The Standard - 2015 April 29 - Wednesday

VOL. XXIX  NO. 71  3 Sections  32 Pages  P18  WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29, 2015  www.manilastandardtoday.com  editorial@thestandard.com.ph

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Australia softens on Tyrone

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Petilla offers to quit

‘PNOY IS TO BLAME’ Next page

Countdown. Employees of the Philippine Senate join their fellow Filipinos’ appeal to stop the execution of Mary Jane Veloso in Indonesia, which appeared unlikely late on Tuesday as the countdown to her execution by firing squad began. LINO SANTOS

TNT, Rain face off in Game 7

The most expensive porker

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Recruiter, fearing for her safety, surrenders

By Francisco Tuyay and Rey E. Requejo

Group picture. From left, President Benigno Aquino III links arms with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Thai Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, Lao Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong, Malaysian Prime Minister Dato Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak, Myanmar President Thein Sein, Brunei Prime Minister Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, and Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kala for the traditional group photo opportunity during the 26th Asean Summit Retreat Session at the Langkawi International Convention Center Monday night. Malacañang Photo Bureau)

Critics blame Aquino for Mary Jane’s fate

By Maricel V. Cruz, Sandy Araneta and Vito Barcelo CRITICS blamed President Benigno Aquino III Tuesday for the fate of Filipino maid Mary Jane Veloso, who was scheduled for execution by firing squad in Indonesia at midnight.

“The welfare of the masses, including Mary Jane’s, is not in Aquino’s vocabulary. Her case began long ago but due to the Aquino government’s negligence, a death sentence, which could have been avoided, was issued,” said Anakpawis Rep. Fernando Hicap.

Hicap said President Aquino should have taken advantage of the state visit in February by Indonesian President Joko Widodo to discuss Veloso’s fate.

But Aquino “seemed relaxed and [was] all praises for the Indonesian government, and even boasted [about] the agreement of cooperation in combatting illegal drugs,” Hicap said.

Veloso, now 30, was sentenced to death after she was arrested in 2009 with 2.6 kilos of heroin sewn into the lining of her suitcase. She said she didn’t know about the drugs and was duped into carrying them into Indonesia.

Hicap said Veloso’s Indonesian lawyers from Rudyantho & Partners had complained about the negligence of the Philippine government.

The same charge was made by Migrante International, an advocacy group working for the protection of the rights and welfare of overseas Filipino workers, Hicap added.

As hopes for an Indonesian

reprieve dimmed, Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares urged boxing champion and Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao to return to Congress right after his fight in Las Vegas on May 2, so that he could attend to the congressional probe of the Veloso case as acting chairman of the House committee on overseas workers affairs.

Pacquiao is the vice chairman of the committee, which was headed by Rep. Walden Bello, who gave up his congressional seat in March 2015.

The women’s group Gabriela also tore into President Aquino, saying his five-minute effort to convince Widodo to overturn the Indonesian court’s death sentence was too little, too late.

“For five years, the Aquino government dilly-dallied in the case and Aquino thought that a five-minute chat with Widodo could undo the Indonesian court’s decision. If that is the best that Aquino can do, then all other OFWs on death row are practically doomed to their death by this government,” said Joms Salvador, Gabriela’s secretary general.

Salvador also demanded that the Foreign Affairs Department act more urgently on the cases of 77 other Filipino workers on death row in different countries.

“Apparently, since the DFA came up with such a list, it is knowledgeable about these cases.

It should reveal the names on the list and issue a public accounting of what the DFA has done for each case,” she said.

Quoting Migrante, she said another woman, Rose Dacanay, was wrongly accused of murdering her employer and is now a candidate for death row in Saudi Arabia.

“The DFA is well-informed about her case and must not wait until the final [days] to help her,” she said.

Salvador alsos aid Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario should resign because he failed to respond promptly to the cases of Filipinos on death row.

“Our OFWs deserve better, especially since they are practically saving our economy from collapse with their billions of pesos in remittances,” Salvador said. “Del Rosario’s and the DFA’s incompetence in aiding OFWs, particularly those on death row, has already cost a lot of lives. They don’t deserve to stay in government much as Aquino does not deserve to stay in power.”

Earlier, DFA spokesman Charles Jose admitted there were 77 Filipino workers on death row, about half of whom were jailed for illegal drugs.

Most facing the death penalty are in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, China, the United States, Vietnma, Kuwait and Thailand.

Since 2010, seven Filipinos have been executed, most of them in China, the DFA said.

Migrante said that unless the Aquino government acts immediately, these Filipinos facing execution will also be killed.

The DFA, said they are aware

of all of these cases and is closely monitoring them through its embassies and consulates.

The latest Filipino to be executed was Carlito Lana, who was beheaded in Saudi Arabia in December 2014 after being found guilty of shooting Saudi national Nasser AlGahtani before running him over with a car.

In 2013, a 35-year-old Filipino woman was executed in China for carrying six kilos of heroin.

Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said President Aquino was saddened by Indonesia’s decision to push through with Veloso’s execution.

Aquino personally appealed Veloso’s case to Widodo when they met Monday morning at the sidelines of the 26th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Kuala Lumpur.

During the meeting, Aquino asked for “humanitarian consideration” for the 30-year-old Filipina, who was apparently duped into being an unwitting carrier of illegal drugs by her recruiter.

Coloma said Aquino was of the impression that his Indonesian counterpart was sympathetic to Veloso’s plight and that he would consult their attorney general on the legal issues of her case.

The attorney general, however, found no basis to reconsider the death sentence, which was to be meted out at midnight Tuesday.

“The President was saddened upon learning of the feedback from Jakarta on this morning’s meeting. He has instructed the Philippine ambassador in Indonesia to communicate with Mary Jane and find out what may be done to address her concerns for her family,” he added.

THE recruiter of Mary Jane Veloso surfaced at a police station in Nueva Ecija Tuesday, fearing reprisals from the family of the death row convict who was was set to be executed in Indonesia at midnight.

Ma. Cristina Sergio, 47, appeared before the police provincial office to ask for protection, saying she had received death threats on her cell phone and her Facebook page.

Sergio allegedly recruited Veloso for work in Malaysia in 2009. Upon arriving in Malaysia, however, Veloso was told by a certain “Ike” to go to Indonesia instead, where a job was awaiting her.

Veloso was arrested in the Yogyakarta International Airport with 2.6 kilos of heroin in her luggage, but denied that the drugs were hers.

Her family says Veloso was duped by Sergio and “Ike.” Sergio’s appearance at the police station came a day after the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) recommended the prosecution of Veloso’s recruiters, including Sergio, for human trafficking and illegal recruitment.

The NBI named Veloso’s recruiters as Maria Cristina P. Sergio, alias Mary Christine Gulles Pasadilla, Juluis Lacailao and a certain “Ike” from Africa.

Prosecutor General Claro Arellano said the complaint for illegal recruitment, human trafficking and estafa by swindling against Sergio, her live-in partner Lacanilao and Ike was set for preliminary investigation hearings on May 8 and May 14.

In its complaint, the NBI said Velso did not know there were illegal drugs in her luggage, and said she was a deception and manipulation by her illegal recruiters.

“Facts surrounding the circumstances of her recruitment, transportation and stay at a foreign country also show that she is a victim of human trafficking owing to the fact that her vulnerability (in dire need of a job in order to support her family) was exploited by her recruiters through manipulation and deception, in order for her to unwittingly transport contraband without her knowledge,” the NBI said.

The NBI said Veloso was recruited by Sergio in April 2010 supposedly to work in Malaysia after they were introduced to each other by Lacanilao, a close family friend.

However, when they went to Malaysia that same month, Veloso was first given an “errand” in Indonesia before she could be given the job as a domestic helper in Malaysia.

Veloso was then introduced to Ike, a Malaysian-based African who gave her an empty bag that she was told to use for her twoday stay in Indonesia.

– With Maricel V. Cruz

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Petilla, Bucayu offer to resign

By Sandy Araneta ENERGY Secretary Jericho Petilla and Bureau of Corrections Director Franklin Bucayu had offered to resign their posts for personal reasons, President Benigno Aquino III said Tuesday.

He made the announcement at the Four Points Hotel in in Langkawi, Malaysia, where he attended the 26th Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit.

Aquino made his statement even as the Bureau of Corrections on Tuesday admitted it could not immediately resolve the problems inside the prisons but vowed to implement the reforms needed to improve the correctional facilities.

Bucayu said the problems within the country’s prisons had been institutionalized but those woulc be solved by implementing new programs.

The administration’s Liberal Party, meanwhile, on Tuesday laughed off the claims by Navotas Rep. and United Nationalist Alliance interim president Tobias Tiangco that former Customs Commissioner John Sevilla resigned because of an alleged pressure for him to produce P3 billion for the LP’s campaign kitty.

Western Samar Rep. Mel Senen Sarmiento, LP secretary general, said the opposition UNA was apparently lost in a time warp.

He said it was also interesting that UNA seemed to be very familiar with the so-called quota system, a practice that was prevalent in the past but had long been shut down by the Aquino administration.

“Perhaps they are too exposed to people who used to do that in the BoC [Bureau of Customs], hence they are mixing up the present BoC to the old BoC,” Sarmiento said in a statement.

Aquino said Petilla’s family had a business that he had to attend to once he was back as a private citizen.

“It’s a business process outsourcing entity that was hard hit also by [Typhoon] Yolanda,” Aquino said. With Vito Barcelo and Maricel V. Cruz

First anniversary. Activists portray themselves as victims of US military abuses during a protest rally outside the US Embassy on Roxas

Boulevard in Manila on Tuesday during the first anniversary of the EDCA defense agreement between the Philippines and the US. DANNY PATA

Comelec scraps testing of touch-screen tech

By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan THE Commission on Elections is scrapping a pilot test of a touch-screen voting system in Pateros, saying this would just add “another hurdle” in their rush to prepare for automated elections in 2016.

Comelec acting chairman Robert Lim, in announcing the decision to scrap the testing of the Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting system, also cited budget constraints.

“The value of pilot testing DRE technology and its potential to further revolutionize the Philippine elections are undeniable. However, present circumstances sway the undersigned that pilot testing the use of DRE voting machines in Pateros is an unnecessary hurdle to the already daunting task of conducting the 2016 polls,” Lim said in a memo Tuesday.

Lim added that since the DRE machines could only accommodate about 100 voters, the government would need to buy a considerable number of them to be of practical use.

The Comelec was supposed to spend some P31.27 million to buy 410 DRE units to be

used in the municipality of Pateros in the 2016 polls.

But Lim said the investment in the new units was no longer acceptable after the Supreme Court nullified the Comelec’s contract with Smartmatic to repair and refurbish some 81,000 precinct count scan (PCOS) machines.

Lim also said the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee (JCOC) on the Automated Election System had expressed reservations about the DRE machines.

“Political pressure has been exerted by the JCOC to dispense with the use of DRE technology for the 2016 elections. The commission does not require additional complications in its preparation for the 2016 elections,” Lim said.

The chairman of the JCOC, Senator Aquilino Pimentel III, had earlier expressed concern over the security features of the DRE units and called on the Comelec to abandon its plan to pilot test them in 2016.

The Comelec also said that voters and the Board of Election Inspectors may have a hard time using the touch-screen technology and Internet voting system.

For these reasons, Lim said, introducing other innovations in the automated election system might not be the most prudent course of action.

DRE units were used during the 2008 elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao on a pilot test basis.

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said during that time that most voters in Mindanao had a hard time adopting to the touchscreen technology.

“Many of our countrymen had a hard time with the touchscreen voting. You’re looking at more than 20,000 candidates in general.

Can you imagine if you had to go through that mini-screen just to finish an election?” he said.

But in August 2014, the Comelec Advisory Council had recommended to the Comelec the use of the DRE as a secondary technology and to pilot test it in an area with at least one voting center covering a minimum of 20,000 voters.

Earlier this month, the Comelec announced the suspension of the public bidding for the lease of DRE machines while it is reassessed the system.

Aquino: Safeguard recall polls

450 and counting. Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle celebrates the final novena mass for the 450th “Kaplag,” the discovery of the image of the child Jesus in the country. Tagle told the Catholics not to hide from Jesus during his homily. RAlPh PiezAS

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III has ordered the military and the police to help the Commission on Elections conduct the recall elections for Mayor of Puerto Princesa City on May 8.

In a memo he signed on April 22, Aquino concurred with the Comelec resolution urging the Armed Forces and the National Police to help it conduct the recall elections.

The Constitution allows the Comelec to depu-

tize government agencies to help it in its duties with the concurrence of the President.

The recall elections will be held against incumbent Puerto Princesa Mayor Lucilo Bayron, who is said to have lost the trust of his constituents.

The recall petition was initiated by former city information officer Alroben Goh in March last year, and was signed by 40,409 registered voters of Puerto Princesa City.

The Supreme Court

authorized the Comelec to push through with the recall elections in November of the same year. It rejected Bayron’s plea to stop the proceedings citing the Comelec’s budget constraints.

Earlier, Malacañang said the Comelec had set the date for the recall elections for mayor in Puerto Princesa on May 8 this year after the poll body affirmed the validity of the 22,326 signatures in the petition to recall Bayron. Sandy Araneta

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‘PH needs its own Harry Lee’

By Maricel V. Cruz

SAYING the country needs a Filipino “Lee Kwan Yew,” former senator Panfilo Lacson said the Philippines and Filipinos deserve a leader in the truest sense of the word and he is prepared to join forces with Vice President Jejomar Binay in 2016 if need be.

In an interview with Mornings@ANC on Tuesday, Lacson said he is still considering whether to run for president after a group of retired military and police officers issued a manifesto to push him to run for president.

But when he was asked if he was closed to the idea of running with Binay, Lacson said: “Not at all.”

Lacson recalled that Binay had already asked him to consider becoming his running-mate in the 2016 election.

“During one of the Cabinet meetings we were seated together and he whispered to me: ‘What are your plans?’ When I said ‘nothing yet,’ he said: ‘Why don’t we join up?’”

“After that, I haven’t considered anything yet.

What is important is to improve on my numbers, the focus will stay there first. I haven’t decided yet.

You cannot put the cart in front of the horse,” Lacson added.

But he said he will push for a strong anticorruption platform and proposed to create an independent commission against corruption similar to the ICAC of Hong Kong and Singapore.

He also said a strong anti-corruption platform should also include the establishment of a separate jail or detention facility, possibly in Caraballo Island in Manila Bay, exclusively for corruption cases.

Among the presidentiables, Lacson said that his track record speaks for itself and his refusal to avail of the controversial Priority Development Assistance Fund during his 12-year stint as senator may have persuaded people that he “walks the talk” in terms of his position on corruption.

Lacson, who was national police chief from 1999 to 2001 and a senator from 2001 to 2007, said he will not go the same path as former Presidents Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and avoid the mistakes they committed.

In 2004, Lacson first ran for president as an independent in 2004, but lost to Arroyo, landing in third place ahead of deceased former senator Raul Roco and Christian evangelist Eddie Villanueva.

Lacson stressed the importance he places on the public’s pulse and his political plans depends largely on how he performs in the surveys.

Go, Manny. Showing support for boxing champion Manny Pacquiao, this AirAsia Philippines Airbus A320 from Cebu landed at the Domestic Airport in Pasay City sporting exclusive livery for the May 2 fight. AirAsia surprised its passengers with free passes for the live viewing of Pacman-Mayweather fight and free round trip tickets for local destination for their two passengers. DANNY PATA

Nepalese appeal for Pinoys’ help

By Sara D. Fabunan NEPALESE students in the Philippines made a special appeal on Tuesday to the Filipino people and its government to help their country, which was hit by a powerful 7.9 magnitude earthquake last Friday.

Some 150 Nepalese who are pursuing post-graduate studies in the country made the call for food, water and financial aid even as they lamented that they do not have enough resources to help their country.

“We are requesting the Philippine

government to help our country because Nepalese students want to help, but we do not have any resources. The government can help us to send food, water, medical and financial aid,” said Nepalese student Merina Shrestha, who has been in the country for four years.

Shresta, who is a second year medical student at the Aguinaldo International School (AIS), said his fellow Nepalese doctors would want to volunteer their services in their hometown if the Philippine government could defray their travel expenses.

Aside from the plea, Shrestha also

urged the Filipino people, not only to donate but to pray for the souls of 4,000 Nepalese who are already known to have died from the earthquake and for spiritual strength to the survivors.

“I have been telling my Filipino friends to pray for Nepal. This is the moment we really need it the most. All [people back home] there are suffering now so we cannot say what will happen in a second; it is very critical situation,” Shrestha said in a report posted at the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines official website.

Labor group scores lawmakers

By Vito Barcelo VARIOUS labor groups on Tuesday assailed some 30 lawmakers who are known to be going to Las Vegas, Nevada to watch the Mayweather-Pacquiao bout on May 2, instead of attending to the plight of millions of Filipino workers.

The Partido ng Manggagawa claimed that the lawmakers can save millions of pesos by staying home and praying for OFWs who are in desperate situations.

“They should be formulating policy reforms to address the country’s chronic unemployment problem,” PM chairman Renato Magtubo said.

“It would be very insensitive for lawmakers to jump to Las Vegas to watch the very expensive fight of Man-

ny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather while the nation consoles with Mary Jane [Veloso] and the working class cry for justice on Labor Day,” he said.

“I am sure our rich lawmakers can afford a P2,500 pay per view privilege to watch the fight of the century live in full wide-screen view of their luxurious home theaters, or in the hotels or restaurants of their choice.

The amount they can save from forfeiting Las Vegas can be donated to the family of Mary Jane or to the victims of earthquake in Nepal,” Magtubo said.

The labor goup leader said the lawmakers should instead consider attending the Labor Day rallies nationwide where they can hear the workers cry for justice for the unaddressed prob-

lems of unemployment, low wages, contractualization and high prices of goods and services despite the record growth performance of the Philippine economy.

“Congress, in the first place, could have saved Mary Jane and the rest of our OFWs from the cruel hands of foreign employers, trafficking syndicates and the violence of wars in conflict areas had it enacted policies that effectively addressed the problem of chronic unemployment,” said Magtubo.

A big Labor Day protest is being organized by the Nagkaisa labor coalition nationwide after it decided to terminate its “fruitless” dialogues with the President.

For Nagkaisa, PNoy failed the Filipino workers during the past five years of his rule.

Commemorative stamp. Renowned pediatric neurologist Dr. Lilian Lee and Dr. Raymundo W. Lo, both top officials of the Philippine Children’s Medical Center in Quezon City, unveil an image of the commemorative stamp that they launched on Tuesday for the hospital’s 35th anniversary on Tuesday. MANNY PALMERO

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Australia softens on Tyrone

By Vito Barcelo

A Filipino nurse and her 10-yearold son with autism spectrum disorder might be allowed to stay in Australia.

The Australian Immigration minister has indicated he might allow Tyrone Sevilla an autistic Queensland boy and his mother who face deportation, to remain in Australia, according to the Brisbane Times.

Both the mother and child were earlier forced to leave their home in Townsville, Australia because of the ruling, The Times said.

The Immigration Department had resolved to deport Tyrone to his native Philippines, because his autism has been judged a financial burden on taxpayers.

Sevilla moved to Australia in 2007 to study nursing and make a better life for herself and her then two-year-old son.

But six months later, Tyrone was diagnosed

with autism spectrum disorder, a condition that means his neural development is delayed.

Despite the added difficulty of bringing up a son with this disability as a single mother, Sevilla created a good life for her family, completing her studies at TAFE and university, and rising to a clinical nursing position at Townsville Hospital.

The Australian government wanted to send Tyrone back to a country he doesn’t know, to relocate to the Philippines with him, or to appeal the decision.

Sevilla decided to stay and fight, and has launched a petition to encourage Immigration Minister Peter Dutton to allow her and her son to stay.

“I’ve worked for years, raising my son and studying to be a nurse. Yet all of it could be taken away because the government thinks that children with autism are going to be more of a cost to Australian society than a benefit — but that’s just not true!” she writes.

“Tyrone is not a burden, he is a joy. He is a happy child with full of life attitude and can lighten the mood of a room with his presence.

The idea that he can’t contribute because of his condition is just wrong. People with autism can be excellent at a whole range of things, he just needs to be given a chance!”

The mother described her son as a “cheeky, happy little boy” who had up and down days, but he didn’t need special medication or attention from doctors. He can read, ride a bike, and he attends special school in Townsville.

“The only thing is his language. He is largely non-verbal but he tries his best. You need to know him to understand him,” Sevilla told news.com.au.

She said the visa refusal and the appeals process was taking a heavy toll. She broke down in tears more than once during her interview with news.com.au.

Her son has written to Immigration Minister Dutton asking to stay.

The letter, which reads: “Dear Mr Dutton, can I stay in Australia please... Tyrone,” was the first one her son had written and probably the most important he would ever write, Maria said “With our help, he managed to sit down and write all those letters.

Langkawi Summit. President Benigno S. Aquino III pores over a set of documents during the 11th Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN

Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) Summit in Langkawi. Joining him as member of the Philippine delegation is Mindanao Development Authority chairperson Luwalhati Antonino.

Pasay social worker wins int’l citation

By Joel E. Zurbano An international organization has awarded a Pasay City official for her exemplary service in helping families displaced by super typhoon Yolanda two years ago.

Rosalinda Orobia, head of the Pasay City Social Worker Department, bagged the trophy for the Exemplary Registered Government Social Worker Award given

by Consuelo Foundation, an international group with bases in Hawaii and the Philippines. The foundation supports programs that prevent the abuse and exploitation of children, women and families.

“I feel surprised and at the same time grateful that an international organization noticed our dedication to our work. At the end, we are just doing our job. The recognition and appreciation is a source of inspiration, I would like to pass my knowledge to the younger social workers and train them in providing better services to the community,” Orobia said.

A 32-year service veteran, Orobia said social workers should understand and fight for what the community needs and possess the human touch to properly assess situations of their clients.

“Aside from a 4-year course and the board exam, a social worker should be able to look deeper in the situation to provide appropriate action, like in the case of child offenders, one should also check the family background and the possible reasons why the act was committed,” she added.

3rd batch of ‘pork’ cases shelved

By Rey E. Requejo THE Department of Justice has put in the backburner the cases of the third batch of former and incumbent officials linked to the multibillion-peso Priority Development Assistance Fund anomaly in favor of other priorities.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima admitted that the third batch of PDAF cases might not be pursued anymore.

“I don’t know if that will be part of our concentration and focus because there are really very important matters on my table,” De Lima said.

“I also wasn’t able to focus on that anymore because

there are more urgent cases that I had to personally attend to,” De Lima said, but she did not mention what are those priorities.

According to her, the nBI probers hit a snag over the third batch when they found out that the signatures of the lawmakers implicated did not match with those found in the pork barrel scam documents.

“But we will still determine how to really go through that in such a way that the case could still be filed,” she said.

De Lima recalled that upon instruction of President Aquino, she wanted to make sure that the third

batch of pork barrel fund scam cases “would stick, just like the first two batches.”

The first batch of PDAFrelated criminal charges were lodged in September 2013 against 38 individuals, including Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Ramon Revilla Jr, and Jinggoy Estrada, as well as alleged fund scam mastermind Janet Lim-napoles.

The second batch, filed two months later in november 2013, involved graft complaints against former Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon and 33 other public officials over the alleged misuse of “pork barrel” funds.

Sign of the times. A labor

union member holds a placard in front of the Department of Labor’s main office in Manila to demand the scrapping of a department order (DO 18-A) on Contractualization of casual employees.

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Chalk up 2 for graftbusters

By Rio araja

Credit two hits to the graftbusters. the Office of the Ombudsman filed charges against executives of the Cordillera Administrative region’s environment Management Bureau and at the same time against a former mayor of Bohol and a member of the town council.

In the first case, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales indicted EMB regional director Joel Salvador, accountant II Asterio Tolentino Jr., and budget officer Perlita Mauri for violation of Article 220 or illegal use of public funds of the Revised Penal Code.

Tolentino faces three counts of violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. Officer in charge Rolando Reyes faces two counts of viola-

tion of Section 3(e), while Tolentino, Mauri and contractors David Dominong and Mariano Ang of Pyramid Hardware Construction Supply (PHCS) each face one count of violation of the anti-graft law.

The complaint filed by the Ombudsman’s Public Assistance and Corruption Prevention Office was anchored on the report of the Commission on Audit.

In a 24-page resolution, the Ombudsman stated that there was

collusion between Salvador, Tolentino Jr. and Mauri in carrying out the realignment of the earmarked funds for the implementation of the ccological solid waste management project of Tuba, Benguet, and instead used the fund for the building rehabilitation project.

The Ombudsman raised “there is no showing that authority to realign the budget was secured by the management” thus, “their collaborative acts gave way to illegal expenditure of public fund intended for another purpose.”

To support the charges against Salvador, Reyes, Tolentino, Jr., Mauri, Ang and Dominong for violation of Section 3(e) of RA 3019, it was found that the award to Dominong of the construction contract for the regional director’s office and the purchase of construction materials from PHCS of P758,998.07 were transacted with-

out the requisite public bidding in violation of the provisions of Republic Act 9184, or the Government Procurement Reform Act. The payment to suppliers Ang and Dominong were facilitated despite the non-performance of the contracted labor and deliveries of construction materials, lack of purchase orders, certificate of inspection and assessment, and the release of the retention money to the contractor was made despite the existence of defects in the construction project.

The charges against acting cashier Hermilina Lausa and officer in charge of the administrative and finance division Ligaya Garcia were dismissed for lack of probable cause.

Meanwhile, the Ombudsman also directed the filing before the Sandiganbayan against Baclayon ex-mayor Felix Uy, his wife Marilyn Uy, incumbent Sanguniang Bayan

member, and Vice Mayor Joel Oppus for corrupt practices over the award of a 25-year lease contract in the town’s public market.

In November 1996, a lease contract for a stall in the public market was entered into between Oppus and Marilyn for 25 years, renewable for another 25 years.

Records showed that other lease contracts in the market provide for a contract duration of only five years.

Neither proof of bidding nor Marilyn’s lease application was submitted, the Ombudsman said.

At the time of the contract signing, Felix was in the United States.

“There is reason to believe that Felix’s visit abroad was timed precisely to provide a smokescreen for the prohibited transaction” as “the contract was entered into just two days after Felix left for the United States,” the Ombudsmansaid

Former Customs man gets jail term

450th ’kaplag’. Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle makes his way through the crowd to celebrate the final novena mass for the 450th “Kaplag “annual commemoration of the discovery of the image of the child Jesus and the start of the Catholic faith in the country. Ralph piezas

Footbridge eyed to stop jaywalking on Ninoy Ave

By Joel e. zurbano The Metro Manila Development Authority will construct a P9.7-million pedestrian footbridge to prevent jaywalking and road accident—factors that contribute to traffic problems along Ninoy Aquino Avenue in Parañaque City.

Noemie Recio, MMDATraffic Engineering Office director, said the footbridge project is situated along Pascor Drive near the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

She added the bridge will be built with energy saving, solar-powered lighting system.

“The project is still in the

bidding process. We will install polar power lights in the footbridge because Chairman (Francis) Tolentino is introducing the use of solar power lights to save energy and money,” Recio said.

The MMDA is expected to complete the project on or before December this year.

Recio said the construction of the new footbridge is a priority project of the agency, adding that Ninoy Aquino Avenue is an accident-prone area and cases of jaywalking are rampant .

More than 100 footbridges had been built around Metro Manila. At least half were constructed by the MMDA,

while the rest were built by the local government units.

Last year, Metro Manila mayors approved the proposal of the MMDA to increase the penalty against jaywalking from P200 to P500 following reports that the numbers of jaywalking incidents are increasing despite numerous government efforts to educate undisciplined pedestrians.

MMDA chairman Francis Tolentino said jaywalking contributes to traffic flow problems and the incidence of road accidents in Metro Manila.

He added despite the huge amount of taxpayers’ money that had gone into the construction of foot-

bridges, people continued to cross busy streets and dangerous portions of the roads where they are not supposed to.

The MMDA also observed that undisciplined pedestrians openly disregard pedestrian lanes and warning signages.

THE Sandiganbayan has sentenced a former Bureau of Customs official to a jail term ranging from six months to six years for falsifying his personal data sheet in June 2009.

In a 20-page order dated April 20, the anti-graft court found Filomeno Vicencio Jr. guilty beyond reasonable doubt of falsification after Ombudsman prosecutors proved that he falsely claimed in his PDS to be a graduate of the University of the East.

Prosecutors presented witnesses and documents to prove that Vicencio Jr. was never a student nor a graduate of the university.

The anti-graft court stated that “the accomplishment and submission of PDS was a duty borne out of every public officer like Vicencio and the disclosure of where and when he obtained his bachelor’s degree is a vital information since this renders him qualified for the position.”

The court held that “even if it were [his] son who had written down the untruthful statement, the fact remains that he had assented to it by virtue of his signature on the document, appropriating the falsehood as his own… and [had] he really intended to correct the erroneous entry, he could have retrieved the document itself.”

The anti-graft court also pointed out that Vicencio did not disclose information as to where and when he obtained his bachelor’s degree, lending credence to the conclusion that he intended to falsely state that he is a graduate of UE in order to qualify for the position of Director III. Rio N. araja

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news

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Zumba congregation. In a bid to land on the Guiness Book of World Records for the largest Zumba gathering, 7,492 participants dance the Zumba on Monday at the Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University South La Union Campus in Agoo, La Union. CHRISTINE JUNIO

Civil Service reinstates city engineer made agri officer

By Orlan L. Mauricio

CITY OF SAN JOSE DEL MONTE, BULACAN—An engineer who was assigned by the city mayor to be an agriculturist for supposedly refusing to certify a project he believed was overpriced was reinstated, effective immediately, by the regional office of the Civil Service Commission.

The commission, through its director for Central Luzon lawyer Myrna Macatangay, also junked Office Orders 040-2013 and 0552014 issued by Mayor Reynaldo San Pedro naming city engineer

Rufino Gravador Jr., as acting city agriculturist for the periods August 1, 2013 to July 31, 2014 and August 1, 2014 to July 31, 2015, respectively.

Gravador filed a petition with

the commission last year, questioning the validity of his new assignment which he said was a blatant violation of the CSC ‘Rules on Re-Assignment’ and his constitutional right to security of tenure.

Gravador claimed that sometime before the 2013 elections, he was asked by San Pedro to approve and sign several documents pertaining to the proposed construction of the new city hall amounting to P300 million.

He studied the plans and concluded that the project was overpriced by as much as P100 million.

“I [could not] stomach the grossly overpriced estimates and I feared losing my license. Secondly, I did not want to go to jail and tarnish my family’s reputation and forever be condemned by my ancestors, “ Gravador told the Standard.

San Pedro allegedly offered him a one-percent commission if he would just sign but he declined.

Gravados said his troubles began when San Pedro got reelected.

The Standard tried to reach the mayor through his two cell phone numbers but could not contact him as of press time.

Mayon makes it to tentative list of Unesco heritage sites LEGAZPI CITY—Mayon Volcano recently made it to the tentative list of most promising candidates for a World Heritage Site title of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Designated as Mayon Volcano National Park (MMNVP) by Presidential Proclamation No. 413 in June 2000 under the National Integrated Protected Areas System Act, it becomes the first area in the Bicol Region to be included in the UNESCO’s updated tentative list as of March 2015.

Governor Joey Salceda nominated MVNP in 2014, along with other protected areas of the province as part of the Albay Biosphere Reserve in the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Program. “It is a commitment to protect Albay’s natural habitats, as seen in its increased forest cover of 88% from 26, 298 hectares in 2003 to 44,

891 hectares by 2010. A UNESCO recognition entitles the area for more protection,” he stressed.

Mayon’s listing as a world heritage site is expected to boost the province’s environmental campaign and tourism industry. Albay is now considered among the fastest growing tourism areas in the country, with Mayon Volcano as its banner attraction, coupled with the Cagsawa Ruins Park. To be included in the tentative list is the initial step towards becoming a world heritage site, after going through a stringent authenticity and integrity review process.

Mayon Volcano towers at 2,462 meters above sea level and is popular for its perfectly conical shape. It is the most active volcano in the Philippines and one of the most active in the world, having erupted over 51 times in the past four centuries, creating a culture of resiliency among its inhabitants.

Water bucket challenge. Grade school students from Cotabato City enjoy this pool at a resort in Davao City. OMAR MANGORSI

Communists stop prison vehicle, take inmate and 2 jail officers

By Alvin T. Guanzon SURIGAO CITY—Two employees and an inmate of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology are now in the custody of the New People’s Army after at least 40 NPA rebels stopped a prison vehicle Monday morning in Barangay Amontay, Marihatag, Surigao del Sur. Three jail officers and one other inmate were also wounded during the ambush.

“Ka Ian,” a leader of the Guerilla Front 19 of the Northeastern Mindanao Regional Command however denied that the inmate in their custody, Jojean Mangadlao Alameda, was their comrade and that they rescued him during the ambush.

Alameda, the rebel leader said during a phone interview, is a criminal and would face trial for several charges including rape before the people’s court.

The two prison personnel taken by the NPA are Jail Officer 2 Feliciano Polan and JO2 Juan Salazar. “Ka Ian” said they are being treated well, but conditions for their release have not yet been finalized by the group.

Wounded were Jail Officer 1 Denbert Balan; JO3 Alfredo Ebay Galindo; JO1 Roger Lozada Sarpeda. Inmate Robert Laurente Rivas was also wounded during the ambush which took place at 7:45 a.am along the National Highway.

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OPINION [ EDI TORI A L ]

CRIME WITHOUT PUNISHMENT

HOW can President Benigno Aquino III keep blowing his own anti-corruption horn, when the Philippines under his watch has just been judged the worst among 59 countries in terms of bringing violators of the law to justice?

This damaging assessment comes, not from Mr. Aquino’s critics—or attention seekers, as he likes to call them—but from independent researchers from the University of the Americas in Puebla, Mexico, and the Puebla Citizen’s Council on Safety and Justice, who published the world’s first Global Impunity Index this month.

For the purposes of their study, the researchers defined impunity as “the impossibility of bringing the perpetrators of violations to account—whether in criminal, civil, administrative or disciplinary proceedings—since they are not subject to any inquiry that might lead to their being accused, arrested, tried and, if found guilty, sentenced to appropriate penalties, and to making reparations to their victims.”

To measure impunity, they analyzed 14 indicators, including the number of police and judges per 100,000 inhabitants, the incidence of extrajudicial executions and kidnappings and the percentage of people incarcerated without sentences to draw its conclusions. It then graded countries on a scale from 0-100 to reflect their systematic vulnerability to impunity, exemption or immunity from punishment or recrimination, with a higher score reflecting greater vulnerability.

Of the 59 UN member states evaluated for the index, the Philippines (80), Mexico (75.7), Colombia (75.6), Turkey (68.7) and Russia (67.3) were found to be the most vulnerable to impunity. These countries, the researchers noted, all have structural problems in their public safety and judicial systems.

Among the study’s findings, two seem particularly relevant to the Philippine setting.

First, the researchers said, a country’s wealth, measured through its economic production capacities, is not a determining factor of impunity.

Second, they said, corruption was not the cause of impunity, but its effect.

“The reason people have become increasingly corrupt is because they realize how the system functions, how the structure of the system of government creates conditions to allow to them to escape unpunished,” said Luis Erenesto Derbez Bautista, rector of the university.

“Having good laws is not enough for a country to develop,” the study said. “People need to know that those are going to be effectively implemented.”

These findings seem at odds with President Aquino’s insistence that the absence of corruption will magically rid us of poverty. It also puts into perspective his constant crowing about the growth in the country’s gross domestic product.

That impunity encourages corruption is something the President should bear in mind the next time he exempts his friends and political allies from investigation, much less prosecution, regardless of the evidence ranged against them.

Empty slogans and going after his enemies with hammer and tongs do not advance justice, nor do they correct the problem of impunity, which by its nature is a crime committed by those in power.

Now in his last year of office, President Aquino clearly has invested very little in the last five years to build a justice system that can inspire confidence among Filipinos that the guilty—regardless of their social status or political affiliation—will be punished.

We have known this for some time. Now, thanks to the Global Impunity Index, so does the rest of the world.

THE OTHER PURISIMA LOWDOWN JOJO A. ROBLES I’D hate to be Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel right now, when resigned Customs Commissioner John Philip Sevilla has left him with an investigation in search of something to investigate. Those who plotted this whole scheme must be so proud of themselves.

Sevilla, in case you didn’t know, has backtracked on his original claim, made right before and after he quit, that he

could no longer take the pressure being applied to him to raise election campaign funds and to appoint undeserving officials to choice posts in the bureau. Sevilla has since gotten “on message,” as they say in Malacañang, saying now that some people merely talked to him with no apparent attempt to pressure him.

It’s a variation of the old “resigned for health reasons” or because of a desire “to return to the private sector.”

Now nobody really knows why he quit – and no one is telling.

The real reason is that President Noynoy Aquino and his economic hatchet

man, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, have decided that Sevilla is no longer useful as Customs Commissioner. And so he was forced to quit, so that he may be replaced by businessman Alberto Lina, who will presumably do a better job than Sevilla did.

This is why the position Sevilla left was immediately filled right after he announced that he was leaving: because the deed was planned way in advance.

Of course, as many have already pointed out, Aquino has not had the time to fill up vacant positions probably as important as the top Customs post, but which

I’m certain that Cesar Purisima has done more damage to this country than Alan Purisima ever did.

have remained unoccupied.

I’m talking about the chairmanship of the Commission on Elections, the director-

generalship of the Philippine National Police and the top post at the Civil Service Commission, to name just three.

At a time when the means of conducting next year’s elections is still up in the air and when the crime situation is getting worse, you’d think that Aquino would have given the task of filling these vacancies a little more priority. But he had all the time in the world – through Purisima – to plan and execute the removal of Sevilla and to appoint Lina over at Customs.

This is how you do it, Purisima (whose hold on Customs and all other agencies under his department is legendary) seems to be saying when he implemented the re-

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OPINION OPINION

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ADELLE CHUA ADELLE CHUA ADELLE CHUA EDITOR EDITOR

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph M O N D AY, A P R I L 2 7, 2 0 1 5 lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

OPINION

EDITOR

VIEWBACK FROM MALCOM CHANNEL ALEJANDRO ATTY. HARRY DEL ROSARIO ROQUE JR.

AHAS TWISTED OUR TURN IN COMMISSION ‘DAANG ON HUMAN MATUWID’ RIGHTS

[ EDI TORI A L ]

SEVILLA’S GENIE

EMBLEMATIC of the hypocrisy and mismanagement THIS “daang matuwid’’ (straight-path) that have become the hallmarks of this administration, administration has taken another twisted the chief of the Bureau of Customs, John Phillip turn. Despite the denials and soft pedaling Sevilla, resigned last week with disturbing allegations of his own accusations, what resigned of political pressure and attempts to turn his agency Customs Commissioner John Sevilla into a milking cow to raise campaign funds for favored already said would not go away. candidates in the 2016 elections.

Sevilla revealed earlier he was allegedly Sevilla was the third Customs commissioner HANOI, Vietnam—I am in the capital of forced to resign by two key Cabinet to leave the agency under the administration of Vietnam as a resource person in a semiofficials for refusing to raise P3 billion for President Benigno Aquino III, who has made the fight nar on “National Human Rights Comthe Liberal Party’s campaign funds for against corruption the touchstone of his leadership. missions: the Region” the 2016 Experiences presidential from elections and that Sevilla’s two predecessors had left the bureau amid sponsored by the Konrad Adenaer Stifan unqualified Customs official was being allegations of corruption, tarnishing Mr. Aquino’s claims tung.

I accepted the invitation because foisted on him for a sensitive positionofin of good governance. Sevilla took over in December 2013 athe long desire to evaluate the affectivity of bureau. with the promise of cleaning up what is widely perceived ourThe ownPalace Commission Rights denied it of wasHuman using the BOC as the most corrupt agency in the bureaucracy. since its establishment through the 1987 as a milking cow, claiming the ruling That promise came crashing down less than two Constitution 28 years ago. This invitation party has more than enough funds for the years later with Sevilla’s resignation. finally gave me to the opportunity to finalcampaign. If so, then Sevilla’s shocking In announcing his resignation, Sevilla said he was lyrevelations conduct thismight long-delayed study. have confirmed the being pressured to appoint certain people to “very The starting has to that be thecertain very people’s worstpoint suspicion sensitive” positions ahead of the 2016 elections, and high expectations of funds the people that the officials are raising for themselves admitted that he could not finish the job of ending CHR will help promote andofprotect huin the “last two minutes” the Aquino corruption at the bureau. man rights in the administration.

Thecountry term is when taken they from “I don’t compromise on morality,” the resigning created it inlastthe Its the crucial twoConstitution minutes of a itself. basketball Customs chief said. “The law is clear on what is first head, Chairperson Bautista, game.

We are going to seeMary a full court press allowed and [what is] not.” should beofficials creditedtofor safeguarding the by some make money to stash In its first statement following the resignation, the independence theforeign constitutional body for that nest ofegg bank account Palace conspicuously ignored Sevilla’s allegations, from political interference. then or buy a luxury condo in Congress New York, Los and simply announced his replacement, a person took the or appointment of the Chair and Angeles San Francisco. comments on FB posts—manythe of The BBL, underscored theCommission moralAquino right from the private sector with extensive interests Commissioners of the question is: Does President them betray the pathetic ignorance of be aabout State to itsalleged integrity. of in several brokerage-related companies. A Palace should submitted for conformation know the roleNone of two PENSÉES behind them. But again, they to are these points of social justice theory spokesman assured the public that there would be the Commission onfamily Appointments. members of his official in Sevilla’s red flags that invite close scrutiny,Rightfully if andNow moral theology addressed no conflict of interest, as the new Customs chief, so, that the Supreme Court ruledhe ouster?

Aquinowere knows, will FR. RANHILIO only because, in their sheer irratioby the posted comments.

The Alberto D. Lina, would divest himself of his interest that Bautista andthem? her comfire Chairperson them, or as usual protect CALLANGAN nality, they sound the alarm to the in his brokerage company—but said nothing of his bishops were reminded that Although allegations ofthose corruption missioners were notrather among public AQUINO havesome hounded his pedophiles.

Cabinet (Budget holdings in at least 10 other corporations. intellectual bankruptcy that makes officers whose appointments needed conpriests were They Secretary Florencio Abad, Agriculture The announcement did little to engender firmation Congress.

Thisit insulated the werebyalso told that was shameFIRST, a disclaimer. One national Secretary Proceso Social Welfare confidence. chair andformembers of thebeen Commission ful them toAlcala, have involved daily, through an online post, atSecretary Soliman) they would remainbe in Are we expected to believe that Sevilla’s replacement from political interference. in theDinky Pajero scandal. It tributed to me the statement that their positions under Aquino’s “prove it” would truly divest himself of all his lucrative The Constitution enumerates the powless bothersome merely to laugh off the Chief Justice had, in effect, predefense business interests to take a job in the government ers ofsuch themantra.

Commission.

These include the obvious illogicality, but if this judged the Binay case by her line of We can and oughtpower We can expect other decent in an administration with only a year left? Or is his investigate, the power issue is to how our countrymen, ortoaofficials good questioning at the oral argument. left part in this Administration also appointment part of efforts that Sevilla resisted to cite in contempt andmight powerfail to of them, reason (or, better, to raise the bar ofsummons, I made no such statement. Somequit.

President Aquino’s legal counsel, make sure the ruling party stays in power after 2016? ask assistance from any branch of governto do so!), that demonstration of one did call me up however for public discourse and Benjamin Caguioa., resigned Aquino’s first Customs commissioner, who ment. we have serious obstacle in aHere, dreadful wantahas in already thoughtfulness an interview on the subject.

I gave but gave no reason except to say he wanted resigned under a cloud of suspicion when 2,000 the task evaluating theshould performance of set more stringent andofreasonability make us him onIy curt replies though he to Commission. return to private container vans vanished from the bureau in 2011, the Forpractice. while the courts and fearful of democracy’s future instandards for the Sevilla did attempt, by leading questions, is a performance no-nonsense may career public was a close associate of Lina.

DOJ whose be meadeed.

When irrationality prevails, official who accepted Aquino’s offer to make me agree with him on Lina was also Customs chief during the previous in terms of case disposal and/ or itsto exchange in publicsured anything frightful is possible! clean up the Bureau of Customs thinking this assessment—an enticement I administration, before he left abruptly as part of the conviction rate, the CHR can only investiTracing in broad strokes the hisspaces. he could make a difference.

As everyone steadfastly resisted. I made clear: “Hyatt 10” Cabinet members who abandoned the gate but has no power to prosecute. tory of the condonation doctrine in knows, Customs is vs. theCommission crown jewel I did not think it was right for me Arroyo government over an election-related scandal In this the case of Carino of jurisdiction, I pointed out that of corruption among theCourt government to comment on on-going proceedin 2005, and who now hold considerable influence in Human Rights, the defined it has been inSupreme our jurisprudence for agencies.

Even the most idealistic ings. What I did, however, was the Aquino administration. the full extent of the Commissions’ invessome time now—carried over from bureaucrat is no match for the crooks at write a Facebook post on the docAdministration allies in the Senate have been fulsome tigative powers: “The function ofand receiving it impossible for a genuine democAmerican jurisprudence, it Customs where corruption to thethat core trine of condonation.

Justice Adolf in their praise for Sevilla, but have shown none of their evidence and has ascertaining therefrom the racy to long endure.

When Archactually roots in our democratic to the President, he can easily veritraction of a known terrorist. moval of Sevilla.

And if something spreads to the warren of its “rat-infested” surveys show that Aquino’s poll offinvestigation survey data Azcuna with was dismissive elections the first to comment: usualremains eagernessundiminished. to launch a congressional facts of a controversy notnot a judicial funcSoc Villegas issued a stateconvictions.

I iswas advocating fy captured if, say,are thebishop President really wants * * thought *continuing unexpected comes up,after likesurvey offices.

All that touted lifestyle check on thattoI had numbers continuing to plumb statements about He just Theinto reality, as survey allegations of corruption inSevilla the Bureau of Customs, tion, properly speaking.

To be considered ment onbeing the draft BBL,byan almost the perpetuation of curb this piece of juCustoms personnel to corruption someone allegedly pushed written after succinctly.

Aquino new, complaining thea reason for expose the doctrine He agreed particularly since Aquino such probe such, the faculty of Ireceiving evidence and unfamiliar depthscomment despite his do I’ve the“friendly work of before, governance, Comhas shown, is about that is might just common was: “Bakit risprudence. was however arguing was only to deflect public attention – thedoctrine influential Iglesia ni Cristototo fired his first with Customs commisand the manner of his removal, then munications my Herminio analysis that efforts, the forces” ratherhis than political opponents. making factual conclusions in a controverI expect the campaign Secretary barely keeping head above the nakikiaalam na naman ang simit was not unreasonable andof like that in the mysterious disappearance become head of the bureau’s police sioner, Angelito Alvarez, about how you quickly move to get him to go has that its roots in our there can be no doubtand that Sevilla mustnow be says sy must accompanied by the authority further intensify.

Coloma “there is understanding waters ofBut negative acceptability dito?”. Nowhere hadbeinvans factladen been consistently apcontainer with highly dutiable force.

But ifbahan the commissioner can’twas there the person who holds this important recant. encouraged—or compelled—to name names and of popular sovereignty.

That note of of applying the law to those factual concluThere is no other option for significant room for improvement popularity.

And there is nothing goods. any serious analysis of the arguplied by the High Court.

The comup the phone and talk directly position needs to have a direct line pick Finance’s Purisima is of sowhat much provide a detailed account he knows.

His failure sions to the endturnover that the controversyatmay I consider priceless!

Before really.

Butthen history theis examiment advanced, no serious and... [a]President need to concurrence, continually ascerthat he can do, itthan seems, to reverse mentsthe I got labeledceremony me a lackey the of the President, that and official to the himself, if he is to Aquino, more universally to cunning do so would be athe betrayal of the morality he claims bebureau, decided or determined authoritatively, The next day, I wrote antoextended Sevilla hinted at people with Palace nation and rebuttal of the reasons the Binays, a fraud, a charlatan— “stickiness” of the popular perceptain the needs of our people. ” the trend. led to his resignation, the whom public service he vowed for the people who acsucceed.

After article all, the things a sitting condemned PNP chiefand with finally and definitively, subject to to such apforway this paper—and earnedduck a connections who badgered him appoint adduced.

Nothing more than peals an pathetic actually, ifashilarious, betion thathave he isthat a failure as President What seems hell-bent It shares istosignificant Malacanang uphold whenthat he took Bureau of Customs. or modes of review may be prolot ofall flak for it. on I do mind the tually access. work atAquino Customs, manner of not he a surname.

I office reallyat the don’t a certain Teddy Raval as the BOC’s head of attack on bishops and priests.

The cause they were attacks on me, not are Purisima against doing is to continue making public seems abandoned the stratopening his mouth about and vided by law. This and function, to repeat, the criticism, butdrop I amthe alarmed that thehim. has always had that ac- capacity, people can be expected to knowtoifInhave the two Purisimas are re-corruption law enforcement security because the Archbishop, in a personal on my argument.

In stark contrast Iofsee no reason whyheAquino’s numappearances to prove is stillfa- cess, egy ofinfluence pretending to ignore reincertainly thethe bureau, Sevilla hasname Commission does including not have.” the politically kind I bid got he is a which more is why hasnecessity made sure President’s in athat tosymptomatic seek lated, but onepeddling of them has Mr. powers-that-be, discussed the of inclusivewere the posts of Prof. Jemy Gatletbrains the surveys genie of the show bottle, no amount of It is this lack of prosecutorial powers would in the coming very in control andthatbers sults of the anand working, insidious malady isthat lethal to improve the people who get the Customs vors from themuch commissioner. more thanout thewhich other, who can’t influential Ni Cristo religious sect ness, warned against equating peace dula ofIglesia the University of Asia and doubletalk from him or his former employers now democracy: intolerance possessor of game-changing enirreversible decline in hisa populara Customs chief has a direct line for dissent! in Mindanao even plan and supervise proper ex- the If with the passage of Continued on A11 Continued on A11 Continued on A11 can put it back is good reason to ignore Continued on A10 If subsequent ity. Where once thein. palace shrugged dorsement powers.There

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A10 BCDA FACES MULTIPLE SUITS BASES Conversion TO THE Development POINT Authority president Ariel Paciano EMIL P. Casanova has finalJURADO ly crossed the line, bent on kicking out Bob Sobrepeña’s Camp John Hay Development Corp. (CJHDEVco) from the 246-hectare former American base, for which it has acted as developer for the past 18 years.

Over the weekend, Casanova published a wholesale ejectment notice for the Zamoras, PLDT, International Container Terminal Services Inc. of Ricky Razon, Araneta-owned LBC, Aboitiz-owned Union Bank, Coca-Cola, the Lorenzos, and other A-list names, including that of Fil-Estate executives, Noel Cariño, Ferdinand Santos, Enrique Sobrepeña, Order of Utopia Founder Rafael Evangelista Jr. and of course, Casanova’s obsession, Robert John Sobrepeña and many other VIPs like Ronnie Concepcion to vacate their leased cottages, country homes and cabins, golf estate lots and Manor Hotel penthouse and Forest Lodge Units.

According to the Harvard-educated lawyer, CJHDevco illegally sublet to the investors cabins, condo units and golf shares for 50 straight years when the BCDA actual sub-leases were good for only 25 years. As such, Casanova ordered all locators, unit owners, golf share owners and sub-lessees to file cases in court against CJHDevco for refund.

But first, all investors must execute deeds of assignments to BCDA. The BCDA president believes that since the final arIf Casanova cannot bitration award, understand this affirmed by the Baguio Regional provision of law, Trial Court, terI would doubt his minated the 1996 Harvard education. lease agreement between BCDA and CJHDevco for mutual breach of contract, the investors also lost their right as investors.

Huh? Casanova may have graduated from Harvard, but, as a lawyer myself, I believe that third parties like investors at Camp John Hay, who were not a party to the arbitration case between BCDA and CJHDevco, enjoy certain rights because they acted in good faith.

In fact, when the Baguio RTC affirmed the Arbitration Tribunal award, it specifically stated (page 4, paragraph 3) that “as to the list of sublesses and/or vested right holders, they will be governed by the law on obligations and contracts.”

And what does the Philippine Civil Code state in Article 1385? It provides that “An order for mutual restitution cannot include properties currently in the possession of third persons who act in good faith.”

If Casanova cannot understand this provision of law, I would have doubts about his Harvard education.

Casanova claims that BCDA was not aware of the 50-year sub-lease contract with some 1,361 locators, investors and shareholders who bought in good faith. He should read the Original Lease Agreement between the BCDA and CJHDevco “to develop the lessees’ property and sublet it to third persons.”

In fact, BCDA’s Camp John Hay Master Development Plan, Part 1, Introduction 1.0, Section 1.0, Paragraph 2 states that “the concept is to attract foreign and local investors to locate in a highly developed economic zone that operates on an efficient, no-red tape mode. In an economic environment where government fosters least intervention, recognize the indispensable role of private investors, and provide investments incentives.”

A section of the Original Lease Agreement between CJHDevco and BCDA clearly provides “Section 2. Term—Unless terminated for reasons

W E D N E S D AY: A P R I L 2 9, 2 0 1 5

OPINION

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

CROOKED PATH AT CUSTOMS WHEN former investment banker Customs Commissioner John Philip Sevilla resigned on Wednesday, April 22, his boss, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima extolled his subaltern to high heavens.

“In a span of a year and half, he has shown us that what was then impossible is now possible. It is possible to hope that we can transform institutions, with uncompromising courage and integrity, Purisima enthused.

The finance chief added, waxing rhetorically, about Sevilla: “As head of the Customs Reform Team, he has helped grow the Bureau’s collections by 21% year on year in 2014 versus 5% in the pre-reform period, transformed Customs to be one of the most radically open and transparent agencies in government, has made government regulation more efficient for doing business in the country, and has taken great strides to thwart graft, technical and outright smuggling by filing cases, alert orders and seizures against erring importers, brokers, and officials. The Bureau of Customs is the most improved national government agency in terms of revenue collection last year, thanks in no small part to the person who led it.”

Sevilla, Purisima pointed out in his press statement, “has served the public well in his lengthy career in government. Even with his stellar record of six years as undersecretary under two secretaries of Finance in his belt, I think unleashing transformative reform in the Bureau of Customs will remain to be one of the pinnacles of his legacy in government.”

After praising the Princeton and Cornell-educated technocrat, Purisima delivered the coup de grâce.

Sevilla was being ousted, or fired. Purisima said: “There is always a time when one has to rest and take leave: today is one such day for a fine public servant who has waged the good fight against corruption well.”

If Purisima expected Sevilla to take such a elegant touch of irony sitting down, he didn’t know the latter well.

The following day, Thursday, April 23, Purisima was stung. Sevilla held a press conference. He said, in effect, he was fired by President B.S. Aquino III. The cause of his ouster was political pressure from the powerful Iglesia ni Cristo sect.

The sect reportedly wanted their protégé, a certain lawyer Teddy Sandy S. Raval, to be promoted to head the Bureau of Customs’ enforcement and security services (ESS), from his current post of acting chief of the BOC’s intellectual property office. Raval had four powerful backers – Purisima himself, Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa; Carlo Carag, a Finance undersecretary of Purisima’s; and Teofilo Pilando Jr., a deputy executive secretary.

Sevilla told CNN Philippines the four officials were among those pushing for the appointment of Raval. With 400 people, ESS is virtually the customs bureau itself because it is the customs police. It can open any container, board any ship, conduct raids, and guard the Customs compound 24/7– all in the name of enforcement and security.

“I do not think anyone outside of Customs or outside of government should have any say in appointments in Customs,” Sevilla had insisted. The idea bugged his conscience. “Political appointment felt wrong,” he said. “I don’t compromise on morality.”

In fairness to INC, Sevilla is the first to stress that the religious VIRTUAL group did not directly call or contact him to push Raval’s promoREALITY tion as chief of security and enTONY forcement.

Sevilla has impeccable Ivy LOPEZ League credentials – bachelor of arts, cum laude, government and economics, Cornell 1989; master of public affairs, June 1993, Princeton. He was associate director, sovereign ratings, Standard & Poor’s, July 1993-October 1996; assistant director, credit research, Peregrine Fixed Income Ltd., Hongkong and Jakarta, October 1996-January 1998; VP, fixed income credit research, Salomon Smith Barney Hongkong, January 1998-April 2000; executive director, Asian Special Situations Group, Goldman Sachs (Asia) LLC, Hongkong, May 2000-March 2004.

Sevilla did a splendid job. By June this year, Customs would have been paperless and totally transparent. It would take only four hours to process papers—in some 5,000 daily transactions. With the massive red tape, most of the time, nobody knew what was going on. Hence, graft was easy and the standard practice. Many clerks had open drawers.

Smirked Inquirer columnist Solita Monsod: “He (Sevilla) was not a kaibigan, a kamaganak, a kabarilan, a kaklase. What he was—what he is—is a professional with impeccable credentials. That, unfortunately, is not enough.”

A key Aquino ally, Sen. Sergio Osmeña said it is easy for those who are in power to use Customs as source of funds because it is one of the most corrupt government agencies in the country. Some P200 billion is lost to smuggling. Customs collects P400 billion annually.

“There is a lot of money raised there [BOC] that instead of going to government coffers it goes to private pockets,” the senator told dzBB. Osmeña regrets that Malacañang did not even stop Sevilla from leaving. “It is Malacañang that should be blamed since it is the one who gave in (to the INC pressure),” the senator added.

The INC is believed to have contributed immensely to Aquino’s come-from-behind victory in the 2010 presidential elections. Former President Joseph Estrada, the second placer in that election, believes INC made the difference for the winner.

Before 2010, INC had always supported Estrada’s candidacy – for mayor, senator, vice president, and president. The INC’s 35,000-strong swing vote in the 2013 Manila mayoralty election gave the victory to Estrada.

In 2010, Aquino garnered almost 15 million votes, five million more than Estrada’s 10 million.

Estrada says INC has about three million votes. Had that been added to Estrada’s 10 million, he would have garnered 13 million votes and Aquino’s would have finished with just 12 million votes (15 minus three). The actor former president would have beaten Aquino by a million votes (13 minus 12).

For 2016, the presumptive Liberal Party standard bearer, Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas is trailing behind the frontrunner, Vice President Jejomar Binay, badly.

Roxas needs ample resources (such as funds raised in places like Customs) and the backing of solid voting blocs like the Iglesia. biznewsasia@gmail.com

specified in this Agreement, this agreement shall have a term of twenty five (25) years, RENEWABLE FOR ANOTHER TWENTY FIVE (25) YEARS UNDER THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS AT THE OPTION OF THE LESSEES, effective upon the signing of this agreement – (caps mine).” Thus if BCDA and Casanova are unaware of this agreement, they admit criminal negligence and incompetence which make them guilty of graft and corruption. Casanova seems to forget that one time, the BCDA even had four of their directors sitting at the CJHDevco board.

All things considered, why is Casanova resorting to this harassment tactic on investors? The reason, I believe, is that BCDA cannot pay CJHDevco the P1.421 billion ordered by the Baguio RTC in affirming the Arbitration Tribunal award.

If BCDA cannot pay, CJHDevco can lay liens in BCDA properties at CJH before it can vacate the camp.

It’s actually a ploy on the part of BCDA for investors to claim refund from CJHDevco thinking that the investors are that stupid.

Even now, I am told that investors are preparing to sue Casanova and BCDA for trying to eject them. My gulay, if squatters cannot be evicted without a court order, how can Casanova eject possessors of properties in good faith? A notice is not a court order. That’s deprivation of property under the Constitution which can make Casanova liable for damages.

What is truly sad about this is that Camp John Hay, where you can still smell the pine trees, has ceased to be a tourist destination with characters like Casanova. It’s bad enough that the Baguio City government lost its 25 percent share of rentals that CJHDevco pays to BCDA. No wonder President Aquino’s much-vaunted Private-Public Partnership Program (PPP) is losing steam – because of government lackeys like the BCDA president.

W E D N E S D AY: A P R I L 2 9, 2 0 1 5

OPINION lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

A PRIZE AND A LESSON ON RACE got older, a new racial gap appeared that wasn’t explained by those factors. That THE black-white achievement gap. means that some other force is at work— Everyone knows about it; no one seems to education, discrimination, cultural facknow what to do about it. The gap closed tors or something else. a bit in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but Fryer set about trying to find those then progress stalled. Some have called it factors. For example, many have long “the greatest civil rights issue of our time,” argued that black culture discourages inbut there’s no agreement about the cure. tellectual achievement, by branding acaEnter economist Roland Fryer. Fryer demic pursuits as “acting white.” Along came from about the most disadvan- with co-author Paul Torelli, Fryer investaged background imaginable, with a tigated the hypothesis. If academics are mother who left his family and an abu- really considered “acting white,” then it sive father who was sent to prison. Fryer stands to reason that getting good grades has described himself as a “full-fledged should be negatively correlated with gangster” in his teenage years (though popularity. Using data from a survey that his criminal activities, selling marijuana asked students who their friends were, and counterfeit purses, wouldn’t be out of Fryer and Torelli constructed a measure place among any number of college kids). of how popular each student was among But Fryer excelled at high school members of his or her own race (the insports, and went to college on an athletic dex is constructed so that having more scholarship. It was there, at the University popular friends confers more popularity of Texas at Arlington, that he discovered than having less popular friends). The his true passion was not athletic, but aca- results fit the predictions of the “acting demic. Thus began a meteoric rise that white” hypothesis—as students get older, saw Fryer earn a Ph.D. in economics, the correlation between grades and popand go on to collaborate with some of ularity goes up and up for white kids, but the world’s top economists—Nobel win- down for black kids. ner Gary Becker, “Freakonomics” author An alternative hypothesis, of course, is Steven Levitt, and many others. He got a that racial discrimination is the cause of job as a Harvard professor, received ten- the black-white achievement gap. Many ure at the age of 30, and now holds an en- teachers, if asked, will tell you that this is dowed chair. the case (though they will probably deny Last week, he won the John Bates that the discrimination comes from their Clark medal, the most prestigious award own classrooms!). It’s a very hard thing given to young economists. He is the first to measure. But, as Fryer and others have African-American to win the prize. Not documented, racial discrimination has bad, eh? become less and less important in the U.S. Fryer was (and is) determined to get to employment market. That doesn’t prove the bottom of the achievement gap. Ever that discrimination isn’t still the culprit at since the start of his career, he has fear- the grade school level, but it is suggestive. lessly attacked the problem, not shying Fryer’s work on the achievement gap away from political incorrectness, bring- isn’t limited to the causes—he has also ing a variety of sophisticated research analyzed a wide range of potential fixes. strategies to bear.

For example, there’s the idea—intuitive One question Fryer has addressed is to economists, but usually dismissed by what causes the achievement gap. Along wider society—of simply paying students with Levitt, he found something very to do better. Fryer conducted a large interesting. In kindergarten, the black- number of randomized controlled trials white gap can be entirely explained by (the gold standard of social research) and a small number of variables, including found that while paying students for resocioeconomic status. But as the kids sults doesn’t work, paying them to work

hard does get results.

What about charter schools? Fryer conducted a study of the Harlem Children’s Zone, one of the most ambitious efforts to close the achievement gap, which uses charter schools and other community programs. Encouragingly, the program managed to close the achievement gap entirely in elementary school, and close the mathematics gap (though not the English studies gap) in middle school. Charter opponents often dismiss charters’ performance as a result of selection effects—if they only select elite or motivated students, of course charters will show good performance.

But Fryer eliminates this criticism with a number of statistical techniques. One of these, for example, is to limit his sample to students who got into the schools by winning an admissions lottery, and comparing them to students who lost the lottery. Sure enough, the schools’ success at closing the achievement gap isn’t due to selection effects—it’s real.

Taken all together, Fryer’s work suggests that educational investments, improved motivation and cultural change have a good shot at closing the stubborn achievement gap between black and white students. That isn’t going to please education reform opponents such as Diane Ravitch, who denigrate charters and pooh-pooh the idea that better education could close the gap. It’s also not going to please a lot of conservatives, who typically oppose funneling more resources into government-funded education.

But Fryer’s message—that the achievement gap isn’t invincible, that it can be slain by better education—is backed up by solid data and sophisticated empirical techniques. Those who deny Fryer’s conclusions will have a very hard time refuting the Clark Medal winner’s research.

If we apply his lessons, we’ll move closer to a future when many more kids can make the transition Roland Fryer made—from disadvantaged background to academic excellence. But even then, few will do it in as spectacular a fashion as Fryer himself. Bloomberg

Liberal Party or anyone else in continuing the unsavory practice of raising campaign funds through corruption in the bureau.

All I’m thankful for is that the reign of this more scheming and dangerous Purisima is coming to an end when the term of the President who appointed him – and who has basically ceded all economic policy to his finance secretary – ends next year.

When the truth finally comes out, I’m certain that Cesar Purisima has done more damage to this country than

Alan Purisima ever did.

(Of course, I’ve also heard that Purisima is, this early, already reaching out to Vice President Jejomar Binay, in a bid to ensure that he retains an important position in case Binay wins. But that’s another story for another time.)

Meanwhile, I wish Purisima would give Senator Pimentel a call to tell him that the Sevilla story is well and truly dead. The poor senator, who is a palace ally, after all, deserves that, at the very least.

By Noah Smith

The... From A9 post do not have it. From Alvarez to Ruffy Biazon to Sevilla, all these commissioners can only get to Aquino if they go through Purisima.

I don’t know if Purisima has made a deal with his old “Hyatt 10” colleague, Lina, that the logistics magnate cannot go directly to the President for his concerns. And because of his standing in the business community, I’m assuming that Lina will not allow himself to be used by Purisima, the

#FAILOCRACY

ADELLE CHUA EDITOR

A11

A twisted... From A9 wanted it. Since 2016 is a crucial election year, one can understand why the Aquino administration wants the INC on its side after it lost the Catholic Church which has been a vocal critic.

Why is it important to appoint someone considered as your man to the law enforcement and security division?

Because that’s how you make money at Customs – when the bureau’s law enforcers look the other way. The fundraising is to ensure the administration candidates win so that culpable officials don’t go to jail when Aquino exits. Sevilla could have stayed, played ball and made some money for himself but did not.

Finance Secretary Purisima who’s really the boss and who calls the shots at Customs heaped the usual platitude of how the resigned Sevilla did a good job at the BOC. But somehow, Purisima confirmed Sevilla’s blaming politics for his resignation when he said: “We live in a democracy and we have to adjust to an imperfect world, but President Aquino’s ‘daang matuwid’ governance will continue and be unwavering.”

Sevilla’s successor is former Customs Commissioner Alberto Lina who owns and operates brokerage firms that deal with the BOC and therefore has a conflict of interest. There will be the customary divestment of company shares, of course, to conform with Aquino’s avowed “daang matuwid.”

LP senatorial slate Liberal Party official Rep. Edgar Erice of Caloocan floated the names of actor Dingdong Dantes, Quezon City Mayor Herbert “Bistek” Bautista and Manila Vice Mayor Ishko Morena as possible LP senatorial candidates together with Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, Presidential Adviser on Food Security and former senator Kiko Panglinan, Metro Manila Development Authority chairman Francis Tolentino, Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo, Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla and Tesda Executive Director Joel Villanueva.

De Lima, Pangilinan, Tolentino and Robredo are certainly qualified for the Senate but what do Bautista and Dantes have aside from their popularity as celebrities? The quality of the Senate is already at an all-time low with the likes of outgoing actor –Senator Lito Lapid and two incumbent neophyte women senators. Do we have to add Dantes and Bautista to sink further the Senate’s reputation?

While everyone has a constitutional right to run for public office, candidates have a moral obligation to ask themselves whether they are qualified or not. They owe the nation that much. Political parties, the LP in this case, must not only look at the “winnability” of their ticket. They should instead offer voters competent candidates who can contribute to passing legislation that can stand the test of time.

CHONG ARDIVILLA

we dn e s day : a p ri l 2 9 , 2 0 1 5

A12

sports sports@thestandard.com.ph

Nets, Bucks stay alive NEW YORK—Brooklyn Nets point guard Deron Williams dazzled with 35 points to lead the eighth seeds to a 120-115 overtime victory over top-seeded Atlanta that knotted their series at two games apiece.

Williams, who totalled only 18 points in the first three games of the series, tied career playoff highs for points and field goals made at 13.

“It feels great to get the win, that’s the most important thing,” Williams said. “This was a team win all the way. We fought and we scrapped. There was never any let up.”

Brook Lopez added 26 points and 10 rebounds, Joe Johnson scored 17 and three other Nets players finished in double digits.

They will try to take the lead in the series when it returns to the Hawks’ home court for game five on Wednesday.

In Chicago, Milwaukee’s Michael Carter-

Williams scored eight of his 22 points in the fourth quarter on Monday as the Bucks again fended off elimination with a 94-88 NBA playoff win over the Chicago Bulls.

Carter-Williams connected on 10 of 15 shots from the floor, handed out nine assists and grabbed eight rebounds for the Bucks, who narrowed the gap in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference first-round series to three-games-to-two.

The young Bucks had stayed alive with a Game 4 victory thanks to a buzzer-beating layup by Jerryd Bayless. Their second straight win over the Bulls was more convincing as Milwaukee led all of the second half. “(The team) worked their tails off and put themselves in position to make this a series,” Bucks coach Jason Kidd said. “No one had us in this position. We just go out and play basketball.”

The Bucks will now try to even the series when they host game six on Thursday. They still face an uphill climb. No team has rallied from an 0-3 deficit to win a playoff series.

In Portland, the Trail Blazers rallied for a 99-92 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies to extend their Western Conference first-round series to a fifth game.

Damian Lillard led the Blazers with 32 points, C.J. McCollum added 18 points and LaMarcus Aldridge added 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Blazers, who denied the Grizzlies a four-game sweep.

Meanwhile, Cleveland big man Kevin Love will miss the second round of the NBA playoffs with a dislocated left shoulder, the Cavaliers said Monday. Love was hurt in the first quarter of Sunday’s first-round series-clinching win over Boston when he tangled with Celtics forward Kelly Olynyk as the two players battled for a loose ball.

Cavaliers’ guard JR Smith was suspended for two games by the NBA on Monday for striking a Boston player in the face in game four of their first-round playoff series.

Smith will miss the first two games of the second round, in which the Cavs will face either Chicago or Milwaukee. AFP

Brook Lopez (right) and Joe Johnson (left) of the Brooklyn Nets reject a shot by Mike Scott of the Atlanta Hawks during Game 4 in the first round of the 2015 NBA Playoffs at Barclays Center in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. The Nets won, 120115, but still trail the Hawks inthe series, 2-3.

AFP

New Philracom Board sets pre-race guidelines THE recently-appointed members of the Philippine Racing Commission, led by its chairman Andrew A. Sanchez, will be strictly implementing pre-race inspection guidelines of horses prior to the start of every racemeet.

The guidelines are expected to reduce the instances of scratching at the gate and jockeys’ refusals to mount at the gate due to perceived problems with the horses.

Philracom, a government agency under the Office of the President, regulates and supervises horseracing. Sanchez was appointed last January along with new fellow commissioners lawyers Ramon S. Bagatsing Jr., Wilfredo A. de Ungria, Jose G. Santillan, and Bienvenido C. Niles Jr., along with reappointees lawyer Victor V. Tantoco and Lyndon Noel B. Guce.

According to Sanchez, “All horses

running for the day, including those participating in the official barrier trials, shall be required to undergo pre-race inspection,” to be conducted by the racing club veterinarian two races or one hour before the race, under the supervision of a Philracom veterinarian.

The horse’s owner, trainer, or authorized representative is required to be present during the inspection; if pre-race inspection is refused, the entry shall be withdrawn from the race.

Other guidelines pertain to the soundness of the horses and suspensions for offenses.

“We aim to protect the betting public,” said Sanchez, “and will continue to further refine processes and systems to ensure the satisfaction of the sport’s aficionados.”

Iligan, Marawi host net tourney MARAWI City in Lanao del Sur and Iligan City in Northern Mindanao played host to back-to-back legs in the 2015 Cebuana Lhuillier Age-Group Tennis Championship series, with familiar names not just lording it over the field, but even emerging double winners in different age groups, led by Ozamiz City bet Lorraine Grace Barrola, who annexed the 16- and 18-under titles and partnered with Carmeville Gervacio to add the girls’ 18-under doubles’ crown to her collection.

Barrola beat her doubles’ partner Gervacio, 6-4, 6-1 in the 16-under finals and took the measure of her foe’s sibling Immaville, 7-6, 7-6, in the 18-under group. She teamed up with Carmeville and they disposed of Immaville and Erlyn Lorraine Penados, 8-3, to emerge as the winningest entry in the Marawi City leg of the series.

The other multi-winners in Group 2 event held at the Mindanao State University Tennis Center were Zamboanga’s Jose Maria Pague, who beat local bet Duma Hakim Boloto, 2-6, 6-0, 10-7, in the boys’ 16-under and defeated Cagayan de Oro’s Clyde Mari Casino, 7-6, 7-5, in the 18-under; 10-under singles and doubles’ champion Nash Agustines, who partnered with his singles finals’ opponent John Christopher Sonsona in the doubles; Marc Nicole Suson from Cebu City, who copped the 14-under boys’ title and a share of the 14-under boys’ doubles with Justin Yepis; and Sydney Ezra Enriquez, winner of the girls’ 12-under and the 14-under doubles with partner Princess Debbie Gom-os.

Boloto and Casino consoled themselves with the 18-under boys’ doubles crown.

Smashing Pumpkins’ Corgan to write wrestling storylines NEW YORK—Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan on Monday was named senior producer of a professional wrestling program and said he would try to push boundaries on cultural issues.

The alternative rock icon will develop characters and write storylines for Impact Wrestling, a weekly television show that airs on the channel Destination America.

Corgan is a lifelong fan of professional wrestling, which employs staged fights for theatrical television programming, and in 2011 founded a promotion company for bouts in his native Chicago.

Corgan

The 48-year-old rocker said that he has frequently had to defend his interest in wrestling to naysayers.

“What they do is really mind-boggling,” he said of professional wrestlers.

“I believe in how it brings such joy to fans and how it really gets into some interesting topics

and storylines and pushes the boundaries of social culture in a way that most businesses are afraid to,” Corgan said in an interview released by Impact Wrestling’s parent company, TNA Entertainment.

Corgan, in a separate interview with entertainment magazine Variety, said that he would “break new ground” in how professional wrestling addresses contemporary issues.

“I think there’s an endless supply of things in our culture where people are dealing with race or with gender, et cetera, and you can get into these things in a way that is both revelatory and enlightening,” he said. AFP

we dn e s day : a p ri l 2 9 , 2 0 1 5

A13

sports sports@thestandard.com.ph

DavNor vows best Palaro ever DAVAO DEL NORTE intends to put its best foot forward both as host and competitor, but also looks further beyond the 2015 Palarong Pambansa by assuring the sustainability of its world-standard sports infrastructure.

“We—Davao del Norte is part of Region 11— finished 11th two years ago and seventh last year in Laguna and as host this time around, we are eyeing to finish in the top three overall,” a jovial Davao del Norte Governor Rodolfo del Rosario said in his first appearance at the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum on Tuesday at Shakey’s Malate.

Although Davao del Norte has already been receiving accolades as the “Best Palaro Ever” because of its remarkable pre-games preparations before the first event is staged on Sunday at the Davao del Norte Sports and Tourism Complex in Tagum City, del Rosario told the forum presented by San Miguel Corp., Accel, Shakey’s and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. that they want to guarantee that the facilities won’t turn into white elephants.

A bill creating the Davao del Norte Sports Academy based at the DNSTC, according to del Rosario who was accompanied in the forum

by Palaro Organizing Committee Secretariat Chairperson Sofonias Gabonada Jr. and Department of Education Assistant Secretary, is already at the Senate for final approval.

“If we are ready to host Palaro, we would also like to be ready to make the province not only as top producer of banana but also as a breeding ground of future national and world champions,” he said.

The 2015 Palaro supported by the Tagum Agricultural Development Company Inc., Damosa Land, Davao Packaging Corp., Davao International Container Terminal, Inc. and Pearl Farm Beach Resort will run through May 9 in the province known as the Banana Capital of the Philippines.

Vitaliano, Macias rule Palawan tilt MILES Vitaliano stamped her class in the 14-and-under play then snared the 16-U crown to emerge the lone double winner in the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala regional age group presented by Technifibre at the College Country Club inside UPLB in Laguna yesterday.

Her confidence boosted by a stint with the national team in Thailand, Macias survived Blanche Lagrisola, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, in the semis then warded off Amanda Zoleta of Lucena CIty, 6-4, 6-2, in the finals to claim the 14-U plum in the five-day Group 2 tournament sponsored by Palawan Pawnshop.

She repeated over Lagrisola, 6-1, 6-0, in the semis then crushed giant-killer Marianne Ferry, 6-1, 6-3, to pocket the 16-U diadem in victories that augured well for one of the country’s fastest rising stars.

“I’ve seen the quality of play abroad when we competed in Thailand. We really need to train and work hard to cope up with level of international play,” said Vitaliano from Quezon City, who also cited Palawan Pawnshop’s annual, nationwide staging of the country’s premier junior circuit.

Jeremiah Macias III flashed top form and took the boys’ 16-U title with a 6-1, 6-1 romp over Stephan Lhuillier but the 15-year-old ace from Perpetual Help fell short of his bid to match Vitaliano’s two-title feat as he bowed to Joel Atienza of QC, 3-6, 3-6, in the 18-U finals.

“Palawan Pawnshop has been true to its commitment in providing our young players a series of ranking tournaments and at the same time help develop the sport where we believe Filipinos can be at par with the best,” said Palawan Pawnshop COO Bobby Castro.

Participants of the Pista’y Dayat Ladies’ Beach Volleyball Tournament in Lingayen Pangasinan link hands at the PSA Forum in Shakey’s, Malate. They are shown with organizer and former Philippine Sports Commissioner Tisha Abundo. LINO SANTOS

Pista’y Dayat spikefest lures top college bets COLLEGIATE standouts Jessa Aranda and Jonafer San Pedro will be among the top spikers seeing action in the 2015 Pista’y Dayat Ladies’ Beach Volleyball Tournament in Lingayen, Pangasinan on April 30 to May 1.

The two spikers from Rizal Technological University are expected to shine when six teams from Metro Manila and six others from the province battle it out for the crown.

“The Pista’y Dayat is a celebration of the harvest from the sea. This (spikefest) is one of the main sports events of the celebration,” said organizer Tisha Abundo during yesterday’s weekly Phil-

ippine Sportswriters Association Forum aired live over DZSR Sports Radio 918 and presented by San Miguel Corporation, Accel, Shakey’s, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation at the Shakey’s Pizza Restaurant in Malate, Manila.

Aranda, a physical education graduate, and San Pedro, technical communications student, have been competing in the tournament’s past four stagings and are tipped to make it to the semifinals.

“Malalakas po ang makakalaban naming sa mga taga-Pangasinan, pero nandiyan din ang mga taga University of the East,” said Aranda.

REPUBLIKA NG PILIPINAS

LUNGSOD NG MAKATI Bids and Awards Committee J.P. Rizal St. corner F. Zobel St., Makati City Tel. No. 870-1000 Fax No. 899-8988 www.makati.gov.ph

INVITATION TO BID NO. NAME OF PROJECT AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION IMPLEMENTING OFFICE

1 2 3 1.

Miss Makati 2015 Production Food Commodities, materials and personal hygiene for Disaster and Relief Assistance Program of Makati Social Welfare Department LED TV for the use of various schools of Dep-Ed Makati

APPROVED BUDGET FOR THE CONTRACT (ABC)

OM

P 2,440,000.00

MSWD

P 2,569,769.51

DEP-ED

P25,188,240.00

The MAKATI CITY GOVERNMENT, through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), invites interested bidders to apply for eligibility and to bid for the above projects, with Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) indicated, inclusive of all taxes, such as, but not limited to, value added tax (VAT), income tax, local taxes and other fiscal levies.

Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at Bid Opening.

2.

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”.

3.

Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least sixty percent (60%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines, and to citizens or organizations of a country the laws or regulations of which grant similar rights or privileges to Filipino citizens, pursuant to RA 5183 and subject to Commonwealth Act 138.

4.

A complete set of Bidding Documents will be available one (1) day after posting / publication of the above projects up to Closing Date (before the deadline of the submission of bids),weekdays only from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. from the address below and upon payment of a non-refundable fee for the Bidding Documents in the amount stated on the issued order of payment to the City Government of Makati Cashier.

5.

The BAC will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on May 05, 2015 (02:00 P.M.) at Pio del Pilar Conference Room, 21st floor, New Makati City Hall Building, F. Zobel Street, Brgy. Poblacion, Makati City to discuss Eligibility Requirements and the Technical and Financial Components of these projects.

However, only those interested Bidders who have purchased the Bidding Documents are allowed to raise and submit queries or clarifications regarding the Bidding Documents.

6.

Deadline of Submission of Bids shall be on or before May 19, 2015 (02:00 P.M.), at Pio del Pilar Conference Room, 21st floor, New Makati City Hall Building, F. Zobel Street, Brgy. Poblacion, Makati City.

Opening of Bids shall be on May 19, 2015 (02:00 P.M.), at Pio del Pilar Conference Room, 21st floor, New Makati City Hall Building, F. Zobel Street, Brgy. Poblacion, Makati City.

7.

8.

Bids will be opened in the presence of the Bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the said address. All Bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18. Late bids shall not be accepted.

The MAKATI CITY GOVERNMENT reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process, to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, or to reduce the corresponding ABC and Terms of Reference (TOR), without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

For further information, please visit or contact:

BAC SECRETARIAT OFFICE Makati City Government 9th Floor, New Makati City Hall Building F. Zobel Street, Brgy.Poblacion, Makati City Tel. No. 870-1000 loc. 1331; Fax No. 899-8988 website: www.makati.gov.ph

Among the participants from Metro Manila are Mapua students Diane Latayan and Daniela Ranilo, and the pair of Alby Cubilla and Shaira Hermano.

Joining the fray are Philippine Christian University-Dasmarinas bets Shiela Mae Nanquil and Mariella Castro, and the duo of Camille Belarmino and Sheena Mae Perez of Colegio de Amore.

University of the East bets Len Cais and Amanda Guevarra, who are seen to be among the top contenders, are also around.

Pangasinense spikers Melanie Carrera and Cassandra Lleda are expected to join.

For fast ad results, please call Advertising Department 8325550 / 8325547 Trunklines 8325554 / 8325556 / 8325558 loc. 209 Republic of the Philippines REGIONAL TRIAL COURT NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION MAKATI CITY BRANCH 136 IN THE MATTER OF THE ADOPTION OF LUCY DOMINIQUE LLAMZON

SP. PROC CASE NO. M-7788 (2015)

SPS. RAYMOND C. DELOS SANTOS and CHERYL L. DE LEON-DELOS SANTOS, Petitioners. x----- --------------------------x ORDER A verified Petition for Adoption was filed in Court on March 24, 2015 by the Sps. Raymond C. Delos Santos and Cheryl L. De Leon Delos Santos. Petitioners desire to adopt 8-year old Lucy Dominique Llamzon “Lucy”, daughter of petitioner Cheryl L. De Leon Delos Santos from a previous relationship without the benefit of marriage. The minor’s biological father, Benjamin P. Llamzon, executed a written consent to this adoption. Even before her marriage to Raymond, Cheryl wanted to make legitimate her parental relationship with her daughter, Lucy. In turn, petitioner Raymond cared for and consistently treated Lucy as if she was his own offspring. From their marriage, petitioners have supported Lucy, raised her as their legitimate child, and paid for her education and living expenses. Petitioners aver that they have undergone pre-adoption services and that this adoption would promote the best interest of the child. They further aver that they have all the qualifications and none of the disqualifications to adopt.

Petitioners pray that judgment be rendered declaring the minor to be their legitimate child and direct the concerned civil registrar to cancel the minors existing birth certificate and issue a new birth certificate, changing the minor’s name Lucy Dominique Llamzon to “Lucy Dominique De Leon De Los Santos.”

The Court finds the Petition to be sufficient in form and substance.

WHEREFORE, notice is hereby given that this case is set for hearing of June 18 and July 23, 2015, both at 9:00 a.m. at this Family Court located at the 12th Floor, Makati City Hall, at which date, time and place, all interested persons may appear and be heard.

The petitioner is required to cause the publication of this Order in a newspaper of general circulation to be determined through raffle, once a week for three (3) successive weeks before the abovescheduled hearing.

The Court Social Worker is DIRECTED to conduct case study and submit a report within 30 days from notice.

SO ORDERED. Makati City, March 30, 2015.

(Sgd.) MS. VISSIA MARIE P. ALDON Chairperson (TS-Apr. 29, 2015)

(Sgd.) RICO SEBASTIAN D. LIWANAG Presiding Judge (TS-Apr. 29, May 6 & 13, 2015)

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SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

MVP, Pacman discuss ring icon’s next fight NINE days before his blockbuster fight with Floyd Mayweather, Jr., the people’s champ and Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao faced off with another Manny from back home—PLDT and Smart Communications chairman and sports patron Manny V. Pangilinan.

In a video call held Friday morning in the Philippines (Thursday evening in the US), the two Mannys discussed the possibility of holding the second Pacquiao-Mayweather fight in the Philippines, and joked about running together for public office.

The Smart chairman made the call to wish Pacquiao luck in his fight.

Smart recently launched the #SugodManny campaign to call on all Filipinos to let the whole world see, hear, and feel their support for the people’s champion.

“When he goes on that ring, let’s make sure he’s not alone. The entire 100 million Filipinos will be there with him, with best wishes and fer-

vent prayers. After all, Manny’s not doing it only for himself, but really for all of us,” Pangilinan said.

During the call, the businessman told Pacquiao, “Nabasa ko sa [diyaryo], sabi mo kung may second fight kayo ni Mayweather, dito [gawin] sa Pinas… We will support that 100 percent.”

Pacquiao then invited Pangilinan to discuss this over dinner once he gets back to the Philippines. The latter joked, “Puwede, basta ikaw ang magbayad.”

“Ako ang magbabayad, walang problema,” Pacquiao said.

The boxer then thanked Pangilinan for Smart’s support for the past several years.

“Maraming salamat sa suporta’t dasal. Matagal na po kayong sumusuporta sa akin. Malaking bagay po sa akin yun.”

Smart has backed Pacquiao for more than 10 years, and even got him as endorser of the value brand Talk ‘N Text in 2008.

Republic of the Philippines Province of Bataan City of Balanga

BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE OFFICE

INVITATION TO BID NO. GOODS-040-2015 The Provincial Government of Bataan, through the Special Education Fund40 intends to apply the below listed project w/ corresponding Approved Budget of the Contract (ABC). Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

Name of Project

Approved Budget of the Contract (ABC)

1. Supply and Delivery of sets of notebook, pencil and ballpen for Elementary & Secondary Students

=P= 24,964,032.72

The Provincial Government of Bataan now invites bids for the above listed Procurement.

Delivery of goods is required on or before the maturity date stipulated on contract. Bidders should have completed, within Ten (10) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section ll. Instructions to Bidders Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using non-discretionary pass/fail criterion as specific in the implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 9184 (RA 9184), otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”.

Bidding is open to all interested bidders, whether local or foreign, subject to the conditions for eligibility provided in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”.

Interested bidders may obtain further information from Office of Bataan Bids & Awards Committee and inspect the Bidding Documents from 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. at the same office.

Bid documents will be available only to eligible bidders upon payment of a non-refundable amount of using standard rates approved by GPPB as stated on their Resolution No. 04-2012 listed below Approved Budget for the Contract

Maximum Cost of Bidding Documents (in Philippine Peso) 500.00 1,000.00 5.000.00 10.000.00 25.000.00 50,000.00 75.000.00

500,000 and below More than 500.000 up to 1 Million More than 1 Million up to 5 Million More than 5 Million up to 10 Million More than 10 Million up to 50 Million More than 50 Million up to 500 Million More than 500 Million

The Provincial Government of Bataan will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on May 5, 2015 at 10:00 A.M. at Provincial BAC Office, PEO Capitol Compound, Balanga City, Bataan, which shall be open only to all interested parties who have purchased the Bidding Documents.

Bids must be delivered on or before May 18, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. At Provincial BAC Office, PEO Capitol Compound, Balanga City, Bataan. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated on IRR of RA 9184 and Bid Securing Declaration in standard form.

Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend opening of Bids at Bataan BAC Office. Late bids shall not be accepted.

In case of the above dates is declared a special Non-Working Holidays, it will automatically reset on the next working days.

Other necessary information deemed relevant by the Provincial Government of Bataan 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Activities Advertisement/Posting of Invitation to Bid Eligibility Check Issuance and availability of Bidding Documents Request for Clarification Opening of Bids

Schedule April 28 – May 4, 2015 Refer to date of Opening of Bids April 28 – May 18, 2015 May 8, 2015 May 8, 2015

The Provincial Government of Bataan reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

For further information, please refer to: Engr. Josephine R. Valenzuela Provincial BAC / PEO Bataan Provincial BAC / PEO Office, Capitol Compound Balanga City, Bataan 047-237-9316 bac@bataan.gov.ph

(TS-Apr. 29, 2015)

(Sgd). ENRICO T. YUZON BAC Chairman

Manny V. Pangilinan and Manny Pacquiao chat via a video call.

Fast Spikers whip Altas, sweep elims PLDT Home Ultera put on a 69-minute demolition of Fourbees-Perpetual Help. 25-20, 25-17, 25-13, to complete a sweep of the single round elims of the Shakey’s VLeague Season 12-Open Conference at The Arena in San Juan City.

Coach Roger Gorayeb used the match to work on new combinations which he could employ when action in the seasonopening conference of the league where it all started heats up after the Asian Women’s U-23 Volley Championship this weekend.

“We want to give equal chance to all my players to see action and I’m impressed with how my second group deliv-

ered,” said Gorayeb.

He was most particular on former San Sebastian ward Laurence Ann Latigay, who delivered nine hits, including two blocks, in a two-set stint to help power the Ultra Fast Spikers to their seventh straight victory in the league sponsored by Shakey’s and presented

by PLDT Home Ultera.

“She’s getting back to her old form and she will be a crucial part in our campaign,” said

Games tomorrow 2 p.m. • Baguio vs Navy 4 p.m. • Coast Guard vs Army

Gorayeb of Latigay.

League scoring leader Alyssa Valdez, who will spearhead the national team in the Asian U-23, still topscored with 13 hits while playing in the opening and third sets while Jaja Santiago, the league’s top blocker who will also see action in the Asian meet, continued to showcase her offensive prowess after a 14-point effort in their five-set escape over Meralco last Sunday, tossing in 10 markers.

Jem Ferrer also shared the setting chores with starter Rubie de Leon, produc-

ing 10 of the team’s 21 excellent sets while Elaine Kasilang and Ma. Asuncion Mendiola provided quality minutes and combined for six hits.

Jamel Suyat fired 10 points for Perpetual, which also drew seven hits from Marijo Medalla and six markers from Shallane Eniong but the Lady Altas fell to 2-4 and in danger of missing the semifinal round of the event backed by Mikasa and Accel.

Meanwhile, the PLDT-Perpetual match will be shown on GMA News TV Channel 11 starting at 1 p.m. today (Wednesday) with the Cagayan-Meralco duel to be aired tomorrow, according to the organizing Sports Vision.

Fil-Am Cray runs century dash in 10.33, breaks national record

By Peter Atencio FIL-AMERICAN bet Eric Cray shattered the national 100-meter dash record in the Bob Cat Invitational in Texas last Saturday in Houston, Texas.

Cray finished fourth with a clocking of 10.33 seconds, surpassing the old mark of 10.45, which Ralph Soguilon established in 2007 in Claremont, California.

The feat will make Cray as one of favorites to win the century dash in the coming Southeast Asian Games this June in Singapore.

“Wasn’t at my best today. Still have work to do.. SEA Games I’ll be ready!! 10.33 today,” said Cray in a message posted on Facebook.

According to results published in the official website, Daniel Bailey took the gold in 10.19 seconds, followed by Walsh Chavaughn in

10.31 seconds. Antoine Adams was third with 10.32.

Statistician Andrew Pirie said Cray’s time eclipsed the winning mark of 10.41 by Jeerapong Minapra of Thailand in the 2013 SEA Games in Myanmar.

Pirie said Cray was supposed to have posted a 10.21-second performance two weeks ago in another El Paso meet for the national record, but his run was wind-aided and thus was not recorded in the official results.

“This is not the case as Eric had false started in the race and then he had ran under Protest/Duress.

While his mark was 10.21 +2.2 on the photo finish, it was not recorded in the official results for this reason,” noted Pirie.

Pirie added that Eric is now focusing his attention to the 400 hurdles where he is aiming to get his

time down to 48.

“He is a contender,” said Philippine Amateur Track and Field Association secretary general Renato Unso.

Aside from Cray, there are two more Fil-Ams who are contenders for the gold in athletics. They are Caleb Stuart in the shot put and discus events and Donovont Arriola in the long jump.

Other gold-medal hopes are pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena, who upset defending SEA Games champion Kreeta Sintawachewa of Thailand last month, Archand Christian Bagsit in the 400 meters, Christopher Ulboc in the 3,000m steeplechase and Eduardo Buenavista in the marathon.

Cray currently holds the 400m hurdles’ title in the SEA Games and he is a reserve in the 4x400m relay squad.

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SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

Oscar’s pal: Pacquiao must last the distance

By Dennis Principe

GOLDEN Boy Promotions executive Eric Gomez said Manny Pacquiao should focus on lasting the distance and not aim for a knockout when he finally squares off with pound-for-pound rival Floyd Mayweather, Jr. this weekend.

Gomez, the vice president for matchmaking of GBP and a close friend of company owner Oscar De La Hoya, said Pacquiao has the ability to outpunch Mayweather and score a convincing victory in their 12-round encounter.

“The key is, Manny cannot get tired. He cannot get tired.

Because Floyd doesn’t throw

that much punches, but he conserves his energy and tries to steal rounds,” said Gomez in a phone interview with The Standard.

“He averages 20 to 30 punches per round. Manny throws 50 per round. If Manny can keep that high energy and he does not get tired and keep that energy for 12 rounds, Manny can beat him,” said Gomez.

Despite his belief that Pacquiao must be cautious when it comes to attacking Mayweather, Gomez still thinks the undefeated American does not have the power to stop the Filipino boxing sensation.

This, according to Gomez, was very evident when Mayweather failed to hurt Marcos Maidana of Argentina in their back-to-back battles last year both won by the man who calls himself “Money”.

“Floyd does not have the power to hurt Manny. What Manny has to do is go in there and swarm and throw punches in bunches and not get tired,” said Gomez “Floyd got hit a lot

by Maidana and Manny is no Maidana and if Maidana can hit

Floyd, you know Manny’s going to land punches.”

One thing going for Pacquiao, added Gomez, is the Filipino boxer’s eagerness and enthusiasm, which has been a trademark that made the multi-division champion a top attraction in the welterweight division.

“You can never measure a fighter’s heart. Floyd’s going to have his hands full. It’s going to be a very interesting fight. My heart is with Manny and I hope he wins,” added Gomez.

Pacquiao and Mayweather are at the tail end of their preparations for their much-awaited welterweight unification fight this Sunday (Manila time) at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Ring icon’s fans to stage rally

By Ronnie Nathanielsz FIGHT fans are expected to gather in huge numbers at the Mandalay Bay Resort Hotel and Casino on Wednesday (Manila time) to stage a rally in support of eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao as a counter to the obvious favoritism accorded unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr. by the MGM Grand, where most areas in the hotel are dominated by the American’s posters and shops selling his merchandise.

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, who has had runins with the MGM Grand executives over their treatment of Pacquiao compared to Mayweather, scrapped the grand arrival entrance that has been a feature of previous Pacquiao fights, because he felt they were not welcome at the MGM Grand.

Instead, the Fighter of the Decade and boxing superhero, who is a personal fa-

Manny Pacquiao’s spiritual adviser Jeric Soriano gives a spiritual talk to members of a cancer support group at a hospital in Manila. Pacquiao is confident he can beat American nemesis Floyd Mayweather with the power of God, after abandoning a life he said packed with sin condemning him to hell. Pacquiao is in top form both in mind and spirit after his traded his boozing, gambling and womanising ways for a devout life of prayer, his spiritual adviser, Soriano, told AFP in a recent Manila interview. AFP

vorite of millions, including Americans, will host a free fan rally celebrating the kickoff of Fight Week for his May 2 welterweight world championship unification battle

against the undefeated Mayweather Jr. at the first floor of the Mandalay Bay beginning at 11 a.m.

Doors will open one hour later to accommodate the huge crowd of fans

expected to arrive at the venue.

Joining Pacquiao will be seven-time Trainer of the Year and Hall of Famer Freddie Roach, Arum, longtine Pac-

quiao adviser Michael Koncz and assistant trainer “Buboy” Fernandez, with Pacquiao’s beloved Jack Russell Terrier and team mascot, adding a different

Asian volley exec expects good PH hosting of U-23

AVC delegates here. Asian Volleyball Confederation Control Committee Chairman Hyung-Bin Yim (second from left) receives a warm welcome as he shakes hands with Larong Volleyball ng Pilipinas, Inc. President Joey Romasanta (right) upon his arrival yesterday in Pasig City. With them are LVPI secretary general Richard Palou (lef) and AVC control committee member Tomas Sta. Maria (third from left).

ASIAN Volleyball Confederation control committee chairman Hyung-Bin Yim yesterday aired his confidence that the Philippines’ management of the 1st Asian U23 Women’s Championship that unwraps this Friday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City would be at par with successful AVC events in the past.

The former executive vice president of the AVC arrived Tuesday morning and was quickly impressed with the local organizers’ staging of the 15th Asian Men’s Club Championship last year.

He said he is looking forward to another spectacular event, especially after the AVC tasked the Larong Volleyball sa Pilipinas, Inc. to manage the conduct of the tournament.

The endeavor also got another boost on Monday after Pasig City Judge Achilles A.A.C. Bulaitan denied an applica-

tion for the issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction against the event.

“I have full trust and confidence on the Filipino organizers. I know they will put up an excellent show,” said Yim, who was welcomed by LVPI president Joey Romasanta and secretary-general Ricky Palou upon his arrival.

The event is being backed by TV5, owned by industrialist Manny V. Pangilinan, who has added volleyball as one of his sporting interests aside from basketball and boxing.

“The Filipinos’ hosting of the Asian Men’s Club Championship last year was excellent. So, I am expecting for an event that could match or could be better than what we had last year.

Hyung-Bin has been with the AVC for the past 30 years and knows what it takes to run a successful tournament.

LOTTO RESULTS

6/49 00-00-00-00-00-00 6/42 00-00-00-00-00-00 6 DIGITS 0-0-0-0-0-0 3 DIGITS 0-0-0 2 EZ2 0-0

P0.0 M+ P0.0 M+

Philracom hands Metro Turf 2-day suspension THE Philippine Racing Commission HE HOARSE WHISPERER (Philracom) suspended the Metro Manila Turf Club (MMTC) for two days, yesterday and today (April 28 and 29) for failing to ensure the airing of their live race coverage last April 23.

The agency’s Resolution No. 19-15 states that “since the racemeet was not aired the same caused dissatisfaction and prejudice to the public which made them loose [sic] their confidence in horseracing.”

Further, “the said incident substantially reduced the sales of the day and eventually affects the revenue of the government.”

Thursday sales at MMTC are said to average P24.2 million, but sales on April 23 reached only P14.96 million.

For their failure to “maintain adequate broadcast coverage and to comply with what is incumbent upon it” under Philracom rules and its franchise Republic Act. No. 7978, MMTC races were suspended for two days and the schedule transferred to Santa Ana Park and San Lazaro Leisure Park.

MMTC was said to have violated Philracom’s PR 3, section U, that requires racing clubs to provide “such other facilities, devices, and instruments required by law or by the Philracom to raise public confidence in the sport,” and RA 7978’s Sec. 4(j) that requires MMTC to maintain “modern telecommunications and broadcasting equipment and facilities” for “receiving and transmitting” data related to the betting system, the actual conduct of horse races, and the announcements of winning numbers and dividends, among other information.

Insiders say that MMTC was unable to renew its airing contract with Sky Cable in time for the April 23 races, although their signal was carried

by Cignal that day. *** The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) Racing Committee will feature up-andcoming 3YO in a special maiden race on May 16 at the Manila Jockey Club’s San Lazaro Leisure Park.

Eight horses have been declared to run over 1,400 meters, fillies to carry 53 kgs and colts 54.5 kgs.

The fillies are: Jeci Lapus’s Knights Queen, to be ridden by jockey PR Dilema; Ramon Ocampo’s Miss Dainty paired with JB Hernandez; Melanie Habla’s Golden Cup with JA Guce; Divina Dy’s Divine Degrace with LF de Jesus; lawyer Narciso Morales’s Sierra Lanes with LD Balboa; and Wilbert Tan’s El Nido Island with FM Raquel Jr. The colts are Mandaluyong City Mayor Benhur Abalos’s Caravaggio with KB Abobo, and John Ericson Avelino’s Erik the Viking with JV Ponce.

The trial race will be held at SLLP on Thursday, April 30, before regular races are run, along with the barrier trials. This is a departure from PCSO’s decades-old practice of holding trial races on non-raceday mornings , sans spectators and racing officials.

Holding the PCSO trial races just before regular races will let racing fans view the trials live, with the benefit of having stewards on hand to apply club rules should any questions occur regarding the conduct of the trial race that are not covered by PCSO racing rules. *** May 2 features two massive sporting events, the 141st Kentucky Derby and the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight.

In the latter event, I’m going with Manny, win or lose. National pride aside, I believe he’s in great shape, he’s highly motivated, and wants this win bad enough.

The $2 million Derby, a challenging 1-1/4 mile (2,000 meters) race, will feature 20 horses. American Pharaoh scored a blistering five furlong (1,000 meters) workout of :58.40. Dortmund is undefeated.

Both are likely to be the top choices.

Here’s one for the money, though, given that the Fight of the Century is on the same day – Itsaknockout. He ranks 11th among the horses qualified for the Derby, and would make an interesting longshot bet. *** Facebook: Gogirl Racing, Twitter: @gogirlracing, Blog: http://jennyo.net JENNY ORTUOSTE

T

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RIERA U. MALL ARI EDITOR

REUEL VIDAL A S S I S TA N T E D I T O R

sports@thestandard.com.ph

SPORTS

San Andres scores twin-kill Kawasaki JBS’ top rider Kenneth San Andres (center) negotiates a sharp turn at the Speedworld en route to another Pro Open victory.

TNT, Rain face off for all the marbles

By Jeric Lopez

THE balloons and confetti will finally fall down for sure, but who will celebrate the party?

Today, the only thing that matters for Rain or Shine and Talk ‘N Text is winning Game 7 as they battle one last time for the 2015 Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup. With six games clearly not enough to determine a champion as they ended up tied at 3-3, the Elasto Painters and the Tropang Texters go at it again with everything on the line in Game 7 of their best-of-seven title clash at 7 p.m. today at the Smart Araneta Coliseum with the victor set to enjoy coronation.

‘’This is Game 7. It’s for all the marbles now,’’ said Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao, who is eyeing his seventh PBA title. ‘’We should be fresher here in Game 7. We really want this.’’ ‘’It all boils down to one game now. It’s winner-take-all,’’ said Talk ‘N Text coach Jong Uichico, who shoots for his ninth crown as a PBA coach and his first as Texters’ tactician.

Facing elimination, Rain or Shine stepped up to the plate in Game 6 to allow itself to not only live to fight another day, but to

Nets, Bucks stay alive TURN TO A12

fight for the championship.

The Elasto Painters forced this decider by virtue of a 101-93 drubbing of the Tropang Texters last Sunday in yet another hardfought encounter. ‘’Hindi pwedeng puro si Paul (Lee) at Wayne (Chism) lang ang gagawa sa amin. Sinasabi ni coach lagi sa amin, kailangan lahat talaga mag step-up para makuha namin,’’ said Rain or Shine big man Raymond Almazan, who has been very instrumental for the Painters this conference. ‘’Kailangan talaga magtulungtulong na kami dito. Kailangan talaga lahat magpakita para manalo kami at mag-champion,’’ said Talk ‘N Text star Ranidel De Ocampo, who has been

Game Today

(Game 7 - Smart Araneta Coliseum) 7 p.m. - Talk ‘N Text vs. Rain or Shine

spectacular the entire series.

Rain or Shine is hoping that it can finally get over the hump and land its second championship as a franchise, something it failed to do in its two trips to the finals last season in the Philippine and Governors’ Cup. For Talk ‘N Text, it is aiming for its first title in two years.

Its last reign came way back in the 2013 Philippine Cup, where it won its third straight AllFilipino plum under then coach Norman Black. Incidentally, that was against the Elasto Painters.

The Texters are looking to do the same here.

Spikefest lures top college players TURN TO A13

KAWASAKI JBS Motocross Team’s Kenneth San Andres stamped his class once again in the fourth leg of the 2015 NAMSSA National Motocross Development Program recently, sweeping both the Pro Open and Pro 125 events at the Speedworld MX Circuit, SM Bicutan.

San Andres quashed the challenge of Bornok Mangonson and Jerrick Mitra in the Pro 125 (MX2), before repeating the trick Chris Ramiento and Mitra in the premier Pro Open (MX1) of the series held under the auspices of the National Motorcycle Sports and Safety Association.

“It was necessary to go all out in the two motos in order to keep keep my rivals at bay. They are improving by leaps and bounds and one careless move could lead to a loss,” said San Andres. “Against these veteran and up-and-coming riders, I can’t be complacent as one wrong move on my part will allow them to strike and overtake me.”

San Andres, an awardee of the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) last year and is the reigning NAMSSA Rider of the Year, is also coming off a sweep of both the Pro Open and Pro 125 categories of the national series’ third leg.

The Valenzuela native is backed

by Kawasaki Phils., Motul, Oakley, Troylee Design, GoPro, Fox Racing, Leatt Neck Brace, Pro Taper, Bell Helmet, Bridgestone Tires, Polisport, Foilacar Industries, Kia Global, Laus Auto Group, R33 Car Exchange, Xotics Carwash, Halrey, GCG Pipe, JBS Motorcycle Parts, JM Stickers and GM Mark Lapid.

“The ultimate dream is of course win the Asian title in the future,” said San Andres, who placed second runner-up in the Asian series last year. “The important thing is you always give yourself an opportunity to win it all, by keeping a winning habit in the local series,” he said.

WEDNESDAY: APRIL 29, 2015

RAY S. EÑANO EDITOR

RODERICK T. DELA CRUZ ASSISTANT EDITOR

business@thestandardtoday.com.ph extrastory2000@gmail.com

PSe c omPoSite

BUSINESS

index

Closing April 28, 2015

8500 8000 7500 7000 6500 6000

B1

7,886.57 71.50

PeSo-dollar rate

Closing APRIL 28, 2015 46

P44.260

45

CLOSE

44 43 42

HIGH P44.225 LOW P44.275 AVERAGE P44.259 VOLUME 379.900M

P500.00-P650.00 LPG/11-kg tank P38.95-P44.55 Unleaded Gasoline P27.70-P31.00 Diesel

o

il P PriceS today

P32.40-P40.40 Kerosene P23.70-P24.40 Auto LPG Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Tuesday, April 28, 2015

F o r e i g n e x c h a n g e r at e Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

44.2480

Japan

Yen

0.008398

0.3716

UK

Pound

1.523200

67.3986

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.129037

5.7096

Switzerland

Franc

1.046901

46.3233

Canada

Dollar

0.827130

36.5988

Singapore

Dollar

0.753182

Australia

Dollar

0.785793

34.7698

Bahrain

Dinar

2.652450

117.3656

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266660

33.3268

11.7992

Brunei

Dollar

0.750356

33.2018

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000077

0.0034

Thailand

Baht

0.030600

1.3540

UAE

Dirham

0.272279

12.0478

Euro

Euro

1.088800

48.1772

Korea

Won

0.000933

0.0413

China

Yuan

0.160756

7.1131

India

Rupee

0.015788

0.6986

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.280466

12.4101

New Zealand

Dollar

0.763709

Taiwan

Dollar

0.032827

33.7926 1.4525 Source: PDS Bridge

Security Bank’s thrust.

Security Bank Corp., one of the country’s largest lenders, plans to strengthen retail banking business to ensure growth over the next five years. Shown presiding the bank’s annual stockholders’ meeting in Makati City are (from left) newly-elected chairman Alberto Villarosa, chairman emeritus Frederick Dy and newly-appointed president and chief executive Alfonso Salcedo. See related story on B5.

TEDDY PELAEZ

February imports jumped 11% IMPORTS rebounded 11.2 percent year-onyear in February, after shrinking 12.4 percent in January, on the back of higher shipments of electronics, the Philippine Statistics Authority said Tuesday.

The National Economic and Development Authority said merchandise imports amounted to $5.326 billion in February, up

from $4.79 billion a year ago.

They were also higher than $5.219 billion registered in January.

Data showed shipments of

capital goods grew 21.5 percent; raw materials and intermediate goods, 16.7 percent; and consumer goods, 12.2 percent.

Petroleum imports declined 18.7 percent.

Shipments of electronic products surged 42.4 percent in February to $1.854 billion from $1.302 billion a year earlier.

“This good performance

suggests robust economic activity in construction and manufacturing and is likely reflective of upbeat domestic demand particularly in private consumption and investments.

We expect this to remain favorable over the near term,” said Neda deputy director-general Rolando Tungpalan.

“If a similar trend in

Maynilad not a public utility—Pangilinan

By Anna Leah E. Gonzales WEST zone concessionaire Maynilad Water Services Inc. chairman Manuel Pangilinan said Tuesday the company is a contractor, and not a public utility.

Pangilinan made the statement as the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System continued to defer the implementation of an arbitral award and ordered concessionaires to stop passing on the corporate income tax to customers.

The appeals panel of an international arbitration court handling the case of Maynilad earlier upheld the company’s rate rebasing adjustment, which called for an increase in the basic charge by an average of P3.06 per cubic meter from the current basic rate.

The appeals panel also allowed the

B3

ICTSI drops Okinawa terminal

company to pass on the corporate income tax to consumers.

The MWSS, however, decided to partially implement the arbitral award and prevented the company from passing on the corporate income tax to consumers.

“What agreement do we have with the government? It is a concession agreement.

We do not own the assets. We are simply contractors to the assets owned by the government,” Pangilinan said.

“I think it has been explained to full measures during the arbitration proceedings that we are not a utility. That’s even in the heading, that we’re a concession,” Pangilinan said.

Pangilinan said a lot of the money was being spent for the improvement of water services in the west zone. “We are simply a contractor.

B4

The form of the two water concessions is not a franchise like Meralco,” Pangilinan said.

“If you’re a franchise holder like Meralco and PLDT, you own the assets subject to regulation and since you are a franchise utility, you have to pay your taxes. But your average discount rate is pretaxed. Any businessman will include all of the expenses,” he said.

Pangilinan said the government should implement the water rates adjustments.

“We incur more debt every year from the costs of water and sewer improvement programs which we are mandated by law to do,” Pangilinan said.

“The concessionaires should improve their sewerage programs. We are open to do that but you have to uphold the rates because where will we get the money?” Pangilinan asked.

Roxas takes over San Carlos

B6

importation for the succeeding month continues, it will secure government’s expectation of a strong GDP growth for the year,” Tungpalan said.

Total imports in the first two months fell 1.8 percent to $10.545 billion from $10.743 billion a year ago, pulled down by the sharp contraction in January.

The country incurred a trade deficit of $812.77 million in February, higher than the $130.93-million deficit a year ago.

Tungpalan said the current oil price trend should be seen as favorable and a good opportunity for businesses to expand investments.

“The persistent low oil price will further boost importation of petroleum crude and other mineral fuels for the succeeding period, which bodes well for the industry sector,” he said.

The Philippines bucked the downtrend of imports in most Asian economies, according to Tungpalan.

China remained the country’s top source of imported goods, followed by United States, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan Germany, Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia.

EIB, Arthaland officers sued

WEDNESDAY: APRIL 29, 2015

B2

BUSINESS business@thestandard.com.ph extrastory2000@gmail.com

MST BuSineSS Daily STockS Review Tuesday, april 28, 2015

52 Weeks

Previous

High Low

STOCKS

7.88 75.3 124.4 104 63 2.49 4.2 4 18.48 31.6 9.5 890 1.01 99.4 30.5 75 94.95 137 361.2 59 174.8 1700 127.9 3.26

2.5 66 84.6 84.5 45.8 1.97 2.03 8.7 12.02 23.55 6.3 625 0.225 78 18.02 58 76.5 95 276 45 107.6 1200 66 2.65

AG Finance Asia United Bank Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. Bank of PI China Bank BDO Leasing & Fin. INc. Bright Kindle Resources Citystate Savings COL Financial Eastwest Bank Filipino Fund Inc. Manulife Fin. Corp.

MEDCO Holdings Metrobank PB Bank Phil Bank of Comm Phil. National Bank Phil. Savings Bank PSE Inc. RCBC `A’ Security Bank Sun Life Financial Union Bank Vantage Equities

8.03 71 115.50 103.80 45.9 2.52 2.09 9.3 15.04 22.15 7.97 787.00 0.495 96.3 18.20 30.65 77.20 92 318.2 46.8 166.4 1410.00 66.90 3.04

35.6 1.6 1.04 1.41 7.92 14.6 62.5 10.08 29.15

1.04 10.72 8.44 9.79 5.43 9.54 1.06 8.61 18.06 67.9 14 0.0076 3.12 0.395 168 8.65 34.1 2.3 1.63 16 24.4 16.2 7.62 250.2 3.37 3.87 9 3.7 9.94 3.03 2.22 1 4.72 1.65 201.6 4.1 1.67 0.122 2.01 143.4 0.670 9.01 1.39

Aboitiz Power Corp.

Agrinurture Inc. Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. Alsons Cons.

Asiabest Group Century Food Chemphil Cirtek Holdings (Chips) Concepcion Crown Asia Da Vinci Capital Del Monte DNL Industries Inc. Emperador Energy Devt. Corp. (EDC) EEI Euro-Med Lab Federal Res. Inv. Group First Gen Corp.

First Holdings ‘A’ Ginebra San Miguel Inc. Greenergy Integ. Micro-Electronics Ionics Inc Jollibee Foods Corp.

Lafarge Rep Liberty Flour LMG Chemicals Mabuhay Vinyl Macay Holdings Manila Water Co. Inc. Maxs Group Megawide Mla. Elect. Co `A’ Panasonic Mfg Phil. Corp.

Pepsi-Cola Products Phil.

Petron Corporation Phil H2O Phinma Corporation Phoenix Petroleum Phils.

Phoenix Semiconductor Pryce Corp. `A’ RFM Corporation Roxas and Co. San Miguel’Pure Foods `B’ SPC Power Corp.

Splash Corporation Swift Foods, Inc. Trans-Asia Oil Universal Robina Vitarich Corp.

Vivant Corp.

Vulcan Ind’l.

43.4 1.55 1.09 2.06 11.28 19.38 170 29 63.5 2.11 1.81 13.98 20.850 11.44 8.15 9.60 1.9 15.8 28.4 94 14.50 0.4400 6.25 0.610 208.00 10.08 36.40 2.67 2.55 53.00 24.75 27.05 8.000 265.00 3.90 4.1 9.80 4.4 11.50 3.93 2.40 2.61 5.09 1.85 196 4 1.78 0.172 2.19 219 0.66 21.00 1.42

0.7 59.2 31.85 2.16 7.39 2.27 3.4 3.35 800 11.06 84 3.68 5.14 0.66 1380 6.68 72.6 8.9 9.25 0.9 18.9 0.73 5.53 6.55 0.0670 0.84 87 934 2.2 156 0.710 0.435 0.510

0.45 48.1 20.85 1.6 6.62 1.210 1.4 1.6 600 7.390 14.18 1.15 4.25 0.144 818 5.3 46.6 4.96 4.43 0.59 12 0.580 4.22 4.5 0.036 0.450 66.7 709.5 1.13 85.2 0.200 0.173 0.310

Abacus Cons. `A’ Aboitiz Equity Alliance Global Inc. Anglo Holdings A Anscor `A’ Asia Amalgamated A ATN Holdings A ATN Holdings B Ayala Corp `A’ Cosco Capital DMCI Holdings F&J Prince ‘B’ Filinvest Dev. Corp.

Forum Pacific GT Capital House of Inv. JG Summit Holdings Jolliville Holdings Lopez Holdings Corp.

Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp.

LT Group Mabuhay Holdings `A’ Metro Pacific Inv. Corp.

Minerales Industrias Corp.

Pacifica `A’ Prime Orion San Miguel Corp `A’ SM Investments Inc. Solid Group Inc. Top Frontier Unioil Res. & Hldgs Wellex Industries Zeus Holdings

0.470 58.00 26.85 1.35 7.14 1.62 0.275 0.27 800 8.3 14.60 3.83 4.40 0.295 1340 6.12 72.40 5.25 8.79 0.76 15.32 0.66 4.71 5.09 0.0390 0.970 67.60 937.00 1.20 99.30 0.3900 0.2180 0.320

10.5 1.99 2.07 0.375 40 6.15 5.4

6.01 0.91 1.29 0.192 29.1 4.1 4.96

8990 HLDG A. Brown Co., Inc. Araneta Prop `A’ Arthaland Corp.

Ayala Land `B’ Belle Corp. `A’ Cebu Holdings

8.700 0.84 1.290 0.255 39.70 4.12 5.25

47 5 1.66 2.36 15.3 20.6 125 32 65.8 4.57 23.35 21.6 12.98 9.13 12.34 2.89 17 31.8 109 20.75 0.820 9.4 0.98 241 12.5 79 3.95 4 45.45 33.9 90 13.98 292.4 5 5.25 13.04 6.8 14.5 7.03 3.4 4.5 6.68 7.86 253 5.5 3.28 0.315 2.68 226.6 1.3 26 2.17

Close

High

Low

FINANCIAL 8.2 7.79 71 70.5 115.60 110.90 105.00 102.00 45.9 45.75 2.52 2.51 2.09 2.04 9.42 9.42 15.76 14.98 22.35 22 7.88 7.38 787.00 785.00 0.495 0.470 97 94.05 18.20 18.20 30.75 30.65 77.95 77.20 92.5 92.05 318.2 316.4 46.85 46.5 167.4 165.7 1410.00 1410.00 66.90 66.00 3.05 3.05 INDUSTRIAL 43.3 42.85 1.55 1.55 1.09 1.06 2.07 2.04 11.9 11.32 19.38 19.02 170 169 29.75 28 63.7 63 2.97 2.3 1.83 1.81 13.98 13.52 21.350 20.5 11.56 11.44 8.17 8.10 9.94 9.80 1.9 1.86 16.7 15.4 28.5 27.8 94.3 93.85 14.50 14.30 0.4400 0.4250 6.25 6.13 0.590 0.590 208.00 200.40 10.12 10 32.55 32.05 2.68 2.6 2.52 2.51 54.30 54.10 24.85 23.75 28.5 26.45 8.150 7.990 267.00 263.80 4.00 3.92 4.26 4.12 9.80 9.60 4.01 4 11.80 11.50 3.99 3.92 2.40 2.37 2.69 2.48 5.14 5.09 1.95 1.86 200 197 4.55 4.16 1.8 1.74 0.171 0.167 2.23 2.20 218.4 214.4 0.66 0.64 20.90 20.85 1.41 1.41 HOLDING FIRMS 0.470 0.470 58.30 58.00 26.95 26.45 1.30 1.30 7.25 7.10 1.61 1.60 0.290 0.265 0.29 0.27 800 795 8.3 8.15 14.88 14.62 3.81 3.31 4.45 4.40 0.295 0.285 1327 1290 6.12 6.12 72.70 72.15 5.91 4.8 8.88 8.7 0.79 0.76 15.32 15.2 0.66 0.66 4.7 4.66 5.05 5 0.0400 0.0390 1.040 0.970 68.50 67.50 938.00 908.00 1.20 1.17 100.00 99.30 0.3900 0.3850 0.2290 0.2140 0.315 0.315 PROPERTY 9.050 8.610 0.85 0.81 1.290 1.280 0.250 0.245 39.75 39.10 4.13 4.08 5.26 5.25

Close

%

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

8.17 70.95 112.00 102.90 45.8 2.52 2.08 9.42 15.3 22 7.51 787.00 0.480 94.75 18.20 30.65 77.90 92.05 316.6 46.65 166.2 1410.00 66.25 3.05

1.74 -0.07 -3.03 -0.87 -0.22 0.00 -0.48 1.29 1.73 -0.68 -5.77 0.00 -3.03 -1.61 0.00 0.00 0.91 0.05 -0.50 -0.32 -0.12 0.00 -0.97 0.33

41,100 7,770 5,961,290 1,743,320 96,900 20,000 52,000 500 7,500 428,300 42,900 1,300 1,260,000 8,134,360 23,600 10,200 500,710 5,760 2,570 108,000 592,380 10 12,820 27,000

43.15 1.55 1.08 2.05 11.36 19.1 169 28.9 63 2.82 1.82 13.52 20.800 11.56 8.14 9.88 1.86 15.98 28.15 93.95 14.30 0.4250 6.24 0.590 203.00 10.1 32.55 2.68 2.52 54.10 24.85 27.5 8.000 263.80 3.92 4.26 9.64 4.01 11.80 3.95 2.38 2.5 5.10 1.89 197 4.5 1.78 0.171 2.20 216.4 0.64 20.85 1.41

-0.58 0.00 -0.92 -0.49 0.71 -1.44 -0.59 -0.34 -0.79 33.65 0.55 -3.29 -0.24 1.05 -0.12 2.92 -2.11 1.14 -0.88 -0.05 -1.38 -3.41 -0.16 -3.28 -2.40 0.20 -10.58 0.37 -1.18 2.08 0.40 1.66 0.00 -0.45 0.51 3.90 -1.63 -8.86 2.61 0.51 -0.83 -4.21 0.20 2.16 0.51 12.50 0.00 -0.58 0.46 -1.19 -3.03 -0.71 -0.70

3,635,300 10,000 8,801,000 1,215,000 9,800 42,100 1,050 258,200 17,590 137,782,000 289,000 174,200 10,271,100 410,000 30,783,000 211,700 58,000 252,100 2,693,200 104,860 20,300 340,000 105,000 54,000 3,822,390 242,900 500 22,000 12,000 1,400 3,069,000 1,525,800 89,600 395,850 57,000 20,235,000 2,756,700 9,000 6,300 335,000 921,000 1,834,000 219,100 42,000 860 109,000 635,000 330,000 303,000 2,073,960 727,000 500 55,000

0.470 58.05 26.75 1.30 7.24 1.60 0.280 0.29 800 8.15 14.70 3.79 4.45 0.295 1296 6.12 72.30 4.8 8.7 0.77 15.26 0.66 4.67 5 0.0390 1.040 67.70 924.50 1.17 100.00 0.3850 0.2200 0.315

0.00 0.09 -0.37 -3.70 1.40 -1.23 1.82 5.56 0.00 -1.81 0.68 -1.04 1.14 0.00 -3.28 0.00 -0.14 -8.57 -1.02 1.32 -0.39 0.00 -0.85 -1.77 0.00 7.22 0.15 -1.33 -2.50 0.70 -1.28 0.92 -1.56

50,000 1,057,500 4,496,300 19,000 179,500 43,000 2,470,000 760,000 577,450 1,239,000 4,560,100 21,000 7,000 470,000 257,640 20,000 2,220,230 4,400 4,916,600 973,000 1,723,500 24,000 19,446,000 12,000 2,500,000 3,657,000 229,630 408,570 51,000 4,640 3,020,000 1,440,000 180,000

8.850 0.84 1.280 0.248 39.50 4.11 5.2

1.72 0.00 -0.78 -2.75 -0.50 -0.24 -0.95

847,300 596,000 20,000 1,220,000 7,862,300 1,015,000 115,500

393,955.00 -189,012,915.00 33,805,597.00 229,000.00 -103,300.00

1,022,160.00 48,500.00 -94,206,166.00

52 Weeks

Previous

High Low

STOCKS

Close

5.6 1.54 1.97 1.48 0.201 0.98 1.09 0.305 2.25 1.87 1.8 4.88 0.180 0.470 0.72 8.54 31.8 2.29 3.6 20.6 1.02 7.56 1.96 8.59

2.8 0.89 1.1 0.97 0.083 0.445 0.85 0.188 1.4 1.42 1.19 2.75 0.090 0.325 0.39 2.57 21.35 1.64 3.08 15.08 0.69 3.38 1 5.69

Cebu Prop. `A’ Century Property City & Land Dev. Cityland Dev. `A’ Crown Equities Inc. Cyber Bay Corp.

Empire East Land Ever Gotesco Global-Estate Filinvest Land,Inc. Interport `A’ Megaworld Corp.

MRC Allied Ind. Phil. Estates Corp.

Phil. Realty `A’ Primex Corp.

Robinson’s Land `B’ Rockwell Shang Properties Inc. SM Prime Holdings Sta. Lucia Land Inc. Starmalls Suntrust Home Dev. Inc. Vista Land & Lifescapes

10.5 66 1.44 1.09 15.82 0.1460 4.61 99.1 2.6 9 1700 2090 8.41 1.97 119.5 7 12.5 0.017 0.8200 2.2800 12.28 2.85 2.2 3.2 5.9 1.97 2.46 15.2 0.62 1.040 22.8 6.41 110.2 14 3486 0.710 2.28 48.5 90.1 11.6 0.87 10.2 0.490 1.6

1.97 32.5 1 0.6 9.61 0.0770 2.95 46.55 1.6 5.88 830 1600 5.95 1.36 105 3.01 8.72 0.012 0.036 1.200 6.5 1.69 1.1 2 1.05 0.490 1.8 8.7 0.34 0.37 14.54 3 79 4.39 2726 0.380 0.32 31.45 60.55 7.59 0.63 6.45 0.305 1.04

2GO Group’ ABS-CBN Acesite Hotel APC Group, Inc. Bloomberry Boulevard Holdings Calata Corp.

Cebu Air Inc. (5J) Discovery World DFNN Inc. FEUI Globe Telecom GMA Network Inc. Harbor Star I.C.T.S.I. Imperial Res. `A’ IPeople Inc. `A’ IP E-Game Ventures Inc. Island Info ISM Communications Leisure & Resorts Liberty Telecom Lorenzo Shipping Macroasia Corp.

Manila Broadcasting Manila Bulletin Manila Jockey Melco Crown MG Holdings NOW Corp.

Pacific Online Sys. Corp.

PAL Holdings Inc. Phil. Seven Corp.

Philweb.Com Inc. PLDT Common PremiereHorizon Premium Leisure Puregold Robinsons RTL SSI Group STI Holdings Travellers Waterfront Phils.

Yehey

0.0098 5.45 17.24 25 1.2 1.73 10.98 4.2 0.48 0.455 0.475 0.023 0.026 8.2 49.2 4.27 1.030 3.06 0.020 0.021 7.67 12.88 10.42 0.040 420 9 0.016

0.0043 1.72 8.65 9.43 0.61 0.78 5.99 1.08 0.330 0.2130 0.2160 0.014 0.014 3.660 20.2 2.11 0.365 1.54 0.012 0.013 5.4 7.26 2.27 0.015 115.9 3.67 0.0100

Abra Mining Apex `A’ Atlas Cons. `A’ Atok-Big Wedge `A’ Century Peak Metals Hldgs Coal Asia Dizon Ferronickel Geograce Res. Phil. Inc. Lepanto `A’ Lepanto `B’ Manila Mining `A’ Manila Mining `B’ Marcventures Hldgs., Inc. Nickelasia Nihao Mineral Resources Omico Oriental Peninsula Res. Oriental Pet. `A’ Oriental Pet. `B’ Petroenergy Res. Corp.

Philex `A’ PhilexPetroleum Philodrill Corp. `A’ Semirara Corp.

TA Petroleum United Paragon

70 553 525 120 515 8.21 12.28 111 1060 1047 76.9 78.95 84.8

33 490 500 101.5 480 5.88 6.5 101 997 1011 74.2 74.5 75

ABS-CBN Holdings Corp.

Ayala Corp. Pref `B1’ Ayala Corp. Pref ‘B2’ First Gen G GLOBE PREF P GMA Holdings Inc. Leisure and Resort MWIDE PREF PCOR-Preferred A PF Pref 2 SMC Preferred A SMC Preferred B SMC Preferred C

6.98

0.8900 LR Warrant

10.96 15 88 12.88

2.4 3.5 13.5 5.95

130.7

105.6 First Metro ETF

High

Low

Close

6.49 0.93 1.21 1.02 0.156 0.465 0.880 0.182 1.39 1.86 1.38 5.38 0.125 0.3350 0.5400 7.09 29.90 1.76 3.24 20.15 0.77 7.24 1.010 7.680

%

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

6 6 6 0.93 0.92 0.93 1.22 1.21 1.22 1.02 1.02 1.02 0.150 0.154 0.155 0.460 0.450 0.460 0.880 0.880 0.880 0.197 0.183 0.197 1.40 1.38 1.39 1.86 1.83 1.85 1.43 1.38 1.43 5.45 5.31 5.33 0.123 0.123 0.123 0.3450 0.3300 0.3400 0.5300 0.5300 0.5300 7.02 7 7 30.10 29.30 29.90 1.76 1.76 1.76 3.24 3.22 3.24 20.20 19.40 19.40 0.78 0.76 0.78 7.18 6.91 7.17 1.020 1.010 1.020 7.800 7.580 7.610 SERVICES 6.75 6.67 6.49 6.5 61.3 61.5 60.8 61.3 1.09 1.1 1.07 1.07 0.690 0.690 0.680 0.690 11.36 11.70 11.36 11.70 0.1050 0.1080 0.1040 0.1050 4.85 4.92 4.8 4.92 84 85.95 84.5 85.55 1.7 1.88 1.8 1.8 7.13 7.26 7.13 7.16 910 1000 925 925 2320 2340 2230 2230 6.18 6.30 6.10 6.15 1.45 1.49 1.42 1.45 111.4 111.5 102.6 111.2 7.90 7.52 6.54 7.52 11.9 12.42 11.34 12 0.014 0.013 0.013 0.013 0.265 0.260 0.240 0.246 1.2500 1.3000 1.2500 1.2600 8.95 9.32 8.97 9.20 2.00 2.01 2.01 2.01 1.29 1.28 1.28 1.28 2.17 2.20 2.08 2.18 4.00 6.00 4.50 6.00 0.670 0.680 0.670 0.670 2 2 2 2 9 9.05 8.91 8.93 0.370 0.370 0.360 0.360 0.450 0.480 0.480 0.480 18.4 18.4 18.4 18.4 4.50 4.50 4.42 4.49 110.00 110.00 110.00 110.00 14.70 14.70 14.60 14.70 2904.00 2928.00 2898.00 2928.00 0.620 0.630 0.610 0.620 1.550 1.560 1.530 1.550 40.50 40.85 40.20 40.60 87.30 88.50 87.20 87.40 10.60 10.64 10.52 10.60 0.68 0.68 0.66 0.66 6.9 6.88 6.52 6.52 0.340 0.350 0.335 0.350 1.440 1.360 1.290 1.360 MINING & OIL 0.0056 0.0055 0.0053 0.0053 2.65 2.72 2.62 2.62 8.10 8.18 8.05 8.10 15.98 16.40 15.96 15.96 1.04 1.05 1.01 1.05 0.89 0.9 0.88 0.88 7.95 8.33 7.91 7.93 2 2.03 1.95 2.02 0.370 0.375 0.360 0.370 0.233 0.233 0.230 0.233 0.243 0.242 0.235 0.242 0.0150 0.0140 0.0140 0.0140 0.0150 0.0150 0.0150 0.0150 4.48 4.5 4.4 4.43 23 24.5 22.8 24.1 3.83 3.91 3.79 3.86 0.7200 0.7200 0.7100 0.7100 2.120 2.100 2.090 2.090 0.0120 0.0130 0.0120 0.0130 0.0130 0.0130 0.0130 0.0130 4.75 4.80 4.68 4.70 7 7.01 6.86 6.89 1.95 1.99 1.94 1.94 0.015 0.016 0.015 0.015 168.40 168.90 168.00 168.00 4.4 4.4 4.2 4.21 0.0100 0.0110 0.0100 0.0100 PREFERRED 61.4 61.6 61.5 61.5 515 510.5 510.5 510.5 522 522 520 520 120 120 120 120 510.5 515 511 515 6.1 6.1 6.1 6.1 1.08 1.09 1.08 1.09 111 113 111 113 1160 1160 1067 1150 1048 1045 1043 1045 76.1 76.1 75.9 75.9 83 83 83 83 86 86 86 86 WARRANTS & BONDS 3.900 4.170 3.950 4.000 SME 9.55 9.59 9.21 9.4 8 8.38 8 8 74.85 74.85 74.8 74.85 9.1 9.1 8.87 9.08 EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 129.3 129.6 128 128.1

-7.55 0.00 0.83 0.00 -0.64 -1.08 0.00 8.24 0.00 -0.54 3.62 -0.93 -1.60 1.49 -1.85 -1.27 0.00 0.00 0.00 -3.72 1.30 -0.97 0.99 -0.91

500 1,178,000 31,000 33,000 2,670,000 500,000 203,000 410,000 989,000 7,789,000 3,000 31,580,000 150,000 640,000 2,000 118,800 3,851,400 131,000 4,000 13,620,100 468,000 111,200 152,000 10,748,800

-3.70 0.00 -1.83 0.00 2.99 0.00 1.44 1.85 5.88 0.42 1.65 -3.88 -0.49 0.00 -0.18 -4.81 0.84 -7.14 -7.17 0.80 2.79 0.50 -0.78 0.46 50.00 0.00 0.00 -0.78 -2.70 6.67 0.00 -0.22 0.00 0.00 0.83 0.00 0.00 0.25 0.11 0.00 -2.94 -5.51 2.94 -5.56

329,500 34,110 116,000 1,168,000 14,990,300 19,050,000 6,251,000 873,930 169,000 97,000 160 88,220 155,400 118,000 1,594,480 400 10,300 10,600,000 12,860,000 146,000 2,384,000 5,000 19,000 17,000 40,000 52,000 122,000 4,273,800 440,000 10,000 8,100 7,000 7,990 129,000 77,580 2,130,000 8,573,000 874,800 1,245,300 2,635,500 656,000 2,072,500 20,000 26,000

-5.36 -1.13 0.00 -0.13 0.96 -1.12 -0.25 1.00 0.00 0.00 -0.41 -6.67 0.00 -1.12 4.78 0.78 -1.39 -1.42 8.33 0.00 -1.05 -1.57 -0.51 0.00 -0.24 -4.32 0.00

745,000,000 32,400.00 21,000 272,000 72,898.00 800 837,000 578,000 102,960.00 53,800 21,368,000 -19,344,950.00 4,440,000 14,600.00 24,390,000 1,330,000 47,800,000 5,000,000 109,000 -93,230.00 7,828,400 5,093,725.00 2,361,000 94,000 391,000 -640,330.00 80,800,000 3,900,000 96,000 808,200 -27,600.00 769,000 97,500.00 10,700,000 16,500.00 985,660 61,727,226.00 249,000 400,000

0.16 -0.87 -0.38 0.00 0.88 0.00 0.93 1.80 -0.86 -0.29 -0.26 0.00 0.00

10,550 5,000 4,040 4,100 1,300 100 527,000 6,730 285 105 239,640 9,640 132,780

35,055.00

2.56

663,000

400.00

-1.57 0.00 0.00 -0.22

963,700 4,876 860 1,535,100

167,781.00

-0.93

23,310

9,200.00

-425,460.00 -3,001,190.00 -104,047,593.00

MST

Trading Summary FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL HOLDING FIRMS PROPERTY SERVICES MINING & OIL GRAND TOTAL

SHARES 19,990,361 244,990,412 60,275,188 87,064,272 96,051,359 964,313,229 1,475,208,470

812,611.00

159,000.00 -1,035,295.00 -14,952,471.00

-16,540.00

-51,903,240.00

-107,000.00 367,590.00

-296,038.00

105,716.00 1,631,130.00

814,800.00 86,752,835.00 290,428.00 -21,883,149.00 532,911.00

33,180.00 -16,755,185.00 600,000.00 14,500.00 8,600.00 -90,596,196.00 11,068.00

9,792,235.00 -533,250.00 -440,815.00 70,334,272.00

62,163,790.00 -17,607,311.00

23,900.00

642,114.00

-140,020.00 89,300.00 212,140.00

-106,500,702.00

-26,358,124.50 30,835,000.00 -1,300.00 658,450.00

140,900.00 183,708,310.00 526,115.00 -5,965,556.00

-125,733,105.00 122,400.00 -27,989,549.50

-23,219,543.00 -7,700.00 6,846,400.00

-23,719,600.00

-1,157,750.00 -7,036,789.50 -16,848,400.00

-18,670.00 24,300.00 56,455,080.00 589,050.00

Double Dragon Makati Fin. Corp.

IRipple E-Business Intl Xurpas

T op g ainerS VALUE 188,2194,492.22 2,875,861,745.439 1,8164,52,163.08 976,388,898.68 1,195,572,078.91 507,094,012.9731 9,279,525,695.48

STOCKS

FINANCIAL 1,807.19 (down) 25.18 INDUSTRIAL 12,333.6 (down) 93.95 HOLDING FIRMS 7,065.74 (down) 49.15 PROPERTY 3,171.72 (down) 42.29 SERVICES 2,169.63 (up) 2.31 MINING & OIL 15,307.01 (up) 69.6 PSEI 7,886.57 (down) 71.5 All Shares Index 4,523.97 (down) 31.67 Gainers: 72 Losers: 111; Unchanged: 48; Total: 231

33,851,040.00

-100,169,906.00

112,110.00 -4,697,338.00 6,500.00

-414,000.00 40,735,336.00 -53,850.00 -20,464,633.00 309,230.00 -114,718,140.00

-42,819,849.00

-1,300.00 7,876,007.00

10,750.00

-12,710,075.00

0.00 195,410.00 -71,082,010.00 5,490.00 -984,860.00 -7,950,985.00 54,446,506.00 4,276,796.00 964,704.00 -1,360.00

610.00

-2,562,755.00 -8,591,400.00

719,496.00

T op L oSerS Close (P)

Change (%)

STOCKS

Close (P)

Change (%)

Manila Broadcasting

6.00

50.00

Liberty Flour

32.55

-10.58

Crown Asia

2.82

33.65

Phil H2O

4.01

-8.86

SPC Power Corp.

4.5

12.50

Jolliville Holdings

4.8

-8.57

Oriental Pet. `A'

0.0130

8.33

Cebu Prop. `A'

6

-7.55

Ever Gotesco

0.197

8.24

Island Info

0.246

-7.17

Prime Orion

1.040

7.22

IP E-Game Ventures Inc.

0.013

-7.14

NOW Corp.

0.480

6.67

Manila Mining `A'

0.0140

-6.67

Discovery World

1.8

5.88

Filipino Fund Inc.

7.51

-5.77

ATN Holdings B

0.29

5.56

Yehey

1.360

-5.56

Nickelasia

24.1

4.78

Travellers

6.52

-5.51

WEDNESDAY: APRIL 29, 2015

B3

BUSINESS business@thestandard.com.ph extrastory2000@gmail.com

ICTSI drops Okinawa terminal

By Darwin G. Amojelar

PORT operator International Container Terminal Services Inc. said Tuesday it sold its entire stake in Naha International Container Terminal Inc., which operates the container terminal in Okinawa, Japan.

2GO-Rotary partnership.

2GO Express Inc. signed a partnership with The Rotary Club of Rizal West to be a presenter sponsor for the upcoming ‘Swing for Education’ golf tournament on May 29, 2015 at the Canlubang Golf and Country Club. Shown signing the partnership are (from left) Rotary Club of Rizal West vice president Nestor Borbe, president Aurelia Alonzo, 2GO Express vice president and general manager Randolph Arroyo and assistant vice president of retail and marketing Joanne Borromeo.

Market retreats; Crown Asia Chemicals rises STOCKS retreated Tuesday, ending a three-day advance, as energy and consumer companies declined on concern valuations have outstripped the potential earnings growth.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, dropped 71 points, or 0.9 percent, to close at 7,886.57.

The gauge, however, was still up 9.1 percent since the start of the year.

The heavier index, representing all shares, also fell 31 points, or 0.7 percent, to settle at 4,523.97 on a value turnover of P6.2 billion.

Losers outnumbered gainers, 113 to 64, with 48 issues unchanged.

“Investors need earnings to reaffirm the lofty valuation in the market and disappointments tend to lay some doubts in how the market is pricing itself,” Rico Gomez, who helps manage about $1.8 billion as vice president

of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said.

“Investors will watch the Federal Reserve meeting this week. Any bit of news that will affect global liquidity will be monitored closely,” Gomez said.

Fed policy makers are meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday in Washington to review monetary policy. The Fed’s long-awaited liftoff on its benchmark interest rate won’t happen until September, according to economists surveyed

by Bloomberg News.

Newly listed Crown Asia Chemicals Corp. surged for the second day by 36.5 percent to close at P2.88, after rising nearly 50 percent on the first day. Miner Nickel Asia Corp. gained 4.6 percent to P24.05, while casino operator Bloomberry Resorts Corp. rose 1.4 percent to P11.52.

Meanwhile, Asian markets mostly rose Tuesday, with

Tokyo boosted by a weaker yen while dealers await the release of major earnings reports as well as key central bank policy meetings in the United States and Japan.

Hopes for a deal between Greece and its creditors over its bailout terms provided a measure of support to the euro after Athens reshuffled its negotiating team following months of fruitless talks.

Tokyo added 0.63 percent and Shanghai put on 0.18 percent, while Hong Kong put on 0.17 percent and Seoul was flat.

Sydney slipped 0.40 percent.

The broad gains came despite losses on Wall Street, where profit-takers moved in after Friday’s record closures for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.41 percent and the Nasdaq fell 0.63 percent, while the Dow eased

0.23 percent.

Japan’s Nikkei was the standout performer as the weaker yen helped exporters. The dollar bought 119.12 yen in Asian trade, up from 119.05 yen in New York.

However, the latest round of weak US data have almost put an end to talk of a mid-summer interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve. Traders are awaiting the end Wednesday of a twoday policy meeting by the Fed, hoping it will give a clue about its timetable for raising rates.

That will be followed by a meeting by the Bank of Japan, with expectations high that it will hold off any further easing of monetary policy.

Hopes in Tokyo are also high as the corporate reporting season gets into full swing, with Panasonic and Honda due to report later Tuesday.

With Bloomberg, AFP

ICTSI, a company controlled by businessman Enrique Razon, said it sold all its 90,000 shares or 60-percent stake in NICTI back to the company for 105.3 million yen, net of tax.

The other 40-percent share is owned by six local harbor transportation companies.

ICTSI, which operates 24 container ports in the Philippines and abroad, said a deed of sale of shares was consummated on April 27.

“ICTSI is no longer interested in participating in the negotiations for the renewal of the 10year lease over NICT,” the port operator said.

“We are optimizing our portfolio and reducing our holdings in facilities we do not fully control from an operational and commercial point of view,” ICTSI vice president and head of Asia-Pacific Christian Gonzalez said, in explaining the divestment.

Gonzalez said this was similar to the company’s divestment in India. ICTSI and L&T Shipbuilding Ltd. signed an agreement in July 2014, cancelling their container port agreement for the management and operation of Kattupali Container Terminal in Tamil Nadu, India. Both companies concluded that the existing contract was not beneficial to either party.

The 10-year lease agreement of NICTI granted by Naha Port Authority over the Naha International Container Terminal will expire at the end of 2015.

Naha port is located close to Shanghai and is almost at the halfway point between Busan and Kaohsiung. The port is geographically ideal for the redirecting of traffic from China to US and Europe.

Belle’s net income increased 22% to P378m in first quarter

By Jenniffer B. Austria GAMING and property company Belle Corp. said first-quarter net income grew 22 percent to P378 million from P310 million in the same period last year, on higher revenues from the lease of newlyopened City of Dreams Manila.

Belle, controlled by tycoon Henry Sy, said in a disclosure to the stock exchange revenues in the first quarter more than doubled to P1.34 billion from P558 million a year ago, while income from operations jumped 88 percent to P738

million from P393 million.

Belle said the growth was fueled by the lease of the City of Dreams Manila property to entities controlled by Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd., income from sales of real estate and profits derived from subsidiary Premium Leisure Corp.

PLC, which has an operating agreement with MCE that accords it a share of gaming revenues or earnings at City of Dreams Manila, realized a net income of P80 million in the first quarter, a reversal of the P2-million net loss in the first quarter of 2014.

City of Dreams Manila held a grand opening on Feb. 2, 2015, after the softopening of its mass market gaming floor, hotels and restaurant outlets on Dec. 14, 2014.

Belle vice chairman Willy Ocier said in an interview at the sidelines of the company’s annual stockholders meeting the City of Dreams Manila was slowly ramping up its VIP gaming market.

Ocier said the company remained focused on improving the operation of City of Dreams Manila and had no plans on venturing outside the Philippines.

“We are not looking outside. Right now, City of Dreams is our main focus and will concentrate there,” Ocier said.

Belle chief finance officer Manuel Gana supported this, saying the Philippines offered a lot of opportunities.

“If we were to expand beyond City of Dreams Manila, our first priority will be Metro Manila and then other parts of the Philippines,” Gana said.

“The market here is pretty fertile and we don’t need to look abroad if we want to expand this business,” Gana said.

B4

BUSINESS

Roxas takes over San Carlos

By Alena Mae S. Flores

ROXAS Pacific Bioenergy Corp., a unit of listed Roxas Holdings Inc., has raised its ownership in San Carlos Bioenergy Inc. to 93.68 percent with the purchase of the 64.02-percent stake of Menarco Clean Energy Inc. of the Jimenez family for P1.0083 billion.

“The acquisition of SCBI makes RHI the country’s biggest ethanol producer,” Roxas Holdings chairman Pedro Roxas said in a statement.

San Carlos Bioenergy is a bioethanol company operating in San Carlos City, Negros Occi-

dental.

This is the third acquisition of Roxas Pacific in a span of seven weeks, beginning with 26.7 percent from the Zabaletas for P420 million on March 18, followed by the purchase of 2.96 percent from the Valmayors for P46.721

million on April 16.

State-owned National Development Co. remains a minority shareholder with a 6.32-percent share.

Roxas Holdings vice chairman Manuel Pangilinan said the increased stake in San Carlos would create synergies in the group’s bioethanol plants and lead to higher efficiencies.

“We hope to achieve greater economies of scale in our operations that will benefit the industry,” Pangilinan said.

Roxas Holdings president and chief executive Renato Valencia said the acquisition was in line with the diversification initiatives of the group from purely

sugar operations into bioethanol and cogeneration, or renewable energy business.

Roxol Bioenergy Corp., the ethanol unit of RHI, was the top bioethanol producer in the Philippines in 2014 with 32.2 million liters, followed by San Carlos Bioenergy with about 26.7 million liters.

San Carlos Bioenergy is a registered company with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority. It was incorporated in May 2005 to construct, own and operate an integrated fuel bioethanol distillery and power co-generation facility, making it the first in the Philippines and Southeast Asia.

Smart’s moment. Smart Communications Inc. asserted its leadership in the telecommunications industry, being the runaway winner among telco participants in the 50th Anvil Awards, considered the Oscars of Philippine public relations. Smart representatives led by public affairs head Mon Isberto (leftmost) pose with their Gold and Silver Anvils. Smart’s customer, human resources, and corporate social responsibility programs won eight Gold and Silver Anvils during the ceremony in Pasay City organized by the Public Relations Society of the Philippines.

Nickel Asia’s equity in renewable energy positive THE foray of Nickel Asia Corp. into the renewable energy sector will boost the company’s finances as metal prices remain volatile while demand for power continues to grow, a stock analyst said Tuesday.

“Their decision to enter into this lucrative business deserves a second look. This is a good investment strategy for Nickel Asia moving forward,” said Astro del Castillo, managing director of First Grade Finance Inc. “If it’s really a pioneer in this among the mining companies venturing into renewable energy, it will definitely have an

advantage.”

Nickel Asia recently announced it decided to convert its P446-million loan to Emerging Power Inc. into equity, allowing it to take a 55-percent stake in the renewable energy company.

Nickel Asia is also infusing an additional investment of P474 million in stages to increase its stake in Emerging Power to 66 percent.

Emerging Power plans to start drilling geothermal wells for the 40-megawatt, $185-million Montelago geothermal project in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro

in July. EPI has tapped Iceland Drilling Corp., one of Iceland’s leading drilling companies, to conduct the job.

“It’s a good move for them, and as prices of metals in the global market remain volatile, it’s best to shift to renewable energy,” del Castillo said.

He said Nickel Asia’s business venture “will give them a predictable revenue stream that is guaranteed for the next 20 years, so it’s a wise decision.”

Metal prices fluctuate and are considered volatile, while renewable energy prices are fixed for a 20-year period under the

feed-in tariff scheme of the Renewable Energy Act. Many mining companies, according to a report by PikeResearch, go to renewable energy as the realization grew that technologies and strategies were emerging to better manage energy consumption, costs, supply and risks.

PikeResearch said global mining companies had invested in renewable energy, including Anglo American, African Rainbow Metals, AngloGold Ashanti, Areva, Barrick Gold Corp., BHP Billiton, Freeport Morgan, and Vale S.A. Alena Mae S. Flores

Banked gas sale attracts Meralco MERALCO PowerGen Corp. is looking at opportunities in the power sector, including joining in the sale of Malampaya’s banked gas and the appointment of an independent power producer administrator for the 200-megawatt Mindanao coal-fired power plant.

“We are looking at all potential opportunities. We want go into operating plants, but we have to review. For Mindanao, we’re looking at that. For banked gas, we attended but we haven’t made a decision,” Meralco PowerGen senior vice president Angelito Lantin told reporters.

Meralco PowerGen chairman Manuel Pangilinan said the company would study the possible natural gas power investment. The banked gas can fully fuel a 400-megawatt power plant.

The company attended the pre-qualification conference on the joint sale of the banked gas from the Malampaya gas field off northwest Palawan.

“It’s an industry that needs to be carefully study,” Pangilinan said.

Meralco PowerGen, the power generation unit of Manila Electric Co., plans to install a power generation capacity of up to 3,000 MW in the next few years.

Meralco PowerGen has received favorable developments in joint venture projects, moving it closer to financial closing and engineering, procurement and construction activities.

Redondo Peninsula Energy Inc., majority controlled by Meralco PowerGen, is pursuing a 600-MW coal plant in Subic, Zambales province.

RP Energy plans to start construction of the Zambales plant this year, Lantin said, and that discussions in the pricing are in advanced stage with the chosen EPC contractor.

Meralco PowerGen, meanwhile, is also waiting the approval on the power supply agreement of San Buenaventura Power Ltd.’s 455-megawatt coal plant in Mauban, Quezon.

Lantin expects the approval of the the San Buenaventura supply agreement with Meralco shortly.

Alena Mae S. Flores

W E D N E S D AY : A P R I L 2 9, 2 0 1 5

BUSINESS business@thestandard.com.ph extrastory2000@gmail.com

B5 Isuzu plans to hike PH bus sales

By Othel V. Campos

Naga water loan. The Development Bank of the Philippines granted a P78.723-million term loan to Metro Naga Water District for the construction of a septage treatment facility. The Naga-based MNWD is categorized as a Big Water District, and serves more than 37,000 concessionaires in 69 barangays in Naga City and four nearby towns. Shown during the loan signing agreementare (seated, from left) DBP Naga branch head Rallen Verdadero; DBP regional marketing center for Bicol head Ariel Peña; MNWD chairman Fortunato Mendoza; and MNWD general manager Virginia Nero. At back are (from left) are MNWD board members Aquiles Lo and Jorge Palma, secretary Socorro Felix and board member Adolfo Olivan.

Hyundai setting up P1.2-b logistics hub

By Othel V. Campos

HYUNDAI Asia Resources Inc., the official distributor of Hyundai cars in the Philippines, is spending P1.2 billion to develop a green automotive logistics center in Calamba, Laguna.

Hari president and chief executive Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo said the two-phased investment reflected Hyundai’s commitment to the Philippine market and the environment.

“We are building a case for responsible innovation that will revolutionize the local automotive industry not only with new car models that represent new thinking in green technology but also in green operations,” she said.

The Hyundai logistics center will sit on a 10-hectare property

that previously housed a textile factory.

The first phase inaugurated Tuesday will include stockyard, parts warehouse, completely built unit receiving and preparation area and backyard operations.

The CBU stockyard can house as much 5,000 vehicle at any given time or about 2 months worth of inventory.

Investments in the first phase, said Perez-Agudo, would cost the company P700 million.

Hari by early 2016 will start

the second phase--a P500million facility development for education that will center on the advocacy of environmental stewardship and preservation.

One of the structures will house the Hyundai Academy, which will hold all Hyundai training facilities. The other one is the Center for Climate Change, a facility and venue for further dialogue and study to create solutions to the impact of climate change in the country.

The company secured green rating from the Philippines Green Building Initiative.

“Although it will take us three years to recover the cost of green rating, it was worth to do that,” said Perez-Agudo, adding going green amounted to nine percent of the total investment to develop the facility.

Before the investment, the company was renting a container yard owned by International Container Terminal Services Inc. in Sta. Rosa Laguna, where vehicles and spare parts are stored after arrival at the Batangas Port.

Meanwhile, Hari has forecast sales in 2015 to hit 25,000 units, about 5 percent higher in 2014.

“We’re keeping forecast at the minimum. We’re still facing supply glitches for Starex and Sta. Fe. But we’re positive we’ll end positive by year-end,” said Perez-Agudo.

The company’s first quarter performance slowed down 10.3 percent while total sales of car importers dropped 7 percent.

Perez-Agudo said the sales would be reinvigorated by the inroduction of new models, like the all new Tucson and the compact sports car i20.

ISUZU Philippines Corp. plans to expand the sales of bus units in the Philippines and increase their share in the total business portfolio to as much 50 percent.

Isuzu Philippines president Hajime Koso said the company aimed to strengthen its presence as provider of quality brand new buses.

“We recognize the need for more reliable and safe buses.

The bus segment remains a growth area in the Philippines,” he said Monday night in welcome ceremonies held at the Solaire Resorts and Casino in Pasay City.

Koso will replace Nobuo Izumina as Isuzu president, who will be assigned as the director of Isuzu Body Corp., an affiliate of Isuzu Motors Ltd. Koso noted most buses in the Philippines were either secondhand or surplus units.

About 28,000 buses are registered with the Land Transportation Office, including 6,000 to 7,000 brand new units.

Isuzu controls 60 percent to 70 percent of the brand new bus market in the Philippines.

The company plans to sell 4,000 bus units this year. Aside from building trucks and SUVs, Isuzu has a thriving chassis modification business in the Philippines.

Isuzu sales in the first four months of 2015 grew 62 percent. The Mu-X line-up posted sales of over 3,000 units.

The 57-year-old Koso has been working for Isuzu Motors for 35 years, handling mostly sales and overseas operations. He was most recently the president of Isuzu Motors Kyusyu Ltd. “The Philippine automotive industry is slowly setting up its pace. In the past two years, the country’s record for automotive sales has seen a significant growth, which is probably due to the overall growth of the economy,” he said.

Security Bank bullish, boosts retail banking to sustain growth

By Julito G. Rada SECURITY Bank Corp., one of the largest universal banks in the Philippines, will strengthen its retail banking business to ensure the lender’s sustained growth.

Newly-elected chairman Alberto Villarosa, the bank’s former president and chief executive, said in a briefing in Makati Tuesday Security Bank was considering retail banking as one of the major pillars of growth in the future.

“We started [pushing for the retail banking] two years ago. It

is currently not one of the major contributors of growth for the bank,” Villarosa said.

“But in our five-year plan, we see retail banking as one of the major legs of growth,” Villarosa said, adding the bank saw big contributions from the business from 2017 to 2018.

Newly-appointed president and chief executive Alfonso Salcedo said the bank needed to put up more infrastructure and tap the latest technology to widen coverage, especially in the countryside.

“Infrastructure and technology have to be vital parts of

that... The Philippine [population] has 25-percent ownership of smartphone... We are ready for that,” he said.

Salcedo also said sales and marketing must be strengthened. “That is how we will grow the consumer banking business,” he said.

Security Bank in 2014 posted a P7.2-billion net income, up 43 percent from P5 billion a year ago, driven mainly by the strength of its core businesses amid lower trading gains.

Deposits increased 20 percent to P247 billion as loans rose 17 percent to P194 billion, boost-

ing total assets by 14 percent to P397 billion at the end of 2014.

Shareholders’ capital increased 15 percent to P47 billion. The bank’s loan-to-deposit ratio was 78 percent.

Asset quality remained firm and healthy with net nonperforming loans ratio at 0.28 percent, which is among the lowest in the Philippine banking industry. NPL reserve cover stood at 200 percent as of Dec. 31, 2014, also among the highest in the industry.

Net interest income increased 33 percent to P11.2 billion. Core revenues--comprised of net

interest income, fee-based income, and trading gains attributable to customer flows--grew 26 percent to P13.6 billion. Feebased income stood at P1.7 billion, up 8 percent. Overall trading gains were at P3.6 billion.

Security Bank’s total operating income climbed 36 percent to P16.8 billion. Operating expense growth (excluding provision for probable credit losses and impairments) stood at 17 percent due to investments in people, branches, re-branding and retail bank transformation.

The cost-to-income ratio was 47 percent.

WEDNESDAY: APRIL 29, 2015

B6

BUSINESS business@thestandard.com.ph extrastory2000@gmail.com

EIB, Arthaland officers sued

By Julito G. Rada

STATE-RUN Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. said Tuesday it filed charges of syndicated estafa against five former directors and officers of the closed Export and Industry Bank and two officers of Arthaland Corp. for allegedly misappropriating the bank’s funds.

“The respondents were likewise charged for irregularities and for conducting business in an unsafe and unsound manner in violation of Republic Act 3591, as amended, otherwise known as the PDIC Charter,” the agency said in a statement.

EIB is a 50-unit commercial bank ordered closed by the Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and placed under the custody

of the PDIC on April 26, 2012.

PDIC, in a complaint filed before the Justice Department in March 2015, filed the syndicated estafa case against former EIB chairman Jaime Gonzalez, president and director Juan Victor Tanjuatco, vice president Aurea Yamsuan, chief financial officer Teresita de Ocampo, assistant corporate secretary Riva Khristine Maala, Arthaland president

Angela de Villa-Lacson and Arthaland chief financial officer Froilan Tejada.

Arthaland is owned and controlled by EIB chairman Jaime Gonzalez.

PDIC said based on its investigations, the respondents allegedly connived to misappropriate EIB funds amounting to P9.7 million to speed up the purchase of several properties in Batangas for the benefit of Arthaland in 2007.

Arthaland denied the accusation. The company said in a statement it bought the properties in Batangas for P9.7 million and fully paid EIB in 2011. Arthaland’s operations and projects remain on track and unaffected, it said.

“It is Arthaland’s policy and practice to conduct its business in compliance with all laws, adhere to the principles of good gov-

ernance, and keep all its transactions above board. We will monitor the case as management prudence dictates,” Arthaland said.

PDIC said the respondents allegedly continued to misappropriate EIB’s funds when these were unlawfully disbursed to cover for the management and other expenses of the Batangas properties.

The complaint also alleged that the respondents deceived the bank by intentionally concealing from the EIB board and executive committee the advance made by the bank to purchase the Batangas properties. It said only a resolution from the EIB board could authorize the disbursement.

“The filing of charges against the EIB and Arthaland officers is in support of PDIC’s efforts to

bring to justice parties that engage in acts that will put depositors and the Deposit Insurance Fund at risk,” PDIC said.

PDIC earlier filed a criminal complaint against Gonzalez, Tanjuatco, de Ocampo and other EIB officers including Nilo Pacheco Jr., Alex Luis Pesigan and Adeline Grimares for allegedly conducting business in an unsafe and unsound manner in violation of the General Banking Law of 2000.

The complaint alleged that respondents authorized and allowed the payment of a success fee in the amount of $4.8 million when the obligation to pay such a fee has not arisen.

PDIC said of the amount, $3 million was received by another company, AO Capital Partners Limited, where Gonzalez was also the chairman.

ERRORS & OMISSIONS

E R R AT U M The MB Life Insurance C o r p o r a t i o n Stockholders’ meeting which came out yesterday, April 28, 2015 was printed as NOTICE OF SPECIAL STOCKHOLDERS MEETING, instead of NOTICE OF ANNUAL S TO C K H O L D E R S ’ MEETING

In Classified Ads section must be brought to our attention the very day the advertisement is published.

We will not be responsible for any incorrect ads not reported to us immediately.

Republic of the Philippines

N AT I O N A L FO O D AU T H O R I T Y CA R AG A R EG I O N Butuan City

I N V ITATI O N TO B I D FO R TH E PROCUR E M E NT O F H AULI NG SE RV I CES FO R TH E TR A NSFE R O F R I CE FRO M SUR I GAO CIT Y TO BUTUA N CIT Y / AGUSA N D EL SUR A

Assistant Regional Director and Chair person, BAC

T h e N A T IO N A L F O O D A U THORITY, thr ough its Cor por ate Oper atin g Budget for C Y 2015, i n t e n d s to ap p l y th e sum of TW O M ILLION ONE HUNDRED FOR T Y N IN E T H OU SAN D PPROVED: PAE S O S (P hp 2,1 4 9 ,0 0 0 .00) being the aggr egated APPROVED BU D GET F OR T H E C O N T RA C T (A B C ) to p a ym ents under the contr acts of hauling ser v i c es for the tr ans fer of r i c e f r o m S uri g a o C i ty to Butuan City / Agusan del Sur : CONT. GENARO S. NUÑEZ , JR.

MINIMUM DELIVERY QUANTITY (bag of NO. OF 50 kg) TRUCKS PERIOD

NO.

SOURCE WHSE.

RECEIVING WHSE.

I-SUN-D15

Rocha A/B/C Warehouses, Surigao City

GID I/II Warehouses, Libertad, Butuan City

6

II-SUN-D15

GID Whse., Km. 10, Surigao City

GID Alegria, San Francisco, Agusan del Sur

5

R eCONT. gional Director

APPROVED BUDGET FOR THE CONTRACT (INCLUSIVE OF VAT)

(PHP) PER BAG TOTAL

BIDDING FEE (PHP)

Within June to Nov. 2015

50,000

22.25

1,112,500.00 1,000.00

Within June to Nov. 2015

30,000

34.55

1,036,500.00 1,000.00

Page 2 of 2

T h e N F A no w i nvi tes i n te rested tr uck owner s/oper ator s to subm it th ei r bi ds for the haul i ng o f r i c e stocks from S uri g a o City to Butuan City / Agusan del Sur .

Bi d d e r s sho u l d ha ve com pleted within the im m ediate last two y ear s fr om the date of s u b m i ssi o n a n d rece i pt of bids, a contr act sim ilar to the pr ojec t. T he des c r i pti on of a n e l i gi b l e bi dd e r i s co n tained in the Bidding Docum ents, par ti c ul ar l y i n Sec ti on II. I n s t r u cti on s to B i dd e rs (ITB) .

Bi d d i n g w i l l be con d u cte d thr ough open com petitive bidding pr o c edur es us i ng a nond i s c r e ti o n a ry “pa ss/fa i l e d ” cr iter ion as specified in the im plem enting R ul es and R egul ati on ( I R R ) o f R ep u b l i c A ct (R A) 9184, other wise known as the “ Gov er nm ent Pr oc ur em ent R e f o r m A ct”.

A c o m pl ete se t o f B i dd i ng Docum ents m ay be pur chased by i nter es ted bi dder s on A p ri l 29, 20 1 5 – Ma y 20 , 2015 ( working days only) fr om the ad dr es s bel ow and upon p a y m e n t o f a n o n refu n d a ble bidding fee as specified in this Invita ti on.

N a t i o n a l F oo d A uth o ri ty C ar aga Region shall hold a Pr e- bid confer enc e on M ay 6, 2015 a t 1 1 : 00 A .M. a t 2n d F l oo r , Rudy Tiu VIII Bldg. J.C. Aquino Aven ue, Butuan C i ty , w hi c h s h a l l be o p e n o n l y to a l l i nter ested par ties who have pur chased the Bi ddi ng D oc um ents .

Bi d m u st b e d e l i ve red to the addr ess below on or befor e M ay 20, 2015 at 10: 00 A .M . Al l b i d s m u st b e a cco mpa n i ed by a Bid Secur ity in any of the acceptabl e for m s and i n the a m o u nt sta te d i n IT B C l au se 18. Late bids shall not be accepted.

Bi d o pen i ng sh a l l b e o n M ay 20, 2015 at 10: 01 A.M . at 2nd Floo r , R udy T i u VIII Bl dg.

J . C . Aq u i no A ve n u e , B u tuan City. Bids will be opened in the pr es enc e of the Bi dder s ’ r e p r e se n ta ti ve w ho ch o o se to attend.

T h e N ati on a l F oo d A uth o rity r eser ves the r ight to accept or r ejec t any bi d, to annul the b i d d i n g proce ss, a n d to reject all bids at any tim e pr ior to contr act aw ar d w i thout ther eby i n c u r r i ng a n y l i a b i l i ty to th e affected bidder or bidder s.

F o r f u rthe r i n fo rma ti on , p l ease r efer to: M s . H yd e B e th M. P ascu a l BA C S e creta ri a t H ea d N a t i o n a l F o o d A u th o ri ty 2 n d F l oor R u d y T i u B l dg . VIII J . C . A qu i no A ve n u e , B u tu an City T e l N o. (08 5 ) 81 5 3 2 8 4 (08 5 ) 22 5 6 7 0 1 F a x N o. (08 5 ) 34 2 7 8 9 8 ( SGD) GIL B . IB A R R A Assistant Regi onal D i r ec tor and Chair per son , BAC (TS-Apr. 29, 2015)

ISO certified.

Mayor Jaime Fresnedi (center) received ISO 9001 certification on Quality Management System awarded to the city government of Muntinlupa, Ospital ng Muntinlupa and Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Muntinlupa for adherence to the international standard in protecting communities and stakeholders on April 27 at Muntinlupa City Hall. Shown with Fresnedi are (from left) Muntinlupa deputy administrator RJ Smith, BRS auditors Edward Afable, Cathy Corro and Carol Bautista, Ospital ng Muntinlupa director Edwin Dimatatac, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Muntinlupa director Ellen Presnedi, city administrator Allan Cachuela and accounting department chief Jaime Ventura.

Megaworld set to open 2 hotels

By Jenniffer B. Austria MEGAWORLD Corp., the property development arm of tycoon Andrew Tan, is set to open this year two new hotels that will boost the group’s hotel portfolio.

Megaworld said in a statement it would open the 151-room Richmonde Hotel Iloilo in June and the 480-suite Belmont Luxury Hotel Newport in the second half of 2015.

The opening of two new hotels will add to the Megaworld’s current hotel portfolio which currently operates 1,900 rooms across existing six hotels, including Richmonde Hotel Ortigas, Eastwood Richmonde Hotel, Marriott Hotel Manila, Maxims Hotel and Remington Hotel in Newport City and Fairways and Bluewater in Boracay Newcoast.

Richmonde Hotel Iloilo will occupy eight levels of the 12-story Richmonde Tower in the 72-hectare Iloilo Business Park in Mandurriao, Iloilo City.

Megaworld earlier commissioned worldrenowned architectural firm Gettys to design the hotel’s façade, grand lobby, restaurant and guest rooms. Gettys took inspiration from the city’s rich agricultural roots for the hotel’s design concept.

“Finally, we are bringing a new hotel experience for Iloilo where business indeed meets sophisticated

pleasure. The people of Iloilo can now be proud of having a hotel that truly provides first class standards. We will certainly set the bar of hotel lifestyle in Western Visayas,” Carmen Fernando, managing director, Prestige Hotel & Resorts, Inc., the hotel management company of Richmonde Hotel Iloilo and a subsidiary of Megaworld said.

Meanwhile, Belmont Luxury Hotel Newpor will open within the 25-hectare Newport City, the country’s first 24/7 integrated leisure and entertainment township that is home to the famous Resorts World Manila.

The hotel boasts of first-class amenities that include pocket gardens and landscaped atrium, 24-hour fitness center and workout area, lap pool with in-water pool lounge, paved sunbathing lounge, massage deck and seating area, pool spa, steam and sauna as well as its own medical clinic.

“We have been experiencing an increasing demand for hotel rooms in Newport City because of its proximity to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, and of course, the presence of Resorts World Manila. Belmont Luxury Hotel Newport will primarily cater to business travelers who expect luxurious hotel experience in a private enclave,” Megaworld senior vice president Francisco Canuto.

W e d n e s d ay : a P r i L 2 9, 2 0 1 5

WORLD

cesar barrioquinto EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

B7

Communism’s hollow victory HO CHI MINH CITY—Forty years after it won the war, the Communist Party still rules Vietnam with an iron fist. But with crony capitalism, corruption and inequality now rife, many claim its victory was a hollow one.

From a shattered society plagued by poverty and food shortages, to a middle-income country and World Trade Organization member, Vietnam’s authoritarian socialist regime has overseen huge change since Saigon fell to communist troops four decades ago.

On Thursday, Communist Party rulers will gather for a military parade in Ho Chi Minh City—formerly Saigon—to commemorate the day their tanks rolled into the city, prompting the surrender of the US-backed South and reunification of the country.

The war left millions of Vietnamese dead as well as 58,000 American servicemen sent to stanch the advance of the communists.

But critics say the victorious Communist Party is now ideologically bankrupt, with the state abandoning the social equality dreams of its founding president Ho Chi Minh and enforcing tight controls on an increasingly critical public.

“This is not a communist country,” says Le Cong Dinh, a lawyer and government critic, who remains under house arrest after a 2010 conviction on subversion charges.

“They came to power by adopting the socialism, communism of Marx and Lenin— that’s why they try to continue the ideology.

But what we see on the streets of Vietnam is capitalism, not communism,” he told AFP in a rare interview at his closely monitored Ho Chi Minh City apartment.

Party sympathizers hail the rewards of the market reforms of the late 1980s—impressive growth rates, soaring foreign investment, and sharp reductions in poverty.

But as Huy Duc, a prominent author who wrote a book about postwar Vietnam, explained to AFP: “The winning side has been changing to become more like the losing side.”

Public anger with the one-party state simmers over a range of ills, including widening income disparity, land disputes and corruption scandals—often involving wealthy party cadres.

But the newfound prosperity of recent decades means the majority of the population seem content to accept the status quo for now, experts say.

And for many young job seekers, the South has come to be seen as more socially liberal and free market-oriented than the conservative capital Hanoi.

For some older Vietnamese who lived through the war, the ideological cleavage between the communist victors and the southern so-called “nguy”—puppets—has not been bridged. AFP

Non-traditional vehicle. An Indian resident rides an elephant along a road in New Delhi on April 28. AFP

Indonesia ready to execute 8 foreigners CILACAP, Indonesia—Indonesia made final preparations Tuesday to execute eight foreigners by firing squad, as family members wailed in grief during last visits to their loved ones and ambulances carrying white coffins arrived at the drug convicts’ prison.

Relatives of Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, the Australian ringleaders of the so-called “Bali Nine” heroin trafficking group, arrived at Nusakambangan prison calling for mercy for their loved ones, with Sukumaran’s sister collapsing in grief, an AFP reporter at the

scene said.

Chan and Sukumaran are among nine prisoners—eight of whom are foreign and one Indonesian—facing death after authorities gave them final notice of their executions at the weekend.

The families have been asked to say their final goodbyes by Tuesday afternoon as signs indicated the death sentences would be carried out by early the next day.

Australian media have published photos of crosses that will be used for the coffins, inscribed with Wednesday’s date, 29.04.2015.

An AFP reporter at Nu-

sakambangan, the highsecurity prison where the convicts are awaiting their sentence, said ambulances carrying the empty white coffins had arrived.

The convicts, who have been held in isolation cells since the weekend, also include nationals from Brazil, the Philippines and Nigeria.

President Joko Widodo, who believes Indonesia is facing an emergency due to rising drugs use, has signaled his determination to push on with the executions despite mounting international condemnation led by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Indonesian Attorney-General Muhammad Prasetyo told AFP the authorities will not announce a date before the executions.

The families of Chan and Sukumaran, who have been visiting them frequently in recent days, were unable to control their emotion as they arrived at Cilacap, the town that serves as the gateway to Nusakambangan.

As they were mobbed by a huge scrum of journalists, members of Sukumaran’s family screamed and cried out “mercy” as they walked in a slow procession to the port. AFP

Captain convicted of murder

Waiting for Mariah . Fans cheer as they await the arrival of singer/songwriter Mariah Carey at Caesars’ Palace to launch her residency “MARIAH #1 TO INFINITY” on April 27 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The show debuts on May 6. AFP

SEOUL—A South Korean appeals court on Tuesday found the captain of the Sewol ferry that sank a year ago guilty of murdering the 304 people who died in the disaster and increased his sentence to life imprisonment.

The ruling in the southern city of Gwangju overturned a lower court decision that had acquitted Lee Jun-Seok of homicide charges in November, convicting him instead of gross negligence and sentencing him to 36 years.

Most of the victims were high school students on an organized trip and their families had been outraged by the homicide acquittal.

During the appeal hearing, prosecutors had asked the court to reconsider the most

serious charge of murder through willful negligence.

They also insisted that Lee, 69, deserved execution, arguing that he had abandoned his passengers in the clear knowledge that they would die.

“Captain Lee’s irresponsible activity led to the death of young students who perished without realizing their dreams... and he inflicted an incurable injury on their parents,” the high court said in its ruling.

“He gave up his duty as captain... and must be separated forever from our society,” it said, adding that Lee’s actions had seriously damaged South Korea’s national image.

The Sewol was carrying 476 people when it went down off the southwest island of Jindo

on April 16 last year. Of the 304 who died, 250 were pupils from the same high school.

The tragedy shocked and enraged the country as it became clear that it was almost entirely man-made -- the result of an illegal redesign, an overloaded cargo bay, an inexperienced crew and an unhealthy nexus between operators and state regulators.

Lee and his crew were publicly vilified, especially after video footage emerged showing them escaping the vessel while hundreds remained trapped on board.

Reacting to Tuesday’s murder conviction, Jeong Hye-Sun, the mother of one of the students who died, said she was still unhappy that Lee had escaped a death sentence. AFP

W E D N E S D AY: A P R I L 2 9, 2 0 1 5

B8

CESAR BARRIOQUINTO EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

WORLD

Dress rehearsal. The Australian Ballet presents “The Dream,” a triple bill of works by master choreographer Frederick Ashton, during a dress rehearsal at the Opera House in Sydney on April 28. The performance will be running from April 29 to May 16. AFP

US, Japan boost defense ties NEW YORK—The United States and Japan unveiled new rules for defense cooperation Monday in a historic move that will give Japanese forces a wider global role amid concerns over China’s rising sway.

Under the revised guidelines, Japan could come to the aid of US forces threatened by a third country or, for example, deploy minesweeper ships to a mission in the Middle East.

US Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary

Ashton Carter revealed the new rules alongside Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and Defense Minister Gen Nakatani after talks at a New York hotel.

Although officials said the new doctrine is not aimed at China, there has been in-

creasing concern over moves

by Beijing to try to scoop up disputed areas of the South China and East China Seas.

But they pointedly made mention of North Korea as another source of tension in the region.

Kerry stressed the United States saw the disputed Senkaku Islands, known in Chinese as the Diaoyus, as firmly under Japan’s control.

Washington “commitment to Japan’s security remains ironclad and covers all territories under Japan’s administration, including

the Senkaku Islands,” Kerry said.

The sovereignty of the isles has been a source of friction between Tokyo and Beijing for decades.

The top US diplomat said the new guidelines would make Japan safer, and bring greater stability to the AsiaPacific region.

“Today we mark the establishment of Japan’s capacity to defend not just its own territory, but also the United States and other partners as needed,” Kerry told a joint press conference.

“This is a historic meeting. It’s a historic transition in the defense relationship between our two countries.”

The guidelines came a day before US President Barack Obama rolls out the red carpet at the White House for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Nakatani said that since 1997, when the defense ties were last revised, “the security environment in the United States and Japan has changed dramatically.”

The new guidelines would “draw a picture of

the Japan-US alliance for the next decade and beyond,” Nakatani said, revealing he had also laid flowers earlier at the 9/11 memorial in tribute to those killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks.

In an implicit reference to China, Kerry said: “We reject any suggestion that freedom of navigation, overflight and other unlawful uses of the sea and airspace are privileges granted by big states to small ones, subject to the whim and fancy of the big state.” AFP

Rescuers battle to reach victims KATHMANDU—Rescuers in Nepal battled Tuesday to reach remote communities devastated by a huge earthquake that has killed at least 4,310 people, as the impoverished country’s leader said relief workers had still not reached many of the worsthit areas.

With the UN estimating eight million people have been hit by the disaster, Prime Minister Sushil Koirala said getting help to some of the worst affected areas was a “major challenge”.

Koirala told an emergency all-party meeting the government was sending desperately needed tents, water

and food supplies to those in need.

But he said authorities were overwhelmed by appeals for help from remote Himalayan villages left devastated

by Saturday’s 7.8-magnitude quake.

“Appeals for rescues are coming in from everywhere,” a statement from Koirala’s office quoted him as saying.

“But we have been unable to initiate rescue efforts in many areas at the same time due to lack of equipment and rescue experts.”

With fears rising of food and water shortages, Nepalis were rushing to stores and petrol stations to stock up on

essential supplies in the capital Kathmandu.

Home ministry spokesman Laxmi Prasad Dhakal said Tuesday the official death toll had risen to 4,310, with a further 7,953 known to have been injured.

Officials had previously put the death toll at 4,010, making it the quake-prone Himalayan nation’s deadliest disaster in more than 80 years.

Another 73 people died in India. The toll in China’s far western region of Tibet, which neighbors Nepal, rose to 25, the official Xinhua news agency said, citing the Business as usual. A Nepalese boat owner waits for tourists at Phewa Lake in area’s disaster relief head- Pokhara, just an hour’s drive from the epicenter of Nepal’s earthquake, where it’s quarters. AFP business as usual with boat trips and paragliding. AFP

W E D N E S D AY : A P R I L 2 9 : 2 0 1 5

C1

BAMBINA OLIVARES WISE EDITOR

g l w e e ke n d @ g m a i l . c o m

LIFE

LUXURY

IS THIS THE WORLD’S MOST EXPENSIVE PIG? The Prized Ham of the Ibérico Pig

Fans of Parma ham, step back. The finest ham in the world, according to the experts, comes not from Italy, but from the Ibérico pig that roams the pastures of western Spain.

According to jamon.com, the origin of the Ibérico pig goes back millennia, “even to the time of the cavemen who decorated the caves of Spain with their art.”

Continued on C2

W E D N E S D AY : A P R I L 2 9 : 2 0 1 5

C2

LIFE

BAMBINA OLIVARES WISE EDITOR

g l w e e ke n d @ g m a i l . c o m

LUXURY

IS THIS THE WORLD’S MOST EXPENSIVE PIG? From C1

T

he Ibérico pig is described as big, with slender legs and a very long snout; black and with very little hair. Their hooves, too, are black, hence the term “pata negra,” referring to “the black hoof that remains on the ham throughout the curing process and distinguishes it from a Serrano ham.

They are also much fatter animals with veins of fat running through the muscle of the pig. This, along with the large amount of fat layering each ham, allows the Ibérico ham to be cured much longer, resulting in a much more complex, intense flavor, with a note of sweetness that is unparalleled.”

There are many of levels of excellence involved in grading an Ibérico ham, however, and not all hams are created equal. A lot depends on breed and feed.

Carrasco, a respected brand of the highest-quality of Ibérico ham that has been in the business for 125 years, explains that “breed and diet are the two essential factors for product quality.” Based in Guijuelo, in southeastern Salamanca, Carrasco’s pigs are famed free-range until they attain the right proportion of fat and muscle.

Carrasco’s pigs are also fed on acorns, or bellota, that fall from the oak trees in the pastures. The process of turning pigs into ham is a long and carefully calibrated one, involving three steps: SALTING: This is done manually and according to the size of each piece.

RESTING: Slow-drying in the cold, almost 120 days for ham, whilst ensuring the pieces do not harden.

CURING: Process of air-curing in spacious shelters for 18 months, where the cool and dry winds of the nearby mountains pass through. They further mature for a minimum of 12 more months in the cellar.

Showcased at the recent Madrid Fusion Manila, Carrasco, founded by Francisco Carrasco over a century ago, is widely recognized as possessing the global benchmark seal of acorn-fed Ibérico ham.

LUXURY ON THE AGENDA

Condé Nast Hosts International Luxury Conference

T

he first Condé Nast International Luxury Conference, in partnership with Swarovski and Place Vendôme Qatar, has debuted in Florence. The inaugural seminar entitled “Hard Luxury” took place on the 22nd and 23rd April in the renowned Palazzo Vecchio.

Curated and hosted by Suzy Menkes, International Vogue Editor, the Conference has brought together a diverse mix of world-class speakers from the creative and business sides of the luxury industry.

Held under the patronage of Mayor Dario Nardella, delegates gathered in the Salone dei Cinquecento, part of the Palazzo Vecchio, to hear from industry

visionaries including Antoine Arnault, David Lauren, Jonathan Ive, Marc Newson, Karl Lagerfeld, Alber Elbaz, Axel Dumas, Geoffroy de la Bourdonnaye, Jeremy Scott and Jonathan Anderson.

The event was held in partnership with Swarovski and Place Vendome Qatar, with the collaboration of the Comune di Firenze. Additional sponsors included: Four Seasons Hotel Firenze, Qatar Airways, Denton’s, IMG, the International Fur Federation, Johnnie Walker Blue Label, Intesa Sanpaolo, Luisa Via Roma, Newby Teas, McArthur Glen, Lineappela, Thor Equities presents 680 Madison, Getty Images, Opium Effect and White Communications.

W E D N E S D AY : A P R I L 2 9 : 2 0 1 5

LIFE

BAMBINA OLIVARES WISE EDITOR

g l w e e ke n d @ g m a i l . c o m

C3

UNUSUAL FRAGRANCES

BY ED BIADO

Christopher Brosius is a perfumer who seems to hate everything the perfume industry stands for—the same notes and accords used over and over again, the diffused, diluted and bubblegummy celebrity-endorsed scents dominating the market. His brand reflects that impression with sheer vividness. It’s name? CB I Hate Perfume.

If you’re thinking that Brosius is just another hipster with yet another hipster brand—it is based in Brooklyn, after all—you’re sorely mistaken. The perfumer has been in business way before the word “hipster” was defined in the contemporary sense.

Brosius’ most high-profile creation is Cumming The Fragrance for Scottish actor Alan Cumming. Yes, it’s a celebrity fragrance and the collaboration happened only because of the mutual admiration and respect the two have for each other. Brosius wouldn’t nose a scent for anyone he wouldn’t want to hang out with frequently, he said in an interview a few years back. On his Web site, Brosius describes the fragrance, repackaged as the noncommercial version “2nd (Alan) Cumming,” as “anti-celebrity,” “warm and changeable reflecting many moods and feelings” and designed in such a way that “the more you sweat, the better it smells.”

As of this writing, there are around 40 different fragrances available on CBIHatePerfume.com. According to Brosius himself, he’s been “described as one of the most innovative perfumers of the 21st century” and looking through the selection on the Web site kind of gives credence to that statement.

There’s CB Beast, “a delicious blend of roast beef, parsley and herbs, black pepper and spices, smoked woods, patchouli, cedar and tobacco absolute.” You read that right: The scent contains the unusual roast beef accord, which gives the initial whiff of meatiness. “But as it warms on the skin, it looses that literal impression and quickly becomes deep, rich, smoky, spicy, indefinable and frankly delicious,” Brosius says.

CB I Hate Perfume definitely shuns the ordinary. Even seemingly straightforward creations are surprising in their simplicity. Tea/Rose, for example, is “a classic scent with real Tea (Indian Black) and real Moroccan Rose (Rosa Damascena).”

And those that are more adventurous are expertly nosed to form unique combinations of notes, both traditional and unconventional—just like Fire From Heaven, which blends Frankincense, Myrrh, Opopanax, Cedar, Sandalwood, Styrax and Labdanum to evoke the olfactory experience of smoke.

These scents are not cheap. Depending on the notes and accords used, each 30ml water perfume can sell from $55 to $135; and each 100ml water perfume, between $120 and $265. Concentrated absolute oil versions ($24 to $53 – 2ml; $120 to $265 – 10ml) are also available.

Christopher Brosius

Fire From Heaven

The Glenfiddich single malt whiskies (L to R): 12, 15 and 18 Year Old Whiskies

BEST SELLING SINGLE MALT WHISKY IN THE WORLD

When I survey the shelves of supermarkets and liquor stores in search of single malt whiskies, I cannot help but notice that there is always this very familiar label with the stag symbol and its extended antler. This very recognizable stag symbol label is the Glenfiddich single malt whisky founded in 1886 by William Grant in Dufftown, Scotland, in the glen (long narrow valley) of the River Fiddich – thus the shortened name Glenfiddich. Glenfiddich is also the world’s best selling single malt whisky brand.

Not so long ago I was invited to my first classroom style whisky seminar. This seminar was conducted by Australian Matthew Fergusson-Steward, William Grant & Son’s Southeast Asia Brand Ambassador for Glenfiddich and a bonafide whisky expert. Even prior to working for one of the industry’s biggest companies, William Grant & Sons, Matthew has already exhibited his passion and expertise in whisky. Matthew was formerly the State Manager of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society in Western Australia, and he also formed his own company, Steward’s Whisky Consultancy when he moved to Asia and lived in Singapore. In Singapore, prior to joining William Grant & Sons, Matthew managed Auld Alliance (Scots for Old Alliance – referring to the alliance between France and Scotland from 1295-1560), a pioneering whisky bar, and Southeast Asia’s single biggest collection of whiskies, located at the Rendezvous Hotel Gallery in Bras Basah Road. It was not really surprising then to know that Matthew’s first born daughter is named `Islay’ – a peculiar first name, but is actually named after one of five

whisky distilling regions (like wine regions) in Scotland whose `terroir’ is protected by law.

– a blended scotch made normally from three malts; less than 1 percent of scotch whisky production.

WHISKY WITHOUT THE `E’

THE GLENFIDDICH TASTING EXPERIENCE

The spelling of whisky or whiskey varies from which country the liquor comes from. The four most popular and largest producers are Scotland, America, Ireland and Japan. Scotland and Japan spell their whisky without the `e’, while both America (also known as bourbon), and Ireland spell their whiskey, with the `e’. Aside from the spelling there are other notable differences, like bourbons use 51 percent corn and the Irish make their whiskeys using triple distillation against the double distillation of Scotch, etc…. On the other hand, Japanese whiskies were exactly patterned after the Scotch, as I discovered too myself on my short trip to Kyoto when I visited Yamasaki Distillery.

FIVE CATEGORIES OF SCOTCH WHISKIES

As Matthew Fergusson-Steward eloquently explained in our seminar, there are basically five Scotch Whisky categories: they are 1) Blended Whisky – these are your typical commercial whiskies similar to the Johnny Walker Red and Black, the Chivas Regals, and the likes; around 90 percent of the scotch whisky production is in this category; 2) Single Malt Whisky – this is the hot category at the moment; less than 10 percent of total scotch whisky production is in this category; single malts have to be made from 100 percent malted barley, and are distilled from copper pots; 3) Single Grain Whisky – less than 1 percent of scotch whisky production; single grain from one distillery and using continuous distillation; 4) Blended Grain Whisky - supposedly to be the cheapest, but not being produced often – less than 1 percent of scotch whisky production; and 5) Blended Malt Whisky

We capped our scotch whisky seminar with the highlight of the lecture – the actual tasting of single malt scotch whiskies.

• Glenfiddich 12 Year Old - the world’s best selling single malt scotch whisky; 85 percent ex-bourbon cask and 15 percent ex-sherry cask; `fruity, pear, orange peel, some vanilla on a smooth long finish’; retail price at Php1,600.00 • Glenfiddich 15 Year Old – this whisky has been matured in three types of oak cask: 70 percent exbourbon, 20 percent ex-sherry and 10 percent from brand new cask; `black olive, cinnamon, gingery, spicy, and with touch of sweetness at the end’; retail price at Php2,100.00 • Glenfiddich 18 Year Old – produced in small, individually numbered batches; 80 percent ex-bourbon and 20percent ex-sherry; rich dry fruit, woody, pie-crust, and fig-like finish’; retail price at Php3,500.00 Glenfiddich also comes in 21 Year old and 30 Year Old single malt whiskies. Glenfiddich whiskies are exclusively distributed locally by Meritus Prime Distribution Inc. with contact number (02)242-0635.

CONGRATULATIONS MADRID FUSION MANILA

The first staging of Madrid Fusion Manila over the weekend at the SMX Convention Center was an overwhelming success. And I mean first, as heard from the grapevines (a wine analogy…) that Madrid Fusion Manila will be an annual event till 2019. Congratulations to the Philippine Department of Tourism and the organizers for a job well done. I am also honored to be part of this historic fair that will forever redefine our country on our quest to be a new gastronomic hub in our region.

Matthew Fergusson-Steward, Southeast Asia Brand Ambassador of Glenfiddich

One of my wine seminars at the recently concluded Madrid Fusion Manila CB Beast

2nd (Alan) Cumming

For comments, inquiries, wine event coverage, wine consultancy and other wine related concerns, please e-mail me at protegeinc@yahoo.com. I am a proud member of the Federation Internationale des Journalists et Ecrivains du Vin et des Spiritueux or FIJEV since 2010. You can also follow me on twitter at www.twitter.com/sherwinlao.

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LIFE

BAMBINA OLIVARES WISE EDITOR

g l w e e ke n d @ g m a i l . c o m

LUXURY

PHOTO BY ALESSANDRO RUSSOTTI

MILAN MOMENTS The World’s Premier Furniture Fair Is Optimistic for the Future

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he Salone del Mobile in Milan has closed after welcoming 310,840 visitors through its doors.

The visitor numbers confirm the trend seen in 2013, the last time the biennial exhibitions devoted to lighting and the office were held.

On Saturday and Sunday, the two days the fair opened to the public, 30,881 visits were recorded.

With 69 percent of the high profile operators coming from other countries, along with strong purchasing power, to which all the exhibitors testified, the Salone has confirmed yet again its strong international following, a statement said.

The presence of Russian operators was reassuring.

China proved the leading market and Germany was the second country of provenance for sectoral operators.

This edition saw a particularly high number of visitors from the Middle East; Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Egypt in particular. Visitor numbers from the US, UK and India were up.

“The data confirms the importance and attractiveness of an event that showcases the very best of Italian and international furnishing”, said Salone del Mobile President, Roberto Snaidero. “The companies are delighted with the quality of attendees and the solid business results achieved over the six days of the fair, thanks to their own commitment and dedication to tackling and overcoming the tough financial situation of the last few years. The Salone therefore constitutes the first signal of the forecast recovery.”

Prime Minister Matteo Renzi referred to this recovery during his visit on the first day of the Salone. As well as recognising the leadership of the exhibiting companies, Mr Renzi emphatically underscored his government’s commitment to supporting the sector, both through specific domestic market development policies and through international promotional activities and support. Visits by several ministers and representatives of all the political parties were testament to the extraordinarily high quality of the sector and the importance of the event.

The theme of the 18th edition of SaloneSatellite, in which 700 emerging designers under 35 took part, was “Life Planet”, proving extremely popular.

The Rho Milan Fairgrounds pavilions also contained Michele De Lucchi’s huge installation “The Walk”, a circular path through the labyrinthine meanderings of the workplace, and architect Dario Curatolo’s installation “IN ITALY”, involving 64 Italian companies and a select group of designers, planners and architects; the installation becomes an app for exploring five interiors – in Lecce, Milan, Rome, Venice and the Val d’Orcia (the Sienese hillside) – in five different styles.

Attilio Stocchi’s installation/event “FAVILLA. To Every Light a Voice”, in Milan’s Piazza San Fedele attracted more than 10,000 visitors. The Salone del Mobile was also one of the supporters of the Leonardo da Vinci 1452-1519 exhibition, which opened on April 16th and is the greatest Leonardo exhibition ever held in Italy.

PHOTO BY SAVIERO LOMBARDI VALLAURI

PHOTO BY CAROLA MERELLO

PHOTO BY ALESSANDRO RUSSOTTI

PHOTO BY SAVIERO LOMBARDI VALLAURI

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SHOWBITZ isahred @ gmail.com

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

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LEVI’S LAUNCHES

COOLMAX

THE GO-TO JEANS THIS SUMMER

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ummer wear is all about cotton sundresses and nifty shorts-and-tank-top pairings— perfect for the season’s scorching heat. But don’t put your denims in storage just yet.

This summer, Levi’s is launching COOLMAX, an innovative collection specially designed to help you withstand sweltering hot weather, all year-round.

Levi’s cutting-edge COOLMAX collection is part of the brand’s “Keep Cool” campaign, which is out to prove that denim is never too hot nor too heavy to wear even during the warmer months.

Kaths Laudit, Levi’s Philippines marketing head, affirms this, explaining that “the main idea of this campaign is to allow Levi’s lovers to wear their favorite denim apparel whatever the temperature is outside.”

The COOLMAX collection includes an assortment of apparels for men and women of different ages.

For men, Levi’s offers the non-denim Levi’s 511 slim cut in three colors (Washed Water Blue, Sand Bar and Plaza Taupe); the classic five-pocket jeans available in three different cuts (504 regular straight, 511 slim, and 513 slim straight); the 508 regular tapered denim shorts; and the classic single-pocket, button-down shirt in soft, breathable cotton blend.

For women, Levi’s offers the “denim for all seasons,” which is available in three different cuts— skinny, straight, and cropped. You can pair these with unstructured tops and chunky accessories or add strappy stilettos in bright hues to crank up the style factor.

Engineered for comfort and woven with COOLMAX fibers that create a cooling effect, this denim collection offers optimum relief from the summer heat, enabling the body to breathe even as it is in constant motion.

COOLMAX, a look-great, feel-great collection that allows the wearer to stay cool and stylish at the same time, offers smartly rendered classic and sophisticated styles, but in fresh washes that are perfectly on trend for the season.

COOLMAX is now available at selected Levi’s retail stores nationwide this summer.

Don’t miss out on exciting campaigns of Levi’s that will roll out for the rest of the year! To be constantly updated, like the Levi’s Philippines Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Levis.philippines or follow the Levi’s Philippines Instagram page at instagram.com/levis_ph/.

Have fun under the sun with your Coolmax Levi’s jeans that are perfect this summer. Look Hot, Keep Cool with Levi’s.

Levi’s Coolmax collection offers a wide array of denim and non-denim apparels for both men and women this summer.

This summer, Levi’s offers Coolmax collection that gives everyone the opportunity to wear denim and non-denim styles all year-round, regardless of the temperature.

Levi’s non-denim pants made of lightweight twill with Coolmax fabric for optimum comfort in hot weather; it’ll be your go-to jean for the season.

Levi’s Coolmax is engineered for comfort and woven with Coolmax fibers that create a cooling effect, which helps the body maintain temperature balance and comfort amid the summer heat.

Everyone can be comfortable with Levi’s Coolmax collection no matter what weather there is outside.

You can be creative with Levi’s Coolmax and step it up a notch by pairing it with your favorite top or chunky accessories

Levi’s Coolmax offers the “denim for all seasons” for women, which is available in three different cuts.

ANNA WINTOUR IN CNN’S ‘TALK ASIA’ Next month, CNN’s Talk Asia is in China to meet fashion icon and Vogue editor Anna Wintour.

One of the most powerful women in fashion, Wintour was in Beijing to announce the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s latest exhibition China Through The Looking Glass, which opens in May. Wintour speaks candidly to CNN’s Kristie Lu Stout revealing her thoughts on Chinese designers and what it takes to become the next big thing in the fashion world. The former high school dropout shares how she developed her love of fashion and what she learned after being fired from Harper’s Bazaar.

An intriguing and insightful 30-minute interview, no topic is off limits; from the controversial Kim Kardashian Vogue cover to the rise of the selfie-stick, from mentoring young designers to women she admires. Wintour also reveals whether she would ever change her trademark haircut.

CNN’s Talk Asia airs on May 7 at 14:30 p.m.; May 8 at 11:30 a.m.; May 9 at 12:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.; May 16 at 7:30 p.m. and May 17 at 12:30 p.m. Manila time.

Vogue editor Anna Wintour is the guest in CNN’s Talk Asia for May

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SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

TATTOO

STRENGTHEN LEADERSHIP WITH ENTERTAINMENT

GMA News and Public affairs offer a breakthrough program for Filipino children with Alamat, a local animation series set to open in July

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‘ALAMAT’ SOON ON GMA

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ilipino children love animation. They support 24-hour cartoon channels, buy the merchandise, and attend events that feature their favorite characters. But the cartoons they watch have foreign themes and the characters they imitate rarely share the same values.

GMA News and Public Affairs will attempt to change this with an animated series that tells Philippine stories and celebrates the country’s own, unique culture.

Entitled Alamat, the series features some of the country’s beloved myths and legends such as Ang Langgam at Tipaklong, Ang Mahiwagang Singsing, Alamat ng Bayabas and Mariang Sinukuan among others.

The program is child-friendly, but Filipinos of all ages will surely be enchanted by these stories.

Alamat will feature the work of talented Pinoy animators, some of whom worked on feature films and TV projects with big studios like Disney, Hanna-Barbera and Cartoon Network. After entertaining audiences worldwide, they are happy to work with GMA and finally create original content for fellow Filipinos.

Lending their voiced to the characters are Glaiza de Castro, Kylie Padilla, Gabby Eigenmann, Louise delos Reyes, Betong Sumaya, Pekto, John Feir, Bea Binene, Jeric

Gonzales, Pen Medina, Roi Vinzon, Love Anover, Maey Bautista, and Tonipet Gaba.

It’s about time that Filipino children watch Filipino cartoons. GMA News and Public Affairs delivers is behind this groundbreaking animated project.

Alamat airs July 2015 on GMA7.

Alamat will feature the work of talented Pinoy animators, some of whom worked on feature films and TV projects with big studios like Disney, Hanna-Barbera and Cartoon Network. After entertaining audiences worldwide, they are happy to work with GMA and finally create original content for fellow Filipinos

CROSSWORD PUZZLE 42 43 44 46 48 49 50 53 59 60 61

ANSWER FOR PREVIOUS PUZZLE ACROSS 1 Blue Grotto site 6 Swarthy 10 Wave maker 14 Fire for hire 15 D’Artagnan prop 16 Not in harbor 17 Charter 18 Do pull-ups 19 Test tube sites 20 House coat (2 wds.)

22 Luxuriant

23 24 26 30 34 35 36 37 38 40 41

— lang syne Banjo kin Influences Cool quaff (2 wds.)

Ouija alternative Pitch-dark Leader of the flock Stratford’s river Girl in “Peter Pan” Prefix for byte Scepter

62 63 64 65 66 67

“Runaround Sue” singer Fists, slangily Taconite (2 wds.)

Spats Geological period Objectives Harbor vessels Garden swayers “If — — a Hammer” Between First course of action (2 wds.)

Burger mate He wrote “Picnic” Buenos — Hoops nickname Cheese coating Twig junctures

DOWN 1 Pay a visit 2 District 3 Jr.’s exam 4 Light pink wine 5 Approximate 6 Window stickers 7 Orchard pest 8 Jockey’s brake 9 Where Mammoth Cave is 10 Got boring 11 Hairy twin

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29, 2015

12 13 21 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 35 38 39 40 42 43 45 46 47 49 50 51 52 54 55 56 57 58

Soldiers in gray Chicken feed Placed Clue Video-game pioneer Party handout Tolkien hobbit Untold centuries Wabash loc.

Sidewalk racer More than willing Gather together Travel stopover Terrier type Fair-hiring abbr.

Clean a fish Vet patient Suds container Wall Street org.

Applied gold leaf “Little Women” sister Straighten Muscle quivers Yikes! (hyph.)

Dress-up occasion Old Dodge model Melange Ask for ID Type of socks Get fresh

he home broadband brand of Globe Telecom, Tattoo recently unveiled its latest broadband plans for new customers with a strong bid to attract more customers and further grow its customer base. With the new broadband plans, customers get exclusive access to a portfolio of entertainment content which allows them to watch movies and basketball games, as well as stream music at the comfort of their homes.

For as low as Plan 1099, Tattoo customers get an exclusive access to Spotify. At Plan 1299, customers get an exclusive access to HOOQ. Combined access to HOOQ and Spotify or NBA starts with Plan 1599 while access to HOOQ, Spotify and NBA begins with Plan 1999 and above. All Tattoo home broadband plans come with minimum speeds of at least 1 Mbps up to 15 Mbps, bundled with free landline, free unlimited calls to Globe and TM, and free Wi-Fi modem.

Globe Vice President for Tattoo Home Broadband Business Jurist Gamban said the brand’s portfolio of global and local partnerships for top-notch entertainment content is expected to further underpin the brand’s leadership in the business amid growing consumer appetite for quality digital content.

Tattoo is now the fastest growing broadband business in the Philippines following impressive gains in revenue growth and customer uptake in 2014. “Our strategy of providing a wealth of entertainment content augurs well with our vision of cementing Tattoo’s leadership position in the market. Tattoo is now well-posi-

tioned more than ever to attract more customers given the comprehensive entertainment portfolio we have built so far that will surely meet the changing digital needs of our customers,” Gamban said.

She added that the inclusion of Spotify, the world’s most popular music streaming service, among the roster of entertainment content provided with the new Tattoo home broadband plans definitely ensures wonderful music experience especially among music-loving customers. With the Spotify’s latest karaoke feature, Tattoo home customers can now their hearts out as they singalong to their favourite tunes.

Following Spotify’s recent app integration with MusixMatch, the world’s largest lyrics catalogue, the ability to sing along to one’s favourite tunes is just a click away. Tattoo customers just need to cue up any song and hit the new Lyrics button, located next to the play bar, to start singing along with the lyrics. They can also search and browse popular lyrics from Spotify’s top songs using the Explore feature.

Aside from Spotify, Globe has a partnership with HOOQ, an online entertainment service provider that boasts of an extensive content library with thousands of movies, television episodes and shows available for users to watch, including titles from partners Sony Pictures and Warner Bros. Entertainment.

Also, Globe Telecom’s partnership with NBA allows customers to experience the game in a different way, enabling them to watch basketball games along with highlights, stats and other features.

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SHOWBITZ isahred @ gmail.com

ABS-CBN WINS AT 2015 NEW YORK FEST A

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

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From C8

bronze medal in the Cinematography category was what ABSCBN won at the prestigious New York Festivals World’s Best TV and Films 2015 for the network’s documentary Yolanda (Haiyan).

“We were told, as I was accepting the award, that the government still needs to fast track help for the Yolanda victims. I hope it does translate to a speedier recovery and at the same time I hope we have all learned our lessons on the tragedy,” says ABS-CBN Integrated News Head Ging Reyes, who received the award along with broadcast journalist Chiara Zambrano.

Finalist certificates were also handed out to ABS-CBN’s morning news magazine program Umagang Kay Ganda for its coverage of Typoon Yolanda, “Wrath of Haiyan,” in the Best Coverage of Breaking News category and Zambrano’s documentary titled Spratlys: Mga Isla ng Kalayaan in the National/International Affairs category.

ABS-CBN’s Compassion and Empathy for Our fellow Man campaign was also cited as a finalist in the News Promotion category.

Last year, ABS-CBN won a silver world

medal in Graphic Design: Promotion/ Open & ID category for Agosto BeinteUno, its documentary on the assassination of Ninoy Aquino, while Failon Ngayon bagged a bronze world medal in Current Affairs category for its episode Tagas ng Minahan, which probed the environmental hazards caused by mining spills.

New York Festival’s World’s Best Television & Films competition honors programming in all lengths and forms from over 50 countries HHHHH On May 10, global fitness leader Zumba will make waves in Circuit Makati with a live Zumba® Fitness-Concert™ event led by Zumba® creator Beto Perez. The event will incorporate the global rhythms and contagious choreography of the Zumba® program for a 90-minute, once-in-a-lifetime experience where participants can burn hundreds of calories and experience an extreme energy high like never before.

Since it’s inception in 2001, Zumba® fitness has helped millions of people sweat off millions of pounds with smiles all around.

Currently with 15 million weekly fans in

BUSY CRISTY

186 countries, the Zumba® program is becoming a hot trend in the local fitness scene of Philippines, attracting followers from different parts of the country.

Beto and his team of Zumba® Celebrity Instructors, musicians and international DJs will gather together in Circuit Makati for the first outdoor Fitness-Concert™ of its kind in South East Asia. Zumba® enthusiasts will look forward to live music and inspiring movements, and witness a historic event that will truly uplift the local fitness culture.

Circuit Makati is Ayala Land’s 21-hectare integrated, mixed-use development anchored on entertainment experiences that brings together Ayala Land’s various product lines—Ayala Land Premier and Alveo for residential, Ayala Malls and Ayala Land Offices, and Seda Hotel. It will be a dynamic urban hub seamlessly complementing the distinct taste for living, leisure, and lifestyle of today’s modern urbanites.

The “Zumba® Fitness Live in Circuit Makati” Fitness-Concert™ brings the venue one step closer to its vision of becoming the entertainment district of Makati. As an advocate of fitness, Circuit Makati gives fanat-

ABS-CBN’s Yolanda documentary was awarded a bronze medal at the New York Festivals

Beto and his team of Zumba® Celebrity Instructors, musicians and international DJs will gather together in Circuit Makati for the first outdoor Fitness-Concert™ of its kind in South East Asia

ics of the Zumba® program the opportunity to dance alongside Beto in a venue that’s located in the heart of the business district.

Beto Perez Live in Circuit Makati is on May 10 at the Globe Circuit Events Ground. Ticket available at smtickets.com

Tacloban City Councilor Cristina Romualdez has her hands fulll with her duties as wife of Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romuldez and mother to her children, she is also busy with Cristina’s Earn and Learn Project apart from managing Patio Victoria in Intramuros, Manila. She might be back in the movies soon as a director is eyeing her to be one of the stars in the upcoming independent film

BY ROBBIE PANGILINAN

W

hen she quit show business to concentrate on starting her own family, Cristina Gonzales never thought she would be this busy again.

“I actually have my hands fuller now than ever before,” says the Tacloban City councilor who is on her third and last term.

Also the city’s First Lady to Mayor Alfred Romualdez, Cristina’s days are filled with public service duties and family responsibilities.

Cristina is keeping her focus on her pet project – Cristina’s Learn and Earn Program, also known as Comprehensive Learning Education Program (CLEP), a learning program that offers easy-to-learn courses like cooking, food preservation, haircutting, manicure, massage, foot spa, sewing, and t-shirt silkscreen since 2007.

“Now we have expanded to offer other courses like heavy equipment operation, basic carpentry, electrical wiring, plumbing, and basic farming skills. To date, we

have about 6,500 completers in Tacloban and we are now partners with TESDA as well,” shares Romualdez. The CLEP has been instrumental in the recovery of survivors of super typhoon Yolanda that devastated Tacloban. CLEP gave them livelihood and the hope of starting anew.

On top of her duties in Tacloban, Cristina finds time to regularly visit Patio Victoria, the events place she owns in in Intramuros, Manila. The beautiful events place is known to provide budget-friendly yet elegant wedding receptions. Patio Victoria has six themes for weddings, debuts and children’s parties in a colorful, stylized ambience.

Mommy Cristina is also excited for her young and beautiful daughter’s embarking into the limelight as a model . Fifteenyear-old Sofia will soon do her first photo shoot and VTR. The doting mother is behind Sofia to build her self-confidence as she is a bit shy. “Unlike her mom,” quips Cristina with a laugh.

If Cristina misses showbiz, her fans miss her, too. So, she was very excited when she learned that she is being eyed for an independent film.

“It’s been a long, long time since I have done any movie,” says Romualdez, known in the big screen in the ‘90s as Kring-Kring Gonzales, one of the sexiest stars and one of the most beautiful actresses of her time.

“I am very excited, not only to be back, but more so because the movie is inspiring.

I really hope people will still watch Filipino movies. Sana the young generation will watch this very inspiring movie. Nowadays, kailangan natin ito, good and moral values for the people,” says Cristina.

The movie will feature four strong women with different stories. The film aims to educate, entertain, and inspire moviegoers to explore what they really believe about God, igniting important conversations and life-changing decisions. An international Filipino director is set to helm the film.

If Cristina misses showbiz, her fans miss her, too. She was very excited when she learned that she is being eyed for an independent film

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ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

SHOWBITZ

TOMDEN FEVER STILL HEATING UP FANS SIMPLY RED ISAH V. RED GMA Network is the Strategic Partner of Dagupan City for this year’s Bangus Festival. The network has an exciting line-up of events featuring some of today’s hottest Kapuso stars from until Labor Day. The members of the cast of Yagit composed – YasmienKurdi, Wowie De Guzman, and ChlauiMalayao, with Healing Hearts stars Joyce Ching, Krystal Reyes, and Kristoffer Martin – participated in the Festivals of the North Parade on April 26.

The Kapuso artists, along with other parade participants, gathered at the Downtown Loop Plaza.

GMA TV Dagupan covered the parade and aired it on its local station.

Camille Prats of Second Chances and GMA News TV’s Mars joined the Bangusine: Bangus International Cuisine Showcase on April 27, 4 p.m. at Dagupan City Plaza.

April 30 is no ordinary Thursday in Dagupan as one of the Network’s most unforgettable on-screen pair graces the Bangusan Street Party.

The TomDen fever surely heats up the celebration with Dennis Trillo and Tom Rodriguez reuniinge on stage for a Kapuso Night at the De Venecia extension road.

Joining them is Kris Bernal.

At 7 p.m. on May 1, Rocco Nacino and Lovi Poe will be at Tondaligan Beach. The stars of the upcoming series Beautiful Stranger will make the evening exciting if not romantic as they grace Dagupan Beach Bodyfest.

GMA Network’s AVP and Head for Regional Strategy and Business Development Division Oliver Amoroso says, “The Network is definitely

looking forward to joining this year’s Bangus Festival. More than this being a venue to show our appreciation for the Pangasinenses’ unwavering support, we are also proud to bring closer to them our Kapuso stars who are more than willing to go out of their way to provide nothing but the best entertainment.”

Highlights of the Network’s participation in the Bangus Festivals will be seen in Let’s Fiesta, a TV special, airing on May 24 on Network’s regional stations in Bicol, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Dagupan, Ilocos, GenSan, Bacolod, and CDO. HHHHH GMA Kapuso Foundation, Inc., headed by GMAKF EVP and COO Mel C. Tiangco, received a donation from the Filipino American Chamber of Commerce Orange County (FACCOC) in California. Its president, Elena Lapid-Salonga, represented the group in making the donation in support of the Foundation’s Yolanda rehabilitation efforts.

The generous donation was the result of a fundraising dinner dance gala with Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Ro-

The TomDen fever surely heats up the celebration with Dennis Trillo and Tom Rodriguez reunite on stage for a Kapuso Night at the De Venecia extension road. Joining them is Kris Bernal

mualdez and Councilor Cristina Romualdez who were the guest speakers at the Radisson Hotel Uptown Whittier on March 14. The fundraiser was for the benefit of Yolanda victims.

FACCOC raised $11,100 in the gala.

The proceeds will be used to support the Foundation’s ongoing projects for the disaster-stricken areas in the Visayas region specifically in Tacloban.

The campaign was borne out of a desire to help Tacloban residents after Lapid-Salonga visited the province saw for herself the pitiable situation first-hand as well as the existing efforts of the Kapuso Foundation. “I saw the housing project and it impressed me,” she says of the Kapuso Village in Tacloban, the first completed housing project in the city, which the Kapuso Foundation will turn over to select beneficiaries this year. “When I went back to the United States, I told the (members of the) organization, ‘We’re going to have a fundraiser. This is for GMA because I saw how they helped the city.’”

On behalf of GMAKF, Tiangco is grateful for the generosity of fellow Filipinos across the globe.

“We are truly grateful for Filipinos overseas who actively participate in the Foundation’s efforts to uplift the lives of their fellow Filipinos back home,” says Tiangco. “Your generosity is the seed with which we can plant new beginnings and bring about renewed hope in their lives.”

Continued on C7

FACCOC President Elena Lapid-Salong turns over the amount the organization raised in its fundraiser for the victims of Haiyan (Yolanda) in Tacloban

Dennis Trillo and Tom Rodriguez are the main attraction in Dagupan City during the city’s annual Bangus Festival.

Also in the celebration are fellow Kapuso stars Rocco Nacino and Lovi Poe with Kris Bernal