The Standard - 2015 November 25 - Wednesday

VOL. XXIX NO. 286 3 Sections 32 Pages P18 WEDNESDay : NOVEMBER 25, 2015 www.thestandard.com.ph editorial@thestandard.com.ph

3 more held for bullets at Naia

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MAR: WHO WANTS ‘FOREIGN’ LEADER?

By John Paolo Bencito and Macon Ramos-Araneta

ADMINISTRATION candidate Manuel Roxas II took a swipe Tuesday at presidential survey frontrunner Senator Grace Poe by insinuating that she was not a natural-born citizen, just a few months after he failed to convince her to be his running mate.

“Without any specificity, none of us would want a foreigner as president, right?” Roxas said Tuesday. “The issue here is being a natural-born Filipino, which is stated in the Constitution.”

“And in the end, the rule of law should prevail because if there is no law, then it will already be might is right—those who have the money, those who have the guns and those who have the loudest voice would prevail in our country,” he added.

POE

Road rage killer Ivler draws life in prison

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Roxas spoke up on Poe’s citizenship status after Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte joined the presidential race to protest the Senate Electoral Tribunal’s dismissal of a petition to unseat her as a senator because she was a foundling and could not prove she was a naturalborn citizen, a requirement for being senator or president.

“If you want an American president, choose Grace [Poe],” Duterte said.

Previously, Roxas had refrained

from commenting on the challenges against Poe and denied allegations that he was behind the petitions filed against her before the Commission on Elections and the Senate tribunal.

A spokesman for Poe, Valenzuela Mayor Rex Gatchalian, reacted sharply to Roxas’ statement.

“How can they say she is a foreign national when they even tried to draft her as their vice presidential bet?”

Gatchalian said.

Next page

ROXAS

Be on alert vs terrorists, Palace insists

By Sandy Araneta and Vito Barcelo THE Palace said Tuesday that even without any specific threat, the public must be vigilant against possible terrorist attacks.

Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. made this state-

ment during a radio interview on dzRH after the military played down the possibility of a terrorist threat, which seemed to contradict Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda’s call to the public to avoid malls and other public places where crowds gather.

“Maybe, we should put this in the right context. What Secretary Laci-

erda said [was that] even when there is no serious threat monitored… it is still better to be vigilant. Maybe, that’s what he meant, and that we need not worry,” Coloma said.

Coloma cited as an example the recently concluded Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Next page

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Aquino meets lumad leaders, vows action

By Sandy Araneta, John Paolo Bencito and Macon Ramos-Araneta

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III met Tuesday with leaders of indigenous peoples’ groups in Malacañang and vowed to address their concerns, a Palace spokesman said.

“Earlier today, the President, along with key members of the Cabinet, met with leaders from the indigenous peoples sector,” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said.

“He heard the totality of their concerns and issued directives to come up with concrete action plans to address these, both in the immediate and long term,” Lacierda added.

The Cabinet secretaries present at the meeting were Education Secretary Armin Luistro; Budget Secretary Florencio Abad; Health Secretary Janette Garin; Cabinet Secretary Jose Rene Almendras and the head of the Presidential Management Staff, Julia Abad.

Almendras said the meeting between the President and lumad representatives was “fruitful” but declined to give any details.

“They were able to express themselves to the President. The lumad were accompanied by priests and nuns,” Almendras said.

“There was an agreement on a course of action. The President instructed certain members of Cabinet to address those issues,” he added.

One source who spoke on condition of anonymity, however, said some who were in the meeting asked if the lumad were really refugees or if they were being used by the communist rebels in Mindanao.

One Cabinet official, for example, asked if the 700 tribesmen who sought refuge at the Haran Center of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines in Davao City, were speaking freely, or if they were being coerced to say by people who were detaining them at the center.

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Manila where order and security were maintained for the visiting world leaders.

“They were able to arrive and depart safely,” said Coloma. “And authorities were able to respond to all possible threats to security, and this was managed by our security task force. That’s why our countrymen have nothing to worry about,” Coloma said.

He acknowledged that threats exist, but added that the authorities are continuing to monitor these to avoid attacks such as the wave of bombings and shootings in Paris.

Like other countries, Coloma said, the Philippines maintains an immigration watch list.

Immigration stops foreigners

An evangelical bishop on Tuesday denied alleged claims from the military and North Cotabato Rep. Nancy Catamco that the tribal evacuees encamped in the UCCP Haran compound are being held off against their will.

“That claims came from the military, that’s Catamco’s story. Evacuees from Talaingod [in Davao del Norte] have always considered Haran as their sanctuary, their second home even before,” bishop Modesto Villasanta, former Bishop of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines told, The Standard in a phone interview.

Villasanta said that some 668 lumad evacuees coming from Talaingod town in Davao del Norte have cordoned themselves at the UCCP’s Haran church due to fear of reprisal from various groups, including security forces and paramilitary groups alike who’ve troubled their lives since.

In October, a village leader led a mob of townsmen and some soldiers to destroy a school run by an organization and named after an Italian priest who was killed for championing the rights of the lumad or indigenous people.

Leftist lawmakers denounced human rights violations and “the state of impunity” in Mindanao, and criticized the lack of government action.

“It is a pity that the village chief is taking its cue from the military, and espousing the lie that these lumad schools are the makings of rebel groups, and its teachers and students are rebel supporters or rebels themselves,” said Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares.

“Instead of supporting the efforts of churches and non-government organizations to provide the education that his tribe members need, he is the first to vilify and attack the school that provided free education for lumad children,” Colmenares said.

“The demolition of this school is a crime against the lumad children who benefit from this school, to the memory of Fr. Pops Tentorio who had built lumad schools all over Mindanao before he was murdered, and to all lumad people who are struggling for

who might constitute a threat from entering every day, “even if we do not hear about this,” Coloma said.

On Tuesday, an Immigration official said some 1,400 foreigners suspected to have links with terrorist groups were barred from entering the Philippines during the Apec meetings, but one of them, an Afghan, was able to enter but was held by the police until the summit was over.

The Afghan, identified as Ghulam Mustafa Moori, was deported Monday.

Moori, a confirmed sympathizer of the ISIS, was confined to his hotel in Makati until the Apec concluded, said Associate Commissioner Gilbert Repizo.

Repizo said that among the nationals barred from entry were nine Chinese suspected to be members of a terror group in China, 18 Malaysians with links to various terrorist

their right to their lands and to selfdetermination,” Colmenares said.

Kitaotao Vice Mayor Rodito Rafisura said the town council started a probe into the demolition of the school.

The attack against lumad schools were among the issues raised by Manilakbayan 2015, a caravan from Mindanao that arrived last month.

Many schools in Davao, Agusan, Bukidnon and Surigao have been repeatedly forced to suspend their operations amid allegations that they were being supported by communist rebels.

In Surigao del Sur, a director of another lumad school, the Alternative Learning Center for Agriculture and Livelihood Development together with two other tribal leaders were killed inside the school compound in September, triggering fear among the community and forcing them to flee their homes.

During Senate budget hearings for the Commission on Human Rights, the sponsor of the commission’s spending plan, Senator Juan Edgardo Angara, was asked what was being done to address the problems of the lumad.

“They are coordinating with the police for purposes of investigation.

The CHR chairperson also said they are coordinating with Department of Justice and the Philippine National Police to complete their investigation,” said Angara, in response to a question from Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile.

Enrile also dismissed the CHR claim that it was coordinating with the “generals on the ground” but not with Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin.

“For heavens sake, those generals will not move without orders,” Enrile said, citing the need to bring Gazmin into the picture.

Enrile, who served as defense secretary during the Marcos administration, said the country had a similar problem before and this needed attention at the highest level.

He also underscored the need to do something about the ordeal of the lumad at the hands of paramilitary groups and said the CHR was “evidently paralyzed” on the issue.

groups.

Also barred were 53 Indonesians who reportedly joined ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

Repizo said the foreigners were barred after their names appeared on the bureau’s Mobile Interpol Network Device, which was installed at the airport.

On Monday, an intelligence source said the Palace advice to stay away from crowded places was a sign of an increased security threat.

The same source said at least two known jihadists were in Metro Manila to recruit for the terrorist Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

The military, however, played down the threat, saying they did not receive any information that terrorist groups, including ISIS, were planning to launch attacks in the country.

The United States issued a worldwide travel alert on Monday warn-

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He also noted that Poe ran for the Senate in 2013 under the administration coalition.

“Surely, these actions were grounded in research,” Gatchalian said.

Roxas on Tuesday said he was unfazed by Duterte’s entry into the presidential race.

“Do I look worried? Welcome to the campaign. It would be great if those who seek to serve or present their platforms become part of this contest,” Roxas said.

Duterte on Monday night took a dig at his rivals, suggesting that Poe was an American, that Roxas lacked competence and that Vice President Jejomar Binay lacked integrity.

Duterte had earlier accused Roxas of spreading a rumor that he had cancer, which he said had hurt his family.

He exempted Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago from his attacks, however.

“If you want a brilliant president, integrity and all, competence, vote for Miriam,” he said, but suggested that the senator, who has battled cancer, might not be able to finish the campaign.

“Think of me during the last week of the elections,” he said.

Senator Cynthia Villar on Tuesday said she doubted if the SET would reverse its decision to junk the disqualification case against Poe, but said the “true fight” would be before the Supreme Court.

Villar, along with the other four senator-members of the SET, voted against the quo warranto petition to unseat Poe from the Senate filed by losing senatorial bet Rizalito David.

David had argued that Poe was not a natural-born Filipino citizen when she ran for the Senate in 2013.

In an interview, Villar said she thinks the SET would come out with the same ruling on the motion for reconsideration filed by David last Monday.

She said it would be difficult to explain if a member who voted against the case would suddenly change his or her decision.

Except for Senator Nancy Binay, whose father is running against Poe in 2016, the five other senators in the tribunal— Villar, Vicente Sotto III, Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, Loren Legarda and Pia Cayetano—voted to junk the case.

She also dismissed the likelihood that Cayetano would change her vote, now that her brother, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, is Duterte’s running mate.

Villar said she believed Cayetano would not change her vote because children’s rights are among her advocacies, that the decision favored foundlings.

Villar said she believed that being a foundling does not automatically mean a person is not a natural-born citizen.

She added that David failed to present any evidence to show that Poe was not a natural-born citizen.

She also dismissed suggestions that the vote in the SET was based on political consideration.

“Why would that be political? I can’t understand that,” she said, noting that the decision was based on the rights of foundlings.

Senator Francis Escudero, Poe’s running mate, urged Duterte not to belittle those who disagreed with his views.

Duterte had accused Escudero of using Poe, after Escudero asked the mayor not to use Poe as an excuse to run for president.

Poe and Escudero are leading the voters’ preference surveys for president and vice president, respectively.

Escudero said the fact that Poe had been given a birth certificate and passport, was legally adopted, and later allowed to run for and serve as a senator, meant only one thing: she is a Filipino and qualified to be a public servant.

ing American citizens of “increased terrorist threats” in the wake of the Paris attacks.

A massive manhunt is underway in France and Belgium for Belgian-born Salah Abdeslam, suspected of playing a role in the coordinated shooting and suicide bombings of Nov. 13 claimed by the Islamic State group.

The United States has been on heightened alert in the wake of the attacks, which killed 130 people.

“Current information suggests that ISIL (aka Daesh), Al Qaeda, Boko Haram and other terrorist groups continue to plan terrorist attacks in multiple regions,” said a State Department travel advisory.

“US citizens should exercise vigilance when in public places or using transportation,” it said, advising Americans to avoid large crowds or crowded places and to “exercise particular caution during the holiday season.”

Citing recent attacks in Denmark,

France, Mali, Nigeria and Turkey, it also noted the threat of “lone wolf” attacks by unaffiliated persons inspired by terror groups.

The alert, which expires Feb. 24, warned that “the likelihood of terror attacks will continue as members of ISIL/ Daesh return from Syria and Iraq.”

It was referring to foreign fighters who return home after having fought alongside IS extremists.

“Extremists have targeted large sporting events, theaters, open markets and aviation services,” the alert added.

The State Department often issues individual country travel alerts, but this notice was a rare “worldwide travel alert” that comes in the wake of a series of attacks.

New “attacks may employ a wide variety of tactics, using conventional and non-conventional weapons and targeting both official and private interests,” it said. With AFP

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3 more held for bullets at airport THREE more passengers were caught carrying bullets inside their bags at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, officials said Tuesday, but the charges against two of them were dismissed and the third was ordered released from detention.

Careful! A sign posted at the airport reminds passengers to check their bags for anything prohibited before entering any of its terminals. EriC Apolonio

Speaker: House has no time to lower taxes CONGRESS will not be able to pass the bill seeking to lower the income tax rates in the country due to “lack of time,” House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said Monday.

He made the statement after President Benigno Aquino III rejected the measure.

“There are a few ideas and bills in the same category, and we hope that they will form the initial output of the incoming legislature, the 17th Congress,” Belmonte told reporters.

He made his statement even as Senator Edgardo Angara renewed his call to the government to simplify the process of tax filing and payment for micro, small, and medium enterprises or MSMEs in line with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation member-economies’ call for more efforts to help small businesses penetrate the global market.

“If the Apec attendees and delegates have a special lane or treatment, this

should be the same to small entrepreneurs,” Angara said.

“How we can make the Philippines MSME-friendly should be one of the priorities of the government after Apec as we all aim for inclusive growth.”

Belmonte said Aquino’s decision was expected since the chief executive had been against it.

“He’s against it. You better spend your time on something that will get approved rather than not approved,” Belmonte said.

He said Congress failed but it had exerted efforts to convince the President to favor the measure.

“It’s there on the record so people will pick it up in the next Congress for sure,” Belmonte said.

Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez has expressed dismay over the President’s decision.

“The bill seeking to lower income tax rates is supposed to provide relief to Fili-

pino workers, especially the middle class and low-income earners. We are saddened over the fact that the government failed to show malasakit [compassion] to our people,” Romualdez said He also urged the President’s allies, led

by Belmonte, to do their job and not to succumb to pressures from Malacañang.

“We urge the President’s allies in Congress to show malasakit by approving the measure in the Lower House despite the President’s opposition to the measure,” Romualdez said.

Rep. Barry Gutierrez, spokesman of Liberal Party standard-bearer Manuel Roxas II, said “there is a continuing study” being done by lawmakers and Aquino’s economic advisers on the matter.

He said it was necessary to consider the input from the Executive in any discussions on amending any law. Maricel V. Cruz and Macon ramos-Araneta

Filipino worker Marc Angelo Unida, 27, was about to board his flight to San Francisco at 8:26 p.m. on Nov. 20 when authorities found a bullet inside his bag.

Another passenger, Josephine Agbayani, 52, was arrested Monday morning after a bullet was found inside her shoulder bag.

On the same day, Gerald Ubarde, 25, was a departing for Macau around 4:40 p.m. when she was arrested for having a .40-caliber bullet inside his pouch bag.

But Pasay City prosecutors dismissed the charges filed by the Aviation Security Group against Agbayani and Ubarde for lack of probable cause, while Unida was ordered released from detention pending further investigation of his case.

Airport officials made their report even as Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. deplored Malacañang’s attempt to belittle the alleged existence of bullet-planting syndicates preying mostly on elderly passengers and Filipino workers.

“It is unfortunate that instead of trying to get into the bottom of these allegations, the President instead chose to dismiss these outright with statistics and even defended the airport authorities,” Marcos said.

“The reports affirm that

many victims of the “tanim-bala” scheme opt to just pay up to avoid inconvenience.”

Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez warned passengers to be wary of extortionists at the airport despite Aquino’s downplaying of the bullet-planting scam there.

Two weeks ago, city prosecutors dismissed the case of Hong Kong-bound Filipino worker Gloria Ortinez who was detained for two days after a bullet was supposedly found in her handbag last month.

Two airport officials were also relieved after the bullet in the investigation report on Ortinez’s case did not match the one presented before the prosecutors office.

Reports showed that Ortinez was about to take a connecting flight from Laoag Airport to Hong Kong on Oct. 25 when she was arrested.

Lawyer Spocky Farolan said Ortinez didn’t own the bullet and that his client was a victim of the scam at the airport.

The lawyer of American missionary Lane Michael White is also hoping the Pasay City regional trial court will dismiss the case against him after he was allegedly caught in possession of a bullet at the airport two months ago. Joel E. Zurbano

‘Salary law grants huge hikes for top officials’ PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III, congressmen, senators and Cabinet members granted themselves huge salary increases—including a 233-percent hike to almost P400,000 a month for Aquino—while teachers, nurses and soldiers would receive only 11 to 12 percent or P24 a day, an official said Tuesday.

As a result, Rep. Antonio Tinio sought to reopen the debates on the bill proposing a Salary Standardization Law to discuss amendments that would make the salary increases for teachers, nurses and soldiers fair.

He said the increases given to the rank and file were “an insult especially to the teachers, nurses, police, soldiers

and other professionals.”

The SSL bill is now up for third and final reading and the House leadership has announced it is likely to be approved this week.

It was approved on second reading before Congress suspended its sessions during the week-long Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit.

Tinio said SSL 2015 will increase the basic salaries of teachers and nurses by only P2,205 over four years.

“In fact, government teachers, nurses, police, soldiers and other employees will receive the lowest salary increase under Aquino’s SSL 2015, ranging from 11 percent to 22 percent over the next four years,” Tinio said.

“On the other hand, the salary increases for top officials run to as high as 186.45 percent for legislators and Cabinet officials and even a whopping 233.12 percent for the President of the Philippines.

“It is clear that when it comes to basic pay, government employees in the lowest up to the middle-level positions are disadvantaged while those occupying higher positions are greatly favored under the proposed SSL 2015 of President Aquino.”

Tinio urged the House to reconsider its approval on second reading of the SSL 2015, or House Bill 6268, and admit his proposal to increase the salaries for the bulk of government employees.

He said the House approved SSL 2015 without changing even slightly the paltry hikes proposed by Malacañang for the vast majority of those working in the government.

“After three years of not having salary increases, hundreds of thousands of rank and file government employees are furious that Congress gave its stamp of approval to this highly unjust bill,” Tinio said.

He said SSL 2015 will increase the basic salaries of teachers and nurses by only P2,205 over four years or 11.89 percent higher than their current pay. He said this amounts to additional finances of only P24 per day for these professionals. Christine F. Herrera

road rage. A smiling Jason Ivler leaves a Quezon City court after he was sentenced to life in prison for the killing of the son of a former Malacañang official six years ago. (Story on A6) EY ACASio

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A4 Duterte bid still pushing through

By Christine F. Herrera, Maricel V. Cruz and Sara D. Fabunan DAVAO City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte can run for president because there is no legal stumbling block in his way, according to former Commission on Elections chairman and election lawyer Sixto Brillantes said Tuesday.

Brillantes contradicted the position of another election lawyer Romulo Macalintal, who argued that Duterte is not qualified to run since the candidate for president that he was supposed to replace would be declared by the Comelec as a “nuisance candidate.”

But Brillantes argued the Comelec lost its legal basis to take up Martin Diño’s status as a presidential contender after the latter withdrew his Certificate of Candidacy last month.

Brillantes said there were three requirements for a candidate to qualify as a substitute—if the candidate has died; if the candidate is disqualified; and if the candidate is declared a nuisance.

“All three requirements [for a candidate to substitute for another bet] do not constitute a stumbling block for Duterte. He can run for president. The candidate he was replacing has not died, neither was he disqualified nor declared a nuisance candidate,” Brillantes said.

Macalintal earlier claimed Duterte could be barred from joining the presidential race because the Comelec is likely to declare Diño as a nuisance candidate.

“Diño can no longer be declared a nuisance candidate because he has already withdrawn his CoC even before the Comelec could take up his case,” Brillantes explained, adding that Duterte would have had a problem had the Comelec disqualified or declared Diño a nuisance.

“Diño withdrew his CoC before the Comelec could disqualify him or declare him a nuisance, so he is not a nuisance.

Diño’s withdrawal made the Comelec lose its basis to take up on the case.

There is nothing to contest because he withdrew,” he said.

But Camiguin Rep. Xavier Jesus Romualdo, a staunch ally of the ruling Liberal Party, said the legal issues hounding Duterte is more complicated than the citizenship and residency case of Senator Grace Poe.

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SC extends stay order on GMA plunder trial

By Rey E. Requejo and Rio N. Araja THE Supreme Court on Tuesday extended for 90 days the status quo ante order it issued last Oct. 20 suspending the trial for plunder of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo before the Sandiganbayan.

No hindrance. Former elections commissioner Sixto Brillantes, who has resumed his law practice after

retiring from the Commission on Elections explains why he thinks there’s no hindrance to the presidential candidacy of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.

Binay makes pitch for Batangas

By Vito Barcelo VICE President Jejomar Binay visited Batangas on Tuesday and said he will push for a bigger funds for municipalities with low income to implement projects and programs for their constituents through an increase in internal revenue allotments for local governments.

Binay also vowed to revisit the Local Government Code so that third to fifth class municipalities will get a bigger share of the Internal Revenue Allotment.

The vice president said there is an urgent need to review the distribution of IRA and give poorer local government units

Senatorial candidate.

Valenzuela City Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian greets senior citizens during a visit to Occidental Mindoro.

Apart from his education reform bills, Gatchalian also drafted measures related to the welfare of senior citizens. The lawmaker filed House Bill No. 4946, or the Homes of Abandoned Seniors Act, to provide a shelter and medical assistance to homeless senior citizens, who have been unattended or abandoned by their loved ones.

higher shares from taxes collected by the government.

“Being the first responders to the needs of the people, we should empower LGUs so that we can avoid delays in the implementation of programs and services,” Binay said.

“We will ensure that municipalities with low income will have enough funds to implement projects and programs for the welfare of their constituents,” he said.

Binay also said he is in favor of further decentralizing the powers of government.

Earlier, Binay questioned the administration’s preparedness to tackle the looming loss of jobs of an estimated one million ru-

ral workers within the next six months due to El Niño.

He urged the government to draw up more concrete measures to protect workers and industries that will be affected by El Niño.

Binay said he can assure the people that the Philippines will be as progressive as Makati City, citing his experience and track record in addressing hunger and poverty while he was mayor of the city.

“I already solved the problem in Makati. I don’t just make promises. I find solutions to solve the problem. Uplift the lives of the poor, provide free but quality education and public service,” Binay said.

SC spokesman Theodore Te said the court issued the 90-day SQA order in connection with Arroyo’s alleged participation in embezzling P366 million from the intelligence funds of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office from 2008 to 2010.

“In the matter of G.R. No. 220598... the Court issued a status quo ante order for 90 days, or until February 19, 2016, directing the parties to observe the status quo prevailing before the issuance of the assailed orders of the Sandiganbayan dated April 6, 2015,” the SC said.

Arroyo’s camp welcomed the court’s decision and claimed it is a sign that the magistrates found serious flaws in the process.

“The 90-day suspension is a positive development. It indicates that the Supreme Court has really seen serious flaws with the way Sandiganbayan treated the case as pointed out by former justice secretary Estelito Mendoza,’’ a lawyer source told The Standard.

Last April, Arroyo assailed before the SC the denial of her bail by the Sandiganbayan, insisting that the antigraft court committed grave abuse of discretion when it denied her bail application on the ground that the evidence of her guilt is strong.

Mrs. Arroyo through her lawyer, former solicitor general Estelito Mendoza, argued that the former president is still entitled to bail for two reasons: her continued detention has resulted in the impairment of her health, and; she is demonstrably not a flight risk.

Mrs. Arroyo is currently under hospital arrest at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City awaiting the SC’s ruling on her petition seeking to reverse the Sandiganbayan’s resolutions, dated April 6, 2015 and Sept. 10, 2015, junking her demurrer to evidence as well as the denial of her bail plea.

She also pleaded with the Court to expedite its proceedings on her petition and to set the case for oral arguments.

The Pampanga lawmaker even cited a United Nations opinion that her continued detention was arbitrary and illegal under international laws.

The Court earlier issued a 30-day SQA to allow the magistrates to decide on the merits of the case without the Sandiganbayan proceeding further with the trial.

The SC has also directed the Sandiganbayan to reply to Arroyo’s petition seeking the immediate resolution of her bail petition and questioning the dismissal of her demurrer to evidence last month.

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SC junks petitions on Edca, Pemberton

By Rey E. Requejo THE Supreme Court on Tuesday tackled two of several high profile cases lodged before it: One, it denied the petition of the family of slain transgender woman Jennifer Laude to have US Marine Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton transferred from US custody to a regular jail, and, two, rejected the appeal of a former US senator to intervene in the defense pact signed between the US and Philippine government last year.

In its en banc session, the SC justices approved the dismissal of the appeal of Laude’s sisters Marilou and Mesehilda last April seeking reversal of the order of the Olongapo Regional Trial Court Branch 74 that denied their motion to transfer the American serviceman to a jail while standing trial for murder.

The tribunal ruled that there was no grave abuse of discretion on the part of the trial court in rejecting the plea.

The SC justices sided with the RTC ruling to reject the plea based on petitioners’ failure to comply with the three-day notice rule and also cited the state prosecutor’s lack of support for the Laude family’s petition.

The SC also set aside the collateral challenge of the Laude family to the Visiting Forces Agreement, saying it is not the subject of the case.

In their petition, the Laude sisters alleged that RTC Judge Roline JinezJabalde, who is hearing the murder case against Pemberton, committed grave abuse of discretion in ruling on their plea based on technicality.

In the assailed order issued on Dec. 23 last year and upheld last Feb. 18, the RTC dismissed the motion of the lawyers of Laude led by UP professor Harry Roque Jr. seeking Pemberton’s transfer from a facility at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City controlled by US government to the Olongapo city jail for violating the three-day notice rule.

SC forms task force to probe judges’ slays

By Rey E. Requejo

The Supreme Court has created an inter-agency task force that will investigate the recent spate of killings of magistrates.

SC spokesman Theodore Te revealed that the high court’s committee on security headed by Associate Justice Marvic M.V.F. Leonen, will handle the investigation.

“Justice Leonen will discuss with appropriate agencies of government towards the creation of a task force/ task group to address the continuing assassinations and killings of judges while in the performances of their duties,” Te stressed.

Meanwhile, the National Bureau of Investigation disclosed that it has

created a team, which will probe into the killing of a Samar provincial court judge, who was gunned down inside a cockpit in Pambujan town, Samar last Sunday afternoon.

NBI Assistant Director Medardo Delemos said that he has already directed NBI-Deputy Director for Regional Operations Services Atty.

Edmund Arugay to investigate the assassination of Judge Reynaldo Espinar of the Laoang Municipal Trial Court.

Espinar was reportedly watching the cockfights at the Padcor arena in

Pambujan poblacion when the still unidentified gunman walked up to him and shot him three times in the head.

The assailant then fired warning shots in the air, causing a stampede in the arena but giving Espinar’s bodyguard, Wilfredo Saromenes, the chance to open fire and kill him.

Even if the supposed gunman was already dead, Delemos stressed that they still wanted to know the motive behind Espinar’s killing.

Espinar, 53, was the fourth court official killed in the country this year and the second judge slain this month.

Court interpreter Ibnohajar Puntukan of Shariah court in Jolo, Sulu was killed on March 4 while Judge Erwin Alaba was shot dead in Baler, Aurora on Sept. 1.

Barely two weeks before the killing of Espinar, Malolos RTC Judge Wilfredo Nieves was ambushed by unidentified gunmen while waiting for the stoplight to turn to green along MacArthur Highway in Barangay Ticay, Malolos, Bulacan.

Malacañang, the Supreme Court and the Bulacan and Central Luzon chapters of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines condemned the killing of the judges.

Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno and all the Associate Justices expressed their “outrage and sadness” over the two incidents as they called on authorities to “take all necessary steps with all deliberate speed to do justice” for Judges Nieves and Espinar.

Energy caravan. Anti-Coal and Climate Justice members launch a five-day caravan in simple rites in Quezon City, demanding a stop to the expansion and use of coal -fired power plants while pressing for a shift to renewable energy. EY ACASIO

Comelec scheme’s revival feared, nixed TWO key officials of the Commission on Elections have questioned attempts to revive a scheme that deprived Fernando Poe Jr. of victory in the 2004 presidential elections, saying that the proposed moves are unjustifiable, pointless, and would open the floodgates to electoral irregularities.

In two separate documents, Commissioner Christian Robert Lim and Comelec Regional Director Romeo Fortes both criticized the proposed return of the Commissioner-In-Charge system.

Under the CIC system, each commissioner is assigned specific administrative regions and possesses full authority to decide all election issues in his or her jurisdiction. These include the power to authorize the transfer of venue of counting of votes, the power to place areas within their assigned areas under Comelec control and to head the task force which shall implement Comelec control over local government units concerned, and the power to act on all requests or applications for transfer or reassignment of field officials and employees within their jurisdiction.

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

48-man team to argue PH case vs China

By Vito Barcelo THE Philippines will present the country’s case for the first round of oral arguments filed against China over the territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea this week before the Permanent Court Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario will lead the 48-man delegation for the first round of oral arguments which will start this week until Nov. 30, 2015, the DFA said.

The tribunal in The Hague is expected to rule on the Philippines’ case by 2016, the year Philippine President Benigno Aquino III steps down from office.

The Philippine delegation includes

Solicitor General Florin Hilbay, Supreme Court Associate Justice and former Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza, Political Affairs Secretary Ronald Llamas, Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, Rep. Rodolfo Biazon, Deputy Executive Sec. Menardo Guevarra, and lead counsel Paul Reichler The delegation is ready for the oral arguments and is confident of the strength of the evidence in favor of the Philippines.

“The first hearings will focus on the merits or the meat of Manila’s case against Beijing,” the DFA said in a statement.

The Philippines has continuously accused China of continues construction of structures in the disputed reefs which it said violates the United

Nations Convention on the law of the Sea. China claim over the West Philippine Sea which is baseless under the so-called constitution for the oceans, the Unclos, the DFA said.

China is claiming the disputed waters using the so-called 9-dash line, a demarcation that is not found in Unclos.

The Philippines, on the other hand, is arguing that the disputed waters fall within its 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone, within which the Philippines has the exclusive rights to fish.

China claims almost the entire energy-rich South China Sea and has been transforming reefs into artificial islands in the Spratly archipelago and building airfields and other facilities on some of them.

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A6 BIR loses P2.9-b tax case vs Estrada

By Rio N. Araja THE Court of Tax Appeals on Tuesday dismissed a 2001 tax assessment of P2.905 billion on Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada and his wife, former senator Loi Ejercito.

“While it appears that the assessment contains factual and legal bases, the court is not precluded from evaluating the propriety of the facts and the law on which it is based,” the court’s decision read.

The tax court said the tax appraisal on the Estradas “cannot be sustained,” adding the assessment arose from the account in the name of Jose Velarde, allegedly belonging to Estrada.

“There is no identity of parties between Criminal Case No. 26658 [the plunder case] and the present case,” it noted, referring to the Estrada’s conviction for plunder.

The plunder case cannot be reapplied for the purpose of taxation, it said.

“Where the BIR has come out with a ‘naked assessment,’ i.e. without any foundation character, the determination of the tax due is without rational basis,” the court said.

The CTA slammed the Bureau of Internal Revenue for violating Estrada’s right to due process.

It reversed the deficiency income tax assessment and June 19, 2009 letter of demand and the Sept. 26, 2009 BIR decision.

The camp of Estrada welcomed the CTA’s decision, saying his impeachment was a political persecution.

Ferdinand Topacio, lawyer of the Estradas, said the decision is not just a victory of the couple, but of the ordinary taxpayers.

“The BIR is still in the habit of assessing taxes without any basis. In November 2001, the Estrada couple were assessed of having a tax deficiency of P2,905,048,539.98,” Estradas’ lawyer said.

news

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Abaya freezes LTO policy

By Joel Zurbano and Darwin Amojelar

The Department of Transportation and Communications on Tuesday suspended a new policy of the Land Transportation Office requiring applicants for driver’s license to secure first a clearance from the police and National Bureau of Investigation.

Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya Jr. said “the LTO policy of having both (clearances) as a requirement will be suspended for the meantime until such study and coordination would be done with the police and the NBI for a more efficient coordination regarding this and they will come up with guidelines on what pending crimes will be included.”

Abaya’s decision came after lawmakers among them senators Ralph Recto and Loren Legarda as well as a drivers’ group questioned the new LTO order issued last month.

Recto welcomed the move to suspend the order.

In his interpellation of the proposed 2016 budget of the DoTC, Recto said professional drivers, most of whom are low-wage earners, will have to contend with long queues to secure the “no criminal record” clearance from the two agencies.

He proposed that NBI and the police instead “electronically and manually provide the LTO with their databases on persons with criminal records.”

“Why not provide the LTO with a negative list and use this as a basis for approving or disapprov-

ing applications for a professional driver’s license?” Recto told the DoTC officials in attendance.

This “information-sharing protocol” can be done through the Internet, Recto said.

DoTC officials estimated that about 1.5 million holders of a professional driver’s license will be covered by the directive.

“It’s really a balancing act between the public good of ensuring passenger safety and economic realities of public utility drivers,” Abaya said.

Abaya, however, said this was the only item that the government was suspending.

“The five administrative orders we issued in the driver’s license reform was to make the application process more streamlined with the elimination of useless lectures and now posting the questions and answers online and giving out free reviewers, incentivizing good behavior by allowing five-year renewal period

for drivers without traffic violations,” Abaya said.

He added that the new test will be specific to the vehicle one intends to drive, and not a general test for all.

“We have also increased the age requirement of student permit and required a longer period before one can apply for a professional driver’s license,” Abaya said.

The administrative orders took effect last November, which covers all four types of licenses issued by the LTO, namely: professional driver’s licenses; non-professional driver’s licenses; student’s permits; and conductor’s licenses.

“The revised rules will serve two purposes: first, they will better ensure the fitness and capability of license card holders to drive in our streets; and second, they will streamline the application process and make it more convenient for the public,” Abaya said earlier prior to the suspension of the clearances requirement.

Firefighters train their hoses on an apartment in P. Zamora, Caloocan City on Tuesday. Cause of fire was not determined at press time but Red Cross Chairman Dick Gordon has called on local government units and authorities to conduct a safety check of factories within residential areas, particularly those storing highly flammable chemicals. ANDREW RABULAN

Ivler draws life term for murder Gordon demands safety

THE Quezon City Regional Trial Court on Tuesday sentenced Jason Ivler, nephew of composer-musician Freddie Aguilar, to suffer life imprisonment for the murder of Renato Victor Ebarle Jr. during a traffic altercation six years ago.

Branch 84 Judge Luisito Cortez, in a 72-page decision, also directed Ivler to indemnify the victim’s heirs P9,124,164 as payment for the loss of earning capacity, P143,890 in burial expenses, P75,000 in moral damages and P30,000 in exemplary damages, for a total of P9,373,054.

“Wherefore, in the light of the foregoing considerations, the Court renders judgment as follows: 1. Finds accused Jason Ivler y Aguilar guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of murder and hereby sentence him to suffer the penalty of life imprisonment of reclusion perpetua. His period of preventive detention since Jan. 27, 2010 shall be credited in his favor,” the order read.

Aguilar accompanied Ivler inside the courtroom.

Ivler, 33, however, maintained his innocence, denying he wasn’t the one who killed Ebarle, the son of Palace undersecretary Renato Ebarle Sr. He told reporters that he would file an appeal.

Cortez is the third judge to handle the trial since Ivler’s arrest in a shootout with the National Bureau of Investigation agents inside his home in Blue Ridge A Subdivision in January 2010.

On Nov. 18, 2009, Ivler was accused of killing Ebarle Jr. in a traffic altercation along Santolan Avenue.

“After painstaking review and evaluation of the voluminous records containing the testimonial and documentary evidence proffered by both the Prosecution and the Defense, the Court finds the accused guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of murder,” Cortez said.

“I asked him what really happened then. We will give our best [to help him] until we have given our best effort,” he said. Rio N. Araja

audit of Metro factories

By John Paolo Bencito PHILIPPINE Red Cross Chairman Richard “Dick” Gordon has called on the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and local government units to quickly survey manufacturing plants and warehouses harboring hazardous chemicals located in Metro Manila and other population centers.

Gordon issued the call following an industrial accident Sunday in Quezon City where toxic fumes escaped from the D&L Chemrez plastics plant in Calle Industria, Barangay Bagumbayan, QC and caused distress to residents of QC and Pasig.

In a statement, Gordon said responding PRC workers and volunteers who rushed to the scene on Monday after midnight to aid barangay residents near the plant had to seek medical attention with two PRC workers brought to St. Luke’s Medical Center for checkup and further observation. Meanwhile, three other PRC volunteers were brought to the East Avenue Medical Center for arterial blood testing and chest x-rays.

Gordon said QC and Pasig residents had called the PRC Operations Center seeking help due to the chemical gas leak from the plant which had caused a foul and pervasive stench af-

fecting them. The Opcen sent a four-man ambulance team at 2 a.m. Monday to link up with two other PRC medical units and volunteers already aiding residents evacuated to the Bagumbayan barangay hall. The PRC workers noted a pervasive “ammonia-like” odor even at the evacuation center, despite the efforts of the QC firefighters who were continuously pumping water inside the Chemrez plant facilities in an attempt to dissipate the noxious fumes.

Three PRC tankers also topped up the fire hydrant reservoir with 30,000 liters of water to help ensure enough water for the firefighters’ efforts.

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A7

news

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Three face estafa over Ponzi scam allegations

You bend, I jump. A man performs a stunt during a festival in the city of Calapan, Oriental Mindoro. TEDDY PELAEZ

Grade schoolers join river cleanup in Ilocos Sur town

By Dexter A. See

ALILEM, Ilocos Sur—Grade 6 pupils of Amilongan Elementary School participated in a river cleanup drive organized by Luzon Hydro in this town.

Engineer Rene Ronquillo, president and chief executive officer of the Hydroelectric Development Corp., said the youth has an important role in shaping the future.

“Instilling in them the mindset of environmental

stewardship at an early age ensured the future of the community,” he said.

The town hosts the 70MW Bakun AC hydropower plant.

Community members and Luzon Hydro employ-

ees guided the students as they joined the cleanup. The activity was geared towards sustaining local initiatives on environmental preservation and protection. This will strengthen the partnership of the renewable power generation company and the public.

Ronquillo said approximately 3 kilometers of tributaries of Amilongan Creek were cleaned, resulting in the collection of 35 kilograms of waste.

The river cleanup drive is in support of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Adoptan-Estero Program. The program aims to secure collaboration among communities along esteros or creeks and rivers to achieve a cleaner, safer and healthier environment.

Most studies point to the fact that domestic wastewater is the principal cause (48 percent) of organic pollution of our water bodies. Thirty-

one percent of all illnesses in the country are attributed to polluted waters.

“Guided by our sustainability mindset of doing well by doing good, we will help in whatever way we can as long as it is for the betterment of the environment,” Ronquillo added.

“We will also endeavor to promote better friendship and cooperation among stakeholders,” said Rey Rafael, plant manager of Bakun AC.

Aviation authority tells airmen: avoid Kanlaon

By Eric B. Apolonio

Catch me if you can. Men try to catch a pig during ‘Avang,’ a traditional Ibaloy festival in La Trinidad, Benguet. DAVID CHAN

THE Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines has issued a notice to airmen advising flights that operate near the vicinity of the Kanlaon Volcano to avoid flying near the area.

The volcano had a steam explosion on Monday evening.

Kanlaon Volcano, located 30 kilometers southwest of Bacolod City in Negros Occidental, is the most active volcano in Central Philippines.

The notam took effect Tuesday at 11:29 a.m. and will last until Wednesday at 1 p.m.

The notam was issued after the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology has hoisted Alert Level 1 on Kanlaon Volcano. Under Level 1, a volcano displays abnormal condition and has entered a period of unrest.

Aircraft are advised to avoid the area as any substance from an eruption can be hazardous to aircraft.

BAGUIO CITY—Three officials of an alleged Ponzi firm were charged by the city prosecutor’s office for estafa after finding probable cause in the various complaints filed against them.

The suspects are Weng Faye Cabreros Cabusas alias Rowena Faye Cabusas, Gavino Mariano Tan and Romell Enriquez Tan of Goldxtream Trading Co. with address at 42 Bronze Street, Tugatog, Malabon City.

The complaint was filed

by Ligaya Calingayan who was reportedly duped of her hard-earned money.

In a four-page resolution, Associate City Prosecutor Paulyn Maurie A. dela CruzCastro Records show that Cabusas informed the complainant about Goldxtream which accordingly gives a return of P25,000 for an investment of P5,000 after 11 days only.

Cabusas also reportedly assured Calingayan that Goldxtreme had all the necessary documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission and from the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

Cabusas further enticed Calingayan that she herself invested some money with Goldxtreme and that it had been featured in the television show ‘Kabuhayang Swak na Swak.”

The complainant then placed an investment of P5,000 in the bank account of Cabusas.

Castro cited Gavino Mariano Tan was implicated in the case because he was the founder of the company; Romell Tan was the managing partner of the same.

Castro found that probable cause has been established to show that the crime of estafa by false pretenses under Article 315 paragraph 2 of the Revised Penal Code was committed.

Based on the certification issued by the SEC dated Sept.

10, 2015, Goldxtreme Trading Co. has no license to sell securities and its primary purpose is only for wholesale and retail sale of gold, jewelry, fashion accessories, cellphone loads, prepaid cards, 3-pin, scents and other related products.

As such, the company is not allowed to solicit investments from the public as it did not secure prior registration or authority to solicit investments from the said agency as required by law.

However, Castro cited Cabusas, Gavino Tan and Romell Tan should be the ones held criminally liable considering that based on the pieces of evidence submitted, it was Cabusas who actively pursued the complainant in enticing her to invest some money with their company.

Dexter A. See

A8

ADELLE chuA edITor W E D N E S D AY, N O V E M B E R 2 5 , 2 0 1 5

opinion [ EDI TORI A L ]

Protecting the inePt and corruPt

DESPITE mounting calls for his resignation over allegations of corruption and incompetence, the general manager of the Manila International Airport Authority, Jose Angel Hornado, will likely stay on the job, protected by his powerful patron in Malacañang Palace.

Honrado, who has held the post since 2010, has presided over the steady deterioration of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, the main gateway to the Philippines that, ironically, was named after the President’s late father. The extent to which Honrado has let the airport go to pot can be seen by the Naia’s dubious distinction of being voted the worst airport in the world several years running. More recently, he has been unable or unwilling to stop corrupt airport inspectors from planting bullets in luggage to extort money from hapless travelers. In fact, he even denies that such a syndicate exists.

Responding to questions at a Senate hearing, Honrado disavowed any responsibility for the widening scandal at the airport, saying that he had no authority over the baggage inspectors or security personnel there, or for many other agencies that operate at the Naia. This prompted one senator to ask what his job was—implying that taxpayers were paying his salary and getting very little in return.

Then last week, Honrado was accused of graft before the Office of the Ombudsman over his approval of a P486-million contract to buy 700 CCTV cameras for the airport without public bidding. The complainants accused Honrado of using the bullet-planting scandal to justify the “emergency purchase” of the CCTV cameras without public bidding.

Earlier, airport officials said a negotiated contract is allowed under procurement laws after two failed public biddings. But the question that Honrado needs to answer is this: Why has it taken him so many years to install a credible CCTV system at the country’s airports? CCTV technology is mature and fairly straightforward and not all that complex. How is it that the MIAA under Honrado has been unable to conduct a successful bidding in all these years?

But none of this matters to President Benigno Aquino III, who has shown us time and again that he values personal friendship and loyalty above the interests of the state or the welfare of the people. Part of this commitment is to defend his friends, even if they prove inept and corrupt. We have seen this in his choice of people to head the Philippine National Police, the departments of Agriculture and Transportation and Communication, and various other government agencies such as the Land Transportation Office, whose sole purpose seems to be making life more difficult for ordinary Filipinos.

“Honrado is a retired air force general whose best claim to fame is his having headed the Presidential Security Group during the term of the late President Cory Aquino,” an online petition that seeks his ouster says. “He has no experience managing a civilian office, much less an organization as complex as the MIAA, and it shows.

Since taking over MIAA, he has committed blunder after blunder, and persists to commit acts that run counter to the public’s interest.”

“We call on President Benigno S. Aquino IIII to immediately relieve Honrado as MIAA chief for all the following reasons: his incompetence, mismanagement, refusal to abide by lawful orders and willful disregard of the country’s laws,” the petition on Change.org says.

“Enough is enough. Honrado must go. Now.” But in a press forum in Kuala Lumpur recently, the President insisted that the bullet-planting scandal was overblown, and that certain people were sensationalizing the problem, presumably to make him look bad.

Even before the official investigation into the bulletplanting scandal has been completed, the President has clearly drawn his own conclusions and is circling the wagons once again—to defend the corrupt and the inept.

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.

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noynoy the uncaring lowdown jojo a. robles

It was that paragon of love for his fellow man, Joseph stalin, who once said that one death is a tragedy but a million deaths is just a statistic. and when President Noynoy aquino decided to play the game of large numbers to dismiss the planting of bullets in the luggage of those unfortunate people who had their lives ruined by the vultures working at the airport, he succeeded only in dehumanizing their suffering and pain. aquino, of course, has never been known for empathy, which is commonly defined as the ability to understand and share another person’s feelings and emotions. so when he said that only a thousand or so airline passengers out of more than 30 million who use the airport have been found to be carrying bullets in their luggage, he was only acting according to his unfeeling, insensitive nature.

This recourse to statis-

tics is the reason dream Palawan why aquino is vacation turned able to say with quickly into a straight face a remake of that the media is movie as he nears the sensationalizing the end of his “ M i d n i g h t the tanim-bala Express,” or scandal, because uncaring term, Manang Gloria certain people aquino can’t Ortinez, the out to embarrass even pretend Ilocana migrant his government who lost anymore that worker will somehow her job in Hong benefit from the he feels the Kong, will nevcontroversy that suffering of his er show up in has been gener- countrymen. any of aquino’s ated. (For the life numbers. of me, I wonder It is as if, as how aquino’s a friend noted, theory applies to aquino tried the foreign meto justify the dia outlets that also widely massacre of 44 members of reported the scam—were the special action Force by the BBC, CNN, the wall saying that the national postreet Journal and Fox lice force can afford to lose News being manipulated by that many troops, since the aquino’s enemies, as well?) Philippine National Police But what the insensitive has 120,000 members anyPresident fails to under- way. In the like manner, stand is that every one of what if aquino said that those thousand or so peo- the officially tally of 6,000 ple, whether they willingly deaths caused by typhoon brought bullets into the air- “Yolanda’’ was acceptable port as amulets or had been since there are 100 milvictimized by unscrupulous lion Filipinos anyway—or scanners out to make a fast that the killing of 32 mebuck, suffered terribly. and dia workers in ampatuan, the harrowing experiences Maguindanao didn’t reof the white family, whose ally matter, since there are

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

Chairman President & Chief Executive Officer Board Member & Chief Legal Adviser Director of Operations Finance Officer Edgar M. Valmorida Circulation Manager

thousands of journalists working in this country full-time?

Of course, even if the victims of the tanim-bala scam did not lose their lives (remember “buhay pa naman kayo, di ba?”), such comparisons are valid. If aquino truly cared about the people he routinely calls his “bosses,” you’d expect him to bawl out every last employee of the airport and fire their bosses, starting with that relative of his who says he is the facility’s manager.

But because aquino is who he is, he can’t even wait for the National Bureau of Investigation to complete its probe of the scam before he opens his mouth to absolve everyone involved.

He doesn’t even care if nine senators are sensitive enough to the people’s outrage that they have filed nine different resolutions calling for something, anything to be done at the airport to stop this truly hateful and oppressive practice. as he nears the end of his uncaring term, aquino can’t even pretend anymore Continued on A10

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

Publisher Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Associate Editors News Editor City Editor Senior Deskman Art Director Chief Photographer

Emil P. Jurado Chairman Emeritus, Editiorial Board

a10 Pluses and minuses sponsible for extra-judicial killings) cut both ways.

Many who have longed for a leader fighting criminalEMIL P. ity and corruption find JURADO their answer in Duterte.

ThIS early, I would like to They are frustrated with the nominate Aisa Mijeno the lackluster performance of “Filipino of the Year” for President Aquino. But there inventing the salt-pow- are many who see Duterte’s ered LED lamp and even style as leading to dictatorsharing the same stage ship. with US President Obama There’s no doubt that during the Asia-Pacific Filipinos need a strong LOWDOWNleader and man of action to Economic Cooperation summit, together with address the multi-faceted JOJO A. Chinese billionaire Jack problems of the country.

ROBLES Ma, reportedly the richest Will Duterte be that man? I man in China. have my doubts.

This should compel the I agree, however, with Aquino administration Duterte on the issue of during its last months in Grace Poe. By no stretch power to support inves- of the imagination can Poe tors who can do good for be natural-born. She canthe nation. It is most un- not also be president befortunate, however, that it cause that would require a took the US President to residency of 10 years at the take note of Mijeno’s in- time of the elections. vention. *** *** If there is one thing I like The entry of Davao City about BS Aquino III, it’s his Mayor Rodrigo Duterte undying love and devotion into the presidential race of to people around him. he 2016 has become the flavor will defend them, right or of the month. Analysts and wrong. political observers say that Now, President Aquino Duterte has become a game is insisting that the “tanimchanger. bala” scam at the international airport has been blown out of proportion and sensationalized. Only a handful of travelers have been apprehended for bullets in their luggage, which considered a criminal ofWill Duterte isfense. be the man? It’s Shouldn’t he be conand embarrassed too early to tell. cerned about having an airport whose scanners and employers extort money from travelers just to enable them to get on their flights?

It’s become an international joke!

No doubt about it, BS Aquino’s friend Duterte’s entry into the and relative Jesus Angel presidential race can honrado is the general change a lot of things, good manager of the airport. or bad for the other four honrado does not even presidential candidates. know what his job entails.

It will be good for Mar he says he has no control Roxas, Jejomar Binay over his people. and Miriam Santiago, And now the President but bad for Grace Poe says the bullet-planting Llamanzares.

Duterte scandal has just been sensaseems determined to tionalized by the media. campaign against an *** “American President.”

I can only commiserate he says he is dismayed with the relatives, friends with the 5-4 ruling of the and colleagues of the 58 Senate Electoral Tribunal people including the 32 medismissing a petition for dia workers who died in the her disqualification as a Maguindanao massacre six senator for not being nat- years ago. The Aquino adural born. ministration has not shown On the chances of any concern for those who Duterte against the others were killed. it’s still too early to specuJustice delayed, justice late. For those in Mindanao denied. Nobody has yet and in Cebu, Duterte is been convicted. their guy.

The President may disDuterte’s tough stand tance himself by claiming against criminality and that he cannot interfere corruption, trafficking of with the courts but, my illegal drugs and other gulay, why can’t the prossyndicated crimes, and es- ecutors speed up the hearpecially his identification ings? It seems that when with the Davao City Death Justice Secretary Leila de Squad (believed to be re- Lima started to run for the TO THE POINT

W e d n e s d ay: n O V e M B e R 2 5 , 2 0 1 5

OPINION

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

Biznewsasia is 14 today TODAY, November 25, my BizNewsAsia marks its 14th year of leadership as the Philippines’ largest and most influential weekly business and news magazine by honoring 30 of our best and brightest entrepreneurs, CEOs, and leaders for excellence and contribution to the betterment of the Filipino.

BizNewsAsia has a pass-on circulation of 350,000 readers with each copy being read on the average by 10 readers.

BizNewsAsia easily outsells local magazines and foreign brands because of its broad and deep coverage of business, politics and global issues, and outstanding profiles of personalities in business and governance.

As an owner, I write anything I want to write. That’s the beauty of press freedom. It belongs to the owner of the media. Precisely for that reason, I have also compiled friends —and enemies—in equal measure, in the same manner I bore and infuriate in equal measure.

I have had presidents for friends and have had presidents for enemies.

Those who are my friends understand the nature of my business—and of press freedom. Those who are my enemies do not—and are sometimes motivated by envy. Except for three countries, more journalists are killed in the Philippines than any other country. You know the most dangerous beat? Politics. The least dangerous beat? Business.

BizNewsAsia makes money three ways—advertising, circulation, and bulk order of special issues. In the course of 14 years, BizNewsAsia has had copycats and rivals. Luckily, nearly all withered by the wayside.

When I started giving awards, yearly, to business people for excellence, the practice also engendered copycats.

Now, nearly every business group or big company has its own awards.

Despite the proliferation of such awards, those of BizNewsAsia remain much sought after. I can be an acerbic critic. Or a friend from a distance. having covered business and politics for 45 years, I have known many of today’s tycoons, taipans, and politicians and monitored their rise to the top. Very likely, I know their warts and moles and I wouldn’t say, secrets.

You know the saying behind every great wealth is a great crime? It is true—for politicians. They steal money. Tycoons and taipans do become rich but do so through dint of hard work, innovation, and vicious penny-pinching. Sometimes, they do

Excellence, Management Excellence, and Excellence as a BizNewsAsia Real Estate Who Is Who (BREW).

The BREW awards are given to men and women for their outstanding work that improved the life and lifestyle of the Filipino, especially in real cheat the public and their sharehold- estate, its ancillary businesses, public ers but time has a way of reckoning service, and advocacy work. those things.

The Entrepreneurship Excellence After I claimed BizNewsAsia is No. Awardees for their vision and man1 (since 2001), the Bureau of Internal agement excellence are: Ramon S. Revenue has been thinking I make Ang, president and vice chairman of plenty of money. So every year, I get San Miguel Corp.; Felipe L. Gozon, three letters from the BIR—asking for chair and CEO, GMA Network Inc.; my individual income return, asking Tessie Sy-Coson, chair, BDO Unibank for my corporate income tax return, and vice chairman, SM Investments and asking for my value-added taxes. Corp.; Edmund Gaisano Sr., chair, Most of the time, the BIR people just Gaisano Capital; Andrew Tan, chairwant to know if they could also make CEO, Alliance Global Inc.; Manuel money on the side.

B. Villar Jr., chair, Vista Land; Edgar The BizNewsAsia anniversary event “Injap” Sia, chair-CEO, DoubleDragon starts at 6:45 tonight at the Garden Properties Inc.; Amable R. Aguiluz V, Ballroom of EDSA Shangri-La hotel. founder, AMA Group of Companies; It is also my 67th birthday party. and Zenaida Tantoco, chair-CEO, I founded BizNewsAsia in 2001, Stores Specialists Inc. having just retired from 25 years of Cited for management excellence work, mostly as a senior correspon- are: PLDT chair Manuel V. Pangilinan, dent of Asiaweek, the hong Kong- Lorenzo Tan, president-CEO, RCBC: based Time Warner weekly subsid- PEZA Director General Lilia de Lima, iary. I jumped ship in the nick of time. Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, A year after I left, Time magazine Trade and Industry Secretary Greg shuttered Asiaweek.

Domingo, Cabinet Secretary Rene I used my Asiaweek retirement Almendras, and Manila Mayor Joseph money and savings to buy perks I had Estrada. always wanted to buy—new cars, new The BREW Excellence trophies go condo units, new lots south of Manila, to: JJ Atencio, president-CEO, 8990 plane tickets, and some jewelry for holdings, Inc.; Jaime Bautista, PAL my four daughters. Also, just in the president; Arnel Paciano Casanova, nick of time, I realized I needed I had president, BCDA; Ferdinand to put up a business of my own or I Constantino, CFO, SMC; Isaac David, would be jobless until I die. Thus was president-CEO MTD Philippines; born BizNewsAsia.

Levy Espiritu, president-CEO, My best capital though was expe- DATEM Construction; Senator Loren rience and the grey matter between Legarda, Edgar Saavedra, president, my ears. I trained formally for jour- Megawide Construction; Rodolfo nalism—four years in college at G. Valencia, chair, RGV Real Estate; UST where I graduated magna cum Elizabeth Lee, president-CEO, laude, three semesters of MBA at EMotors; Felix Ang, president-CEO, Ateneo, and global journalism at the Auto Nation Group; Toti Cariño, University of Stockholm. president, CREBA; Joey Leviste Jr., I have always been a journalist— chair, OceanaGold; Marissa del Mar, editor of the high school paper, man- president-CEO, Sol Terra; Wellington aging editor of the university paper, Soong, chair-CEO, Frigate holdings The Varsitarian, acting business edi- and Management Corp.; and tor in the old Manila Times (at 23), RoseMarie Basa, chair, PhilRealm business editor of the Times Journal Development Corp. (at 27), and senior correspondent Former Senate President Edgardo and chief of Philippine operations of J. Angara will be honored for lifetime Asiaweek. I made Asiaweek grow, in achievement in public service and imcirculation, from 200 copies when I proving the lot of the Filipino. first joined it, in 1976, to 35,000 copLawyer and SharePhil president ies by the time Ninoy Aquino was as- Francis Lim will be honored for fightsassinated, in 1983. ing for the rights of minority investors BizNewsAsia honors men and in corporations and for better corpowomen for excellence and impact rate governance. of their work. The awards are in

three categories—Entrepreneurship biznewsasia@gmail.com

NoyNoy.. . From A8

if the latter is elected in May. But you have to ask why Roxas is railing about Poe’s supposed ineligibility when he and President Noynoy were, only just months before, virtually begging Poe to join them in their quest to continue on the daang matuwid. Is the Roxas camp in such a state of panic that it will allow its standard bearer to indulge in the gutter politics that is the tactic of choice of its Internet trolls and its other black-ops practitioners?

I don’t really know. All I can assume from this frontal attack on the leading candidate by the chosen successor of Aquino is that Roxas must be feeling truly frustrated by Poe’s ascendancy

that he feels the suffering of his countrymen. And if there is any justice at all, he will have to pay for his monumental insensitivity. *** Liberal Party presidential candidate Mar Roxas has apparently decided that he should drop all pretense about being uninvolved in the campaign to malign Senator Grace Poe, whose gaudy, consistently high survey numbers he must certainly covet. Roxas has joined the bandwagon of those taking cheap shots at Poe, calling the senator an unacceptable “foreigner President” Senate, the Justice department forgot all about the “Fallen 44.” ***

Social Welfare Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman says that she only reached out to 77 families so they can be

and his own failure to rise in the poll ratings to a more viable position.

But I guess Roxas is truly acting like his boss, who pretends to be all about good governance and reform but who will not hesitate to hit below the belt when he gets hurt. And I’m betting that Roxas won’t be able to keep saying much longer that he wants a high-level, platform-oriented presidential contest when he continues to languish in the cellar.

I suspect Roxas will soon show that he is really more like Aquino that he wants us to think: the condescending, foul-mouthed elitist who is once again facing the prospect of losing a race that he thought he had already won.

“interviewed” and “assessed” for provision of appropriate services. This has been her standard excuse.

If there is one thing that bonds members of the Aquino administration, it’s their propensity to tell lies.

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A11

OPINION

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

No lockdowN iN New York BACK CHANNEL ALEJANDRO DEL ROSARIO NeW YORk CITY—despite threats of an IsIs terrorist strike in New York, there is no lock down in this bustling city. Police visibility is evident in Times square, at Penn station and Grand Central, the city’s two major railway hubs, as part of the heightened security alert. The same was true at JFk International Airport where I came in on a delta flight from Manila.The police were alert but kept a low profile so as not give a picture of a city under siege.

Across the Atlantic, Paris is still recovering from the Friday-the13th terrorist attacks while police raided several places in Brussels which Is suspects used as a base and refuge.

IsIs and migration have taken traction in the Us presidential elections The fear of IsIs blend-

ing with refugees to sow terror is widespread in both the Us and europe. This is why donald Trump has a double-digit margin over his nearest Republican rival, Ben Carson The brash businessman has been a hardliner against allowing more migrants into the Us. earlier, Trump targeted Mexicans as he threatened to build a wall across the TexasMexican border. With the Paris attack, Trump now seeks to bar syrians and wants the federal government to have a data base of all Muslim immigrants already in the country. Trump by no means is a buffoon. He’s attuned to what Americans want to hear and he says them.

I lived and worked in Brussels with the Philippine embassy for four years. Belgium is known as the crossroads of europe. Brussels is the seat of the european Union bureaucracy and the european Parliament. From Brussels, it takes only under three hours, more or less, by car or train to travel to Paris, Bonn or Amsterdam. In a

europe without borders under the schengen Treaty, terrorists can stage a synchronized, simultaneous day of terror in those four european capitals.

A prescient Pope Francis described the Paris attack as “the piecemeal start of World War III.” It really is an undeclared war triggered by the civil strife in syria.

IsIs gained ground in syria and in Iraq where they captured oil fields to finance their military operations by selling oil in the black market. When France joined the Us air strikes on IsIs-controlled areas, Is brought the war to the front yard of France.

French President Francois Hollande and British Prime Minister david Cameron are set to map out counter attacks against IsIs. They are not ruling out the sending of ground troops. *** so, it’s going to be a four-way race for president in 2016, after all. davao City Mayor Rodrigo duterte’s late entry makes this race more interesting. But real

interest still lies on how the supreme Court will decide on Grace Poe’s residency/ citizenship issue. senator Poe may have won the first round, 5-4, in the senate electoral Tribunal, but it may be too soon to celebrate. If the vote of sC Justices Antonio Carpio, Arturo Brion and Teresita de Castro is any indication—the other members of the high court could cast the same votes as their colleagues. Never mind that senator Nancy Binay voted with the justices. she is, after all, only in the senate to protect her father’s interest, nothing more and nothing less. Of the five senators who voted that Poe is a natural-born Filipino—Paolo Aquino, Loren Legarda, Tito sotto, Cynthia Villar and Pia Cayetano—only Cayetano is a lawyer who really understands the law.

The law is the law. If Poe is short of three months or three days in the residency requirement of the Constitution, she is not qualified to run as president of the Republic. The supreme Court, for

the sake of the country and those who will vote for Poe only to see their votes voided, must resolve this issue as soon as possible.

Poe’s fate must not be left to the people. A vox populi, vox dei (the voice of the people, is the voice of god) situation must not be allowed to prevail lest we might have an American president. This happened in Peru because of its vague citizenship requirement.

Peruvians didn’t realize they had Fujimori, a Japanese, for president who served three terms. It wasn’t until much later when the succeeding government looked into Fujimori’s background and found out he was still a Japanese citizen that the people realized they had a Japanese leader.

Meanwhile, big business are hedging their bets and some are not yet placing money on Poe until after the supreme Court ruling. They are also still waiting to see if duterte is going to make a dent in the next social Weather stations and Pulse Asia poll surveys.

‘The die is casT’ Asked whether there was any chance he might change his mind on his saturday night pronouncement that he would run for president, Rodrigo duterte last Monday, this time in Greenhills, san Juan, said, “The die is cast. I have crossed my Rubicon.” so that’s it. After the Comelec has accepted his Certificate of Candidacy as candidate for the nation’s top post by way of substituting for Martin dino of the PdP—Laban party, along with a new Certificate of Nomination and Acceptance (Cona) granted by the same political party, duterte joins a field composed of VP Binay, secretary Mar Roxas, sen. Grace Poe, sen.

Miriam defensor santiago, and Ambassador Roy seneres.

The number of candidates approximates the same number that we have had to choose from for all the presidential elections since 1987 when the Constitution was ratified by the people. In 1992, we chose FVR over Miriam, danding, Mitra, Imelda, salonga and Laurel. In 1998, we voted for estrada over de Venecia, Roco, Lim, Villanueva and de Villa.

In 2004, Comelec and Congress proclaimed GMA over FPJ, Ping Lacson, Roco, and Villanueva, and some others whose names escape me at the moment. In 2010, we chose PNoy over erap, Villar, Gibo Teodoro, and dick Gordon.

Three other major candidates gave their tongue-in-cheek “welcome to the fray” statements. Poe’s spokesperson Rex Gatchalian said “the more the merrier”, although questioning the mayor’s tirade against his “foreign” principal. Jojo Binay’s spokesperson, Joey salgado,

echoed the line. Mar, mismo, said basically the same thing.

Miriam has so far declined to comment. Roy seneres was present at the party of Atty. Fred Lim in dasmariñas, Cavite when duterte announced his decision, and together they posed for pictures, both being sons of Mindanao (seneres grew up in Butuan City).

Right after Oct. 16, Comelec’s first deadline for filing CoC’s, which caused a lot of consternation among duterte believers because he did not file, a businessman who earlier wanted an immediate read of the public pulse commissioned an NCR voter preference survey of those who filed their presidential candidacies.

The field work was done on sunday, Oct. 18, for a quick turnaround reading, using 1,200 respondents. But due to Typhoon ‘‘Lando’’ bringing heavy rains in Metro Manila, the field researchers had to stop at 1,136 respondents.

Teddyboy Locsin texted the results to friends: For President: Poe-31 percent, Binay-30 percent, Roxas-12 percent, santiago-12 percent, and single digits for five others which included seneres, sabio, david (the guy who filed dQ cases against Poe), Pamatong, syjuco, others.

But the businessman asked the research firm to include another question, which asked something hypothetical: since Comelec rules allows for a party to substitute another candidate should anyone who filed on Oct. 16 withdraws or is disqualified, with a deadline of dec. 10, 2015, and if the names by then were the following, who would you vote for? (I am translating from

SO I SEE LItO BANAyO the Tagalog-worded question).

This time, the long list included Rodrigo duterte.

The results (NCR only): duterte 33 percent, Binay-21 percent, Poe-13 percent, Roxas-7 percent, santiago-6 percent, No answer-9 percent, and the others getting single digit votes.

Locsin and I know the survey group, and we can vouch for its integrity and capability.

It will be interesting to watch the next round of public surveys. I would surmise that the major research companies did a similar template, considering that up until last saturday night, duterte was a declared non-candidate. But the buzz in social media, as in traditional tri-media kept everyone still speculating on a possible duterte run, fueled by the feisty davao mayor’s pronouncements on various national issues, from tanim-bala to the insurgency poblems, and sen.

Alan Peter Cayetano’s supporters kept pursuing their desire for the latter to run as duterte’s VP, to the point of airing television ads.

Unfortunately, as I learned from sources, sWs did their lastquarter reading the third week of November, possibly no longer covering the saturday night duterte announcement. Pulse Asia’s field research is supposedly ongoing. And certainly, the Roxas, Poe, and Binay camps, may have commissioned by now

their own private surveys to test the post-duterte announcement.

Which means such surveys should do their field research after Nov. 30, likely dec. 4 onwards, just before the Simbang Gabi starts.

We cannot tell when sWs and Pulse will release their findings, whether before or after dec. 10.

And since the duterte inclusion may have been an “embargoed” question by private subscribers, it will only be leaked to media by the subscribers themselves, which Pulse and sWs may or may not confirm publicly.

For political analysts and strategists though, the private NCR survey of Oct. 18 offers a benchmark. First, NCR, with its more than six million registered voters, is 11-12 percent of the national vote; second, in time, the NCR sentiment permeates and influences the Lingayen to Lucena corridor, which all told, is 40 percent of the national vote. save for native-son votes, as in Batangas will go for a “kabayan”, e.g. Laurel and de Villa in ‘92 and ‘98, even if they lost, and Pangasinan for Joe de V in ’98 who eventually was a far second to winner erap, that vote corridor is the formidable territory which defines the election results.

You have to win in the Lingayen-Lucena corridor, or be a close second, and gather more votes from other regions as Numero Uno, to be declared the 2016 winner. duterte’s entry becomes a true game-changer because he is the only Mindanaoan (excepting of course my town-mate Roy seneres) running. And Mindanao hungers for one of their own, never having had a

serious chance to win until now.

Mindanao counts for 23-24 percent of the national vote. duterte was born in Maasin of the then-undivided Leyte. His father comes from danao City in davao, who migrated to davao along with his Agusan-born wife in the 50s.

Visayas has 20 percent of the national vote. Of this, some 8 percent are Hiligaynon (Ilonggo) in speech, 2 percent speak Waray, and the other half (10 percent) are Cebuano-speaking. even half of Masbate in Bicol speaks Bisaya. And how many MetroManilans trace their roots to the Bisaya nation?

The last Cebuano-speaking president was Carlos P. Garcia of Bohol. He won last in 1957, trouncing an Ilonggo, Jose Yulo, an Ilocano, Manuel Manahan, and a Tagalog, the venerable Claro M. Recto. That was two generations ago. I was in short pants and going to elementary school when Magsaysay died and Garcia won election in 1957.

The question is, will Rodrigo Roa duterte consolidate this huge bailiwick of Mindanao plus the Bisaya nation? And by how much? The next question is, will the NCR indicators of a duterte upswing be sustained, and after his announcement, will it grow further and eventually spread to Regions 3 and 4, and in the next four and a half-months infect the rest of Luzon?

Indeed, for all the suspense he has generated by his unorthodox style of leadership and his colorful language, solidly founded on his unparalleled accomplishments in davao City, digong duterte is THe game-changer for 2016.

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sports sports@thestandard.com.ph

LeBron reaches NBA milestone CLEVELAND—LeBron James reached another statistical milestone as the Cleveland Cavaliers overpowered the Orlando Magic 117-103 on Monday.

James joined Oscar Robertson as the only other player in NBA history to rank in the top 25 for both scoring and assists after helping team-mate Kevin Love to a three-pointer with five minutes left in the second quarter.

The assist pushed James’ career total to 6,837, nudging him ahead of Norm Nixon into 25th place. James is also 19th on the all-time points scoring list and is expected to pass Reggie Miller in 18th place when the Cavs visit Toronto on Wednesday night.

Cleveland were made to work for the victory however, with Orlando fighting back from 12 points down to lead by eight points in the second

quarter at 42-34.

But just as Magic fans began dreaming of an upset, the Cavaliers clicked into gear with Love pouring on the points as Cleveland took a grip on the contest.

Love reeled off 17 straight during a five-minute burst of scoring in the second quarter that included a trio of three-pointers. Love finally finished with 34 points.

Cavs coach David Blatt meanwhile was left reflecting on another landmark night for James, who only recently became the youngest player in NBA history to score 25,000 points.

- ‘Amazing, amazing achievement’

“That gives me chills to even hear that,” Blatt said. “That’s an amazing, amazing accomplishment.

“You’re speaking about such rarified air... All the credit and respect to him for that.”

Magic coach Scott Skiles was left in no doubt about James’ place in the pantheon of legends following his latest showing.

“Every time there’s a young great player everybody talks about Michael (Jordan), but to me he’s always been more like a Magic (Johnson) or an Oscar type player because of his vision,” Skiles said.

“That’s what makes him so difficult. If you think you’re going to give him a steady diet of running and double teaming him, he’s going to carve you up.”

James however was unwilling to enter into a debate about where he stood

in the pecking order of greatness.

“I think we get caught up in, in our league too much in trying to compare greats to greats instead of just accepting and acknowledging and saying, ‘Wow, these are just great players,’” James said.

“When it comes to our sport we’re so eager to say who is better - Oscar or Jordan or LeBron or Kobe (Bryant) or these guys instead of just accepting greatness.”

James finally finished with 15 points and six rebounds, as well as 13 assists while guard J.R. Smith chipped in with 26 points, his highest tally of the season.

It marked a welcome return to normality for James, who was forced to apologize to teammates on Saturday after bizarrely storming off the court during the Cavaliers victory over the Atlanta Hawks. AFP

LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers is shown during the game against the Orlando Magic at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.AFP

Melindo’s sick foe replaced

By Ronnie Natanielsz THE opponent of light flyweight Milan Melindo, Carlos “Divino” Fontes, is down with dengue and has been replaced by undefeated Victor Emmanuel Olivo, resulting in the downgrading of the Filipino’s scheduled WBO International junior light flyweight title fight to a non-title bout.

Super flyweight King Arthur Villanueva’s WBC International super flyweight championship was elevated to the main event at the Hoops Dome in Lapu Lapu City this Saturday in a fight card titled “Back with a Vengeance” on the highly successful “Pinoy Pride’s 34th edition.

The handlers of Fontes submitted a medical certificate from Dr. Carlos Francisco Aguilera Bejarmo dated Nov. 19, in which the doctor certified that Fontes was diagnosed with dengue and could not fight.

The 19-year-old Olivo has a record of 9-0 with 4 knockouts, but has only fought one 10-round bout with the eight others being four-rounders, three of them which he won, against boxers making their pro debut.

Laurente loses title

Saludar gets crack at crown VIC “Vicious” Saludar, the youngest among three boxing brothers, gets a crack at the WBO world minimum weight title currently held by Japan’s 19-year-old Kosei Tanaka on New Year’s eve in Nagoya, Japan.

The 25-year-old Saludar’s elder brother Froilan “The Sniper” Saludar was knocked out in the second round of an IBF flyweight title eliminator to McWilliams Arroyo and amateur standout. He is also brother of Rey, who won a gold medal at the Asian Games in China in 2010 has a record of 11-1, with 9 knockouts.

Saludar’s only loss was to Powell Balaba when he suffered a severe hand fracture during their six-round bout on Nov. 23, 2013 and was forced to retire in the fourth round.

Tanaka won the WBO minimum weight title in only his fifth bout and set a Japanese record for winning a world title in the fewest number of fights. Ronnie Nathanielsz

3-leg race to spice up Ronda Pilipinas THE Ronda Pilipinas, the biggest cycling race in the Philippines, will hit the road next year with a threeleg race starting with the Mindanao stages slated Feb. 20 to 27 from Butuan City to Cagayan de Oro and Malaybalay, Bukidnon.

Now on its sixth edition, Ronda, presented by LBC and sponsored by Manny V. Pangilinan Sports Foundation, Petron, Mitsubishi, Versa Radio-Tech 1 Corp., Maynilad and Standard Insurance, will hold three fivestage legs set in Mindanao in February, the Visayas in March and in Luzon in April.

Going with the international trend, Ronda organizers made new innovations in its forthcoming race by holding a combination of road race, individual time trial and criterium races per leg.

“We need to adapt to the way races are done in the world stage as this project is to groom champions for flag and coun-

try,” said Ronda sports development head Moe Chulani. “And also, we want each cities, towns and provinces we visit will have a chance to see our riders and our race the whole day.”

Chulani also said Ronda remains committed to helping PhilCycling under Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino in its grassroots development program by scraping the country of potential talents and help them train to become future national team members.

In fact, Ronda, which stake millions of prizes as purses per stage and leg, will have three separate overall winners from Mindanao, Visayas and Luzon.

“Aside from the open elite division, we still have the Under-23 category because we believe that somewhere out there, there are gems in the rough waiting to be discovered,” said Chulani.

Ronda is also tapping 3Q Sports,

headed by Quin and Jojo Baterna and assisted by Rommel Bobiles, the same people behind the successful Giro de Pilipinas in Subic last October, with an eye of not just helping the sport but also encourage everyone to take up cycling.

“On the side, we’re holding some mountain bike race as well as races for executives. Also, we’ll be having a community ride for everyone to allow them to get the feel of how it is riding with the Ronda caravan,” said Bobiles.

Chulani agrees.

“LBC Sports Devt Corp. feels everyone should have the chance to join Ronda Pilipinas 2016, which is the fourth biggest race in the world in terms of distance covered, not just the elite riders,” said Chulani.

“That’s why Ronda Pilipinas 2016 will be a bigger and better event where we will have everyone including the executives and amateurs joining us,” he added.

THE Philippines’ Dennis Laurente lost his Oriental Pacific Boxing Federation super welterweight title by a split decision to No.1ranked Japanese Takayuki Hosakawa on Sunday.

With the loss, the veteran Laurente’s record dropped to 49-7-5 with 30 knockouts.

The two Japanese judges both saw it as a close fight with Sojo Sakamoto turning in a 115-113 scorecard, while the other Japanese judge Hishatoshi Miyazaka had his countryman the winner by an even closer 115-114 margin.

However, Filipino judge Carlo Baluyot turned in what seemed like a ridiculously lopsided scorecard of 118-110 in favor of Laurente.

Laurente won the vacant title with a sixth-round TKO over Tadasi Yuba last Dec. 18, 2014, but unfortunately lost the title in his first defense.

In his last fight, Laurente dropped a unanimous 10-round decision to John Jackson in Florida last Aug. 2. Ronnie Nathanielsz

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A13

sports sports@thestandard.com.ph

Jordan Spieth of the US holds up the trophy after winning the Australian Open golf tournament at the Australian Golf Club in Sydney. The world no. 1 is back in Sydney to defend this week’s Australian Open, admitted that it will be difficult to repeat the success he’s enjoyed this year in 2016, but the American expects to win at least one major. AFP

Spieth: Olympics th is golf’s 5 major SYDNEY—World number one Jordan Spieth on Tuesday said he’s treating the Olympics as a “fifth major” next year as he revealed his excitement at golf ’s return to the Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Barring injury or an unexpected form slump, the reigning Masters and US Open champion will spearhead a four-strong American attack in the 60-man field at the Games in Brazil.

“Just competing in the Olympics; just walking the opening ceremony, staying in the village, meeting these incredible athletes from around the world, hopefully that’s something I’ll be able to experience next August,” he said in Sydney on Tuesday.

“Winning a gold medal has

got to be up there now in my mind with winning a major championship.

“I’ve been asked the question: a green jacket or a gold medal, or a Wanamaker (trophy) or an Open Championship or a gold medal? That’s not fair.

“I think this year we’re going to approach it as a fifth major and we’re going to prepare like it is and I’m going to go down there and try and take care of business.”

His enthusiasm is in contrast

to Australian former world number one Adam Scott, who Spieth faces at the Australian Open in Sydney starting Thursday.

Scott last week said the Olympics was “not really a priority of my scheduling next year”.

“I’ll still base my schedule around the majors and if the Olympics fits in, then it does,” he said.

“That’s just where I see it and the point I’m at in my life and the other priorities. And the gap in the schedule there, some time off looks quite good actually.”

Golf returns to the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro next year after an exile lasting more than a century.

Air Force shoots for Spiker’s Turf crown Games today 1 p.m. – Navy vs Home Ultera (for third) 3 p.m. – Cignal vs Air Force (for crown)

AIR Force braces for a big Cignal comeback but remains confident just the same as it guns for a repeat and a sweep of the Spikers’ Turf Season 1-Reinforced Conference crown at The Arena in San Juan City today.

The Airmen imposed their will and power and pounded out a 25-15, 19-25, 25-19, 25-19 victory over the HD Spikers last Saturday and vowed to finish off their rivals in their best-ofthree series.

“We’re going for the win but

we expect them (HD Spikers) to make some adjustments,” said Air Force coach Rhovyl Verayo. “But we’re ready.”

Gametime is at 3 p.m. with Game Three, if necessary, to be played on Dec. 5, according to the organizing Sports Vision.

Air Force leaned on a tight eight-man rotation anchored on the power-hitting Jeffry Malabanan, who unloaded a team-high 17 hits in gaining the headstart in their playoff tipped to go down-to-the-wire.

Rodolfo Labrador, Reyson Fuentes, Ruben Inaudito and Edwin Tolentino backed up Malabanan with a combined 41-point effort that helped propel the Airmen to the fourset win.

The top seeded team also

relied on its solid blocking to stymie the HD Spikers’ attacks with Fuentes and Labrador combining for eight of their 11 blocks against just four by Cignal.

The Airmen also swooped down on the HD Spikers’ miscues (36 errors) while limiting theirs to 24.

“Those basically helped us in the first game – our blocking and less errors,” said Verayo.

But Cignal is expected to come out strong with ace hitters Edmar Bonono and Lorenzo Capate, Jr. confident of drawing solid backup this time as the HD Spikers try to force a sudden death and stay in the hunt for the crown of the pioneering men’s volley league presented

by PLDT Home Ultera and

Lazarus leads Fil-Am golf by 2 BAGUIO CITY–Francisco “King” Sumulong shot a one over 70 for 35 points to pace Project Lazarus’s thirdday charge and assumed the lead in the Seniors’ Fil-A today in the 66th Fil-Am Golf Invitational Championship at the Camp John Hay golf course here.

The nearly flawless round of Sumulong, which saw him assemble four birdies against a lone pick up at the par-4 fifth, netted Lazarus’ 107 points for a three-day aggregate of 273 and a two-shot lead on first-round leader Baguio Country Club.

BCC, on the other hand, remained at second spot as Bong Garcia and Mars Garcia, who was penalized with two points on Day 2, assembling 32 and 31, respectively, as the team made 105 points and three-day score of 271.

Round 2 leader Camp Aguinaldo struggled with a 93 and 264 total to fall to third spot.

Philip del Carmen and Benjie Favis had 21 each as they helped BCC to 75 and 259 total to retain the lead in Seniors’ Am-A. That is six shots off Residences at Brent, which made 77 and 253 total. Fairgolf Club of Sydney had 74 and 234 total to remain at third spot.

Team Ironeagle Hebron Builders assembled 94 points and forced a threeway tie atop the leaderboard in Regular Fil F actions.

Roger Manjares shot 29 points as Ironeagle tallied 179 points in two-day of action to draw tie with Razcals II and NBI Golf Team 157, which shot 93 and 85, respectively.

Imports not a surefire edge, says PLDT coach WHILE admitting having two foreign imports is an edge, PLDT Home Ultera coach Roger Gorayeb insists it’s not a surefire formula for winning a championship.

“It’s an advantage (having imports) because it gives us more options on offense and defense,” said Gorayeb referring to former US NCAA Division standouts Victoria Hurtt and Sareea Freeman, tapped towards the end of the elims to boost the team’s title drive in the Shakey’s V-League Season 12 Reinforced Conference.

“But I don’t think it makes us a sure thing for a championship because it could backfire since we haven’t really trained together that much,” he added.

In fact, Gorayed rested his two reinforcements in Home Ultera’s emphatic 25-11, 25-17, 25-17 romp over University of the Philippines in their Final Four duel last Sunday.

“I want them to see and adjust to how the locals play and not the other way around,” said Gorayeb.

He is also wary of the powerhouse Army, which sank Navy, 25-16, 25-10, 25-22, in their own semis duel in the season-ending conference of the league sponsored by Shakey’s and presented by PLDT Home Ultera.

“Army is a very experienced team and they’ve been together for a long time now, which I think they will use against us,” said Gorayeb.

Truly, the Lady Troopers, runners-up here last year, are one solid unit that includes some of the country’s top players – Jovelyn Gonzaga, Aby Maraño, Honey Royse Tubino, Mary Remy Palma and ace setter Tina Salak.

But Home Ultera also boasts of a slew of local aces, headed by former MVP Aiza Pontillas and Janine Marciano, who joined the team only this conference from last year’s champion Cagayan Valley, along with top playmaker Rubie de Leon, Sue Roces, another former MVP, Rysabelle Devanadera, Laurence Ann Latigay and Gretchel Soltones.

Blue Army backs Tornadoes. The Foton Tornadoes will have another weapon in its arsenal when it goes up against defending champion Petron today at the start of their best-of-three PSL Grand Prix Championship series, its own Blue Army, composed of team supporters who all vowed to wear blue and cheer the Tornadoes for the entire series. According to team manager Alvin Lu, these supporters helped carry the team to the finals when Foton played Philips Gold in an exciting semifinal game. Photo shows the Blue Army in action during the semifinal game.

W E D N E S D AY : N O V E M B E R 2 5 , 2 0 1 5

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SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

Paddles Up dragon boat lures 20 clubs

‘Rio will be world’s safest city during 2016 games’

THE Paddles Up Philippine Dragon Boat Tour kicks off this Sunday at the Manila Bay with over 20 clubs from Manila to as far as Cebu and Iloilo vying in three categories.

Len Escollante, head coach of the national team under the Philippine Canoe-Kayak Federation, said races will be held in the men’s 20-seater, women’s 10-seater, and mixed under-40 10-seater.

After Sunday’s leg, races will also be staged in Sampaloc Lake in San Pablo, Laguna in January, Taal Lake in Batangas in March, Subic in April leading to the finals, also at Manila Bay, in June.

The event will be covered by Solar Sports and will be aired on a two-part basis in December.

Members of the Philippine team that won two gold medals in the recent Asian Championships in Palembang also graced Tuesday’s Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at Shakey’s Malate.

The Philippine team ruled both events it competed in—the small boat 10-seater in the 500 meters and 200 meters, beating teams from Indonesia, Japan, Iran, India, Thailand and Taipei.

Raffy Veloso, head of sales and marketing for Solar Sports, said the entry of the local sports channel is aimed at widening the base of dragon boat in the country.

“It’s already been proven that our dragon boat athletes are worldbeaters. This is part of the Solar advocacy to help develop local talents,” he said in the session presented by San Miguel Corp., Accel, Shakey’s, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.

Also gracing the forum was Paulo Fernandez, project manager for the Paddles Up event.

Solar Sports, according to Veloso, wants to promote local sports, including beach volleyball, now dragon boat and later on even surfing.

RIO DE JANEIRO—Rio will be the safest city in the world during the 2016 Olympics, organizers said on Monday after a minute’s silence for the victims of the Paris attacks and a signing ceremony for the French language to be used during the Games.

Despite growing concerns that the Games will become a target for terrorist attacks, Rio 2016 Communications Director Mario Andrada insisted security would be at a maximum for the August 5-21 sporting extravaganza.

“Rio is going to be the safest city in the world during the Olympics,” he said.

“Security teams are already prepared for this type of event and there are already the intelligence services to protect people, the ath-

letes, the Games. We’re going to communicate with the population to reassure people,” he added.

During a special ceremony the International Olympic Committee (IOC) also signed an agreement ensuring that French would be an official language for the 2016 Games along with English, as it has been at all modern Olympics.

Cameroonian musician Manu Dibango, who was chosen by the International Francophone Com-

mittee as their Olympic ambassador, said the tribute showed the world that they were united behind France.

“It is precisely against this (terrorism) that we need events like this, to bring people together, to have common dreams for unity,” Dibango told AFP. Meanwhile, Boyanka Kostova of Azerbaijan set two new world records on her way to victory in the 58kg category at the World Weightlifting Championships on Monday.

The Bulgaria-born powerhouse, who switched allegiances to Azerbaijan in 2010, set new records for the snatch (112 kg) before adding a new overall total record (252kg) with her final lift.

She failed to add a third record

in the clean and jerk, settling for 140 kg, but said she is confident of threatening the record at next year’s Olympics.

“I will try my best to do it in Rio de Janeiro,” she said.

In the men’s 69kg Shi Zhiyong —renamed after the 2004 62kg champion—followed in his illustrious namesake’s footsteps by winning gold for China.

Shi, 22, was renamed by his coach as a child, and said he was glad to live up to his name.

“It means wisdom and courage,” said Shi. “I was still young when my coach gave me the name and I did not know about the 2004 Olympics. As I grew up I learned all about Shi Zhiyong and I am proud to say we have met since.” AFP

Members of the Philippine National Dragon Boat team show off their medals during the PSA Forum. LINO SANTOS

Accel to revive traditional games

Willie Ortiz (right), President of Sporteum Philippines Inc./Accel, announces the staging of “Laro Tayo” during an appearance at the PSA Forum. He is joined here by Clementine Apacible, Project Head of the International Premier Tennis League. LINO SANTOS

ACCEL turns back the hands of time when it brings back traditional Filipino childhood games through the novelty project ‘Laro Tayo.’

The advocacy intends to revive the popularity of such local games like tumbang preso, luksong kalabaw, patintero, and larong tinik and re-introduce it to today’s young generation, whose time are most preoccupied by the internet and social media.

The leading Filipinoowned sports apparel will formally launch the project on Nov. 30.

“Our kids spend most of their time tinkering with their gadgets or sitting inside an internet café for countless hours. They have less physical activities nowadays, so let’s bring back the popularity of our traditional games,” announced

Accel president Willie Ortiz in the weekly Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at Shakey’s Malate on Tuesday.

“Parents have to do something about this, dapat i-transfer natin ito sa mga bata. Nakakalimutan ‘yung good games na laro noong araw, so we just want to stimulate yung mga laro natin noon” he added.

Ortiz said Accel hopes to go full blast on it by next year.

At the same time, the sports apparel also took the time to launch the Accel Quantum Plus during the session presented

by San Miguel Corp., Shakey’s, Accel, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.

The Quantum Plus is a scaler technology that keeps the high energy level of an athlete intact despite extreme physical activity.

Ortiz said the first of its kind apparel was first introduced and had been proven effective during the Philippine Basketball Marathon last year, when the country made it to the Guiness book of records for playing non-stop basketball for five straight days.

Coach Allan Caidic endorses the Accel Quantum Plus.

For the past 15 years, Accel has been supporting Filipino athletes in their drive for excellence and victory in international tournaments, among them are boxing icon Manny Pacquiao, PBA stars Mark Caguioa and Asi Taulava, Youth Olympics gold medalist Gab Moreno, and Azkal Chieffy Caligdong.

Accel has also partnered with the PSA, PBA Press Corps, and UAAP/NCAA Press Corps that helped the here media organization in their various projects.

W E D N E S D AY : N O V E M B E R 2 5 , 2 0 1 5

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SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

LOTTO RESULTS

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

P0.0 M+ P0.0 M+

Doubles’ champ to replace Tsonga

Fil-Am swimmer

Natalie Coughlin poses for a portrait at the USOC Rio Olympics Shoot at Quixote Studios in Los Angeles, California. AFP

FEU manager: Tigers have edge over Tams

IT’S the UAAP finals and statistics hardly matter anymore.

Far Eastern University team manager Richie Ticzon said the two losses the Tamaraws suffered in their head-to-head showdown with the University of Santo Tomas are a thing of the past and the team is treating its best-of-three title series against the Tigers an entirely new ballgame.

“Definitely, they (Tigers) have the advantage. They beat us twice in the eliminations. Hopefully, we can turn things around (in the finals),” said Ticzon, who represented FEU coach Nash Racela in Tuesday’s session of the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at Shakey’s Malate.

Game 1 of the first championship series between the two proud schools in the last 36 years starts Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The Tigers and Tamaraws both finished the eliminations with identical 11-3 (win-loss) records, but the Espana-based school clinched the no. 1 seed for beating its counterpart from Morayta, now just once but twice during the preliminaries.

But Ticzon, a former PBA player, said the Tamaraws are hardly concerned about being swept by the Tigers this season. All they want is to compete and hopefully, win the championship that eluded them last year when they lost to the National University Bulldogs in a thrilling do-or-die encounter.

“There’s not a score to settle.

We just lost twice in the eliminations (to them). We just wanted to make it back to the finals, hope to perform better, and win the championship,” stressed the FEU official in the forum pre-

sented by San Miguel Corp., Accel, Shakey’s, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.

The Tamaraws are in the finals for the fourth time in the last six seasons, while the Tigers made it back to the championship round for the third time in the last four years.

The Tamaraws won their last UAAP cage crown in 2005, while the Tigers succeeded them in 2006 when they reigned kings of the country’s premier collegiate league for the last time.

FEU is the winningest men’s basketball team in history with 19 titles, followed by UST with 18 in a tie with University of the East.

Ticzon did acknowledge the Tigers are a more mature team this season especially the core of Karim Abdul, Kevin Ferrer, Ed Daquioag, and Louie Vigil.

Yet, at the same time he believes the Tamaraws have more

championship materials now than with the team which lost to NU in last season’s finals.

“Anim ang graduating namin this year kaya ang feeling namin at this point, we have a deeper bench this season, “ said the former Ateneo stalwart.

Ticzon added the Tamaraws may have the edge in the backcourt and the wings, especially with Mike Tolomia, Roger Pogoy, and Mike Belo leading the charge, but the presence of the intimidating Abdul and the talented Ferrer gives the Tigers the advantage in the front-court.

“I believe this is going to be a good match,” said Ticzon, who however, refused to say whether the series will go the distance or not.

Game 2 is set on Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, while Game 3, if necessary, will be played Wednesday of next week also at the MoA.

THE Philippine Mavericks are bringing in French Open doubles’ champion Edouard Roger-Vasselin to take the place of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who had begged off from this year’s International Premier Tennis League.

Tsonga, of Switzerland, begged off due to a personal commitment, according to IPTL Manila leg project lead Clementine Apacible, who appeared in Tuesday’s Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at Shakey’s Malate.

“Roger-Vasselin is a great doubles’ player. We’re excited to have him,” said Apacible, who gave mediamen an update on the Manila leg scheduled Dec. 6 to 8 at the world-class MOA Arena.

The 31-year-old Roger-Vasselin, a Frenchman, has seen action in the tennis’ biggest tournaments. In 2014, he won the French Open men’s doubles with Julien Benneteau.

The Mavericks, to be headed by world No. 1 Serena Williams, is out to give the UAE Royals, last year’s IPTL champions, a serious challenge in the second IPTL season.

Tsonga played a key role in the Mavericks’ campaign last year. But he had to beg off due to personal commitments. In his absence, Roger-Vasselin stepped in.

Also playing for the Mavericks are FilAmerican Treat Huey, Mark Philippoussis, Richard Gasquet, Jarmila Gajdosova, Borna Coric and Sabine Lisicki.

Expected to draw the crowd along with Williams is Spanish clay-court king Rafael Nadal, who will lead the Indian Aces.

Apacible, who was joined in the forum presented by San Miguel Corp., Accel, Shakey’s, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., by SM Lifestyle Entertainment advertising manager Stephanie Henares, is looking forward to the biggest sporting event in the country this year.

Court of Honor topbills Philtobo Grand Championship Day lineups TRIPLE Crown 2nd leg winner Court of Honor, Manalig Ka, and Mabsoy are among the horses entered in four major stakes races that will provide excitement on the 16th Philtobo Grand Championship Day on Sunday (Nov. 29) at Santa Ana Park.

Philtobo-Philippine Racing Commission Juvenile Fillies, 1,600 meters, all 52 kgs.: Edwin Lim’s Contessa with jockey JB Guce, SC Stockfarm’s Sippin Beauty

with JA Guce, Mark Calixto’s Most Trusted with JB Hernandez, Paolo Crisostomo’s Sky Glory with AR Villegas, and Wilbert Tan’s Luneta Park with JPA Guce.

Philtobo Juvenile Championship, 1,600 meters, fillies 52, colts 54 kgs.: Ferdinand Eusebio’s Start with Mark Alvarez, Conrado Ong’s Real Flames with AB Alcasid Jr., SC Stockfarm’s Love Hate with CV Garganta and Radioactive with JA Guce, Tan’s Homonhon Island with JB Guce and Subterranean River with JPA Guce, and Herminio Esguerra’s Dewey Boulevard with FM Raquel Jr.

Philtobo-Santa Ana Park 3YO Colts and Fillies, 1,600 meters, fillies 53, colts 55 kgs.: Atty. Narciso Morales’s Icon with PR Dilema, Ferdinand A. Roxas’s Hurricane Ridge with JB Guce, Honorato Neri’s Court of Honor with JA Guce, SC Stockfarm’s Cat’s Dream with CV Garganta, and Esguerra’s Super Spicy with FM Raquel Jr. Philtobo-Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office Classic, 2,000 meters, fillies 54, colts 56 kgs.: Atty. Morales’s Mabsoy with JT Zarate, Esguerra’s Manalig Ka with FM Raquel Jr., Jose Y. Quiros’s Morning Time with CV Garganta, and Neri’s Sky

Dragon with JA Guce.

The rest of the card will be filled with special trophy races.

Also to be held the same day are the PCSO Anniversary Race and the Philracom Sampaguita Stakes. *** AC Albina’s Garlimax proved the fleetest filly of all last Sunday (Nov. 22) in the Philracom Juvenile Fillies stakes race at San Lazaro Leisure Park, posting 1:36 (17.8-24-8-25.4-28) for 1,500 meters. Guided by ace rider Christopher P. Garganta, Garlimax beat placers Subterranean River, Yes Kitty, and Real Flames.

In the counterpart Philra-

com Colts stakes, Joseph Dyhengco’s Sky Dancer proved to be the best by winning over Finishing Bells, Show The Whip, and Spectrum, in that order. Total time for the race was a fraction of a second slower than that in the Fillies race, at 1:36.2 (18.6-24.825.8-27) for 1,500 meters. *** More than 30 children of stablehands and helpers at the Philippine Racing Club, Inc.’s Santa Ana Park stables in Naic, Cavite, are benefiting from the Chairman Emeritus Santiago Cua Scholarship program established last year on Nov. 21, Cua’s 93rd birthday.

The program provides pre-school to high school students with cash support of P500 per month, free shuttle service to and from school, and free medical and dental check-ups.

This grant is part of Chairman Cua’s advocacy for making education available to deserving children with limited means to pursue their dreams. It is also PRCI’s way of giving back to the racing community at the Naic racetrack. *** Facebook: Gogirl Racing, Twitter: @gogirlracing, Instagram: @jensdecember, Blog: http://jennyo.net

A16

W E D N E S D AY : N O V E M B E R 2 5 , 2 0 1 5

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

NLEX’s Kevin Alas scores on a layup in a PBA Philippine Cup game at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. The Road Warriors edged their sister team Meralco, 93-91.

Anthony, Taulava spark Bullpups sustain Road Warriors past Bolts fiery form

By Jeric Lopez

IN another sibling rivalry, NLEX and Meralco clawed and fought hard against each other for nearly 48 minutes.

In the end though, the Road Warriors had the last say in a hard-earned 93-91 win—their second straight—in the 2015 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Tuesday.

Sean Anthony delivered once again for NLEX as he calmly sank the goahead and game-winning free throws with 8.8 seconds remaining, giving the Road Warriors a 92-91 edge.

Down, 90-91, with ball in hand, NLEX caught a big break when Jared Dillinger’s over aggressive defense led him to foul Anthony when the latter received the inbound pass off a timeout. That led to Anthony’s deciding freebies that gave the Road Warriors the thrilling victory.

James reaches NBA milestone TURN TO A12

Anthony finished with 19 points, while veteran guard Jonas Villanueva, chipped in 17 points, including vital baskets in the final two minutes, for NLEX. While Anthony continued to shine, his teammate Asi Taulava also produced monster numbers of 22 points (9-of-14 shooting) and 21 rebounds.

The win moved the Road Warriors to solo fourth place with a 4-2 card, while the setback put the Bolts back to the doormat with their 1-6 slate.

“We are happy to get two wins against our sister teams,’’ said NLEX coach Boyet Fernandez, whose Road Warriors also won against Talk ‘N Text the last time out. ‘’I thought our defense held up. It made the difference.’’

Games Today (Smart Araneta Coliseum) 4:15 p.m. - Talk ‘N Text vs. Blackwater 7 p.m. - GlobalPort vs. Barangay Ginebra

After the free throws by Anthony, Meralco, without any timeouts left, got the ball back with the chance to take the win in the succeeding possession, but Gary David stepped out of bounds in the baseline with 3.6 seconds remaining.

The Bolts were forced to foul Kevin Alas and the sophomore split his freebies to extend NLEX’s lead to 93-91 with 2.6 seconds left on the clock, giving Meralco another chance to turn its fortunes around.

But rookie Baser Amer’s wild triple went astray in the closing seconds, allowing the Road Warriors to escape with the win.

Prior to Anthony’s heroics, it was David who gave Meralco its last lead after he drained a left-corner triple

Spieth: Olympics is golf’s 5th major TURN TO A13

with 9.8 seconds left to make it 91-90 in the Bolts’ favor.

Chris Newsome paced Meralco with his team-high 21 points as the rookie continued to impress, while David ended up with 19 markers.

Meanwhile, a double-header is again scheduled for today between GlobalPort (3-2) and streaking Barangay Ginebra (3-3) at 7 p.m., while Talk ‘N Text (3-2) battles Blackwater (1-4) at 4:15 p.m. Both games will also be held at the Big Dome.

The scores: NLEX 93—Taulava 22, Anthony 19, Villanueva J. 17, Alas 16, Khobuntin 6, Enciso 5, Borboran 3, Villanueva E. 3, Lanete 2, Arboleda 0, Reyes 0.

MERALCO 91—Newsome 21, David 19, Hodge 14, Al-Hussaini 10, Faundo 10, Dillinger 9, Nabong 4, Atkins 2, Hugnatan 2, Alapag 0, Amer 0, Buenafe 0.

Quarters: 24-18, 46-37, 65-67, 93-91

THE National University Bullpups took off to a strong start and sustained their fiery form all throughout to turn back the University of the Philippines Integrated School Junior Maroons, 77-65, yesterday in the 78th University Athletic Association of the Philippines’ Junior Basketball Tournament at the San Juan Arena, Seldom-used John Beldua sparked NU’s strong start, firing all his eight points in the first period to tow the Bullpups to a 19-4 lead and coast to their fourth straight triumph and a firmer hold on the lead.

The Bullpups held the Junior Maroons to just 18 points in the second period as the solo-leading team went on to post a 40-22 halftime lead.

John Lloyd Clemente finished with 18 points and Justine Baltazar added 16 to lead NU. The Ateneo Blue Eaglets and La Salle-Zobel share second on similar 3-1 cards.

In the other juniors’ matches, Jolo Mendoza, Bryan Andrade and Shaun Ildefonso scored in double digits, with Mendoza scoring with 20 for the Blue Eaglets, who turned back University of Santo Tomas, 79-56.

Shaun Ildefonso had 17 points, including three charities at the start of the third quarter that put the Blue Eaglets out of reach. Ateneo then padded the lead to nine, 39-30, in the last five minutes.

Aljun Melecio banged in 12 of 18 points in the first period for the Junior Archers, who took a 31-14 spread in the first 10 minutes en route to a 107-79 swamping of University of the East. Peter Atencio

WEDNESDAY: NOVEMBER 25, 2015

RAY S. EÑANO EDITOR

RODERICK T. DELA CRUZ ASSISTANT EDITOR

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

BUSINESS

B1

SM cool to common rail hub PSe comPoSite index Closing November 24, 2015

8000 7700 7400 7100 6800 6500

6,992.60 3.59

PeSo-dollar rate

Closing NOVEMBER 24, 2015 43.50 44.60 45.40

P47.100

46.20

CLOSE

47.00

HIGH P47.070 LOW P47.200 AVERAGE P47.134

By Darwin G. Amojelar

THE SM Group rejected the concept presented by the Transportation Department to build two common stations for Metro Manila’s overhead train system in Quezon City, a top executive said Monday night “As I have said what was presented was only the concept— and we felt concept is not enough.

We would appreciate if it was the compete set of plans. You cannot approve on concept, if it’s a concept it can still be changed,” SM Prime Holdings Inc. president Hans Sy told reporters at the sidelines of the re-launch of Mabuhay Miles by Philippine Airlines.

Sy said the SM Group was open

to any proposal of the Transportation Department for either two common stations or one near Trinoma in Quezon City.

“We are not even setting any conditions, we don’t want to set conditions. What I can tell you right now we are still open to what they want. But we want something more fixed,” he added.

The Transportation Department earlier said it would pursue two common stations, one near

SM North Edsa and the other beside Trinoma Mall, owned by Ayala Land Inc. The agency’s strategy of building two common stations aims to resolve a conflict with the SM Group.

SM Prime earlier secured a Supreme Court stay order, barring the department from transferring the location of the common station to Trinoma Mall.

The Transportation Department decided to relocate the common station to Trinoma from SM North, citing P1 billion worth of savings the government would realize from the transfer.

Under an earlier agreement between SM Prime and state-run Light Rail Transit Authority, the common station would be situ-

ated beside SM North Edsa. SM Prime already paid the government P200 million for the naming rights for the proposed station.

Metro Pacific Investments Corp. chairman Manuel Pangilinan earlier said the best solution to resolve the issue on common station was to build it somewhere between SM North Edsa and Trinoma shopping mall.

Pangilinan said the two common stations for MRT Line 3, LRT Line 1 and the proposed MRT Line 7 would be inefficient.

MPIC and Ayala Corp. lead the Light Rail Manila Consortium, which won the contract for the LRT 1 Cavite extension project, including the design of the common station near Trinoma.

VOLUME 532.000M

P487.00-P682.00 LPG/11-kg tank P35.15-P42.40 Unleaded Gasoline

oPriceS il P

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. (second from right) is named Management Man of the Year 2015 by the Management Association of the Philippines for his “expert and steady guidance of the Philippine monetary and banking system as a strong foundation for the current dynamism of the Philippine economy.”

Tetangco receives the award from MAP officials led by (from left) search committee chairman Greg Navarro of Deloitte Philippines, president Francisco del Rosario Jr. and judging committee chairman Edgar Chua of Shell Philippines.

today

P25.03-P28.48 Diesel P34.55-P39.15 Kerosene Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Tuesday, November 24, 2015

F oreign e xchange r ate Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

47.1470

Japan

Yen

0.008141

0.3838

UK

Pound

1.511700

71.2721

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.129031

6.0834

Switzerland

Franc

0.982029

46.2997

Canada

Dollar

0.748167

35.2738

Singapore

Dollar

0.705716

33.2724

Australia

Dollar

0.718907

33.8943

Bahrain

Dinar

2.665956

125.6918

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266631

12.5709

Brunei

Dollar

0.703235

33.1554

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000073

0.0034

Thailand

Baht

0.027871

1.3140

UAE

Dirham

0.272301

12.8382

Euro

Euro

1.063000

50.1173

Korea

Won

0.000863

0.0407

China

Yuan

0.156504

7.3787

India

Rupee

0.015074

0.7107

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.232504

10.9619

New Zealand

Dollar

0.650703

30.6787

Taiwan

Dollar

0.030654

1.4452 Source: PDS Bridge

Balance of payments position returns to $2.27-b surplus

By Julito G. Rada STRONG remittances and business process outsourcing receipts pushed the balance of payments surplus to $2.3 billion in the first 10 months, exceeding the full-year target of just $2 billion, data from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas show.

Bangko Sentral said the BoP surplus in the January-October period reversed the $3.4-billion deficit registered in the same period last year.

Bangko Sentral Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said the BoP surplus was recorded at $469 million

in October, or much higher than $24 million a year ago. It was also up 114 percent from a $219-million surplus in September.

Tetangco said the October BoP surplus was driven by deposits of the national government of its proceeds from a foreign loan and income from investments of Bangko Sentral assets.

“But on the other side of the equation, you got debt service payments also, particularly the national government. So that partially offset the inflows. But on a net basis, there was an increase that led to the BoP

surplus for October,” Tetangco said at the sidelines of the Management Association of the Philippines’ event in Makati City, where he was awarded the MAP Management Man of the Year 2015.

BoP mirrors the country’s financial transactions with the rest of the world. A surplus means more money is coming into the country than what is leaving the domestic market.

Tetangco also downplayed any significant impact of the imminent interest rates hike by the US Federal Reserve next month on the Philip-

pines’ overall BoP position, citing the country’s strong macroeconomic fundamentals.

“The Fed lift-off has been expected for some time now and it still has to happen. In the meantime, the financial markets, in anticipation of the lift-off, have experienced some volatilities. If there is an actual liftoff, there could still be some reactions but I think since the markets have been expecting this, the impact should not be that significant,” Tetangco said.

He said investors tended to discriminate between economies that

were doing very well on the macroeconomic side, which would be beneficial for the Philippines, “because we continue to have sound macroeconomic fundamentals, sustained growth, low inflation, external surplus, sufficient reserves, a likely better third-quarter GDP growth, and robust banking system.” Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said there was always a probability of reversing the BoP surplus but “one can also argue that the market has already factored in the December 2015 interest rates lift-off.”

WEDNESDAY: NOVEMBER 25, 2015

B2

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

The STandard BuSineSS daily STockS review Tuesday, November 24, 2015

52 Weeks

Previous

High Low

STOCKS

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

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

AG Finance Asia United Bank Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. Bank of PI China Bank Bright Kindle Resources COL Financial Eastwest Bank I-Remit Inc. Manulife Fin. Corp.

MEDCO Holdings Metrobank Natl. Reinsurance Corp.

PB Bank Phil. National Bank PSE Inc. RCBC `A’ Security Bank Sun Life Financial Union Bank

2.78 49.2 99.30 86.05 39.3 1.48 15.6 18.96 1.77 750.00 0.470 81 0.93 17.70 51.50 296 33 135.6 1535.00 57.00

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 31.8 109 15.3 9.4 0.98 241

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 20.2 71.5 13.24 5.34 0.395 173

79 4 33.9 90 13.26 293 5 5.25 12.98 6.75 15 7.03 3.4 4.5 6.3 7.34 238 5.5 3.28 0.315 2.18 2.65 234 5.28 1.3 2.17

34.1 1.63 23.35 17.3 5.88 250.2 3.37 3.87 8.45 3 10.04 3.03 1.95 1 4.02 5.9 161 4.1 1.55 0.138 1.02 2.09 152 4.28 0.640 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 First Gen Corp.

First Holdings ‘A’ Holcim Philippines Inc. Integ. Micro-Electronics Ionics Inc Jollibee Foods Corp.

LBC Express Liberty Flour Mabuhay Vinyl 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 Holdings San Miguel’Pure Foods `B’ SPC Power Corp.

Splash Corporation Swift Foods, Inc. TKC Steel Corp.

Trans-Asia Oil Universal Robina Victorias Milling Vitarich Corp.

Vulcan Ind’l.

42.1 3.44 0.85 1.53 10.98 17.52 106 20.7 41.5 2.36 1.45 10 9.510 9.10 6.12 5.60 23.2 69.2 14.80 5.8 2.220 202.00 12.5 42.00 3.69 24.15 22.5 6.1 303.80 4.00 3.93 7.69 3.17 11.80 3.70 1.84 2.3 4.21 5 134 3.45 2.24 0.148 1.06 2.11 201 4.54 0.66 1.15

0.59 59.2 30.05 7.39 3.4 3.35 823.5 10.2 84 3.35 3.68 4.92 0.66 1455 76 9.25 0.85 17.3 5.53 6.55 0.0670 2.31 1.61 84.9 974 156 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 1.15 2.26 0.152 837 49.55 4.84 0.59 12 4.2 4.5 0.030 1.23 0.550 59.3 751 80 0.211 0.179 0.310

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

Forum Pacific GT Capital JG Summit Holdings Lopez Holdings Corp.

Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp.

LT Group Metro Pacific Inv. Corp.

Minerales Industrias Corp.

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

0.395 57.8500 17.90 6.33 0.245 0.246 765 7.43 13.20 6.5 6.57 4.25 0.240 1291 72.00 7.82 0.73 14.2 5.34 9.77 0.0310 1.440 1.800 47.55 870.00 76.200 0.3150 0.2250 0.260

10.5 1.99 1.75 0.375 41.4 5.6 5.59 1.44 1.97

6.74 0.65 1.2 0.192 30.05 3.36 4.96 0.79 1.1

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

Ayala Land `B’ Belle Corp. `A’ Cebu Holdings Century Property City & Land Dev.

7.370 0.84 1.160 0.210 35.100 3.24 5.05 0.57 0.92

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

SHARES 6,723,143 112,575,947 139,823,451 116,934,018 317,898,085 343,134,436 1,037,949,320

Close

High

Low

FINANCIAL 2.78 2.55 49.2 49 101.80 99.60 86.25 85.55 39.8 39.2 1.51 1.36 15.6 15.3 18.96 18.8 1.77 1.65 740.00 735.00 0.470 0.450 81 80.5 0.95 0.93 17.70 17.70 52.10 51.50 295 295 33.05 32.55 135.5 131.4 1510.00 1510.00 57.20 56.15 INDUSTRIAL 42.25 41.5 3.69 3.22 0.84 0.8 1.53 1.5 11 10.6 17.98 17.1 92.1 92.1 20.7 20.2 41.5 41.5 2.5 2.22 1.44 1.4 10 9.68 9.550 9.26 9.17 9.08 6.16 6.07 5.60 5.10 23.5 22.8 69.3 68.9 14.90 14.72 5.9 5.8 2.250 2.080 204.80 203.00 12.52 12.02 42.00 42.00 4.1 3.68 24.6 24.05 23 22.5 6.4 6.18 305.00 301.00 3.94 3.93 3.96 3.81 7.70 7.52 3.19 3.19 11.40 11.40 3.70 3.53 1.83 1.80 2.3 2.2 4.23 4.18 5.79 5.4 133 131.4 3.45 3.3 2.29 2.2 0.149 0.143 1.14 1.04 2.15 2.10 203.2 200.6 4.72 4.7 0.66 0.62 1.18 1.12 HOLDING FIRMS 0.400 0.385 57.8500 56.1000 18.16 17.60 6.36 6.34 0.239 0.238 0.246 0.236 766 752 7.55 7.36 13.70 13.20 6.5 5.51 6.12 6.12 4.25 4.25 0.255 0.255 1290 1285 72.40 71.05 7.84 7.64 0.75 0.7 14.5 14.02 5.33 5.2 9.84 9.77 0.0310 0.0300 1.390 1.280 1.800 1.760 47.05 46.70 870.00 856.00 76.000 75.550 0.3100 0.3000 0.2260 0.2160 0.260 0.260 PROPERTY 7.400 7.160 0.85 0.82 1.140 1.130 0.210 0.210 35.200 34.650 3.25 3.18 5.1 5.1 0.58 0.56 0.91 0.91

Close

%

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

2.78 49 101.50 86.00 39.2 1.50 15.3 18.94 1.65 735.00 0.455 80.5 0.95 17.70 52.10 295 33 131.4 1510.00 57.00

0.00 -0.41 2.22 -0.06 -0.25 1.35 -1.92 -0.11 -6.78 -2.00 -3.19 -0.62 2.15 0.00 1.17 -0.34 0.00 -3.10 -1.63 0.00

2,000 31,600 1,596,520 786,030 23,600 165,000 27,100 40,600 18,000 310 480,000 2,272,370 76,000 7,700 4,270 500 30,800 700,760 15 121,680

42.05 3.64 0.84 1.53 10.92 17.62 92.1 20.5 41.5 2.42 1.41 9.76 9.480 9.10 6.10 5.35 22.9 69 14.90 5.8 2.090 203.00 12.5 42.00 3.68 24.6 22.6 6.3 303.00 3.93 3.87 7.55 3.19 11.40 3.70 1.81 2.22 4.19 5.4 131.4 3.3 2.24 0.143 1.11 2.10 202.6 4.72 0.63 1.12

-0.12 5.81 -1.18 0.00 -0.55 0.57 -13.11 -0.97 0.00 2.54 -2.76 -2.40 -0.32 0.00 -0.33 -4.46 -1.29 -0.29 0.68 0.00 -5.86 0.50 0.00 0.00 -0.27 1.86 0.44 3.28 -0.26 -1.75 -1.53 -1.82 0.63 -3.39 0.00 -1.63 -3.48 -0.48 8.00 -1.94 -4.35 0.00 -3.38 4.72 -0.47 0.80 3.96 -4.55 -2.61

2,236,700 1,788,000 290,000 790,000 400 31,100 100 969,000 562,600 1,719,000 528,000 10,700 5,704,700 9,260,400 19,876,700 716,700 809,500 68,330 81,400 111,600 4,271,000 446,650 11,100 600 75,000 7,191,400 193,900 303,100 172,470 4,000 2,797,000 881,100 1,000 800 57,000 287,000 3,332,000 902,000 3,100 18,500 53,000 160,000 43,670,000 23,000 309,000 1,035,600 5,000 133,000 676,000

0.390 56.1000 18.00 6.34 0.238 0.237 762.5 7.46 13.60 5.78 6.12 4.25 0.255 1288 72.25 7.81 0.72 14.46 5.33 9.84 0.0310 1.390 1.780 47.00 870.00 75.600 0.3000 0.2260 0.260

-1.27 -3.03 0.56 0.16 -2.86 -3.66 -0.33 0.40 3.03 -11.08 -6.85 0.00 6.25 -0.23 0.35 -0.13 -1.37 1.83 -0.19 0.72 0.00 -3.47 -1.11 -1.16 0.00 -0.79 -4.76 0.44 0.00

150,000 1,205,300 3,955,000 37,900 120,000 400,000 224,800 917,900 12,842,700 194,600 3,400 300,000 40,000 146,270 1,630,780 6,152,300 413,000 2,712,100 18,292,100 3,374,500 78,700,000 21,000 1,277,000 587,700 161,900 17,200 5,270,000 310,000 130,000

7.200 0.84 1.130 0.210 35.000 3.25 5.1 0.57 0.91

-2.31 0.00 -2.59 0.00 -0.28 0.31 0.99 0.00 -1.09

656,700 1,276,000 52,000 30,000 4,522,600 685,000 4,500 2,159,000 6,025,000

-73,420.00 54,969,956 -9,504,253.00 -7,940.00 130,214.00 154,850.00 -49,850.00 -58,270,944.00 26,671.00 290,160 -688,814.00 -401,268.50 -41,282,335.00 -451,410.00 -19,200.00 297,920.00 -6,150,000.00 -4,150 -103,260.00 10,451,324.00 -51,689,949.00 4,618,825.00 -994,975.00 -1,948,215.00 -2,561,497.00 1,094,640.00 -11,800.00 -43,950.00 -27,165,222.00 -3,740.00 -72,770,140.00 308,020.00 -1,861,608.00 2,665,672.00 -2,269,500.00 -345,160.00

-166,880.00 720,510.00 14,435.00 -2,426,903.00 -107,880.00

426,300.00 59,981,046.00

-38,500.00 -7,084,399.00 -49,684,792.00 -73,000.00 -34,654,445.00 681,168.00 12,486,006.00 1,275,000.00 -72,932,390.00 -15,527,777.00 -3,457,872.00 7,159,630.00 -1,686,587.00 10,747.00 -803,600.00 17,600.00 -24,053,370.00 -47,832,725.00 -145,669.50

52 Weeks

Previous

High Low

STOCKS

1.48 0.201 0.69 10.96 0.97 0.305 2.22 2.1 1.8 8.4 5.94 0.180 0.470 0.72 8.54 31.8 2.29 4.9 21.35 1.06 7.56 1.62 8.59

0.97 0.083 0.415 2.4 0.83 0.188 1.15 1.42 1.27 3.1 4.13 0.090 0.290 0.39 2.69 22.15 1.6 3.1 15.08 0.69 3.38 0.83 5.73

Cityland Dev. `A’ Crown Equities Inc. Cyber Bay Corp.

Double Dragon Empire East Land Ever Gotesco Global-Estate Filinvest Land,Inc. Interport `A’ Keppel Properties Megaworld MRC Allied Ind. Phil. Estates Corp.

Phil. Realty `A’ Primex Corp.

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

10.5 66 1.09 15.82 0.1430 5.06 99.1 7.67 4 1700 2720 8.41 1.97 119.5 0.017 0.8200 2.2800 5.93 12.28 3.32 95.5 1 2.46 15.2

1.97 35.2 0.63 8.6 0.0770 2.95 56.1 4.8 2.58 830 1600 5.95 1.23 102.6 0.011 0.041 1.200 2.34 6.5 1.91 3.1 0.650 1.8 6

0.62 1.040 22.8 18 185 22.9 3486 0.760 2.28 46.05 90.1

0.335 0.37 14.54 8.8 79 4.39 2748 0.435 1.2 31.45 60.55

11.6 0.85 10 0.490 1.9

7.59 0.63 5 0.315 1.14

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

Cebu Air Inc. (5J) DFNN Inc. Easy Call “Common” FEUI Globe Telecom GMA Network Inc. Harbor Star I.C.T.S.I. IP E-Game Ventures Inc. Island Info ISM Communications Jackstones Leisure & Resorts Liberty Telecom Manila Broadcasting Manila Bulletin Manila Jockey Melco Crown Metro Retail MG Holdings NOW Corp.

Pacific Online Sys. Corp.

Phil. Racing Club Phil. Seven Corp.

Philweb.Com Inc. PLDT Common PremiereHorizon Premium Leisure Puregold Robinsons RTL SBS Phil. Corp.

SSI Group STI Holdings Travellers Waterfront Phils.

Yehey

0.0098 5.45 17.24 0.330 12.7 1.19 1.62 9.5 4.2 0.48 0.420 0.440 0.022 8.2 49.2 4.27 3.06 0.020 0.021 7.67 12.88 10.42 0.040 420 9

0.0043 1.72 6.47 0.236 6.5 0.85 0.77 5.99 1.17 0.305 0.2130 0.2160 0.013 3.240 18.96 2.11 1.54 0.012 0.013 5.4 7.26 2.27 0.015 115.9 3.67

Abra Mining Apex `A’ Atlas Cons. `A’ Basic Energy Corp.

Benguet Corp `A’ Century Peak Metals Hldgs Coal Asia Dizon Ferronickel Geograce Res. Phil. Inc. Lepanto `A’ Lepanto `B’ Manila Mining `A’ Marcventures Hldgs., Inc. Nickelasia Nihao Mineral Resources Oriental Peninsula Res. Oriental Pet. `A’ Oriental Pet. `B’ Petroenergy Res. Corp.

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

TA Petroleum

70 553 525 515 111 1047 84.8

33 490 500 480 101 1011 75

ABS-CBN Holdings Corp.

Ayala Corp. Pref `B1’ Ayala Corp. Pref ‘B2’ GLOBE PREF P MWIDE PREF PF Pref 2 SMC Preferred C SMC Preferred D SMC Preferred E SMC Preferred F

6.98

0.8900 LR Warrant

15 12.88

3.5 5.95

130.7

105.6 First Metro ETF

2,465,997.00

11,551,765.00 688,140.00 112,000.00 -17,290.00

Close

Alterra Capital Makati Fin. Corp.

Xurpas

High

VALUE 546,233,852.75 1,024,908,649.31 1,254,371,827.15 1,071,605,151.40 1,717,239,919.77 131,690,842.767 5,759,601,103.15

FINANCIAL 1,543.00 (UP) 1.93 INDUSTRIAL 11,191.23 (UP) 18.08 HOLDING FIRMS 6,614.51 (DOWN) 12.61 PROPERTY 2,974.85 (DOWN) 12.01 SERVICES 1,567.79 (DOWN) 1.95 MINING & OIL 10,758.26 (DOWN) 59.53 PSEI 6,992.60 (DOWN) 3.59 All Shares Index 4,027.04 (DOWN) 6.30 Gainers: 57; Losers: 115; Unchanged: 40; Total: 212

Close

1.05 0.133 0.465 23.55 0.850 0.165 1.09 1.86 1.22 4.50 4.61 0.081 0.2600 0.4500 8.59 30.80 1.45 3.24 21.40 0.74 7.5 0.940 5.400

%

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

1.05 1.02 1.02 0.133 0.129 0.129 0.465 0.460 0.465 24.45 23.5 23.5 0.850 0.850 0.850 0.165 0.165 0.165 1.09 1.07 1.07 1.86 1.79 1.80 1.23 1.19 1.23 4.50 4.50 4.50 4.65 4.45 4.45 0.081 0.079 0.079 0.2600 0.2600 0.2600 0.4100 0.4000 0.4000 8.7 8.54 8.7 31.45 30.75 30.80 1.45 1.43 1.43 3.15 3.15 3.15 21.40 21.20 21.40 0.75 0.74 0.75 7 7 7 0.940 0.870 0.900 5.580 5.250 5.580 SERVICES 7.3 7.38 6.65 7.24 64 64.3 63.5 64 0.550 0.550 0.540 0.550 5.49 5.42 5.24 5.24 0.0470 0.0480 0.0430 0.0430 3.5 3.6 3.5 3.5 85.5 85 83.55 85 5.90 5.89 5.42 5.50 3.49 3.74 3.60 3.74 978 990 990 990 1999 2012 1988 1996 7.39 7.40 7.21 7.38 1.25 1.30 1.22 1.30 72.85 73 71.5 72.95 0.011 0.011 0.010 0.010 0.171 0.770 0.170 0.175 1.4000 1.4000 1.3800 1.3900 2 2.1 2 2.1 8.98 9.00 8.80 9.00 4.23 4.18 4.00 4.05 24.00 21.00 21.00 21.00 0.580 0.590 0.560 0.560 2.02 2 2 2 3.68 3.65 3.45 3.51 3.99 4.49 4.00 4.00 0.255 0.260 0.255 0.255 0.680 0.680 0.630 0.640 17.92 17.88 17.88 17.88 9.01 9.46 9.04 9.46 107.90 103.00 103.00 103.00 20.05 20.35 20.00 20.35 2000.00 2016.00 1998.00 2002.00 0.500 0.500 0.490 0.490 0.990 1.000 0.970 0.970 34.05 34.40 34.00 34.30 70.10 70.10 69.10 69.50 5.55 5.75 5.47 5.52 3.88 4.30 3.79 4.21 0.415 0.42 0.390 0.410 3.9 4 3.88 4 0.330 0.345 0.325 0.330 4.390 4.490 4.200 4.350 MINING & OIL 0.0048 0.0049 0.0048 0.0048 2.22 2.16 2.05 2.05 4.80 4.80 4.74 4.74 0.210 0.211 0.210 0.210 5.7000 5.71 5.71 5.7100 0.68 0.69 0.68 0.69 0.64 0.63 0.6 0.63 8.00 8.05 7.90 7.98 0.76 0.78 0.73 0.74 0.295 0.300 0.275 0.290 0.188 0.189 0.185 0.188 0.204 0.201 0.200 0.200 0.0110 0.0100 0.0100 0.0100 2.17 2.18 2.1 2.1 6.69 6.64 6.49 6.55 3 3 2.85 2.89 1.4000 1.3700 1.3400 1.3500 0.0100 0.0110 0.0100 0.0110 0.0100 0.0100 0.0100 0.0100 3.60 3.60 3.60 3.60 5.00 5.000 4.910 4.91 1.42 1.400 1.350 1.36 0.0110 0.0120 0.0110 0.0120 134.80 136.00 134.00 136.00 2.3 2.3 2.19 2.28 PREFERRED 63.95 65.9 63.5 65.9 530 530 530 530 525 540 540 540 519 520 519 520 109 109 109 109 1020 1020 1018 1018 83.5 82.55 82 82.55 79.05 79.15 79.1 79.15 79.95 79.95 79.9 79.9 80.5 80.9 80.5 80.5 WARRANTS & BONDS 2.640 2.700 2.640 2.700 SME 3.2 3.1 3.06 3.06 2.84 2.83 2.7 2.83 16.4 16.4 16.1 16.28 EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 114.4 114.4 114 114.4

T op g ainerS STOCKS

Low

-2.86 -3.01 0.00 -0.21 0.00 0.00 -1.83 -3.23 0.82 0.00 -3.47 -2.47 0.00 -11.11 1.28 0.00 -1.38 -2.78 0.00 1.35 -6.67 -4.26 3.33

68,000 15,310,000 5,270,000 2,594,500 2,462,000 120,000 1,234,000 18,366,000 151,000 1,000 19,471,000 6,740,000 80,000 70,000 443,800 11,619,000 255,000 2,000 8,614,200 551,000 3,200 1,214,000 2,120,100

-11,220.00

-0.82 0.00 0.00 -4.55 -8.51 0.00 -0.58 -6.78 7.16 1.23 -0.15 -0.14 4.00 0.14 -9.09 2.34 -0.71 5.00 0.22 -4.26 -12.50 -3.45 -0.99 -4.62 0.25 0.00 -5.88 -0.22 4.99 -4.54 1.50 0.10 -2.00 -2.02 0.73 -0.86 -0.54 8.51 -1.20 2.56 0.00 -0.91

251,900 51,400.00 38,550 320,000 3,002,500 -3,061,760.00 41,800,000 -411,300.00 68,000 484,160 -12,758,045.50 257,300 -781,650.00 24,000 90 72,050 -39,810,095.00 44,200 74,000 46,440.00 1,054,230 27,950,655.50 14,400,000 11,000.00 220,000 151,000 61,000 30,800 1,463,000 -353,260.00 100 57,000 10,000 1,160,000 -2,218,680.00 184,175,000 371,500.00 390,000 8,158,000 215,000.00 2,000 551,500 100 10,300.00 148,600 1,432,880.00 144,375 -23,725,340.00 840,000 49,000.00 6,920,000 -239,990.00 457,000 13,326,915.00 1,058,530 10,996,459.50 3,305,200 -246,150.00 29,862,000 12,691,440.00 9,310,000 -79,000.00 1,198,000 216,910.00 120,000 293,000

0.00 -7.66 -1.25 0.00 0.18 1.47 -1.56 -0.25 -2.63 -1.69 0.00 -1.96 -9.09 -3.23 -2.09 -3.67 -3.57 10.00 0.00 0.00 -1.80 -4.23 9.09 0.89 -0.87

181,000,000 88,000 281,000 -1,096,080.00 70,000 100 230,000 116,000 -12,310.00 1,200 48,061,000 1,990,220.00 3,050,000 560,000 870,000 -104,000.00 2,600,000 954,000 -213,080.00 3,903,500 -9,961,898.00 220,000 -31,910.00 161,000 31,000,000 900,000 1,000 256,600 -773,812.00 2,360,000 165,920.00 65,500,000 417,470 -17,151,555.00 514,000 -359,980.00

3.05 0.00 2.86 0.19 0.00 -0.20 -1.14 0.13 -0.06 0.00

87,850 700 10 230 3,040 440 16,020 13,700 6,600 80,900

2.27

37,000

-4.38 -0.35 -0.73

58,000 4,000 793,500

0.00

3,960

-495,050.00 6,063,405.00 -2,045,100.00 -208,740.00 13,923,250.00 -47,909,030.00

867,230.00 -77,215,890.00 -104,600.00 -59,162,235.00 9,000.00 -899,719.00

924,286.00

2,601,906.00

T op L oSerS Close (P)

Change (%)

STOCKS

Close (P)

Change (%)

Oriental Pet. `A'

0.0110

10.00

Chemphil

92.1

Philodrill Corp. `A'

0.0120

9.09

Manila Broadcasting

21.00

-13.11 -12.50

SSI Group

4.21

8.51

Phil. Realty `A'

0.4000

-11.11

Roxas Holdings

5.4

8.00

F&J Prince 'A'

5.78

-11.08

Easy Call "Common"

3.74

7.16

IP E-Game Ventures Inc.

0.010

-9.09

Forum Pacific

0.255

6.25

Manila Mining `A'

0.0100

-9.09

Agrinurture Inc.

3.64

5.81

Boulevard Holdings

0.0430

-8.51

Jackstones

2.1

5.00

Apex `A'

2.05

-7.66

Phil. Racing Club

9.46

4.99

F&J Prince 'B'

6.12

-6.85

TKC Steel Corp.

1.11

4.72

I-Remit Inc.

1.65

-6.78

WEDNESDAY: NOVEMBER 25, 2015

B3

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

Metro Retail eyes 70 stores

By Jenniffer B. Austria

METRO Retail Stores Group Inc., a company controlled by the Gaisano family that recently raised P3.62 billion in fresh capital from an initial public offering, plans to double its retail business by opening 50 to 70 stores over the next five years, a top executive said Tuesday.

Metro Retail chairman and chief executive Frank Gaisano said in an interview after the company’s listing with the Philippine Stock Exchange the company was ready to compete with other retail players and had mapped out

plans to maintain its position as the largest retailer in the Visayas.

Share price of Metro Retail opened higher by 7.7 percent from the IPO price of P3.99, but lost steam toward the latter part of trading to close at P4 Tuesday.

Metro Retail has 400,000 square meters of gross floor area across 46 stores, mostly in the Visayas.

“We are ready to compete with other industry players in serving our value-conscious market and be a leading and well admired retailer,” Gaisano said.

Gaisano said Metro Retail had a district growth trajectory, expanding from Cebu to other areas of the country.

“In the industry we often said that Cebu is the toughest market where both local and Luzonbased national players are represented. If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere,” Gaisano said.

The company’s aggressive expansion plan, however, is still focused towards the Visayas which still had many underserved areas, he said.

Metro Retail is also looking at mergers and acquisitions to accelerate growth and plans to venture in Mindanao by 2017 or 2018.

Metro Retail vice president for business development Joseph Conrad Balatbat said that in terms of retail format, the company would prioritize hypermarkets.

“We feel that majority of the towns in Visayas cannot absorb a full-blown department store. So building hypermarkets will be a

good strategy for these areas,” Balatbat said.

The company said it secured 30 sites for expansion plans across the country over the next three years, which would be funded by proceeds from the IPO. Balatbat said the company would open seven stores next year. The company plans to accelerate store openings by 10 to 12 stores annually, starting 2017.

Metro Retail is only the third company to be listed with PSE this year. The first two were Crown Asia Chemicals Corp. and SBS Philippines Corp.

The PSE earlier targeted to have 10 IPOs in 2015.

Market declines; SSI leads gainers STOCKS fell Tuesday, ending a three-day gain, as the decline in copper and nickel prices pulled down mining stocks across Asia.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, dropped 3 points, or 0.1 percent, to close at 6,992.60. The gauge was also down 3.3 percent since the start of the year.

The heavier index, representing all shares, also lost 6 points, or 0.2 percent, to settle at 4,027.04, on a value turnover of P5.8 billion.

Losers outnumbered gainers, 115 to 57, while 40 issues were unchanged.

Retailer SSI Group Inc. was the biggest gainer among the 20 most active stocks, as it climbed 8.5 percent to P4.21. DMCI Holdings Inc., the investment company of the Consunji family, rose 3 percent to P13.60, while BDO Unibank Inc., the largest lender, gained 2.2 percent to P101.50.

Metro Retail Stores Group Inc. rose 0.3 percent on its listing debut to close at P4.

Meanwhile, Australian stocks snapped a five-day climb, while Japanese shares returned from holiday to declines as the metals slump soured sentiment toward commodity producers.

A Bloomberg gauge of mining companies fell for a third day. Copper traded below $4,500 a metric ton in London and nickel fluctuated near its lowest level since 2003.

While crude’s climb back above $42 a barrel bolstered Malaysia’s ringgit, the dollar held its advance versus major peers amid the prospect for higher US interest rates this year.

Expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise benchmark US rates at its meeting next month have underpinned gains in the dollar, making metals more expensive for buyers holding other currencies.

Meanwhile, an increase in output from some producers coupled with concern over the impact of China’s slowdown on demand is also fueling anxiety. Energy and materials stocks have led equity declines in Asia this year, sliding at least 13 percent compared with the 2.7 percent retreat in the wider Asia-Pacific measure.

With Bloomberg, AFP

Manila containers. Containers sit stacked next to gantry cranes at Manila International Container Terminal at the Port of Manila in Manila. The Philippines is scheduled to release third-quarter gross domestic product figures on Nov. 26. BLOOMBERG

Balabag mine’s project feasibility set for approval

By Anna Leah E. Gonzales THE Mines and Geosciences Bureau said Tuesday the declaration of a mining project feasibility submitted by TVI Resource Development Inc. for the Balabag gold-silver project in Zambonga del Sur province is now under final evaluation.

“The DMPF of TVIRD for the Balabag project is under final evaluation. It is for approval this month,” said MGB director Leo Jasareno.

TVIRD is the local unit of TVI Pacific Inc. of Canada. The

company recently closed the Canatuan mine in Zamboanga del Norte province after operating it for a decade. It bets on the Balabag project as its next source of revenues.

“This will authorize the company to proceed into mining.

Their actual commercial operation can proceed early next year.

But once they get the DMPF, they can start development requirements like construction of roads,” Jasareno said.

TVI Pacific is a publicly listed Canadian mining company focused on the exploration, devel-

opment and production of precious and base metals.

The company is currently in the final phase of the permitting process at the Balabag gold-silver project in Sitio Balabag, Bayog, Zamboanga del Sur. TVIRD already received an environmental compliance certificate from the Environment Department for the Balabag project.

It also received the approval of the social development management program in May 2014.

TVIRD holds 100 percent of the mineral production sharing agree-

ment area, covering 4,779 hectares containing the Balabag epithermal gold and silver project.

The project is situated 75 kilometers east-northeast of TVIRD’s Canatuan mine. It has indicated mineral resource of 1.78 million tons averaging 2.34 grams per ton gold and 72.3 g/t silver, containing 134,262 ounces of gold and 4,148,196 ounces of silver.

Exploration and development work were put on hold at the Balabag project in 2014, pending the receipt of all permits from the government.

B4 Avida launches new twin towers

By Jenniffer B. Austria AVIDA Land, a subsidiary of Ayala Land, Inc. that caters to the affordable segment of the market, has launched a twintower residential tower in Bonifacio Global City, which could potentially generate as much as P7 billion in sales.

Avida Land senior division manager Herbert Herrero said in a press briefing Tuesday the project called Avida Towers Turf BGC would offer over 1,000 residential units targeting end-users and urban dwellers, as well as migrant Filipino workers looking for second or vacation homes.

Each tower will offer 537 units across 30 residential floors, plus six levels of podium parking.

Units range from 37 square meters to 58 square meters in size selling between P5.2 and P10 million each. errero said Avida Towers Turf BGC was within the integrated mixed-use developments of Avida in the area, created with a live-work-play philosophy, catering to urban dwellers looking to be near their places of work, business, education and a home for foreign and local investors.

Avida Towers Turf BGC introduces a smartly configured, space efficient schematic at 56 square meters a three-bedroom unit. The offering provides the market with an option for a three-bedroom home in the premium district of BGC. The project also offers only 18 units per floor to further increase residents’ privacy.

Amenities include adult and kiddie swimming pool, a standalone clubhouse, children’s play area, garden area, a view deck and an indoor gym. It is also bounded by streets on all sides.

“This means residents will see a wider distance from adjacent properties because of building setbacks. The larger spaces result in better airflow and ventilation,” said Herrero. “Being centrally located in the active North, Avida Towers Turf BGC brings nearly everything within reach in BGC.”

Horticulture workshop. Agriculrure Undersecretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat (seated, fourth from left) joins the Asian Food and Agriculture Cooperation Initiative Program Workshop on Horticulture on October 25 to 29, 2015 at the BSA Twin Towers in Mandaluyong City. At least 30 government representatives from 12 countries participated in the workshop, including delegates from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Lao PDR, Mongolia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam and Philippines.

Economy grew over 6% in Q3—Finance

By Gabrielle H. Binaday

THE economy likely expanded over 6 percent in the third quarter of the year following higher government spending and increased construction activities, a top official of the Finance Department said Tuesday.

Finance Undersecretary and chief economist Gil Beltran said in a text message to The Standard the gross domestic product rate in the third quarter would be “better than the first semester.”

Pressed further for the economic forecast, Beltran said it would even be higher than 6 percent.

The Philippine Statistics Authority is set to release the third quarter GDP figures on Thursday.

The economy expanded 5.3 percent in the first semester of the year after growing 5 percent and 5.6 percent in the in the first and second quarter, respectively. The figures were below the government’s GDP growth target of 7 percent to 8 percent for the full year.

Beltran said higher construction and government spending and robust growth in business process outsourcing industry would be the growth drivers for the remaining months of the year.

The economy should grew at least 8.9 percent in the second half in order to meet the lower end of the government’s target.

Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan conceded earlier the government’s target was “quite challenging.”

Meanwhile, Standard Chartered Bank economist Jeff Ng sees the economy growing 6.2 percent in the third quarter. He said strong domestic demand supported the expansion.

“Import growth remained resilient, given the encouraging demand for consumer and

raw-material imports,” Ng said in an e-mail.

“Export growth has weakened in recent months; September numbers were particularly weak,” he added.

Latest data showed merchandise exports in September fell 24.7 percent to $4.40 billion, the steepest drop in four years.

Ng also said the manufacturing and services sectors likely bolstered growth in the three-month period.

The economy grew by 6.1 percent in 2014, slower than the 7.2-percent expansion in 2013, but still one of the fastest in Asia.

DBS Bank of Singapore said over the weekend the economy likely expanded by 6 percent year-on-year in the third quarter, faster than the 5.6-percent expansion in the second quarter, as government spending accelerated during the period, The bank said while inflation was set to miss the official target of 2 percent to 4 percent this year, the gross domestic product growth remained strong. Inflation in the first 10 months averaged 1.5 percent, lower than the government’s target range.

GrabTaxi, PhilJets Group team up to offer air taxi service in Metro

By Darwin G. Amojelar GRABTAXI, Southeast Asia’s largest land transport brand, on Tuesday teamed up with PhilJets Group to offer an air taxi service before the end of the year in a bid to provide an alternative solution to the heavy traffic in Metro Manila.

“GrabTaxi has been in the Philippines for a few years now and we’re launching GrabHeli as a way to thank the passengers who have always supported us and stood as witnesses to our

growth. It has always been our goal to transform the way Filipinos travel and aviation is not an exception,” GrabTaxi Philippines marketing country head Khriztina Lim said.

GrabHeli, which is in its beta stage, will be tested for three months.

For P3,888 per person, anyone registered with GrabPay can fly around Manila in an aerial tour of Makati, Bonifacio Global City and Pasay.

Lim said booking a helicopter ride used to cost P96,000

for an hour.

“But through our partnership with PhilJets, we’ve made it possible to just buy a minimum of one seat on a helicopter and you’re good to go. With GrabHeli,riding a helicopter will not be as far-fetched as it used to be. It is now luxury within reach,” Lim said.

Pre-booking a GrabHeli will be available weekly from Saturdays to Wednesdays through the GrabTaxi app with fixed flight schedules during Fridays and Saturdays at 4pm.

Lim expects to roll out the air taxi commercially next month.

“We hope to offer the same fare or even better,” she said, adding the company has four helipads in Ortigas, Makati, Bonifacio Global City and Pasay.

“We are very happy to partner with GrabTaxi Philippines.

In the two years they’ve been in the country, they’ve proven that they’re a formidable company to be associated with and this partnership promises a ride to remember,” PhilJets Group chief executive Thierry Tea said.

“As we are launching this new booking platform through the app, our solutions is likely to improve within the next months, and we foresee multiple different type of requests from the users.

We are eager to listen to the feedbacks and work with our clients to always move towards enhancing customer satisfaction,” Tea added.

Tea said PhilJets and GrabTaxi aimed to provide an alternate solution to customers who want to avoid and escape the heavy traffic ad congestion in Manila.

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

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AES, partner investing $700m PAL set to acquire 7 aircraft next year

By Darwin G. Amojelar PHILIPPINE Airlines is set to acquire seven aircraft next year as part of a regional and longhaul flight expansion.

PAL president and chief operating officer Jaime Bautista told reporters Tuesday the company would purchase five Airbus A321s and two Boeing 777.

“That’s the scheduled delivery for next year,” Bautista said at the sidelines of the re-launch of Mabuhay Miles.

Bautista said the company was studying whether it would will acquire Airbus 350s or Boeing 787 Dreamliner, a long-range twin-engine wide-body jet.

“We are working on it. We are talking to them, we are trying to get the best deal,” Bautista said, referring to Airbus and Boeing.

“When you buy an airplane you consider the technical and commercial aspects,” he added.

PAL may use the aircraft for US and Europe flights.

PAL currently flies six Boeing 777-300ERs in daily flights to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver, Toronto and London.

PAL, which hired a financial adviser to help select a strategic investor, had planned to get a strategic investor in two to three years.

Bautista had said the company would be “more profitable” this year compared with last year.

PAL Holdings Inc. earlier reported a comprehensive income of P6.55 billion in the first nine months of the year from last year’s P169.1 million.

PAL Holdings attributed the sharp increase in comprehensive income during the period to strong revenues, which rose 10.8 percent to P81.98 billion from P73.98 billion a year ago.

By Alena Mae S. Flores

AES Philippines, the local unit of AES Corp. of the US, and partner Electricity Generating Public Co. Ltd. of Thailand plan to invest over $700 million to build a 300-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Zambales province.

The project is an expansion of the existing 630-MW coal plant owned by both companies.

AES Philippines last year sold a 41-percent interest in the Masinloc power plant in Zambales and other projects in the Philippines to Egco in a deal valued at $453 million.

AES owns a net 51 percent in the Masinloc coal plant project after the sale, while Egco holds 41 percent. International Finance Corp., a the investment arm of

the World Bank, owns 8 percent.

AES managing director in the Philippines Neeraj Bhat on Tuesday told reporters at the sidelines of an infrastructure forum organized by the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Tuesday that about 70 percent of the project cost would be raised from debt and the balance from equity.

“Investment cost is north of $700 million... It will be locally funded by local banks. Signing

will be very soon, before the end of the year,” Bhat said.

He said the company planned to construct a capacity of 300 MW and had the option to go up to 600 MW. “Right now, we’re going to start with 300 MW as we line up contracts, we have the option to go for the full 600MW. But right now, we’re going for the 300 MW,” the official said.

Neeraj said Egco was the company’s partner in the existing Masinloc power plant “and they are participating in this as well.”

“We’ve signed a number of power sales agreements with northern Luzon and some other customers. We expect that to enter construction very soon with limited works this year, and to be online in early 2019,” Bhat said.

He said construction would be in full swing by the first quarter

and that the company was set to award the engineering, procurement and construction contract.

The expansion of the Masinloc power plant has secured all key permits to start construction and discussions are underway with lenders and engineering, procurement and construction contractors.

Commissioning of the expansion plant is expected in 2019 to meet power supply obligations.

The company has already signed power agreements with seven electric cooperatives for a 20-year supply of 92 MW of busload power requirements starting in 2019 once the 300 MWexpansion starts operations.

AES Philippines earlier signed a supply agreement with electric cooperatives from Region 1 and the Cordillera Administrative Region (collectively, the R1 +CAR ECs).

Globe partner. Shopify Inc. executives pay a visit to the Globe Tower building to further to enhance their partnership with the Globe

myBusiness team and provide Filipinos entrepreneurs with an enhanced e-commerce platform that will allow them to take their businesses online.

Shown are Shopify head of business development Brennan Loh (second from right) strategic partnership manager and member of the Department of Foreign Affairs of Canada advisory group Cameron Vernest and (leftmost) Globe myBusiness vice president for marketing Barbie Dapul (middle), Globe myBusiness senior VP Martha Sazon and (rightmost) Globe myBusiness VP for digital solutions and service innovations Debbie Obias.

Sin tax stamp design LTFRB offers six premier bus routes of APO clinches awards APO Production Unit, the official Philippine government printer of the recently-launched sin tax or excise tax stamps, won the top awards for Best Design and Best Tax Stamp Program in the prestigious international awards for Excellence in Tax Stamps.

The same entry received a commendation in a third category, Best New Innovation. The 2015 winners were announced and awarded during a ceremony held as part of the Tax Stamp Forum, which took place in Miami, Florida, and attended by 250 international delegates.

The Excellence in Tax Stamps awards recognizes outstanding contributions by individuals and organi-

zations in tax stamp design, technological innovation, and implementation and enforcement in tax stamp programs. Each of the three awards categories highlights the important role that tax stamp programs play in combating illicit trade and protecting tax revenues.

APO’s 2014 Philippine Excise Tax Stamps was sole winner in the Best Design Award and shared top honors with Best Tax Stamp Program with the Turkish Revenue Authority (Banderol Product Tracking System).

The same entry received a commendation in the third category, Best New Innovation.

THE Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board is inviting bus operators to provide premier point-to-points service in six routes in Metro Manila.

“We want to alleviate the plight of daily commuters who had difficulty traveling during peak hours from specific routes due to insufficient number of bus services that need to transport a huge volume of passengers,” LTFRB chairman Winston Ginez said.

The three franchise packages are Fairview–Makati CBD and Ortigas CBD–Makati CBD (Package 1); Katipunan–Makati CBD and Eastwood–Makati CBD (Package 2); and Alabang–Orti-

gas CBD and Alabang–Makati CBD (Package 3).

Interested bus operators must submit their qualification documents by 2 p.m. on January 15, 2016. A pre-qualification conference will be held on December 1, 2015 at 2 p.m. at LTFRB’s main office in Quezon City.

The Premium point-to-point bus service air-conditioned units, according to the agency, must either be single or double deck (11 to 13 meters in length), with external color/branding to be specified by the LTFRB, uses Euro IV or better emission standard or clean alternative fuel with equivalent or better emission (e,g electric or hybrid ve-

hicles), low floor entry with space for one passenger with wheelchair, and maximum of four reclining seats per row.

Selected applicants to operate any of the packages must ensure that at least half of the allocated units per route be available within six months from the notice of selection and before being granted a certificate of public convenience.

Failure to comply with the delivery schedule will disqualify the selected applicant and another round of public lottery will be conducted by the board to select the next applicant from the previously qualified applicants.

Darwin G. Amojelar

WEDNESDAY: NOVEMBER 25, 2015

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

PetroSolar donation. Officers of PetroSolar Corp., the developer and operator of the 50-megawatt Tarlac solar power project, turn over a check worth P109,125 to the parentsteachers association of Balete Elementary School as part of its We Power Help (Health, Education and Livelihood Program) initiative in Tarlac City. It also donates P52,877 to Lourdes Elementary School to partially fund school improvements and students’ expenses.

Moody’s cuts outlook for banks

By Julito G. Rada

Global debt watcher Moody’s Investors Service on Tuesday downgraded its credit outlook for Philippine banks from “positive” to “stable,” as loan growth moderated this year and capital levels would likely decline.

“We changed our outlook for the Philippine banking system to stable from positive. The outlook expresses our expectation of how bank creditworthiness will evolve in this system over the next 12-18 months,” said Moody’s vice president and head of Asia-Pacific media relations Hector Lim. These comments were contained in a Moody’s annual outlook update for the Philippine banking system, titled Banking System Outlook: Philippines -

Resilience of Domestic Economy Drives Stable Outlook.

Moody’s said lenders’ current strong capital levels were likely to decline slightly “as banks continue to grow their assets to tap demand from segments that had lacked access to credit, particularly the high-yielding consumer segment.”

Moody’s previous positive outlook had been in place since 2012, and since then, most of its rated banks were upgraded, along with

Cirtek’s net income rises 44% to $8.2m

By Alena Mae S. Flores LAGUNA-BASED Cirtek Holdings Philippines Corp. said net income in the first nine months jumped 44 percent to $8.2 million from $5.7 million a year ago on higher revenues.

Cirtek Holdings said consolidated net revenue grew 23 percent in the January-September period to $45.5 million from $37 million in the same period in 2014.

The growth was accounted for by sustained sales growth registered by both semiconductor and RF/microwave/millimeterwave businesses.

“We expect to sustain our strong performance for the rest of the year. We will continue to work with our customers to deliver high-value products and services to the market and enhance our market position in fast grow-

ing spaces such as wireless communication and automotive,” said Cirtek Holdings chief finance officer Anthony Buyawe.

The company registered strong results in the third quarter, with consolidated revenue of $17.1 million and net income after tax of $4.9 million in the quarter.

Consolidated revenue increased 21 percent and net income after tax climbed 36 percent from the third quarter of 2014.

Cirtek Holdings said gross margin was a healthy 25 percent. The improvement was mainly due to the increased percentage of high-margin products sold during the period and continuing cost reduction.

Manufacturing continues to focus on improving assembly and packaging capabilities, operational efficiency and reduction of unit manufacturing cost, the company said.

the sovereign (Baa2 stable).

Moody’s said it expected the Philippine economy to maintain growth despite headwinds buffeting global emerging markets. It expects real GDP to grow by 5.7 percent this year and 6 percent next year.

It said re-accelerating government spending, ongoing infrastructure projects, robust private consumption, strong remittance inflows and an expanding business process outsourcing sector would cushion against China’s economic slowdown and weaker merchandise trade.

“Although credit expansion is moderating after government-implemented cooling measures, it will remain brisk at 14 percent to 16 percent over the next 12 to 18 months from 19 percent in 2014,” it said.

“However, increases in prop-

erty prices remain in line with per capita GDP growth, and in Moody’s view the Philippines can support a relatively fast pace of loan growth in under-penetrated sectors without experiencing excessive asset risks,” it said.

Moody’s also said that while credit costs would rise slightly as banks increased their lending to high-yielding segments, asset quality would remain stable. At the same time, increased lending to under-served segments would help widen net interest margins, as banks’ total lending to the competitive corporate segment will decrease, it said.

“Philippine banks’ funding and liquidity remain key credit strengths. Deposit growth has broadly kept pace with relatively fast loan growth owing to robust remittance inflows fromoverseas

Filipinos and healthy corporate earnings, including business process outsourcing receipts,” Moody’s said.

It said the system-wide loan-todeposit ratio was 63 percent as of September 2015, a level that was low by global and regional standards. The credit watchdog also said that given ample deposits, the banks’ reliance on confidencesensitive market funding was low.

Moody’s said it expected government support for the banking system to flow through only in circumstances where there are contagion risks and only to the systemically important banks, considering the Philippine government has been proactive in implementing strict capital and liquidity requirements, and encouraging smaller banks to consolidate.

Ford appoints new country head

By Othel V. Campos FORD Motor Company announced Tuesday the appointment of Lance Mosley as managing director of Ford Philippines effective Dec. 1, 2015.

Mosley will replace Kay Hart, who was appointed director of Advanced Consumer Experience Marketing for Asia Pacific.

Hart will be based in Dearborn, Michigan.

Mosley will be responsible for leading Ford’s successful business in the Philippines, which posted record sales in 2015.

Mosley will also drive the company’s dealer network expansion plan and customer service experience. He will directly report to Ford Asean president Mark Kaufman.

“We are thrilled to welcome Lance to his new role. With his proven experience and leadership in marketing and sales, we are confident that he will continue to build the momentum of our success and growth in the Philippines,” said Kaufman.

Mosley brings with him more than 21 years of experience in marketing, sales and service.

He is currently retail marketing director for Ford Asia Pacific based out of China where he leads the design and implementation of retail marketing programs across markets in the region.

Having joined Ford in 1994, Mosley began his marketing career working with dealerships in the Northern California region before transitioning to

more senior roles in marketing, sales and service.

These included serving as regional profit coordinator for Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Michigan, global facilities manager at Mazda in Japan and retail marketing manager for Ford Motor Company in Dearborn.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management from North Carolina State University.

Hart served as managing director of Ford Philippines since 2013, leading the company’s product-led transformation in the country that included the launch of several Ford nameplates, including the all-new EcoSport, Everest, Ranger, Focus, Explorer, Escape, Mustang and Expedition Platinum.

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WORLD

CESAR BARRIOQUINTO EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

B7

Brussels still on alert amid fears of attack BRUSSELS—Brussels will stay at the highest security threat level for another week over fears of an imminent terror attack, the Belgian government said, as the United States issued a worldwide travel alert for its citizens.

Authorities in Belgium and France were hunting for Belgianborn Salah Abdeslam, a key suspect in the Paris attacks on November 13, when gunmen and suicide bombers killed at least 130 people.

French police were on Tuesday analyzing a suspected suicide belt similar to those used in the Paris assault, according to sources close to the investigation.

Authorities found the object— which lacked a detonator—in a dustbin in the southern suburb of Montrouge. Telephone data placed Abdeslam in the area on the night of November 13.

Another police source said the belt appeared to have “the same

Disabled man to hang in Pakistan ISLAMABAD—Pakistan is set to execute a disabled man as activists said it was nearing its 300th hanging in under a year, with Amnesty slamming Islamabad Tuesday for “shamefully sealing its place among the world’s worst executioners”.

The execution of Abdul Basit, a paraplegic who was convicted of murder in 2009, has already been postponed several times after rights groups raised concerns about how a wheelchair-bound man would mount the scaffold.

Amnesty said it has been scheduled again for Wednesday.

Pakistan’s Human Rights Commission said in a statement it had written to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif seeking to stay the execution, adding that prison authorities were still awaiting an answer from the government on how to proceed with the hanging.

In a statement Tuesday, Amnesty said it has recorded 299 executions in Pakistan since the death penalty was controversially reinstated following a Taliban mass killing at a school in Peshawar last year that was the country’s deadliest ever extremist attack. AFP

configuration” as those used by the jihadists.

Fearing a similar attack, Belgium maintained an unprecedented security lockdown in Europe’s capital Brussels, with Prime Minister Charles Michel warning Monday that the threat “remains serious and imminent”.

Belgian authorities have charged a fourth person in connection with the bloodshed in Paris, which was claimed by the Islamic State group.

Washington and Paris have stepped up their fight against IS, with France launching its first strikes from a newly deployed aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean and the United States calling for more international cooperation against the group.

Underlining heightened global fears of attacks after Islamists killed scores in Mali, Turkey, Lebanon and Nigeria in recent weeks, the US government issued a worldwide travel alert warning American citizens of “increased terrorist threats”.

“Current information suggests that ISIL (another acronym for Islamic State), Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram and other terrorist groups

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continue to plan terrorist attacks in multiple regions,” said a State Department travel advisory.

US President Barack Obama was due to meet French leader Francois Hollande in Washington on Tuesday.

The French president will also hold talks with Germany’s Angela Merkel on Wednesday, Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Thursday and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday, as world leaders rally support for a global fight to crush IS. The UN Security Council on Friday authorized “all necessary measures” to fight the group.

In Brussels, an eerie atmosphere hung over the city with soldiers in camouflage patrolling everywhere, from railway stations to EU institutions.

In the normally bustling historic Grand Place, a few bars and restaurants were open for business but they were struggling to find customers.

In downtown Brussels, the only real activity was deliverymen offloading crates for near-empty shops as builders hammered together stalls for a Christmas market meant to open on Friday. AFP

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Republic of the Philippines

DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE Roxas Boulevard Corner Pablo Ocampo, Sr. Street Manila 1004

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST FOR THE PROCUREMENT OF A CONSULTANCY SERVICES FOR THE DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF AN EXECUTIVE PROGRAM FOR A MASTERAL DEGREE IN PUBLIC MANAGEMENT/ DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT WITH SPECIALIZATION IN PUBLIC FINANCE 1.

2.

3.

The Department of Finance (DOF), through the General Appropriations Act for CY 2015, intends to apply the sum of Twenty Seven Million Pesos (PhP27,000,000.00), being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC), to payments under the contract for the Procurement of Consultancy Services for the Design, Development and Implementation of an Executive Program for a Masteral Degree in Public Management/ Development Management with Specialization in Public Finance. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at the opening of the financial proposals.

The Procuring Entity’s Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) now calls for the submission of eligibility documents for the procurement of consulting services for the Project. Interested consultants must submit their eligibility documents on or before December 2, 2015, 9:45 am at the BAC Secretariat, 7th Floor EDPC Building, BSP Complex, Roxas Blvd., Malate, Manila. Applications for eligibility will be evaluated based on a non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion.

The BAC shall draw up the short list of consultants from those who have submitted eligibility documents and have been determined as eligible in accordance with the provisions of Republic Act No. 9184 (R.A. No. 9184), otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”, and its Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR). The short list shall consist of at least one (1) prospective bidder who will be entitled to submit bids. The criteria and rating system for short listing are: I. Applicable Experience II. Quality of Personnel to be Assigned III. Capacity to Execute the Consultancy Project Total

4.

D e l i v e r y o f t h e g o o d s i s r e q u i r e d w i t h i n t h i r t y (3 0) d a y s u p o n r e c e i p t o f N o t i c e t o P r o c e e d . B i d d e r s s h o u l d h a v e c o m p l e t e d , w i t h i n o n e (1) y e a r f r o m t h e d a t e o f s u b m i s s i o n s a n d r e c e i p t o f b i d s , a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding D o c u m e n t s , p a r t i c u l a r l y, i n S e c t i o n I I . I n s t r u c t i o n s t o B i d d e r s .

4.

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive procedures using a non - discretionar y “pass/ f a i l ” c r i t e r i o n a s s p e c i f i e d i n t h e I m p l e m e n t i n g R u l e s a n d R e g u l a t i o n s ( I R R) o f R e p u b l i c A c t ( R A) 918 4 , o t h e r w i s e k n o w a s t h e G o v e r n m e n t P r o c u r e m e n t R e f o r m A c t ”.

In ad dit i o n, bi d ding i s re st r i c te d to Filip in o c it ize ns /s o l e p r o p r i eto r ships, par t ne r ships, o r o r g aniz at i o ns w it h a l e ast si x t y p e r c e nt (6 0%) inte r e st o r o ut st an din g c ap it al sto c k b e l o n gin g to c it ize ns of t h e Philip p in e s, an d to c it ize ns o r o r g aniz at i o ns of a c o unt r y t h e laws o r r e gulat i o ns of w hi c h gr ant r i ght s o r p r i v il e g e s to Filip in o c it ize ns, pur suant to R A 518 3 ab d subj e c t to C o m o nwe alt h Ac t 13 8 .

5.

A c omplete set of Bidding Documets may be purchased by interested Bidders from the date, time and below mentioned and upon payment of a non - refundable fee for the Bidding Documents in the a m o u n t o f P E S O S: ( P h p 2 5 , 0 0 0 . 0 0) ISSUANCE OF ELIGIBILIT Y AND BIDDING DOCUMENTS

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the IRR of R.A. No. 9184.

5.

The Procuring Entity shall evaluate bids using the Quality Cost Based Evaluation (QCBE) procedure. The criteria and rating system for the evaluation of bids shall be provided in the Instructions to Bidders.

6.

The contract shall be completed within a period of twelve (12) months but not to exceed twenty-four (24) months upon Issuance of Notice to Proceed.

7.

The Procuring Entity reserves the right to reject any and all bids, annul the bidding process, or not award the contract at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

7.

N o v e m b e r 2 3 , 2 015 t o D e c e m b e r 8 , 2 015 8:3 0am - 9:3 0am Bac Secretariat 4/f Conference Room C i t y A d m i n i s t r a t o r ’s O f f i c e City Hall of San Pedro

The Cit y Government of San Pedro Laguna, will hold a Pre - Bid Conference on the date, time and a d d r e s s s p e c i f i e d b e l o w, w h i c h s h a l l b e o p e n o n l y t o a l l i n t e r e s t e d p a r t i e s w h o h a v e p u r c h a s e d t h e Bidding Documents.

PRE- BID CONFERENCE

N o v e m b e r 2 7, 2 015 10 : 0 0 A M BAC Secretariat 4/f Conference Room C i t y A d m i n i s t r a t o r ’s O f f i c e City Hall of San Pedro

Bids must be delivered to the address given below on or before the specif ied date and time. All bids must be ac c ompanied by a bid secur it y in any of the ac c eptable for mm and in the amount stated in I T B C l a u s e 18 .

DE ADLINE OF SUBMISSION OF ELIGIBILIT Y REQUUIREMENTS AND OPENING OF BIDS

D e c e m b e r 8 , 2 015 10 : 0 0 A M BAC Secretariat 4/F Conference Room C i t y A d m i n i s t r a t o r ’s O f f i c e City Hall of San Pedro

Bid opening shall be on the date and time specif ied above for deadline of submission of eligibiltiy requirements and submission of bids and shall be c onducted at the O f f ic e of the BAC Secretariat.

Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders representatives who choose to at tend at the address given above. Late bids shall not be accepted.

8.

The Cit y Gopvernment of San Pedro, Laguna assumes no responsibilit y whatsoever to compensate or indemnif y bidders for any expenses incur red in the preparation of their bid.

Fu r t h e r, C i t y G o v e r n m e n t o f S a n P e d r o , L a g u n a , r e s e r v e s t h e r i g h t t o a c c e p t o r r e j e c t a n y b i d , t o annul the bidding proc ess, and to reject all bids at any time pr ior to c ontract award, without thereby incur r ing any liabilit y to the af fected bidder or bidders.

For further information, please refer to: Ms. Lilia Tan, Tel No. 526-84-75 / ltan@dof.gov.ph (SGD) GIL S. BELTRAN Undersecretary and Chairman Bids and Awards Committee

(TS-NOV. 25, 2015)

Interested bidders may obtain fur ther infor mation from the Cit y Gover nent of San Pedro, Laguna and i n s p e c t t h e B i d d i n g D o c u m e n t s a t t h e a d d r e s s g i v e n b e l o w f r o m 8 : 3 0 A M t o 9 : 3 0 A M o n l y.

O f f ic e of the BAC Secretariat 4/f Conference Room C i t y A d m i n i s t r a t o r ’s O f f i c e City Hall of San Pedro

6.

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.

8.

3.

– 30% – 50% – 20% – 100%

The passing score is seventy percent (70%).

DESCRIPTION

10 0 0 0

9.

F o r f u r t h e r i n f o r m a t i o n , p l e a s e r e f e r t o: M r. M e r l i n B . P a a l a O f f ic e of the BAC Secretariat City Hall of San Pedro S a n P e d r o , L a g u n a / Te l e f a x N o . 8 47-17 2 2 ( S G D) E N G R . F I L E M O N I . S I B U L O Chairman Bids and Awards Committee

( T S - N O V. 2 5 , 2 015 )

W E D N E S D AY : N O V E M B E R 2 5 , 2 0 1 5

B8 No hope of finding landslide survivors YANGON—Search teams said Tuesday they had abandoned hope of finding survivors from a landslide in north Myanmar’s jade mining heartland that killed more than 100 people.

It is one of the deadliest incidents surrounding the billion-dollar jade trade that enriches a shadowy elite while destroying the local environment and social structure.

Scores of mainly itinerant prospectors sleeping in tents were buried when a towering mound of earth dumped by mining firms collapsed early Saturday at Hpakant in war-torn Kachin state, the hub of the jade industry.

Recovery teams including the army, police and local community organizations have pulled 113 bodies from the rubble. Only one man was found alive on Saturday but died soon after of his injuries.

Dashi Naw Lawn of the Kachin Network Development Foundation, which is helping the search, said no further survivors were expected.

“We are seeing only dead people,” he told AFP, adding that recovery operations continued at the site Tuesday with possibly dozens of people still missing.

Authorities could not confirm the number of people who were searching for jade at the time of the landslide.

But the state-backed Global New Light of Myanmar Tuesday quoted local officials as estimating another 30 bodies could still be buried.

It said the area had been designated “high risk” by authorities, who now plan to relocate a further 70 miner huts built in the shadow of other waste mountains.

Myanmar is the world’s main source of the finest jadeite, a neartranslucent green stone that is highly sought after in neighboring China, where demand is surging as incomes rise.

The highest quality Myanmar jade is known by its Chinese admirers as “stone of heaven” or “imperial jade” because it was historically a preserve of the elite and is thought to possess a wealth of virtuous properties, including bringing its owner good health. AFP

CESAR BARRIOQUINTO EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

WORLD Many primates facing extinction, say experts SINGAPORE—More than half the world’s primates, including apes, lemurs and monkeys, are facing extinction, international experts warned Tuesday, as they called for urgent action to protect mankind’s closest living relatives.

Endangered. This handout photo made available on November 24 shows Sumatran orangutans at an undisclosed location. AFP

The population crunch is the result of large-scale habitat destruction—particularly the burning and clearing of tropical forests—as well as the hunting of primates for food and the illegal wildlife trade.

Species long-known to be at risk, including the Sumatran orangutan, have been joined on the most endangered list for the first time by the Philippine tarsier and the Lavasoa Mountains dwarf lemur from Madagascar, scientists meeting in Singapore said.

“This research highlights the extent of the danger facing many of the world’s primates,” leading primatologist Christoph Schwitzer, director of conservation at Bristol Zoological Society in Britain, said in a statement.

“We hope it will focus people’s attention on these lesser known primate species, some of which most people will probably have never heard of.”

This includes the Lavasoa Mountains dwarf lemur— a species only discovered two years ago—and the Roloway monkey from Ghana and Ivory Coast, which experts say “are on the very verge of extinction”.

There are 703 species and sub-species of primates in the world.

Madagascar and Vietnam are home to large numbers of highly threatened primate species, the statement said.

In Africa, the red colobus monkey was under “particular threat”, as were some of South America’s howler monkeys and spider monkeys, it added.

“All of these species are relatively large and conspicuous, making them prime targets for bushmeat hunting,” the statement said.

Russell Mittermeier, chairman of the Species Survival Commission of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), said he hoped the report would encourage governments to commit to “desperately needed biodiversity conservation measures”.

Mittermeier said ahead of next month’s global climate conference in Paris, there was growing evidence some primate species might play key roles in dispersing tropical forest tree seeds, which in turn “have a critically important role in mitigating climate change”. AFP

Chinese lesbian sues govt over books BEIJING—A Chinese lesbian on Tuesday took the government to court over textbooks describing homosexuality as a “psychological disorder”, a landmark case in a country where discrimination remains common.

Qiu Bai, 21, a student at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, brought the action against the ministry of education, demanding that it give her details of how it approved materials and how they could be changed.

China only officially decriminalized homosexuality in 1997, removing it from its list of mental illnesses four years later.

Qiu’s team showed AFP a manu-

al, “Student Psychological Health”, published in 2015 by the prestigious Renmin University and distributed to students nationwide.

“The most commonly encountered forms of sexual deviance are homosexuality and the sick addictions of transvestism, transsexuality, fetishism, sadism, voyeurism and exhibitionism,” it read.

Other psychology textbooks had similar content.

Qiu, who uses a pseudonym for fear of being victimized, told AFP that she hoped to make sure such materials “no longer harm students”, adding that she had come under pressure from her university over

the case, but it had been mitigated by coverage in Chinese media.

Holding a large rainbow flag, she said she was “excited” by her “first opportunity to have a face-to-face dialogue with the ministry of education”.

Supporters brandished signs outside the Fengtai district court in Beijing reading: “We want a fair judgment” and “Homosexuals must gain visibility”.

“Of the 90 textbooks available in the libraries of Guangzhou, 42 percent present homosexuality as a disease or abnormality,” said Peng Yanhui, director of the non-profit LGBT Rights Advocacy, based in the Dismayed. Qiu Bai talks to reporters before entering a court. AFP southern city, citing a study. AFP

WEDNESDAY : NOVEM B ER 25, 2015

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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

H OME & L I V ING

LIFE

The Kashiwa-no-ha Smart City implements a Multi Vehicle Sharing Service which features the use and sharing of electric vehicles

The Hitachi Social Innovation Forum recently held at Tokyo, Japan, showcased the company’s infrastructure technologies and cutting-edge IT innovations to build a more advanced society

SOCIAL INNOVATION: THE RISE OF SMART CITIES TEXT AND PHOTOS BY GRACE C. DIEZ

I

magine getting a glimpse of the future.

Or maybe the future has arrived and we are living in it right here, right now.

The Hitachi Social Innovation Forum, recently held at Tokyo, Japan, showcased Hitachi’s infrastructure technologies and cutting-edge IT innovations to build a more advanced society. This moment can be likened to Back to the Future’s Marty McFly, who resides in 1985, arriving in 2015 where everything that surrounded him leaves him fascinated by the “new” technology.

Hitachi, Ltd. chairman and CEO Hiroaki Nakanishi talked about achieving innovations in infrastructure, water, healthcare, energy, transportation, IT and security fields through “Collaborative Creation” with a variety of partners amid dramatic and constant global changes brought about by the “Internet of Things (IoT)” or the growing network of internet connectivity. One such example of a “Collaborative Creation” project that caught widespread attention is the Kashiwa-no-ha Smart City.

‘SMART CITY’ DEFINED Forget those images of “Smart City” with futuristic elements including robots, allautomated services and flying objects.

We have a long way to go before we get there but we’re definitely inching closer to

A charging station is readily available for the electric and hybrid-electric vehicles in use at the community

that possibility. That said, a “smart city” is not to be undermined. It remains a product of innovative and highly advanced technologies. But what exactly is it?

A “smart city” is an ICT (Information Communication Technology)-enabled metropolis that enhances the overall quality of life while simultaneously reducing costs and resource consumption.

Currently, Japan hosts smart cities but the Philippines, through the BCDA (Bases Conversion and Development Authority), is already developing a proposed “Smart City” project to be situated at Clark Field in Angeles City, Pampanga. We truly live in such exciting times, don’t we?

THE KASHIWA-NO-HA SMART CITY The Kashiwa-no-ha Smart City is an example of a collaborative creation among the local government, universities, research institutions, real estate developer Mitsui Fudosan and Hitachi. Located in Kashiwa City at Chiba Prefecture, the Kashiwa-no-ha Smart City is considered as Japan’s most advanced smart city, delicately balancing three important ideals: an “Environmental-Symbiotic” city, a city of “Health and Longevity” and a city of “New Industry Creation.”

As a city that promotes “Health and Longevity,” Kashiwa-no-ha developed a Town Health Station which provides easy access to medical and health services at any time to residents. Likewise, as a city of “New Industry Creation,” it established KOIL (Kashiwa-no-ha Open Innovation Lab), an office space catering to creative businesses seeking to accelerate development through interactions with diverse people and stateof-the-art information.

However, among the Smart City’s ideals, its “Environmental-Symbiotic” city initiatives deserve a spotlight.

Kashiwa-no-ha Smart City is a place designed to reduce CO2 emissions and to cope with disasters, such as an earthquake, that could result in power outages.

Upon setting foot in Kashiwa-no-ha, the impression one gets is that it looks on the surface just like any other modern suburban community with regular-looking residents and shops. However, a closer inspection would inspire unequivocal admiration and awe.

The Kashiwa-no-ha Smart City encourages the community residents to use bicycles and help reduce CO2 emissions

To reduce CO2 emissions, some of the buildings are equipped with solar panels and hanging gardens. The city also has a Multi Vehicle Sharing Service which features the use and sharing of electric vehicles that also provides battery power during disasters. The city encourages bicycle usage among residents through its intelligent bicycle rental services with multiple drop-off stations. Its buildings have switches that calculate your energy savings goals and your actual energy usage.

It even dispenses energy-saving tips when goals are underachieved, or congratulatory messages when you have successfully reached your goal. All these numbers add up on a rewards system that lets you earn points for free use of the electric vehicle or bicycle, or lets you enjoy life’s simple pleasures such as restaurant gift certificates or free tickets to an event. It’s an amazing eco-lifestyle that makes up the Kashiwano-ha Smart City.

Hitachi’s pivotal role is its area energy management system (AEMS) which consolidates management of, prediction of demand for, and provision of supplyand-demand information about energy, including electric power, water and gas, in the city. The AEMS takes on the role of linking sophisticated systems in the city to centralize the management of energy in the area. The greatest achievement of the AEMS is that it provides a way to interchange electric power between blocks – a first for Japan.

In an interview, Akihiko Tobe, general manager of Hitachi Ltd.’s Social Innovation Promotion-Business and Engineering Solutions Division, explained the importance of AEMS. For instance, during cases when power supply dwindles due to failure of the power grid, priority would be to protect people’s lives by using lithium-ion battery systems installed at energy facilities in an office district to provide emergency power for elevators and other essential services in residential buildings, or to the groundwater pumps from the basement of shopping complexes, Tobe said.

The AEMS also tracks electric power use on different demand peaks and performs accurate control of electric power interchange or redistribution among the city

The Smart City has a Town Health Station which houses health and wellness establishments such as a yoga studio, a dental clinic, medical clinics and fitness centers

Solar panels in the buildings and hanging gardens are a common sight

blocks to save on energy and reduce power bills. It’s a groundbreaking technology that completely defines a “Smart City.”

SOCIAL INNOVATION AND THE FUTURE Social innovations like the Smart City serve as a “future image of the world.” These are sustainable projects designed for the next generation. Social innovations are developed for better years ahead and may well be a preview of, and a preparation for, a more solid and solutions-centric future that will benefit the children and grandchildren of today and tomorrow.

These social innovations, such as the Smart City, are more than just potential profitable business ventures. It’s a legacy.

WEDNESDAY : NOVEM B ER 25, 2015

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

TRAVERSING THE TEENAGE TRAIL It’s a contradiction, the ultimate oxymoron, and yet it’s the truth.

So how do we not merely survive this period but ensure that we get much less of Terrible and much more of Terrific?

LIV.E SIMPLY

BY LIV E.

T

hey descend upon us without warning, no bright lights shining from their invisible spaceship, as they quietly and stealthily invade our homes in the dead of night.

They come in peace and yet there will be times when their very existence will threaten the peace in our homes. They hide away our sweet little boys and girls, ruthlessly staking claim to their space. Strangely, they look a lot like us… and yet they’re from an entirely different world, governed by a completely different set of rules and a culture all their own.

They’re incorrigible. They’re complete aliens. And they’re one hundred percent ours.

They are our teenage children.

Whoever warned parents about the terrible twos clearly never had a teenager take up residence in their home, because – parents of teenagers, back me up on this, please – is there anything more terribly trying than the teenage years? Thankfully, there’s nothing quite as terrific either.

GET HELP.

Fortify the fortress. Don’t underestimate the Power of Two: get your spouse to take over when you feel you’re two inches away from hyperventilating and letting out a stream of words that would never be rated GP. Even if you’re on spouse-free solo flight, you probably have some sort of support system going. They say it takes a village to raise a child; I say it takes a whole community to raise a teenager. So call on your friends, your officemates, the Titas of Manila to be there for you (to listen to your rants) and for them (to translate your message to your teenager… because somehow he thinks anyone else is more credible than you are).

GET INVOLVED.

Enter their worlds. Listen to their music, even if you need to give your eardrums a vacation after. Listen to their stories, even if you’ll have to Google certain expressions to understand what they meant. (Who knew bae was a shortcut for babe?) Listen to their drama, whether it has to do with their latest crush, their last fight, or their terrible hair

day. It lets them know you’re not an ancient has-been from a different generation who’s completely oblivious to what they’re going through.

LEAVE THEM SOME BREATHING SPACE.

It’s infinitely better than battering your way in and meeting the firebreathing dragon instead. Accept that sometimes they just need space to be. They’ll get over that silent funk in time.

ESTABLISH AN OPEN-DOOR POLICY.

Give them their privacy but enforce a No-Locked-Rooms rule.

It’s amazing how much behindlocked-doors temptation you can drive away from your home with just this rule. That’s not to say you’re going to barge in on them at any moment – you won’t have to. It’s enough for them to know that you can.

And where no one is allowed to get up and leave until everyone has finished the last crumb on his plate. It’s the best and most natural way to ensure that communication lines remain open, which is key to getting through this stage.

REMIND THEM TO PRAY.

I’ve trained my boys to say three Hail Marys before they drop off to sleep and to offer up their whole day the minut e they wake. It’s important that they never lose recourse to no-fail guidance and help that not even we parents can give 24/7. Divine intervention: no one can ever get too much of it, especially not our teenagers who have to deal with rocky roads and raging hormones and an excess of almost everything.

CHOOSE YOUR BATTLES.

When they resist kissing you in public, when they say goodbye without looking back, when they wail “Mom, noooooo, pleeeeeeease don’t show up!” – don’t take it personally. They just need to establish their identity apart from being just your baby.

Let the little skirmishes go but don’t lose the war on the important things. Doing well in school. Coming home by curfew. Respect for authority.

Responsibility. Family. If they want to feel that they know better than you, let them. They’ll figure out in time, when they’ve grown up, that only kids think they know everything.

HAVE DINNER TOGETHER.

SPEAK TO THEM.

SHED THE ONION SKIN.

Regularly, and with absolutely no electronic devices present.

Of love, of values and principles, of right and wrong. And don’t be

afraid to do so in no uncertain terms. They need you to guide them, and I promise you that they will remember everything you’ve said to them, even when they snort and roll their eyes.

And they’ll prove it to you one day when they’ve shed their teenage armors and donned their adult outfits.

Because that’s the thing. They will one day become adults.

And suddenly, they’ll be easier to speak with. They’ll have great insights. They’ll agree with you without argument. And you’ll be in shock once again because just as you’ve finally gotten the hang of these aliens, you find they’ve metamorphosed into entirely new beings. They’re now members of your Adult Club. And they’re wonderful.

And amazing. And they’ve somehow absorbed all the lessons you’ve tried to stick in their heads, and they’ve truly taken them all to heart.

And that’s when you know you’ve gone through Terribly Trying and have arrived at Terrific.

And it’s just the most incredible, awesome, delightful place to be.

And totally worth every trial along the trail of teenagerhood.

Follow me on Twitter @ LivE_LiveSimply Like my page, follow all my articles, and send me feedback @ Facebook/liv.esimplywithLiv

WEDNESDAY : NOVEM B ER 25, 2015

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

MAGIC REIGNS AT SM CITY NORTH EDSA

S

M City North EDSA becomes the happiest mall this Christmas with wellloved Disney characters making a stop, bringing a new level of festivity for mallgoers. Families will definitely enjoy the Season of Magic at SM City North EDSA, with The Block Atrium transformed into a Disney Christmas City.

Mallgoers will get to experience a magical town that is home to classic Disney legends – Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Donald Duck, and Pluto! Colorful decor such as gift boxes, Christmas garlands and a 24-ft high Christmas tree centerpiece all set the joyful mood for the Holidays.

The Walt Disney Company, most commonly known as Disney, was first established as cartoon studio in 1923 by founders Walt Disney and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Studio. Since that time, Disney grown into a legendary brand and a leader in American animation industry, live-action film production, television, and theme parks.

Make sure to drop by the neighborhood and explore Mickey’s House, stroll through his backyard and have your photos taken in his shiny car. Spot the heart-shaped sign on Minnie’s House and have a selfie as well in front of the white picket fence. This rosy home is full of sweet surprises with Minnie

wishing shoppers all the best!

That’s not all! Have fun around Goofy’s Diner, a hilarious house with a loony layout that could only have been built by Goofy himself.

It's the goofiest place on earth.

Kids and kids at heart also got a surprise during the launch when Disney country director for Retail and Licensing-Philippines Veronica Cabalinan gave an early Christmas treat – a meet-and-greet session with their favorite Disney Characters Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.

There’s more fun ahead at the Disney Gift Shop, where one can find a wide range of plush, unique, educational and popular Disney souvenirs, collectibles, toys, apparel, and much more.

Disney Magic can also be found in other areas: Inside Out Holidays, where one can experience the full range of emotions and have photos taken with Joy, Sadness, and Anger in this colorful station at the City Center; and the Good Dinosaur Experience at the Skygarden.

The Force Awakens with the Galactic Christmas at the Annex Cyberzone, with an interactive Star Wars Display and loads of fun with cosplayers.

The Season of Magic in partnership with Disney is just one of the many exciting events at SM City North EDSA. Go North and share the Magic for the holidays!

Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck with Disney country director for Retail and LicensingPhilippines Veronica Cabalinan, SM Supermalls SVP for Operations Steven Tan and SVP for Marketing Jonjon San Agustin at the season of Magic Christmas launch at The Block

The 24-ft Christmas Tree centerpiece overflows with twinkling lights, gift boxes, ribbons, balls and garlands¼ and lots of fun

Mickey’s house is all set and ready to welcome visitors and give a happy holiday cheer!

SM Little Stars Luke Alford and Johnny Regata ride in Mickey's Jalopy, his favorite car around town

Enjoy a fun-filled day at Goofy’s Diner, a hilarious house with a loony layout that could only have been built by Goofy!

SM Little Stars Anastacia Penny and Jeantelle Esteban at Minnie's House

PET PULSE

PERFECT TOYS FOR PERFECT PETS

Elephant Stuffed Toy

Gift your pet with unique toys conveniently available online on Pet Me

BY MARTHA GONZALEZ

M Squeeze Me Monkey

Squeeze Me Mr. Doggone

Squeeze Me Doggie Café

any owners consider pets as part of their family, and make sure they take care of these furry friends. If you are a pet owner, you have to remember that you are accountable for a living creature – and it does not only mean giving them food and shelter but also bonding with them.

One of the best ways to bond with pets is through play. In fact, a lot of pet owners are willing to pay hefty sums for pet toys and accessories. Fortunately, the local pet care industry is quickly catching up on providing doting pet owners with a lot of options.

Local pet stores have been expanding their shelves, stocking them with items that cater to this growing demand. This development is what prompted some private pet care labels to up their game in terms of providing competitively priced yet quality products.

An up-and-coming online pet toy store, Pet Me, has a wonderful and affordable selection of plush and chew toys for pet lovers who love spoiling their pets.

Established just this August, Pet Me was inspired by organizations that help stray dogs find homes. Pet Me decided to sell

pet toys online and donate a percentage of its earnings to several K9 adoption facilities and veterinaries in the metro.

Proprietor Paul Bonnin Pfiffner believes that pet toys don’t just entertain pets, they also promote exercise. Pet toys can minimize problem behavior, which can be a result of boredom or excess energy.

Unknown to many, pet toys also promote good dental health.

One of Pet Me’s best sellers is the Squeeze Me toy, a stuffed animal that emits a sound when squeezed. It comes in three cute designs: Squeeze Me Mr. Doggone, Squeeze Me Doggie Café, and Squeeze Me Monkey, at just P60 each. These toys are recommended for any dog breed. They’re durable and made of tough canvas that can withstand even a pit bull’s strong jaws.

“For pets, toys represent acceptance.

They are rewards, which pets acknowledge with joy. You can really see how excited they get. They are so much like children when they are given new toys – the look is priceless,” says Pfiffner.

Visit www.petme.theshop.ph and choose from Pet Me’s catalog of multifunctional pet toys.

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WEDNESDAY : NOVEM B ER 25, 2015

LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

Judy Araneta-Roxas, Novotel Manila GM Bernd Schneider, Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo, journalist Korina Sanchez-Roxas, and Quezon City Rep. Jorge Banal light up the 100-ft. tall Araneta Center Christmas Tree

HOLIDAY REVELRY UNDER THE ARANETA CHRISTMAS TREE T

he northern part of Metro Manila further lights up for the Yuletide season as the iconic 100-feettall Araneta Center Christmas Tree officially lit up, attracting shoppers and sightseers with its spectacular display of glowing bulbs and beautiful ornaments.

“It’s an annual tradition that shoppers and revelers look forward to because it signals the start of the season. It’s a colorful reminder of love, joy and hope that the season brings,” enthused Araneta Group president and chief executive Jorge Araneta.

He added, “We want to make it better than last year so we constantly challenge ourselves to make this annual tradition more joyous, festive and entertaining than the last.”

Leading the Araneta Tree lighting ceremony were Araneta Group vice chairman Judy Araneta-Roxas, ABS-CBN’s Korina Sanchez-Roxas, Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo, Quezon City Rep. Jorge Banal and Novotel Manila general manager Bernd Schneider.

Joining in the festivities of the annual lighting ceremony were some of today’s brightest and upand-coming stars including Vice Ganda, Sarah Lahbati, Jerome Ponce, Loisa Andalio and Joshua Garcia. Meanwhile, singers Lyca Gairanod and Darlene Vibares from The Voice Kids Season 1, and Daryl Ong, Jason Fernandez and Bradley Holmes from The Voice of the Philippines Season 2 did an early caroling as they sang Christmas songs for the audience.

Christi McGarry, Pia Wurtzbach and Anne Lorraine Colis

Celebrating the Christmas spirit of giving and sharing, the Araneta Center also hosted a giftgiving activity for the children of Child Haus, a temporary shelter for underprivileged parents and their children. Vice Ganda handed out the gifts, along with Bb. Pilipinas beauty queens Pia Wurtzbach, Parul Shah, Anne Lorraine Colis, Rogelie Catacutan and Christi McGarry.

A dazzling fireworks display and a live band performance capped the festivities.

Following the symbolic lighting of the iconic Christmas Tree, several holiday-themed events were also held at venues inside the Araneta Center. The remaining activities in the lineup include Christmas Caroling at Gateway Mall, New Frontier Plaza and Ali Mall starting December 2; and the Santa Meet and Greet every weekend of December.

Novotel Manila general manager Bernd Schneider and Araneta Group vice chairman Judy Araneta-Roxas

Sarah Lahbati

Araneta Center VP for marketing Cecile Marvilla, management consultant Rowell Recinto, and Uniprom OIC-COO Irene Jose

Rogelie Catacutan and Parul Shah

DJ ChaCha and John Prats

W EDNES DAY : NOV EM BER 25, 2015

SHOWBITZ isahred @ gmail.com

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

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Discovery channel gets up close with preDators The Pod weighed 500 kilos and was designed to withstand a 2-ton load

and being observed by somebody who is seeing them in their power.

nicKie wang A new series premiered on Discovery Channel on Nov. 17, the show is called Predators Up Close with Joel Lambert, which airs 8 p.m. every Tuesday .

The five-part series features Joel Lambert and his team of experts traversing through the plains of Zambia and the frozen ice floes of Norway down to the waters off the coast of South Africa. Encased safely inside a high-grade transparent pod among land and ocean predators, they get up close and personal with some of nature’s most dangerous and smartest food chain alphas.

In our exclusive email interview with Lambert, the exceptionally skilled former U.S. Navy SEAL discussed his experience filming the series. He also talked about what audiences can expect from a fascinating show about lions, hyenas, polar bears and sharks. Here’s the Q & A: The series features extremely dangerous predators. What else do people have to know about them and what does the series truly want people to understand about these creatures?

Yeah, that’s a good question because that was the thing that I think was most important to me while I was filming it, and the most important thing that I learned. I learned a lot of things about these animals, you know, facts and knowledge. But that wasn’t what was important to me. What was important to me was seeing these animals seeing my place at the food chain. We were just appreciating the world around us. I hope that we captured that to a degree and people were able to see that because you’re really going to see these animals at their most powerful; what they do,

Each episode has its own level of difficulty filming because of the weather conditions, the locations, and other factors.

Which one was the most challenging episode to film?

Every different episode presented its own challenges. All of them were difficult. None of these were easy. It’s a very dangerous thing to do, and it was so much fun, because we just never knew what was going to happen next.

But I think filming the lions were extremely challenging because we’re in Zambia and the heat was incredible.

But then in the Arctic, we were doing polar bears. That’s an extremely dangerous environment. It was well below zero. We’re on floating sea ice that can crack and break apart.

You were able to capture spectacular and amazing footage using the pod, can you tell us a bit more about it?

The pod is an amazing invention. It was created just for this show, and they made it extremely strong, but it had never been tested. So, we were pretty worried that something might happen that we weren’t expecting.

Example, the lions got very, very paws on the pod. They were really trying to get in, and there were some large gaps that we were worried about.

Having that been said, how different is this series compared to your previous projects and other wildlife shows?

Predators is very dangerous, but it’s completely not my area of expertise. I am not the expert in predators. As far as it being different than other wildlife shows, it is different. You’re looking at the world’s biggest predators through the eyes of a warrior, through a completely different lens of experience.

And from a completely different point of view, obviously, you’ll see things

you’ve never seen before and you’ll see it presented from my point of view in a way that you haven’t before.

And are we going to see another season for this?

I hope so. It was an amazing, very difficult, very long series to film. But what we got is just brilliant. It’s beautiful. It’s really just exceptional the way it’s shot - huge screens and high definition, it’s amazing. So I hope we see Season 2. There are more giant predators out there that I’d like to experience: salt-water crocodiles, tigers.

There’s still some things out there.

People have known you as someone who has been testing his ability out there. Have you been like this like all through your life? What drives you to take on dangerous and difficult tasks?

I have been this way through my life, but it really kind of all happened when I decided to join the SEAL teams. I got so much out of that, that I just wanted to continue to do amazing things, and to do things that were extremely hard.

I think I’ll do this for the rest of my life and I love that. I don’t think that I could ever stop, and ever sit back, and ever stop climbing mountains.

Would you consider visiting the Philippines perhaps again?

Or probably the jungles and see some of our predators here?

I would love to. I love the Philippines and I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for the Filipino martial arts, and the people, and the areas of the world. So I always love going back to the Philippines every chance I get. And the Philippine jungle is one of the roughest jungles. It’s just the area that I was in on Manhunt was a really bad jungle. And it would happen to be during that typhoon, and it happened to be 100-degree heat index, and it just was – everything that could be bad was bad. But other than that, I still love the Philippines.

Joel Lambert is a former US Navy SEAL who constantly seeks out new endeavors that satisfy his curiosity and test the limits of his ability

W EDNES DAY : NOV EM BER 25, 2015

C6

SHOWBITZ isahred @ gmail.com

David Beckham

Gal Gadot

DRUmmER On BEatLES’ ‘LOvE mE DO’ DiES hOLLyWOOD BRiEFS The man who played drums on the U.S.-released version of the Beatles’ song “Love Me Do” died this week.

Andy White, 85, had a stroke last Thursday and died on Monday, Thea White, his wife, said.

She said she was thankful that her husband didn’t suffer long and was grateful for a long marriage.

“God was good to us. He gave us 42 wonderful years together,” she said.

Andy White, originally from Scotland, played drums when the Beatles recorded “Love Me Do” for a third time in 1962. Ringo Starr played the tambourine but had been the drummer for the single

that was released later in Europe.

The song was originally recorded during the Beatles audition for record label EMI with Pete Best on drums.

According to Rolling Stone, White was paid £5 for three hours of work and received no royalties.

“Love Me Do” was the Beatles first single. The song went to No. 1 when it was released in the United States in 1964. The B side was “P.S. I Love You.” White is one of the musicians referred to as a “Fifth Beatle.” The list includes White, Best, Jimmie Nicol, Stuart Sutcliffe, Billy Preston and others.

While he still lived in England, White often was a session drummer for EMI at the Abbey Road Studios.

He reportedly was the drummer on Tom Jones’ “It’s Not Unusual.”

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

ANSWER FOR PREVIOUS PUZZLE ACROSS 1 Moor 6 Ruby and Sandra 10 Goodbye, to Gaius 14 Kate’s TV roomie 15 Enthralled 16 Periods 17 All lathered up 18 Territory 19 Roams around 20 PBS relative

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Trunk item (2 wds.)

Shrimp — Hair tints Pindar forte Liverpudlians, e.g.

Sky pilot Lop off branches Edge a doily On a rampage Murphy’s Law word Bone below the elbow

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2015

License plate Cubbyholes Atahualpa subject — diem!

MV divided by V Raid Did a slow burn Stony sweets?

(2 wds.)

Fish roe La — Tar Pits Mete out Wife of Menelaus Not fatty — fixe Plain as day This, to Pedro Right after Squander

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DOWN 1 Didn’t yet 2 Split to join 3 Danger signal 4 Gratuity 5 Beatles tune (2 wds.)

6 Serious theater 7 Lawman Wyatt 8 Rapier 9 Featuring 10 Human herbivores 11 Swift steeds 12 Punch server

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HHHHH FiRSt LOOk at WOnDER WOman Actress Gal Gadot stoked anticipation for the upcoming Wonder Woman film by tweeting a photo of herself in costume as the title character.

The Warner Bros. film is slated for release in 2017.

Almost 75 years in the making ... #WonderWoman is underway,” Gadot tweeted along with the photo showing her superhero alter ego in a dark cloak.

The Patty Jenkins-directed film will also star Chris Pine as Captain Steve Trevor, as well as Robin Wright, Danny Huston, David Thewlis, Ewen Bremner, Said Taghmaoui, Elena Anaya and Lucy Davis, according to a press release issued by Warner Bros.

Wonder Woman will be filmed

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Double curves Suffix for forfeit Commend Kind of chop Flat busted Skedaddles Dab on GP group Iditarod puller Shore up RN’s forte Wheel buy (2 wds.)

Caramel-colored Made time for (2 wds.)

BTU part Table salt Rink event (2 wds.)

Beach amenity So-so grade Walk slowly Weight deductions Small pleasure Clay-pigeon shooting Apertures Goolagong rival Beatrice’s admirer Dits and dahs Mr. Trebek Spacewalk, to NASA

Andy White

on location in the UK, France and Italy, the studio said.

Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman character will debut in Batman v.

Superman: Dawn of Justice, set for release in March.

HHHHH DaviD BECkham ‘SExiESt man aLivE’ People magazine has chosen David Beckham, a former athlete, a father, model and husband, as this year’s Sexiest Man Alive. The announcement was made Tuesday on Jimmy Kimmel Live along with the unveiling of the magazine’s cover that has the handsome former football star on it.

Beckham appeared on the latenight show via video wearing a mask and with his voice slightly altered as audience members asked questions in an attempt to guess his identity.

It’s the best moment of my career,” Beckham said, grinning. “I can’t believe it.”

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the title, which is both eagerly awaited and debated by fans.

Beckham, 40, is described as “a global superstar, devoted husband and down-to-earth dad of four” as well as a “humble British heartthrob” by the magazine. He and his wife, former Spice Girl and now fashion mogul Victoria Beckham, are the parents of four children and one of Hollywood’s power couples.

Despite decades of superstardom and scores of fans that he sends into frenzy, Beckham told People, “I never feel that I’m an attractive, sexy person.”

“I mean I like to wear nice clothes and nice suits and look and feel good, but I don’t ever think of myself that way,” he said.

W EDNES DAY : NOV EM BER 25, 2015

SHOWBITZ isahred @ gmail.com

C7

John LLoyd, Bea make surprise appearance in noontime show

p

opoy and Basha, or John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo in real life, paid dropped by It’s Showtime and gave a kilig treat to the studio audience and those watching at home.

They sang the OPM classic “I’ll Never Go,” the theme song of their box-office hit movie One More Chance, with the madlang

From c8

people in a grand karaoke session in “Singing Mo ‘To.” Avid fans of their ultimate hugot movie will once again see Popoy (John Lloyd Cruz) and Basha (Bea Alonzo) on the big screen as the most-awaited sequel A Second Chance hits theaters today.

Meanwhile, also joining the kilig fest were Tommy Esguerra

and Miho Nishida (ToMiho) who brought an early Christmas treat to the madlang people. Bailey May and Ylona Garcia (BaiLona) added sweetness to the studio as they sang songs dedicated to each other in a musical skit.

Don’t miss the fun and good vibes in It’s Showtime, Monday to Saturday on ABS-CBN.

John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo

Coco Martin

HHHHH murder suspect escapes The scenes get more thrilling in FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano as Diego (Ping Medina), the suspect in killing Ador (Coco Martin), escapes from prison. This leads to an action-packed battle between Cardo (Coco Martin) and Tomas’ (Albert Martinez) men.

Diego is proven guilty and detained without bail for killing Cardo’s twin.

However, with the help and connections of Tomas, Diego flees from prison.

But as Cardo hears about the incident, he immediately chases Diego and his armed team and tries to stop them.

Meanwhile, having his own new mission, Onyok is set to go to school for the first time.

At first, Onyok is hesitant to attend his class but with his Kuya Cardo’s command, he immediately complies.

FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano airs weeknights on ABS-CBN. Liam Hensworth and Jennifer Lawrence

Jennifer Lawrence

HHHHH Long wait over Many were able to heave a sigh of relief when the news that Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has finally accepted the challenge to run for president in 2016. This decision was a reaction to the Senate Electoral Tribunal’s decision to junk the disqualification case of Senator Grace Poe Llamanzares filed by Rizalito David, whom the media always describes as a losing senatorial candidate, perhaps to diminish his credibility or stature to file a complaint.

Senator Bongbong Marcos, a vice-presidential aspirant in next year’s election didn’t lose time in making a statement that he sent to the media. He said, “If this is the final word then we can all finally end the speculation. Lahat ng surveys, “back to the drawing board”! Talaga si Mayor Rody, laging may masayang balita!”

Now, for those hoping something better would come out of a Duterte win, then start campaigning for your presidential bet, or Grace Poe would still be it in 2016.

HHHHH peace Laureate Little Nanay star Nora Aunor, the country’s one and only superstar will be one of 19 laureates honored with the Gusi Peace Prize. La Aunor is the only one from the Philippines and she will be with distinguished ladies and gentlemen from 18 countries across the globe – from as far as the United States to neighboring countries Japan and Cambodia.

HHHHH mockinJay 2 A bit disappointing, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 was a slow boil for a finale. In fact, I had to keep my eyes open until the climax when Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) aimed her arrow not at President Snow (Donald Sutherland) but at President Alma Colin (Julianne Moore) who takes over Panem after the rebel’s victory.

I must admit I am not a fan of the novel so I was a bit disinterested in what Katniss was up to, and also the romance between her and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), her onetime rival in the Hunger Games, blossomed too late for us to empathize with. Though, quite predictably they end up with each other.

Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hensworth) is sidelined and is

The awarding happens tonight at the Philippine International Convention Center, 6 p.m. with the former President of Seychelles, Sir James R. Mancham, as keynote speaker.

The Gusi Peace Prize International is the brainchild of Barry Gusi who claims he was a former honorary ambassador of Northern Marianas, although the Department of Foreign affairs said he was never appointed as one.

HHHHH parkmaLL not newLy opened This column apologizes to the owners of Parkmall in Cebu, which described it as a newly opened mall in the article that appeared in this paper on Sunday. Its public relations guy, Jayce Perlas FB-ed us requesting for correction. The mall has been operational since 2007. That was an oversight on our part.

mentioned only in the narration towards the end as one ends up as a high-ranking officer in the liberated Panem.

According to Box Office Mojo, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 opened $20 million below Part 1, but with an estimated opening weekend of $101 million it becomes the fifth 2015 release to open above the century mark.

It’s tough to call a film that opens north of $100 million a flop (because it’s not), but “disappointing” seems appropriate given the lofty heights previous installments reached. Theories as to what happened are easy enough to conjure up and most likely they all played some kind of role in why this fourth installment in what, effectively, is a three- film franchise couldn’t even match the open-

ing of its predecessor. In its favor, Mockingjay 2 opened an hour earlier on Thursday night than Part 1, it had Jennifer Lawrence as its star and it was the finale in a franchise that has now grossed more than $2.5 billion worldwide. Heading into the weekend there was something of a palpable question mark concerning how well it would do.

In the Philippines, fans of the franchise are also expressing disappointment. Perhaps, they were anticipating for non-stop action scenes with Katniss, Peeta, and Gale. The only surprise they get is the fight scenes in a tunnel with murk and some unidentifiable creatures. (Are they half-fish half-humans lurking the dark recesses of the tunnel?) We never know, but they feast the rebels they overpower during the fight.

W EDNES DAY : NOV EM BER 25, 2015

C8

ISAH V. RED EDITOR isahred @ gmail.com

SHOWBITZ John LLLoyd Cruz, Bea aLonzo reunited in sequeL ISAH V. RED If you’re a Tagalog movie fan, most likely you watched One More Chance, one of the highest grossing films at the local box office in 2007.

After eight years, Popoy and Basha are back on the big screen in the sequel to that monster hit from StarCinema, the movie production arm of ABS-CBN. The film is called A Second Chance, which is another way of saying “one more chance,” right?

But, of course, Cathy Garcia-Molina, the director who helmed the first and her writers will not agree, and I fully understand why. After all, the majority of the fans of John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo will not mind watching another film with synonymous title to the first they had seen on screen.

The producers of the film claim Popoy and Basha and their real life actors Cruz and Alonzo have become icons of pop culture. Really? I didn’t know this, or maybe I didn’t even watch the first movie to be so clueless what they had become to a lot of Filipinos.

One More Chance, say the producers, influenced greatly the millenials’ perception of love as it is about Popy and Basha’s story about love and heartbreak. They recall lines like “Sana ako pa rin.” And “Ako na lang. Ako na lang ulit.” Or “She had me at my worst. You had me at my best…and you chose to break my heart.” They insist these are the beginnings of what the industry now call “hugot” lines.

Perhaps there’s truth to their claim that the characters melted the hearts of those who watched the first movie. The proof, they say, is in the box-office take of the

Scenes from A Second Chance with John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo now showing in theaters nationwide. This film is the sequel to the 2007 hit One More Chance

film. That is also the reason Star Cinema was compelled to produce this sequel – to satisfy the thirst of the millions of movie fans that got hooked on One More Chance.

Garcia-Molina commissioned (or Star Cinema commissioned

her and her writers) Carmi G. Raymundo and Vanessa R. Valdez to do a sequel-screenplay revolving around the Popoy-Basha tandem. It is seven years after their reconciliation, ergo the continuation of their story after they’ve giv-

en love one more chance.

This time, Garcia-Molina says, the film explores the intricacies and realities of married life, depicting the not everything is as peachy as Popoy and Basha thought it would be.

Popoy, in the sequel, is a failure, always struggling to keep his business afloat and his self esteem intact. Basha, meanwhile, is a docile housewife who has given up so much to keep her marriage work.

Garcia-Molina asks, “Does love remain the same even after people gave changed?

This is the premise of the sequel, I think, as even Cruz and Alonzo are wont to say there will still be “kilig” scenes as there will also be drama between the couple Popoy and Basha.

“In the end, we all deserve a second chance,” the two actors chime when asked if in real life they’d give anyone that hurt them another chance.

In the course of the story, Popoy and Basha face a myriad of challenges as a married couple. Basha contemplates on the reality that loving Popoy at his best is easy. But will she love him enough to stay with him even at his worst? So, how many chances will she give him?

That will be the question the fans of the screen tandem will wait when A Second Chance opens today in cinemas nationwide. ➜ Continued on C7