The Standard - 2015 August 20 - Thursday by Manila Standard

VOL. XXIX NO. 189 3 Sections 32 Pages P18 THURSday : aUgUST 20, 2015 www.thestandard.com.ph editorial@thestandard.com.ph

TUCP slams Risa’s TV ads

NPC wiLL go Poe To geT ToP RoLe By John Paolo Bencito

A SENIOR member of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) said Wednesday the party will “very likely” throw its support behind Senator Grace Poe because it would no longer be a “second-class citizen” in an alliance with other political parties. “Because Grace is an independent candidate, it’s very inviting for the NPC to support her because we will be the lead political party,” said Senator Vicente Sotto. “You must remember that other members think that if we support the candidate of another political party, we might become secondclass citizens to the [United Nationalist Alliance] or any other political Next page party,” he added.

Trillanes threatens netizens with suit By Maricel V. Cruz and Vito Barcelo

On heightened alert. Security personnel patrol the Ninoy Aquino International Airport to ensure the safety of passengers in the aftermath of the bombing in Bangkok, Thailand recently. Rudy C. SantOS

SENATOR Antonio Trillanes IV brushed aside as “petty” reports that he spent well over his budget for consultants—including his brother who received P71,200 a month—and threatened to sue Facebook users for posting or sharing the “black propaganda.” In a television interview on the ANC news channel after the story broke in The Standard, Trillanes admitted that his brother, Juan Next page

Belmonte rejects call to restore BBL items

Powerhouse Senate slate prepared for UNA

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A2 NPC

From A1... In a statement, Sotto also said he believed the people would be better served if Poe continued the vision of her father, actor Fernando Poe Jr., who ran for president but lost under the slogan “Bayan ang Bida (The Country Comes First).” Running as an independent will also free her from special and political interests and will therefore put her in a better position to fight for the poor— which is what her father would have wanted, Sotto added. The senior NPC member said he believed that the senator would be an “easy sell” to voters because of her inherent qualities from her adoptive parents. “Grace won’t be a hard sell,” he said. “It’s easy to campaign for her. She’s fresh, she’s sincere, she’s tough.” Also on Wednesday, Poe said that she bears in mind the lessons taught to her by her late father, as a response to Sotto’s appeal. “Yes, Yes. With FPJ before, our country is always the first. That’s what I’ve been considering, even at the very start. What would be best for our countrymen because we do have many dreams for our nation that we need to push further,” said Poe. Poe said that she will still remain as an independent despite offers from the Liberal Party and the United Nationalist Alliance. “Yes, because I don’t have any party even before. If there would be people who will support me, as “We’ve run before in a coalition but we’re not a member of any political party. In my work in the Senate, I do have many friends in the different political parties but I still remain faithful to my work,” Poe added. Poe is expected to meet NPC local officials after meeting with NPC lawmakers from the Visayas and Mindanao Tuesday night. Earlier, she and Senator Francis Escudero met with NPC officials from Luzon at the residence of the party’s founder, Eduardo Cojuangco Jr., in Quezon City. In a chance interview, Poe said most of those who attended the meetings expressed their support for her candidacy. She added that she felt more encouraged to run for president after the second meeting. Poe has been leading the latest presidential and vice presidential surveys for the 2016 elections. The neophyte senator has not yet declared her intention to run for either position. Escudero, tagged as the most likely vice presidential candidate if Poe runs for president, said he will support whatever decision Poe will make. The NPC is the second biggest political party after the Liberal Party, which is pushing the presidential bid of Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II. To date, the NPC has two senators, 44 congressmen, 14

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governors, 22 city mayors and 217 municipal mayors. Earlier, at least 12 members of the NPC - all members of the House of Representatives - met with Roxas at the LP’s Balay headquarters in Cubao, Quezon City. Also on Wednesday, the Magdalo party-list group said it will support Poe if she runs for president. Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano said this was the result of an internal survey of the group’s chapters natiowide. The Magdalo group is composed of disgruntled soldiers who participated in the failed mutiny against former president and Pampanga Rep. Gloria-Macapagal Arroyo in 2003. Earlier, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, the founding chairman of the group, declared his group’s support a Poe candidacy, even though he is a member of the Nacionalista Party. Poe thanked the former mutineers. “I thank Senator Antonio Trillanes and the Magdalo for their declaration of support. Wherever politics leads us, I am one with their advocacy and dedication to honestly serve the country,” she said. The Palace said Wednesday some quarters are trying to drive a wedge between Roxas and Poe. Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda also said that they believe that Poe is a Filipino citizen, and denied the LP is the one bankrolling the suits against Poe. “Mar Roxas already said he believes she is a Filipino. It makes no sense for us to invite her to be VP and at the same time attack her,” said Lacierda. Roxas denied Tuesday having any role in the cases filed against Poe over her qualifications to hold public office. In an interview on the sidelines of ceremonies marking his predecessor’s third death anniversary, Roxas said he did not know the petitioner Rizalino David, and did not recall meeting him. “I would like to clarify, eye to eye. I do not know Rizalino David. I have no recollection of him or of even knowing him. We (Liberal Party) have nothing to do (with him). I have nothing to do about the cases he has filed against Senator Grace,” Roxas said. Roxas met Poe Sunday night at her Greenhills residence and invited her to be his running mate, but the senator told the Liberal Party standard bearer that he should not wait for her, and confronted him with information that his men were behind the attacks against her. An election lawyer on Wednesday said David, who filed complaints against Poe with the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) and the Commission on Elections, was guilty of forum shopping, which could lead to a dismissal of the cases. – With Maricel V. cruz, Vito Barcelo, Sandy araneta, rey e. requejo and Pna

Labor group also hits Abaya for ‘arrogance’ THE country’s largest labor organization tore into Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya Wednesday for being arrogant and insensitive to the plight of commuters after he remarked Monday that heavy traffic brought about by the extension of the city train system would not prove fatal. “It is very unfortunate for the Filipino people to have Secretary Abaya as a public servant,” said a spokesman for the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines-Nagkaisa, Allan Tanjusay. “Not only has he been insensitive to the plight of the commuter, he has been inefficient and arrogant.” Last year, the TUCP also criticized Abaya for remarking that riding the MRT was “a personal

decision,” after his department came under fire over safety concerns when a commuter train shot off its tracks and landed on a major thoroughfare, injuring 40 people. “Riding MRT is a personal decision. I won’t go out of my way to convince the people to ride. We all make our own decisions. It’s a free country,” Abaya said at the time. On Tuesday, the leftist Bagong

Alyasang Makabayan said Abaya follows the footsteps of President Benigno Aquino III when it comes to being insensitive to the plight of the people. “For Abaya, the traffic situation is not fatal. Neither are the long lines and decrepit trains of the MRT and LRT. Everything is well as far as they’re concerned,” said Bayan secretary-general Renato Reyes Jr. Hundreds of Facebook and Twitter users expressed their disgust at Abaya, saying it would be better for him to resign. Abaya’s latest statement came days after the Metro Manila Development Authority warned that the traffic buildup would worsen when the expansion of the LRT starts next month. – Joel e. Zurbano

Quezon remembered. President Benigno Aquino III leads the commemoration of the 137th birthday of President Manuel Quezon and the inauguration of the Museo ni Manuel Quezon at the Quezon Memorial Shrine on Wednesday. Malacañang Photo Bureau

Trillanes From A1...

Antonio Trillanes, was indeed one of his consultants, but said he was paid a consultancy fee of P60,000 a month, which he said “is definitely not high.” Senate documents obtained by The Standard, however, showed that the senator’s brother was receiving P71,200 a month, and had earned P427,000 from July to December 2014. Trillanes said his brother served as his representative during confidential meetings. “Everybody is receiving a monthly consultancy fee. I have a security analyst, financial analyst, legal consultants and practically all other aspects of governance that can help me,” Trillanes said. “There are also area consultants meaning in their particular area they are the sounding board, which is very important in legislation because we need to be grounded,” he added. Trillanes said he employs his brother as a consultant as well as another relative as his chief of staff because this is a position of trust. He also said the expenses he racked up for consultancy in 2014 were “a non-issue.” “It’s petty,” he said. Trillanes, who has led a Senate campaign to expose the alleged corruption of Vice President Jejomar Binay, took fire from the Binay camp, which urged him to explain his “overpriced” consultants to the tax-paying public. Citing the story in The Standard, lawyer Rico Quicho, Binay’s spokesman for political affairs, said Trillanes’ brother earned almost half a million over six

months last year. “Senators often blab that a public office is a public trust but when it comes to Senator Trillanes, he lacks transparency and accountability for his actions. Often, he hides from it. If the consultancy fees cannot be justified, then we cannot help but conclude his consultants were overpriced,” Quicho said. Quicho also noted that Trillanes’ brother’s salary is almost twice what a government official with a salary grade of 30 receives. “Surely a person like the senator’s brother and other consultants who were paid P71,200 a month in fees would have solid credentials worthy of being mentioned in Google or LinkedIn but a cursory search yielded zero results,” Quicho said. Trillanes, Quicho added, “must be reminded that his bullying is never a substitute to proper reasoning.” Reps. Jonathan de la Cruz of Abakada party-list and Silvestre Bello III of 1-BAP party-list took a dim view of Trillanes’ threat against Facebook users and urged the senator to come clean. “I don’t think his threat has a leg to stand. I am told the list was issued by the Commission on Audit, and there is nothing... which can prevent anybody from using it,” De la Cruz said. “What the senator can do is to explain the situation, that’s all. Threats will only expose him to further criticism as being onion-skinned.” Bello, a former Justice secretary, said Trillanes should take the criticism. “Look who’s talking. He has been maligning the Binays and all those known to be close to them. Now that he is at the receiving end of valid alle-

gations, he shouts foul,” Bello said The two lawmakers were reacting to Trillanes threat to take legal action against people who shared a Facebook post, which he described as containing “deceitful information about the amount of Senator Trillanes’ consultancy servies.” “May we inform you that this is an entirely false and malicious information at the expense of the Senator’s credibility. “Senator Trillanes’ office has checked its records and there’s not a single consultant who’s earning P94,000. “We also do not have 60 consultants and the COA has not informed our office that an irregularity was committed,” Trillanes said in his private message to users on Facebook. He also dismissed the Facebook post as “black propaganda.” “In this light, may we request that you take down the said black propaganda material that you have posted/ shared on Facebook. Otherwise, we will be inclined to take legal actions against your above-mentioned post. “In the meantime, let us all be vigilant against black propaganda and be cautious of the materials we share on social media. Thank you,” Trillanes said. A Commission on Audit report earlier this year noted that Trillanes’ consultants failed to submit accomplishment reports or even their resumes to justify the feeds paid to them. Senate documents showed that Trillanes spent P1.25 million monthly to pay 55 consultants. This is double the budget allocation for consultancy services for a senator’s office which is P506,262 a month.

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Comelec may consider deal with other bidders THE head of the Commission on Elections on Wednesday said they might consider a deal with Dermalog, Avante and Son of David once the Supreme Court rules against its deal with Smartmatic to manufacture more than 93,000 Optical Mark Reader machines. Comelec chairman Andres Bautista said they were still planning to refurbish the 81,896 Precinct Count Optical Scan machines in case their deal with Smartmatic did not push through. “Commissioner Al Pareño was tasked by the en banc to come up with the protocol as to how to explore this possibility of Dermalog or any other group that wants to try and refurbish these machines,” Bautista told the reporters yesterday. He made his statement even as a youth organization of over 20,000 members slammed the Comelec for its P8-billion contract to refurbish more than 80,000 precinct count optical scan or PCOS machines as part of what it called “predetermined results” of the 2016 presidential election in favor of administration standard bearer Manuel Roxas II. Anakbayan chairman Vencer Crisostomo said with the P8-billion lease of PCOS machines, Comelec officials would get bribes for making the choice of just renting out such equipment, and that part of the P8-

billion deal was the pre-determined results to ensure Roxas would win over Vice President Jejomar Binay and presumptive candidates Senator Grace Poe and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. “We are seeing yellow magic in action,” Anakbayan’s official statement read. “Most of the Comelec officials are appointees of President Benigno Aquino III. Expect massive election cheating in favor of Roxas so he would not suffer the same fate of the other former Presidents: now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo who is languishing in jail.” Bautista said they may consider entering a deal with Dermalog if they could prove to the Commission en banc that the technical provider could refurbish, upgrade and deliver the 81,896 Precinct Count Optical Scan machines by December. “According to them they can do it, but we need to make sure if what they are saying is true,” Bautista said. “We need to check first the ability of Dermalog.” Bautista admitted that during their en banc meeting, they raised the issue and decided to explore all possibilities when opting for the refurbishment contract with Dermalog. Sara Susanne D. Fabunan and Rio N. Araja

Speaker denies bid to restore BBL items By Maricel V. Cruz

HOUSE Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. on Wednesday rejected the request of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission or BTC to restore at least 28 provisions in the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law that the lawmakers deleted. Belmonte said the 98-man ad hoc committee on the BBL led by Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez had come up with a BBL version that was compliant with the Constitution. “We have advanced quite a lot in the BBL. We have to stick to that,” Belmonte said. “Congressman Rodriguez pointed out to me that a lot of the changes we had advocated were basically in the Senate ver-

sion, so if we succeed in approving our version, which is now pending, it’s not quite far from the Senate discussion [to reconcile the two conflicting versions]. “We have been proceeding very cautiously, but very deliberately on this thing [BBL] and what we have done is substantial.” The proposed BBL contained in the substituted House Bill, or an Act Providing Basic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, is now pending plenary approval in the House of Representatives. Belmonte vowed to assemble a quorum during the sessions starting next week to push the approval of the BBL on third and final reading by September. Belmonte and several House leaders met last week with Mohaquer Iqbal, chairman of the BTC and chief negotiator for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, to discuss the restoration

of the deleted provisions. The BTC drafted the BBL and is composed of representatives from the MILF and other sectors from Mindanao. Among the controversial provisions in the measure are the opt-in provision that gives the right to neighboring territories to propose their inclusion in the proposed Bangsamoro autonomous region through the petition of at least 10 percent of the residents and the approval by a majority of the qualified voters in the city or province in a separate plebiscite; the establishment of a Bangsamoro Commission on Audit; the creation of a human rights body that will have jurisdiction over all human rights violations within the region; and the provision empowering the Bangsamoro government to have primary responsibility over public order and safety in the covered territories by giving it control over the police.

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Enrile remains detained at Crame By Rey E. Requejo

Official condolences. Senate President Franklin Drilon and Majority Floor Leader Alan Peter Cayetano hands a Senate resolution acknowledging the contributions of the late Senator Agapito ‘Butz’ Aquino to the senator’s widow, Mrs. Popsy Mendez-Aquino. EY ACASIO

Govt raises alert level in Thailand THE Department of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday raised Crisis Alert Level One over Thailand after the explosion at the Buddhist Erawan temple in Bangkok that killed at least 20 people. The explosion also injured more than 120 people, including a Filipina worker who suffered a hearing injury. “Filipinos are alerted to take necessary precautions,” the DFA said in an advisory Wednesday and advised Filipinos in Thailand to avoid 10 areas specified by the Thai police. The areas are Rajprasong Intersection, Pathumwan Intersection, Silom Road,

Khao San Road, Narathiwat Intersection, Victory Monument, Tuk Chai Intersection, Benjasiri Park, Soi Thonglor and Sukhumvit Road. At the same time, the Armed Forces of the Philippines has also alerted all its units to be extra vigilant and coordinate closely with their police counterparts to foil an Erawan Shrine-style bombing attack from happening in the country.

“I (have) directed our forces to be extra vigilant and conduct measures to prevent similar incident(s) to occur in our country,” AFP chief-of-staff Gen. Hernando Iriberri said. “Our efforts are in coordination with the Philippine National Police and other organizations engaged in security services,” he added. Iriberri said this edict is in line with his orders to make the Philippines inhospitable to all threat groups. As this develops, AFP public affairs office chief Col. Noel Detoyato clarified that there are no indications that similar attacks will take place here.

“There is none as of the moment, but nevertheless, the Chief-of-Staff has ordered our troops to be extra vigilant, (and) this means we will just increase our (security) activities and taskings, “ he stressed. Detoyato said this means military units must be on the lookout “for any indicator, or indications or any relevant information that must be pursued.” Thais have taken to the Internet to crowdsource the identity of the prime suspect in Bangkok’s shrine bombing, but police have appealed for online calm after an Australian model was falsely accused.

DETAINED Senator Juan Ponce Enrile was not released from the Philippine National Police General Hospital in Camp Crame, Quezon City on Wednesday after his lawyers failed to secure an official copy of the promulgated Supreme Court decision allowing him to post bail. According to SC Clerk of Court Felipa Anama, they also could not issue a notice of resolution which Enrile can present to the Sandiganbayan as proof that the high court had indeed granted his petition for certiorari and allowed him to post bail. It was not yet clear as of Wednesday what were the basis of the SC decision and who voted in favor or not to grant the petition for bail of the senator because the SC Public Information Office also could not release details until the decision is officially promulgated. However, it can be recalled that last week, after the SC en banc session where the petition for bill of particulars of Enrile was voted upon, the PIO immediately released the details about it despite the fact the SC decision has yet been promulgated then. SC spokesman Theodore Te clarified that there is no delay in the release of the SC order since Court rules allow each magistrate specific periods within which to submit their concurring and dissenting opinions on any ruling. “There’s no delay since Rule 13, Sections 5 of the Supreme Court Internal Rules which it follows for all cases allows majority and dissenters specific periods within which to write and submit their majority and dissenting opinions,” Te stressed. As of this writing, the SC has not yet released its duly promulgated decision on Enrile’s case. On Tuesday, the SC voted to grant Enrile’s petition for bail.

TUCP slams PhilHealth ads By Vito Barcelo THE Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) criticized the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) for its supposed “misuse” of funds to pay for the political television advertisements of an administration senatorial candidate. “We must stress that PhilHealth’s governing board has a fiduciary duty to conserve the hard-earned contributions of workers for current and future benefit payments,” said TUCP president and former Senator Ernesto Herrera. Herrera was reacting to PhilHealth’s decision to sponsor a series of ads featuring former Akbayan party-list Rep. Risa Hontiveros, who is considered as one of LP’s senatorial candidates. The labor group claimed that the TV ads cost at least P442,000 plus value-added tax every time it is aired for 30 seconds. Hontiveros took her oath of office as PhilHealth board member only last June 30. “The members of the board of directors

(of PhilHealth), even if they are all political appointees, are supposed to insulate the staterun insurer and its funds from partisan political activity,” Herrera said. He said the money spent by Philhealth for the TV ads would have been better spent to help upgrade the health insurance benefits of its members, especially minimum wage workers and salaried employees. All employees are mandated by law to contribute up to P437.50 per month to PhilHealth, excluding the employer’s share. Overseas Filipino workers as well as self-employed members are required to pay an annual premium of P2,400 to P3,600. The 15-member PhilHealth board has nine exofficio members plus six political appointees of Malacañang. The nine ex-officio members are Secretaries Janette Garin, Mar Roxas, Corazon Soliman, Rosalinda Baldoz, and Cesar Purisima, plus Social Security System president Emilio De Quiros Jr., Government Service Insurance System president Robert Vergara, Philhealth president Alex Padilla, and a representative of the National Anti-Poverty Commission.

Lunch is served. Children of the Manila Day Care Center V and VI in

Barangay 649 at the Port Area in Manila get ready to dig in during the launch of a feeding program funded by The Hershey Company, the Manila Department of Social Welfare and Philippine Business for Social Progress. Aside from the five-day weekly feeding program, the project will also include the repair of the day care center and maternal and child health sessions. MANNY PALMERO

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SolGen stands by ‘Torre’ view By Rey E. Requejo The Office of the Solicitor General has stood by its position that the National historical Commission of the Philippines (NhCP) and other cultural agencies have the authority to issue a cease and desist order (CDO) against the P2.7-billion Torre de Manila condominium project. In a five-page manifestation in lieu of comment, Solicitor General Florin Hilbay stressed that the NHCP, the National Commission for the Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the National Museum (NM) were properly notified about the

change in its position on the case. Hilbay cited the consultation held with the agencies where their representatives unanimously agreed with the government’s reconsidered position, including NHCP chairperson Maria Serena Diokno.

The OSG’s new position was incorporated in the position paper it submitted to the Court on July 30, 2015. “At the time, the NHCP’s full conformity to the OSG’s reconsidered position did not come as a surprise considering that the NHCP has publicly expressed its dislike of the Torre de Manila,” the Solicitor General recalled. “Later on the same day, however, the OSG received a letter from Chairperson Diokno, declaring her objection to the OSG’s reconsidered position. In the said letter, Chairperson Diokno stated that ‘the NHCP

‘Ineng’ prompts red alert

DISASTEr officials on Wednesday placed their personnel on red alert for the possible effects of typhoon “Ineng,” which they said could cause flooding and landslides in the north. Civil Defense Administrator did not, does not like the Alexander Pama said the Torre,’ yet expressed that it National Disaster risk reduction is maintaining its stance that and Management Council the NHCP, as a matter of law, raised its alert level to red from cannot do anything about blue starting at 12 noon after Torre de Manila,” Hilbay said. weathermen raised public storm The manifestation came warning signal numbers 1 and 2 after the SC ordered the chief in nine areas in Luzon. state lawyer to comment on A red alert means all disaster the NHCP’s urgent motion to personnel are on standby. replace him as counsel for the The Philippine Atmospheric, agency. Geophysical and Astronomical On August 7, NHCP filed Services Administration placed an “entry of appearance” with the Batanes Group of Islands and urgent motion for clarification Cagayan, including Calayan and praying that the entry of the Babuyan Group of Islands, appearance of lawyers Jose under public storm warning signal Manuel Diokno and Jose no. 2. Winds of 61 to 100 kilometers Dalisay III as counsel for NHCP per hour are expected within at be recognized. least 24 hours in these areas.

Govt printing head ousted

Women of Sultan Kudarat. Leyte Congressman Martin Romualdez (center) joins a group selfie with Muslim women during the celebration of the 68th founding anniversary of the municipality of Sultan Kudarat in Maguindanao. Romualdez expresses gratitude to the people of Sultan Kudarat for helping typhoon Yolanda victims in Leyte. VER NoVENo

Rare PH eagle shot dead

A rArE giant Philippine eagle has been shot dead two months after being released back into the wild following treatment for another shooting, in a blow to efforts to save the species from extinction, conservationists said Wednesday. The raptor’s remains were found on a forest floor last weekend with a gunshot wound on its right breast, three years after it was rescued and treated, the Philippine Eagle Foundation said. It was the 30th to be found dead or wounded out of an estimated population of just 400 pairs in the wild, which reside mainly on the large southern island of Mindanao, its executive director Joseph Salvador said. “Unfortunately, one person with a gun thinks he can shoot anything,” Salvador told AFP, adding no one has been arrested in the latest incident. “The potential to teach people the importance of the eagles to wildlife and biodiversity has been compromised.” Famed for its elongated nape feathers that form into a shaggy crest, the Philippine eagle, one of the world’s largest, grows up to a meter (3.3 feet) long with a two-meter wingspan.

The Swiss-based International Union for the Conservation of Nature lists the species as “critically endangered”, due to the depletion of its tropical rainforest habitat and hunting. Philippine eagles kill macaques and other smaller animals for food and need vast tracts of forest as hunting grounds, routinely driving away rivals from their territory. Gunshots accounted for nine out of every 10 Philippine eagle casualties recorded by the foundation over seven years. The latest bird to be killed had been rescued as a juvenile three years ago and treated for superficial gunshot wounds. returned to the wild in Mindanao’s Mount Hamiguitan reserve two months ago, the eagle’s carcass was tracked about a kilometre (half a mile) away from where it was released, after a fitted radio transmitter indicated the bird had stopped moving. Killing critically endangered Philippine species is punishable by up to 12 years in prison and a fine of up to one million pesos ($21,600). Salvador said the foundation would press charges once the eagle’s killer was found. AFP

THE Office of the Ombudsman has dismissed from government service the head of the National Printing Office and several other officials for grave misconduct. Those dismissed were director Emmanuel Andaya, printing operations chief Josefina San Pedro Samson, chief administrative officer Sylvia Banda, printing operations chief Antonio Sillona, budget officer Bernadette Lagumen and printing office assistant chief Ma. Gracia de Leon Enriquez. They were also imposed the accessory penalties of perpetual disqualification from holding public office, cancellation of eligibility, bar from taking civil service examinations and forfeiture of retirement benefits. Andaya, Banda, Sillona, Lagumen and Enriquez were earlier placed under a preventive suspension by the Sandiganbayan, where they are facing trial for graft for their alleged involvement in the questionable award of a P3.6million government contract to JI Printers Inc. in 2011. Rio N. Araja

This undated handout photo received on August 19, 2015 from the Philippine Eagle Foundation shows Philippine eagle named ‘Pamana’ (inheritance) while on rehabilitation at the PEF center in Davao City. AFP

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Sotto urges Grace: Honor FPJ’s memory SEnATor Grace Poe was prodded on Wednesday to honor the memory of his father, Fernando Poe Jr. (FPJ) , by running as an independent candidate to fulfill his father’s vision to help the poor in this country. This appeal to Grace was made by ardent FPJ supporter Senator Vicente “Tito” Sotto, who on Tuesday called on the senator to reject invitations from the Liberal Party to be the vice presidential candidate of Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel “Mar” roxas II. According to Sotto, who supported FPJ’s presidential bid in 2004, Poe running as an independent “would free her from special and political interests and will

therefore put her in a better position to fight for the poor which is what her father would have wanted.” “I likewise believe that our people would be better served and FPJ’s memory would be better honored if Senator Grace continues the ‘Bayan ang Bida’ vision of FPJ,” Sotto said. The late actor would have turned 76 on Thursday, August 20. Sotto also said he found the LP’s wooing of Grace Poe in bad taste given how some LP members were outspoken critics of FPJ when he ran against Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2004. “We will never forget what they did to FPJ, and neither should Grace,”

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Price damper. Workers transport sacks of Benguet carts from a nearby farm to the La Trinidad trading post. Farmers and wholesalers decry the smuggling of carrots into the Philippine market that has brought down prices of their product. DAVID CHAN

Powerhouse team for UNA By Vito Barcelo

With less than three months before the filing of candidacy for the 2016 national elections, the United Nationalist Alliance led by Vice President Jejomar Binay has come up with the 12 possible senatorial candidates who are considered as “powerhouse team.”

Luneta crisis redux. Members of the Manila Police District’s Special Weapons Action and Tactics reenact a

hostage-taking scenario to improve their skills and prevent a repeat of the Rizal Park hostage crisis of August 23, 2010 that left eight Hong Kong tourists dead. DANNY PATA

Included in the list are Tranquil G.S. Salvador III, former dean of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Pasay, and one of the defense lawyers of ousted Chief Justice renato Corona, Cavite Governor Jonvic remulla; boxing champ and Saranggani representative Manny Pacqiuao; Leyte representative Martin romualdez; Princess Jacel Kiram-Hasan; former senator Miguel Zubiri; Public Attorney’s office chief Persida Acosta; former senator richard Gordon; Pasay City councilor Alma Moreno; rep. Lito Atienza; former senator Panfilo Lacson, and rep. Sherwin Gatchalian. Should Lacson decide to be the running mate of Vice President Binay, he would be replaced by Manila Vice Mayor Isko Moreno, a strong ally of former President now Manila Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada.

18,069 seats up for grabs in 2016 By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan Around 18,000 seats will be up for grabs in the May 9, 2016 national and local polls, according to the Commission on Elections (Comelec). According to Comelec resolution no. 9982, there are a total of 18,069 elective posts to be contested including the president and vice president. Apart from the two top posts, the contested seats include 12 senators; 58 party-list representatives; 235 district congressmen; 81 governors; 81 vice governors; 772

members of Sangguniang Panlalawigan; 144 city mayors; 144 city vice mayors; 1,610 city councilors; 1,490 municipal mayors; 1,490 municipal vice mayors; 11,924 municipal councilors; one ArMM governor; ArMM vice governor; and 24 ArMM assemblymen. In a related development, Comelec resolution no. 9984 said prospective candidates for president, vice president and senators are designated to file their Certificates of Candidacy (CoCs) at the Comelec Law department in Manila, while those who will run for congressmen in Metro Manila shall do so at the

Comelec—national Capital region also in Manila. Candidates for congressmen in the provinces as well as provincial officials shall file their CoCs at the concerned office of the Provincial Election Supervisor (PES). Similarly, those running for congressmen in independent cities, cities and municipalities shall file their CoCs at their respective office of the city/municipal election officers (Eos). Finally, those running for the ArMM governor and vice governor will submit their CoCs at the office of the ArMM regional director, while those for ArMM

assemblymen will file theirs at the concerned PES. “The CoC shall be filed by the aspirant or through a duly-authorized representative with a sworn and signed Authority to File the CoC,” Comelec resolution no. 9984 stated. “no CoC shall be filed by mail, electronic mail, or facsimile shall be accepted”. The resolution added that the Certificate of nomination and Acceptance (ConA) of political parties should be submitted with the CoCs of their nominated candidates or else risk their candidates being declared as ïndependent.

Binay’s possible running mate was trimmed from eight to four, including senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., Sen. Miriam defensor Santiago; former senator Manuel Villar and Lacson, according to an official from the Coconut Palace. Former senators Gordon and Zubiri who ran but lost under the unA party in 2013, are now included among the top contenders in a poll survey for the senatorial bets in the 2016 elections. “definitely that will be the final lineup of unA in the 2016 elections,” the source told the Standard. But the source said that there might be sudden changes in the filing date and slots were reserved for Cavite rep. Lani Mercado-revilla; Senator Vicente “Tito” Sotto III and election lawyer romulo Macalintal.

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

COMMISSION ON APPOINTMENTS ANNOUNCEMENT President Benigno S. Aquino III has submitted to the Commission on Appointments (C.A.) for confirmation the nomination and ad interim appointments of the following officials: Department of Foreign Affairs Jesus S. Domingo - Chief of Mission, Class I, as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to New Zealand with concurrent jurisdiction over the Republic of Fiji, the Kingdom of Tonga and the Independent State of Samoa (nomination); Bryan Jess T. Baguio – Foreign Service Officer, Class II (ad interim appointment) Armed Forces of the Philippines (ad interim appointments) Rolando V. Picar and Arnold M. Quiapo - Major General; Leoncio A. Cirunay, Jr., Francisco V. Carada and Joel D. Celino - Brigadier General The public may submit any information, written report or sworn complaints or oppositions in forty (40) copies on the above nomination and appointments to the CA Secretariat, 6th Floor, PNB Financial Center, DiosdadoMacapagal Blvd., Pasay City, Metro Manila. For the schedule of the public hearings, the CA Secretariat can be reached through telephone numbers 551-7532, 831-0893, 831-1824, 834-2706, 831-1566 and 834-2713. 19 August 2015. ARTURO L. TIU Secretary (TS-AUG. 20, 2015)

T H U R S D AY : A U G U S T 2 0 , 2 0 1 5

OPINION

ADELLE CHUA EDITOR

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

OPINION

VIEW FROM MALCOM ATTY. HARRY ROQUE JR.

THE IGLESIA’S RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

[ EDI TORI A L ]

SETTING THE BAR WHEN President Benigno Aquino III was still only Candidate Aquino, he dazzled the electorate with promises of change. The public, frustrated at the allegations of corruption during the Arroyo administration and desperate for a rallying point, took notice of Aquino, the only son of a martyred senator and a former President who had died after battling cancer. Aquino won by a considerable margin, a sign that the people were looking for new blood, a fresh face. How catchy his mantra was—“kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap.” Five years after the election that catapulted Aquino to the presidency, poverty has not gone down and inequity has become more gaping. Worse, Aquino and his team appear oblivious to their failures. They operate on the belief that they are the best thing that happened to the country and those who criticize them are agents of the enemy, out to sabotage development so the country could go back to the old, dark days. Fantastic, for instance, are their attempts to put a positive spin to or play down the various failures of the administration. Traffic is a sign of economic progress, they say. And it is not fatal, anyway, so the public must simply grin and bear it. Government spending to boost the economy? Not too much, they say, lest they are accused of impropriety. The result is an underwhelming growth rate that sadly should have translated to a narrowed income gap, and better prospects for more Filipinos at the bottom of the heap. Glowing promises of public-private partnership in infrastructure have also failed to materialize. Five years since those promises were uttered, however, the number of PPPs that have been felt by the people has been lackluster. Less than a year before it ends, the Aquino administration has set the bar so low that Filipinos now expect very little from their government and will be thankful for small mercies—like being alive.

BACKSTABBERS LOWDOWN JOJO A. ROBLES MEMO to Senator Grace Poe: You might want to compare notes on backstabbing by the Liberal Party with Joel Villanueva over at Tesda. I’m not a fan of Villanueva, the head of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, who likes to be addressed as “Secretary.” But I think Villanueva has a strong case against the now-famous backstabbers in the LP, whom he says engineered the filing of corruption charges

against him. Here’s the story: Villanueva’s father Brother Eddie received two important visitors recently at his hospital room. Brother Eddie, one of the spiritual advisers of President Noynoy Aquino, had been hospitalized for some time when he was visited by Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas and Budget Secretary Florencio Abad Jr. The Villanueva family thought Roxas and Abad were merely paying the born-again pastor a purely social call when they inquired about his condition. Told that the founder of the Jesus Is Lord Movement was getting better, the two visitors left after some small talk.

The following day, the younger Villanueva was officially declared to have been included in the so-called “third batch” of abusers of the pork barrel scheme, as drawn up by the Department of Justice. And neither Roxas nor Abad bothered to tell the founder of the Jesus Is Lord Movement that his son had already been charged with corruption the night before. Tesda’s Villanueva, who was accused of misappropriating his pork barrel funds when he was still a congressman, honestly believes that both Roxas and Abad already knew that he was included in the list of those about to be charged in the third batch when they visited his fa-

If it weren’t Villanueva who was charged, some other Malacañang ally would have been.

ther. Sources in the JIL who are close to the family say that the visit was paid to the pastor’s bedside merely to find out if the elder Villanueva was healthy enough to absorb the news the following day that his son had been accused of corruption. No wonder Villanueva accused Roxas and Abad of ordering the takedown on him. After all, his father’s two visitors could easily have excluded him from the list—or at least warned him that charges against him were about to be filed. Of course, a lot of people think that if it weren’t Villanueva who was charged, some other Malacañang ally would have been, if only to give the third batch a veneer of credibility. Unfortunately for Villanueva, the LP decided that he was “it.”

But I agree it was really low of Roxas and Abad to go after Villanueva, especially because they gave no inkling about it to his father, whom they visited the night before the filing of charges were declared. It’s low, even for backstabbers allied with this administration. *** The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board really had no choice but to declare the app-based ride service Uber “legitimate” when it applied for a license this week. At the rate the Aquino administration is obliterating the public transportation

Published Monday to Sunday by Philippine Manila Standard Publishing Inc. at 6/F Universal Re Building, 106 Paseo de Roxas, corner Perea St., Legaspi Village, Makati City. Telephone numbers 832-5554, 832-5556, 832-5558 (connecting all departments), (Editorial), 832-5546, (Advertising), 832-

system and allowing the daily gridlock on Metro Manila’s streets, how would it look if LTFRB went after a service that commuters actually patronize in order to improve the quality of their lives? If the agency had made good on its promise of seizing the vehicles of Uber drivers and those of other similar services, that would make the LTFRB as insensitive as, say, Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya. And of course, I know that LTFRB is an agency attached to Abaya’s department. I’m pretty certain the franchising body didn’t consult the secretary before

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deciding on the Uber issue. If it had, it would have denied approval, because that’s just how Abaya rolls. *** One suck-up in that whole House of Suck-Ups has decided to call for President Noynoy Aquino to return the favor given by Mar Roxas six years ago and “slide down.” This means Aquino—who is not barred from running for a lower position after his term ends next year —should run as Mar’s vice presidential candidate, to ensure that the country continues on the daang matuwid. Continued on A11

MST Management, Inc. Philip G. Romualdez Arnold C. Liong Former Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno Jocelyn F. Domingo Ron Ryan S. Buguis

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Ma. Isabel “Gina” P. Verzosa Head, Advertising Solutions Anita F. Grefal Treasury Manager Edgar M. Valmorida Circulation Manager

I’M perplexed and disturbed by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima’s continuing investigation against the Iglesia ni Cristo for an alleged incident of abduction. To begin with, the National Bureau of Investigation, the investigative arm of the DOJ, had already conducted an investigation and has concluded that there was no abduction. According to Atty. Manuel Eduarte, head of the NBI’s Anti-Organized Transnational Crime Division, the case of the alleged abduction is “case closed.” Despite this, De Lima has declared that she will continue her investigation. Doe this mean that De Lima des not trust her own investigative branch? Or does this mean that as an election lawyer prior to her entry into government 7 years ago, that she is better qualified to conduct the investigation even if she has absolutely no experience as a crime investigator? The fact that she is a sitting Secretary of Justice insisting on the investigation of a closed case and despite the absence of a complainant brings to mind the act of former secretary of Justice, Raul Gonzalez, threatening telecommunication and broadcast companies against the playing of the “hello Garci” tape. According to the Supreme Court, such a threat, albeit said verbally and not reduced into writing, constitute a violation of freedom of expression: “In resolving this issue, we hold that it is not decisive that the press statements made by respondents were not reduced in or followed up with formal orders or circulars. It is sufficient that the press statements were made by respondents while in the exercise of their official functions. x x x Any act done, such as a speech uttered, for and on behalf of the government in an official capacity is covered by the rule on prior restraint. The concept of an act does not limit itself to acts already converted to a formal order or official circular. Otherwise, the nonformalization of an act into an official order or circular will result in the easy circumvention of the prohibition on prior restraint.” Ergo, mere utterances made by De Lima may be sufficient to violate protected rights. While I concede that freedom of speech is not involved in De Lima’s continuing resolve to investigate the INC, the reality is that freedom of religion is as important as freedom of expression. Under the Constitution, freedom of religion is a guarantee that the state will not interfere with the freedom to believe, referred to as the “free exercise clause”; and that the state will not favor a religion, referred to as the “establishment clause.” Under the latter, the duty includes the obligation not to interfere with the affairs of a church. Continued on A11 Rolando G. Estabillo Jojo A. Robles Ramonchito L. Tomeldan Chin Wong/Ray S. Eñano Francis Lagniton Joyce Pangco Pañares Adelle Chua Romel J. Mendez Roberto Cabrera

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T H U R S D AY : A U G U S T 2 0 , 2 0 1 5

OPINION

ADELLE CHUA EDITOR

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

OPINION

VIEW FROM MALCOM ATTY. HARRY ROQUE JR.

THE IGLESIA’S RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

[ EDI TORI A L ]

If it weren’t Villanueva who was charged, some other Malacañang ally would have been.

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MST Management, Inc. Philip G. Romualdez Arnold C. Liong Former Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno Jocelyn F. Domingo Ron Ryan S. Buguis

Chairman President & Chief Executive Officer Board Member & Chief Legal Adviser Director of Operations Finance Officer

Ma. Isabel “Gina” P. Verzosa Head, Advertising Solutions Anita F. Grefal Treasury Manager Edgar M. Valmorida Circulation Manager

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Emil P. Jurado Chairman Emeritus, Editiorial Board

T H U R S D AY : A U G U S T 2 0 , 2 0 1 5

A10

OPINION lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

CRIMINAL WASTE OF PUBLIC MONEY TO THE POINT EMIL P. JURADO

I HAVE been asking myself: Why is nobody accepting the invitation of Secretary Manuel Roxas II to be his running mate? Roxas is the anointed one of President Benigno Aquino III. Not Senator Grace Poe Llamanzares, who obviously believes that she herself can become President with Senator Chiz Escudero as her running mate. Her body language says it all—she walks with confidence, waving to the public like a sure winner. Not Batangas Governor Vilma Santos, whose husband Senator Ralph Recto would rather have her continue as leader of the province. Vilma could be a possible winner with all the Vilmanians cheering her on. Not Rep. Leni Robredo, whose head is still in the right place. She knows her limitations. She would rather continue to be congresswoman for the third district of Camarines Sur, or perhaps, run for the Senate. In the first place, what are her credentials to become vice president? Is the death of her husband Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo a ticket to the vice presidency? My grandson answered my question: Because Mar Roxas is not “winnable.” If he goes down, his running mate will likely lose, as well. As the filing of the Certificates of Candidacy approaches, the President and Mar may have to settle with a member of the administration coalition, like Alan Peter Cayetano, a Nacionalista. But, then, there’s Senator Bongbong Marcos, another NP, who is also running for the presidency. Or, Marcos may just settle as the running mate of Vice President Jejomar Binay—a win-

ning combination. Abangan. *** So, Senator Antonio Trillanes is not so holy after all. Trillanes tries to convince us that he is immaculate when he accuses the Vice President and his family of corruption and ill-gotten wealth. But now we hear that the Commission on Audit has found out that the senator has hired his brother as his consultant, with a salary of P71,200 a month. This means that the brother raked in P427,000 from July to December 2014. And to think that his other consultants get only as much as P3,500 a month. Trillanes has a total of 55 consultants, my gulay. What do they do? Carry his briefcase or polish his shoes? The COA found that Tr i l l a n e s pays his consultants way higher than the Senate budget allows. The finger of blame points to S e n a t e President Franklin Drilon who approves all this abuse and misuse of the people’s money. Santa Banana, the work of all these consultants cannot even be ascertained, much less justified, because their services are considered “confidential in nature.” What bull. For a body like the Senate which readily investigates members of the Executive and the Judiciary on alleged anomalies, it’s the height of hypocrisy. It turns out that the Senate itself misuses and abuses the people’s money. Drilon has a lot of explaining to do. *** Senator Koko Pimentel should put into action his statement about requiring the previous leadership of the Commission on Elections to explain why it took more than a year to decide on the upgrade and refurbishment of 81,896 units of the Precinct Count Optical Scan machines purchased from

Are we supposed to believe what the Comelec is saying?

A JAPANESE APOLOGY DUTY CALLS FLORENCIO FIANZA FROM May to August of every year, various obligatory commemorations are held to mark the end of the World War II. In Europe, the conflict came to an end when Nazi Germany surrendered to the Western allies on May 7, 1945 in a school house in Reims, France. Russia celebrates this day with a huge parade in Moscow often taking the occasion to showcase new armaments. This year, it was the new battle tank, the Armata that took center stage. This year’s celebration, however, was boycotted by the West because of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Nonetheless, this did not prevent Russia from staging a truly spectacular show with China’s President Xi Jinping as the principal guest. May 7 in Europe is not celebrated like the way Russia does. Instead, the Normandy invasion of June 6 by the allies is celebrated with a lot of fanfare. All participants in the war in Europe are there to mark the occasion which includes Germany, the principal enemy in the last war. This may be a little difficult for the likes of China and South Korea to fathom considering what Nazi Germany did during the war, like the murder of more than six million people, not to mention the other wartime atrocities that Germany committed. But perhaps the countries in Europe are Smartmatic-TIM in 2012 for billions of pesos. The machines were used in the 2013 elections. It now appears that Smartmatic had an extended warranty offer for the repair and refurbishment. The poll body dillydallied for more than a year on the matter. And then, Comelec, under former Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr., signed a negotiated contract with Smartmatic-TIM on Jan. 30, 2015—two days before Brillantes retired from his post. With this, Brillantes exhibited his undying love for the Venezuelan service provider. Fortunately, the Supreme Court voided the contract for violating the law on public bidding. The delay in the upgrade and refurbishment of the old PCOS machines

more willing to look into the future rather than the past because of the belief that Germany has done enough to atone for what it has done. War in the Pacific lasted three months longer. Japan only surrendered after Hiroshima and Nagasaki were subjected to the first nuclear bombs in history killing hundreds of thousands of people. Only then did Japan surrender unconditionally on August 15, 1945. This date is commemorated in Japan with solemnity and is eagerly awaited by its neighbors for signs of what they term as acts of contrition. The one held a few days ago was no different. Prime Minister Abe once again expressed the traditional remorse but stopped short of offering his personal apology which was what South Korea and China had been waiting for. Emperor Akihito also expressed his remorse for what happened during the Second World War—the first for the Emperor. Of the many countries in Asia that Japan invaded and occupied during the Second World War, only the Philippines seems to have come to terms with what Japan did. Although the country does not commemorate the end of the War, the surrender of the USAFFE forces in Bataan on May 9, 1942 is celebrated every year together with the Ambassador of Japan in attendance. Nowhere in Asia is this done except in the Philippines. The country also suffered the brutality of resulted in a tight time frame for the preparations for the May 2016 polls. Now, the Comelec is forced to lease 93,977 new Optical Mark Reader machines for use in the automated elections next year at a cost of more than P7.928 billion. My gulay, those old PCOS machines cost taxpayers more than P9.322 billion. These are now sitting idly in a warehouse in Laguna and the government is reportedly paying P800,000 a month in storage fee, or a total of P21.6 million for the 27 months of storage from June 2013 to August this year. If the Comelec under Brillantes had only acted with urgency, those PCOS machines could have been put in proper condition and upgraded if necessary

Japanese occupation culminating in the Battle for Manila in 1945 wherein about 100,000 civilians were killed by the Japanese. Yet it is able to move on. Not so the Chinese and Koreans. For the Chinese, the war started much earlier. Depending on one’s reckoning, it could be 1931 or 1937. The war there was fought with much brutality characterized by the so-called rape of Nanking and the notorious medical experiments by the Japanese Army in Manchuria. Both China and Japan are still unable to come to terms with what happened during the last war. It still affects their bilateral relations and by extension, their conflict in the East China Sea. For South Korea, the issue is a lot more complicated. It involves the cruel colonization of Korea by Japan which the Koreans up to this time have not forgotten. The two countries which are ironically both allies of the United States and both democratic cannot seem to come to terms with their relationship. Their relationship is still stuck in a time warp defined by what happened in the past. ***** One of the more controversial activities of Japanese politicians is visiting the Yasukuni Shrine where about 2.5 million Japanese war dead are enshrined including more than 20 war criminals. South Korea and China— and to a certain degree, the United States—are the most vocal critics of this practice. To them, visits

to the shrine clearly show attempts by Japanese politicians to whitewash the past and distort history. There are clearly many and varied reasons why the Japanese continue to do this. One reason perhaps is religion. As it happens, the Japanese practice ancestral worship. It is clear, however, that there are Japanese politicians who do not think that Japan has anything to be apologetic about. These people seem to forget that the victors do not only get the spoils of war but also get to write the history. So it is probably better for Japan to express its sincerest apologies and stop denying what clearly happened during the war and move on. Eventually, China and South Korea will be deprived of a reason to complain and will be forced to rethink their positions. Japan today is different country. It is now prosperous and democratic. It also has a pacifist constitution which Prime Minister Abe is trying to tinker with on account with its standoff with China in the East China Sea. In spite of this, however, a sizable portion of the Japanese public are clearly opposed to what Prime Minister Abe is doing. China, on the other hand, which was invaded by Japan in the 1930s and humiliated by the Western powers in the last 200 years, is resurgent and powerful. It is also claiming 90 percent of the South China Sea and it is behaving like Japan in the 1930s. Times have really changed.

for use in next year’s elections. And the Comelec could save us the P7.928 billion that it will pay Smartmatic for the lease of those new OMRs. Recall that the Comelec did not go through the procedural rigmarole. It consulted its legal department on the extended warranty offer, conducted bids for the upgrade and refurbishment of the old machines, disqualified bidders, reduced the bid price, then increased the bid price to a level even higher than the original amount, declared two failures of bidding and finally scrapped the budget altogether. The convenient excuse: lack of time to put the PCOS machines in proper condition. Now, the Comelec finds itself under intense fire for

what it failed to do, and for what it is doing. The fact is, people suspect that all its moves are scripted. Note that despite having been disqualified a number of times in public biddings, Smartmatic had time and again emerged as eventual and consistent winners of those Comelec projects that netted it billions of pesos. Significantly, and although they voted for it, newly-appointed Commissioners Rowena Guanzon and Sheriff Abas expressed reservations about the Comelec decision, saying they voted with great sadness and a heavy heart. Are we supposed to believe them? I have long suspected an unholy alliance between Comelec insiders and the Venezuelan company.

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OPINION lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

MINORITY REPORT DANILO SUAREZ THE Supreme Court’s decision to grant Senator Juan Ponce Enrile’s request for bail is a sound one. Voting 8-4, the SC finally allowed Enrile to post bail for P1 million, subject to the terms and conditions to be specified by the High Court. No one can argue against the fact that JPE is already 91 years old and, we should not forget, under the Revised Penal Code, because he is over 70, he can plead the mitigating circumstance of age in order to lower his sentence. For the same reason, he can apply for executive clemency when convicted. Since JPE was indicted and was charged with the non-bailable crime of plunder, the good senator has been for the most part, under hospital arrest in Camp Crame. His petition for bail was filed close to a year back and from what I have been hearing from the grapevine, the decision to grant JPE the right to post bail is actually long overdue and could have

POP GOES THE WORLD JENNY ORTUOSTE “HINDI naman siguro fatal ‘yan.” Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya was recently quoted in a The Standard news item as having said this on TV Patrol about the traffic gridlock that is expected to result from the construction of the Light Railway Transit (LRT-2) extension project that starts next month. The news item also mentioned that by “not fatal”, Abaya said he meant “not burdensome to the daily lives of the people.” What is Abaya on? Doesn’t he realize the gravity, the urgency, the tragedy of the Manila traffic situation? If an ambulance carrying a patient arrives at the hospital late, and the patient dies because of the delay, then that’s just one example how the traffic situation can literally be fatal. What if that patient were Abaya himself? How would he feel about the traffic, then? We’re not even mentioning lost man-hours and productivity, wasted time and effort, and stress resulting from the worsening traffic condition. That’s “not burdensome to daily lives”? Just last Friday (Aug. 14), the construction of the Skyway extension caused an

ADELLE CHUA EDITOR

A11

The Iglesia’s.. From A9

DECISIONS been granted earlier. The allegation is actually not farfetched, knowing the penchant of this administration for selective justice—that of outright disregard for the transgressions of political allies while going all out for critics and those on the other side of the political fence— something which has been so commonplace under this administration. This is the reason I find Secretary Coloma’s declarations “assuring” the public that government’s resolve to fight corruption would not be diminished amid the high court’s decision, totally distasteful and hypocritical. How come we haven’t seen this commitment affecting Cabinet members of BS Aquino who have been embroiled in weightier cases of graft and corruption? *** Going back to the issue of the citizenship of Senator Grace Poe, I firmly believe that it is high time for

the Senate Electoral Tribunal to convene and finally settle this issue. It is unfair to both the senator and her supporters who are expecting to see her name among the presidential candidates come 2016, to keep the case dangling when it can already be resolved. Although I support her right to defend her case, I remain uncomfortable with the fact that she actually once decided to change her citizenship. As I stated in last week’s column, leaving your nationality for another is a big statement on your loyalty to your original country; and that the economic improvement of your family is a weak argument for renouncing your citizenship. After all, the US allows residency even if you do not become a US citizen. Let me point out the significant difference between a “permanent resident” and “US citizen”. A permanent resident or a green card holder is someone who has

been granted the right to live in the United States indefinitely, without losing or needing to renounce his or her original citizenship. These residents also have the right to work and to petition close family members to receive permanent residence status as well. If you become a US citizen through the process of naturalization, you are required to swear the Oath of Allegiance and renunciation (in a public naturalization ceremony). You must establish that you will discharge the obligations of the Oath of Allegiance and will support and defend the Constitution of the US. If Senator Poe was just interested in obtaining legal status to live and work in the US, she did not have to abandon her Filipino citizenship. She could have just opted to be a permanent resident instead. For this reason alone, her sincerity to serve as an elected official is automatically burdened already.

A FATAL SITUATION eight-hour traffic jam from 10 a.m. onward that made hundreds, if not thousands, of airline passengers late for their flights, if not missing them entirely. With cars barely moving along Airport Road, Sucat Road, and Andrews Avenue —major thoroughfares leading to the airport terminals— many people chose to walk to the airports just to make their flights, those with heavy luggage renting more maneuverable pedicabs and tricycles, some of whose drivers took the opportunity to price-gouge. We can argue that major infrastructure projects like the Skyway and LRT-2 extensions are important and will contribute benefits to commuters. However, over the years that they are being constructed, they will cause tremendous inconvenience. The MRT should have helped alleviate this somewhat; instead, its cars are falling apart, it has operational problems and too few cars to meet demand, and lines to ride it stretch for blocks. Who oversees the Department of Transportation and Communication’s performance? Other government agencies, especially government-owned and –controlled corporations, are tightly monitored by bodies such as

the Governance Commission pines, Laos, Malaysia, Thaifor GOCCs on their targets, land, and Indonesia, among balanced scorecards, and such others, will discuss the needs indicators of performance. If and challenges of regional ina GOCC fails to meet at least tegration, literature, and lit90 percent of their targets for erary education in ASEAN, the year, their employees do while poet Marne Kilates, aunot receive any performance thor and educator Mario Mibonuses. clat, and others will delve into Does the DOTC have any the importance of translation targets or performance pain a panel discussion. rameters? Where’s their perE-mail convenor Michael formance evaluation? Can Coroza at mcoroza@ateneo. we see this? Because based edu or secretariat head Louie on their impact on people’s Jon A. Sanchez at lsanchez@ lives over the past five years ateneo.edu for details. of the current administraMeanwhile, the Philippine tion, the DOTC headed by Literary Festival is set for Abaya since 2012 has failed Aug. 28-30 at Raffles Makati. to provide solutions to the Krip Yuson, Butch Dalisay, MRT problem despite hav- Cristina Pantoja-Hidalgo, ing all the time and resources and Marivi Soliven will disrequired to do so, thus mak- cuss “Novel Writing Today” ing the traffic situation even on Aug. 29. Meg Wolitzer more intolerable. (The Interestings) and MatTheir performance in this thew Quick (The Silver Linregard is abysmal, and they ings Playbook) will hold talks should be held accountable and book signings. for this. Nor should they be There will also be othgetting any performance bo- er panel discussions, book nuses either. launches, and talks featuring Not fatal? Not burden- today’s most active, visible, some? Really, now. and prolific writers, illustra**** tors, and other bookish folk. Literary news: the Unyon Visit www.philippineliteraryng Manunulat sa Pilipinas festival.com for events and will host the Association of schedules. Southeast Asian Nations Lit*** erary Symposium on Aug. Facebook: Jenny Ortuoste, 26-28 at the Escaler Hall of Twitter: @jennyortuoste, InsAteneo de Manila University. tagram: @jensdecember, Blog: Speakers from the Philip- http://jennyo.net

Perhaps, De Lima’s action may be justified had there been no prior investigation conducted by competent authorities. But the best investigative arm of the government has precisely declared the matter as “case closed.” This, then, makes De Lima’s acts suspect for violating the INC’s freedom of religion. It is tantamount to interference with what clearly is an internal strife within the INC, assuming that there indeed is an ongoing one. What makes matters worse is that like me, De Lima is also mulling a run for the Senate. It is no secret that the INC is politically influential because it resorts to bloc voting in elections. Her act therefore, aside from constituting unjustified interference with church affairs, appears to be politically motivated. But unlike ordinary politicians who will court the INC, she is resorting to a modified form of “hulidap”: political blackmail. Her act could be construed as “support me and my party or I file charges against you in court.” All public officials, and even ordinary citizens, have the duty to uphold our penal laws. That is why even ordinary citizens are empowered to resort to citizen’s arrest when a crime is committed in their presence. So did De Lima witness such a crime or is she inventing one given the NBI’s earlier terminated investigation? The INC has had invaluable contribution to our jurisprudence on freedom of religion. In one case, our Supreme Court nullified a law that recognized a “closed-shop” policy that prohibits the hiring of non-union members. Jovito Salonga, my grand uncle, successfully argued that the law violates the religious freedom of the INC since it prohibits its members from joining unions. In another case, which is one of my favorites, the Supreme Court declared that the broadcast of the INC’s attacks against the catholic church is protected speech: “The bedrock of freedom of religion is freedom of thought and it is best served by encouraging the marketplace of dueling ideas. When the luxury of time permits, the marketplace of ideas demands that speech should be met by more speech for it is the spark of opposite speech, the heat of colliding ideas that can fan the embers of truth.” To be sure, the INC is no stranger to government’s persistent bullying. What De Lima and her party mates should learn from history is that the INC has never given in to such bullying and will go to court to assert its freedom of religion. Kudos to the INC!

Backstabbers.. From A8 I don’t know if this brown-noser is on medical marijuana. But I think this congressman is really no friend of either Aquino or Roxas. It’s bad enough that Roxas’ campaign can’t get out of the cellar, never mind if it is backed up by a presidential endorsement, a humongous war chest and the biggest political party in the land. A throwback combination with Aquino is not going to turn his political fortunes around or even that of the current President’s. If both Roxas and Aquino are determined to lose in 2016, then they should team up. The result, unless some PCOS magic is performed, will be their mutual defeat.

A12

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A14

SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

Warriors rally to tame Wildcats By Mikey Izumi

CEBU CITY—he University of San Carlos Warriors bucked a sluggish start to score a come-from-behind victory over the Cebu Institute of Technology Wildcats, 83-75, for their third straight victory in the 15th Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. men’s basketball tournament at the Cebu Coliseum last Tuesday.

First semifinalist. Ateneo’s Joshua Villanueva (right) hammers in a kill against Emilio Aguinaldo College’s Mark Arias

(5) and Kerth Melliza during their key Spikers’ Turf showdown at The Arena in San Juan yesterday. Ateneo bucked Howard Mojica’s league-record 41 hits as it subdued EAC, 25-21, 20-25, 25-23, 25-23, in a duel of collegiate champions to clinch the first semifinal berth in the Season 1-Collegiate Conference at The Arena in San Juan yesterday. In a clash of high-flying, power-hitting spikers, the Eagles prevailed over the Generals as Marck Espejo, Ysarel Marasigan, Joshua Villanueva and Rex Intal combined for 58 hits to negate Howard’s astounding performance spiked by 38 kills he laced with two aces and a block. But the Eagles played more as a team with Espejo leading the attack with 25 points and Marasigan, Villanueva and Intal backing him up with 12, 11 and 10 markers, respectively as the reigning UAAP titlists stretched their win run to five with two more games left in the single round, carry-over quarters of the league presented by PLDT Home Ultera.

The Warriors, who last played on Aug. 9, showed signs of rust in both offense and defense and trailed 2643 by halftime. They cut the lead to 11 points at the end of third, 59-48, mainly on the efforts of wingman Ian Jefferson Tagapan, who took over the scoring for the Warriors. In the fourth quarter, the Warriors of Coach Britt Reroma clamped down on defense against the fast-fading Wildcats and went on a scoring frenzy capped by a triple by Ian Ortega with 1:31 left in the game to push the Warriors’ lead to 80-75, en route to the win that moved them into second place behind the pacesetting University of Visayas Green Lancers (4-0). Tagapan finished with a near double-double of 29 points and nine rebounds and added two steals. Cameroonian import Shooster Olago posted his

usual solid numbers with 17 points, 16 rebounds and four steals, but it was the small forward Ortega, who earned Best Player of the Game honors from Viva Sports TV panelists Rico Navarro and Sandi Grumo because of his clutch plays down the stretch. Ortega finished with 13 points, three rebounds and five assists. CESAFI’s leading scorer Joshua dela Cerna led CIT-U with 27 big points and eight rebounds, while Steven Bucao scored a season-high 16 points but these weren’t enough as the Wildcats slid to 1-4 in the team standings. In the juniors’ division, the University of Cebu Junior Webmasters were more poised and composed down the stretch as they defeated last year’s runners-up University of the Visayas Baby Lancers, 70-64. UC improved to 3-2, while UV fell to 2-3.

Net tourney draws record field at QC sports club Nazareth, Manila-based netters,” said Palawan Pawnshop COO Bobby Castro. “This makes the tournament all the more interesting.” The field has grown so big that the organizers had to tap the MWSS LWUA Veterans Tennis Club and the Pilarville Tennis Club as alternate venues of the event, a Philta-sanctioned Group 2 tournament presented by Technifibre. “This is a record of sorts since we haven’t gathered so many players as this one in a junior tournament in Manila. This only underscores their trust and confidence in the PPS-PEPP tennis program,” said Philta president and Paranaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez. Mart Cabahug from Tubod, Lanao,

PALAWAN Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala resumes its regional age group tennis tournament tomorrow with the top and rising junior players from the provinces ready to slug it out with the Big City bets at the Celebrity Sports Club in QC. Organizers are expecting over 500 participants to see action in the singles matches alone in the six-day ranking tournament sanctioned by the Philippine Tennis Association and held as part of the country’s leading pawnshop, remittance and claim center’s 30th anniversary celebrations. “The top players and rising stars in various provinces are eager to pit their skills and talents against the leading

who ruled the 18-U section in the recent Olivarez Cup, and runner-up Allen Gerry Manlangit from Iligan City head the crack roster of provincial bets vying in the event along with Cagayan de Oro’s Dave Mosqueda, Christian Fel Lopez of Davao, Vincent Alanis from Naga City, Bicol, Jonas Silva from Olongapo and AJ Alejandre from Cotabato City. Others competing in the 10-unisex, and boys’ and girls’ 12-, 14-, 16- and 18-U categories are Luis and Patrick Salvacion from Lucena City, Marc Andre Jarata and Alexie Jarata from Agoo, La Union, Eurydice Gaspar from Nueva Ecija, Klyde Lagarde from Gen. Santos, Miguel and Mikaela Vicencio from Bulacan, Nicole Bautista

from Malita, Davao and Raian Aquino from Mindoro. The provincial bets are backed by their respective LGUs in the event which also drew the participation of Bea and Recee Acena from Dubai. Miles Vitaliano is also in the fold, priming up for the WTA Future Stars in Singapore in October. She heads the cast in the girls’ 14-and-under division along with top seed Mikaela Vicencio, No. 3 Denise Bernardo, Lourdes Pe, Bea de Ocampo and Macie Carlos. Vitaliano is also listed in the 16-U roster led by Rafaella Villanueva, Chloe Saraza, Nicole Bautista, Bettina Bautista, Mikaela Vicencio, Jhastine Ballado and Mae Perez.

Cayne wins the 2015 Spingold trophy SYLVIA LOPEZ ALEJANDRO

Cayne [8]

124

Monaco[3]

CAYNE (James Cayne, Michael Seamon, Lotan Fisher, Ron Schwartz, Alfredo Vesace, Larenzo Lauria) has won the Spingold Trophy in Chicago. In the final match Cayne defeated Monaco (Pierre Zimmermann, Franck Multon, Fulvio Fantoni, Claudio Nunes, Tor Helness, Geir Helgemo) by 124-88. The Spingold Knockout Tems is the main event of Summer NABC and one of ACBL’s most highly prized team trophies. The Spingold Trophy was donated in 1934 by Nathan B. Spingold, who was the first ACBL’s President. The 2015 Summer NABC were held in Chicago from August 6 to 16, 2015. I had written that I will monitor the final event. The final were the match between Cayne and Mona-

co. I have rooting for team Monaco ever since Fulvio Fantoni and Claudio Nunes the two top bridge in the world decided to play for Team Monaco. The team Monaco won two Spingolds the previous years. But last year they came in second. In the Final of segment 3 the match was close. In segment 4 Cayne had a fantastic run scoring 19 imps. Monaco never recovered and took the second time… -oOoAn Unbelieval Preempt by Fantoni In olden days of bridge we see preempt with a six carder and having the honors in the suit. I feature this preempt. Board 12 North Fantoni ♠J7542 ♥AK ♦Q10875 ♣5 West East Pzszcola Rosenberg ♠Q10 ♠AK96

♥Q872 ♦A643 ♣987

WEST 2♠

South Nunes ♠83 ♥9653 ♦J ♣AK6432 NORTH EAST Pass Pass

♥J104 ♦K92 ♣QJ10

SOUTH Pass

Can you imagine Fantoni went down only one. -oOoI resurrected my Team Forbes. We had won numerous times in the past. Members of the team: Justo Manlongat, Harumi Ieda and Michel Giguere. We will compete in the premier event: the National Open Team Championship. Last July Giguere and I won the National Open Pairs Championship. Comments to: sylvia.alejandro@yahoo

Adamson stay clean

NAZARETH School of National University and Adamson University defeated their foes recently to stay unbeaten in the Passerelle Division, while three schools remain unscathed in the Small Basketeers Division of the Milo-sponsored, Best Center-organized twin cage tournaments for children at the Xavier School gym. Adamson was unforgiving in demolishing University of Santo Tomas, 71-52, to claim its fourth straight win in as many days and Passerelle’s Group A lead. UST dropped to its second defeat in four games. St. Augustine International School bounced back from a 41-68 setback at the hands of La Salle Greenhills-A with a 88-34 drubbing of St. Mary’s College-Quezon City (0-5), to stay within shot of Adamson at 4-1. LSGH-A is also unbeaten at third with three straight wins. Nazareth School of NU, meanwhile, clipped Notre Dame of Greater Manila (03), 88-75, for its fifth straight win and the Group B lead. Ateneo-A clobbered San Beda College-Rizal (2-1), 91-30. In the SBP sides, Chiang Kai Shek blasted St. Mary’s College, 48-33, to catch up with Group A leader Xavier School-A at 3-0. In Group B, LSGH-A crushed Lourdes School-Quezon City, 70-24, for the lead at 4-0.

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SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

Pacman kin gets break By Ronnie Nathanielsz

PROMOTER Sampson Lewkowicz announced the signing of eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao’s second cousin, Jonel “The Kid Pacquiao” Dapidran, to a long-term promotional contract.

Overtime win. Jose Rizal University’s Bernabe Teodori drives to the basket and is challenged by Perpetual Help’s Bright Akhuetier in a National Collegiate Athletic Association men’s basketball tournament game won by the Altas, 86-83, in overtime. BROSI GONZALES

The 17-year-old Dapidran is an undefeated lightweight prospect from Digos City in the Philippines with a record of 6-0, with 3 knockouts. Pacquiao’s maternal grandfather and Junel’s father are brothers. “While none of the major promoters paid attention to Manny Pacquiao, who was taken to the US by his business manager at that time, Rod Nazario, I noticed how talented he was,” said Lewkowicz. At that time, Pacquiao did the punchmitts at the Wild Card Gym of Freddie Roach, who was immediately impressed by the speed and power of the Filipino, who some two weeks later was offered a chance to replace the injured opponent of International Boxing Federation champion Lelohonolo Ledwaba and grabbed it, in the process winning the title via a stunning sixth-round TKO to win the world super bantamweight title. “I was working as a matchmaker for (then promoter) Murad Muhammad, and I convinced him to sign Manny and bring him to America. Now, as a promoter, I am bringing his close family here for the first

time and I strongly believe this young man will make a big statement in our sport,” said Lewkowicz. According to Lewkowicz, as soon as Dapidran’s visa is finalized, he will move to Las Vegas, where he will share an apartment with former world champion Jonriel Casimero. He will also work with veteran trainer Jun Agrabio, who also trains former IBF light flyweight champion Johnreil Casimero and former World Boxing Organization flyweight champion Marvin Sonsona in Las Vegas. Dapidran won his last fight by an eighth-round unanimous decision over Hagibis Quiinones on Nov. 8, 2014, after scoring a first-round knockout of Rey de la Cruz in a scheduled six- round bout on Aug. 23, 2014. He also scored an impressive fifthround TKO in a scheduled six round bout against Japan’s Yoshinobu Arai on May 8, 2014.

LOTTO RESULTS

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

Coe is new chief of athletics

Sky Hook wins PCSO Derby; 1st Stribling Day held JOSEPH Dyhengco’s colt Sky Hook, the favorite in the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office National Grand Derby, ran wire to wire to win the stakes race held Aug. 16 at the Philippine Racing Club’s Santa Ana Park. Jockey Patricio Dilema guided Sky Hook neatly out of the gate to grab the lead and stay there, accelerating at the far turn to win by three lengths in front of Driven, Princess Meili, and Princess Ella in that order. Sky Hook (Hook and Ladder x Amber Shore) is trained by Anthony Francisco. Only four horses competed in the P1.5 million race after Rockmyworld was scratched. Total time was 1:39.4 (25’23’-23’-27) for the mile. ***** Also held last Aug. 16 at Santa Ana Park was the 3rd George Y. Stribling Memorial Cup, sponsored by the Philippine Racing Commission. Herminio Esguerra’s colt Super Spicy (Real Spicy x Kayumanggi) clocked 1:41 (25-23’-25-27) for the mile race that saw Stargazer, Spartan, and Tubbataha Reefs place second, third, and fourth. Apart from the PCSO National Grand Derby, the 11 other races on the card were named after graduates and a former student of the Philippine Jockeys Academy founded by Stribling in the late 1980s. The graduates were Analyn Reloto (the first and only female jockey), Lyndon Guce (now a Philracom commissioner), Jose Macaraig (served as a president of the New Philippine Jockeys Association), Gilbert Francisco (current NPJA president), Ramon Guce (riding in California, for nine years straight now hailed the lead-

ing Thoroughbred rider in Los Alamitos), Manolito Daquis (star jockey), and riders Danilo Castro, LM “Atik” Salvador, Renato Gil, and Primo Basco. The lone former student honored with a race was myself, as the first female apprentice jockey of the NPJA. My thanks to the NPJA Board, especially Director/ Treasurer Antonio B. Alcasid Jr., for the much-appreciated recognition. I belonged to Academy Batch 4 (1990) headed by Primo Basco. Every day for a couple of months, at the old Santa Ana Park in Makati, I exercised a colt owned by then-Philracom chairman Nicanor “Nicky” Jacinto, under the mentorship of Ramon Guce, who rode for the Jacinto stable, and fellow Batch 4 apprentice Bener Nepomuceno. I did three rounds of trotting (“tatlong torote”) around the mile track, along with the bunny hop, duck walk, pull-ups, and bench whipping exercises Mr. Stribling insisted upon for us apprentices to gain upper body, core, and leg strength. He said I would never amount to much as a jockey, and he was right. I was 21 (my fellow apprentices were 16 or 17, fresh out of high school), unathletic, and entered the Academy only for the experience to be able to write features about it for editor Fort Yerro’s “Sporting Life” supplement in the now-defunct Manila Chronicle. But Stribling was always kind and supportive, especially when I later on embarked on a career in racing communication. He was much beloved by the jockey community that took care of him in his declining years until he died in 2012. We miss you, Lolo George! *** Facebook: Gogirl Racing, Twitter: @ gogirlracing, Instagram: @jensdecember, Blog: http://jennyo.net

Newly elected IAAF president Sebastian Coe gives the thumbs-up sign. AFP

Recoletos spikers win title UNIVERSITY of San Jose-Recoletos proved steadier than group mate Southwestern U in a back-and-forth decider as it pulled off a thrilling 25-21, 25-17, 25-23 victory to rule the Shakey’s Girls Volleyball League Season 13 Central Visayas leg at the Cebu City Sports Institute in Cebu City recently. Led by Ma. Christine Dior Vergara and Florani Camacho, the USJR spikers rallied from a set down to turn back University of San Carlos, 23-25, 26-24, 25-16, in the semis then held off elims tormentor SWU in the best-of-five title duel to clinch a berth in the national finals set in October. Vergara went on to bag the MVP plum and the best outside attack award while Camacho took the second best middle blocker honors during awards rites of the four-day tournament, the third of nine regional elims put up Shakey’s for the leading private and public high school girls’ volley teams. USJ-R also took in two more awards with Chriszelle Anne Caasi bagging

the best opposite attacker honors and Mary Gwyneth Duran copping the best setter title. Other awardees in the event organized by Metro Sports headed by Freddie Infante were SWU’s Lorene Grace Toring (best middle blocker) and Dyan Darantinao (second best outside attacker) and DGO’ Pamela Sumayang (best libero). USJ-R finished second to SWU in Pool B in group play of the league backed by Asics, Mikasa, Iloilo Doctors’ College and My Phone, winning three and losing one with SWU sweeping the elims, including a 25-14, 20-25, 25-14 victory over USJ-R. University of San Carlos matched SWU’s feat by sweeping the six-team Pool A with Don Gerardo Llamera Ouano National High clinching the other berth in the crossover semis with a 4-1 card. But SWU proved too much for the Don Gerardo side in the semis, scoring an easy 25-9, 25-10 victory while USJ-R needed to bounce back from an opening set loss and survived a second set scare to frustrate USC.

BEIJING—Britain’s Sebastian Coe beat Sergey Bubka in a tight vote to become the new president of world athletics body the IAAF on Wednesday with a series of doping controversies at the top of his agenda. Coe received 115 votes to Bubka’s 92, and will take over from Lamine Diack, who used his departing speech to take a defiant stab at the sport’s doping detractors, saying they had painted athletics as a “monster”. Coe likened his victory, at an International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) congress in Beijing, to celebrating the birth of his four children. “For most of us in this room, we would conclude that the birth of our children is a big moment in our lives, probably the biggest,” Londonborn Coe, 58, told the congress. “But I have to say that being given the opportunity to work with all of you and shape the future of our sport is probably the second biggest and (most) momentous occasion of my life. “In the best traditions of everything in what we believe in our sport, it was fought according to sound judgement throughout.” Bubka had also stood for reelection as IAAF vice-president, and the former pole vault champion from Ukraine was duly voted in to the post along with Qatari Dahlan al-Hamad, Cameroon’s Hamad Kalkaba Malboum and Cuban Alberto Juantorena. AFP

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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 Fil-foreigners make heads turn

Two rookie aspirants for the PBA Draft on Sunday go up against each other during a scrimmage in the Gatorade Draft Combine held at the Gatorade Hoops Center in Mandaluyong yesterday. PBA Photo

PHILIPPINE Basketball Association officials, coaches and scouts got a closer look at their prospects as the draft hopefuls underwent a series of tests and skills challenges in the first day of the Gatorade Draft Combine held yesterday at the Gatorade Hoops Center in Mandaluyong City. Among the activities that were conducted were various anthropometry tests, performance and strength tests, as well as functional movements during the vent, which the league usually holds before D-Day to give the teams a chance to evaluate their prospects and for the hopefuls to convince the teams that they are worth picking n the Draft. The height, weight and wingspan of each hopeful was also measured. Filipino-American Jerramy King from Long Beach State, made waves as he topped everyone in the vertical leap, after jumping to a record 38.5 inches, while also having the quickest reaction time at 0.372 seconds. In the lane agility drill, PBA D-League standout Maverick Ahanmisi, a Filipino-Nigerian guard, also boosted his stock as he topped the lane agility drill and also emerged as the fastest in the 3.4 court sprint, turning in 3.43 seconds. King also ended second to Ahanmisi in the lane agility drill. The Draft Combine continues today with the aspirants set to join scrimmages in a mini-tournament. The aspirants will be divided into several teams and will play against each other. A cash prize of P50,000 will be awarded to the winning team after the mini-tournament. The final list of candidates for the Draft will be released after the Draft Combine. Formally excused from the activities are top two prospects Moala Tautuaa and Troy Rosario, who are heavily projected to be the No. 1 and No. 2 picks, respectively, as they are currently in Estonia with the Smart Gilas Pilipinas for training camp. Jeric Lopez

Pingris wants to join Gilas By Jeric Lopez

FOUR days after formally begging off from playing for Smart Gilas Pilipinas, Marc Pingris suddenly had a change of heart. On Wednesday, the 6’5” defensive stalwart reconsidered his earlier decision to step away from the national team and is now seeking to rejoin Gilas Pilipinas should he be accepted again by coach Tab Baldwin and the team management. ‘’If the Philippine Team still

Coe is new athletics’ chief TURN TO A15

needs me, I promise to go all out for the country in the FIBA Asia Championships as it aims to gain a spot in the Rio Olympics next year,’’ said Pingris in his statement to the media. In a statement released to media outlets, Pingris stated that he is now reversing his decision and re-

considered after his mother team Star encouraged him to think twice. Now, he wants to take his spot back in the National team. “Despite my earlier pronouncement not to join and give others a chance to play for the country, Purefoods management has asked me to reconsider my decision,” added Pingris. The National team veteran went further by saying that he already discussed the matter with his family and is now wanting to seek the chance to

represent the country again and join Smart Gilas. “I talked to my wife and we agreed that in the end, it was pride and honor in representing the Philippines that prevailed over me,’’ he said. Last Saturday, Pingris, after being a no-show in the team’s practices last Thursday and Friday where he was expected, showed up to practice and informed Baldwin that he was bowing out of the National team officially for reasons undisclosed. Baldwin earlier said that “it was

Ateneo bags 1st seat in semis TURN TO A14

a tragedy” that Pingris withdrew as he is a “very passionate” representative of the country. Smart Gilas is currently in Estonia for a training camp where it will participate in a pocket tournament, also pitting Iceland and the Netherlands. The National team will return to the country next week before it goes to the annual Jones Cup in Taiwan for more games. By then, it will be known if Pingris will be back in the thick of things in the National team pool.

THURSDAY: AUGUST 20, 2015

RAY S. EÑANO EDITOR

RODERICK T. DELA CRUZ ASSISTANT EDITOR

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

BUSINESS

PAL hits unfair competition PSe comPoSite index Closing August 19, 2015

8500 8000 7500 7000 6500 6000

7,344.73 11.28

PeSo-dollar rate

Closing AUGUST 19, 2015 42

P46.350

44 45 46

HIGH P46.250 LOW P46.350 AVERAGE P46.306 VOLUME 555.500M

P475.00-P675.00 LPG/11-kg tank P39.10-P45.35 Unleaded Gasoline P25.30-P28.55 Diesel

oPriceS il P

By Darwin G Amojelar

FLAG carrier Philippine Airlines asked the government to look into alleged unfair practices by Middle Eastern carriers, before granting the foreign airlines more flights in and out of Manila. PAL asked the Philippine air panel to learn from the bitter experience of major US airlines in dealing with their counterparts from the Arabian Gulf, including Emirates and Etihad. PAL echoed the sentiment of the US airline industry against the alleged tactics of Middle East carriers that are currently being investigated for unfair competition. US airlines recently criticized alleged abuses by Gulf-based carriers and PAL said the Philippine government should also safeguard the interests of Filipino air

travelers against the negative effects of additional yet unwanted flights from the Middle East, especially with next week’s air talks between the Philippines and the United Arab Emirates. The US government is looking into allegations of unfair practices of carriers from the UAE and Qatar which are subsidized by their governments by as much as $42 billion. “We hope our own government will promote fair competition and support our airlines who have invested much in re-establishing

air links to the Middle East and Europe,” PAL president and chief operating officer Jaime Bautista said. United, Delta and American Airlines earlier formed the Partnership for Open & Fair Skies coalition calling on Washington to enforce the open skies agreement, which they claim is weighted in favor of Gulf carriers. It asked the US government to put a temporary block on new US-bound services by Etihad Airways, Emirates and Qatar Airways. Many government-subsidized Mid-East carriers were lobbying for more flights into the Philippines to carry passengers to destinations beyond the country, to the detriment of Philippine-based airlines. “We call on the Philippine panel to the PHL-UAE air talks to refrain from giving Mid-East car-

riers undue advantage by granting more capacity and frequency beyond what the market requires,” Bautista said. The new air talks on Aug. 27 and 28 between the Philippines and UAE is expected to benefit Emirates Airlines, which is seeking more flights from Manila and Dubai. Emirates Airlines requested for new air talks between the Philippines and UAE after Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific opposed the extension of Emirates’ third daily flights between Manila and Dubai. The CAB also penalized Emirates for selling tickets beyond what its flight entitlements for the Manila-Dubai route allowed. The Philippine-UAE existing agreement provides for a maximum of 14 weekly frequencies for the Middle Eastern country’s flag carrier.

today

P34.55-P39.15 Kerosene P23.70-P24.40 Auto LPG Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Wednesday, August 19, 2015

F oreign e xchange r ate Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

46.3500

Japan

Yen

0.008041

0.3727

Pound

1.566500

72.6073

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.128961

5.9773

Switzerland

Franc

1.023751

47.4509

Canada

Dollar

0.766636

35.5336

Singapore

Dollar

0.712251

33.0128

Australia

Dollar

0.733622

34.0034

Bahrain

Dinar

2.651465

122.8954

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266645

12.3590

Brunei

Dollar

0.709723

32.8957

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000072

0.0033

Thailand

Baht

0.028129

1.3038

UAE

Dirham

0.272257

12.6191

Euro

1.103200

51.1333

Korea

Won

0.000844

0.0391

China

Yuan

0.156402

7.2492

India

Rupee

0.015282

0.7083

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.245399

11.3742

New Zealand

Dollar

0.657895

30.4934

Taiwan

Dollar

0.030818

1.4284 Source: PDS Bridge

Retail convention. The Philippine Retailers Association committed to ensure the successful staging of the 17th Asia Pacific Retailers Convention and Exhibition 2015 on Oct. 28 to 30 at the SMX Convention Center at the Mall of Asia Complex. Shown during the media launching of APRCE 2015 at Intercontinental Manila in Makati City are (from left) PRA vice president Paul Santos, president of Picture City; vice chair Roberto Claudio, chairman of Toby’s Sports; vice president Bienvenido Tantoco III, president of Rustans Supercenters Inc.; vice chair Jorge Mendiola, president of SM Stores; president Lorenzo Formoso, chief operating officer of Duty Free Philippines; chairman Frederick Go, president of Robinsons Recreation Corp.; chairman emeritus Samie Lim, chairman of Blims Lifestyle Group; vice chair, Ma. Alegria Sibal- Limjoco, president of Central Books and Phoenix Publishing; vice president Chan Kok Bin, chairman and chief executive of Celine Marketing Corp.; and vice president Rosemarie Ong, chief operating officer of Wilcon Builder’s Depot.

BoP posts $2-b surplus; Guinigundo rejects peso devaluation By Julito G. Rada THE Philippines posted a balance of payments surplus of $2.038 billion in the first seven months, exceeding Bangko Sentral’s fullyear target of $2 billion, as the economy continues to attract foreign inflows. Data from Bangko Sentral showed the BoP surplus in the January-July period was a reversal of the $3.64-billion deficit registered a year ago. Bangko Sentral said the BoP surplus in July amounted to $354 million, lower than the $501-million surplus recorded in

the same month last year. The July surplus was also 27-percent lower than $485-million surplus in June. “The $354-million BoP surplus [was] derived from the BSP’s various FX [foreign exchange] operations including investments abroad and FX deposits from national government. This was made possible by the sustained FX inflows from remittances, BPOs and foreign portfolio investments,” Bangko Sentral Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said in a text message. Money sent home by overseas Filipinos in June grew 6.1 percent to $2.2 billion from $2.05 billion

a year ago. This brought cash remittances in the first half to $12.1 billion, or 5.6 percent higher than $11.44 billion in the same period last year. The BoP surplus protected the peso from wide fluctuation against the US dollar. Other Asian currencies depreciated at a deeper rate than the peso. Guinigundo said soft economic prospects drove some countries to devalue because they were relying too much on external trade. Vietnam devalued the dong for the third time this year. He ruled out a peso devaluation, saying the country’s

macroeconomic fundamentals remained strong. “In the case of the Philippines, from a macroeconomic standpoint, we have resilient domestic factors including consumption, private capital formation and public spending,” Guinigundo said in a text message. “Thus, directly devaluing the currency or reducing interest rates to force the currency’s weakening does not make much sense because there could be unintended, unwanted consequences on imports, debt servicing and price movements,” Guinigundo said. Guinigundo said while

competitiveness would come easy with devaluation, “the more durable, more sustainable sources of external competitiveness go beyond that--lower cost of power, lower cost of doing business, better quality goods, quick turnaround time.” Guinigundo said exporters had reasons to be wary about what they called currency war. “But we need to understand why they are doing it. Soft economic prospects drive some countries to devalue because their dependence on external trade is so much,” he said. The peso closed at 46.35 against dollar Wednesday.

THURSDAY: AUGUST 20, 2015

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

The STandard BuSineSS daily STockS review Wednesday, august 19, 2015

52 Weeks

High Low

STOCKS

7.88 75.3 124.4 107 56.5 2.49 4.2 17 30.45 10.4 2.6 890 1.01 100 1.46 30.5 91.5 137 361.2 57 180 1700 124 3.26

2.5 66 88.05 88.1 45.45 1.97 1.68 12.02 19.6 6.12 1.02 625 0.225 78 0.9 17.8 62 88.35 276 41 118.2 1200 59 2.65

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

2.99 69 101.00 91.00 42.5 2.54 1.37 16.18 20.2 7.21 1.78 765.00 0.395 82.3 0.98 18.80 62.05 94.95 301 38.75 132 1500.00 57.05 3.24

47 5 1.46 2.36 15.3 20.6 125 36 65.8 2.97 4.14 21.5 21.6 11.96 9.13 11.8 2.89 31.8 109 20.75 15.3 9.4 0.98 241 12.5 79 3.95 4 74 33.9 90 13.26 293 5 5.25 12.98 6.75 15 7.03 3.4 4.5 6.3 7.86 238 3.28 0.315 2.18 2.65 234 5.28 1.3 26 2.17

35.9 1.11 1.01 1.86 7.92 15.32 62.5 10.08 29.15 1.5 1.5 10.72 9.55 9.04 6.02 8.86 1.06 20.2 71.5 13.86 13.24 5.34 0.395 173 8.65 34.1 2.3 1.63 33 23.35 17.3 5.88 250.2 3.37 3.87 8.45 3 10.04 3.03 1.95 1 4.02 1.65 161 1.55 0.138 1.02 2.09 152 4.28 0.640 10.02 1.2

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 First Gen Corp. First Holdings ‘A’ Ginebra San Miguel Inc. Holcim Philippines Inc. 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’ Splash Corporation Swift Foods, Inc. TKC Steel Corp. Trans-Asia Oil Universal Robina Victorias Milling Vitarich Corp. Vivant Corp. Vulcan Ind’l.

43.5 1.44 0.92 1.73 10.6 17.52 183 27.3 46.4 2.89 1.46 11.74 10.760 9.60 6.42 9.44 1.82 24.55 75.05 13.30 13.22 5.85 0.430 190.00 10.12 30.00 1.92 1.7 51.00 24.1 24.4 5.82 288.60 3.50 4.58 8.29 4 11.60 3.30 2.07 2.73 4.18 1.83 163 1.75 0.134 1.15 1.92 190 4.2 0.68 22.50 1.13

0.59 59.2 30.05 7.39 3.4 3.35 823.5 10.2 84 3.35 4.92 0.66 1455 7.5 76 9.25 0.85 17.3 0.71 5.53 6.55 0.0670 1.61 2.99 84.9 3.5 974 1.66 1.39 156 0.710 0.435 0.510

0.44 48.1 20.85 6.62 0.23 0.23 634.5 7.390 12.8 2.6 2.26 0.152 837 5.3 49.55 4.84 0.59 12 0.580 4.2 4.5 0.030 0.550 2.26 59.3 1.5 751 1.13 0.93 80 0.211 0.179 0.310

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

0.450 57.5000 21.60 6.81 0.235 0.24 770 7.4 11.94 2.8 4.25 0.184 1294 6.70 68.40 6.83 0.62 14.44 0.58 4.92 8.01 0.0510 2.000 2.85 55.75 2.25 900.00 1.28 0.65 78.000 0.3000 0.1740 0.250

10.5

6.74

8990 HLDG

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

SHARES 6,806,589 59,257,275 12,270,138,881 147,558,530 135,389,650 1,028,071,424 13,648,434,462

High

6.880

Low

FINANCIAL 3.09 2.81 69 68.05 100.90 99.50 91.25 90.00 42.95 42.5 2.53 2.42 1.36 1.35 16.18 15.9 20.5 20.1 7.27 7.27 1.75 1.62 760.00 755.00 0.390 0.385 85 83 0.98 0.98 19.10 18.90 62.30 60.60 93 90 305 300 39.5 38.55 133.6 130.5 1520.00 1500.00 57.05 56.00 3.24 3.24 INDUSTRIAL 44 42.6 1.53 1.44 0.96 0.92 1.73 1.71 10.6 10.06 17.52 17.44 179 120 27.55 26.5 47.45 46.45 2.95 2.89 1.48 1.39 11.8 11.4 11.200 10.68 9.69 9.12 6.56 6.32 9.42 9.11 1.85 1.85 24.75 24.35 75.05 74 13.30 13.30 13.20 13.02 5.87 5.76 0.460 0.460 190.00 189.00 10.14 10.12 30.00 30.00 2 2 1.7 1.7 51.00 51.00 24.4 23.8 24.75 24.15 5.85 5.76 293.00 288.60 3.99 3.99 4.55 4.46 8.40 8.08 4 4 11.50 11.20 3.35 3.21 2.18 2.06 2.76 2.64 4.18 4.10 1.83 1.83 159 150 1.8 1.75 0.137 0.134 1.17 1.12 1.95 1.88 192.2 189.9 4.2 4.2 0.68 0.65 23.00 22.50 1.13 1.10 HOLDING FIRMS 0.450 0.450 57.6500 57.0000 21.65 20.25 6.80 6.77 0.243 0.235 0.24 0.24 774 765 7.42 7.32 12.10 11.78 3.15 2.82 4.35 4.25 0.185 0.184 1295 1283 6.69 6.69 69.00 67.00 6.95 6.65 0.64 0.6 14.42 14.08 0.55 0.55 5.05 4.9 8.02 7.95 0.0530 0.0470 2.050 1.900 2.67 2.65 56.00 54.90 2.22 2.22 899.00 997.00 1.20 1.20 0.66 0.66 77.800 77.600 0.3050 0.2800 0.1700 0.1700 0.250 0.250 PROPERTY 7.170 6.730

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

2.85 69 100.00 91.25 42.95 2.53 1.35 15.9 20.1 7.27 1.75 755.00 0.385 84.9 0.98 18.90 60.80 91.35 305 38.6 133.1 1500.00 56.50 3.24

-4.68 0.00 -0.99 0.27 1.06 -0.39 -1.46 -1.73 -0.50 0.83 -1.69 -1.31 -2.53 3.16 0.00 0.53 -2.01 -3.79 1.33 -0.39 0.83 0.00 -0.96 0.00

130,000 38,900 2,716,530 948,790 128,500 5,000 60,000 3,700 259,800 600 290,000 70 180,000 622,330 10,000 354,200 133,880 3,270 4,490 151,400 695,500 825 30,610 35,000

43.75 1.53 0.96 1.73 10.3 17.5 170 26.5 46.5 2.9 1.4 11.4 11.060 9.12 6.50 9.15 1.85 24.4 74 13.30 13.10 5.8 0.460 189.70 10.14 30.00 2 1.7 51.00 24 27.6 5.76 291.40 3.99 4.5 8.30 4 11.40 3.30 2.12 2.65 4.10 1.83 159 1.75 0.136 1.12 1.89 192 4.2 0.68 23.00 1.10

0.57 6.25 4.35 0.00 -2.83 -0.11 -7.10 -2.93 0.22 0.35 -4.11 -2.90 2.79 -5.00 1.25 -3.07 1.65 -0.61 -1.40 0.00 -0.91 -0.85 6.98 -0.16 0.20 0.00 4.17 0.00 0.00 -0.41 13.11 -1.03 0.97 14.00 -1.75 0.12 0.00 -1.72 0.00 2.42 -2.93 -1.91 0.00 -2.45 0.00 1.49 -2.61 -1.56 1.05 0.00 0.00 2.22 -2.65

1,654,500 5,000 85,000 247,000 10,300 698,800 420 424,200 446,600 1,259,000 1,107,000 83,900 2,940,200 621,500 15,965,700 382,100 1,000 1,688,700 155,680 2,800 174,900 221,800 10,000 450,050 1,580,500 400 3,000 9,000 6,440 274,100 93,000 615,100 542,720 3,000 7,072,000 1,235,300 21,000 4,300 92,000 426,000 1,310,000 115,000 51,000 25,070 90,000 1,720,000 50,000 1,578,000 1,243,030 982,000 284,000 17,100 296,000

0.450 57.5000 20.25 6.80 0.243 0.24 771 7.35 11.88 3.1 4.25 0.185 1290 6.69 68.85 6.8 0.61 14.16 0.55 5.01 8 0.0500 2.030 2.66 56.00 2.22 989.00 1.20 0.66 77.700 0.2950 0.1700 0.250

0.00 0.00 -6.25 -0.15 3.40 0.83 0.13 -0.68 -0.50 10.71 0.00 0.54 -0.31 -0.15 0.66 -0.44 -1.61 -1.94 -5.17 1.83 -0.12 -1.96 1.50 -6.67 0.45 -1.33 9.89 -6.25 1.54 -0.38 -1.67 -2.30 0.00

20,000 910,550 9,880,516.50 16,051,000 -177,827,865.00 2,100 270,000 200,000 48,650.00 128,190 -5,396,920.00 2,470,700 -30,915.00 9,564,500 -41,284,720.00 457,000 4,000 260,000 354,905 -141,542,360.00 100 3,261,690 -60,810,881.50 2,436,300 -4,632,202.00 109,000 2,342,100 134,868.00 96,000 20,994,000 22,509,970.00 733,600 133,820,000 12,642,000 -474,850.00 41,000 62,640 -1,462,076.00 35,000 207,080 -105,009,100.00 180,000 40,000 4,220 -173,216.00 1,510,000 40,000 340,000

7.170

4.22

233,900

1,333,041.50 -116,874,770.50 -30,028,837.00 2,719,935.00 -12,912.00 3,369,575.00 37,750.00 -1,188,625.50 -388,153.00 -2,847,670.00 -23,667,458.00 -660,100.00 -772,302.00 29,367,050.00

3,062,800.00 1,075,000.00 20,767,155 -82,580.00 -607,134.00 2,727,282.00 -3,513,556.00 -28,458,457.00 -2,976,044.00 -27,145,750.00 -271,760.00 -1,377,360.00 -23,280.00 9,347,717.00 -12,123,538.00

-1,654,475.00 -125,741.00 34,222,080.00 4,976,340.00 -654,621.00 6,540.00 2,090.00 95,510.00

-11,830.00 -56,990.00 33,300.00 -25,270,848.00 -4,120,200.00 157,500.00

56,272.00

52 Weeks

High Low 1.99 1.75 0.375 41.4 5.6 5.59 1.44 1.48 0.201 0.69 10.96 0.97 2.22 2.1 1.8 4.88 0.180 0.470 8.54 31.8 2.29 21.35 1.06 1.62 8.59

0.65 1.2 0.192 30.05 3.36 4.96 0.79 0.97 0.083 0.415 2.4 0.83 1.15 1.42 1.27 2.75 0.090 0.290 2.69 22.15 1.6 15.08 0.69 0.83 5.73

10.5 66 1.44 1.09 15.82 0.1430 5.06 99.1 12.3 2.6 7.67 1700 2720 8.41 1.97 119.5 7 12.5 0.017 0.8200 2.2800 5.93 12.28 3.32 3.2 1 2.46 15.2 0.62 22.8 6.41 4 185 22.9 3486 0.760 2.28 46.05 90.1

1.97 35.2 1 0.63 8.6 0.0770 2.95 56.1 10.14 1.6 4.8 830 1600 5.95 1.23 102.6 3.01 8.72 0.011 0.041 1.200 2.34 6.5 1.91 1.95 0.650 1.8 6 0.335 14.54 3 2.28 79 4.39 2748 0.435 1.2 31.45 60.55

STOCKS

A. Brown Co., Inc. Araneta Prop À’ Arthaland Corp. Ayala Land `B’ Belle Corp. À’ Cebu Holdings Century Property Cityland Dev. À’ Crown Equities Inc. Cyber Bay Corp. Double Dragon Empire East Land Global-Estate Filinvest Land,Inc. Interport À’ Megaworld Corp. MRC Allied Ind. Phil. Estates Corp. Primex Corp. Robinson’s Land `B’ Rockwell SM Prime Holdings Sta. Lucia Land Inc. Suntrust Home Dev. Inc. Vista Land & Lifescapes

11.6 0.85 10 0.490 1.9

2GO Group’ ABS-CBN Acesite Hotel APC Group, Inc. Bloomberry Boulevard Holdings Calata Corp. Cebu Air Inc. (5J) Centro Esc. Univ. 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 Jackstones Leisure & Resorts Liberty Telecom Macroasia Corp. Manila Bulletin Manila Jockey Melco Crown MG Holdings Pacific Online Sys. Corp. PAL Holdings Inc. Paxys Inc. Phil. Seven Corp. Philweb.Com Inc. PLDT Common PremiereHorizon Premium Leisure Puregold Robinsons RTL SBS Phil. Corp. 7.59 SSI Group 0.63 STI Holdings 5 Travellers 0.315 Waterfront Phils. 1.14 Yehey

0.0098 17.24 0.330 12.8 1.19 1.62 9.5 4.2 0.48 0.420 0.440 0.022 0.023 8.2 49.2 4.27 3.06 7.67 12.88 10.42 0.040 420 9

0.0043 6.47 0.236 5.11 0.85 0.77 5.99 1.17 0.305 0.2130 0.2160 0.013 0.014 3.240 18.96 2.11 1.54 5.4 7.26 2.27 0.015 115.9 3.67

Abra Mining Atlas Cons. À’ Basic Energy Corp. Benguet Corp `B’ Century Peak Metals Hldgs Coal Asia Dizon Ferronickel Geograce Res. Phil. Inc. Lepanto À’ Lepanto `B’ Manila Mining À’ Manila Mining `B’ Marcventures Hldgs., Inc. Nickelasia Nihao Mineral Resources Oriental Peninsula Res. Petroenergy Res. Corp. Philex À’ PhilexPetroleum Philodrill Corp. À’ Semirara Corp. TA Petroleum

70 553 118 515 8.21 12.28 111 1047 76.9 84.8

33 490 101 480 5.88 6.5 101 1011 74.2 75

ABS-CBN Holdings Corp. Ayala Corp. Pref `B1’ First Gen F GLOBE PREF P GMA Holdings Inc. Leisure and Resort MWIDE PREF PF Pref 2 SMC Preferred A SMC Preferred C

6.98

0.8900 LR Warrant

15 88 12.88

3.5 13.5 5.95

130.7

105.6 First Metro ETF

Makati Fin. Corp. IRipple E-Business Intl Xurpas

High

VALUE 542,045,121.95 953,930,134.22 1,831,070,126.50 1,022,507,462.82 1,361,602,410.44 274,347,803.35 5,999,107,510.86

FINANCIAL 1,601.68 (UP) 8.51 INDUSTRIAL 11,165.37 (UP) 20.53 HOLDING FIRMS 6,652.97 (DOWN) 29.96 PROPERTY 3,027.12 (DOWN) 1.62 SERVICES 2,018.97 (UP) 15.43 MINING & OIL 11,061.00 (UP) 39.63 PSEI 7,344.73 (UP) 11.28 All Shares Index 4,188.58 (UP) 4.60 Gainers: 77 Losers: 91; Unchanged: 51; Total: 219

0.67 1.230 0.221 38.00 3.2 5 0.77 1.05 0.119 0.425 12.42 0.830 1.15 1.92 1.27 4.28 0.100 0.2750 7.3 29.00 1.63 20.00 0.72 0.790 6.810

0.71 0.65 0.70 1.230 1.220 1.230 0.220 0.220 0.220 37.85 37.55 37.80 3.22 3.15 3.2 5.1 4.91 5.04 0.78 0.77 0.78 1.06 10.10 1.05 0.116 0.110 0.110 0.430 0.425 0.425 13 12 12.96 0.830 0.830 0.830 1.16 1.14 1.14 1.96 1.90 1.93 1.30 1.27 1.29 4.38 4.2 4.35 0.096 0.092 0.092 0.2750 0.2750 0.2750 7.41 7.35 7.35 29.70 28.35 28.95 1.63 1.6 1.6 20.20 20.00 19.96 0.73 0.7 0.7 0.800 0.800 0.800 6.850 6.700 6.800 SERVICES 9.48 10 9.48 10 60.4 61.5 59.5 90.1 1.15 1.16 1.15 1.15 0.550 0.570 0.550 0.570 7.19 7.43 7.18 7.40 0.0710 0.0720 0.0690 0.0690 4.06 4.07 3.95 4.07 90.5 91.35 89.9 90.3 9.9 9.88 9.88 9.88 1.62 1.62 1.62 1.62 4.99 4.90 4.70 4.85 920 920.5 920.5 920.5 2620 2650 2574 2650 6.51 6.56 6.48 6.48 1.24 1.25 1.22 1.22 102 103 101.1 102.6 3.75 3.90 3.90 3.90 11.88 11.88 11.88 11.88 0.011 0.011 0.011 0.011 0.180 0.190 0.179 0.179 1.4100 1.4100 1.3300 1.3300 2.26 2.25 2.25 2.25 8.28 8.78 8.13 8.46 2.10 2.20 2.15 2.17 2.10 2.05 2.05 2.05 0.640 0.640 0.630 0.640 2 2 1.99 2 6.3 6.5 6.2 6.4 0.300 0.305 0.295 0.305 19.8 19.96 19.38 19.38 4.95 5.00 4.95 4.95 3 3 2.9 3 100.10 103.00 100.00 100.00 18.42 18.42 18.04 18.42 2740.00 2776.00 2720.00 2770.00 0.630 0.630 0.630 0.630 1.320 1.350 1.290 1.320 34.20 34.20 33.80 34.00 72.95 73.00 72.00 72.00 4.67 5.00 4.40 5.00 6.72 7.40 6.76 7.17 0.63 0.63 0.63 0.63 4.65 4.84 4.65 4.75 0.320 0.325 0.325 0.325 2.490 2.600 2.410 2.470 MINING & OIL 0.0058 0.0060 0.0058 0.0058 4.76 4.87 4.61 4.62 0.210 0.200 0.200 0.200 6.6400 8 6.6 7.4100 0.64 0.65 0.61 0.61 0.71 0.71 0.66 0.69 6.40 6.40 6.30 6.32 1.21 1.26 1.21 1.26 0.295 0.300 0.290 0.300 0.189 0.192 0.185 0.185 0.195 0.198 0.185 0.185 0.012 0.012 0.012 0.012 0.013 0.013 0.013 0.013 2.51 2.58 2.47 2.52 8.3 8.32 7.86 8.1 3.4 3.58 3.38 3.49 1.6400 1.6800 1.6400 1.6400 4.00 3.99 3.98 3.99 4.76 4.770 4.640 4.77 1.46 1.460 1.400 1.46 0.010 0.010 0.010 0.010 123.50 130.00 123.50 127.00 2.9 3.44 2.94 3.04 PREFERRED 59 63.95 58.5 59 529 529 529 529 110.4 110.5 110.5 110.5 520 520 520 520 6.61 6.59 6.55 6.59 1.1 1.09 1.09 1.09 108 109 108 108 1019 1020 1019 1019 75.4 75.5 75.4 75.5 80 81.05 80 80.05 WARRANTS & BONDS 3.450 3.470 3.340 3.470 SME 6.2 6.6 6.43 6.43 60.25 68.7 60.2 64 10.98 11 10.48 10.98 EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 119.6 119.7 119 119.6

T op g ainerS STOCKS

Low

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

4.48 0.00 -0.45 -0.53 0.00 0.80 1.30 0.00 -7.56 0.00 4.35 0.00 -0.87 0.52 1.57 1.64 -8.00 0.00 0.68 -0.17 -1.84 0.00 -2.78 1.27 -0.15

192,000 7,000 190,000 6,804,500 1,352,000 135,200 1,731,000 43,000 220,000 1,220,000 1,286,500 4,000 2,382,000 35,919,000 1,450,000 56,249,000 2,600,000 110,000 46,600 3,136,900 260,000 10,779,700 178,000 7,000 1,003,000

5.49 49.17 0.00 3.64 2.92 -2.82 0.25 -0.22 -0.20 0.00 -2.81 0.05 1.15 -0.46 -1.61 0.59 4.00 0.00 0.00 -0.56 -5.67 -0.44 2.17 3.33 -2.38 0.00 0.00 1.59 1.67 -2.12 0.00 0.00 -0.10 0.00 1.09 0.00 0.00 -0.58 -1.30 7.07 6.70 0.00 2.15 1.56 -0.80

803,100 122,440 30,000 86,000 23,575,200 22,100,000 147,000 1,256,860 600 50,000 37,000 10 67,450 56,500 360,000 409,150 1,000 200 10,100,000 3,580,000 305,000 4,000 948,800 347,000 10,000 19,000 100,000 675,500 310,000 2,100 47,000 11,000 8,360 649,500 136,400 2,092,000 10,302,000 3,479,600 176,340 10,194,000 11,689,800 237,000 2,955,000 20,000 164,000

0.00 -2.94 -4.76 11.60 -4.69 -2.82 -1.25 4.13 1.69 -2.12 -5.13 0.00 0.00 0.40 -2.41 2.65 0.00 -0.25 0.21 0.00 0.00 2.83 4.83

839,000,000 159,000 -595,350.00 120,000 14,800 156,000 53,000 2,500 8,983,000 731,070.00 330,000 6,500,000 40,000 40,900,000 44,000,000 558,000 4,935,600 -16,258,212.00 3,313,000 132,000 3,230.00 25,000 -19,950.00 636,000 -248,740.00 609,000 -20,600.00 63,000,000 1,219,970 76,319,943.00 13,370,000 498,230.00

0.00 0.00 0.09 0.00 -0.30 -0.91 0.00 0.00 0.13 0.06

287,990 20 50,000 50 203,200 9,000 62,530 1,070 27,490 35,810

0.58

135,000

3.71 6.22 0.00

1,700 840 1,203,500

-468,412.00

0.00

5,830

143,040.00

-72,804,345.00 -1,379,980.00 -571,553.00 -91,320.00 -2,880.00 -824,308.00 -389,320.00 33,324,820.00 -1,032,000.00 -106,090,810.00 -232,140.00 38,041,650.00 -27,710.00 -43,518,496.00 -2,904,879.00 -228,340.00 80.00 -8,951,589.00 70,000.00 -36,203,905.00 -24,250.00 1,137,500.00 943,165.00

-37,000.00 173,831.00

843,415.00 -24,750.00 -64,102.00 -1,174,528.00 83,248,540.00 -442,910.00 -70,632,530.00 -348,670.00 -705,310.00 2,533,806.00 943,270.00

-380,911.00 -5,525,000.00 1,336,119.00 -5,712,920.00 -326,080.00 -858,435.00 -1,936,697.50

6,430.00

T op L oSerS Close (P)

Change (%)

STOCKS

Close (P)

Change (%)

Panasonic Mfg Phil. Corp.

3.99

14.00

MRC Allied Ind.

0.092

-8.00

Maxs Group

27.6

13.11

Crown Equities Inc.

0.110

-7.56

Benguet Corp `B'

7.4100

11.60

Chemphil

170

-7.10

F&J Prince 'A'

3.1

10.71

Republic Glass 'A'

2.66

-6.67

SM Investments Inc.

989.00

9.89

Alliance Global Inc.

20.25

-6.25

SBS Phil. Corp.

5.00

7.07

Solid Group Inc.

1.20

-6.25

Ionics Inc

0.460

6.98

ISM Communications

1.3300

-5.67

SSI Group

7.17

6.70

Mabuhay Holdings `A'

0.55

-5.17

Agrinurture Inc.

1.53

6.25

Lepanto `B'

0.185

-5.13

IRipple E-Business Intl

6.22

Emperador

9.12

-5.00

THURSDAY: AUGUST 20, 2015

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

Trans-Asia’s profit jumps 74% By Alena Mae S. Flores

TRANS-ASIA Oil and Energy Development Corp., a unit of the Phinma Group, said Wednesday consolidated net profit in the first six months of 2015 jumped 74 percent to P377 million from P216 million year-on-year. Trans-Asia in a statement attributed the performance in the Januaryto-June period to the power business, whose revenues rose to P1.255 billion from P969 million on year. Net income in the second quarter surged to P313 million from just P107 million on year.

Trans-Asia’s revenues in the second quarter reached P753 million, up 104 percent from P369 million, reflecting the company’s financial stability and operational efficiency. Trans-Asia’s net revenues from electricity trading in the spot market grew 21 percent in the second

quarter to P398 million due to lower cost of power from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market. The energy company largely attributed the positive performance to increased generation capacity, with the completion of the first 135-megawatt unit of South Luzon Thermal Energy Corp. South Luzon, which runs a coal-fired power plant in Calaca, Batangas, is a 50-50 joint venture between Trans-Asia with AC Energy of the Ayala Group. It declared commercial operations in April this year. “We expect to continue the substantial growth of our company’s

bottom line, especially now that we have baseload plant, in the form of SLTEC, that can provide a steady revenue stream for the company, reliable electricity supply for our customers, as well as greater utilization of our peaking plants,” Trans-Asia president Francisco Viray said. “We are hopeful that we can sustain this momentum with the commercial operations of SLTEC unit 2, which would add 135 MW, before the year ends,” he said. The construction of South Luzon’s second 135-MW unit is in the final stages of completion. The company recently acquired

power barges 101, 102 and 103 from Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. with a combined capacity of 96 MW. The barges are expected to contribute to the energy needs in the Visayas, where they will be stationed. Trans-Asia is now laying the groundwork for additional projects to address the country’s power needs for the 2018-2013 period. Other projects in the pipeline include the expansion of the 20MW geothermal power plant under Maibarara Geothermal Inc. for another 10 MW. It is expected to be online by the first quarter 2017.

Market climbs to end 5-day decline THE stock market rose Wednesday to snap a five-day losing streak, lifted by gains in Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and Bloomberry Resorts Corp. The Philippine Stock Exchange Index added 11.28 points, or 0.2 percent, to 7,344.73 on a value turnover of nearly P6 billion. The rest of Asian shares mostly fell Wednesday, led lower by another slump in Shanghai as investors fretted about waning state support for equities, while Tokyo grappled with weak trade data. The dollar broadly weakened before the release of minutes from the US Federal Reserve’s last meeting, which investors hope will offer fresh clues about the timing of an interest rate rise. PLDT, the biggest telecommunications company, climbed 1.1 percent to P2,770, while Bloomberry, which operates a casino on a reclaimed part of Manila Bay, advanced 2.9 percent to P7.40. Alliance Global Group Inc. of tycoon Andrew Tan slumped 6.2 percent to P20.25, while unit Megaworld Corp., the largest lessor of office spaces, gained 1.6 percent to P4.35. Seoul, meanwhile, closed down 0.86 percent, or 16.88 points, at 1,939.38, while Sydney gained 1.45 percent, or 77.05 points, to 5,380.20. Tokyo fell 1.61 percent, or 331.84 points, to 20,222.63, after news Japan’s exports are slowing added to concerns about the world’s number three economy as demand falls in China. Shanghai was down 2.16 percent in afternoon trading, extending its largest daily loss in three weeks on Tuesday over concerns the government is reducing its market intervention. Hong Kong was down 1.10 percent. “Asian markets have been flashing red today over concerns about further large declines in the Chinese stock market and uncertainty over the outcome of the release of the Fed minutes,” said Angus Nicholson at IG Markets. With AFP

Labor visitor. Labor Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz (right) receives a token of appreciation from New Zealand Ambassador to the Philippines David Strachan during his courtesy call at the Labor Department’s office in Intramuros, Manila

AUB’s income down to P852.8m in 6 months By Julito G. Rada ASIA United Bank, the financial arm of the Rebisco Group, posted a 3-percent decline in first-half net income to P852.8 million year-on-year due to higher loan provisioning and investments for branch expansions. The bank said in a disclosure to the stock exchange on Wednesday loan provisioning and branch expansions increased total operating expenses by 28 percent to P2.1 billion on year. Its bank and subsidiaries registered a net interest income of P2.2 billion during the period, up 17 percent from P1.9 billion a year ago, bucking the decline in interest rates and the squeeze on loan margins.

AUB realized a consolidated interest income from loans of P2.1 billion, 46 percent higher than a year ago. Commercial and consumer loans grew in volume by over 50 percent and 28 percent year-on-year, respectively. The robust loan portfolio led to a 17-percent expansion in total assets to P131.4 billion as of endJune 2015. “This is in line with the bank’s goal of having a stronger presence in the consumer loan segment through its branches and online delivery channels,” AUB president Abraham Co said in a statement. Total deposits rose 21 percent to P100.7 billion, with more than half accounted by demand and savings accounts. AUB has a consolidated net-

work of 224 branches as of the first half, including 15 of Cavite United Rural Bank and Pampanga-based Rural Bank of Angeles. In addition to growing its branch network, AUB is aggressively addressing the digital divide among customers by coming up with innovation-driven services. As early as 2007, the bank has pioneered the preferred online banking, which has features and capabilities that offer a richer and more secure online banking experience. The financial transactions include telegraphic transfers and bills payment, including Meralco utility payments. AUB in 2014became the only bank in the Philippines to offer

a Chinese version option in online banking in a bid to be more customer-friendly to a growing Chinese clientele. Chief transformation officer Jacob Ng said the bank’s investments in its people, products and processes would transform AUB into becoming a formidable player in the domestic banking industry. AUB in 2014 posted a net income of P1.7 billion, up 13 percent from P1.5 billion a year ago. AUB was formed by Filipino industrialists and Taiwanese banks, namely Republic Biscuit Corp., Lambda Holdings, China United Trust & Investment Corp., China Development Industrial Bank, Magis Equity Ventures and a few individuals.

Henann Resort expansion.

Triple A-rated resort Henann Lagoon Resort, owned and managed by the Henann Group of Resorts, continues its commitment to provide guests with great accommodations with the recent inauguration of its New Wing. Located at the second floor, the wing has 102 magnificent and beautifully-designed rooms, a state-of-the-art swimming pool, a VIP Lounge and features a new room category. Shown cutting the ribbon during the inauguration are (from left) Aklan governor Florencio Miraflores, Mexican Ambassador Julio Camarena, Henann Group vice chairman Anna Lissa Chusuey, Henann Group chairman Henry Chusuey, Senator Juan Edgardo Angara and Chilean Ambassador Luis Lillo.

ALI spending P12.5b in Nuvali By Jenniffer B. Austria

PROPERTY developer Ayala Land Inc. said Wednesday it will spend another P12.5 billion to accelerate the development of the 2,290-hectare Nuvali, which is being labeled as Makati of the South. Ayala Land senior vice president and head of strategic lank bank management group Meean Dy said the additional capital spending over the next three to five years would focus on building its leasing portfolio. Under the plan, Nuvali in Laguna would nearly double its office leasable space to 60,000 square meters from current 31,000 square meters and add another 10,000 square meters of retail space from current 55,000

square meters. Ayala Land has spent P43.7 billion to launch several residential projects, office as well as retail developments in Nuvali since 2009. “We have crossed the five-year mark and we are progressing rapidly in Nuvali because things happened very fast,” Dy said. Nuvali general manager John Estacio said demand for residential developments in Nuvali had been robust, which prompted the

company to accelerate its launches. Ayala Land has launched 18 residential projects in Nuvali. As a result, land values in Nuvali has risen significantly over the past years. “Among the major central business districts in the country, we have the highest rate in land value appreciation from the time of launch and we are happy that our investors and buyers have shared in the success of Nuvali,” Estacio said. Estacio said the company would also develop built-to-suit office projects and new BPO office buildings to boost leasing revenues. Ayala Land is also building a 100-bed hospital called Qualimed which is set to open in the second quarter of 2016. A new S&R Membership Shopping will

open in Nuvali by December this year. Ayala Land has developed 78 percent of Nuvali’s total land area and built 12,000 residential units, 85,000 square meters of leasable office and retail spaces and a 150-room hotel. Estacio said with the development of Cavite-Laguna Expressway, Nuvali was expected to attract more investors from Manila, Cavite, and nearby provinces. Spanning the cities of Sta. Rosa and Calamba, Laguna, Nuvali is being masterplanned as the country’s first eco-living development. Nuvali is twice the size of the original Makati central business district and is eight times bigger than Bonifacio Global City, which is also being developed by Ayala Land.

Apex Mining posted P82-m net income in first half By Anna Leah E. Gonzales GOLD miner Apex Mining Company Inc. said Wednesday it rebounded with a consolidated net income of P81.7 million in the first half of the year, from a P279-million net loss recorded a year ago. Apex Mining said in a disclosure to the stock exchange the parent company’s net income in the six-month period reached P102.7 million, reflecting the net loss of P25.5 million from wholly-owned Monte Oro Resources and Energy Inc. and subsidiaries in the consolidated accounts. Revenue in the first six months soared 72 percent to P1.2 billion from P658.1 million it booked in the same period last year. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization improved to P343 million in the first half of 2015 from last year’s negative P79.2 million. Apex said Maco mine in Compostela Val-

ley produced 20,334 ounces of gold and 107,036 ounces of silver this year, up from 11,430 ounces of gold and 64,660 ounces of silver last year. The higher production compensated for the drop in metal prices during the period as the average price of gold fell to $1,215 per ounce from $ 1,295 an ounce last year. Apex said the average price of silver also went down to $17 an ounce this year from $20 per ounce in 2014. The company said ore grades improved to 5.57 grams of gold per ton and 32.41 grams of silver per ton this year, compared to 4.39 grams of gold per ton and 26.78 grams of silver per ton in 2014. “The P2.25-billion loan granted by BDO has enabled us to procure the necessary capital equipment to push forward our mine development activities towards our goal of milling at the rate of least 1,500 tons per day this year,” said Apex

Mining president and chief executive Walter Brown. “Hopefully by the fourth quarter, we would be reaching this important milestone in our thrust to elevate the Maco mine’s operating capability to deliver 4,000 ounces of gold a month,” Brown said. Apex Mining earlier acquired a 98-percent controlling stake of Itogon-Suyoc Resources Inc. for P182.7 million. ISRI has mining claims in both Itogon and Suyoc, Benguet, with existing mill and production facilities in Sangilo. The company earlier infused P238 million in new equity in ISRI to pay down debts and reopen Sangilo mine. “We should be producing 75 tons a day from this mine by yearend and 200 tons a day by next year. This will further boost the company’s production output and provide additional buffer to counter the declining trend in metal prices,” said Brown.

9 firms bidding for Clark road deal By Othel V. Campos STATE-RUN Bases Conversion and Development Authority said Wednesday nine companies submitted bids for the P78.3-million road project in the proposed Clark Green City in Central Luzon. “We are happy at the number of bidders who submitted their respective bids and look forward to award the contract to the firm with the best bid once the bids have all been evaluated,” said BCDA president and chief executive Arnel Paciano Casanova. BCDA said the bidders included 4B Construction Corp., D.K. Jockson Construction, Haidee Construction, IPM Construction Corp., Leadway Construction, New Kanlaon Construction, Subiccon Corporation, Tokwing Construction and Weirr Corp. The agency said the road improvement project would provide a greater level of accessibility to and from the Clark Green City site. “By improving the existing roads, all types of vehicles, including heavy equipment will be able to effortlessly reach the area all year round,” Casanova said. Casanova earlier said the new roads would play a vital role in the development of the area and increase its land value, economic potential and attractiveness to interested investors and proponents.

T H U R S D AY : A U G U S T 2 0 , 2 0 1 5

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

Okada firm set to raise $600m By Jenniffer B. Austria

UNIVERSAL Entertainment Corp., a company led by Japanese gaming tycoon Kazuo Okada, said it will raise $600 million from the issuance of privately-placed notes to fund its $2-billion integrated entertainment and casino development in Parañaque City. Universal Entertainment said in a statement posted on its Web site it had finalized the terms of the note issuance, with a final amount of $600 million and maturity of five years. The notes will have a yield of 12 percent per annum, with any interest in excess of 6 percent payable, at the option of the company by adding additional principal to the notes. Proceeds from the fund raising activity will be used to repay existing short-term debt and finance the construction and development of Manila Bay Resorts,

its casino project in Entertainment City complex. Universal Entertainment tapped Deutsche Securities Inc. as placement agent for the note issuance. Issue date was set on Aug. 24. The company plans to list the notes with the Singapore Stock Exchange. Universal Entertainment, through Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Inc., is building Manila Bay Resorts within a 44-hectare lot in Pagcor Entertainment City. Phase 1 of the project, which

is scheduled to open by end 2016, will have 1,000 luxurious hotel rooms, 500 gaming tables and 3,000 slot machines, 80,000 square meters of retail space, beach club and night club, an iconic dome and the dancing water fountain. Phase 1 covers 25 hectares out of the 45 hectares owned by Tiger Resort, with total investment cost of $2 billion. The remaining 20 hectares will be developed as phase 2, which may include the development of another 1,000 hotel rooms. Tiger Resorts held a topping off ceremony for Manila Bay Resorts on July 30. Manila Bay Resorts will be the third integrated leisure and entertainment complex to open in Pagcor Entertainment City. The first two to open were Solaire Resorts and Casino owned by Bloomberry Resorts Corp. and City of Dreams Manila by Melco Crown (Philippines) Resorts Corp.

Sterling Bank-Uber partnership. Sterling Bank of Asia, one of the leading savings banks in the country, brings cashless convenience to its commuting customers through its partnership with Uber, the innovative technology platform that connects passengers with drivers.The bank takes the convenience one step further by giving clients their first Uber ride for free. Shown is Sterling Bank executive vice president Ralph Cadiz holding a smartphone with an Uber app.

Aboitiz awards P3.5-b solar contract By Alena Mae S. Flores ABOITIZ Power Corp. and USbased renewable energy company SunEdison awarded the engineering, procurement and construction contract for the 59-megawatt solar power project in Negros Occidental to Nani Group Corp. Nari Group will undertake the construction of the P3.5-billion Negros Solar Energy Project near near San Carlos City. Nani Group, which has completed more than 30 projects in the Philippines, is the largest supplier of electric equipment in China. The joint venture project is set for commercial operations in the first quarter of 2016, becoming one of the largest solar power projects in the Philippines. “This project is in support of

the call by the government to maximize the renewable energy potential of the country. Aboitiz Power is one of the biggest renewable energy producers in the country and we will continue to expand this capacity. This project is a testament to that commitment,” said Aboitiz Power president and chief operating officer Antonio Moraza. “Aboitiz Power will continue to pursue the right mix of energy sources to ensure reliability and a reasonable cost of power to the end consumers,” Moraza said. Aboitiz Power and SunEdison announced in November last year a joint framework agreement to explore, develop, construct, and operate up to 300 MW of utilityscale solar in the Philippines over the next three years.

AboitizPower and its partners produce a total of 3,044 MW of power, 40-percent of which are coming from its Cleanergy portfolio made up of hydro and geothermal power plants. It also has some existing and in the pipeline coal-fired power projects. Aboitiz Power is the holding company for the Aboitiz Group’s investments in power generation, distribution, and retail electricity services. The company is one of the largest power producers in the Philippines with a right-mix portfolio of assets located across the country. SunEdison, meanwhile, is the world’s largest renewable energy development company and is transforming the way energy is generated, distributed, and owned around the globe.

Govt torpor puts SCTEx in disrepair THE 94-kilometer Subic-ClarkTarlac Expressway, or SCTEx, was once heralded as a gamechanger in the economic landscape of Luzon island. It is the only vertical toll road built in the main island of the Philippines and by far the longest expressway. On a grander scale, the toll road is designed to ultimately reach Dingalan Bay in Aurora province from the Subic Bay Freeport, linking the West Philippines Sea in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. Seven years after its commercial opening on April 28, 2008, however, SCTEx is nearing the state of disrepair because of government’s wishy-washy mode. President Benigno Aquino III, the Transportation Department and the Toll Regulatory Board are not implementing a business operating agreement signed by Manila North Tollways Corp. and the Bases Conversion Development Authority. French President Francois Hollande, along with President Aquino, witnessed the signing of the deal by MNTC chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan and BCDA president Arnel Casanova in February this year in Malacañang Palace. MNTC parent Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. shelled out P3 billion as down payment to show its sincerity to get the project moving. The agreement would have physically linked the two longest expressways in the Philippines—SCTEx and the 83.7-km North Luzon Expressway—and connected central and northern Luzon. The operating deal would also have brought superior technology from MNTC and partner Egis Projects S.A. of France in running SCTEx. “The SCTEx is no longer the Spic and Span expressway, gleaming under the sun. Aside from being in a state of disrepair, it is also a portrait of an unfulfilled promise,” said a former Transportation official. MNTC, under the agreement, committed to install new systems and facilities to efficiently run the SCTEx. Its operations and maintenance crew, according to a company insider, were ready to implement heavy maintenance and work on pavements due for overlay. “MNTC will also improve the traffic management system, upgrade signages, install CCTVs, put up variable message signs and set up a a state-of-the-art traffic control room similar to the one operated by MNTC in Balintawak, Quezon City,” a company insider said. What’s keeping the government from implementing the long overdue operating contract is anybody’s guess. More inaction MNTC is also grappling with right-of-way problems that are critical to complete the P10.5-billion North Harbour Link Project by December 2016. “If we get the right of way within the year, the Segment 10 is likely to be completed by December 2016,” MPTC president and chief executive Ramoncito Fernandez earlier said. Segment 10 of the North Luzon Expressway, a 5.6-kilometer elevated highway in northwest Metro Manila linking MacArthur Highway in Valenzuela City and C3 Road in Caloocan City, was only 15 percent complete since construction started in May 2014. Fernandez said the government should deliver about 75 percent of the right-of-way requirements this year to enable MNTC to complete the project by December 2016. “The right of way in the north rail section of the Segment 10 project is critical,” he said. Unit MNTC expects a daily traffic of 30,000 vehicles in Segment 10. MNTC president and chief executive Rodrigo Franco earlier said the company expects to spend another P5.1 billion to extend the NLEx Harbor Link from C3 Road in Caloocan City to Radial Road 10 in Tondo, Manila. “If we get the necessary permits from the Toll Regulatory Board, we can start the project immediately,” Franco said. The company plans to start the construction of 2.6 kilometers of elevated expressway from C3 to R10 by September this year and complete it by December 2016. MNTC completed and opened the P1.59-billion Segment 9 of the NLEx Harbor Link, a 2.42-kilometer expressway, to the public in March. Segment 9 connects NLEX from Smart Connect Interchange to MacArthur Highway in Karuhatan, Valenzuela City. The new road is expected to serve as many as 27,000 vehicles daily in the first year and ease traffic in major thoroughfares. E-mail: rayenano@yahoo.com or business@thestandard.com.ph or extrastory2000@gmail.com

THURSDAY: AUGUST 20, 2015

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

Two good Filipinos his field of expertise. He was a Filipino doctor who achieved international recognition in his field. Dr. Perez’s skills and expertise will be greatly missed, not least by the hundreds of doctors and nurses whom he trained. But all is not gone, for there is his son Benjamin, who is rising fast in the field of medicine in which his father specialized. The other good Filipino that this country lost in recent days was Olympian Arthur R. Macapagal, the eldest son of the later President Diosdado Macapagal. Art was a medal winner in pistol shooting in two Olympics and several regional competitions. He was arguably the best Filipino pistol shooter to have competed internationally. Art Macapagal can be said to have been the best Representative that the second district of Pampanga never had. He had everything going for him – political pedigree, abundant resources, good looks, an excellent education and a fine personality – and at one time he did seriously consider a run for the district from which the Macapagal family hails. Unfortunately, he was prevailed upon to give way to a member of his family. Another loser from the passing of Macapagal was Toyota Philippines. What is not too well-known is that Art Macapagal ran one of the oldest and most successful Toyota dealerships in the Philippines. With the passing of this gentleman, this country has lost two of its best.

WHEN a good Filipino passes out of this life, the nation is diminished. When two good Filipinos pass on, one after the other, the diminution is double. The loss becomes even greater when the deceased were Filipinos who had attained international recognition. A few weeks ago, this country lost arguably its best gastroenterologist. Dr. Jesus Y. Perez Jr. might have followed n the footsteps of his lawyer father, the late Court of Appeals Justice Jess Perez, but the pull of medicine was stronger. After obtaining his medical degree from the University of Sto. Tomas, he won a fellowship to Washington DC’s Georgetown University. Dr. Perez was accepted as a member of the prestigious American Society of Gastronintestinal Endoscopy and the Asia-Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver. Upon his return from his US studies Dr. Perez assumed the deanship of the St. Luke’s College of Medicine (William H. Quasha Memorial) and the chairmanship of the St. Luke’s Department of Medicine. At the same time Dr. Perez was the director of the Institute of Digestive Diseases, and he established the St. Luke’s Gastroenterology Center. Dr. Perez’s advice on gastroenterological matters was sought here and abroad, and he traveled to numerous countries to deliver lectures on

E-mail: rudyromero777@yahoo.com

Bataan factories hiring over 1,000 By Othel V. Campos

FOUR companies are hiring more than a thousand workers to support support expansion in the Freeport Area of Bataan, which is emerging as the fashion and design manufacturing hub in the Philippines.

Authority of Freeport Area of Bataan chairman and administrator Deogracias Custodio said the new opportunities reflected the growing industry inside the Freeport in Mariveles town. Custodio said it was also the result of the agency’s commitment to strengthen strategic sectors and industries that provide greater employment multipliers. He identified the companies hiring new workers as Mitsumi Philippines Inc., Grand Innovasia Concept Corp., Boast Inc. and Perpetual Prime Manufacturing Inc. Mitsumi, an electronic products manufacturer

Salceda wants tougher rules on scams LEGAZPI CITY—The government must implement tough measures to protect small employees, retirees and overseas workers returnees from falling prey to invest-

Republic of the Philippines Province of Bataan MUNICIPALITY OF LIMAY

ment scammers that rob them of precious savings. Albay Governor Joey Salceda said retirees, pensioners and returning overseas Filipino workers had become

favorite victims of pyramid scams and similar schemes as the country’s laws were not tough enough to run after and prosecute scammers. Salceda said while the

Republic of the Philippines Province of Bataan MUNICIPALITY OF LIMAY INVITATION TO BID

INVITATION TO BID The Bids and Awards Committee of the Municipality of Limay will be accepting bids for the procurement of the ff; Name of Project/Contract

Location

Sources of FUNDS

Duration

Approved Budget Cost(ABC)

Cost of Bid Doc’s.

1. Supply and delivery of One(1) Unit Brand New Service Vehicle 12 Seater Capacity for Sangguniang Bayan of Limay

Limay, Bataan

GEN FUND

30 Days

1,500,000.00

5,000.00

2. Supply and delivery of Two(2) Units Reconditioned MiniDumptruck

Limay, Bataan

GEN FUND

30 Days

2,400,000.00

5,000.00

3. Supply and delivery of Tires and Other Spare Parts for the Maintenance of Municipal Vehicles

Limay, Bataan

GEN FUND

30 Days

1,613,084.00

5,000.00

4. Supply and delivery of Building Materials for Repair and maintenance of Electrical & Plumbing of Municipal Building, Sports Complex, Multi-purpose Hall, Judy’s Park, Limay Center for Excellence Training Center, Administration Building & Street Lights

Limay, Bataan

GEN FUND

30 Days

860,865.10

1,000.00

The Bids and Awards Committee of the Municipality of Limay through the SEF FUND Budget Year 2015 invites registered contractors to apply for eligibility to bid of the following projects/contracts; Name of Project/Contract

Location

S o u r c e s Duration A p p r o v e d Cost of Bid of FUNDS B u d g e t Doc’s. Cost(ABC)

1. Construction of Four Classroom Brgy. Lamao, Two Storey Building Type B at Limay, Bataan Lamao Elemtary School

SEF FUND

180 Days

7,956,950.00

10,000.00

2. Construction of Four Classroom Brgy. Lamao, and Two Laboratory Room Two Limay, Bataan Storey Building at Lamao National High School

SEF FUND

180 Days 15,571,750.00

16,000.00

3. Construction of Eight Classroom Brgy. Townsite Two Storey Building at Limay Limay, Bataan Elementary School

SEF FUND

180 Days 12,502,400.00

13,000.00

Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening. 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 II, Instruction to Bidders.

Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening. Delivery of Goods shall not exceed thirty (30) calendar days upon winning bidder’s receipt of the Notice to Proceed. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders. Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using 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.” The Bidding Documents is available at the office of the BAC Secretariat, 2nd Floor, Limay Municipal Building, National Road, Barangay Townsite, Limay, Bataan and may be acquired by interested bidders through payment of non-refundable fee for the bidding documents. The schedule of activities is listed, as follows: ACTIVITIES Issuance of the Bidding Documents

SCHEDULE August 20, 2015

VENUE BAC Secretariat Office

Pre-Bid Conference

August 24, 2015, 2:00 P.M.

Multi-Purpose Room, Ground Floor, Limay Municipal Building.

Submission/Opening of Bids

September 4, 2015, 2:00 P.M.

Multi-Purpose Room, Ground Floor, ,Limay Municipal Building.

The Pre-Bid Conference shall be open only to all interested parties who have purchased the Bidding Documents. The BAC of the Municipality of Limay 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 contact: Mr. Ronnie Latanafrancia BAC Secretariat 2nd Floor, Limay Muncipal Building, National Road, Brgy. Townsite, Limay, Bataan Telephone No. 613-8026

(TS-AUG. 20, 2015)

and one of the oldest locators in the Freeport, is currently in need of 10 technicians and 150 operators. AFAB said applicants residing in Mariveles had the advantage in the recruitment process. Business process outsourcing company Grand Innovasia is looking for five female staff and 200 female online dealers. The company is hiring through Innovasia Manpower Services, Inc. Vacant positions in Boast Inc. include one industrial engineer supervisor, three IE staff, one finance manager, six injection machine operators and five stitching line leaders. Boast Inc., a subsidiary of Luenthai Group of Companies, produces safety shoes. Meanwhile, high-end shoe manufacturer Perpetual Prime is hiring 1,000 production operators through Fully Advance Manpower Solutions Inc. It is also looking for a finance manager, a bookkeeper and an accountant. AFAB said interested applicants should submit their resumes to the AFAB Labor Center located at the ground floor of the Administration building. Freeport Area of Bataan, which spans 1,691 hectares, currently has 69 locators, including 33 local companies and 14 Korean firms.

(Sgd.) ROMARIO C. PANANGUI Chairman, Bids and Awards Committee

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using nondiscretionary pass/fail criterion as specified in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 9184 (RA 9184), otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”. Interested bidders may obtain further information from the BAC Secretariat of the Municipality of Limay and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below from 10:00am to 5:00pm. A complete set of Bidding Documents may be purchased by interested Bidders from the address below and upon payment of a nonrefundable fee for the Cost of Bidding Documents. Bids must be delivered to the BAC-Secretariat/TWG Office, 2nd Floor, Limay Municipal Building on or before September 11, 2015 until 1:00P.M.and to be opened at 2:00 P.M. of the same day at the Multi-purpose Room, Ground Floor, Limay Municipal Building. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB. Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address below. Late bids shall not be accepted. Submission of Class “A” documents and Financial Statements at least seven(7) calendar days and the Technical documents(completed/on-going projects) at least fifteen(15) calendar days before the deadline for the submission of opening of bids. The Municipality of Limay 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: RONNIE LATANAFRANCIA BAC Secretariat/TWG – Office 2nd Floor, Limay Municipal Building, National Road, Brgy. Townsite Limay, Bataan (047)6138026 (Sgd) ROMARIO C. PANANGUI BAC Chairman (TS-AUG. 20, 2015)

Philippines had so much idle savings “to totally wipe out poverty,” these savings were not properly used due to “structural imbalances” in the economy, to the disadvantage of returning OFWs and pensioners who fell victims to scams. A respected economist and adviser to past Philippine presidents, Salceda said the country’s savings rate accounted for about 42 percent of gross domestic product, even higher than the investment rate of 22 percent. This combination created a huge pool of idle funds estimated at about P3 trillion, as reflected in the 2013 World Bank data on Philippine investments and savings. Salceda said OFW remittances added to the high savings rates “that feed condominium and housing property investments, and of course local mall consumption, and anecdotal evidences suggest, based on property sales breakdown— housing and condominium investment—that OFWs are actually good savers and investors.” “They, therefore, must be nurtured to level up towards business formation. More so, because there are also incipient signs that the property markets are also susceptible to scams, especially surrounding their presales,” he said. Salceda proposed that Republic Act No. 9710 or the Magna Carta for Women, be amended to become the Magna Carta for Women, Senior Citizens and Retirees, and include policies that will protect them from marketing and financial predators.

T H U R S D AY : A U G U S T 2 0 , 2 0 1 5

WORLD

CESAR BARRIOQUINTO EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Blast facility owners known BEIJING—The owners of a Chinese hazardous goods storage facility at the center of giant explosions—including the son of a former police chief—hid their stakes in the firm through friends, state media reported Wednesday. Ten executives from Tianjin Rui Hai International were detained after last week’s blasts in the northern port of Tianjin, which triggered a giant fireball and killed at least 114 people. The blasts sparked fears over toxic pollutants in the city’s air and water, though authorities have insisted both are safe. The official Xinhua news agency was given access to some of the suspects and quoted them extensively, as authorities try to pin blame for the disaster on local officials and individuals and head off wider criticism of China’s one-party state.

‘Female Viagra’ approved WASHINGTON—US regulators approved Tuesday the first drug designed to boost women’s sex drive, a pill that has been nicknamed the “female Viagra” but is known by the trade name Addyi. Also known as flibanserin, the drug is made by Sprout Pharmaceuticals in North Carolina and is aimed at pre-menopausal women who have lost interest in sex. “Today’s approval provides women distressed by their low sexual desire with an approved treatment option,” said Janet Woodcock, director of the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. The FDA approved Addyi specifically for a condition known as “acquired, generalized hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD),” the agency said in a statement. “Prior to Addyi’s approval, there were no FDA-approved treatments for sexual desire disorders in men or women.” AFP

Dong Shexuan, 34, the son of the port’s former police chief, owned 45 percent of Rui Hai through a schoolmate, Xinhua reported. The rest was owned by Yu Xuewei, a former executive at state-owned chemical company Sinochem, but held in the name of a friend of his, it said. “I had my schoolmate hold shares for me because of my father,” the official agency quoted Dong as saying. “If the news of me investing in a business leaked, it could have brought bad influence.” Around 700 tons of highly toxic sodium cyanide were at the

site, officials have said. Dong used his connections in the police and fire departments to help the company obtain the necessary permits and pass inspections, Xinhua said. “My connections are in police and fire. When we needed a fire inspection, I went to meet with officials at the Tianjin port fire squad. I gave them the files and soon they gave me the appraisal,” Dong said, according to Xinhua. Tianjin Rui Hai International Logistics operated without a license for nine months to June, Xinhua reported. “After the first license expired, we applied for an extension,” it quoted Yu as saying. “We did not cease operation because we did not think it was a problem. Many other companies have continued

working without a license.” Sinochem has two hazardous chemical warehouses near the site of last week’s blast, according to Greenpeace. It said both violated Chinese law requiring such facilities to be at least 1,000 meters from public buildings, major roads and residential. The Rui Hai warehouse violated the rule, state-run media previously reported, and Xinhua said Wednesday there were housing blocks and a train station within 650 meters of it. Dong and his partners found an appraisal company that ignored the facts, the news agency said. A corruption investigation into the head of China’s work safety watchdog has also been announced in the wake of the blasts. AFP

BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE – HEAD OFFICE INVITATION TO BID 1.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), invites bidders to apply for eligibility and to bid for the hereunder requirement:

One (1) Lot One (1) Year Software Subscription, Maintenance Name of Requirement/ and Technical Support Services for 5,356 Symantec Brief Description Protection Suite Licenses, as per BSP Terms of Reference Approved Budget for PhP2,840,000.00, VAT Inclusive the Contract (ABC) Contract Duration

One (1) year to commence on the date stipulated in the Notice to Proceed (NTP) to be issued by the IT Infrastructure and Operations Department (ITIOD)

Bidders should have completed from Y2010 to present a contract similar to the requirement. The Eligibility Check/Screening and Preliminary Examination of Bids shall use non-discretionary “pass/fail” criteria.

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 right or privileges to Filipino citizens.

All particulars and activities relative to Eligibility of Bidder’s, Bid Security, Performance Security, Pre-bid Conference(s), Evaluation of Bids, Post-qualification and Award of Contract shall be governed by Republic Act No. 9184 and its revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR). Activity

Schedule

Venue

Issuance of Bid Starting 19 August 2015 Procurement Office, Room 212, Documents (from 9:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. 2/F, 5-Storey Bldg., BSP Main only) Complex, Malate, Manila Tel./ Fax Nos. 306-2229; 708-7115 P r e - b i d 2 September 2015; 10:30 A.M. conference Opening of Bids 5.

14 September 2015; 2:00 P.M.

MR2A Conference Room, 2nd Floor, 5-Storey Bldg., BSP Main Complex, Malate Manila

The bidding documents are posted at the website of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) and the BSP Website (www.bsp.gov.ph). Prospective bidders may download the bidding documents from any of these websites; provided that bidders shall pay a non-refundable fee in the amount of Php5,000.00, at the address above prior to, or upon submission of their bids.

The pre-bid conference shall be open to interested parties. However, only those who have purchased the bidding documents shall be allowed to participate in the pre-bid conference and raise or submit written queries or clarifications. To ensure completeness and compliance of bids, bidders are advised to send not more than two (2) technical and/or administrative representatives who will prepare the bidding documents.

The BSP assumes no responsibility whatsoever to compensate or indemnify any bidder for expenses incurred in the preparation of bid.

The BSP reserves the right to reject any bid, declare a failure of bidding, not award the contract, annul the bidding process and reject all bids at any time prior to award of contract, without thereby incurring any liability to affected bidders. Further, the BSP reserves the right to waive any minor defects or formality and to accept the proposal most advantageous to the agency. (SGD) SILVINA Q. MAMARIL-ROXAS Chairperson

( T S - A U G U S T 2 0 , 2 015 )

OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT NATIONAL HOUSING AUTHORITY

Invitation to Bid The National Housing Authority (NHA), through the Corporate Budget approved by the NHA Board for the year 2015 intends to apply the sum of the Approved Budget for the Contracts (ABCs) to payments for the following contracts: Ref. No.

Projects

ABC/ Source of Duration Funds (P) (c.d.)

Work Description

2015 -08139

Contract of Transport Services (Vans) for the Elderly, Women and 11,237,102.00 Children of NG Subsidy Informal Settler Families in Danger Areas/Waterways of Navotas City (Re-bid)

290

Provision of vans to transport elderly, women & children of ISFs living in danger areas/waterways in Navotas City of identified resettlement sites in Navotas City & Bulacan

2015 -08140

Trucking Services to Transport Belongings of Informal Settler 10,214,548.60 Families (ISF’s) NG Subsidy (1st Living along & 3rd LRB) Waterways/ Danger Areas in Caloocan City and Bulacan (Re-bid)

Provision of trucks to transport belongings of ISFs affected by the clearing of waterways/ danger zone areas in difference barangays of Caloocan City to designated resettlement sites in Caloocan City & Bulacan

100

Provision of trucks to transport belongings of ISFs living along waterways/danger areas in Valenzuela City to identified resettlement sites in Valenzuela City & Bulacan

154

Provision of vans to transport elderly, women & children of ISFs living in danger areas in Malabon City to identified resettlement sites in Malabon City & Bulacan

Provision of vans to transport elderly, women & children of ISFs living in danger areas in Caloocan City to identified resettlement sites in Caloocan City & Bulacan

Trucking Services to Transport Belongings of Settler 2015-08- Informal (ISFs) 141 Families Living along Waterways/ Danger Areas in Valenzuela City (Re-bid) Contract of Transport Services (Vans) for the Elderly, and 2015-08- Women of 142 Children Informal Settler Families (ISFs) Living in Danger Areas of Malabon City (Re-bid) Contract of Transport Services (Vans) for the Elderly, and 2015-08- Women of 143 Children Informal Settler Families (ISFs) Living in Danger Areas of Caloocan City (Re-bid)

7,323,118.75 NG Subsidy

6,068,376.75 NG Subsidy

3,906,693.20 Corporate Receipts

Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening. The NHA now invites bids for the above-cited contracts. Delivery of the Goods is required within the duration herein cited upon receipt of Notice to Proceed. Bidders should have completed, within five years from the date of submission of bids, a single contract similar to the Project costing at least fifty percent (50%) of the ABC. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders. Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using non-discretionary pass/fail criterion as specified in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 9184 (RA 9184), otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”. Bidding is 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. A complete set of Bidding Documents shall be issued only to bidders/ authorized official representatives or employees of the bidder who can show proof of Notarized Authority to secure bid documents for the specific Project and Official Company ID upon submission of a Letter of Intent (LOI) and upon Cash Payment of non-refundable fee of P11,000.00 for Ref. No. 2015-08-139, P10,000.00 for Ref. No. 2015-08-140, P7,000.00 for Ref. No. 2015-08-141, P6,000.00 for Ref. No. 2015-08-142 and P4,000.00 for Ref. No. 2015-08143 at the Office of the NHA-BAC 2 Secretariat, 2nd Floor NHA Main Building, Diliman, Quezon City starting on August 20, 2015. For further information, the NHA BAC 2 Secretariat may be contacted at Tel/FAX. No. 928-8272. The NHA will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on September 3, 2015, 9:00 a.m. at the Operations Center, 3rd Floor NHA Main Building, Elliptical Road, Diliman, Quezon City, which shall be OPEN only to all interested parties who have purchased the Bidding Documents. Bids must be delivered at the Operations Center, 3rd Floor NHA Main Building, Elliptical Road, Diliman, Quezon City on September 15, 2015, not later than 9:00 a.m. All Bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount as stated in BDS. Bid opening shall follow immediately after the deadline of submission of bids at the same venue. Bids will be opened in the presence of the Bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address above. Late bids shall not be accepted. The NHA 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. (SGD) VICTOR C. BALBA Chairperson, Bids and Awards Committee 2 (BAC 2) NATIONAL HOUSING AUTHORITY (TS-AUG. 20, 2015)

T H U R S D AY : A U G U S T 2 0 , 2 0 1 5

B8 Thai police hunt bomb ‘network’ after attack

BANGKOK—A man suspected of planting a deadly bomb in Bangkok is part of a wider “network”, Thailand’s top policeman said Wednesday, as monks led prayers and reopened the shrine where 20 people were killed. The blast struck on Monday night as worshippers and tourists crowded into the Erawan shrine in the Thai capital’s commercial heart, but with no claim of responsibility the motive and identity of the culprit remain a mystery. The unprecedented attack left at least 11 foreigners dead, with visitors from Britain, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, and a family from Malaysia among the victims. Another 68 people remain in critical condition after a blast that shredded bodies and incinerated motorcycles at one of the city’s busiest intersections, sending a shock wave through the country’s pivotal tourist industry. “It’s a network,” police chief General Somyot Poompanmoung told reporters without elaborating, a day after CCTV footage emerged showing a suspect leaving a backpack moments before the blast struck. “We believe there must be people helping him, Thai people,” he added, appearing to rule out the action of a lone wolf attacker. Police had initially said a second explosion at a Bangkok pier on Tuesday that caused no injuries may also be linked, deepening fears for residents as police conceded they do not know who was responsible. But on Wednesday Somyot said the second attack might also be a “copycat” and that police were keeping all options open. Thai police have now offered a one-million-baht ($28,000) reward for information that leads to the arrest of the main suspect. Widely circulated video of the suspect, apparently young and slightly built, and sporting glasses and shaggy dark hair, has prompted social media chatter that he could be a foreigner. AFP

ceSAR bARRioqUinTo EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

world Bomb wipes out family vacationing in Thailand KUALA LUMPUR—Malaysian tourist Neoh Hock Guan was just about to pray at Bangkok’s Erawan shrine on Monday when he dropped the candle he wanted to light.

Grief. Relatives of a Chinese tourist killed in a bomb blast outside a religious shrine grieve

after identifying the body at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Bangkok on August 19. A man suspected of planting the deadly bomb in Bangkok is part of a wider “network,” Thailand’s top policeman said as monks led prayers and reopened the shrine where 20 people were killed. AFP

“When I bent to pick it up, I heard the explosion,” he told the Malay Mail. “The next thing I knew, none of my family members were in sight.” Neoh’s wife, son, son-in-law, and four-year-old granddaughter were all killed as the blast ripped through the shrine, twisting metal and shredding bodies in an unprecedented attack in the Thai capital. It would be several grim hours before their remains were found, the 55-year-old told media. Of the seven family members in the shrine on Monday evening, only he and his pregnant daughter survived. The remains of a fifth family victim, his sister-inlaw, have still not been identified. “This incident is a black mark in our lives,” Neoh told the Malay Mail from Bangkok. The bombing killed at least 20 people—including 11 foreigners, Neoh’s family among them—Monday evening and wounded more than 100. Bodies were peppered with ball bearings and motorcycles incinerated in the blast at one of Bangkok’s busiest intersections. No one has yet claimed responsibility. A photograph taken earlier in the holiday and published in Malaysian media shows Neoh, a cake seller from the state of Penang, and his family posing happily at a restaurant in Bangkok, their table laden with Thai dishes and glasses of beer. Their smiling Thai driver is pictured in the same photo making the two-fingered “peace” sign. The ethnic Chinese family had reportedly left Penang by train on Saturday, traveling north through Thailand on a trip that was to culminate in a few days in the capital. Neoh’s 20-year-old son Neoh Jai Jun, a student at a university in Taiwan, had returned home to join them on the holiday, The Star reported. He died in the explosion, along with Neoh’s wife Lim Saw Gek, his son-in-law Lee Tze Siang and granddaughter Lee Jing Xuan. Pictured in pink in the family photograph, the four-year-old is the youngest confirmed victim of the explosion so far. The body of Neoh’s sister-in-law Lim Soo See has yet to be identified, reports said. AFP

‘Irresponsible not to OK Greece bailout’ BERLIN—Germany’s powerful finance minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, told MPs it would be “irresponsible” not to approve a third bailout for debt-mired Greece in a vote Wednesday. “There is no guarantee that all of this will work and there can always be doubts,” he told the Bundestag lower house as debate began on the latest 86-billion-euro ($95-billion) rescue plan. “But considering the fact that the Greek parliament already approved most of the (stipulated reform) measures, it would be irresponsible not to seize this chance for a new beginning in Greece.”

The Bundestag’s blessing is required for German participation in the latest Greek bailout plan. Passage was seen as assured given the 504 seats Chancellor Angela Merkel’s left-right “grand coalition” holds in the 631-seat Bundestag lower house. But grumbling has grown ever louder within her Christian Union bloc over lifelines thrown to the Greek government of leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, an outspoken critic of the eurozone’s de facto paymaster Germany. Sixty of the 311 members in Merkel’s parliamentary group voted last month against authoriz-

ing the start of negotiations with Greece on a new rescue package― defiance that was considered a blow to the chancellor. Schaeuble, a fiscal hawk who drove a hard bargain in countless rounds of negotiations with Greece on new financial lifelines, told deputies they could vote for the package with a clear conscience. Addressing one key area of concern, the involvement of the International Monetary Fund in the third bailout, Schaeuble told MPs there was “not the slightest doubt it would agree by October to participate, calling its expertise “indispensable”. AFP

Day for children. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls welcomes children in the courtyard of the Matignon Palace in Paris on August 19 during the ‘Journee mondiale des oublies des vacances’ (International day for children who didn’t go on vacation) organized by the Secours Populaire French association. AFP

T H U R S D AY : A U G U S T 2 0 : 2 0 1 5

TATUM ANCHETA EDITOR

BING PAREL

A S S O C I AT E E D I T O R

BERNADETTE LUNAS

life @ thestandard.com .ph

WRITER

@LIFEatStandard

W EL L BEING

LIFE Susi sun room

A favorite corner among Instagrammers

Susi’s second floor

OF GREENS, WELLBEING, AND SUSTAINABILITY BY TATUM ANCHETA PHOTOS BY SONNY ESPIRITU

Bianca Mabanta, owner of Susi

The Alcott - tomato stew with kale, spinach, garbanzos, red bell peppers, black olives, and shitake mushrooms

Into the Wilde- wild mushroom quiche topped with crisped leeks

The Emerson - baked lentil-mushroom loaf served with zucchini-aubergine ratatouille, and mashed potato

n a meat eating society, people who don’t eat meat seem to have labels printed on their foreheads. There’s always that feeling of isolation and stigma surrounding vegetarianism and vegans in general. Then comes Susi, an approachable and fun glutenfree vegan and vegetarian restaurant that makes eating plant based food trendy and not so beyond the norm. “People seem to be interested enough in trying it out or just being vegans a few times a week or just having an option,” says 26-year-old Susi owner Bianca Mabanta, an art director in Barcelona who came back to the Philippines to find a platform to share what she loves to do. “I can’t use my energy and time anymore in things I don’t support. I mean, I was designing for brands and labels that I don’t really buy, so it’s either the planet or the animals,” she shares. Susi, the “key to sustainable living,” happened after a series of events stemming from her love for sustainable living. She first started a passion project called Aeta Organics, a brand selling vegan hot sauce, which supports sustainable livelihood for Aetas in Pastolan, Subic. Then realizing the difficulties of maintaining the project, she then thought of a way to bring “sustainable lifestyle” to a different audience. “Before people buy vegan products, it would be good to have a showroom to show people what’s possible, and that’s why I set this up, just to showcase vegan food,” she adds. Since Susi’s opening last March, it has had supporters and a good number of patrons. The customers grew from real vegans to curious eaters, to people with

Oscar the Grouch - kale, spinach, wheatgrass, and banana smoothie

gluten-free diets, and eventually to people who are allergic to almost everything that they end up calling ahead of time for food requests before actually going to Susi. “Vegan food can be filling and not so bland. You don’t have to suffer. And it’s not the end of the world!” says Bianca when asked about what people get from eating in Susi. Search for healthy food in Manila in Instagram and you almost always end up with Susi’s cute titled offerings that range from their best selling smoothie Oscar the Grouch (kale, spinach, wheatgrass, and banana), appetizer Into the Wilde (wild mushroom quiche topped with crisped leeks) named after vegan actress Olivia Wilde, The Emerson (baked lentil-mushroom loaf, served with zucchini-aubergine ratatouille, and mashed potatoes) which is named after her cat. “Not a vegan,” she laughs, “but when I was typing the menu, I looked at my cat and he sits in this loaf position so I named it after my cat.”

Then there’s a series of desserts popular among customers – Cacao That Cares (glazed dark chocolate-pear tart with a rich ganache and poached pears) or Eat Your Feelings (decadent dark chocolate cake sprinkled with walnuts). And if you’re hungry for breakfast, you may find solace in Oh Em Congee (Savory brown rice porridge with tofumushroom chorizo) or If I Can’t Have Brad Pitt (a stack of pancakes topped with homemade dark chocolate sauce and fresh berries). You’d feel excited just by looking at the menu and you’d want to order them just for the fun of it. ‘Typing a menu is really boring; I did all the designs myself. I used to write short stories, so I like creative writing. I just want to have fun with it and I don’t want people to take it seriously. I don’t want to be too snooty for a restaurant, and make people freak out that we’re too hardcore vegans. I just wanted to have fun with it (so) the menu is named after vegan celebrities or references,” says Bianca. Continued on C3

T H U R S D AY : A U G U S T 2 0 : 2 0 1 5

LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

ALL ABOUT ORTHOREXIA Orthorexia nervosa is a perceived e a t i n g disorder characterized by an extreme fixation to eat THE GIST healthy and BY ED BIADO avoid foods perceived to be unhealthy. It is defined as a “maniacal obsession for healthy foods.” The term was coined by Dr. Steven Bratman in 1996, a portmanteau of the Greek words “ortho” (meaning correct or right) and “orexis” (appetite). Literally, it means “correct appetite.”

NO CONSENSUS, BUT...

Although it isn’t recognized as a mental or eating disorder by the American Psychiatric Association and isn’t classified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, some physicians go with the orthorexia diagnosis when they deem that the practice of eating too healthy negatively affects the health of the patient. As quoted by the Telegraph, chief executive officer Susan Ringwood of eating disorder charity Beat says orthorexia can, in fact, “often bear more resemblance to

obsessive-compulsive disorder in that it is characterized by a fixation on righteous eating, eating only ‘pure’ foods and trying to avoid contamination by food.” Meanwhile, Eating Disorder Treatment Collaborative director Sondra Kronberg told Healthline, “In the general population, eating healthy is healthy. In the population that is predisposed to take things to extremes, to be more addictive, to be more anxious, have low self-esteem, they are more vulnerable to having a problem.”

and in some instances, may lead to death by malnutrition.

•

DO YOU HAVE ORTHOREXIA?

Dr. Bratman himself isn’t decided if orthorexia should be a DSM diagnosis as doing so could only add to the trend of pathologizing every human behavior that’s perceived to be out of the ordinary. However, disorder or otherwise, anecdotal evidence supports the belief that too much of anything is disastrous. So to find out if you have orthorexia, the doctor recommends asking yourself the following questions:

ORTHOREXIA CAN BE VERY DEADLY

On the website orthorexia.com, Dr. Steve Bratman wrote, “For people with orthorexia, eating healthily has become an extreme, obsessive, psychologically limiting and sometimes physically dangerous disorder, related to but quite distinct from anorexia.” He points out that orthorexia “seems to have elements of OCD, as does anorexia.” And these two conditions could be affecting a patient at the same time. But unlike “typical” OCD and anorexia, orthorexia “has an aspirational, idealistic, spiritual component which allows it to become deeply rooted in a person’s identity.” This preoccupation may “become so dominant that other dimensions of life suffer neglect”

Do foods help you feel in control more than really makes sense? Do you have to carry your diet to further and further extremes to provide the same kick? If you stray even minimally from your chosen diet, do you feel a compulsive need to cleanse? Has your interest in healthy food expanded past reasonable boundaries to become a kind of brain parasite, controlling your life rather than furthering your goals?

•

Do you turn to healthy food as a primary source of happiness and meaning, even spirituality? Does your diet make you feel better than other people? Does it interfere with relationships or work, friends or family? Do you use pure foods as a sword and shield to ward off anxiety, not just about health problems but ab out everything that makes you insecure?

•

If you answered yes to a majority of these questions, it could be a problem and you should perhaps consult a specialist for help. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @EdBiado

70:30 is the formula to a perfect body BY BERNADETTE LUNAS

“Y

ou can never out-exercise a bad diet,” US-certified fitness nutritionist Nadine Tengco declared last year. That was when Century Tuna introduced the 70:30 formula, placing a higher premium on nutritious and healthy diet (70 percent) but not ignoring the value of exercise which takes up the remaining 30 percent. The 70:30 approach is an internationally accepted standard among sports and nutrition experts and enthusiasts, figures that – according to them – one should live by to achieve a fit and healthy physique or a 100 percent fit body, so to speak. This year, the country’s leading canned tuna brand reiterates this formula in its latest campaign and tapped the man who many consider as having the perfect body – Derek Ramsay. Tagged as one of the hottest celebrities in the local entertainment industry today, the actor-model-host is famous for his rock-hard abs, strong, sculpted shoulders, and toned arms and legs. It was his fit body that earned him the right to endorse the brand years ago, but it’s his healthy, sustainable lifestyle, and his inspiring physique, obviously, that merited him a second break as Century Tuna’s endorser of its Lite range. The decision was a no-brainer, according to Century Pacific Food Corporation general manager Greg Banzon, as Derek “epitomizes” what

the brand stands even when I’m hungry for. “We espouse a and I felt weak the next healthy lifestyle, we day,” he said, learning talk about fitness, later that “when you’re but we also throw hungry, you should in being sexy as put something in you; part of the fitness you tear up muscles goal, and he walks and you really need the talk. He’s a very something to repair it.” active person yet he Derek now makes balances his career healthy choices when in showbusiness it comes to the food and sports.” that he eats, part of Derek possesses his daily nourishment the build of people comes from Century who practically Tuna Lite Hot and live in the gym, Spicy which he enjoys and while he does straight out of the engage in extreme easy-open can with workout (although three cups of brown he now has a quick rice. He clarifies, and easy routine), he however, that this is subscribes to the 70:30 not a recommended formula to maintain portion if a person his chiseled state. leads a sedentary Derek Ramsay attests to the 70:30 formula “Getting up in the (70 percent diet and 30 percent exercise) to achieve lifestyle. I t ’s morning (to exercise) a 100 percent fit and healthy body important to stay is hard work, but it’s even harder to do the 70 active to complement the sustenance that percent which is to stop eating those foods we put in to our body, he says. that are not good for you,” admits Derek. Like everyone else, Derek, believe it or But before he realized the value of eating well, not, has cheat days, too. The 38-year-old, and eating in general, he reveals that he used to 40th Metro Manila Film Festival Best Actor skip meals, believing that consuming less food has a sweet tooth, with ice cream and donuts meant a better body. “Before I skipped meals having a special place in his heart and in

his diet. But he reiterates that to see results in your body, you have to stay focused and dedicated to work hard. Part of the hard work is the 30 percent exercise. For this, Derek follows a 15-minute, three-step exercise which works over 300 muscle groups and which he does every morning. “Basically it’s squats for my lower body, then judo push-ups where you slide your chest up and down, and running sit-ups. Ten repetitions for each until you reach 15 minutes,” he shares. The most important part of this exercise, Derek says is to do it non-stop, but at your own pace. He then follows this up with breakfast. But at the end of the day, he says, for an exercise routine to work, “you have to find something that you love to do and suits your schedule and lifestyle.” For Derek, who played football (professionally) and also likes water polo, golf and rugby, it’s Ultimate Frisbee that he enjoys best. “I’ve given most of my time to [Frisbee] because it’s a full body workout. You’re out there running for 90 minutes; it’s a sport that involves a lot of cardio,” he explains. “That’s it, that’s all I do. I don’t lift weights.” Diet and exercise accounted for and a body to prove it, Derek attests to the 70:30 formula. “The 70:30 does work. When I tried it I felt stronger and my abs never came out as much as before. That’s funny because without doing too much exercise, I am in better shape,” he affirms.

T H U R S D AY : A U G U S T 2 0 : 2 0 1 5

LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

OF GREENS, WELLBEING, AND SUSTAINABILITY From C1

Bianca is not new in the her recipes and blog at www. food industry as her family greengastronomy.com. owns Café Med, Mexicali, El With healthy vegan food, Chupacabra, Senior Pollo, “It’s all about accessibility,” and a lot more including her Bianca says. In the future aunts’ Corner Tree Café, a Susi will be focusing a lot on vegetarian restaurant. But the delivery of their products she still considers Susi an to make healthy eating more “accident” as she didn’t accessible to the market. Today, want to be in the restaurant they start delivering their food Cacao that Cares - glazed dark chocolate-pear tart industry because she is via Food Panda, so if you’re surrounded by it growing up and knows the hard curious about their menu all you have to do is log on work put it in. She is a very hands-on business to the site and get your fresh food from Susi delivered owner as she trains her chefs, made all the menu to your doorsteps. herself, and even designed the place to be like her SUSI: The Key to Sustainable Living is located in Burgos house. Susi is not just a showroom to showcase Circle, Forbes Town Center, Bonifacio Global City, vegan food but it is also a piece of Bianca, her Taguig, Metro Manila. For more information you may love and passion for sustainable living. If you’re a visit www.susi.ph, or contact them at +632 833 SUSI, curious customer who wants to get the recipe from or email via info@susi.ph. Catch Susi on Facebook at her menu, she’s more than willing to share it. Catch SUSI and follow their Instagram account @SusiPH

Susi’s second floor

HEALTH BULLETIN TOO MUCH WORK CAUSES HEART ATTACK No matter how much we love our job, dealing with many responsibilities and pressure can take a huge toll on our health. In 2013, the death of a 24-yearold copywriter who worked for 30 hours straight shocked many deskbound employees, underscoring how work-related stress remains a prevalent concern in many industries. According to a study by Human Resources consulting firm Towers Watson, 86 percent of respondents cited excessive workload as the major cause of stress. While the initial result of stress in employees is poor or reduced quality of work, it could also lead to a host of health concerns, primarily hypertension which is a risk factor for a fatal heart attack. “Stressful situations like overworking yourself may cause

the blood pressure to spike,” says Pharex president and chief executive Tomas Marcelo Agana III. “This is why working people, most especially those who are building their careers, should bear in mind that maintaining a healthy work habit is imperative.” In this demanding age, while it is almost impossible for people to suddenly stop working, a few easy steps can be taken to mitigate the effects of stress at work such as getting at least six to eight hours of sleep every night, eating healthy food (small frequent meals is recommended since it helps maintain an even level of blood sugar to keep your energy up), maintaining an active lifestyle, drinking alcohol moderately and avoiding nicotine, creating a balanced schedule, and avoiding over-commitment.

FACTS ABOUT URINARY TRACT INFECTION Urinary tract infection or UTI is an infection that attacks anywhere in the urinary tract (kidneys, ureter, bladder and urethra). According to medical practitioners, everyone experiences UTI from time to time – symptoms of which include stinging or painful urination, dark and cloudy urine, and an intense urge to pass urine – but this doesn’t mean it should be ignored. “If left untreated, UTI can cause serious illnesses. When bacteria attack the kidneys, they can cause damage that will permanently decrease kidney functions,” says MediCard president Dr. Nicky Montoya. UTI occurs when bacteria Escherichia coli (E. coli) move from the colon and spread to the urinary tract. Women are more prone to UTI

because their urethra is shorter than men’s, and since the female’s urethra is close to the vagina and anus, it is easier for the bacteria to enter and work their way up into the bladder. Men are less likely to develop UTI because their urethra is longer and the fluid produced in the prostrate can fight the bacteria. Some steps to prevent UTI include urinating when you need to, wiping from front to back after passing urine or moving bowels, drinking six to eight glasses of water a day, and wearing comfortable underwear. UTI can be cured within one to two days of treatment if the infection is not complicated by an obstruction or nervous system disorder. However, it is important to continue taking the medication until the infection has been cured.

WHEN SHOULD YOU GET ALLERGY TESTS? Excessive sneezing, nausea and itch are the most common effects of allergies to certain substances. Some types of allergies are easy to determine because symptoms appear upon contact or ingestion of the allergen. However, certain types of allergies are harder to diagnose and can trigger fatal symptoms. Medical experts suggest seeking emergency treatment if you experience symptoms of anaphylaxis, a serious allergic reaction that is potentially life threatening. Its warning signs include swollen throat or a lump in the throat that makes breathing difficult, rapid pulse, lightheadedness, loss of consciousness, and severe drop in blood pressure.

Allergy testing can be performed in a variety of ways. One of the fastest and most proven ways is skin allergy testing (Prick Test or Intradermal Test), which studies your body’s reactions to suspected allergens by introducing them through your skin. There’s also blood allergy tests, such as Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA), which measures the level of immunoglobulin E or IgE in blood. People who have allergies typically have higher IgE levels. For suspected food and medication allergies, patients are asked to take the allergy challenge test, where they inhale or orally take a very small amount of allergen under a doctor’s supervision. MediCard has 12 free-standing clinics located in key cities nationwide that offer allergy tests.

T H U R S D AY : A U G U S T 2 0 : 2 0 1 5

LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

A NEW WAY TO REJUVENATE: Shockwave Therapy

Two weeks ago, I joined a S quash Tournament at the Manila Polo Club and played against legit squash FINE FETTLE BY BUBBLES PARAISO aficionados Tweetie De LeonGonzalez and Patrice Ramos Diaz. It was the second time I ever played squash in my life (the first being the practice two days prior) and since it was entirely new to me (let’s not count my tennis-playing childhood because that was over a decade ago), my muscles were sore. My shoulders felt really tight from all the swinging especially from practice a couple of days before the tourney that I couldn’t even lift my arms properly to change clothes. Fortunately for me (and the other tournament contenders) there were two therapists in the venue stretching players. I got curious and had myself stretched – not just once, but twice – before my first match and after my second. It felt really good to have someone else stretching you other than just you trying to touch your toes and what not. Upon stretching my arms and shoulders, Micki Mendoza, the person stretching me, pointed out how tight my shoulders were. I asked him how I could get rid of the tightness and he told me about their machine in Peak Form Manila – the Shockwave Therapy. Shockwave Therapy is a technologyassisted sports care treatment wherein the machine loosens the tightness of the muscles in certain areas in your body and gets rid of scar tissues without affecting healthy normal muscles. It is like getting a deep tissue massage or myofascial release, but faster and less painful, plus you don’t get sore after. Another benefit of getting the shockwave therapy instead of a deep tissue massage is the consistency of the “pressure” put on the tight muscles. Also, since the technology only targets the sore spots, non-tight muscles are

My quads felt so much better after the shockwave treatment

One of the therapists, Drew, and the shockwave machine

It only took three minutes to take away the tightness on my shoulders

James Younghusband comes regularly for treatments as he is very active in football

not affected at all. When muscles that are not tight are kneaded, the tendency is for it to feel sore after, or as we call it, bugbog. Shockwave therapy is excellent for pain management and mobility restoration. I was sold to the idea right away and immediately set an appointment four days thereafter. I walked into Peak Form (8th floor, Infinity Tower, BGC) with my body even more stiff than before. From doing and teaching yoga, training in Muay Thai and doing circuit training workouts within those four days since the squash tournament, I was very sore in more ways than one. There I met my therapist, Drew, who further explained to me what Shockwave Therapy was. The little rod would be placed by the tight area/s (in my case they were shoulders, lower back and quads) and the machine would send

AS PURE AS SPRING Amway introduces its water treatment system in the Philippines BY BERNADETTE LUNAS

Leni Olmedo, Amway Philippines Country Manager

Rob Missman, Durables Water Treatment scientist

Amway’s eSpring water treatment system uses carbon block filter and UV light technology to purify water

Taking away the soreness of my quads

little electro waves that would help untighten your muscles. This therapy is advisable to be applied only in areas with thick muscles like the upper trapz, quads, hamstrings and calves. Just three minutes on my left shoulder and I felt so much better already. After having done all areas, we proceeded to stretch the areas that were treated, because that is when the muscles have become very loose and ready to be stretched. To be honest, that morning before going for the treatment, my quads felt so tight that I was in pain stretching them after my workout. After this treatment, my quads felt good as new – as if I had regained my flexibility back. We ended the session by doing cryotherapy – using a machine that complements the shockwave therapy immensely by “freezing” the parts of your body that were

ur body is made of approximately 60 percent water, and under regular circumstances, it is said that humans can only survive for three days without water. We depend heavily on this fluid, yet about 2.2 million people worldwide die of diseases from contaminated water annually, according to a study by the World Health Organization. Here in the Philippines, water-borne infections remain a constant and real threat to our health. The water coming from our tap is not considered safe for drinking, so Filipinos resort to purified and bottled water, which is not only expensive (in the long run) but also has negative impact to the environment (PET plastics don’t biodegrade). Those who refuse to spend an exorbitant amount for water opt for household water filtration systems, most of which utilize reverse osmosis technology. But according to Amway scientist and water expert Rob Missman, this purification technology that uses semipermeable membrane and high pressure to remove contaminants wastes about 80 percent of water. This is where Amway’s eSpring Water Treatment System defeats many filtration systems. The water treatment system that the multi-billion directselling business recently launched in the Philippines promises to eliminate 99.9 percent of water-borne contaminants while retaining nearly 100 percent of necessary minerals. A product of Amway’s 20 years of research and development, eSpring is the first home water treatment system that uses a combination of carbon block filter and Ultraviolet (UV) light to purify water. Since the unit has to be plugged in to an electronic outlet for it to

treated to reduce if not totally avoid swelling. It’s like putting an ice pack on affected areas of your body but again, with more temperature consistency as the “ice” does not melt. I left the clinic feeling rejuvenated. I felt like my body was thanking me for the treatment that I just had, especially since I am a very active person and I load up on a lot of physical activity. A lot of athletes visit Peak Form to get these done, but regular people who love working out like myself or are just on the go and have no time for a massage are advised to come in regularly, too. Having tried this machine personally, I know I’ll be coming back for more. For more info, follow @peakformmanila on instagram. Follow me on Instagram and Twitter @bubblesparaiso

function, it operates via eCoupled wireless technology that transmits electricity through air, water and plastic components to light the unit’s UV lamp without direct electrical contact, to signal if the cartridge needs to be replaced or if there’s something wrong with the unit, and to provide information on the volume of water it has already filtered. When it comes to electricity consumption, Amway Philippines general manager Leni Olmedo assures that the unit consumes “very low electricity” since it “only takes a few seconds for electricity to flow into the system.” Each unit (with diverter) will set a household back P65,000, and the cartridge, which costs P10,000 apiece, has to be replaced after a year or after every 5,000 liters of water, whichever is earlier. It’s a large upfront cost, but Olmedo asserts that eSpring is a great investment. “If you quantify it, for example your consumption of bottled water, which we computed for an average family of four, is about 10,000 (bottles) of 500 ml water. A 500 ml bottled water costs about P20, so P20 times 10,000 is P200,000,” computes Olmedo. “So even for that initial investment (P65,000), you recover that already in less than one year. It’s a wise investment if you really want to be sure of the kind of water that gets into your body,” she stresses. Amway’s eSpring is the world’s number one selling brand of home water treatment systems based on a Verify Markets study of 2012 global sales. For more information, contact your nearest Amway direct seller or visit http://www.amway.com/at-home/eSpring

T HUR S DAY : AUGUST 20 : 2015

SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

‘Blood In dIspute’ sold-out In CamBodIa

apuso stars Mikael Daez and Andrea Torres are certainly among GMA Network’s most-sought after love teams, both here and abroad, after a sold-out premiere night of the GMA and CTN co-produced mini-TV series Blood in Dispute in Cambodia. The premiere at Legend Cinema was the highlight of the CTN Star Tour in Cambodia organized by GMA Worldwide, Inc., GMA’s content distribution arm, and CTN, Cambodia’s leading television network. According to CTN, it was the first time that a local Khmer movie had sold out as the pair’s fans flocked to the cinema to see their favorite Filipino stars. The series’ premiere was well received as Mikael and Andrea impressed the crowd with their performance, along with their Cambodian co-stars Khat Vaihang, Meas Thorn Sreynai, and veteran actor Tep Rindaro. Mikael thanked the fans in Cambodia and cited the effort in organizing the premiere night. “I was really impressed with the way they prepared for the premiere of Blood in Dispute. To the producers and the production crew, my sincerest gratitude! And to the fans who supported our movie, our heartfelt appreciation for making the premiere a big success. We hope to bring you more collaboration projects between the Philippines and Cambodia,” he said. Andrea also thanked the Cam-

bodian fans, hoping they enjoyed the series. “Thank you very, very, very much for the support you have been giving me and Mikael. Cambodia is like a second home (to me) because of your love. We’re always happy to visit you and make good movies! Enjoy Blood in Dispute!” she added. With the rising demand for GMA content in the Asian region, Mikael and Andrea have gained a sizeable following after the airing of their series Sana Ay Ikaw Na Nga on CTN. “Whenever we sell our dramas, we not only promote the content and our Filipino culture, but our stars as well. If the dramas rate well in a particular country, our talents gain recognition internationally. The very warm reception by local fans during our star tour promos proves that our talents have the potential of making it big outside the domestic market,” says GMA Worldwide, Inc. Vice President Roxanne J. Barcelona. Mikael and Andrea had an eventful weekend in Cambodia, which included an interview and a pictorial with CTN for Blood in Dispute, as well as a courtesy call with Christian B. Montero, Philippine Ambassador to Cambodia. They also took some time off to experience the local cuisine and meet their fans. Blood in Dispute, also produced by Phum Pich Films, will begin airing in Cambodia on CTN and is scheduled to premiere in the Philippines on GMA this year.

Kapuso stars Andrea Torres and Mikael Daez at the premiere night of their first international project Blood in Dispute

The cast of Blood in Dispute (from left to right) - Khat Vaihang, Meas Thorn Sreynai, Mr. Rep Tindaro, Andrea Torres and Mikael Daez

Mikael Daez, GMA Senior Vice President for Entertainment Lilybeth G Rasonable, and Andrea Torres at the courtesy call with His Excellency Christian B Montero, Philippine Ambassador to Cambodia

NatioNal Youth CommissioN hoNors JaNiNe Gutierrez

I Janine Gutierrez (center) with officers of the National Youth Commission headed by actor Dingdong Dantes (second from right)

n celebration of the International Youth Day on Aug. 12, the National Youth Commission (NYC) named Janine Gutierrez Youth Advocate at the recently concluded 1st Youth Leading Others (YoLO) Awards at Skydome, SM North EDSA. Janine was chosen as one of the youth ambassadors and will join young leaders in the country to inspire and be role model to the Filipino youth. The Kapuso actress feels very

honored and humbled. “It’s an honor and challenge to become the new ambassador of NYC. To be considered as a role model for young people is a big challenge for me and I hope that I would be able live up to that challenge. At the same time, I am also an ambassador of what the youth needs today and what they want to achieve in our society. I hope that I could be an example to all young people and I can be their voice in our society” she adds.

T HUR S DAY : AUGUST 20 : 2015

SHOWBITZ isahred @ gmail.com

fILIPInO kaLI MaRtIaL aRtS In ‘HItMan: agEnt 47’

The leading man in the film Hitman: Agent 47 trained in Malaysian Silat and Filipino Kali, an empty handed style of martial arts. Known only as 47, Rupert Friend dons the custom-tailored suit of the deadliest assassin genetically enhanced since conception bent on breaking the syndicate out to unlock his secrets as the undefeated killing machine the world has ever known. With two mysterious characters in tow, Katia van Dees and John Smith, 47 is on a race against time to fulfill his mission while he stealthily dispatches an entire phalanx of soldiers and unknown operatives in a series of split-second action sequences before they even realize he’s there. Action unit directors Chad Stahelski and David M. Leitch, stunt coordinator Jonathan Eusebio and fight coordinator Jon Valera are all from 87-11 Action Design, one of the industry’s premier stunt teams. Among the company’s fans is Rupert Friend, who notes, “87-11 doesn’t just create arbitrary fighting styles. Each character has a distinctive style.” To that end, Eusebio, Valera and stunt coordinator Chris O’Hara made John Smith a brawler with a big haymaker-punching style. He’s very much a bull-in-a-china shop, while 47 is a far more tactical fighter. Their final confrontation highlights each man’s fighting style and strengths. “It features a close quarter gun battle, the likes of which you haven’t seen before on screen,” says Valera. “We’ve been trying to do something like this for a few years. It’s hand-to-hand combat with contrasting styles. Smith is stronger, but 47 tries to outsmart him.” “47 is the opposite – he’s more linear and efficient in his movements,” Eusebio continues. So we trained Rupert in Malaysian Silat and Filipino Kali martial arts ‘empty hands’ styles.”

Rupert Friend trained in Malaysian Silat and Filipino Kali for his action scenes in Hitman: Agent 47

Friend and Zachary Quinto in a fight scene in the movie

Adds Eusebio, “When Rupert grabs a weapon, he looks like he’s handled it for a long time. And I’m not just talking about 47’s signature weapon, the silver ballers handgun. We wanted Rupert to be able to use anything he could find – like a broken bottle, a plate, a pen, or a lamp – and turn it into a deadly weapon.” But Friend made sure he was more than adept at wielding the silver ballers. “I spent weeks with a fantastic lead armaments team that trained me to the point where I could put a bag on my head and take the gun apart, and then put it back together.” Hitman: Agent 47 is showing in cinemas nationwide from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE 43 45 46 48 50 51 52 56 60 61 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 ANSWER FOR PREVIOUS PUZZLE ACROSS 1 Tarzan’s mate 5 Delhi coin 10 Head honcho 14 Windows alternative 15 Upright 16 Shed, as light 17 Allot 18 Sunspot activity 19 Penny — 20 Disagreeable

22 24 25 26 30 34 35 37 38 39 40 41

U as in “nuclear” Tenth inning cause Gist Swift antelope Bar sing-along Plunder Oar Degree holder Shore eagle Big Ten sch. Numerical prefix Forum attire

Prince Val’s wife Schmooze From now on Fanatics Commonly Road map info Sake Cape waver Messy person Nobelist from Egypt “Quo Vadis?” role Red giant in Cetus Delight in Hairy twin Jaunty caps Identified Annoy

DOWN 1 Martial art 2 Well-known auth. 3 Giza’s river 4 Wielded, as influence 5 Makes a pit stop 6 WWW addresses 7 Potpie veggie 8 Brownish tint 9 Not subject to change 10 Casual chair 11 Old Dodge model 12 In — (as found)

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2015

13 21 23 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 36 42 43 44 45 47 49 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 62

Flower holder Olive yield Gold, in combos Actress Gerwig Baseball’s Hank — Full of zest Quebec school Fumbler Garden products brand Jeweler’s unit Prevents errata Purpose Protozoans Potter or glassblower Filled with fizz Less dirty Rancid Legal rep. Cellar, briefly Charles Lamb Yardstick Mock fanfare (hyph.) Paddock occupant Ricky Ricardo portrayer Kind of tradition Licentious sort Benedictine title

Unparalleled perks and privileges from smart infinity Samsung Note 5

As if it’s not enough to own the latest Samsung Galaxy Note 5 phablet and/or the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus, getting your hands on these devices becomes even more rewarding when you acquire them via Smart Infinity, Smart Communications’ premium postpaid brand. “The latest devices are strategically launched every so often with innovative updates and we always want to upgrade; that’s a given. But when you upgrade your device with Smart Infinity, you really get so much more. And no other postpaid plan pairs rewarding lifestyle options with the latest premium devices better than Smart Infinity,” said Julie Carceller, head of Smart Infinity. In April, Smart Infinity launched the S6 and S6 Edge with a travel experience package at Shangri-La Boracay. “The S6 Edge is amongst the highest-selling devices ever launched by Samsung and we had a very fun and memorable launch in Boracay when we paired it with a travel promo. Our members enjoyed two ‘galaxies’ with the gadgets and the travel perk,” added Carceller.” And now that the latest Samsung devices, the S6 Edge Plus and the Note 5, are arriving in style via Smart Infinity, we want our subscribers to know that we are pairing it with a wide array of rewarding options tailor fit the passions and interests of our

Infinity Members: SSI Purple Gift Card, Rustan’s Gift Cards and PAL’s Mabuhay Miles. Meanwhile, Infinity Marketing Manager James Chi hints at exciting things to come for existing and future Infinity members. “We want our Infinity Members to live the Smart Life. Coupled with the innovative content options of Smart Communications, our exclusive perks and privileges just keep getting better. We ourselves are very excited to let our members and would-be members know of what’s ahead for Infinity—because bigger things are bound to happen. If we are going to give clues at the moment, let’s just say that Infinity is once again staging something world-class. Infinity is also bringing members to most elite destinations soon.” In COntROL Of yOUR POStPaID PLan anD PERk The Note 5 or S5 Edge Plus will be available at Smart Infinity’s Consumable LTE 3500 with lockin periods depending on whether it’s 32 or 64 GB. If a member decides to get the devices via Consumable LTE 5000 or Consumable LTE 8000, you get the Note 5 and S6 Edge Plus. This offer is only available from Aug. 15 to Sept. 15, 2015. True to Infinity’s pampering promise, the plans also include a galaxy of VIP privileges: VIP Customer Service: Smart Infinity members have a dedicated Infinity Relationship Officer (exclusive

Samsung Note 5 and S6 Edge Plus

to plans 5000 and 8000), access to a 24/7 worldwide concierge service, priority in dedicated Smart Stores as well as the option to have their preferred mobile number and a spare SIM. VIP Network Access: Smart Infinity subscribers can rely on the Smart network to enjoy calls and convenient mobile Internet connectivity. Users of LTE-compatible devices can maximize this benefit and enjoy watching movies or videos, upload or download photos and more, on their mobile device on the country’s most widely-available LTE service. VIP Rewards and Privileges: Smart Infinity members have a whole array of year-round privileges, which can be simply accessed through their innovative Smart Infinity Lifestyle App. Individuals interested in enjoying the premium Smart Infinity experience with a complimentary Note 5 or S6 Edge Plus, may contact 848-8806, visit smart. com.ph/infinity/SamsungNote5 or email infinitysupport@smart.com.ph. Visit the Smart Infinity website to see the latest plans, and express their interest for the new flagship devices atwww.smart.com. ph/infinity<http://www. smart.com.ph/infinity>.

T HUR S DAY : AUGUST 20 : 2015

SHOWBITZ isahred @ gmail.com

LG Turbo Washer

TaCkle big loads of laundry wiTh lg’s Turbo washers In these rainy days, expect your Alden Richards is now a recording artist

Alden RichARds now A RecoRding ARtist From c8

Current sensational heartthrob Alden Richards joins the rank of new recording artists when he inked an exclusive recording contract with GMA Records on Aug. 13. Alden feels humbled by the support that his fans have been giving him. “Hanggang ngayon na-o-overwhelm pa rin ako sa mga nangyayari. Bumabalik yung feeling ko the first time I entered showbiz. Parang every time I wake up tapos makikita ko yung tweets, yung feedback ng tao sa social media, I’m very thankful po talaga for everything. Sana po tuluy-tuloy lang ang blessings and syempre ang importante sa lahat ay yung mapaalala ko sa sarili kong hindi magbago.” The Kapuso actor feels excited to finish his album, which he dedicates to all his supporters. The album will contain two original songs and remakes of some popular tunes. He promises his fans more exciting things to look forward to. Meanwhile, Alden Richards is currently part of the longest running noontime show Eat Bulaga in which he plays a role in its phenomenal segment called “Kalyeserye” that aims not only to entertain but also to impart importantl lessons to the viewers. He is the other half of the phenomenal love team AlDub. He is also part of GMA’s comedy-musical variety program Sunday PinaSaya. HHHHH

Anne tweRks on tV Anne Curtis danced her way to Twitter’s list of trending topics after she showed off her mad twerking skills in a sexy production number on Aug 17 in It’s Showtime. The hashtag #AnneSexy immediately trended on Twitter after netizens posted about and commended her hot performance. Right after Anne’s performance, the Kapamilya noontime show launched its new-

Anne Curtis doing the twerk in It's Show Time

Vice Ganda and Ryan Rems Sarita face off in a debate

est segment “Twerking Girls,” which also generated buzz online. It is just one of the segments, including “Papa Pogi” and “Sample Queen” that aim to give ordinary people a chance to show their talent and make the madlang people happy. Before Anne set the stage on fire this week, the program also offered lots of fun last Saturday with its #FunnyOneMoreTime performances where the hosts and the final five komikeros joined forces in several comic acts. Vice Ganda and Ryan Rems Sarita swapped jokes in a fictional presidential debate. Billy Crawford, Vhong Navarro, and Ryan Bang faced off with No Direction in an amusing dance showdown, while Bayani Agbayani and Nonong Ballinan, and Curtis and Gibis Alejandrino went all out in their skits. Jugs and Teddy unleashed

their inner komikeros by trading punch lines with the father-andson Crazy Duo. Viewers nationwide watched the special performances that it recorded a national TV rating of 17.8 percent, based on data from Kantar Media. HHHHH

cAlAyAn mAtRiARch AnsweRs AllegAtions Dr. Josefina V. Calayan, the Calayan family matriarch, explains and clarifies the issues against the newly incorporated Calayan Medical Group Inc. (CMGI), allegedly perpetrated by celebrity doctors Manny and Pie Calayan. The former is the son of Dr. Josefina V. Calayan CMGI is owned by the Calayan family of doctors spanning three generations and operated by professionals of different fields. Its Cebu clinic opened on June 8, amidst negative issues

thrown by the mentioned couple against the whole family. CMGI is technically a “separate” entity from the known Calayan clinics of the celebrity doctors. Dr. Josie (Josefina V. Calayan) was the one who established Calayan hospital, Calayan school and clinics in the Philippines since the 1960s way before the name Calayan became synonymous with cosmetic surgery. Drs. Manny and Pie Calayan have filed a case against Lalen Calayan, CMGI Head of Operations, for violating intellectual property rights as they accused her of using the Calayan logo for CMGI. In fact, it was Lalen who designed the logo and secured its copyright. Despite the couple’s denials and giving other reasons why Dr. Pie came back home from the United States, where she had a clinic and where their three daughters were studying, the Calayan family knows the truth – that Dr. Pie and her daughters have been banned and blacklisted from entering and residing in the United States. A 2011 statement issued by the Medical Board of California narrated that it served a search warrant on the unlicensed medical practice of the Calayan Medical Clinic in West Hollywood. It stated that the Board received complaints from the patients who were injured by the laser treatments. Dr. Pie’s case was referred to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for violation of the Business and Professions Code – Practicing Medicine Without a License.

The embattled Dr. Josefina V. Calayan

laundry chores to be more challenging as the weather yields more clothes to wash. For busy working people, this means less opportunity to have some R&R, and reduced quality time for the family. The good news is that spending a lot of time and efforts in doing laundry can now be avoided, as LG’s washing machines with TurboWash and TurboShot technologies are already here to help you clean your clothes fast and easy. LG’s revolutionary TurboWash™ Front Load washers will allow you to reduce washing time on each large load of laundry, without compromising cleaning performance. With the 3 Way TurboWash™, what normally takes almost an hour to finish for a normal speed course can be done in as fast as 45 minutes. In speed washing function, it can take as fast as 15 minutes to finish a standard of one kilogram laundry load. Meantime, LG’s Top Load washers with the innovative TurboShot technology enable superior washing and rinsing performance, and hygienic tub clean. TurboShot technology uses a rapid drum motion and waterfall-like jets to penetrate deep into fabrics and dissolve detergent more efficiently, thus removing tough stains faster, while helping yield impressive energy and water savings. LG Electronics Philippines Vice President for Home Appliances Youngmin Chae said, “We continually try to innovate for the benefit of our consumers. For working individuals and married couples, especially those with kids, our washers are like manna from heaven, as it eliminates the need to wash clothes on weekdays after work. Big loads of family laundry are now more manageable with LG’s state-of-the art washers.” What’s more, the LG’s TurboWash and TurboShot models feature 6 Motion Direct Drive (6 Motion DD) capability that lets you wash your clothes with more care and movement – the closest you can get to hand washing. The TurboWash and TurboShot technologies also work to complement LG’s Biggest Capacity in Front Load and Top Load washers, letting you wash all your clothes at once. Combining the above-mentioned standout features in LG’s Big Capacity washing machines result to more water pressure and best washing performance. Indeed, your perfect partner in maintaining a happy home this laundry-heavy season.

T HUR S DAY : AUGUST 20 : 2015

ISAH V. RED EDITOR isahred @ gmail.com

SHOWBITZ

L-R Cherie Gil, Matteo Guidicelli, Shaina Magdayao, Brian Sy, Anna Luna

CiNema oNe Now iNto drama SerieS, too ISAH V. RED The no. 1 cable channel (according to SkyCable) Cinema One is into drama series as well. Kapamilya stars Shaina Magdayao and Matteo Guidicelli are teaming up for the first time in an original cable TV series that merges engaging comedy and relevant issues for the urban singles living in a complicated, modern world. The series premieres 8 p.m. on Cinema One on Aug. 29. Single\Single, Cinema One’s first project in cooperation with a leading newspaper, is the cable channel’s first TV series that focuses on issues ranging from quarter-life crises to relationship dilemmas in a digital world. More importantly, the series aims to underscore the importance of handling finances, career path planning, and having a work-life balance for the urban millennial. The series follows the story of Joee (Shaina) and Joey (Matteo), two single strangers who will exchange sparks or non-sparks as an odd couple forced to share an apartment for practical reasons and tries to answer the question, “when strangers have no choice but to share the rent, will it be a disaster or a happy ever after?” As a first of its kind project on Philippine cable TV, Single\Single combines the power of cable and print media to talk to Filipino millennials about how to cope as a single individual in an entertaining format. Each week after an episode airs on Cinema One, there will be an in-depth discussion on wealth management on the newspaper’s Business Lifestyle section. The show’s lead stars also serve as

role models to millennials. Shaina, who grew up in showbiz, is one of the many young celebrities who have managed their finances well. She owns several business ventures, including a salon and a summer camp for kids. Meanwhile, Matteo who hails from Cebu, also has a background in entrepreneurship as his family has established businesses in his hometown. Also joining the cast of Single\ Single are Cherie Gil who plays Matteo’s single mom in a very offbeat parent role; award-winning Cinema One Originals actress Anna Luna as Shaina’s career-driven buddy; and theater actor Brian Sy as Shaina’s gay friend. Indie favorites Mara Lopez and Matt Daclan appear as guests. Single\Single is under the direction of international award-winning independent cinema director Pepe Diokno, who also marks his first venture into cable TV and comedy. Palanca winner Lilit Reyes is the series writer, while the film producer of the highest grossing Pinoy indie movie That Thing Called Tadhana,” Bianca Balbuena, is producing the series. New episodes will air every Saturday at 8 p.m. with replays on Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Sundays. Cinema One aims to support and uphold Filipino produced movies and shows by screening Filipino movies and showcasing Filipino filmmaking talent through Cinema One Originals. It is also a pioneer in the cable industry through its originally produced shows that give an in-depth discussion about the film and entertainment industry such as Inside The Cinema Circle and CinemaNews.” It belongs to the family of cable channels under Creative Programs, Inc. (CPI), a subsidiary of ABS-CBN.

Shaina Magdayo and Matteo Guidicelli the lead stars of Cinema One's first TV series Single Single premiering this August 29 Matteo as Joey

Shaina Magdayao as Joee

Matteo and Shaina as Joee and Joey on single single premiering on August 29 on Cinema One

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SuperStar Nora auNor oN prime time tV agaiN The millions of fans of the country’s one and only Superstar, Nora Aunor, will be happy to know that their idol is back on prime time television. “Isa talaga ito sa mga inaabangan ko, para sa akin dream come true. Ako’y namamangha every time I see her. Gusto ko ring maranasan ‘yung karangalan na makatrabaho ang isa sa pinakamalaking artista sa kasaysayan ng industriya ng pelikulang Pilipino,” Dingdong Dantes, lead star of the GMA7 primetime series Pari

‘Koy said about working with the actress known to her fans and the industry as Ate Guy. Nora Aunor is the newest addition in the cast of the series. Her first appearance was in a brief scene last Friday and this week, the story revolves around her character, an aging beggar who finds solace in churches but is always asked to leave the premises as she is dirty and stinking. In an interview during Ate Guy’s first taping day in the series, she reveals her excitement not only on working again with Director Maryo J. Delos Reyes, whom she first worked with in a number of

films, but also in sharing scenes with Dingdong. “Idol ko ‘yun. Nagkita kami minsan sa backstage sa isang awards night. Sabi ko pa nga gawa kami ng pelikula. Ito nga, finally, nagkaroon na ng katuparan na magkatrabaho kami.” Ate Guy is Lydia, a doting mother and loving wife in the series. Her world is shattered when her husband dies. Due to depression, she will act differently and eventually overlooks her children. She will then be left wandering on the streets until she reaches Barangay Pinagpala. Pari ‘Koy airs weeknights after 24 Oras on GMA Telebabad. ➜ Continued on C7