spartan experience, she decided to attend a mass workout program conducted by Spartan Race CEO Joe De Sena. There, she became acquainted with the Lion City Spartans, and realized that she would need more intense training to progress in the race.

“They were very loud and encouraged one another,”

Dichoso said. “I decided to look for them on Facebook and immediately joined the group.”

She joined her first boot camp in February 2016 and made friends with fellow “fitness freaks” whom she enjoyed training and racing with. Together with her new group, Dichoso became better prepared to compete in Spartan events held in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia, earning her a 2x Trifecta medal.

Meladee Igamen and Wheng Dichoso have proven themselves capable of surmounting even the most arduous tasks, but the two Filipinas also tell us a very important lesson: It’s only through great perseverance that people can discover their truest potential.

Similar to the experiences of these women, the American competition series Spartan: Ultimate Team Challenge will showcase an obstacle course only hardened athletes can dare to overcome. Composed of two men, two women, and an elite Spartan athlete, different teams compete against each other in one of the world’s most gruelling sporting events—a brutal one-mile race designed to test the very limits of the human mettle.

Catch the premiere of Spartan: Ultimate Team Challenge on April 22, Saturday, 9:35 p.m., first and exclusive on RTL CBS Extreme.

Pinay Wheng Dichoso overcoming one of the arduous tasks in "Spartan Ultimate Team Challenge"

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Thursday, March 30, 2017

ACROSS 1 Full of life 6 Goldfish 10 Pony’s gait 14 “Hello” singer 15 Curved molding 16 Have faith 17 Argentine dictator 18 Flood residues 19 Hawkeye portrayer 20 Nobelist from Egypt 21 Construction job 23 Beret cousin 25 Tar’s reply 26 Le Sage’s “Gil —” 29 Wyatt the lawman 32 Etching fluids 37 Mare’s morsel 38 Old Dodge model 39 Neck scarf 40 Go formal (3 wds.)

43 Makes confetti 44 Dorm denizen 45 CSA monogram 46 Actor’s whisper 47 Loud noises 48 Financial page org.

49 Devious 51 Part of TNT

53 Poems and novels 58 Yellow pigment 62 Glamorous wraps 63 Cotton unit 64 Neglected, as a garden 65 Argue for 66 Sultan’s cousin 67 Ms. Verdugo 68 Consumer gds.

69 Brain part 70 “It Ain’t Me Babe” composer DOWN 1 Channel-surfs 2 Hunch 3 Techie 4 Crows over 5 Busybody 6 Search high and low 7 Water, in Madrid 8 Baggage porter 9 Bothersome 10 Bangkok native 11 Dice toss 12 Libra’s stone 13 Countdown start 22 Suspected 24 FYI notes 26 — nova 27 Slats 28 Video-game

pioneer 30 First name in advice 31 Designer Nina — 33 Motor part 34 Elephant tusk 35 “Great” dogs 36 Do a salon job 38 Most peculiar 39 Helmet plume 41 Jarrett of NASCAR 42 Vast stretch of time 47 Real go-getter

48 Politely 50 Slander’s kin 52 Propelled a bireme 53 News 54 Tatters 55 Um-hmm (2 wds.)

56 Insincere 57 Wizened 59 Command to Fido 60 Best or Ferber 61 No-hitter king 62 Kind of steer?

The cast of the period drama "Scarlet Heart" which is based on a Chinese novel written by a contemporary Chinese romance novelist

GMA Heart of Asia’s ‘Scarlet Heart’ tells the story of a love bound by time THE most-anticipated Korean drama of 2016 is finally on GMA and it offers a thrilling adventure on romance and rivalry.

GMA Heart of Asia now features Scarlet Heart on GMA Telebabad, and it will set the viewers’ hearts on fire as it features the hottest Hallyu stars.

Topbilled by Korea’s favorite idol and sought-after actress IU, Scarlet Heart tells the story of Alexa Go, a troubled girl who is transported back in time during a solar eclipse. She wakes up in year 941 and realizes that she is living inside the body of Haesoo, a cousin to the wife of the 8th Prince of Goryeo.

Facing this unimaginable challenge head on, she decides to hide her true identity and pretends to lose her memory.

She then finds herself entangled with the seven charming sons of King Taejo (Jo Min-Ki), namely 4th Prince Wang So (Lee Jun Ki), 8th Prince Wang Wook (Kang Ha Neul), 3rd Prince Wang Yeo (Hong Jong Hyun), 10th Prince Wang Eun (Byun Baek Hyun), 14th Prince Wang Jeong (Ji Soo), 9th Prince Wang Won (Yoon Sun Woo), and 13th Prince Baek Ah (Nam Joo Hyuk).

With her courageous and outgoing personality, Haesoo captures the hearts of all the 7 princes. Her eyes are initially drawn to the kind-hearted 8th Prince Wang Wook and she eventually develops feelings for him. But realizing the tension in the palace, she decides to keep her distance.

This leads her path towards Wang So, the masked 4th Prince of Goryeo. He grew up away from the palace, making him feel unwelcomed upon his return. He finds comfort in Haesoo and eventually plans to settle with her, but when he finds out about her mother Queen Yoo’s (Park Ji Young) dangerous plan to oust the Crown Prince, he decides to protect the peace in the palace.

In the midst of rivalry and politics, what could Haesoo’s role be in this narrative?

Will she be able to go back to the present time where she truly belongs? How is she going to protect the princes from each other, whom she has grown to care for?

Follow Scarlet Heart on GMA Telebabad and immerse yourself into the complex story of love, brotherhood and family every Mondays to Thursdays after Meant To Be on GMA.

Isah V. Red, Editor Nickie Wang, Writer isahred@gmail.com THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2017

The male cast members of "Mulawin vs Ravena" Dion Ignacio, Dennis Trillo and Kiko Estrada enchant mall-goers in Davao

Kapuso ‘telefantasya’ stars stir Davaoeños S

OARING high during the 80th celebration of Araw ng Dabaw, the stars of GMA Network’s ground breaking telefantasya series Encantadia and Mulawin vs. Ravena sent fans in a frenzy in their mall shows on March 16 and 17. The fans welcomed the stars with ear-drum-breaking shrieks chanting their names and drowning the songs they were singing.

There was even an instance where the young crowd at Abreeza, the upscale mall in Davao, nearly rushed up on the stage and surrounded Miguel Tanfelix. A fan even stealing a kiss on the young star’s lips nearly making him stultified for a moment.

But that’s how fans are with their idols, and getting near or touching them makes them feeling up on cloud nine, even if just momentarily.

The excitement for the muchawaited flight of Mulawin vs.

Ravena was evident among locals and tourists the moment Dennis Trillo stepped on stage in the Kapuso Mall Show in Gaisano Mall Toril on March 16. The Kapuso Drama King charmed his fans that had waited patiently for him. They weren’t disappointed.

And as Dennis sang for them, they all screamed their lungs out and expressed their admiration and love for the actor.

Joining Dennis were co-stars Dion Ignacio and Kiko Estrada.

Like Dennis, Dion and Kiko made sure the Davaoeños had an afternoon they could not forget.

Aside from serenading the ladies, the Kapuso hunks gave in to the female fans clamor to have photos

taken with them.

In Abreeza Mall, as early as 1 p.m. eager fans crowded around the activity center waiting for two of the hottest love teams today— BiGuel and DerBea. Miguel Tanfelix and Bianca Umali; and Derrick Monasterio and Bea Binene are also in Mulawin vs. Ravena. They treated their supporters to an afternoon of kilig by singing and dancing to today’s latest hit songs.

Enkantadiks (fans of Encantadia) of all ages also couldn’t contain their glee when they saw Encantadia stars Ruru Madrid, Sanya Lopez, and Glaiza de Castro at SM City Davao for a Kapuso Mall Show on March 17.

Fans who were not able to make it to the jam-packed activity center were not dissuaded and positioned themselves in areas surrounding the stage, all the way to the mall’s second floor. Cheers and screams welcomed Ruru, Sanya, and Glaiza when they stepped onstage and greeted the fans.

“Like our Kapusong Dabawenyos, we are elated that the stars of Encantadia and Mulawin vs. Ravena were able to join us in this year’s celebration Araw ng Dabaw,” said GMA Regional TV Head Oli Amoroso. “Encantadia

ISAH V. RED

Kapuso Network's hottest love teams BiGuel (Bianca Umali and Miguel Tanfelix) and DerBea (Derrick Monasterio and Bea Binene) spread love in Abreeza Mall

continues to be one of the highestrating programs on Philippine TV while everyone is looking forward to watch Mulawin vs. Ravena.

Bringing these two powerhouse shows to Davao is just a testament of GMA Network’s commitment of giving back to our loyal Kapuso the support they continue to give us. And we’ve only just begun.

Watch out for more Kapuso Mall Shows from GMA Regional TV,” he added. *** GMAArtist Center stars Janine Gutierrez and André Paras are the new WWF-Philippines’

National Youth Ambassadors.

The two signed their contracts on March 14 at the GMA Network Center.

Janine, who is a lover of the seas and the beach, has a special advocacy for waste management and proper garbage disposal. Growing up, she has always looked up to WWF and is ecstatic to actually be a part of the WWF family.

“Mahilig talaga ako sa beach, so it’s always been a priority for me kung paano ko maalagaan ‘yung Pilipinas, lalo na’t sobrang ganda ng mga natural resources at mga tourist

"Encatandia" star Glaiza de Castro gets overwhelming response from her fans in Davao

spots natin, so super happy talaga ako that I’m the new ambassador for WWF. I’m beyond grateful,” she said.

André, who has been celebrating Earth Hour, believes in the power of the global movement and going Beyond the Hour as the switch-off is a symbolic commitment to make small changes in our lives.

“I really feel honored and at the same time overwhelmed. I feel like I’m a student again. There are things that I’m learning now that I

SKY clinches Gawad Jose Carpio SKY Cable Corporation, the cable and characters they love. The event highlights the HD channels. broadband unit of ABS-CBN, nabbed the connections that SKY’s content was able to Aside from Pay TV brand SKYcable, SKY’s Gawad Jose Carpio: Excellence in Reputation build with Filipino families through the years, other offerings include One SKY Premium and Brand Building Management, one of the which is the main thrust of its 25th anniversary (unlimited internet all-in bundles), One SKY highest honors at the 52nd Anvil Awards for its campaign.

Lite (consumable internet all-in bundles), 25th anniversary campaign titled, “The Silver SKY Cable is the first to introduce cable SKYmobi (mobile internet), SKY On Demand Sky: Paving the Road to Stronger Bonds and television to Filipinos in 1990. Since then, (video-on-demand) and SKYdirect (direct-toMore Meaningful Connections with the Filipino it has been a frontrunner in technology and home TV).

Family.” cable TV content by being the first to design a Last year, SKY also donated SKYdirect kits It was cited “for being the pioneer in the highly customized viewing experience among to AFP troops deployed in far-flung locations Philippine cable industry, continually building subscribers, and offering the most number of in the Philippines as well as to Knowledge stronger relationships with the Channel partner schools located important people involved in its in remote Zambales and Bataan brand, the consumers, employees, towns as its way of giving access to channel partners, and stakeholders.” information and enriching content.

The 25th anniversary revolved The special award named after around the “Me & My SKY” the founding father of Philippine campaign handle that included a PR is given to public relations TVC, corporate thematic print ad, programs that demonstrated digital ‘picture perfect’ promo, excellent leadership/management a free channels activation to skills, innovation, and creativity subscribers, a coffee table book, an in attaining communication employee event, and the first-ever objectives. experiential family cable fair in the The Anvil Awards is organized country, SKY Alive. annually by the Public Relations Also part of the anniversary were Society of the Philippines (PRSP) SKYdirect’s efforts to distribute and is considered as the “Oscars” kits to AFP troops deployed in farof the local PR industry with the flung locations in the Philippines ANVIL as an emblem of excellence as well as to Knowledge Channel in the field of public relations. partner schools located in remote A multi-sectoral jury carefully Zambales and Bataan towns as its screened and selected the winners way of giving access to information in each category. and enriching content.

Alan Supnet, SKY marketing SKY Alive now happens in select head; Arlene Torres, marketing malls around the country that aims communications director; and Jelo to let families experience the world Reyes, marketing communications of their favorite cable TV shows Sky executives receiving on of the most coveted awards at the 52nd Anvil senior manager accepted the award and meet the TV personalities and Awards in behalf of SKY Cable.

cannot learn in school. I’m proud kasi I get to learn a lot. I’m proud na I can be a bridge to people to help this organization and help our environment,” he said.

The first event they attended, as ambassadors, was the Earth Hour Philippines’ main switch-off event at the Mall of Asia Complex on March 25.

Janine Gutierrez stars in Legally Blind while Andre Paras has just ended his stint in the GMA Primetime series Encantadia.

‘Open Air Cinema One’ goes to Boracay CINEMA One is set to add romantic excitement in Boracay once more as it holds the “OpenAir Cinema One: Blockbuster by the Beach” featuring the teen flick, Vince & Kath & James on April 8.

The film is based upon the online series, Vince and Kath by Jenny Ruth Almocera. The romantic story turned into a series of books published by ABS-CBN Publishing, and eventually became a blockbuster film under Star Cinema directed by Theodore Boborol.

Julia Barretto and Joshua Garcia, lead stars of the 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival’s blockbuster film, will join this exclusive event happening at the ultimate chill hub, White House Boracay.

DJ Tom Taus will kick off the much-awaited happy hour at 4 p.m. as he preps the early crowd before nightfall with cool sunset music. Inigo Pascual will join him in revving up the fun with cool pop-dance performances.

Exciting booth activities await partygoers including henna tattoo, nail art, basketball hoops, ball pit, and many more.

The evening party, to be hosted by Tuesday Vargas, starts at 7 p.m. filled with exciting games on-stage highlighted with the special appearance of the film’s cast.

An after-party follows the outdoor screening at 9 p.m. that will sure rock the night away.

Cinema One, the Philippines’ no.1 cable channel, is available on Skycable Channel 56, Destiny Cable Analog 37, and Digital 57. Like Cinema One on Facebook at facebook.com/Cinema1channel to view full schedule.