The Standard - 2015 November 27 - Friday

VOL. XXIX NO. 288 4 Sections 40 Pages P18 FRIday : NOVEMBER 27, 2015 www.thestandard.com.ph editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Roxas denies ruining MRT

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8 jiHadisTs slain in kudaRaT figHT

by Francisco Tuyay

AN INdoNesIAN terrorist was killed along with seven Filipino jihadists in a four-hour battle with security forces in Central Mindanao, the military reported Thursday.

Maj. Felimon Tan Jr., spokesman of the Western Mindanao Command, said the battle occurred at about 5:40 a.m. when soldiers of the 61st Marine Company under the Marine Battalion Landing Team 6, were patrolling Sitio Sinapingan, Brgy.

Butril, Palimbang town in Sultan Kudarat province.

The military believes the slain foreign terrorist was Sucipto Ibrahim Ali, alias Abdul Fatah, an Indonesian national and one of the original Jemaah Islamiyah members who came to the country in the 1990s to train the Abu Sayyaf.

“This group were members of the Ansar Al Khilafah masquerading as a terrorist group under ISIS,” Tan said.

Tan said they were still verifying if the slain foreigner was indeed Sucipto, who is believed to be a member of Mujahidin Indonesia Timur, which has direct links to the Islamic State.

“He would have been the link to form an alliance between Philippine jihadists and Indonesian jihadists,” National Security Adviser Cesar Garcia said.

Sucipto was arrested in Malaysia while en route to Indonesia in 2003 and was detained for three years under Malaysia’s Internal Security Act. He was sent back to the Philippines to stand trial for the April 21, 2002 bombing of the Fitmart shopping mall in General Santos City that killed 12 people.

However, in November 2014, Sucipto was acquitted and only Indonesian Jul Kifli and Abu Sayyaf militants Ahmad Jekeron and Yacob Basug were convicted.

Intel reports showed Sucipto went back to Mindanao to continue working with the Abu Sayyaf, which has already pledged allegiance to ISIS. Sucipto was a long-wanted terrorist along with two other JI operatives, the late Usman Basit and Zulkifli bin Hir, both killed in separate encounters with military and police forces in Central Mindanao.

The Ansar Khilafah Philippines is said to be under the command of Mohammad Jaafar Maguid, also known as Tokboy, a notorious kidnapper and bomb expert.

Tan said the ground troops were on combat patrol when they were fired on by the terrorist group numbering about 50, sparking a four-hour battle.

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Preparation. A worker checks out the flag in Monumento Circle in Caloocan City to prepare for the celebration of what would have been Andres Bonifacio’s 152nd birthday on Nov. 30. Andrew rAbulAn

PH legal team hits China sea row stand

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Binay also wants Grace Poe disqualified

by Vito barcelo and John Paolo bencito PRESIDENTIAL candidate and Vice President Jejomar Binay said Thursday he agreed with three Supreme Court justices that Senator Grace Poe, the frontrunner in opinion polls for the 2016 elections, is not a natu-

ral-born citizen and should therefore be disqualified from running for president.

In a radio interview, Binay described Poe as “patriotic,” but said her qualifications for running for the highest elective post in the land was a question of law, not emotion.

At the Senate Electoral Tribunal,

Supreme Court Justices Arturo Brion, Antonio Carpio and Teresita de Castro voted in favor to the disqualification case filed against Poe at the Senate Electoral Tribunal but were outvoted by five senators 5-4.

Binay’s daughter, Senator Nancy Binay, voted with the minority.

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Failure to cut taxes ‘frustrating’

By Vito Barcelo

VICE President Jejomar Binay expressed frustration Thursday over Congress’ decision to stop hearing a measure to lower income tax rates—among the highest in Southeast Asia.

Up in smoke. Survivors rummage through their burned-out shanties to see what they can salvage after a fire razed 500 squatter shanties in Mandaluyong City. Ey AcAsio

8 jihadists...

From A1

Clearing operations after the battle showed eight terrorists dead. Troops also recovered a homemade sniper rifle, an M-16 rifle, a 45 cal. pistol, and several improvised explosive devices. They also found radios and ISIS flags documents, Tan said.

The fighting erupted days after an intelligence source told The Standard that three Syrian nationals said to be ISIS terrorists were in Central Mindanao.

The three Syrian nationals believed to

Binay...

From A1

“No law automatically grants citizenship to foundlings born in the Philippines and even if there were, such a law would only result in the foundling being a naturalized Filipino citizen, not a naturalborn Filipino citizen,” Carpio earlier said.

“It’s really a question of law. There is no room for emotions. There is no shedding of tears like on television,” Binay said.

“I feel sad but we have to follow the law on citizenship,” Binay said, referring to the constitutional requirement that senators and the president must be naturalborn Filipino citizens.

Binay said being a foundling does not strip Poe of her Filipino citizenship, just her status as a natural-born one.

“We are not denying her of being a Filipino. She is a Filipino but not a natural born. That makes [her] disqualified to run for the presidency,” he said. “Being a

be member of an international terrorist group Islamic State slipped into the country and linked up with local militants in Mindanao, an informed source said on condition of anonymity.

The source said the three Syrians were last seen in Central Mindanao along with Amin Bako, a notorious bomber and a member of the Ansar Kilafa Philippines, an affiliated ISIS terror group.

The three Syrians, the source disclosed to have gone to Cararao Complex in Lanao province in recent weeks together with Filipino militants.

The Syrians bring to eight the number of international terrorists to have slipped

into Philippine soil, particularly in Mindanao after five Malaysian jihadists, affiliated with ISIS landed in Basilan province.

Malaysian Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr. Ahmad Hamidi identified the Malaysian jihadists as University Malaya lecturer Dr. Mahmud Ahmad; stationary shop owner Mohd Najib Husen; former Selayang Municipal Council employee Muhammad joraimee Awang Raimee, 39; Darul Islan; Sabah members Mohd Amin Baco, 31; and Jeknal Adil, 30.

Ahmad said the five militants are associated with Daulah Islamiyah Asia Tenggara (Southeast Asia Islamiya Network) which has links to ISIS.

foundling is not an issue.”

Poe was found abandoned at the Jaro Cathedral in Iloilo City and was adopted by celebrity couple Fernando Poe Jr. and Susan Roces.

Poe on Wednesday night defended herself from attacks from rival candidates who questioned her status as a naturalborn citizen, saying it would be convenient for Binay if she were disqualified.

Poe, who was invited in to a presidential candidate’s forum organized by the Harvard Club of the Philippines, Kellog School of Management, and the Wharton and University of Pennsylvania Alumni Association, countered attacks from Binay, but said she would respect the rule of law if she were disqualified.

“I will continue to fight the disqualification cases filed against us. It is the right of every Filipino. However, a child abandoned by her parents should not be abandoned by the government,” she added.

In attacking Poe, Binay joined the ranks of Liberal Party standard bearer

Manuel Roxas II and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, who have hammered her on her status.

Poe also dispelled notions that she left the Philippines and chose to be an American citizen.

“A lot of you here were educated abroad,” Poe spoke to the crowd of mostly Filipino alumni of Ivy League schools.

“You were given that opportunity and so was I. And living in a different country, in a different continent gives you sometimes a better perspective or a clearer perspective of how things should be and what we deserve to have in this country. I think that our entitlements were all gone when we left for abroad because we realized that we are just one of the many. But while living abroad we realized, also, how much we love this country and how much we want to give back,” she said.

“All of us are Filipinos who love our country so much and we want to serve.

We should not be held back for that,” she added.

Binay described the administration’s “straight path” as inept and insensitive to the plight of millions of Filipino workers.

Instead of addressing inequality, this administration tries to confuse people and hides from them that lowering income taxes would be beneficial not only to taxpayers but the government too, Binay said.

“Lower income tax rates mean workers have more cash to take home, giving them greater purchasing power. This, in turn, is good for businesses,” he said, adding that this would be a priority if he were elected to office.

Unlike the candidates from rich families who do not see the urgency in lowering income tax rates, he will certify the bills adjusting the current tax rates to inflation as priority legislation, Binay said.

He said that under the present tax system, there will come a time that the tax rate of teachers, policemen, soldiers and nurses will be as high as the tax rate of millionaires in the county.

The Vice President added that tax rates have become unreasonable because they have not been indexed to inflation. He also said those with higher wages should pay higher taxes than those earning less.

“The peso, when the tax code was passed 19 years ago, is only worth 43 centavos today,” he said.

Liberal Party standard bearer Manuel Roxas II said on Wednesday night that he is open to calls for the reform of country’s taxation system on both personal and corporate income tax, but said these must be studied carefully so as not to hurt the spending power of the government. “[Taxes] support the infrastructure projects that we want to happen. But, how are we going to fund education and other services that need to happen? I think that the responsible debate in taxes heeds the responsibility that we need to cut this, accordingly we should cut these.

It’s a zero sum game,” Roxas told a group of Ivy League school alumni.

“What comes in as taxes goes out to pay for services and infrastructure. It’s zero sum. It’s not a fairy tale that we will not pay taxes, we will cut taxes and infrastructure and health care and education and others will still continue,” he said.

Roxas echoed Aquino’s vow that there would be no tax cuts during his term.

He said that despite having the highest taxes in the region, the Philippines was the lowest in terms of the tax effort, now at 15 percent of gross domestic product, compared to 18 to 19 percent in neighboring countries.

“I think corporate tax reform should be on the table and should be discussed.

However, you should not look at it in one number. We should also look at our tax efforts,” Roxas said.

The administration standard bearer reiterated that he supports the call for tax reform, but unlike other presidential candidate, he is not doing so in the heat of an election campaign.

“I don’t think that these needs will be discussed during election period. Otherwise, it will be politicized,” Roxas added.

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Poe slams lack of infrastructure under Aquino PRESIDENTIAL candidate Grace Poe on Thursday criticized the Aquino administration for failing to complete more infrastructure projects that, she said, could have made the so-called “economic gains” felt by ordinary Filipinos.

Escape. A policeman helps an employee of Chain Glass Enterprises on Pampanga Street in

Sta. Cruz, Manila, escape from Fernando Cano, a company security guard who shot one of his co-workers and later committed suicide. Danny Pata

Poe, who topped the senatorial race when she ran as an independent under President Benigno Aquino III’s “Team Pnoy” in 2013, said Aquino could have done more in the last five years.

“You need 6 percent or higher of sustained growth for more years than six years for growth to be felt all the way down,” Poe told Filipino alumni from Ivy League US schools Wednesday night..

“So you can’t necessarily fault the President, but there are many ways that perhaps this administration could have [finished] more projects faster.

“Infrastructure projects and approving the Freedom of Information Bill—because this would have been a safeguard when it comes to people’s representation and participation. If we had Freedom of Information, people could weigh in on government decisions or transactions.”

Economists have chided Aquino for underspending in the first five years of his tenure, which could have greatly helped foster growth in the grassroots.

Aquino, a senator who was propelled to the presidency after the death of President Corazon Aquino, his mother,

also promised during the campaign to pass the Freedom of Information bill in Congress.

In a statement, Poe said her administration would speed up government programs should she win the 2016 presidential derby.

She also criticized the Transport department’s failure to start the MRT-7 project that will connect to LRT-1 and MRT-3.

She said the stalled projects would have eased the traffic on the major highways and made commuting a little more bearable for the more than 600,000 Filipinos who took the train daily.

“And while Naia is no longer the world’s worst airport, we should continue to improve the facilities and services at our airports and make them safer for planes, cargoes and especially passengers,” Poe said.

“Should we win next year, we will make sure that ports will be modernized and made more business-friendly. For the communities, we will build more farmto-market roads to make sure our farmers will be able to distribute their harvests more efficiently.” John Paolo Bencito

Roxas rejects Poe’s claims about MRT deterioration ADMINISTRATION standardbearer Manuel Roxas II on Thursday rejected survey front-runner Grace Poe’s accusations he is incompetent for failing to solve the gridlock in Metro Manila and for allowing the Metro Rail Transit to deteriorate when he was Transport secretary.

“We need to get to the root of the problem and solve the problem and not just paint it over with some make-up, with some placard and streamers,” Roxas told a forum hosted by the Filipino alumni of Ivy

League schools in the United States.

“I’m confident that we have done all that we can do given what we could do at that time. You come across a problem, you fix it and you solve it.”

Poe had slammed Roxas for failing to be “a competent manager for the job” of Transportation chief at the same forum, adding Roxas lacked “compassion for the people.”

“I think that your output and accomplishments should speak for themselves,” Poe said.

“I’ve been very fair in the hear-

ings I’ve conducted with the DoTC. Of course, Secretary Mar was the DoTC secretary preceding this one and we know we have some questions about what happened during his term.

Poe said Roxas could have done more during his stint as Transport chief.

“I think more could have been done. I think that our people deserved better,” Poe said.

“And I think that it’s really a matter of vision, planning and execution and leadership that could

have spelled the difference.”

Poe, who led the Senate public services sub-panel inquiry on the MRT’s last year, criticized the long queues at the MRT stations that the commuting public endured daily and and still does and blamed Roxas for its “dilapidated” state.

“From a reputable contractor like the Japanese firm Sumitomo, it [the MRT] was transferred to PH Trams and APT Global. And the contract was signed, if I’m not mistaken, less than two weeks after Secretary Abaya got appoint-

ed,” Poe said in early November.

Roxas, who held the Transportation portfolio from 2011 to 2012 before moving to the Interior Department following the death of Jesse Robredo, was mainly responsible for the government’s review of the MRT’s maintainer.

Roxas said the government was doing “everything” to save the MRT by buying it from its original contractors whom he claimed were the ones taking advantage of the riding public. John Paolo Bencito

UNA: Mar admits admin’s failure THE United Nationalist Alliance on Thursday said Liberal Party presidential bet Manuel Roxas II had finally admitted what everyone knew: that the administration’s much-touted Daang Matuwid or Straight Path was a big failure.

“Sa wakas at inamin din ni Mar Roxas ang alam na ng lahat ng mga kababayan natin: na bigo at isang malaking kasinungalingan ang ‘Daang Matuwid’ sa mga pangako nitong reporma,” UNA spokesman Mon Ilagan said in a statement.

He said Daang Matuwid promised good governance but little had changed.

“Sa totoo lang, it’s an empty slogan at salita na lamang ang ipinagmamalaki nilang

‘Daang Matuwid’ lalo na pagdating sa ekonomiya.”

On Wednesday, Roxas was one of the guests in a forum organized by Filipino alumni of several business schools in the United States.

Ilagan said Roxas bragged during the forum that the government was now “corruption-free,” but the alumni were quick to point out that corruption was still prevalent in most government agencies.

Roxas eventually admitted that many government agencies were still harassing investors.

“What’s holding us back is harassment at Customs, at BIR, at the ports, at the airports, Immigration, policemen, barangay officials, local government units. That’s the complaint that

I’ve received,” Roxas said.

He also said investors were not investing in the country because of the instability of the rules.

Ilagan also slammed Roxas for failing to stop the illegal practices in the agencies he used to head.

He noted that among the agencies harassing investors that Roxas mentioned were agencies under Roxas before.

“Bigo rin si Mister Roxas na ayusin ang mga problemang ganito sa mismong mga ahensiyang pinamunuan niya,” Ilagan said.

Roxas used to be secretary of the Interior department, which oversees the police and local government units, before resigning to run for president.

Climate justice. Activists from the group Sanlakas wave flags to demand more action to

mitigate climate change on board a vessel that is part of the People and Environment Against Coal-based Energy Caravan.

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Aquino readies Europe voyage

Ecological aesthetic.

Fashion model Lyra Velchez shows off a terno made of water hyacinth during the formal opening of 5th OFW and Family Summit at World Trade Center in Pasay City. DANNY PATA

By Sandy Araneta PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III will travel to Paris, Rome and the Vatican next week, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Thursday.

“To ensure the security and safety of the Philippine delegation and primarily the President, we have been closely in touch with the French Embassy, and we have been informed that it’s all systems go as far as the hosting of the COP21, and all security measures have been taken very carefully and seriously by the French government to ensure the safety of all the participants to the high-level event,” said DFA Assistant Secretary Maria Cleofe Natividad.

Assistant Secretary Joyceline Goco of the Climate Change Commission was also present during the pre-departure briefing on Aquino’s trip which is meant to further expand Philippine bilateral ties and cooperation with the Holy See, France and Italy.

In Paris, Aquino will at- By Sandy Araneta tend the leaders’ event of the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) for the THE legal team sent to defend the country’s claim in United Nations Frame- the South China Sea before the Permanent Court of work Convention on CliArbitration in The Hague, Netherlands said Thursmate Change.

“The President is even day that China’s claim of the disputed territories is more determined to go to Paris to attend the COP21 “hopeless and indefensible.” as a show of solidarity and support for the French Deputy Presidential Spokesper- Nine Dash Line.” government. All the other son Abigail Valte said “the thrust One of the international lawleaders as far as we know, of the Philippines’ arguments yers representing the Philippines, who have been invited today (Wednesday) centered on Andrew Loewenstein, argued that and have indicated their participation, none of the deprivation of the fishing and none of the three conditions to esthem has backed out from exploration rights due to China’s tablish historic rights are present their attendance,” said aggressive assertion of exclusive in China’s case, making its claim rights over areas covered by the “hopeless and indefensible.”

Natividad.

PH lawyers: China’s claim ‘indefensible’ Professor Philippe Sands, on the other hand, argued that Mischief Reef, Second Thomas Shoal, Subi Reef, Mckennan Reef and Gaven Reef are all low-tide elevations defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and are not entitled to its own territorial sea, exclusive economic zone or continental shelf.

Sands also presented to the tribunal the construction activities on these features done by China, and asserted that these changes cannot be the basis of additional maritime entitlements, she also said.

Another lawyer, Lawrence Martin argued that based on Manda-

rin, Spanish and English translations of Article 121, features that are classified as rocks cannot have maritime entitlements despite China’s construction.

Martin also stressed that, under Unclos, for a feature to be considered an island, it must be capable of sustaining human habitation and economic life, she said.

In the afternoon, the country’s principal lawyer Paul Reichler maintained that no civilian settlements were ever established on the features in the Spratlys and there can only be one reason why this is the case, as the features themselves are not capable of sustaining human habitation.

GDP hike welcomed

Children’s safety first. Activist mothers let their children play in lead-free cribs as part of a

campaign to educate consumers about the dangers of lead in the development of children. EY ACASIO

MALACAÑANG welcomed on Thursday the National Economic Development Authority report that the country’s gross domestic product increased by six percent for the third quarter of 2015.

“We welcome the latest report of the National Economic Development Authority that the country’s gross domestic product grew by six percent for the third quarter of this year,” said Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. Coloma said the Philippines’ economic growth is the third fastest in Asia after China at 6.9 percent and Vietnam at 6.8 percent.

“We affirm Neda’s view that the country will attain its full-year GDP growth of 6.0 percent due to better economic prospects in the last quarter of the year,” said Coloma.

“We note that this quarter’s GDP growth was spurred by improved government spending which grew significantly from 3.9 percent last quarter to 17.4 percent,” the Palace spokesman said.

Coloma said this is in line with Presi-

dent Benigno Aquino III’s directives to the Executive Branch to improve effectiveness in budget execution through vigorous implementation of priority development programs.

In the last quarter of the year, the government shall intensify efforts to address challenges posed by extrinsic factors such as among others a predicted severe El Niño scenario through the last quarter and into the first half of 2016, and the slowing growth of the global economy, said Coloma.

Coloma said Aquino is firmly committed to achieve inclusive growth through continuing investments in public infrastructure and human capital development anchored upon good governance.

For his part, Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said such developments such as this show that good governance is indeed good economics, and that reforms pave the way toward a more business- and investment-friendly environment, the Palace official said.

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Smartmatic clinches poll deal

By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan Smartmatic-total information management corp. has won a deal to supply the commission on Elections with electronic transmission gadgets under a P507-million project.

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez confirmed that the smartmatic-tiM will be responsible for receiving and transmitting voting results electronically from and to all city, municipal, provincial, and national canvassing centers.

“Comelec has approved the awarding of contract for erts to smartmatic. Out of four bidders, smartmatic was the one who submitted the lowest responsive bid,” Jimenez said on thursday. smartmatic submitted an offer of P507,718,000, Jimenez said. By awarding the project to smartmatic, the Comelec was able to save P50,282,000.

Jimenez also said that among the four bidders, only smartmatic-tiM presented the best technical capabilities.

Comelec chairman Andres Bautista, citing the terms of reference or tOr, said that smartmatic-tiM should complete the transmission of the election results within 24 hours from the time voting closes in each of the clustered precincts.

He said that this time, the upcoming elections will be the most efficient transmission compared to the 2010 and 2013 elections. “right now, the tOr provides for the transmission that they are supposed to providee 100-percent transmission within 24 hours,” he said. the erts is the system used in the city/municipal, provincial, and national canvassing centers to send and receive transmitted results of voting.

Other companies which joined the bidding were ezcom telecommunications service and solutions Corp.; edgecomm inc.; and sOG Philippines inc. the Comelec was able to opt for a negotiated bid since it failed to find an adequate service provider after two public biddings. republic Act no. 9148 provides that the negotiated procurement method, wherein the Procuring entity directly negotiates a contract with a technically, legally, and financially capable supplier, is allowed in case of two failed public biddings. in the 2013 elections, the smartmatic-tiM was only able to achieve a 75-percent transmission rate even when the poll body had already proclaimed the election winners.

One big family. The Villar family and friends open the 5th OFW Family Summit at the World Trade Center, an event that has evolved into a one-stop-shop for matters concerning Overseas Filipino Workers. Senator Cynthia Villar and son Congressman Mark Villar along with Joey Concepcion of Go Negosyo, lead the opening rites. LINO SANTOS

Lifestyle check on ‘bala’ suspects

By Joel E. Zurbano and Rey E. Requejo tHe Philippine national Police will conduct a lifestyle check on some members of the Aviation security Group particularly the suspects in the alleged bullet-planting extortion scheme at the ninoy Aquino international Airport. this developed as the Justice department clarified that the Aquino administration was not downplaying the bullet-planting incidents, and said these were only “sensationalized” in the media.

Police director General ricardo Marquez said he was acting on the directive of President Benigno Aquino iii to take concrete steps in addressing the growing controversy. the PnP already asked officials of the Manila international Airport Authority and Office for transportation security to furnish them documents and other papers on the case.

Marquez said a special team will also

study the documents regarding the bullets confiscated by both the Ots and Avsegroup personnel and to whom these were turned over.

President Aquino had ordered the PnP, the national Bureau of investigation and the department of transportation and Communications to investigate the scheme.

But during his recent visit to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, the President insisted that the issue has been blown out of proportion and was just sensationalized by the media, saying only a handful of 34 million passengers have complained about the scam.

Justice Undersecretary emmanuel Caparas said the “President had a message there and it had nothing do with the downplaying.”

“He is very concerned about the issue.

He has given us instructions on how to resolve this as quickly as possible and he had very good points to share with us,” Caparas said. so far, 10 members of the PnP-Avseg-

roup and more than 17 Ots personnel were relieved from their posts after the scam broke out.

Among those relieved were Avsegroup-nCr chief ricardo Layug, chief investigator eugene Juaneza, Chief insp.

Adriano Junio, and senior Police Officers romy navarro and rolando Clarin. eight other members of the Avsegroup assigned to the naia terminal 3 were also relieved and placed under investigation.

Avsegroup community relations officer Vicente Castor said those relieved were transferred temporarily to their main headquarters pending the investigation initiated by the department of Justice.

Layug, on the other hand, was replaced by former Las Piñas City police commander senior supt. Adolfo samala.

Avsegroup officials clarified that the relief didn’t necessarily mean they were involved in the extortion and other irregularities happening in the airports.

Noy expands greening plan

Aviation facility. Director General William K. Hotchkiss III of the Civil Aviation

Authority of the Philippines inaugurates the training facilities for the Civil Aviation Officer Candidates Scholarship Program at the Manila Transmitter Station Complex in Fort Bonifacio Taguig City. The facilities will house the 60 first batch of successful examinees.

ERIC APOLONIO

President Benigno s. Aquino iii has issued an executive order expanding the coverage of the government’s national Greening Program.

Under executive Order no. 193, the expanded national Greening Program will cover all the remaining unproductive, denuded and degraded forestlands and its period of implementation is extended from 2016 to 2028. signed by Aquino on nov. 12, the eO encourages all sectors, particularly the private sector, to take part in the program. executive Order 193 also tasked the department of environment and natural resources to issue the appropriate rules and regulations within 60 days from the effectivity of the Order. the eO stated that the funding for the implementation of the program will be charged against the current appropriation of the denr. subsequent funding requirements will be incorporated in the annual budget proposal of the denr through the General Appropriations Act.

in 2011, President Aquino issued eO no. 26 declaring the implementation of the national Greening Program as a government priority to reduce poverty, promote food security, environmental stability and biodiversity conservation, and enhance climate change mitigation and adaptation. in issuing eO 193, the President noted that in the Global Forest resources Assessment for 2015, the Food and Agriculture Organization ranked the Philippines as 5th worldwide in terms of greatest forest area gain from 2010 to 2015.

With the threat of climate change, forests and forestry remain as the carbon sink that could sustain the industrial development and economic growth of the country, the President added.

President Aquino said there is still an estimated 7.1-million hectares of unproductive, denuded and degraded forestlands, which contribute to environment-related risks, such as soil erosion, landslides, and flooding. PNA

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Makati presses for eco-friendly alternatives

Ex-Pasay mayor gets 6 years in jail for graft

By Joel E. Zurbano

By Rio N. Araja

THE city government of Makati on Thursday urged residents and business establishments to use environment-friendly alternatives to plastic packaging and containers following a study showing plastic waste as the 3rd top collected garbage in the city.

“Let us all do our part in lessening the generation of non-biodegradable waste such as plastic through the use of environment-friendly packaging, proper disposal of plastic, and recycling. All these will contribute to a healthier environment and less flooding in the city,” said acting Mayor Romulo Peña Jr. Peña said the sustained support of the city’s stakeholders to the citywide plastic ban and its advocacy for recycling will produce positive outcomes, including reduction of flooding in the city.

Two years ago, the city government enforced Executive Order 007, which bans the use, sale, and distribution of plastics and other non-biodegradable materials such as styrofoam (polystyrene).

Last year, the Waste Analysis and Characterization Study showed plastic waste as the third biggest volume of solid waste collected in the city.

In the WACS report conducted by the city’s Department of Environmental Services, plastic waste ranked third highest in volume at 19.92 percent, topped by kitchen waste (29.23 percent) and paper (22.87 percent).

The other components of total solid waste collection consisted of residual waste (11.90 percent); yard waste/wood (4.79 percent); fiber glass, rubber/leather and others (1.09 percent); and special waste, (.20 percent). Textile, metal, glass, other inorganic and other organic waste comprised 2.0 percent.

Peña commended the Plastic Monitoring Task Force for randomly inspecting more than 1,000 establishments per month in both districts in the city. He said the task force is composed of DES, Business Permit Office, Makati Health Department, Makati Action Center, Economic Enterprise Management Office, and deputized enforcers from the barangays (under the Liga ng mga Barangay).

THE Sandiganbayan on Thursday sentenced former Pasay City Mayor Wenceslao “Peewee” Trinidad to a jail term of six years to 10 years for graft for favoring a private company in the construction of a P489.950million public market and shopping center in 2004.

In a 30-page decision promulgated on Nov. 26, the First Division found Trinidad and former city councilor Jose Antonio Roxas, “guilty beyond reasonable doubt” of violation of Section 3 (e) of Republic Act 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, and Article 237 of the Revised Penal Code.

The anti-graft court also penalized Trinidad and Roxas with perpetual disqualification from holding public office.

In addition, the court imposed a fine of P200 each, not the total cost of the project contract, over the failure of the prosecution to show proof that the project was highly disadvantageous to the government.

“For failure of the prosecution to present evidence to establish damage or injury and or the amount thereof suffered by the government as a result of the said procurement of the project, which is already fully operational, no

civil liability is assessed against the herein accused in both cases,” the decision read.

Graft charges against two other co-respondents, private individuals Joselito Manabat and Alexander Ramos, were ordered archived since they continued to remain at large.

The graft case arose from the questionable awarding of a P489.950-million contract to Izumo Contractors Inc. on Feb. 4, 2004 for the construction of the Pasay City public market and mall.

Trinidad and Roxas as chairman and member, respectively, of the pre-qualification bids and awards committee, conspired with “manifest partiality and evident bad faith” to award the contract to Izumo Contractors Inc. In a 33-page resolution, former acting Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro indicted Trinidad, Roxas,

Manabat and Ramos in 2011 in connection with the alleged anomalous bidding procedure for the construction of the public market and mall.

The former mayor issued an invitation to pre-qualify/apply for eligibility and to bid for the construction of the structures to be funded through the issuance of the Pasay City Kaunlaran Bonds.

He, however, requested a newspaper a few days earlier to hold the publication of the invitation pending approval by the city council of an ordinance providing the budget for the project construction.

City Ordinance No. 2864 of 2003 was enacted authorizing the bond flotation by the city government of close to P500 million.

The project was awarded to Izumo Contractors Inc. as the lowest bidder.

Estero revival. Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada and Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission Chairperson Regina Paz L. Lopez unveil the marker at the newly rehabilitated Estero de Binondo during the inauguration ceremony on Thursday. DANNY PATA

Romualdez praises Apec Solon demands review of pay hike bill heads’ support for PWDs By Maricel V. Cruz

SENATORIAL aspirant and Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez expressed support for the position made by leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation that seeks to empower people with disabilities.

Romualdez, whose advocacy includes providing support for PWDs, lauded the 2015 Leaders’ Declaration on the 23rd Apec Leaders’ Summit in including PWDs for “building inclusive economies and a better world.”

“We welcome the stand of Apec to enhance economic empowerment of persons with disabilities and encourage further collaboration among member economies in promoting inclusive development,” said Romualdez.

The Leyte lawmaker praised Apec leaders for recognizing PWDs capabil-

ity for a prosperous Asia-Pacific community. “I’m really pleased that PWDs were not just mentioned but given focus in a couple of items in the Apec Leaders’ Declaration,” he said.

The 2015 Leaders’ Declaration underscored the importance of empowering different sectors of society including the PWDs with the ability to contribute to and benefit from future growth.

“We recognize the significance of enabling the full participation of all sectors and segments of our society, especially women, youth, people with disabilities, indigenous peoples, lowincome groups, and micro, small and medium enterprises, to achieving inclusive growth,” stated the Apec Leaders’ Declaration.

A MILITANT lawmaker on Thursday asked the House of Representatives to reconsider its approval on second reading of the proposed Salary Standardization Law by increasing the salaries for many of the government employees.

“The House approved SSL 2015 without changing even slightly the paltry hikes proposed by Malacañang for the vast majority of those working in government,” ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio, member of the House opposition’s Makabayan Bloc, said.

“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,” he added.

Tinio revealed that SSL 2015 will

increase the basic salaries of teachers and nurses by a measly P2,205 over four years, or 11.89 percent higher than their current pay, with entrylevel, Salary Grade 11, from P18,549 to P20,754. This amounts to additional finances of only P24 per day for these professionals, he added.

Rank and file police, soldiers, and other uniformed personnel will be granted an increase of only 12.26 percent, with entry-level, from P14,834 to P16,597.

“We recognize that SSL 2015 will indeed grant a substantial increase in the total compensation because, on top of a relatively small salary increase for low and middle income earners, other compensation in the form of the 14th month pay and an Enhanced Performance Based Bonus will be given,” Tinio clarified. “But the resounding demand of majority of our government

employees is for substantial increases in their monthly salaries.”

Tinio explained that bonuses, though tax-exempt, have no bearing on retirement and other social security benefits.

The PBB is equivalent to 1 to 2 months basic salary or an 8 to 16 percent increase depending on the employee’s position.

Tinio also said that the PBB bragged about by government is a one-time bonus and is not guaranteed to all employees but only to those who perform according to unreasonable standards set by an interagency group led by the Budget department, and at unequal rates.

Tinio said the PBB is already widely protested by government employees as an oppressive and divisive incentive scheme intended to appease their demand for salary increases.

F r i d aY : n o v e m b e r 2 7, 2 0 1 5

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NEWS

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Graft court defers former Isabela gov’s arraignment

By Rio N. Araja THE Sandiganbayan on Thursday deferred the arraignment of former Isabela governor Grace Padaca for graft charges in connection with her alleged failure to file her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth from 2007 until 2010.

The arraignment was deferred after the government prosecution manifested that they would still amend the case information.

“It is this prosecution that is not ready for the arraignment…

We prepared a memorandum to amend the information but it is such that there has to be the approval of the Ombudsman [Conchita Carpio-Morales],” state prosecutor Louella Mae Pesquera said.

She told the anti-graft court’s Second Division that the amendment could be completed “possibly by January.”

“In view of the manifestation of the prosecution that the information [of the case] is still subject to amendment and approval of the Ombudsman, let the arraignment set for today be canceled and deferred to Feb. 18, 2016,” the court said.

The Office of the Ombudsman filed against Padaca four counts of violation of Section 8 of Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees for her alleged failure to file her SALN for years 2007 to 2010.

View from the ground. The tops of trees in San Narciso, Zambales reveal a clear sky after a downpour. SONNY ESPIRITU

Tourism execs to organizers: Explain pageant bet’s claim

By Froilan Gallardo

CAGAYAN DE ORO—Tourism officials have invited organizers of an international beauty contest here after its contestant from New Zealand left in a huff, complaining of “shabby treatment.”

Department of Tourism Region 10 director Catalino Chan said they had invited Mylene Miranda, 43, organizer of Mister and Miss Pan Continental 2015 Global Pageant after one of the contestants, Miss New Zealand Nicole Harding, left Sunday.

Chan said they had also invited local organizers, Sheryl Macale, manager of Radyo Natin station, and a certain Lourdes Stanley to see if all the allegations by Harding are true.

Harding left Cagayan de Oro together with Miss USA, Ashley

Clark, last Sunday citing security concerns and lack of organization of the pageant.

Harding said she thought her trip to Cagayan de Oro was a dream opportunity that turned out to be a nightmare.

Harding, a nursing student, accused the organizers as “a Mickey Mouse outfit” that has put the contestants in danger.

She arrived in the Philippines on Nov. 18 adding the organizers promised all the contestants they would shoulder all the costs

including their accommodation in five-star hotels.

Arriving in Cagayan de Oro, one of the pageant’s venues, Harding said they were taken to a different hotel “in the middle of a red light district” because the organizers had some booking problems with their appointed hotels.

“They took us to this hotel, which, in New Zealand, I would liken to a prison cell. There were guys out the front with machine guns and dogs,” Harding wrote in her Facebook page.

Harding said at the hotel, the organizers assigned three contestants to a room with one double bed. She said the organizers put out a slim mattress on the floor and complained the room was “crawling with bugs.”

“We met with the Cagayan de Oro governor and he said it was not safe to be here, this place is more unsafe

than Afghanistan. He told us, where we were, they kidnap people and use them as sex slaves, it’s the number one place for human trafficking,” Harding narrated.

Harding believes the pageant organizers were trying to make money by carrying out a low-budget event.

She said she left Cagayan de Oro heeding the travel advisory of New Zealand which put the entire island of Mindanao a “high-risk area.”

Harding’s complaints appeared in news websites in New Zealand and Australia.

Chan said they noticed the organizers were “disorganized” in handling big events.

“We never received any official letters from them. When we met them we told them they should not expect the LGUS and DoT to spend for them,” he said.

Red leader arrested in Cavite

By Florante S. Solmerin

Don’t breathe in. Officials of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency burn illegal dried marijuana in Camp Bado Dangwa, Benguet earlier this month. DAVID CHAN

A SUSPECTED leader of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s ArmyNational Democatic Front was arrested Wednesday by government security forces in Barangay Hugo Perez, Trece Martirez City, Cavite, Southern Luzon Command chief Lieutenant General Ricardo Visaya said.

Visaya identified the suspect as Andres Hubilla alias Magno, allegedly a member of the Bicol Regional Party Committee.

“Hubilla was former secretary of the Komiteng Probinsya ng Sorsogon. His arrest happened this morning at around 9:05 o’clock at his hideout,” Visaya said.

Police record shows that Hubilla has pending murder and attempted murder cases filed before the Regional Trial Court of Sorsogon.

The arresting team allegedly recovered hand grenades, cellphones and documents

with high intelligence value from Hubilla.

Hubilla was then brought to the Trece Martirez City Police Station for documentation and filling of appropriate and additional charges.

On Tuesday, the Armed Forces of the Philippines handed a total of P22.5-million reward money to nine hooded tipsters for the capture or neutralization of “high-value” targets which includes rebel leaders.

The military, however, could not immediately confirm if the government has placed reward money for the capture of Hubilla.

Karapatan, a human rights alliance the military tagged as leftist, has been regarded the reward money being set up by the Department of National Defense and Department of Interior and Local Government as an “organized racket” of some government officials including the AFP and the Philippine National Police.

A8

ADELLE CHUA EDITOR F R I D AY, N O V E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

OPINION [ EDI TORI A L ]

ELECTION AS RISK TO GROWTH ELECTIONS generally drive the economy, as poll candidates raise and spend funds to woo voters. They boost consumer spending and provide temporary jobs to thousands of so-called volunteers helping their candidates win in the 2016 polls.

But the voting exercise can also pose a risk to economic growth. Next year, Filipinos will again choose the nation’s next leader, who in turn will form his Cabinet to run the day-to-day affairs of the new government.

The election of a new chief executive brings uncertainties in the economy because his or her style of governance and policies are relatively unknown and have yet to be tested. Local and foreign businessmen will be wary of the incoming president. They may want economic reforms, but they essentially prefer a continuity of the general economic and investment policies.

Businessmen know too well what happened in the presidency of Benigno Aquino III. His government dilly-dallied on a number of issues that stalled many infrastructure projects that could have pushed the economy to greater heights.

President Aquino withheld government spending despite a legislated budget program, causing a slowdown in economic growth. He also adopted an anti-mining policy that prevented the Philippines from developing a major export earner.

Businessmen prefer a national leader who will keep the investment rules intact and work for reforms to improve the economic environment.

Presidential candidates, thus, are advised to bare their economic agenda to guide voters and businessmen alike. The inclusive economic agenda that President Aquino has advocated in the latter part of his term has failed to take off. Economic development in the Philippines is still uneven—growth remains concentrated in the urban centers and has not created a trickle-down effect.

The economy will likely grow in the succeeding years but there is no assurance it will keep expanding at a rate enough to keep pace with the rest of Asia. The next leader should make the economy his or her priority to break the poverty cycle. He or she should not squander the opportunity.

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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FRONTRUNNER’S CURSE LOWDOWN JOJO A. ROBLES

THE Whopper of the Week Award belongs to Liberal Party spokesman Ibarra Gutierrez. The spokesman defended the public takedown by LP presidential candidate Mar Roxas of his top rival Grace Poe by saying that the ruling party didn’t know that she had serious citizenship issues when they were courting her just months before to be Roxas’ running mate.

“As far as we know, and with the information that we had when we invited her to be part of the Daang Matuwid coalition in 2013 to the slate as senator, and early this year when we invited her to be our vice president, [Poe was a natural-born Filipino],” Gutierrez said. The assumption, of course, is that if the LP had known about Poe’s citizenship and residency concerns, the party would not have touched her with a 10-foot pole.

But Gutierrez’s defense

is lame, to say the least, because you’d expect the ruling party to exercise a minimum of due diligence before inviting anyone into its ranks. I’m sure, for instance, that the Aquino administration had vetted Poe well enough before handing her the chairmanship of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board in 2010.

The truth of the matter is, if Poe had not become such an attractive candidate in both the 2013 Senate and the 2016 presidential elections, and if she had not turned down Aquino’s repeated requests to join Roxas, the LP and Aquino would not have trained their well-funded guns on her. And that Gutierrez, in the unlikely event of a Roxas victory next year, has the makings of an excellent, prevaricating press secretary.

To be fair, it’s not just Roxas—who said this week that “nobody wants a foreigner President’’ in pointed reference to Poe—who’s been ganging up on the hands-down frontrunner in the pre-election opinion

The alleged plot against Poe is similar to the one hatched against Binay by the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee.

polls. Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte last weekend announced that he was going to seek the presidency because he could not stomach the thought of having an “American President”; and even Vice President Jejomar Binay has joined the fray, saying he, too, believes that the senator should be barred from running because of her citizenship problems.

Call it the curse of the frontrunner, something Binay certainly knows

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about. Or more evidence of the old Filipino maxim about the tree with the most fruits attracting the most number of stones. *** But long before Poe broke from the Daang Matuwid by announcing her plans to seek the highest post in the land, pundits have already been whispering about plans to disqualify her on citizenship and residency grounds.

This is why the LP spokesman’s contention that the administration found out only recently about her supposed legal infirmities sounds so disingenuous and unbelievable.

And when the Senate Electoral Tribunal, composed mostly of Poe’s Senate colleagues, greenlighted Poe’s eligibility, the noise about her alleged failure to fulfill the requirements for seeking the presidency predictably escalated, instead of dying down. I think the people who want to stop Poe from running have become convinced of the urgency of their task.

Continued on A11

Rolando G. Estabillo Jojo A. Robles Ramonchito L. Tomeldan Chin Wong/Ray S. Eñano Francis Lagniton Joyce Pangco Pañares Adelle Chua Romel J. Mendez Roberto Cabrera

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A10 MOURNING THE DEMISE OF CONDONATION

selves and for society.

A constitution defines democracy by setting limits to what FR. RANHILIO people may do by popular iniCALLANGAN tiative. That is the essence AQUINO of constituting a state and instituting government. And MINE will be a lonely voice so, when by express precept, on this issue. Let it be so, but the Constitution lays down I do mourn the demise of the requirements of candidates doctrine of condonation. The for public office, not even Supreme Court, while ruling the sovereign people—whose that it applies to Junjun Binay, sovereignty is institutionalhas ordained that it will no ized by the Constitution—can longer apply to future cases. set these aside.

One of the reasons the Court But there are some things gave was the fact that voters the people can do, precisely are many times unaware of the by casting their votes. These wrongdoing and mischief of are the decisions they make in candidates for reelection. It the political sphere, and the is therefore not sound to as- political solutions they give to sume that in reelecting them, problems that are not cognizathey are condoning the mal- ble by the mechanisms of refeasance or misfeasance of the dress. No court has the power past. to set aside a law because it is unwise, improvident, uneconomical and impracticable.

There is no trumping of the Legislature in this respect.

But when legislators act recklessly and pass oppressive, We have denied unwise and unprofitable laws, they are ultimately sanctioned the people one by the people’s exercise of their political power—the power to way by which unseat them by refusing them public servants their votes when they seek reelection. can be made There is a fallacy in limitaccountable to ing accountability to administrative proceedings and to them. criminal prosecution. That is one form of accountability but by no means the only mode of holding public servants accountable. Submitting oneself to the mandate of the people is It is interesting that this another form of accountability, should be given as a reason an essential form in fact in any because in effect, it affirms democracy. In parliamentary the fundamental insight be- governments, a beleaguered hind the adoption of the doc- prime minister makes himtrine in the first place: that the self accountable by submitting voters have a right to set aside himself, exposing himself, in administrative complaints fact, to a confidence (or noagainst an incumbent official confidence) vote by his peers, and to give him a fresh vote of putting his government and his confidence be re-electing him own position on the line. to office.

By writing finis to the docIt is in fact good doctrine trine of condonation, we have and sound democracy. I find denied the people one way by it woefully paradoxical that which public servants can be many who now insist that we made accountable to them, for gloss over whatever legal im- “accountability” is as much pediments there may be to about denying someone the the candidacies of Ms. Poe privilege of office on account of and Mr. Duterte be left to the misdeeds, as it is restoring him people to decide about. That to office by the electoral maniis to say, that if the people festation of continued trust and decide to vote for them, the confidence. infirmities of their statuses The misgivings of the Court notwithstanding, then they are understandable: Given the will be making a political de- cleverness with which official cision by which the Republic misbehavior is many times must abide. I find that propo- concealed, there is really no sition difficult to accept pre- condonation that takes place cisely because a Constitution when the people reelect a is drafted always as a limit to wily hypocrite, or elect him what people may do for them- to higher office.

However,

PENSEES

F R I D AY, N O V E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

OPINION lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

YOU’RE INCLUDED, BOSS! “YOU are my Boss!” was what PNoy told us when he assumed the presidency and delivered his inaugural speech at the Quirino Grandstand on June 30, 2010.

And to make sure that we misunderstood him, he expressed this message in his now famous and often-quoted Tagalog words “Kayo ang Boss ko!”

It must have been well-understood also by Vice President Jejomar Binay, Former Presidents Fidel Ramos and Joseph Estrada, and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and House Speaker Prospero Nograles who all attended his inauguration but not by his predecessor, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who wasn’t there.

Noticeably, the President of East Timor—Jose Ramos-Horta —was the only head of state that attended and was, either by design or by default, the principal guest.

But President Ramos must have been uneasy while seated nearby. After all, he had barred the East Timor president from entering the Philippines and speaking to 500 participants of the “Manila Peoples Forum” that was to be held a month before the forthcoming Apec conference of 1996.

President Ramos-Horta had already been awarded a Nobel Peace Prize by then but he was still an exiled resistance leader, fighting Indonesian rule over his country. Thus, our President Ramos considered him a security risk who could create trouble in that Apec conference—for Indonesia, of course.

Avoiding criticizing President Ramos while describing himself as one “who has only the greatest respect and admiration for the Philippines,” President Ramos-Horta had asked humbly: “Who am I to be able to disrupt a summit of mighty states like Indonesia, the Philippines, Korea, China, and the United States? I am a bit like Mickey Mouse, and they are accusing me, a Mickey Mouse, of trying to disrupt a party of elephants.”

The inauguration was also spiced up with the drama of Aguinaldo v. Santos, from which the doctrine eventually took its name (although the jurisprudence in fact predated Governor Rodolfo Aguinaldo), had to do with an administrative action against the late governor pending at the time of the election. In the very least, the pendency of the administrative proceedings placed the electorate on constructive notice of allegations against Gov. Aguinaldo who, nevertheless, returned him to office. Very clearly, in cases like these, public servants

FILIPINO PENSIONER HORACE TEMPLO the incumbent Supreme Court chief justice—Renato Corona—not administering the oath of office of the incoming president. PNoy did not even acknowledge his presence, a demeanor that should have warned the chief justice of worse things to come to him from PNoy—impeachment on Dec. 12, 2011 and removal as chief justice on May 29, 2012.

Associate Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales—who would be appointed Ombudsman a year after—administered instead the oath.

It was undoubtedly an inauguration so uniquely unlike previous ones.

PNoy’s inaugural address consisted of only 51 short paragraphs and 2,042 words—inclusive of the courteous salutation and the mandatory ending —but he must have valued it as the masterplan of his six-year presidency.

In it he promised that “no one shall be left behind,” which he expressed very emphatically in our easily understood Tagalog expression of “walang maiiwan.”

We first paid little attention to this rhetorical and seemingly innocent expression but soon saw it again as the serious central theme in the Philippine Development Plan 2011-2016 that the National Economic and Development Authority wrote.

It’s title of “In pursuit of inclusive growth” was obviously derived from “walang maiiwan,” which Neda immediately realized had to be explained at the very start: “Inclusive growth means, first of all, growth that is rapid enough to matter, given the country’s large population, geographical differences, and social complexity. It is sustained growth that creates jobs, draws the majority into the economic and social mainstream, and continuously reduces mass poverty.”

Neda then assured us that: submit to the accountability process of an election and win from the people an indefeasible vote of confidence.

There was no need to render the doctrine obsolescent in radice. One possibility would have been to keep it in those case where, because an administrative case was pending at the time of the elections against an elective official, the official’s re-election or election to a different office would verily constitute an electoral condonation of his acts.

If, despite the fact that a

“With good governance and anticorruption as the overarching theme of each and every intervention, the Plan translates into specific goals, objectives, strategies, programs and projects all the things that we want to accomplish in the medium term.”

Frankly, we never comprehended what inclusive growth meant and could only blame Neda for using the economists’ lingo to explain it.

But we were pressed again into understanding it when we hosted the Apec Leaders’ Meeting last week that had the theme “Building inclusive economies, Building a better world.”

Accordingly, the 21 member economies of Apec committed to promote and advance inclusive growth in the region as they had defined, described, and analyzed in three levels— domestic or national, regional, and macro.

At the domestic or national level, it is “based on creating employment opportunities and jobs, involving and integrating the majority of the population in the economic and social mainstream and alleviating poverty through good governance and domestic reform.”

But we like most the sound of its description at the macro level—“centered on bridging the gap between developing and developed Apec economies for the purpose of maximizing the benefits of a freer and more open trade and investment regime for each and every member economy.”

Poor me and my senior citizen friends—we still couldn’t make much sense of these explanations although they seem as mere rewordings of Neda’s Plan.

But even if we understand vaguely the meaning of inclusive growth, we are now embracing its pursuit as something better than building a caring and sharing society, establishing a strong republic, or pursuing the straight path.

The good thing is we are the boss. And according to PNoy, we are not being left behind— we’re included—in our growth. proceeding like impeachment can be so misused as to oust a high official of government on what, by all other accounts is a non-impeachable offense, for more reason should the electorate be respected in the people’s exercise of their power to elect to office those who they know face administrative charges upon whom they nevertheless choose to bestow the mantle of confidence! rannie_aquino@sanbeda.edu.ph rannie_aquino@csu.edu.ph rannie_aquino@yahoo.com

F R I D AY, N O V E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

A11

OPINION lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

BACK CHANNEL ALEJANDRO DEL ROSARIO POOR Alma Moreno. She didn’t know what she was getting into when she agreed to be interviewed by news anchor Karen Davila. Even the most seasoned politician could be walking into the lioness’ den when they do an interview with Ms. Davila, ANC’s most astute anchor whose follow-up questions drawn from your own answers can put you in a spot.

As said earlier, it’s not the former movie star’s fault that she finds herself out of her depth.

I’m not even going to run embarrassing excerpts of that dreadful, humiliating interview. The fault lies with the party of Vice President Jejomar Binay’s United Nationalist Alliance for drafting Ms. Moreno for senator in the first place. From Parañaque City councilor to the Senate? That’s not a high jump; that’s a pole vault!

UNA officials insult the intelligence of the electorate when they try to foist someone on the voters simply on what it per-

VIRTUAL REALITY TONY LOPEZ AT THE BizNewsAsia anniversary night Nov. 25, the weekly business and news magazine honored outstanding CEOs for their entrepreneurship and management excellence.

Of the 30 awardees, five stand out—Teresita Sy-Coson, chair of BDO and vice chair of SM Investments Corp.; Felipe L. Gozon, chair and CEO of GMA Network, Inc.; Edgar “Injap” Sia II, chair and CEO of DoubleDragon Properties, Inc., Andrew Tan, chair and CEO of Alliance Global, Inc.; and Ramon S. Ang, vice chair and president of San Miguel Corp.

With Tessie Sy’s broad experience in retail merchandising, malls and banking, she helped transform SMIC into one of the biggest conglomerates, with four core businesses and where it is dominant or a leader—retail, banking, real estate, and tourism, in the process making the Sys the Philippines’ richest family.

SMIC has a market cap of P667 billion and owns the biggest bank, BDO with assets of P2 trillion (it is No. 1 in assets, loans, deposits, and assets under management.) and also Chinabank, fifth biggest local bank.

By end-2015 SMIC would have 310 retail outlets (up from 267 from end-2014), 55 malls in the Philippines plus six in China.

Next year, SMIC will spend P100 billion in capital expenditures, up from P85 billion in 2015.

In the 10 years since its listing, SMIC assets have grown

NOT ALMA MORENO’S FAULT ceives as the vote-pulling power of the candidate. But even that perception is off the mark. Alma Moreno is no Vilma Santos who has proven herself a worthy governor of Batangas and who was even considered as running mate for Liberal Party presidential candidate Mar Roxas.

But enough of Alma Moreno.

Let’s spare the poor woman the grief for over reaching the level of her competence as city councilor. Let’s go to why Jojo Binay should be shocked that Mar Roxas has dislodged him from second place in recent surveys.

Binay’s political woes can all be traced to the year-long Senate Blue Ribbon committee hearing the allegedly anomalous construction of the Makati parking building and other rigged city contracts.It may be a demolition job as claimed by the Veep but what Senators Antonio Trillanes, Alan Peter Cayetano and Koko Pimentel uncovered during the lengthy Senate hearing provided enough ground for the Office of the Ombudsman to file charges against Binay and son Junjun. Junior was not only suspended as

Makati mayor but also dismissed from office.

If Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte gets the Commission on Elections’ green light to substitute for party mate Martin Dino as PDP-Laban presidential candidate, Binay could even be pushed down further as voters preferred choice to succeed President Benigno Aquino III. Despite being ambivalent about his presidential bid, Duterte continues to stoke the interest of voters. He could, again IF the Comelec allows his substitute run, even overtake Liberal Party standard-bearer Mar Roxas at second place. Duterte decided to run because he said he could not allow “an American to be president of the country.” This was right after Grace Poe narrowly escaped being unseated as senator by the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) by a vote of 5 to 4. Poe’s residency/citizenship challenge has been elevated to the Supreme Court. This is apart from the same case pending before the Comelec.

Although the high court is the final arbiter of Poe’s citi-

zenship issue, the Comelec case is crucial. If resolved by midDecember, it would determine whether the senator’s name would be printed or not on the ballot as presidential candidate in 2016. This is when one can say time is of the essence.

Will the foundling Grace Poe’s long journey from an Iloilo church door reach all the way to Malacañang, or will it end at the Comelec offices in Intramuros?

If it weren’t for Senator Pia Cayetano’s tie-breaker vote, Grace Poe’s story would have ended at the Senate. Senators Tito Sotto, Cynthia Villar, Paolo “Bam” Aquino and Loren Legarda can hardly be expected to know the law. They voted along partisan lines and to get in the good graces of Poe in the event she hurdles all the barriers and become president.

But Pia? Was it because she is the sponsor of a Senate Bill on foundlings according them all the rights and protection under her proposed law? It is certainly a good law if passed.

But it is not yet a law. The issue at bar is whether Grace Poe is a

TOP PH COMPANIES by an average of 17 percent per year, market cap by 19 percent, revenues by 15 percent, net profits by 13 percent, and its stock price risen by 17 percent.

For his part, Yale-educated lawyer Henry Gozon turned around GMA Network from a sluggish, second-fiddle network 15 years ago into a dynamic network that is No. I in ratings, audience share, credibility and public trust—qualities essential in sustaining corporate viability.

In November this year, the market value of GMA Network Inc. rose by P5.49 billion or 28 percent to P25.5 billion from a low of P20 billion barely nine months ago.

That GMA is now valued by the market at nearly 30 percent more than a year ago is an indication of investors’ renewed confidence in the network’s growth strategy. The network claims to be the largest.

In the nine months to Sept.

30, 2015, GMA Network revenues grew 16 percent to P10.3 billion. Profits rose more dramatically, by 80 percent to P1.8 billion from P1 billion in the first nine months of last year and exceeding the network’s full 2014 net income of P1.08 billion, which was down 40 percent from 2013.

So whatever GMA failed to chalk up in profits in 2014, the network has more than made up for, in the first nine months of 2015.

For every P100 of revenue, GMA generated more than double more profits, 17.5% percent compared with 6.8 percent of ABS-CBN. Young entrepreneur Injap Sia, 38, embodies the quintessential qualities of the 21st

century entrepreneur. He has vision, a disruptive product, a customer focus, and brilliant execution.

He built Mang Inasal into the largest fast food chain— barbecue chicken—in far less time than Jollibee did for its burgers and chicken. No other barbecue fast food chain comes close because Mang Inasal is so dominant.

In 2010, sensing competition, Jollibee bought 70 percent of Mang Inasal, making Injap P3 billion richer. He retained the 30 percent.

Now, Injap is bent on building the country’s largest mall chain—100 malls under CityMall brand, and one of the largest hotel chains, with his Hotel 101 brand. In 20 years, he will become one of the biggest real estate market players.

His DoubleDragon Properties has tripled its value, to almost P50 billion, in just nine months.

Meanwhile, Andrew Tan of AGI is the king of brandy, casinos, hotels, and live-workplay malls and cities that are livable. Lately, he has gone into high-end resorts—by the bay (like Boracay), by the lake (like Taal), by the golf course (like Southwoods), and on mountains (like Batangas).

His Alliance Global Group began in 1994 as a glass container maker. Now hugely diversified (property, food and beverage, fast food restaurant, gaming, and distilled spirits), AGGI is now valued at P183.82 billion. Tan’s majority holdings make him one of the country’s three richest Filipinos.

Ramon Ang is the superstar. He diversified SMC, the

beer, food and packaging behemoth, into many areas–power distribution, power generation, infrastructure, wireless telephone, airlines, airports, and yes, even cement and banking and became dominant or a major player in each sector.

The businesses RSA manages have a value of $25 billion in EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes and depreciation) terms.

RSA executed the most dramatic and largest transformation ever undertaken by a corporation in the Philippines, and perhaps in Asia.

The idea is not simply growth. SMC is a key player in the country’s tremendous growth and has made life better for millions of Filipinos.

As SMC Chair Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. puts it: SMC needed “to leverage our scale, our reach and our broad-based capabilities and at the same time, “sustain the Philippines’ growth.”

Today, SMC is No. 1 in beer, packaging, branded manufactured foods, power generation, tollways, and petroleum refining and marketing.

SMC is only a poor No. 3 in telco or cellular phones but it has promised to unleash beginning next year “the cheapest, fastest, and best cellular phone service” using bandwidths analog TV stations are abandoning in favor of digital. Those bandwidths, in turn out, are faster and can penetrate through buildings and underground structures, at much less cost.

About time we had a better phone service. biznewsasia@gmail.com

Filipino citizen qualified to run as president under the rules of the Constitution.

Senator Pia Cayetano is a barrister and surely knows the Philippines has not signed the United Nations convention on the law on foundlings which states that where found, the child is presumed to be a citizen of that place or country.

Until and unless ratified by the Philippines, there is no basis for accepting Grace Poe is a natural born Filipino. A nonlawyer, Poe had the sense she is standing on soft legal ground which was why she went to great lengths to trace her relatives in Iloilo for possible DNA match.

Poe is also aware of her predicament and the urgency for her name to be included by the Comelec in the printing of ballots which was why she petitioned the court for the two cases at the Comelec and the Supreme Court be consolidated. This was denied.

A favorable ruling to consolidate the two citizenship cases would have bought her time to be in the ballot and leaving it to the voters to decide her fate.

Frontrunner’s...From A8 No one knows, of course, if the Commission on Elections, which is now considering four separate complaints about the eligibility of Poe, is going to rule for or against her. All that we know is that the senator and the complaining parties are certain to file an appeal if they lose or to directly elevate the matter to the Supreme Court for resolution.

If Comelec resolves the issue before Dec. 10, when it has to finalize the ballots for the May 9 elections and send them to the printers, well and good.

I’ve been told that, even if Poe’s name is allowed on the ballot and even if she wins the election, it will not extinguish her liability or force the high court to come up with a decision before the polls open.

Which brings up yet another issue that’s already been long the subject of speculation in political quarters: That a parallel effort to the legal offensive to disqualify Poe is the propaganda objective, which is to dissuade voters from putting her on the ballot, on the ground that they would not want to cast their votes for a candidate who is going to be declared ineligible anyway.

This alleged plot is similar to the one hatched against Binay by the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee. While that campaign was supposed to end with the Vice President thrown behind bars and physically prevented from running, the people who hatched it feel that they’ve already won even if that has not come to pass—Binay has been dislodged as the survey frontrunner, after all.

Of course, there is some truth to the contention of the Poe camp that the people should be allowed to decide who should serve them as president. But that does not mean that the very few (and very specific) qualifications set for people who seek the highest office should not be complied with.

What’s clear is that Grace Poe is in every one of her rival’s cross-hairs right now. And they will not stop hammering away at her until she becomes less of the threat that she has become in the past few months.

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SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

Solaire hosts World Poker Tour festival THE world’s high rollers brace for a battle royale when the World Poker Tour kicks off Jan. 2-8, 2016 at the world-class Solaire Resort and Casino, which plays host to the WPT National Philippines Festival of Poker.

Poker World Tour. Poker King Club president and CEO Winfred Yu (left) flashes the thumbs-up sign as he is joined by

(second from left) World Poker Tour president Adam Pliska, Poker King Club’s Richard Yong, and Solaire Resort & Hotel senior vice president-Casino Marketing Cyrus Sherafat during the launch of the World Tour XIV at Solaire. The WPT National Philippines, with the largest WPT Buy-In event in history, will be held in January. LINO SANTOS

Fury vows to KO Klitschko

By Ronnie Nathanielsz

Republic of the Philippine

CITY OF NAGA BIDS & AWARDS COMMITTEE INVITATION TO BID FOR THE MEALS AND SNACKS DURING THE LIVE-IN CONCENTRATION TRAINING IN PREPARATION FOR PALARONG BIKOL 2016 The City Government of Naga, through the Special Education Fund (SEF)-PESS and Palarong Bikol 2016, intends to apply the sum of Two Million Four Hundred Forty Eight Thousand (P 2,448,000.00) Pesos, being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract for the Meals and Snacks during the Live-in Concentration Training of Naga City athletes, trainors, coaches and officiating officials in preparation for Palarong Bikol 2016 (25 days), Contract Reference Number: 2015-051. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

Item No.

Qty.

Unit

1

544

pax

Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC)

Items Meals and Snacks during the Live-in Concentration Training of Naga City athletes, trainors, coaches and officiating officials in preparation for Palarong Bikol 2016 (25 days)

P 2,448,000.00

The City Government of Naga now invites bids for Meals and Snacks during the Live-in Concentration Training of Naga City athletes, trainors, coaches and officiating officials in preparation for Palarong Bikol 2016 (25 days). Delivery of the Goods is required within the duration of the training. Bidders should have completed, within ten (10) years, from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”. Bidding is open to all interested bidders, whether local or foreign, subject to the conditions for eligibility provided in the IRR of RA 9184. Interested bidders may obtain further information from the City Government of Naga and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below starting from 8 AM until 5 PM. A complete set of Bidding Documents may be purchased by interested Bidders starting on Friday, November 27 to December 21, 2015, from the Office of the BAC Secretariat c/o City Planning & Development Office, 2nd Floor City Hall Building, City Hall Compound, Naga City, and upon payment of a nonrefundable fee for the Bidding Documents in the amount of Five Thousand (P 5,000.00) Pesos and an Annual Registration Fee of Three Thousand (P 3,000.00) Pesos, and upon presentation of Document Request List (DRL) from PhilGEPS showing your company name.

It may also be downloaded from the website of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) and the website of the Procuring Entity (www.naga.gov.ph), provided that Bidders shall pay the nonrefundable fee for the Bidding Documents not later than the submission of their bids.

The City Government of Naga will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on Monday, December 7, 2015 at 3:00 PM at City Procurement Office, Ground Floor, City Hall Building, City Hall Compound, Naga City, which shall be open to all interested parties who have purchased the Bidding Documents.

Bids must be delivered to the City Procurement Office, Ground Floor, City Hall Building, City Hall Compound, Naga City, on or before Monday, December 21, 2015 at 3:00 PM. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security, either in the form of cash or cashier’s/manager’s check issued by a universal or commercial bank (2% of ABC), or, Bid Securing Declaration (BSD).

Bids will be opened in the presence of the Bidders’ representatives who choose to attend on Monday, December 21, 2015, at 3:00 PM at the City Procurement Office, Ground Floor, City Hall Building, City Hall Compound, Naga City. Late bids shall not be accepted.

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

For further information, please refer to: MR. FLORENCIO T. MONGOSO, JR. Acting City Administrator, City Hall Compound, J. Miranda Avenue, Naga City Telephone Number: 054-4732240, 054-4723235 Email address: bac@naga.gov.ph, Website: www.naga.gov.ph ( S G D .) FLORENCIO T. MONGOSO, JR. BAC Chairperson ( T S - N O V. 2 7 2 015 )

BRITAIN’S undefeated heavyweight challenger Tyson Fury has vowed to make world champion Wladimir Klitschko “look stupid,” before knocking him out in their world championship fight on Sunday in Dusseldorf, Germany.

Sky Sports in Britain quoted Fury who vowed to knock out Klitschko, the World Boxing Association, World Boxing Organization and International Boxing Federation champion.

The fight will be telecast in the Philippines by Fox Sports.

Fury sang a customized version of “Wind Beneath My Wings” to the onlooking world champion at a public workout in what Sky Sports described as “the slightly bizarre surroundings of Dusseldorf airport.”

The 6’9” Fury, who enjoys a threeinch height advantage over the 6’6” Klitschko, to go with a four-inch reach advantage, told Sky Sports after the workout: “It was a freestyle. I forgot the words so I made new words. This is child’s play to where we’ve been playing before. We’ve been in much stranger places than this. I think it confirmed what he already thought -- that I’m crazy. I wish Wladimir well for the fight.

I’m 100 percent happy that the gloves’ issue has been sorted.”

Fury, who is 12 years younger than the 39-year-old Klitschko, is undefeated in 24 fights with 18 knockouts. Klitschko’s record is 64-3 with 53 knockouts.

It’s the biggest WPT event outside the majors, also known as the Alpha8 of the super high-roller series, and it’s taking place in the Philippines, described as a “mature poker market.”

Action begins with the $275 buy-in and $50,000 guaranteed Poker King Cup followed by the twoday Super High Rollers with a staggering buy-in of $200,000.

The festival also includes a $330 buy-in deepstacked event, a $275 buyin pot-limit Omaha, a $165 buy-in ladies event, a $5,400 buy-in high roller and a $770 buy-in secondchance tourney.

Close to 300 poker players, mostly foreigners, will fly in for the event, some of them in the most luxurious private jets and the

grandest limousines money can buy.

“We’re very excited with this. I’m sure it will be a success and we at Solaire are very happy to be part of it,” said Cyrus Sherafat, senior vice president for casino marketing of Solaire, during yesterday’s grand launch of the event at the posh Eclipse Bar of Solaire.

Joining Sherafat at the head table were Adam Pliska, president and CEO of the World Poker Tour; Winfred Yu, president and CEO of Poker King Club; and Richard Yong, a Malaysian high roller.

Pliska said he first came to Solaire in 2005 and found the resort as “a great place for poker” and one that “can compare to any of the finest resorts in the world.”

All-breed dog show slated on Sunday THE Asian Kennel Club Union of the Phi lippines, Inc. will hold its 67th, 68th and 69th All Breed Championship Dog Shows as a pre-Christmas treat to all dog lovers on TEY Sunday at the People’s Village of Tiendesitas en Frontera Verde, Ortigas Ave. cor. E. Rodriguez Jr. Ave. (C-5), Pasig City.

International all-breed dog show judges Adrian KG Tey of Malaysia, Ed C. Cruz and Jester Jo Ong Chuan of the Philippines will adjudicate the shows which will start at 1 p.m.

Tey, a graduate of Middlesex University in London, is a management consultant and currently a partner with a European consulting firm in Kuala Lumpur. He had written and contributed articles on dog breeding which were published in a monthly dog magazine.

Cruz, the longest-serving director of the Philippine Canine Club, Inc., served as

PCCI president in 2001 and 2005 and chaired the Corporate Show Committee. For two years, Cruz also chaired the Affiliated Clubs Committee which saw the affiliation with the PCCI of the affiliated clubs.

Currently, Cruz is the vice president of AKCUPI and chairs the Affiliated Clubs Committee.

He served as chairman of the Judges Licensing Committee and adjudicated dog shows in Spain, Russia, Japan, Korea and Malaysia.

A Psychology graduate of Ateneo de Manila University, Cruz has been a charter member and past president of the Rotary Club of Greenhills.

Ong Chuan, who adjudicated international dog shows in China, South Korea, Myanmar, Malaysia and Hong Kong, heads the American Cocker Spaniel Club of the Philippines and the Metropolitan Manila Kennel Club Inc., both AKCUPI affiliates.

Valdez to suit up for Home Ultera vs Army ALYSSA Valdez confirms she’ll finally suit up for PLDT Home Ultera, giving the Ultra Fast Hitters added boost when they open their much awaited duel with the powerhouse Army Lady Troopers for the Shakey’s V-League Season 12 Reinforced Conference crown tomorrow at The Arena in San Juan.

“She told me she’ll play,” said PLDT coach Roger Gorayeb yesterday, referring to the Ateneo ace spiker and reigning Open and Collegiate

Conference MVP in the V-League.

Valdez missed the entire elimination round and semifinals due to her beach volley commitment with Ateneo. She had asked for an extended vacation to rest a nagging back injury.

But the face of the sport is expected to be back in her top form as she spearheads the Ultrafast Hitters’ bid against the Lady Troopers in what promises to be a classic duel between the top two teams in the league where it all started.

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SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

ICTSI kiteboarding tour gets going

Jahlil Okafor (right) of the Philadelphia 76ers handles the ball during the game against the Boston Celtics at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. AFP

FIL-NORWEGIAN world No. 2 Christian Tio headlines around 40 riders from around the world vying for top honors in the kickoff leg of the third ICTSI Philippine Kiteboarding Tour unfolding today in Siargao.

Long considered as the country’s top surfing destination, Siargao hopes to become the next kiteboarding site too as it hosts the three-day event, the first of four lined up by the organizing Philippine Kiteboarding Association for its third season.

Joining Tio in the event are Liezl Tio, Doque delos Santos, Rebecka Maudal, Atte Kappel, Jingjing Gan Gajisan, Jack Alvarez, Tony Baysa, Kristine Baysa, Jen Baysa and Siosan Baysa and other top riders from Australia, Sweden and Norway.

Tio, who placed second in the world junior championship last year, will banner the Filipino bets’ bid in the freestyle category.

“I’ll try my best to win,” said the 14-year-old Tio, fancied to dominate the event backed by Viento del Mar, Harana Surf Resort, Lux Siargao Boutique, Seabreaze Kite Club, Kermit Surf Resort, Buddha Surf Resort, Kitesurf Siargao, Siargao Cooking School, Kitya’s Place, Kokai Resort and My Life on Board.

Aside from freestyle play for both men and women, the tour will also showcase adrenalinefiled competition in the race category for Men, Women and Masters (40-above) and for the first time, a novice division.

“This tour has attracted a lot of international champions in out first two seasons and we’re expecting more and more top riders, especially the young ones to join us in our next tour stops,” said PKA treasurer Carlo Leongson, who thanked the PKA’s partner ICTSI, which put up the $40,000 prize money for the entire tour.

76ers equal record losing streak NEW YORK—The Philadelphia 76ers equalled the record for the worst losing streak in NBA history on Wednesday, suffering a last-gasp defeat against Boston to chalk up their 26th consecutive loss.

The 76ers led heading into the final minutes, but were overhauled by a late rally from the Celtics, who scraped home 84-80 as Philadelphia’s miserable campaign continued.

Jae Crowder sank a three-pointer with 38.5 seconds left on the clock as Boston produced an 18-3 points rally to win having trailed by 11 points midway

through the third quarter.

Philadelphia had led 80-75 with 2:51 left in the game, only to watch as Boston reeled off the final nine points of the match to snatch victory.

The 76ers were left ruing an inability to preserve possession when it counted, finishing with 19 turnovers.

“There’s no excuse for

that,” former Celtics guard Phil Pressey said.

The 76ers are now 0-16 for the season, and combined with 10 straight losses last year now have a share of the record for the worst string of defeats in history.

The 2013-14 76ers were the last side to lose 26 straight, a feat emulated by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2010-11.

Two more defeats in their next games against Houston on Friday and Memphis on Sunday will take them to 0-18, equalling the worst ever start to an NBA season, set by the New Jersey

Nets in 2009-10.

The 76ers’ last victory in a regular season game came against the Denver Nuggets in March.

Isaiah Thomas was the star for the Celtics on Wednesday, pouring on 30 points and six assists in a virtuoso display as Boston improved to 8-7.

The only bright spark for the 76ers was the continued good form of center Jahlil Okafor, his team’s top scorer with 19 points.

More worrying though for the 76ers, it was the third match in a row in which they failed to capitalise on an early lead.

They led Boston 47-40 at half-time on Wednesday; having squandered a 47-32 lead against Miami and a 52-46 advantage against Minnesota.

- No excuses for LeBron Elsewhere on Wednesday, LeBron James scored 24 points to pass another points milestone but it was not enough to prevent the Cleveland Cavaliers tumbling to a 103-99 loss to the Toronto Raptors.

James passed Reggie Miller to move into 18th place in the all-time NBA scoring lists with a free throw on his sixth point of the game. AFP

Philracom Christmas Racing Festival launched THE Philippine Racing Commission launched last Nov. 22 the Christmas Racing Festival that aims to make the holiday season more interesting to racing aficionados.

Up to 13 races will be allowed every Sunday up to Dec. 27, regardless of how many stakes or invitational races are on the card.

All Christmas Racing Festival races will have additional prizes of P15,000 from Philracom, plus a guaranteed gross prize of P125,000 to the winner only from the host racing club.

The winning horseowners will also receive an additional P10,000 prize (P5,000 from Philracom and P5,000 from the host club).

The Philracom Christmas races are expected to add spice to the agency’s holiday lineup of calendared stakes races for December:

On Dec. 13 at San Lazaro Leisure Park, the Philracom Juvenile Championship mile with total prizes of P2.5 million for first to fourth places. The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office 43rd Presidential Gold Cup will be held the same day and boasts of P4 million in total prizes, with P1 million of that sponsored by Philracom.

On Dec. 20 at Santa Ana Park, the Philracom Chairman’s Cup in honor of a past chairman of the agency, with total prize money of P2 million.

On Dec. 27 at Metroturf, the Philracom Grand Derby for local 3YO, with P1 million in total prize money.

Philracom, according to its chairman Andrew A. Sanchez, is finalizing its 2016 calendar of races and making other preparations for new events in the coming year.

Smart runners. Employee athletes of wireless leader Smart Communications continued to prove their mettle and endurance not only locally but also in international marathons in Chicago and Japan, both of which happened in October. It was the first time for Smart to participate in said events. Strategy and Operations Support senior manager Grace Ruperto (photo on left) and Logistics Department head Warren Ermac (center) both finished the Chicago Marathon, an annual event organized by the Bank of America for 30 years now. The course started in Grant Park by Lake Michigan going through the neighborhoods of northern Chicago, all the way to the south side then back to Grant Park. Meanwhile, Wireless Mainstream Enterprise Solutions senior manager Sherry San Pedro (rightmost) conquered the Osaka Marathon, an annual running event in Japan hosted by the Japan Association of Athletics Federations and Yomiuri Shimbun, a Japanese national newspaper. These marathoners are members of the Samahang Mananakbo ng Smart, one of the 22 employee clubs in Smart that seek to promote active wellness in the company so its workforce can live by the “Live More” manifesto. To promote holistic wellness among its employees, Smart has also been organizing year-round wellness activities including sports festivals, workout sessions, and wellness seminars as part of its “Live Well, Live More” program.

Tacloban hosts age-group net meet ACTION in the longestrunning, nationwide Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala regional age group tennis tournament shifts back to Visayas starting today with Tacloban hosting the fourday tournament at Tacloban City Tennis Club in Leyte.

Another huge field is competing in the Group 5 tournament which has lured the host province’s top and rising players along with those from the nearby towns and provinces, ensuring a fierce battle for top honors in various divisions.

“We expect a number of players to rise and pull off some reversals as has been the norm in the circuit the past few years,” said Palawan Pawnshop president and CEO Bobby Castro.

Darlene Malooy, Juliene De Guzman, Mae Salamida and Lean Gingco banner the field in the girls’ 16- and 18-and-under classes although Anica Cari gets the top seeding in the 16-U section of the event presented by Technifibre and sanctioned by the Philippine Tennis Association headed by president and Paranaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez.

Cari is also competing in the 14-U side along with Trixie Sumapig, Mia Gemida and Corazon Lambonao, who also topbills the field in the 12-U category along with Honey Anover, Alykza Salamida, Xyxia Yunson, Nica Pilapil, Maria Nunez and Jennelyn Advencula.

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SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

Alaska faces NLEX, eyes solo cage lead

By Jeric Lopez

THREE of the top teams aim to move closer to a berth in the playoffs when they resume their campaigns in the 2015 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup.

Hangtime. Mike Tolomia of Far Eastern University takes a one-handed,

fadeaway shot against Santo Tomas’ Karim Abdul in Game 1 of the UAAP Finals, won by the Tamaraws, 75-64. BROSI GONZALES

Republic of the Philippines Province of Bataan City of Balanga BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE OFFICE INVITATION TO BID NO. GOODS-083-2015 In response to the first advertisement for the Supply & Delivery of 1 Unit Tractor Head w/ Low Bed trailer 1 Unit Single Cab Utility Truck & 1 Unit Towing Truck for the use of Provincial Government of Bataan, one (1) eligible bidder purchased & submitted bidding documents but failed to comply bidding requirements which was opened last September 17, 2015 at 2:00 p.m.; Under Section 35, of RA 9184, the BAC shall declare failure of bidding when no eligible bidder complied with the bidding requirements. The BAC members resolved to declare Failure of Bidding and recommended to Re-bid the above-mentioned procurement subject to the approval of the Provincial Governor.

In view of the failure of the first bidding, the Provincial Government of Bataan advertised again the Invitation to Bid for the Supply & Delivery of 1 Unit Tractor Head w/ Low Bed trailer 1 Unit Single Cab Utility Truck & 1 Unit Towing Truck for the use of Provincial Government of Bataan in the Provincial Government of Bataan Website, in the Philgeps and in a conspicuous place at the premises within the Provincial Government of Bataan continuously for seven (7) days; The Provincial Government of Bataan, through the General Fund intends to apply the below listed procurement w/ corresponding Approved Budget of the Contract (ABC). Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

83

Name of Project 1.

Approved Budget of the Contract (ABC)

Supply & Delivery of 1 Unit Tractor Head w/ Low Bed trailer 1 Unit Single Cab Utility Truck & 1 Unit Towing Truck for the use of Provincial Government of Bataan

=P=3,400,00.00

The Provincial Government of Bataan now invites bids for the above listed Procurement. Delivery of goods is required on or before the maturity date stipulated on contract. Bidders should have completed, at least one (1) contract that is similar to the contract to be bid. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.

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

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

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

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

Approved Budget for the Contract 500,000 and below More than 500,000 up to 1 Million More than 1 Million up to 5 Million More than 5 Million up to 10 Million More than 10 Million up to 50 Million More than 50 Million up to 500 Million More than 500 Million

Maximum Cost of Bidding Documents 500.00 1,000.00 5,000.00 10,000.00 25,000.00 50,000.00 75,000.00

(in Philippine Peso)

The Provincial Government of Bataan will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on December 2, 2015 at 10:00 A.M at Provincial BAC Office, PEO Capitol Compound, Balanga City, Bataan, which shall be open only to all interested parties who have purchased the Bidding Documents.

Bids must be delivered on or before December 15, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. at Provincial BAC Office, PEO Capitol Compound, Balanga City, Bataan. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated on IRR of RA 9184 and Bid Securing Declaration in standard form.

The winning bidder has the option to deliver the items requested by the end-user with higher technical specification & better technology provided it will be beneficial to the government & will not incur additional expenses on the part of the procuring entity.

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

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

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

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Activities Schedule Advertisement/Posting of Invitation to Bid November 25 – December 01, 2015 Eligibility Check Refer to date of Opening of Bids Issuance and availability of Bidding Documents November 25 – December 16, 2015 Request for Clarification December 04, 2015 Opening of Bids December 15, 2015 Other technical specifications required for the above cited procurement a. Operational and in good running condition b. Has consumed mileage of less than 60 kilometers from the time it was originally acquired as brand new unit. c. With estimated useful life of 5 years and up to 200,000 kilometers mileage. d. With specification/features, date of manufacture, size capacity intended use, etc. indicated in the attached certificate of registration (CR). e. Availability of spare parts is 100% in the market. f. With guaranteed two (2) years free maintenance works.

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

For further information, please refer to: Engr. Josephine R. Valenzuela Provincial BAC / PEO Bataan Provincial BAC / PEO Office, Capitol Compound, Balanga City, Bataan 047-237-9316 bac@bataan.gov.ph (SGD) ENRICO T. YUZON BAC CHAIRMAN (TS-NOV. 27, 2015)

Alaska (5-1) will target sole their momentum in search of possession of first place as it a potential third straight win faces yet another stiff test from against the equally energized No. 4-ranked NLEX (4-2) in Road Warriors. an expected, highly contested “We’re looking at a tough affair at 4:15 p.m. at the Smart grind ahead,” said NLEX coach Araneta Coliseum Boyet Fernandez. today.

“We have to really Games Friday (Smart Araneta Coliseum) Following be consistent in 4:15 p.m. - Alaska vs. NLEX the opener is an 7 p.m. - Rain or Shine vs. Barako this game against equally interesting Alaska to win.” collision between In their last third-running Rain or Shine outings last Tuesday, these two (4-1) and Barako Bull (3-3) in 7 squads both won in dramatic p.m. nightcap. fashion.

Republic of the Philippines Compton A victory for any of the three Alaska downed Star, 107-102,of Bataan Province City of top-tier teams, Alaska, Rain or while NLEX squeaked pastBalanga Barako Bull for granted,” Shine and NLEX, will push it to Meralco, 93-91. said Rain or Shine coach AWARDS OFFICE the brink of clinching a berth in Like BIDS those AND two teams, RainCOMMITTEE Yeng Guiao of his team’s the quarterfinals. or Shine also wants to keep its next opposition.

INVITATION TO BID Currently tied with San place in the upperNO. echelon.

On the other hand, the EnGOODS-083-2015 Miguel Beer at the top, the Aces It is looking to follow-up on ergy will look to bounce back In response to the first advertisement for the Supply & Delivery of 1 Unit Tractor Head w/ Low Bed trailer 1 Unit are rolling as their consistency 103-81 rout of Truck Blackwater Single Cabits Utility Truck & 1 Unit Towing for the use of Provincial Government one (1) eligible as they lostof Bataan, a heartbreaking bidder purchased & submitted bidding documents but failed to comply bidding requirements which was opened is showing the way. last 17, Saturday.

105-106 squeaker to San Miguel last September 2015 at 2:00 p.m.; They would like to sustain want to take Beerwhen lastno Sunday.

Under Section“We 35, of RAdon’t 9184, the BAC shall declare failure of bidding eligible bidder complied with the

NOTICE OF LOSS Notice is hereby given that (a) stock certificate no. A0545684of Manila Electric Company issued to Augustinian Sisters of Our Lady of Consolation for 8,976 shares; and (b) stock certificate no. B0285677 issued to Augustinian Sistr of Our Lady of Consolation for 1,700 shares under affidavit of loss dated October 07, 2015 entered as Doc. No. 206, Page No. 41, Book No. V, Series of 2015 in the notarial register of Atty. Ruben M. Azanes Jr. (TS-NOV. 27, DEC. 4 & 11, 2015)

NOTICE OF LOSS Notice is hereby given that (a) stock certificate no. 66422 of Ayala Corporation issued to Augustinian Sisters of Our Lady of La Consolacion Convent for 356 shares; (b) stock certificate nos. 157009, 166009, and 172841 of Filinvest Land Inc. issued to Augustinian Sisters of Our Lady of Consolation for 125,625 shares under affidavit of loss dated October 22, 2015 entered as Doc. No. 282, Page No. 57, Book No. 100, Series of 2015 in the notarial register of Atty. Joel G. Gordola.

(TS-NOV. 27, DEC. 4 & 11, 2015)

NOTICE OF LOSS

Notice is hereby given that (a) stock certificate no..

8019778 of Ayala Land Inc. issued to Augustinian Sisters for 1,000 shares; (b) stock cert. nos. 118681, 184072, 214082, 271715 of Bank of Phil. Islands issued to Augustinian Sisters of Our Lady of La Consolacion Convent for 3,096 shares; (c) stock cert. nos. 123724, 123725, 183169, 213655, 271416 of Bank of Philippine Islands issued to Augustinian Sisters of Our Lady of Consolacion for 1,558 shares; (d) stock cert. nos. 154461, 184071, 214082, 271714 of Bank of Philippine Islands issued to Augustinian Sis of Our Lady of Consolation for 17,738 shares; (e) stock cert. no. B80899 of Union Bank of the Philippines for 940 shares under affidavit of loss dated September 21, 2015 entered as Doc. Nos. 26 & 25, Page No. 07, Book No. 30, Series of 2015 in the notarial register of Atty. Maria Theresita Patula. (TS-NOV. 27, DEC. 4 & 11, 2015)

bidding requirements. The BAC members resolved to declare Failure of Bidding and recommended to Re-bid the above-mentioned procurement subject to the approval of the Provincial Governor.

In view of the failure of the first bidding, the Provincial Government of Bataan advertised again the Invitation to Bid for the Supply & Delivery of 1 Unit Tractor Head w/ Low Bed trailer 1 Unit Single Cab Utility Truck & 1 Unit Towing Truck for the use of Provincial Government of Bataan in the Provincial Government of Bataan Website, in the Philgeps and in a conspicuous place at the premises within the Provincial Government of Bataan continuously for seven (7) days;

Spotlight on Coe, Russia at IAAF Council meeting

The Provincial Government of Bataan, through the General Fund83 intends to apply the below listed procurement w/ corresponding Approved Budget of the Contract (ABC). Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

Name of Project

Approved Budget of the Contract (ABC)

The IAAF not only slapped a MONACO—World athletics’ belea1.

Supply & Delivery of 1 Unit Tractor Head temporary ban on Russia but also guered the w/ governing Low Bed trailer 1body, Unit Single Cab IAAF, =P=3,400,00.00 Truck & 1 Unit Towing Truck for meets Utility onuseThursday to flesh ofout the stripped it of the right to host the the of Provincial Government Bataan Championships (July measures that track and field The Provincial Government of Bataan nowpowerinvites bids forWorld the aboveJunior listed Procurement.

Delivery of goods is required on or before the maturity date stipulated on contract.

Bidders should have and completed, at least oneRace (1) 19-26 in Kazan) the World house Russia needs to implement in contract that is similar to the contract to be bid. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.

Walking Team Championships (May order to resume international compeBidding will beits conducted through over open competitive using non-discretionary pass/fail 7-8 inprocedures Cheboksary). tition after suspension state- bidding criterion as specified in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 9184 (RA 9184), With Russian athletes likely to miss out sponsored doping. otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”.

World Championships The IAAF meeting be localon Bidding is open Council to all interested bidders,will whether or the foreign, subjectIndoor to the conditions for eligibility in provided inover the Implementing Rules andCoe, Regulations (IRR) of Republicin ActMarch, (RA) 9184,the otherwise known thean Portland race is onasfor presided by Sebastian the “Government Procurement Reform Act”. effective roadmap to be put in place British two-time Olympic 1500m gold Interested bidders may obtain further information from Office of Bataan Bids & Awards Committee and inspect to the Biddingwho Documents from 8:00himself a.m. – 5:00atp.m. same office. the country complies with WADA medallist has found theat the ensure Bid documents will be available only tosince eligibletakbidders upon payment to of aallow non-refundable amount of guidelines the athletes tousing comcentre of unwanted attention standard rates approved by GPPB as stated on their Resolution No. 04-2012 listed below. ing over the presidency over claims of a pete at next year’s Rio Olympics.

Approved Budget for the Contract Maximum Cost of Bidding Documents (in Philippine Peso) The independent commission’s bombconflict of interest concerning his con500,000 and below 500.00 co-authored by former tinuing paid roleupas ambassador for shell report, More than 500,000 to 1an Million 1,000.00 than 1 Million up to 5Nike.

Million 5,000.00 Dick Pound, followed WADA president USMore sportswear giant More than 5 Million up to 10 Million 10,000.00 the decision

by French police to open an But it will be Russia that tops the More than 10 Million up to 50 Million 25,000.00 into Coe’s predecessor as agenda, just threeupweeks after the IAAF investigation More than 50 Million to 500 Million 50,000.00 Moreon thana500 Million 75,000.00 Lamine Diack. acted sensational report by an in- IAAF president, The Provincial Government of Bataan will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on December 2, 2015 at 10:00 A.M at 82, is alleged to have received dependent commission ofCompound, the World Provincial BAC Office, PEO Capitol Balanga City,Diack, Bataan, which shall be open only to all interested parties who have purchased Bidding Documents.

Anti-Doping Agency the(WADA) that more than one million euros in bribes Bids must be delivered on or before December 15, 2015to at cover 2:00 p.m. at positive Provincial BAC Office,tests, PEO Capitol up doping an act found evidence of state-sponsored dopCompound, Balanga City, Bataan. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated on IRR of RA 9184 and Bid Securing Declaration in standard form. ing and large-scale corruption in Rus- that allowed Russian athletes to keep world sian Theathletics. winning bidder has the option to deliver the itemscompeting requested by on the the end-user withstage. higher AFP technical specification & better technology provided it will be beneficial to the government & will not incur additional expenses on the part of the procuring entity.

Spieth uncertain after 1st round

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

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

HeGovernment was followed SYDNEY—World number Jordan Other necessary information deemedone relevant by the Provincial of Bataan by fellow AustralJones, who shot a 67, as Spieth trailed five shots behind leader ian Matthew Activities Schedule 1. Advertisement/Posting of Invitation Bid – December 01, 2015 winner Geoff former25Australian Open Lincoln Tighe after the first toround of November 2. Eligibility Check Refer to date of Opening of Bids Ogilvy25shared third the3. Australian Open inofSydney Thurs- November Issuance and availability Bidding Documents – December 16, place 2015 with Taiwan 4. Request for Clarification 04, 2015 amateur Yu and Australia’s day, the defending champion and December 5. with Opening of Bids December 15, Chun-An 2015 6. Othermajor technical winner specifications required tough, for the aboveTodd cited procurement Sinnott -- all scoring three under double citing a. Operational and in good running condition b.

Has consumed mileage of less than 60 kilometers from the time it was originally acquired as brand par 68s. windy conditions. new unit.

Spieth began his day holing a 12-foot Texas-born Spieth was 19th c. With estimated useful life of 5 tied years and up to 200,000 kilometers mileage. d. With specification/features, date of manufacture, size capacity intended use, etc. indicated in the right-to-left birdie at the par four 10th place onattached the first day ofafter he recorded certificate registration (CR).

Availability of spare is 100% in the market. threee. birdies and an parts equal number of hole, which he later singled out as the f. With guaranteed two (2) years free maintenance works. bogeys in a level par 71 on the Austral- highlight of a frustrating day.

The Provincial Government of Bataan reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding He then moved two under par ianprocess, Club and course. to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby to incurring any liability to with the affected bidder or bidders.

Australian Tighe, 26, who is the a birdie at his fifth hole but dropped a For further information, please refer to: reigning New SouthR.Wales PGA cham- shot at the next before getting back to Engr.

Josephine Valenzuela Provincial BAC / PEO Bataan pion and is also final qualifyProvincial BACinto / PEOthe Office, Capitol Compound, two under par with a birdie at his ninth.

Balanga City, Bataan The 22-year old then bogeyed his ing stage of next month’s PGA Tour’s 047-237-9316 bac@bataan.gov.ph finalENRICO holes where he pulled the secondary Web.com Tour, meanwhile 13th and(SGD) T. YUZON leave his second shot well enjoyed a one shot lead with a five un- wrong club toBAC CHAIRMAN (TS-NOV. 27, 2015) short of the green. AFP der par 66.

F R I DAY : N O V E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

A15

SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

San Miguel secures Fil-Am golf Fil Championship BAGUIO CITY—San MiguelNorthern Cement, after waiting tensely for more than an hour, was crowned the king of the premier Senior’s Fil Championship at the close of the seniors’ side of the 66th Fil-Am golf invitational championship on Thursday.

It was confusion at the CJH clubhouse as both San Miguel and defending champion Pugo Adventure waited for the official result with their scores tied at 468.

It was yet the most exciting

Ayo leaving Letran for La Salle 5?

A NEW coach will now handle the reigning NCAA champion Letran Knights.

Negotiations are now going on between school officials, alumni and management of La Salle and Letran over the smooth transfer of Aldin Ayo from the Knights to the Archers.

Sources said talks with Ayo to take over as the new coach of the Green Archers have been fruitful and minor details are now being worked out.

The search for the next coach of the Green Archers went into full swing this week after Juno Sauler quit when the Taft-based squad failed to advance to the finals.

A search committee has been formed early this week after Sauler made his decision to quit. A team meeting was held at the end of their game last week.

Insiders said a better opportunity was offered to Ayo following a meeting Wednesday evening with officials of the Green Archers and their manager Danding Cojuangco.

They said Cojuangco’s group is working on a deal to reportedly buy out Ayo’s contract.

Ayo, who coached the Letran Knights to a crown in the 91st NCAA season, has a multiyear contract with the school.

Officials of Letran, including team manager Ricky Paulino, are reportedly eyeing a new coach and have Kerby Raymundo and Christian Calaguio in their short list of candidates. Peter Atencio

finish in the event title presented

by San Miguel, after the 2009 seniors when Maxima-Komatsu won through countback over John Hay. Eddie Bagtas came in with a three-over 72 for 33, to complement the earlier production of 31s from Tommy Manotoc, Chito Laureta and Lino Magpantay. Rudy Amata failed to count with his 24.

Pugo shot better with a 36 from Fred Puckett, a member of the 2009 John Hay and who

powered the said team to the title in the next three years.

Douglas Puckett had a 34, Goodie Ignacio shot a 33, and the last man, Ed Montenegro came in with a 25.

Rommel Gomez claimed to have shot a 24, and although it will not count, would still make Pugo the winner through countback: the first on the score of the fifth man, and the second on the team with the higher output.

Pugo was already ready for the championship pictorial, but the

scorer announced that Gomez made only 20, prompting Amata to shout with glee.

“Champion kami,” said Amata, who earlier looked dejected for being the team’s goat.

“It was a team effort, we barely made it but we won,” described Malabanan.

“Congratulations to our team, but especially to our competitor (Pugo),” added Malabanan, who did not play in Day 3 when San Miguel finally wrested the lead from Manila Southwoods.

LOTTO RESULTS

6/49 00-00-00-00-00-00 P0.0 M+ 6/42 00-00-00-00-00-00 P0.0 M+ 6 DIGITS 00-00-00-00-00-00 3 DIGITS 00-00-00 2 EZ2 00-00

Tornadoes draw 1st blood

By Peter Atencio

THE Foton Tornadoes took control on all fronts in the final set to get past the Petron Blazer Spikers, 14-25, 25-21, 2519, 25-22, yesterday in Game 1 of the Philippine Super Liga Grand Prix 2015 Women’s Volleyball Tournament at the Cuneta Astrodome.

Frances Molina (right) of Petron leaps for a kill against the defense of Foton’s Jaja Santiago and Lindsay Stalzer in Game 1 of their Philippine Super Liga Grand Prix 2015 Women’s Volleyball Tournament championship game. The Tornadoes stunned the Blaze Spikers, 14-25, 25-21, 25-19, 25-22. ROMAN PROSPERO

Timely plays from the semifinals all the way Kathleen Messing, to the crown.

“We were expectKayla Williams and Angeli Araneta ena- ing them to fight back. bled the Tornadoes So what we did was we to move closer to the hold on to our game. We know that crown in if we lose their bestGame Monday it, they will of-t hree (Cuneta Astrodome) finals se- 4 p.m. Foton vs Petron (Game 2) surely take advantage ries with the Blaze Spikers. and eventually take the The Blaze Spikers victory away from us,” stayed close in the final the Foton coach added.

The Tornadoes now set, behind Rachel Anne Daquis’ long placement have a chance to claim shot to the back for a 22- the crown if they beat the Blaze Spikers again on 23 count.

But Messing replied Monday and sweep the with a kill which went to finals series.

Lindsay Stalzer powthe backline in the next play, allowing the Torna- ered the Tornadoes with does to move to within 25 points, 23 of them on spikes. match-point, 24-22.

The Tornadoes moved A block by Messing and Araneta off Aleona away, 9-5, early in the Denise Manabat then fourth off William’s atsealed the deal for the tack at the left side.

Tornadoes.

But the Blazers stayed “They were very tight within range, 8-11, off in the first set. But they Manabat’s spikes. picked up their energy The Blaze Spikers were in the second and third able to tie the count, 18-all, sets, which is very good off William’s long ball.

They could have for a young team like us,” said Foton coach Villet moved away, but errors at Ponce-de Leon, looking the net allowed the Torto lead her squad from nadoes to regain the upbeing the fourth seed in perhand, 24-18.

Hamilton wants to end season on a high ABU DHABI—Lewis Hamilton wants to bring Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg’s winning run to a halt and finish his triplechampionship year on a high at this weekend’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The 30-year-old Briton, whose form and focus have drifted since he clinched his third drivers’ title triumph at last month’s United States Grand Prix, says he wants to thank his fans for their support with another triumph at the Yas Marina circuit.

He secured his second title and first with Mercedes at the Abu Dhabi track last year in a tense showdown with his German team-mate, who was hit by mechanical problems.

This year, however, he arrives in a much more relaxed mood and is

keen to stop Rosberg completing a hat-trick, and taking the momentum into 2016.

“Last year, this place brought probably the most intense weekend of my life,” said Hamilton. “I didn’t sleep much through nerves and not knowing what was ahead, but this time around there’s no pressure so I’ll be well-rested and aiming to go out on a high.

“I really enjoy driving here. It’s a challenging circuit. There are a couple of high-speed corners, but it’s mostly medium to low speed, so despite the long straights you need to set the car up with a downforce level tuned for low speed grip.

“It’s also a twilight race, starting late afternoon and running into the night, which is quite unusual

and, I imagine, must be pretty cool to watch on TV. “A lot of British fans come out too so it’s like another home crowd for me and to win and show how grateful I am for the fantastic support I’ve had would be the best way to end an incredible season.”

Rosberg, who clinched the runners-up spot in the championship by winning in Mexico and Brazil, will seek his sixth consecutive pole position and another win as he bids to maintain his late-season ascendancy over Hamilton.

“Abu Dhabi hasn’t always been an easy one for me,” he said. “Last year was probably my biggest disappointment, but I showed my speed with pole position and I have good momentum right now. AFP

Softball in Olympic list. Members of the reigning Southeast Asian Games Gold Medalist PH Blu Girls are shown with Amateur Softball Association of the Philippines President Jean Henri Lhuillier, who welcomed the news that women’s softball has been included on the shortlist of additional sports being evaluated by Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games organizers for potential inclusion at the 2020 Games.

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

B1

FRIDAY: NOVEMBER 27, 2015

RAY S. EÑANO EDITOR

RODERICK T. DELA CRUZ ASSISTANT EDITOR

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

BUSINESS Economic growth accelerates to 6%

By Gabrielle H. Binaday

THE country’s gross domestic product grew 6 percent in the third quarter, making the Philippines the third-fastest growing economy in Asia, on the back of higher public spending and household demand, the Philippine Statistics Authority said Thursday.

“The third-quarter growth is an improvement from 5.8 percent in the previous quarter and from 5.5 percent in the third quarter in 2014. Growth in the first nine months of 2015 is now 5.6 percent, making a 6-percent full-year growth very much likely, given even better prospects for the last quarter. This makes the Philippines one of the fastest-growing major Asian economies,” said

Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan.

The country’s GDP growth was the third fastest in Asia, after China’s 6.9 percent and Vietnam’s 6.8 percent. India has yet to report its third-quarter growth.

The 6-percent growth in the third quarter, however, was below the government’s target of 7 percent to 8 percent for the full year.

Finance Secretary Cesar Purisi-

ma said strong demand continued to fuel growth, with private consumption accelerating 6.3 percent and public consumption leaping 17.4 percent.

“We are confident that after five years, we have laid our house with firmer foundations. But reform is a game that has no end. Increasingly, we look to our next set of leaders to carry the work of charting our future forward,” Purisima said.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said the latest growth “confirms that the economy doesn’t really need further monetary stimulus at the moment.”

“But we are mindful of risks from natural disasters and global developments including slowerthan-expected growth among our trading partners. Further, inflation is seen to have bottomed last

PSe comPoSite index Closing November 26, 2015

8000 7700 7400 7100 6800 6500

month. As such we believe mon7,063.25 etary settings continue to be ap4.11 propriate for now. In addition to risks already mentioned we monitor commodity price developments,” Tetangco said.

Closing NOVEMBER 26, 2015 The gross national income, which factors in remittances from other 43.50 countries, grew 5.8 percent in the 44.60 third quarter, faster than 3.9 percent 45.40 in the same quarter last year.

“As the export market continues 46.20 P47.120 to decline with slumping foreign CLOSE demand and sagging commodity 47.00 prices, we can count on looking inwards with consumption as a HIGH P47.030 LOW P47.130 AVERAGE P47.069 consistent driver of growth. We VOLUME 730.300M are confident revenues from remittances and the BPO [business process outsourcing] industry constitute a one-two punch further accelerating our growth at least on the demand side,” Puri- P487.00-P682.00 sima said in a statement.

LPG/11-kg tank

PeSo-dollar rate

oPriceS il P

P35.15-P42.40 Unleaded Gasoline

Port operator International Container Terminal Services Inc. inaugurates Yard 7 of the Manila International Container Terminal, including the commissioning of four new rubber tired gantries. Part of MICT’s P5-billion expansion project, Yard 7 increased the capacity of the terminal to 2.75 million twenty-foot equivalent units from 2.5 million TEUs. Shown cutting the ribbon are (from left) Philippine Ports Authority general manager Juan Sta. Ana, Cabinet Secretary Jose Rene Almendras, ICTSI chairman and president Enrique Razon Jr., Manila vice mayor Francisco Domagoso and ICTSI senior vice president and MICT head Christian Gonzalez.

today

P25.03-P28.48 Diesel P34.55-P39.15 Kerosene Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Thursday, November 26, 2015

F oreign e xchange r ate Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

47.0370

Japan

Yen

0.008150

0.3834

UK

Pound

1.512400

71.1388

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.129032

6.0693

Switzerland

Franc

0.977899

45.9974

Canada

Dollar

0.752502

35.3954

Singapore

Dollar

0.712149

33.4974

Australia

Dollar

0.724585

34.0823

Bahrain

Dinar

2.657595

125.0053

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266276

12.5248

Brunei

Dollar

0.709622

33.3785

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000073

0.0034

Thailand

Baht

0.028019

1.3179

UAE

Dirham

0.272279

12.8072

Euro

Euro

1.062200

49.9627

Korea

Won

0.000874

0.0411

China

Yuan

0.156514

7.3619

India

Rupee

0.015071

0.7089

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.237417

11.1674

New Zealand

Dollar

0.656814

30.8946

Taiwan

Dollar

0.030776

1.4476 Source: PDS Bridge

ICTSI opens new yard to expand Manila container terminal

By Darwin G. Amojelar INTERNATIONAL Container Terminal Services Inc. said Thursday it completed the yard expansion of the Manila International Container Terminal ahead of the anticipated increase in container traffic during the holiday season.

The port operator said Yard 7, a part of MICT’s P5-billion expansion project, added substantial capacity to the terminal, which could now handle 2.75 million twenty-foot equivalent units, up

from 2.5 million TEUs. ICTSI said the new yard at MICT would address the growing volumes at the Port of Manila.

“This not only addresses the current demand of shipping line clients and the port community for terminal services but also of anticipated growth,” the port operator owned by businessman Enrique Razon Jr. said.

Complementary to the new yard is the development of an inland container depot in Laguna, covering 21 hectares,

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

where ICTSI earmarked $30 million.

ICTSI recently acquired six new rubber tired gantries, which may be deployed at either the MICT or ICTSI’s Subic operations, depending on demand.

The company also plans to expand Subic Port in anticipation of increased port utilization by 2015.

Port utilization in Subic is expected to hit 21 percent by 2015, which will also improve the usage of ICTSI’s two-berth facility within the free port area admin-

istered by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.

ICTSI also acquired new container handling equipment worth $50 million in preparation for the operational launch of its port in Columbia next year.

ICTSI said unit Sociedad Puerto Industrial de Aguadulce S.A. recently received four per post Panamax quay cranes and five rubber tired gantries for Aguadulce Multi-User Container Terminal at the Port of Buenaventura.

ICTSI posted a net income of $143.7 million in the first nine months, up from $142.3 million a year ago. Gross revenues from port operations amounted to $792 million in the January-to-September period, up 2 percent from $779.2 million in the same period last year.

ICTSI handled consolidated volume of 5.77 million TEUs in the first nine months of the year, or 7 percent more than 5.41 million TEUs handled in the same period in 2014.

FRIDAY: NOVEMBER 27, 2015

B2

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

The STandard BuSineSS daily STockS review Thursday, November 26, 2015

52 Weeks

Previous

High Low 75.3 124.4 107 56.5 2.49 4.2 17 30.45 10.4 2.6 890 1.01 100 30.5 75 91.5 361.2 57 180 1700 124 3.26 47 5 2.36 15.3 20.6 36 2.97 4.14 21.5 21.6 11.96 9.13 11.8 31.8 109 20.75 15.3 9.4 0.98 241 79 3.95 33.9 90 13.26 293 5 5.25 12.98 15 7.03 3.4 4.5 6.3 7.34 238 3.28 0.315 2.65 234 5.28 1.3 2.17 0.59 59.2 30.05 7.39 3.4 3.35 823.5 10.2 84 3.35 3.68 4.92 1455 7.5 76 9.25 0.85 17.3 5.53 6.55 0.0670 2.31 1.61 84.9 974 1.66 1.39 156 0.710 0.435 10.5 1.99 1.75 41.4 5.6 5.59 1.44 1.48 0.201

STOCKS

Close

High

Low

FINANCIAL 49 48 104.70 103.00 86.40 83.25 39.1 39.1 2.45 2.45 1.40 1.34 15.5 15.1 19.1 18.98 8.00 7.85 1.80 1.80 775.00 775.00 0.460 0.460 81.8 80.8 17.80 17.70 23.10 23.05 52.00 51.85 294.4 294 33 32.15 137 132.8 1500.00 1500.00 57.05 56.15 3 3 INDUSTRIAL 35.9 Aboitiz Power Corp.

42.85 42.95 42.6 1.11 Agrinurture Inc. 3.98 4.49 3.97 1.86 Alsons Cons.

1.55 1.55 1.5 7.92 Asiabest Group 10.92 10.9 10.8 15.32 Century Food 17.58 17.56 17.42 10.08 Cirtek Holdings (Chips) 20.5 20.9 20.2 1.5 Crown Asia 2.43 2.62 2.38 1.5 Da Vinci Capital 1.48 1.47 1.4 10.72 Del Monte 10 10.2 10 9.55 DNL Industries Inc. 9.480 9.54 9.350 9.04 Emperador 9.15 9.15 9.09 6.02 Energy Devt. Corp. (EDC) 6.30 6.30 6.16 8.86 EEI 5.53 5.26 5.05 20.2 First Gen Corp.

23 23 22.5 71.5 First Holdings ‘A’ 69.9 67.7 66.5 13.86 Ginebra San Miguel Inc. 11.88 11.98 11.98 13.24 Holcim Philippines Inc. 14.90 14.90 14.80 5.34 Integ. Micro-Electronics 5.9 5.85 5.8 0.395 Ionics Inc 2.170 2.160 2.090 173 Jollibee Foods Corp.

207.00 207.40 206.00 LBC Express 12.5 12.78 12.22 34.1 Liberty Flour 42.00 42.00 42.00 2.3 LMG Chemicals 2 1.99 1.99 23.35 Manila Water Co. Inc. 24.8 24.8 24.45 17.3 Maxs Group 23.2 23 22.8 5.88 Megawide 6.35 6.2 6.2 250.2 Mla. Elect. Co `A’ 303.00 305.00 300.60 3.37 Panasonic Mfg Phil. Corp. 3.93 3.93 3.93 3.87 Pepsi-Cola Products Phil. 3.98 3.88 3.75 8.45 Petron Corporation 7.74 7.84 7.64 10.04 Phinma Corporation 11.70 11.32 11.32 3.03 Phoenix Petroleum Phils. 3.78 3.78 3.70 1.95 Phoenix Semiconductor 1.84 1.80 1.75 1 Pryce Corp. `A’ 2.27 2.4 2.26 4.02 RFM Corporation 4.20 4.20 4.19 5.9 Roxas Holdings 5.99 5.98 5.79 161 San Miguel’Pure Foods `B’ 132.2 133 132.5 1.55 Splash Corporation 2.28 2.3 2.24 0.138 Swift Foods, Inc. 0.146 0.147 0.144 2.09 Trans-Asia Oil 2.12 2.12 2.10 152 Universal Robina 204.8 206.4 204.2 4.28 Victorias Milling 4.55 4.72 4.55 0.640 Vitarich Corp.

0.64 0.66 0.66 1.2 Vulcan Ind’l.

1.14 1.13 1.10 HOLDINGS FIRMS 0.44 Abacus Cons. `A’ 0.400 0.395 0.385 48.1 Aboitiz Equity 57.9000 57.9000 57.2000 20.85 Alliance Global Inc. 18.16 18.14 17.80 6.62 Anscor `A’ 6.40 6.34 6.34 0.23 ATN Holdings A 0.249 0.248 0.248 0.23 ATN Holdings B 0.237 0.237 0.236 634.5 Ayala Corp `A’ 765 759 753 7.390 Cosco Capital 7.56 7.54 7.5 12.8 DMCI Holdings 13.98 14.06 13.62 2.6 F&J Prince ‘A’ 6.9 6.99 6.3 1.15 F&J Prince ‘B’ 7 7.05 6.53 2.26 Filinvest Dev. Corp.

4.30 4.25 4.10 837 GT Capital 1296 1298 1285 5.3 House of Inv. 6.00 5.50 5.50 49.55 JG Summit Holdings 73.50 73.80 73.45 4.84 Lopez Holdings Corp.

7.83 7.8 7.69 0.59 Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp. 0.75 0.74 0.72 12 LT Group 14.72 15.04 14.52 4.2 Metro Pacific Inv. Corp. 5.37 5.35 5.27 4.5 Minerales Industrias Corp. 9.89 9.93 9.83 0.030 Pacifica `A’ 0.0310 0.0310 0.0300 1.23 Prime Media Hldg 1.400 1.490 1.400 0.550 Prime Orion 1.790 1.790 1.770 59.3 San Miguel Corp `A’ 47.00 47.00 46.75 751 SM Investments Inc. 880.00 884.00 877.00 1.13 Solid Group Inc. 1.18 1.18 1.18 0.93 South China Res. Inc. 0.72 0.72 0.72 80 Top Frontier 82.500 79.950 75.500 0.211 Unioil Res. & Hldgs 0.3050 0.3000 0.3000 0.179 Wellex Industries 0.2200 0.2160 0.2150 PROPERTY 6.74 8990 HLDG 7.200 7.330 6.850 0.65 A. Brown Co., Inc. 0.87 0.85 0.82 1.2 Araneta Prop `A’ 1.130 1.160 1.150 30.05 Ayala Land `B’ 35.100 35.150 34.500 3.36 Belle Corp. `A’ 3.27 3.19 3.16 4.96 Cebu Holdings 5.1 5.1 5.1 0.79 Century Property 0.58 0.57 0.56 0.97 Cityland Dev. `A’ 1.08 1.07 1.07 0.083 Crown Equities Inc. 0.129 0.127 0.127 66 88.05 88.1 45.45 1.97 1.68 12.02 19.6 6.12 1.02 625 0.225 78 17.8 58 62 276 41 118.2 1200 59 2.65

Asia United Bank Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. Bank of PI China Bank BDO Leasing & Fin. INc. Bright Kindle Resources COL Financial Eastwest Bank Filipino Fund Inc. I-Remit Inc. Manulife Fin. Corp.

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

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

SHARES 6,220,657 83,373,944 118,643,381 63,642,814 78,533,425 438,641,438 789,948,440

49.2 104.00 86.70 39.2 2.48 1.51 15.5 19.2 8.00 1.81 740.00 0.460 81.75 17.80 23.50 52.40 295 33.05 134.9 1510.00 57.00 3

Close

%

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

49 104.20 85.90 39.1 2.45 1.39 15.28 19 8.00 1.80 775.00 0.460 81.05 17.70 23.05 52.00 294 32.25 135 1500.00 57.00 3

-0.41 0.19 -0.92 -0.26 -1.21 -7.95 -1.42 -1.04 0.00 -0.55 4.73 0.00 -0.86 -0.56 -1.91 -0.76 -0.34 -2.42 0.07 -0.66 0.00 0.00

27,800 2,586,790 1,152,020 41,400 9,000 271,000 7,600 40,600 3,500 5,000 20 10,000 666,320 104,800 9,600 3,900 19,690 72,800 662,640 230 100,510 425,000

42.7 4.47 1.5 10.9 17.46 20.9 2.57 1.46 10 9.380 9.15 6.24 5.07 22.55 67.1 11.98 14.80 5.8 2.120 206.00 12.5 42.00 1.99 24.65 23 6.2 305.00 3.93 3.75 7.65 11.32 3.75 1.80 2.28 4.20 5.97 132.5 2.24 0.147 2.12 206 4.72 0.66 1.10

-0.35 12.31 -3.23 -0.18 -0.68 1.95 5.76 -1.35 0.00 -1.05 0.00 -0.95 -8.32 -1.96 -4.01 0.84 -0.67 -1.69 -2.30 -0.48 0.00 0.00 -0.50 -0.60 -0.86 -2.36 0.66 0.00 -5.78 -1.16 -3.25 -0.79 -2.17 0.44 0.00 -0.33 0.23 -1.75 0.68 0.00 0.59 3.74 3.13 -3.51

3,142,500 6,509,000 813,000 300 7,500 2,272,300 7,205,000 49,000 19,300 11,204,000 9,138,700 14,766,900 1,075,700 1,615,300 181,780 100 5,000 15,600 1,143,000 1,833,250 58,000 300 3,000 320,300 229,100 200,300 530,110 5,000 429,000 882,600 1,000 102,000 296,000 650,000 147,000 2,900 220 161,000 1,260,000 187,000 2,220,770 12,000 24,000 75,000

0.395 57.7500 17.98 6.34 0.248 0.236 755 7.52 13.84 6.32 6.6 4.10 1290 5.50 73.70 7.69 0.74 14.8 5.3 9.93 0.0310 1.470 1.770 47.00 880.00 1.18 0.72 75.500 0.3000 0.2160

-1.25 -0.26 -0.99 -0.94 -0.40 -0.42 -1.31 -0.53 -1.00 -8.41 -5.71 -4.65 -0.46 -8.33 0.27 -1.79 -1.33 0.54 -1.30 0.40 0.00 5.00 -1.12 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 -8.48 -1.64 -1.82

8,300,000 2,044,260 9,245,800 26,500 20,000 200,000 296,610 3,297,200 13,665,400 328,200 35,500 23,000 123,045 30,000 1,978,180 3,950,400 6,000 7,941,500 43,195,700 3,620,700 15,200,000 37,000 282,000 240,900 206,800 65,000 2,000 16,830 1,650,000 470,000

7.050 0.85 1.150 34.650 3.16 5.1 0.57 1.07 0.127

-2.08 -2.30 1.77 -1.28 -3.36 0.00 -1.72 -0.93 -1.55

161,800 708,000 10,000 5,337,800 667,000 5,400 722,000 2,000 610,000

285,515.00 145,693,042 -21,626,966.50

6,112.00 32,340.00 -15,500.00 14,929,245.50 25,975.50 -2,153,830 45,331,806.00

43,796,075.00 -441,190.00 -110,182.00 -1,259,150.00 -2,430.00 1,229,855.00 -47,129,068.00 29,655,548.00 -3,739,714.00 -375,555.00 1,750,410.50

-422,000.00 254,304,642.00 375,000.00 -1,687,685.00 -6,750.00 1,240,000.00 -64,758,844.00 -379,380.00 3,847,688.00 18,000.00 533,390.00 -10,457.00 -27,930.00 241,500.00 246,210,342.00

57,805,827.50 -76,962,414.00

56,874,000.00 -367,879.00 20,778,874.00 -35,100.00 -74,771,385.00 -55,000.00 73,909,168.00 1,386,100.00 72,912,028.00 -26,407,547.00

-7,778,740.00 43,691,005.00 -712,685.00 -150,000.00

52 Weeks

Previous

High Low

STOCKS

0.69 10.96 0.97 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 1.62 8.59

0.415 2.4 0.83 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 0.83 5.73

Cyber Bay Corp.

Double Dragon Empire East Land 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. Suntrust Home Dev. Inc. Vista Land & Lifescapes

10.5 66 1.44 1.09 14.88 15.82 0.1430 5.06 99.1 7.67 4 1700 2720 8.41 70.5 1.97 119.5 0.017 0.8200 2.2800 5.93 3.32 95.5 1 2.46 15.2

1.97 35.2 1 0.63 10.5 8.6 0.0770 2.95 56.1 4.8 2.58 830 1600 5.95 17.02 1.23 102.6 0.011 0.041 1.200 2.34 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 1.9

7.59 0.63 5 1.14

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

Cebu Air Inc. (5J) DFNN Inc. Easy Call “Common” FEUI Globe Telecom GMA Network Inc. Grand Plaza Hotel Harbor Star I.C.T.S.I. IP E-Game Ventures Inc. Island Info ISM Communications Jackstones 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 Yehey

0.0098 17.24 0.330 1.19 1.62 9.5 4.2 0.48 0.420 0.022 8.2 49.2 4.27 3.06 0.020 7.67 12.88 10.42 0.040 420 9 0.016

0.0043 6.47 0.236 0.85 0.77 5.99 1.17 0.305 0.2130 0.013 3.240 18.96 2.11 1.54 0.012 5.4 7.26 2.27 0.015 115.9 3.67 0.0100

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

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

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

TA Petroleum United Paragon

70 553 525 120 515 8.21 12.28 111

33 490 500 101.5 480 5.88 6.5 101

1047 78.95 84.8

1011 74.5 75

ABS-CBN Holdings Corp.

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

6.98

0.8900 LR Warrant

12.88

5.95

130.7

105.6 First Metro ETF

459,218.00 -31,062,365.00 -19,610.00

Close

Alterra Capital Xurpas

High

VALUE 533,154,207.35 1,892,094,164.88 1,819,431,406.84 873,540,908.99 1,069,193,841.044 102,039,573.387 6,303,595,690.39

FINANCIAL 1,558.57 (UP) 2.63 INDUSTRIAL 11,300.44 (UP) 15.24 HOLDING FIRMS 6,674.57 (UP) 6.93 PROPERTY 2,974.73 (DOWN) 22.83 SERVICES 1,594.70 (UP) 13.00 MINING & OIL 10,829.29 (UP) 41.25 PSEI 7,063.25 (UP) 4.11 All Shares Index 4,056.60 (UP) 2.66 Gainers: 75; Losers: 85; Unchanged: 48; Total: 208

Close

0.470 24 0.860 1.08 1.89 1.23 4.00 4.64 0.080 0.2600 0.4000 8.85 30.85 1.43 3.15 22.00 0.74 0.940 5.490

%

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

0.465 0.465 0.465 24.1 23.45 24.1 0.880 0.840 0.840 1.08 1.07 1.07 1.87 1.80 1.80 1.20 1.16 1.20 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.63 4.55 4.57 0.085 0.083 0.083 0.2600 0.2500 0.2500 0.4000 0.4000 0.4000 8.73 8.65 8.65 30.10 29.60 30.00 1.49 1.43 1.49 3.24 3.15 3.24 22.20 21.80 21.85 0.75 0.72 0.74 0.940 0.880 0.890 5.450 5.370 5.400 SERVICES 7.35 7.35 7.29 7.3 65.1 65 64.2 64.5 1.15 1.23 1.15 1.2 0.540 0.540 0.540 0.540 11.8 11.98 11.98 11.98 5.38 5.34 5.24 5.26 0.0470 0.0440 0.0420 0.0420 3.54 3.5 3.46 3.48 85 85.5 84.25 84.25 5.80 5.90 5.50 5.86 3.81 3.40 3.30 3.30 990 955 955 955 2006 2012 1995 1995 7.38 7.36 7.20 7.25 21.50 21.50 21.50 21.50 1.30 1.22 1.22 1.22 73.25 75 71.8 74.8 0.010 0.011 0.010 0.010 0.175 0.175 0.170 0.170 1.4100 1.4000 1.3900 1.3900 2.1 2.12 2.12 2.12 4.15 4.20 4.11 4.20 27.00 27.00 27.00 27.00 0.560 0.560 0.560 0.560 2 2 2 2 3.64 3.57 3.45 3.49 4.07 4.03 3.97 3.98 0.255 0.255 0.250 0.255 0.670 0.670 0.650 0.650 17.88 17.86 17.68 17.86 9.45 9.44 9.44 9.44 102.70 101.10 101.00 101.00 20.95 21.00 20.90 21.00 2050.00 2070.00 2042.00 2048.00 0.490 0.490 0.470 0.470 1.000 0.990 0.960 0.960 34.70 34.80 34.40 34.55 70.10 73.70 70.40 73.70 5.58 5.60 5.51 5.58 4.25 4.09 3.95 4.03 0.43 0.410 0.405 0.410 4 3.98 3.89 3.9 4.350 4.330 4.250 4.250 MINING & OIL 0.0049 0.0049 0.0048 0.0049 4.70 4.62 4.55 4.57 0.211 0.210 0.210 0.210 0.7 0.7 0.68 0.69 0.63 0.64 0.61 0.64 8.00 8.32 7.82 8.05 0.84 0.79 0.75 0.75 0.295 0.300 0.280 0.300 0.188 0.190 0.184 0.184 0.0100 0.0110 0.0100 0.0100 2.23 2.25 2.11 2.25 6.8 6.84 6.41 6.75 2.99 3 2.86 2.9 1.3800 1.4300 1.3800 1.4300 0.0110 0.0110 0.0100 0.0100 3.60 3.60 3.60 3.60 5.100 5.060 4.99 5.04 1.450 1.410 1.38 1.38 0.0130 0.0120 0.0110 0.0120 137.20 137.30 135.80 136.00 2.3 2.29 2.23 2.29 0.0073 0.0075 0.0075 0.0075 PREFERRED 65.7 65 64.95 65 525 525 525 525 525 525 525 525 117 116.3 116.1 116.1 520 519.5 519 519.5 7 7.1 6.91 7.1 1.12 1.13 1.13 1.13 109 108.5 108.5 108.5 1073 1073 1070 1072 1021 1029 1021 1029 78.7 79.05 79.05 79.05 83 82.55 82.55 82.55 79.2 79.4 79.2 79.25 79.9 80 79.8 79.8 80.85 80.85 80.5 80.8 WARRANTS & BONDS 2.800 2.800 2.700 2.800 SME 3.14 3.28 3.1 3.25 16.3 16.32 16.04 16.14 EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 115.4 115.8 114.8 114.8

T op g ainerS STOCKS

Low

-1.06 0.42 -2.33 -0.93 -4.76 -2.44 0.00 -1.51 3.75 -3.85 0.00 -2.26 -2.76 4.20 2.86 -0.68 0.00 -5.32 -1.64

110,000 2,001,200 44,000 1,018,000 9,089,000 188,000 1,000 17,545,000 30,000 660,000 20,000 174,500 9,097,100 101,000 31,000 11,116,000 175,000 283,000 3,720,300

-0.68 -0.92 4.35 0.00 1.53 -2.23 -10.64 -1.69 -0.88 1.03 -13.39 -3.54 -0.55 -1.76 0.00 -6.15 2.12 0.00 -2.86 -1.42 0.95 1.20 0.00 0.00 0.00 -4.12 -2.21 0.00 -2.99 -0.11 -0.11 -1.66 0.24 -0.10 -4.08 -4.00 -0.43 5.14 0.00 -5.18 -3.53 -2.50 -2.30

32,200 15,810 17,000 287,000 400 986,300 12,400,000 49,000 386,380 65,500 2,000 100 112,910 81,400 176,200 42,000 1,647,160 1,100,000 100,000 135,000 1,000 352,000 400 4,000 3,000 1,394,000 29,423,000 60,000 862,000 11,000 1,100 2,490 33,100 148,760 400,000 13,412,000 2,819,800 362,010 400,300 7,981,000 2,430,000 76,000 79,000

0.00 -2.77 -0.47 -1.43 1.59 0.63 -10.71 1.69 -2.13 0.00 0.90 -0.74 -3.01 3.62 -9.09 0.00 -1.18 -4.83 -7.69 -0.87 -0.43 2.74

81,000,000 281,000 -895,980.00 630,000 14,000 36,000 28,300 9,956,000 -3,073,220.00 170,000 1,330,000 285,800,000 500,000 -23,800.00 5,753,900 -2,128,625.00 86,000 -133,400.00 6,000 40,200,000 4,000 41,700 -23,638.00 251,000 8,000,000 354,610 -15,556,048.00 93,000 4,000,000 -22,500.00

-1.07 0.00 0.00 -0.77 -0.10 1.43 0.89 -0.46 -0.09 0.78 0.44 -0.54 0.06 -0.13 -0.06

71,460 10,000 4,500 14,960 1,700 9,200 6,000 880 1,560 1,015 1,000 13,500 2,028,500 25,640 49,210

0.00

9,000

3.50 -0.98

38,000 851,800

-0.52

2,220

13,702,715.00 -269,640.00 -1,805,290.00 51,411,260.00

659,130.00 -72,817,715.00 41,362,025.00 -2,087,618.00

-135,000.00 245,040.00 44,000.00 -21,684,426.50

-85,970,400.00 24,400.00 14,377,051.00

86,780.00

-87,730.00 6,755,060.00 65,740.00 215,170.00 1,249,470.00 -98,000.00 21,447,555.00 18,316,640.50 -3,886,800.00 -210,080.00

3,637,550.00

-118,800.00

3,027,346.00

T op L oSerS Close (P)

Change (%)

STOCKS

Close (P)

Change (%)

Agrinurture Inc.

4.47

12.31

Easy Call "Common"

3.30

-13.39

Crown Asia

2.57

5.76

Ferronickel

0.75

-10.71

Robinsons RTL

73.70

5.14

Boulevard Holdings

0.0420

-10.64

Prime Media Hldg

1.470

5.00

Oriental Pet. `A'

0.0100

-9.09

Manulife Fin. Corp.

775.00

4.73

Top Frontier

75.500

-8.48

Acesite Hotel

1.2

4.35

F&J Prince 'A'

6.32

-8.41

Rockwell

1.49

4.20

House of Inv.

5.50

-8.33

MRC Allied Ind.

0.083

3.75

EEI

5.07

-8.32

Victorias Milling

4.72

3.74

Bright Kindle Resources

1.39

-7.95

Oriental Peninsula Res.

1.4300

3.62

Philodrill Corp. `A'

0.0120

-7.69

FRIDAY: NOVEMBER 27, 2015

B3

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

Community MANILA, 14 November. I needed to wake up early for the opening plenary of the fourth Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Business Advisory Council Meeting. I reached for my phone and there was a flood of alerts. Paris, the city of lights had come under attack. In those early hours, there was not yet confirmation that the shootings, suicide bombs and hostage taking were coordinated—but it seemed likely. As the hours passed, the death toll rose frighteningly quickly.

Over 135 people were killed in the Paris attacks, a scant day after suicide bombers in Beirut killed over 35 people. Just one week after, 21 people were killed in Mali.

These attacks bracketed the Apec economic leaders meeting held November 18 to 19 in Manila. Both fittingly and ironically, the Apec meetings that focused on inclusion and resilience a batter world were held against a backdrop of violence and division.

Blindsided Following the attacks in Beirut and Paris, CNN ran a documentary on the rise of ISIS with the tagline #blindsided. The documentary echoed what many analysts had been saying about the modern war ISIS is fighting.

Heghlu’meH QaQ jajvam. “Today is a good day to die.” In the Star Trek universe, that one phrase explained why the Klingon warrior is so formidable. Perhaps the most dangerous fighter is the one who is unafraid to die. That is the fighter that will take risks that are incomprehensible to the rest of us. Because we cannot imagine this, we cannot anticipate it. If we cannot anticipate it, then we cannot defend against it. Then we are blindsided.

And that, in fact, is what most analysts say is particularly worrying about ISIS—its ability to attract recruits. These recruits are not soldiers trained to fight a war of logic and calculated risks. These are believers who are in a crusade, one which they believe is righteous.

This is a war with reason and economics on one side, and emotion and conviction on the other.

The CNN documentary echoed a Washington Post piece by Greg Miller and Souad Mekhennet on the ISIS propaganda machinery.

ISIS, they say is essentially a messaging machine. This war is not being fought with guns. It is fought with cameras and photographs. The battleground is the 24-hour news cycle and the lightning quick mobile platforms of social media.

Battlegrounds The same posts and reports that create fear and outrage among those attacked feed pride and a hunger for meaning to the ISIS audience. Like many other terror organizations, ISIS recruits the disaffected, the marginalized. Imagine you are young and strong and angry because society has no place for you. Imagine you have been told you have no value. Then imagine someone telling you that you can be a hero, that you can make a difference. Imagine them telling you that you will have a chance to strike against the most powerful nations on the planet. What would you do?

What makes the ISIS recruitment videos so effective, analysts say, is that they intersperse the images of strength and force with images of happiness and camaraderie. It should come as no surprise to anyone with military training that this is an extremely effective mix of emotional themes. War, after all, is about getting soldiers to endure and sometimes, perpetrate, what would normally be considered atrocities.

These extreme circumstances are borne through a potent mix of courage and fraternity. There is a reason boot camps are severe. Boot camp teaches laser focus. Boot camp teaches soldiers to be strong, to endure, to rely on each other—often to the exclusion of everything else. That is the attitude needed in battle.

This is clearly a mix of emotions that is hardwired into the human psyche. ISIS, apparently, has managed to use it to great effect.

And that is the reality of this situation. As long as the recruits willing to die for the cause stream into the territories controlled by ISIS, ISIS can continue to wage this war of terror.

A security strategy is critical, of course. And so is a military strategy.

But what is clear about this rise of ISIS is that Iraq fell because the soldiers decided not to fight for their government. A military strategy that presumes all soldiers will fight for the government they belong to will not work in countries where a sense of community and loyalty has not been established. In the broken nations ISIS could target, the real vulnerability does not lie only in the lack of training or firepower, it lies truly in the absence of community. In the many nations from which the ISIS recruits come, the real concern is not about physical restrictions, it is about the lack of emotional links to their own nations.

At the heart of this war is a sense of community—the lack of it, the desire for it.

Community This, in fact, is what a large part of leadership is about. Whether in politics or in business, what has always been clear is that while explicit rewards have a place, the strongest bonds and the best coordinated performance comes from teams that have a deep commitment to their cause and to each other.

This amorphous thing that we call by different names: culture, share values, alignment is, at its heart, a sense of community. Man is a social being. When managers forget this, organizations falter. When leaders of nations forget it, the social fabric frays. That the Apec theme is about inclusion is encouraging. These leaders, if they are true to their word, might actually lay the foundation for a wider and lasting peace.

Readers can email Maya at integrations_manila@yahoo.com. Or visit her site at http://integrations.tumblr.com.

New Vista City road. Villar Group chairman Manny Villar (center) leads the inauguration of Vista City’s newest road (inset) that links Daang Hari Road to the 14-hectare district of the development.

The new road, now the shortest route to Vista City’s residential components—the 300-hectare communities of Crown Asia’s Ponticelli and Camella Cerritos—provides utmost accessibility and convenience to the residents, as well as potential homebuyers and investors. With Villar (from left) are Salie Coloma, Vista Land HR head; Mary Lee Sadiasa, Camella North chief operating officer; Momar Santos, Adelfa vice president; Edna Villena, Crown Asia COO; Ric Pallesco, Camella South COO; Nikki Catchuela, Vista Land head for BPO; Roy Fernandez, Brittany COO; and Red Rosales, Vista Land chief marketing ffficer.

DM Wenceslao cuts offering price to P25

By Jenniffer B. Austria

DM WENCESLAO & Associates Inc. has reduced the maximum price for its planned initial public offering to P25 apiece, down 43 percent from the initial price of P44 amid volatile market conditions.

DM Wenceslao could potentially raise as much as P12.3 billion in proceeds at an IPO price of P25 per share from the original target of P21.7 billion.

DM Wenceslao also obtained a cornerstone investor—HKL (Digital Building) Ltd.—for the maiden share sale.

DM Wenceslao did not say how many shares will HKL acquire.

The construction and property company earlier said the cornerstone shares would represent not more than 25 percent of the total offer shares, excluding the optional shares.

DM Wenceslao, according to the latest offer term sheet submitted to the Philippine Stock Exchange, is selling up to 429 million in primary common shares.

Selling shareholder Wendel Holdings Inc. granted the underwriters an option to sell another 64.375 million in secondary shares to cover for over-allotment.

The company plans to sell at least 70 percent of the offer shares to foreign investors and the balance to local buyers and trading participants in the stock exchange.

DM Wenceslao said it planned to

use the proceeds from the IPO primarily to fund the development of pipeline projects, purchase land assets through share acquisition and develop infrastructure within the 204-hectare mixed-use development, Aseana City.

DM Wenceslao said it had 10 projects in the pipeline that would be completed over the next five years to boost the company revenues.

The company earlier tapped BPI Capital Corp., CLSA Limited, Duetsche Bank AG and Maybank ATR Kim Eng Securities Pte. as joint global coordinators and book runners for the IPO. The offering period is set from Dec. 9 to Dec. 15, while the listing date is tentatively scheduled on Dec. 22.

DM Wenceslao on Wednesday said it teamed up with Hongkong Land to develop residential projects over approximately 26,000 square meters of lot in Aseana City.

Market rises slightly; ICTSI advances THE stock market rose slightly Thursday, with profit-taking capping the gains at the close of trading.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index added 4.11 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 7,063.25 on a value turnover of P6.3 billion.

Losers beat gainers, 85 to 75, with 48 issues unchanged.

Investors ignored the release Thursday of the third-quarter GDP figures, which showed the economy growing 6 percent from 5.8 percent in the second quarter.

The gross domestic product growth accelerated less than analysts estimated last quarter, underscoring the external risks that policy makers are guarding against even as spending by households and the government

climb.

Universal Robina Corp., the biggest snack food maker, gained 0.9 percent to P206, while Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., the largest telecommunications firm, rose 0.5 percent to P2,048.

International Container Terminal Services Inc., the biggest port operator, advanced 2.4 percent to P74.80 after completing the yard expansion of the Manila International Container Terminal ahead of an anticipated increase in container movement during the holiday season.

Part of the MICT’s P5 billion expansion project, Yard 7 increased capacity to 2.75 million twenty-foot equivalent units from 2.5 million TEUs. The new yard

at the MICT is aimed at immediately addressing the growing volumes at the Port of Manila.

Chinese energy firms, meanwhile, advanced Thursday following the latest moves to reform the country’s bloated state-owned enterprises, but the gains were unable to help Hong Kong and Shanghai keep up with an Asiawide market rally.

The region’s other markets climbed, with Tokyo ending up 0.5 percent, Seoul 1.1 percent higher and Sydney adding 0.3 percent.

Another broadly upbeat batch of data on the US economy provided some support on regional trading floors, while tensions over Turkey’s shooting down of a Russian fighter jet also eased slightly. With AFP

FRIDAY: NOVEMBER 27, 2015

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

Banks remain healthy—BSP

By Gabrielle H. Binaday

Disapproved without thinking PRESIDENT BS Aquino keeps telling us, the Filipino people, “Kayo ang boss ko” (You are my bosses) which means he should listen to what we say.

But it should now be obvious to the dumb, dumber and even the dumbest of all that this is nothing but mere lip service – just a lot of sound bite with no sincerity at all. Imagine, the Congress, the Senate, business people, laborers, leftists, rightists, majority, minority and many others of various political persuasions have all agreed on one thing – that it’s time to amend the outdated National Revenue Code of 1997 because inflation has rendered the rates very unreasonable especially to salaried workers.

Even the rich now see the injustice at the fact that they and their employees are taxed at the same bracket – but it seems President BS operates on an entirely different level – out of this world even! – disapproving the measure without thinking of its impact on his poor bosses.

The thing is, the president always seem to say the (un)funniest things whenever he’s out of the country – calling the proposal nothing but a “papogi” attempt to earn the approval of the voting public. (And don’t get us started on his fantastic “tanim bala” comments!) Isn’t Marikina Rep. Miro Quimbo, his ally and so is Senator Sonny Angara – the two politicians who are pushing for the proposal—agreeing that it is timely and could ease the burden on the people?

But then again, does the president care? Of course not! It’s too much to ask or expect of BS to have empathy or sympathy for the plight of working stiffs like us. After all, el presidente belongs to the landed gentry and has probably never ever experienced what it’s like to be in dire straits, putting on a thick face and asking friends or family for a bit of financial help because you are suddenly saddled by a medical emergency. Worse, you don’t earn enough to add the cost of maintenance medicine to the budget, finding out that you have diabetes and high blood pressure (eating cheap unhealthy food because that is all you could afford and not getting enough sleep because you take on extra work to make both ends meet).

Many agree with Party List Rep. Neri Colmenares (is the guy running for the Senate in May?) that the tax reform proposal is an issue of justice for the millions of salaried workers. Despite the clamor of the people, the president remains deaf and uncaring, taking the tack of his so-called economic advisers that it will affect the revenue of government and affect projects. What projects? As far as we know, a lot of those PPP projects have not prospered.

Government also kept saying it has a lot of savings and that it has been underspending. So what’s the use of collecting all that money if you’re just keeping it in the bank? Unless you’re saving it up for May 2016, that is.

It’s very disappointing to hear Speaker Sonny Belmonte say that Congress will no longer pursue the measure because President BS is against it and will most likely veto it, so legislators are better off doing other things that are doable and desirable. Desirable? For whom? For the president? Like the BBL, perhaps? So what is Speaker Belmonte trying to say – that their actions and decisions are based on the desires and whims of the president? That they dance to the tune of Malacañang? Whatever happened to independence and separation between the three different branches of government? Lip service as well?

As pointed out by the independent bloc at the House, Congress has the power to override the president’s veto – that is, if the LP and other administration allies are up to it. Legislators are being asked to show their teeth – they have teeth all right but we wouldn’t be surprised if they’re nothing but falsies, with no real power even if they attempt to bite.

We are reminded of this little joke about this minion who is always on the lookout for ways to show his master what a loyal little follower he is. One time, his master, who was feeling a bit bored, told him to jump off a building. The minion’s response: “Sir, yes sir! From what floor?”

••• For comments, reactions, photos, stories and related concerns, readers may email to happyhourtoday2012@yahoo.com. You may also visit and like our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/happyhourmanilastandard. We’d be very happy to hear from you. Cheers!

ADB okays $600-m loan THE Asian Development Bank on Thursday approved $600 million worth of loans to support the Philippine government’s efforts to tap more private participation for urgently needed infrastructure projects.

The first $300-million loan is earmarked to support expanded private participation in infrastructure investment through the promotion of public-private partnership projects.

The second loan, also worth $300 million, supports policy changes to deepen the nonbank financial sector to unlock more long-term private funding for infrastructure.

“PPPs are vital for infrastructure development and for a sustainable economy. While there has been significant progress on PPPs, further reforms are needed to increase private investment,” said Juan Luis Gomez, principal public management specialist at ADB’s Southeast Asia Department.

“These loans will help the government pursue policy reforms clearing obstacles to PPPs and increasing long-term private sector finance for them,” Gomez said.

Under-developed infrastructure was a drag on the Philippine economy, with the country ranked at 95 out of 144 countries globally for infrastructure quality, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2014-2015.

The government revived the national PPP program and took steps to boost its effectiveness. Remaining challenges include addressing right-of-way issues, tapping capital markets, designing infrastructure master plans, and completing legal and regulatory frameworks.

The PPP-oriented loan will support improved systems to assess and budget for right-of-way acquisition and resettlement of communities.

Gabrielle H. Binaday

PHILIPPINE banks remain sound and stable, with adequate capital levels and low bad loans, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Thursday.

The Bangko Sentral released the data on capital adequacy ratio and non-performing loans, after debt watcher Moody’s Investor Service changed its credit outlook on Philippine banks from “positive” to “stable.”

The Investor Relations Office of the central bank, however, said Moody’s identified the Philippine banking system as one of the most resilient in the world in the event of a crisis.

Stress tests conducted by Moody’s showed that the impact on bank capitalization of a simulated shock would be lower for the Philippines than the global average.

Under Moody’s hypothetical extremely severe scenario, the average capitalization ratio globally would drop 5.5 percentage points, faster than the decline of 4.9 percentage points for the Philippines.

There are 68 economies whose banking systems are assessed by Moody’s.

“The Philippine banks’ resilience to stress is positive compared to other banking systems around the world,” Moody’s said in its latest Philippine banking outlook.

Moody’s said it assigned a “stable” outlook on the Philippine banking system after it upgraded the credit ratings of various banks in the country. The stable outlook means that the new and higher credit ratings of banks are likely to be maintained over the short term.

Prior to the upgrades, Moody’s had assigned a “positive” outlook, which indicated that the previous ratings were up for an upgrade.

SM Seaside opens. SM Prime Holdings Inc., one of the leading integrated property companies in Southeast Asia, opens its new regional landmark, SM Seaside City Cebu, the company’s 56th mall in the country, and the third mall within Cebu, along with SM City Cebu and SM City Consolacion. The new destination mall provides an additional 430,000 square meters in gross floor area, expanding SM Prime’s total retail space to 7.3 million sqm in the Philippines.

IN BRIEF SMC may keep frequency

THE National Telecommunications Commission said Thursday it is unlikely to reallocate some of the “very powerful” frequency band held

by San Miguel Corp.

“It’s not easy. Reallocation [of frequency] is a quasi-judicial process.

There’s must be a reason for the recall,” NTC regulations branch head Edgardo Cabarios said.

Cabarios said the government would only recall the frequency if it was unused and the user did not pay the proper spectrum users fee. He said San Miguel Group., through Bell Telecommunication Philippines Inc., earlier informed the agency that it was undertaking the rollout of its mobile telecommunications network.

Cabarios’ statement came after Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and Globe Telecom Inc. revived their request for a fair share in the 700 Mhz spectrum.

San Miguel president Ramon Ang turned down the request of PLDT and Globe and advised the incumbent players to improve and finetune their networks. San Miguel plans to use the 700 Mhz to roll out mobile broadband service in partnership with Australia’s Telstra Corp.

Darwin G. Amojelar

LRMC taps revenue partner

LIGHT Rail Manila Corp., operator of Light Rail Transit Line 1, has signed a deal with international media company PHAR as its exclusive ancillary revenue partner for the mass transit project over the next 10 years Under the agreement with LRMC, PHAR will assume responsibility of commercializing all non-fare box revenue across the entire LRT Line 1 from 2016 until 2016, which includes all forms of advertising, major brand partnerships, Wi-Fi, fiber optics, retail led solutions, naming rights, data and applications, automated teller machines and other category partnerships.

“We are pleased to have appointed PHAR to be our ancillary revenue partner. Their approach ties into our vision, and their experience dealing with major transit operations in Asia and beyond, coupled with their willingness to invest in theimprovement of the line, makes them the ideal long term partner for LRMC,” LRMC president and chief executive Jesus Francisco said.

LRMC is a joint venture company of Metro Pacific Light Rail Corp., Ayala Corp.’s AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp. and the Philippine Investment Alliance for Infrastructure’s Macquarie Infrastructure Holdings (Philippines) PTE Ltd. It has been awarded a 32-year concession to operate and maintain the LRT 1 including the Cavite extension. Darwin G. Amojelar

PH has biggest office supply

OFFICE space in Metro Manila is expected to expand 19 percent to 870,000 square meters in 2016, the fastest growth among major cities in Southeast Asia, property research firm JLL Philippines said Thursday.

JLL said it expected vacancy rate in Manila to average 6 percent, still below the 20-percent vacancy rate, which could spell a real estate bubble.

“Rental will still be up despite a huge increase in supply, mainly because there is still a big demand for office space and about 50 percent of supply has been pre-committed for as early as the first quarter of 2016,” said JLL managing director for Singapore and South East Asia

Chris Fossick in a news briefing.

Office supply in the Philippines increased 11 percent in 2015, while vacancy stood at 5 percent. JLL associate director Claro Cordero Jr. said the Philippines was not close to having a property bubble in the near future. “A vacancy rate of over 20 percent will spell a bubble event. For now we’re still good. Way below at mid-single digit of 6 percent,” he said.

Meanwhile, rental rates in Manila are expected to increase by 4 percent in 2016. JLL said the Manila rate was still cheaper than in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Mumbai and Delhi.

Manila has the highest supply growth in Southeast Asia at 19 percent, followed by Jakarta at 14 percent, Singapore at 11 percent and Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur at 3 and 2 percent, respectively.

Othel V. Campos

Concessionaires get more water

THE National Water Resources Board said Thursday it approved higher water allocation for Metro Manila concessionaires.

NWRB executive director Sevillo David Jr. said in a text message that from 38 cubic meters per second this month, allocation for water concessionaires would be increased to 40 cms in December. “With the improved level in Angat dam which is at 208.38 meters as of Thursday morning, NWRB decided to increase allocation for December,” David said.

David, however, said that Angat dam’s level was still 3.61 meters below the high water level of 212 meters. “The higher allocation is still below the normal allocation of 43 cms. The strong El Niño episode still prevails and there is still a need to manage the water supply in Angat dam,” David said.

Maynilad Water Services Inc. said the higher allocation was a welcome development for the company. “That will prevent us from going back to the regular water interruption [nightly],” said Maynilad water production head Ronaldo Padua.

“But still we are implementing the regular pressure reduction during off-peak of nighttime to somehow conserve water and help us cross the El Niño episode till second quarter of 2016,” Padua said.

Anna Leah E. Gonzales

Philcoman holds 40th congress PHILCOMAN Research Institute will hold this year’s 40th National

Management Congress with a simple dinner-award night for the Outstanding Corporation of the Year award, the Outstanding Management Leadership of the Year award and the oath-taking of new members.

PMCRI Congress chairman Pedrito Salvador announced this in a news briefing at Intercontinental Hotel in Makati City, where the affair will be held on Dec. 10 at 6:30 p.m. with the attendance of important people from the government, the academe and the private sector.

“We opted to hold a simple rite so that funds and other resources we can save can be channeled to research and further studies of important issues in politics, economics, sociology and national security,” Salvador said.

PCMRI is a federation of professional and technological societies, management developments, institutions, academe, business enterprises and professional managers dedicated to the development of management and improvement of its practices in all aspects of the Philippine society.

The Outstanding Corporation of the Year award goes to Mighty Corp., a wholly-owned Filipino multi-billion company operating for the past 70 years, chosen by the board of judges from eight other nominees in recognition for its outstanding achievements in the fields of economics, finance, agriculture, business and industry; e-commerce and IT; strategic management and economy of scales; leadership and governance; adherence to nationalism and anti-monopoly; and social, cultural and religious activities that impacted on the country and the society.

F R I D AY : N O V E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

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CESAR BARRIOQUINTO EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Rival Koreas in rare talks to sustain dialogue SEOUL—North and South Korean officials sat down Thursday for rare talks aimed at setting up a sustainable high-level dialogue that has constantly eluded the two rivals.

The meeting at the border truce village of Panmunjom began shortly before 1:00pm (0400 GMT) and marked the first inter-governmental interaction since August when the two sides met to defuse a crisis that had pushed them to the brink of an armed conflict.

That meeting ended with a joint agreement that included a commitment to resume high-level talks, although no precise timeline was given.

Although any dialogue between the two Koreas is generally welcomed as a step in the right direction, precedent offers little hope of a successful outcome.

A similar effort back in June 2013 saw both sides agree to hold what would have been the first high-level dialogue for six years— only for Pyongyang to cancel a day before the scheduled meeting.

In the end, it was a matter of protocol—the North felt insulted by the South’s nomination of a vice minister as its chief delegate—that smothered the initiative before it had even drawn breath.

Thursday’s talks in Panmunjom will try to avoid a repetition of that failure by thrashing out an agenda, a venue and such protocol issues as who should attend the full-fledged dialogue.

“We will do our best,” Kim KiWoong, the head of the South Korean Unification Ministry’s special office for inter-Korean dialogue, said before leaving Seoul for Panmunjom.

The start of the talks was delayed by several hours due to a problem with the communication links that allow senior officials in Seoul and Pyongyang to monitor proceedings.

After an initial round lasting about 90 minutes, both sides took a break to confer with their respective capitals, a Unification Ministry official said.

“The mood was sincere, but there were differences,” he acknowledged.

Likely topics for the eventual agenda include South Korea’s desire for regular reunions for families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War that cemented the division of the Korean peninsula. AFP

WORLD Hollande eyes coalition against Islamic jihadists PARIS—French President Francois Hollande will hold talks on Thursday with Russian leader Vladimir Putin as part of his diplomatic marathon to forge a broad coalition against Islamic State jihadists in the wake of the Paris attacks.

Dress rehearsal. Ballerina Lana Jones dances the part of Princess Aurora during a dress rehearsal for the Australian Ballet production of “The Sleeping Beauty” at the Sydney Opera House on November 26, 2015. AFP

The French president met Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in Paris early Thursday and will later head to Moscow.

Hollande has been on a whirlwind tour seeking to build a coalition to crush IS in Iraq and Syria but has won few concrete pledges so far, and his campaign has been further complicated by a spat between Russia and Turkey over a downed jet.

Renzi offered only vague support for “a coalition of greater and greater strength that is up to the task of... the destruction of Daesh”, using another name for IS. France invoked a clause requiring EU member states to provide military assistance after the November 13 attacks in Paris, when 130 people lost their lives in a wave of killings by suicide bombers and gunmen claimed by IS. German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday pledged to stand beside France after talks with Hollande, saying she would act “swiftly” to see how her country can help in the fight against terrorism.

The French and German leaders each laid a pink rose among the tributes of flowers and candles in Place de la Republique, the Paris square that has become a rallying point since the bloodshed.

In Berlin, Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said Germany would send 650 soldiers to Mali to provide some relief to French forces fighting jihadists there.

Meanwhile in Britain, Prime Minister David Cameron will set out the case for his country to extend its air strikes against IS from Iraq into Syria ahead of a vote by MPs next week.

The British premier has called IS a “direct threat to our security at home and abroad”.

He met Hollande on Monday and offered France the use of a British air base in Cyprus for flying missions against the jihadists.

While Cameron said he “firmly supported” the French leader, Hollande got a cooler response from US President Barack Obama, who is reluctant to intensify military action without a clear strategy or political track in place.

Hollande’s diplomatic efforts also suffered a blow after Turkey shot down a Russian jet on Tuesday. AFP

Singapore cuts blacklist of banned publications SINGAPORE—Singapore has drastically cut its blacklist of banned books and publications, finally allowing citizens to read an erotic novel first published in the 18th century, but a host of adult magazines remain proscribed.

It is no longer a crime to own a copy of the historic English text “Fanny Hill” or some anti-colonial and communist publications dating back to Singapore’s troubled early years as a republic in the 1960s.

Long ridiculed as a nanny state that con-

trols what its people can read and watch, Singapore has cut an archaic list of prohibited books and publications from 257 to just 17, most of them adult magazines.

The “de-gazetting” of 240 titles took effect on Wednesday.

The Media Development Authority, a regulatory body that also oversees film, broadcasting and Internet standards, said Thursday it “routinely reviews prior classification decisions, in order to ensure that they keep pace with societal norms”.

“For the 17 publications which are still prohibited, the decision to retain the prohibition was based on the fact that the contents of these publications remain contrary to public interest,” a spokesman added.

The banned titles include those published by the Jehovah’s Witnesses sect whose members refuse to undergo military service, which is mandatory for all Singaporean men when they turn 18.

The rest are adult titles like Playboy,

Penthouse, Hustler, Playgirl, Mayfair, Knave and Cheri.

Commercial importation of pornographic publications is punishable by fines or jail terms.

Mark Cenite, a media law expert at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, said the de-listing move “is more of a housecleaning exercise than a policy shift or significant liberalization”.

“Many of the titles are no longer in print, or no longer in demand,” he said. AFP

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WORLD

CESAR BARRIOQUINTO EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Heat grows over deadly US strike KABUL—Pressure was growing Thursday for an international inquiry into a catastrophic US strike on an MSF hospital in Afghanistan, after the military detailed “tragic but avoidable” errors but refused to say if there would be an independent investigation.

Doctors Without Borders or MSF slammed American forces for “gross negligence” Wednesday after the US commander in Afghanistan said the October 3 strike on the charity-run hospital in the northern city of Kunduz was “caused primarily by human error”.

The raid killed 30 people and forced the charity to close the trauma center—the only one in the region—while stirring an avalanche of global condemnation.

General John Campbell, speaking at NATO headquarters in Kabul Wednesday,

SCN FORM NO. 1 (R.A. NO. 9139)

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON NATURALIZATION IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION OF VAN ARNOLD UY CHUNG to be naturalized as Filipino citizen pursuant to Republic Act No. 9139.

x-------------------------- x

SCN CASE NO. 000607

PETITION Pursuant to the provisions of Republic Act No. 9139, petitioner hereby submits a petition for naturalization to become a citizen of the Republic of the Philippines and respectfully declares: 1. My full name is Van Arnold Uy Chung , but I have also been known since childhood as N.A. or I have been judicially authorized to use the alias name(s) N.A. .

2. My present place of residence is 1679 Tayuman St., Sta. Cruz City/Municipality of Manila, Province of and all my former places of residence are (please indicate periods of residence) 40 West Point Cubao, Quezon City (since birth until 1996) 3. I was born on 13 June 1973, in Quezon City, Philippines.

I have been a resident of the Philippines since birth. At present, I am a citizen or subject of People’s Republic of China.

4. My father's name is Valentino Chung and he was born on 02 January 1949, in Manila. He is a citizen or subject of People’s Republic of China. My mother's name is Lydia Ng Uy Poot and she was born on 01 June 1953 in Caloocan. She is a citizen or subject of People’s Republic of China.

5. My trade, business, profession or lawful occupation is businessman and from which I derive an average annual income of P10,122,471.22, inclusive of bonuses, commissions and allowances. My wife's/husband's trade, business, profession or lawful occupation is businesswoman and from which she derives an average annual income of P 10,122,471.22.

(Where the above does not apply): I am exempt from the requirement of lucrative trade or occupation and from submitting income tax returns for the past three (3) years because I am a college degree holder [please state (1) degree obtained: N.A., (2) name of school: N.A. and (3) years graduated: N.A.] who cannot practice my profession (the practice of which requires a government licensure examination) by reason of my citizenship.

6. My civil status is married , I was married on 30 April 1998 in Caloocan City. My wife's/husband's name is Angelina O. Delos Santos and she/he was born on 02 Jan. 1975 in Manila . She/he is a citizen or subject of Philippines and presently resides at 1679 Tayuman St., Sta. Cruz, Manila .

7. I am legally separated from my spouse; my marriage was annulled, per decree of legal separation/annulment dated N.A. granted by N.A.. (please indicate the particular court which granted the same). I am a widower/widow and my spouse died on N.A. in N.A..

8. I have two (2) child/children, whose names, dates and places of birth and residences are as follows:

Name Date of Birth Place of Birth Residence 1679 Tayuman St., Sta. Gian Gabriel 21 Feb. 1997 Manila Gian Timothy 19 Apr. 2002

Cruz, Manila

Manila

same as above

9. I received my primary and secondary education from the following public schools or private educational institutions duly recognized by the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS), where Philippine history, government and civics are taught and prescribed as part of the school curriculum and where enrollment is not limited to any race or nationality:

Name of School

Place of School

Dates of Study

Philippine Cultural High School Philippine Cultural High School University of Santo Tomas

Manila

1983-1988

Highest Grade Completed Elementary

Manila

1988-1992

High School

Manila

1992-1997

Fourth Year

10. I am able to read, write and speak Filipino and/or any of the following dialects of the Philippines: 11. I have enrolled my minor children of school age in the following public schools or private educational institutions duly recognized by the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS), where Philipine History, government and civics are taught and prescribed as part of the school curriculum and where enrollment is not limited to any race or nationality:

Name of Child Gian Timothy

Name and Place of School UNO High School, Manila

Date of Enrollment June 2015

12. I shall never be a public charge. I am of good moral character.

I believe in the principles underlying the Philippine Constitution.

I have conducted myself in a proper and irreproachable manner during the entire period of my residence in the Philippines in my relations with the constituted government as well as with the community in which I am living. I mingled socially with Filipinos and have evinced a sincere desire to learn and embrace the customs, traditions and ideals of the Filipino people. I have all the qualifications and none of the disqualifications under Republic Act No. 9139.

blamed in part the fatigue of US troops who had been battling a Taliban offensive in Kunduz for five days, adding that the mistake was “compounded by process and equipment failures”.

The general said during Wednesday’s press conference that individuals involved in the attack had been suspended pending “standard military justice”, but refused to give details.

“The frightening catalogue of errors outlined today illustrates gross negligence on the part of US forces and violations of the rules

of war,” MSF general director Christopher Stokes said.

Human Rights Watch demanded an independent investigation, saying “serious questions” remained about “whether the attackers knowingly or recklessly fired on a functioning hospital”.

The rights group added: “This warrants a criminal investigation into possible war crimes, but the Pentagon did not clarify today whether recommendations made to senior commanders include possible criminal charges. AFP

I am not opposed to organized government or affiliated with any association or group of persons who uphold and teach doctrines opposing all organized governments. I am not defending or teaching the necessity or propriety of violence, personal assault or assassination for the success and predominance of one's ideas.

I am not a polygamist nor a believer in the practice of polygamy.

I have not been convicted of any crime involving moral turpitude.

I am not suffering from mental alienation or from any incurable contagious disease. The country of which I am a citizen or subject is not at war with the Philippines and grants to Filipinos the right to be naturalized citizens or subjects thereof.

13. It is my true and honest intention to become a citizen of the Philippines and to renounce absolutely and forever all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, and, particularly, to People’s Republic of China of which at this time I am a citizen or subject. I will reside continuously in the Philippines from the date of the filing of this petition up to the time of my admission to Philippine citizenship.

14. My character witnesses are Mr. Alfonso Delos Santos and Ms. Alota Ong both Filipino citizens, of legal age, and residing at 1679 Tayuman St., Sta. Cruz, Manila and 914 T. Alonzo St., Sta. Cruz, Manila respectively, who have executed sworn statements attached hereto in support of my instant petition, together with: (a) brief biographical data about themselves; (b) detailed statements on the dates they first came to know me, the circumstances of our initial acquaintance and the reasons and extent of our continuing familiarity; and (c) the number of times they have acted as character witnesses in other petitions for naturalization.

15. Attached hereto as annexes and made part of this petition are the duplicate originals or certified photocopies of the following documents (please check the appropriate box): [ / ] a. Petitioner's birth certificate [ / ] b. Petitioner's alien certificate of registration (ACR) [ / ] c. Petitioner's native-born certificate of residence (NBCR) [ / ] d. Petitioner's marriage certificate, if married [ ] e. Death certificate of his/her spouse, if widowed [ ] f. Court decree annulling his/her marriage or granting legal separation, if such was the fact [ / ] g. Birth certificates of petitioner's minor children [ ] h. ACRs of petitioner's minor children [ ] i. NBCRs of petitioner's minor children [ / ] j. Affidavits of financial capacity by the petitioner, duly supported by bank certifications, passbooks, stock certificates, or proof of ownership of other properties [ / ] k. Affidavits of at least two (2) credible witnesses who must be Filipino citizens of good reputation in petitioner's place of residence [ / ] l. Medical certificate from a government hospital stating that petitioner is not suffering from mental alienation or a user of prohibited drugs or otherwise a drug dependent and that he/she is not afflicted with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), or any incurable contagious disease. [ / ] m. School diploma and transcript of records of the petitioner from the school/s he or she attended in the Philippines [ / ] n. Certifications stating that petitioner's minor children are enrolled in public schools or private educational institutions duly recognized by the DECS, where Philippine history, government and civics are taught and prescribed as part of the school curriculum and where enrollment is not limited to any race or nationality [ ] o. Petitioner's income tax returns for the past three years [ ] p. Petitioner's receipts of payment of income tax for the past three years 16. Other documents submitted by the petitioner in support of his/her petition: 2014 Income Tax Return 2013 Income Tax Return 2012 Income Tax Return Drug Test Report Psychiatric Report Barangay Clearance NBI Clearance Police Clearance

Laboratory Report (HIV Test) Regional Trial Court Clearance Metropolitan Trial Court Clearance Office of the City Prosecutor Clearance Affidavit of Loss Form 137-Elementary Form 137-Elementary Certification (Philippine Cultural College) PRAYER

WHEREFORE, it is respectfully prayed that petitioner be conferred Philippine citizenship pursuant to the provisions of Republic Act No, 9139.

Dated at Makati City, Metro Manila, this day

of

, 20

.

VAN ARNOLD UY CHUNG Name and Signature of Petitioner Address: A 1679 Tayuman St., Sta. Cruz, Manila Telephone Number:0918-927-7853 Number: 7853

Right Thumbmark of Petitioner Petitioner's signature and right thumbmark

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES) CITY/MUNICIPALITY OF PASIG) S.S. I, VAN ARNOLD UY CHUNG of legal age and a resident of 1679 Tayuman St., Sta. Cruz, Manila, after being duly sworn, depose and say that I am the petitioner herein, that I have read the foregoing petition and know the foregoing petition and known the contents thereof, and that the same is true of my own knowledge.

VAN ARNOLD UY CHUNG Name ame and Signature of Petitioner SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me at Pasig City this 28th day of September, 2015.

DOC. No. 349 PAGE No. 71 BOOK No. I SERIES OF 2015

(TS-NOV. 13, 20, 27, 2015)

MARK ERWIN C. CASTILLO NOTARY OTARY PUBLIC-CITY OF PASIG Appointment No. 196 (2015-2016) valid until 31 December 2016 Roll of Attorneys No. 61821 IBP No. 983033-Manila IV PTR No. 380235 o1 January 2015 City of Pasig MCLE Compliance No.-Governing Board Order 1, s-2008

Goodbye. This undated black-and-white picture shows Japanese actress Setsuko Hara, who starred in the iconic “Tokyo Story” and other films by renowned directors. Hara died aged 95, local media reported on November 26, 2015. AFP

Seoul holds state funeral for former president Kim SEOUL—South Korea on Thursday buried former president Kim YoungSam, following a snow-swept state funeral for the man whose 1992 election victory brought a formal end to more than 30 years of military rule.

The one-time pro-democracy activist, who served as president from 19931998, died in hospital on Sunday after a serious blood infection. He was 87.

Kim’s term was bookended by two major events, the first nuclear crisis with North Korea in 1994 and the Asian financial crisis of 1997-98, when he accepted a $58-billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund.

He also had the two generals who served as presidents before him indicted and convicted on treason charges, although he pardoned both men at the end of his presidency.

Kim’s funeral casket, draped with the national flag, was carried from Seoul National University Hospital by 11 uniformed bearers shortly after midday (0300 GMT) and placed in a black, stretch hearse—its hood decorated with a wreath.

The hearse was then driven through the streets of Seoul in a long funeral cortege headed by a car carrying a large portrait of the former president.

After a ceremony at the National Assembly, held outdoors in freezing temperatures and under sometimes

heavy snowfall, Kim was buried with full honors at the national cemetery on the south bank of the Han river that runs through the capital.

In contrast to the thousands who lined the roads for the state funeral of the populist president Roh MooHyun who committed suicide in 2009, the turnout on Thursday was negligible—a reflection of public ambivalence over Kim’s legacy.

While in office, Kim launched a popular anti-corruption campaign and had his two predecessors, Chun Doo-Hwan and Roh Tae-Woo, arrested on bribery charges that later morphed into trial for mutiny and treason.

The anti-graft drive was later tarnished after his son was arrested on charges of bribery and tax evasion.

The end of Kim’s presidency was clouded by the Asian financial crisis, still known in South Korea as the IMF crisis because of the massive bail-out negotiated with the world lender.

The terms of the deal were widely seen by South Koreans as a national humiliation and an infringement of the country’s economic sovereignty.

In his farewell address to the nation as president, Kim apologized for a five-year term that had failed to fulfill its initial promise.

“I cannot but frankly admit that my efforts fell short of your expectations,” he said in 1998. AFP

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MOTORING

RAMON L. TOMELDAN EDITOR

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

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Off-road fest tests Isuzu mettle ISUZU Philippines Corporation, one of the leading brands in the domestic automotive industry, is set to prove its mettle as it stages the Isuzu Off-Road Fest for three days starting today at the BGC Open Grounds in Taguig City.

The event aims to highlight the 4x4 capabilities of Isuzu flagship models, the Mu-X and the D-Max pick-up. It will be open to the public from 10AM to 10PM. Visitors will be allowed to experience the true power of the new 3.0-liter VGS turbo variants of the D-Max and mu-X as they traverse 4x4 urban test courses. The proving ground includes an articulated ramp station, roller slips and the 40-degree traverse angle ramp. The highlight – is the giant 20-FT inclined steel ramp or—thrill hill—which will be the ultimate test of the vehicles’ power.

Apart from the 4x4 test drive facility, IPC

also sets other festive activities all inside one venue. There will be a display of customized Isuzu D-MAX and Mu-X

by Black Rhino wheels, PIAA, Rhino Racks of Australia and Overland 4x4 gear of Thailand.

Expected to display their customized Isuzu variants are the Isuzu car clubs, plus an an on-road vehicle test drive for its 4x2 variants, selling of parts and accessories with big discounts, exciting games and raffle promos.

To keep the festive vibe alive, there will be daily performances to cap each night of the event – starting with the Itchyworms on November 27, DJ NIX Damn

FAST FASTLANE

join in the celebration.

“The Isuzu Off-Road Fest is designed to push the limit of our Isuzu mu-X and D-MAX models. We want the public not just to see but to experience by themselves the true power of our

new 3.0-liter VGS turbo variants, said IPC President Hajime Koso. Aside from this, this three-day festival is also our way of saying thank you to the Filipino market for their continued support to our products

over the years,” he adds.

To know more about the Isuzu Off-Road Fest log-on to www.isuzuphil.com or visit Isuzu Philippines’ official Facebook page for more details.

Auto Focus test drive draws big crowds

Teco vehicles boast GPS, e-payment system TAIWANESE Teco Group and Ropali motorcycle joint venture, Roteco, have launched their 2016 electric vehicles at Subic Bay Freeport. Guests include Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority Chairman Roberto Garcia and Olongapo City Mayor Rolen Paulino. The launch showcases the environment-friendly E-Jeepney & E-Trike, and also a brand new, easy to use smart payment and fleet management system created by ITTS called Intelligent Transportation Solution.

The new e-jeepney will be equipped with ITS for eticketing and GPS location tracking. ITS has the ability of smart payment and also GPS tracking in the control center to monitor the entire fleet operation, including Location, Time of Route, Speed, Power Consumption, Powertrain Conditions.

P on November 28 and Pinoy Rock sensation The Dawn on November 29. Likewise, Isuzu muX’s brand ambassadors, the Team Kramer will be present on November 27 to greet the crowd and

Data collected from fleet can be analyzed by historical events and be presented in a user-friendly and ease-to-use way for business decision making, for example carbon emission reduction estimation throughout the years.

Teco CEO George Lien said that one of the most outstanding abilities of the ITS is that the system calculates the distance of each passenger travelled and collects the fare from individual, an exact match of current “Public Utility Jeepney Fare Guide” from Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board. ITS also transmits real-time passenger information to the backend control center. This new eticketing provides efficient fare collection and also ensure passenger’s safety riding on the vehicle.

THE country’s biggest and grandest consolidated test drive activity held last November 12-15, 2015 at the SM Mall of Asia Concert Grounds attracted an impressive turn-out of visitors and logged a huge number of test drives. During the Auto Focus Pre-Christmas Test Drive, the latest models available to the local market were featured and free test drives by the Philippines’ leading manufacturers and distributors were offered, all in a single venue. This unique pre-Christmas test drive program gave prospective car buyers and enthusiasts the opportunity to see or test drive the widest range of competing makes and models without having to go through the ordeal of having to run from one dealer to another in search of the model of their choice.

Participating at the AFPTD were such renowned brands as: Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Isuzu, Lexus, Jeep, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Peugeot, Suzuki, Toyota,

and Volkswagen.

Butch Gamboa, Chairman/CEO of Sunshine Television Production & Marketing Services Inc. (STV), the AFPTD organizer, pointed out the prevailing sentiment expressed by many visitors: “Most of what a prospect might consider buying or test driving: sedans, SUV’s, pick-ups, vans and multi-purpose vehicles, even sports cars, were there at venue. And much more, they were able to avail of the best deals or offers provided even before the traditional peak the automobile industry experiences during the Christmas season. ” The grand pre-Christmas event is the second of STV’s annual test programs, the first being the Auto Focus Summer Test Drive Festival held last May at the same venue. “It’s like a one-stop shop for new cars! During the AFPTD’s 4-day run, the exhibitors registered more than 2,500 actual test drives within the on-site test tracks or around the SM MOA area.

City ramps up Honda sales to post 44% growth SALES of Honda Cars Philippines rose by 44 percent to 16,046 units from January to October compared to the same period in 2014. This is a significant growth compared to the overall 22 percent sales increase of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. For October alone, HCPI sold 1,786 vehicles -- up by 16 percent compared to the same month last year.

HCPI attributes its good sales to the strong market demand for its City, All-New Mobilio, and HR-V. The City remains as HCPI’s best-selling nameplate among its 13 vehicle models. The City has 46 percent share in HCPI’s year-to-date sales with an 11 percent year-on-year growth. HCPI aims to increase its City sales with the introduction of another variant of the City, the New City 1.5 E CVT

Special Edition early this month. Exclusive for the Philippine market, the New City 1.5 E CVT Special Edition is equipped with UV cut glass windows for the front doors, speed-sensing Auto Door Lock System, a panic button and free Sharp Plasmacluster with Ion Technology. Furthermore, the Special Edition also gets a new Ruby Red Pearl color option.

The next Honda bestseller is the All-New Mobilio. With only half a year in the market, Honda’s first seven-seater Multi-purpose Utility Vehicle already contributes 14 percent to HCPI’s year-to-date sales. HCPI closed October sales with 506 units of All-New Mobilio sold. The All-New Mobilio’s modern and sporty styling, advanced technology, spacious cabin, flexible seats and comfortable sedan-like ride charm Filipino buyers.

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RAMON L. TOMELDAN EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

MOTORING CLARK REVS UP

AUTO-MOTORAMA Text and photos by Dino Ray V. Directo III

Rare sportscars took center stage at the Auto Motorama.

Car of the Year: Mazda officials led by its president Steven Tan receive the Car of the Year Award from the Car Awards Group Inc.

I

T WAS a red-letter date for petrol heads as the Clark Fontana Leisure Park played host to this year’s Auto-Motoroma, one of the biggest car shows in the country today. With a theme of “Drive More to Reach More”, the weekend car show had more than the usual display of custom and modified cars and motorcycles. “For several years now, we have always been a great advocate of Reach Out World Wide Foundation—the same beneficiary supported by the late action star Paul Walker, who starred in the immensely popular Fast and Furious movie series,” said Fontana chief executive officer Manuel Sequeira.

Clark Fontana, in cooperation with the Car Awards Group Inc., took the wraps off the 2015 Car of the Year Philippines winner, the Mazda 2 in a gala night attended by industry bigwigs and related agencies. Mazda’s giant killer stood out among the 65 other nominees that vied for the top plum, garnering merits in terms of performance, aesthetics, driving experience, and price to name a few of its selling points. The other big winner for the night was the Nissan NP300 Navara 2.5L 4x2 EL 7AT Calibre, which earned the Truck of the Year - Philippines award, beating out its competitors in the truck wars.

The same variant topped the 4x2 Pickup category, while Ford’s Ranger Wildtrak 3.2L 4x4 AT snatched the 4x4 Pickup award.

As a climax to the Auto-Motorama weekend, the fifth JSK Auto Fun Run was held the following day with a record setting 1,059 participating cars in different levels

of customization and tuning. At least 2,000 guests were treated to a live band entertainment, sumptuous meals, games and exciting prizes culminating in a grand raffle draw with a BYD car as the grand prize. The celebration led to an Auto Show Pool Party with a live disc jockey on Saturday night, held at the Olympic-size swimming pool area of Fontana Hot Spring Leisure Parks Hotel.

“I’m very happy for the turnout of the three-day event,” said Sequeira. “I think Paul Walker was watching over us. This is the first of what will be a series of annual events. The Auto-Motorama was a success because of our partners namely Clark Development Corp., San Miguel Corp., PLDT Smart Telecommunications, and coorganizers San Miguel Brewery, San Miguel Purefoods, Ginebra San Miguel, Petron, JSK Custom Paint & Auto Works, CAGI, Clark International Speedway and our friends from the media.”

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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

ST Y L E & BE AU T Y

LIFE

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Bayo's collaborative brand Style Harvest offers a holiday collection inspired by the iconic Filipino Christmas symbol - the parol.

WEAR THE PAROL

Local clothing brand launches lantern-inspired holiday collection

BY BERNADETTE LUNAS

As

much as Filipinos love to adorn faux pine trees whenever the Yuletide season kicks in, the parol remains as the proud symbol of Christmas in the Philippines.

And being a proud local fashion label, Bayo thought it's only logical to offer a holiday collection inspired by the colorful lantern.

“We thought (at Bayo) that we should incorporate Christmas to our merchandise,” Bayo marketing head Mishca Timonera begins.

“And since we are Filipino and proud as a brand, we took what symbolizes the Filipino Christmas best and it all boiled down to the parol. We use it in lighting our streets and decorating our houses.”

For the second outing of Bayo's Style Harvest, it partners with no less than the home of giant Christmas lanterns, San Fernando in Pampanga, for its holiday collection aptly dubbed “A Holiday Heritage.”

Style Harvest, launched in 2013, promotes Filipino creativity and partners with a cause, a person, or a community to help cultivate Pinoy talent and ingenuity. The first Style Harvest collaboration was with Filip+Inna by designer Len Cabili.

Drawing inspiration from the festive colors and intricate patterns of the parol, the collection features shift dresses and blouses in simple silhouettes and classic cuts adorned with colorful digital prints, along with chic

pieces in neutral and bold colors subtly injected with Christmas lantern elements.

“What we intend for the collection is to give a glimpse of how Christmas feels for us Filipinos. The colors, the elements, the festivity, these are just the few things that we wish to convey,” says Bayo creative director and owner Anna Lagon.

Offered in such a festive holiday, many, however, wonder why majority of pieces come in dark colors.

Lagon explains, “We used a lot of blacks in this collection because parols are well appreciated during nighttime.”

Which allows them to apply the “total personality, usage and appreciation of parol to all our designs.”

And while the pieces are inspired by Christmas lanterns, Lagon assures that the collection transcends seasons, “in that way, you get to use the clothes all-year-round.”

Making sure the designs stay true not only to Bayo's local roots – bayo is an Ilonggo term that means “dress” – the brand also ensures that the wearer can get the most out of each piece, considering the dynamic of Filipino consumers.

“The styles we offer are classic and sophisticated, especially since the Filipino market is very practical – they want to wear their clothes for the longest time, so the clothes should remain fashionable as they can be for the longest time,” shares Lagon.

For the holidays, Bayo partners with the artisans of

San Fernando, Pampanga to provide beautifully crafted parols in all of its 38 stores nationwide. Bayo recently opened its latest branch at Solenad in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

Bayo also introduces its newest brand endorser, actress Iza Calzado, whom Timonera describes as “the embodiment of Filipina grace and beauty.”

Not only is Calzado an aspirational figure for modern Filipinas, Lagon says she also perfectly personifies the “Bayo Woman.”

“Describing Iza is like describing the brand. She's gorgeous, she's gracious, she's naturally pretty, and she has a good fashion sense,” says Lagon, who's much like Bayo, which caters to “women who appreciate fashion and style, and don't want to worry about putting things together. Each Bayo piece is already styled-up.”

Lagon also admires how Calzado lives a balanced life. “She's an advocate for a fit woman who's conscious not only about her body but her health. Women now are becoming more conscious about getting healthy or getting fit,” she notes.

Speaking of which, does Bayo plan to offer activewear soon? “It's in the pipeline and part of product expansion, but before we go into that, we want to focus on strengthening our Bayo Woman portfolio” that is composed of casual and semi-formal wear for women 22 years old and above.

The seven-foot Christmas lantern made by the artisans in San Fernando, Pampanga adorn the windows of Bayo Glorietta 2 branch

Bayo creative director Anna Lagon and the brand's new endorser, Iza Calzado

Virlanie Foundation Choir

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

Modern Mix. A hand-painted silk barong top and an organza ball gown skirt exude a contemporary Filipiniana look.

Triple Fret serenades the guests with their classic guitars

Nguyen Thanh Huong and Jenny Morel Bollard are welcomed by Gretchen del Rosario and Maria Aurea Rowena Domingo who hosted the APEC Ministers' Spouses cultural program

Kontra Gapi presented contemporary Philippine music and dance culture during Kultura's fashion show at the APEC Ministers’ Spouses program.

KULTURA PRESENTS PHILIPPINE FASHION FOR APEC

T

he Philippines put its best foot forward during the recent Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit hosted

by Manila, with 21 heads of state and their respective delegations coming over to discuss trade and economic opportunities. Aside from business and commerce, fashion also took center stage with the spouses of trade and foreign ministers attending the APEC Ministerial Meeting getting a glimpse of Philippine fashion in a cultural program and luncheon hosted by the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Industry at the Ayala Museum.

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario’s spouse Gretchen and Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo’s better half Maria Aurea Rowena Domingo welcomed the guests led by Jenny Morel Bollard, spouse of APEC executive director Allan Bollard and Nguyen Thanh Huong, wide of ASEAN Secretary General Le Luong Minh.

A brief orientation on Philippine history plus a fashion show featuring hand-painted and embroidered modern barong

designs by Barong Filipino, Filipiniana finery by Raffaella and Nuevo Ystilo from Kultura was one of the highlights of the program.

Guests were impressed by the elegant collection of uniquely Filipino designs with a modern twist.

Kultura's fashion presentation featured four collections: Tribal, which showcases indigenous influences; Floral, which highlighted blooms in delicate hand painting and appliqués; Black & White, which celebrated the contrast of colors; and Traditional, which showcased classic Filipino attire.

The spouses also visited Kultura at SM Aura where they were welcomed with the traditional maglalatik dance. They were also given a cigar rolling demonstration.

At the Kultura store, the ladies were able to get a glimpse of artisanal finds from all over the country: South Sea pearls, Mother of Pearl clutches, and abaca wraps. Items for the home like the nito baskets with Mangyan motifs and tableware and decor made of indigenous materials like tinalak, capiz, sea grass and rattan were also showcased.

Hand-painted floral cape barong with shantung pants from Kultura

Barongs in black and white and gray

Ethnic weave pants worn with a cropped jusi kimona top for her; and a piña silk barong with geometric woven patterns for him from the Tribal collection

Barong cape with floral appliques paired with shantung pants from Kultura’s Floral Collection Piña silk capelet with appliques paired with embroidered cut work skirt from Kultura

French eyewear brand Oxibis now at George Optical

Striped abaca wrap with an organza Tribal contempo. An embroidered jusi capelet is worn with a tinalak and gown from Kultura’s Black and white collection. cotton skirt from Kultura

Flag Jokk

Tilt

T

he French are known for their incredible sense of style, fashion and sophistication. They also have this knack for effortlessly blending casual elegance with a touch of glam, with the design range going from the classic to the avant-garde. And the colors!

From richly royal shades of gold, red, and blue, to sweet-as-candy pastels, the French touch can satisfy one’s visual appetite.

Pinoy fashionistas can now indulge their trés chic tendencies beyond bags and outfits with Oxibis®, the premier French eyewear brand – thanks to George Optical that has brought this new brand to Philippine shores.

George Optical does not only look after one’s eye health, it also selects hot foreign eyewear brands and makes them accessible to the local market.

One of the major brands in the French eyewear industry, Oxibis was developed in an environment characterized by artistry, creativity and passion.

Its eyewear products seamlessly combine color and design, to create its own unique style and personality that can give other known global brands a run for their money.

Each Oxibis® product has a distinctive feature – whether in the shape, material, color, or trim – to make it stand out, technically and visually. With

a wide range of styles and designs in various finishes and price levels, Oxibis is sure to appeal to wearers with diverse fashion sensibilities. And, just as George Optical is known for its expert eye care and quality service, Oxibis has earned a reputation for superior value and craftsmanship, with its more than 20 years in the market.

George Optical brings to the Filipino consumers the best that Oxibis has to offer in terms of French eyewear aesthetics and functional value. Eight product models under the Oxibis brand present irresistible choices that are sure to suit anyone’s need for sophistication and modern styling. Those looking

Zag

to make a dynamic statement can take their cue from Zag’s bold curves, or revel in Tilt’s electrifying colors. For a more subtle approach, go for Flag with its simple but contemporary and compelling style collection.

Meanwhile, the Jokk collection showcases Oxibis’ expertise in design, with its ultra-chic matte dual-material frames.

Sky’s light and airy eyewear selections combine character with visual appeal. Wearers who are looking for a gamechanger can try out Taz – vibrant and streamlined, this collection’s ingenious design is sure to awaken the senses. Zef Premium embodies design in its most elegant expression, with its

fine and pure lines, lightweight frame and discreet colors. Lastly, the S.Fit is designed for men and women who want colorful, stylish, and comfortable frames in smaller sizes.

Oxibis is sure to match whatever is one’s fancy – from the frivolous to the more refined – in true French fashion.

George Optical makes sure that eye care goes beyond eyewear – with its team of experts who are always ready to provide accurate diagnosis and proper treatment. Catch the French fever at George Optical!

Oxibis French eyewear collections are now available at all branches of George Optical and The Opticians nationwide.

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

Caring for

1

Teenage Skin

NEUTROGENA Deep Clean Facial Cleanser, Watsons I’ve always been a fan of Neutrogena’s line of acne-prone skin cleansers (I used the cleansing bars in college).

This oil-free and alcohol-free facial cleanser for normal to oily skin deep cleanses the skin, dissolving dirt and makeup. Its salicylic acid formula removes dead surface skin that can make skin dry, rough, dull and clog pores. Rinses clean without leaving a heavy residue on the skin for that feeling of freshness.

2

I have always been very selfconscious about my skin at a young age. Growing up, I was well aware that I had relatives on both my mother’s and father’s side of the family that had problems with oily skin and acne. This POP-UP BEAUTY began during their teens and

BY JIGS MAYUGA even worsened into adult acne as they got older. I would read countless teen magazines that my older sister had like Teen, YM and Seventeen and would heavily research about the best products to prevent breakouts.

I remember purchasing my first skincare regimen at age 13, in my freshman year of high school. I saved up my allowance to buy the now discontinued “Ten-O-Six” three-step skincare system from cosmetics company Bonne Bell. It was a cleanser, toner and oil-free moisturizer that I applied morning and night.

Through the years, up until I was in college in the late ’90s, my skincare regimen evolved to other products including the use of exfoliating scrubs and masks like the iconic St. Ives Apricot Scrub and St. Ives Firming Mask which I applied religiously once every week.

Well, my patience and perseverance paid off. I survived my teens and early twenties without a single acne scar or dark spot.

Of course, I had the occasional pimple here and there, either on my chin or on my nose, but it was nothing that a little Benzoyl Peroxide acne cream couldn’t fix.

Nowadays, teens have a multitude of choices when it comes to skincare products that care for oily, acne-prone skin. It always helps to check the label on these products and look for terms like non-comedogenic (does not clog pores), non-acnegenic (does not cause acne) and oil-free to make sure that these do not cause or aggravate acne. Also remember that washing your face more than twice a day, overscrubbing and the use of harsh, medicated cleansers can irritate the skin and actually make your acne worsen.

Modern toners are not the same as the old astringents from back in the day that strip the skin of natural emollients.

Remember that toners are meant to prep the skin for your moisturizers and serums so that it absorbs much better into the skin. Overcleansing the face actually makes the skin drier and your oil glands will compensate by producing even more oil.

That is why it’s always smart never to skip applying a lightweight, gel moisturizer to keep skin soft and supple. Here are some of my current product recommendations for teens who want to care for their oily and sensitive skin.

Follow me on Instagram and Twitter @jigsmayuga

5

HAPPY SKIN Zit Zapper Cream Foundation for Acne Prone Skin, Glorietta A silicone-free foundation that actually treats acne as it evens out your complexion and hides blemishes, with an oil-control cream powder formula that battles shine. Grapefruit and yogurt extract minimize the growth of acne bumps and brighten pimple scars while salicylic acid prevents the further clogging of pores.

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3

DERMALOGICA Clear Start Breakout Clearing All Over Toner, Rustan’s After cleansing, spritz this toner over your face, neck or even your body (with your eyes closed) to control excess oil and help eliminate existing breakouts all over. Twelve gentle botanicals including lavender, camellia sinensis and argan, known to minimize redness and skin aggravation triggered by breakouts, help cool and revive the skin.

ORIGINS Clear Improvement Active Charcoal Mask, SM Makati

ESTEE LAUDER Nutritious Rosy Prism Radiant Gel Emulsion, Rustan’s This lightweight aqua gel was created exclusively for oily, Asian skin; formulated with Nutritious Rosy Prism™ – the world’s first high-performance system proven to significantly reduce and help prevent the look of yellow skin tone. Its’ lightweight texture moisturizes without the heaviness so it’s perfect for combination to oily skin. Non-acnegenic and dermatologist tested.

I still had oily skin in my early twenties so I would use this product once a week to help control oil and unclog my pores to prevent breakouts.

Bamboo charcoal acts like a magnet to draw out deep-dwelling porecloggers, white China clay absorbs environmental toxins, lecithin dissolves impurities. Skin feels super refreshed after every use.

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

HOLIDAY GIFTS OF BEAUTY FROM WATSONS

T

reat your family and friends to a skincare holiday with gifts of beauty from Watsons and the SM Store Beauty Section.

New and exclusive skincare, bath, and body pampering gift sets that offer nourishment, hydration and cleansing will give a refreshing glow that will brighten up anyone’s day.

Luxury holiday gifts that treat special family and friends to a relaxing spa experience at home are also available with items such as the Aloe Vera Botanical Pamper Set complete with exfoliating to moisturizing skin treats.

The Indulgent Deluxe Pampering Gift Set, on the other hand, features cleansing and moisturizing products like bath salt, bath milk, and body scrub along with a body loofa and a scented candle.

Skin care gifts inspired by nature are also available – BodyXpert Milk & Almond Bath Set with hydrating and nourishing shower gels; Fabulous Frootz Bath & Shower Set with moisturizing hand creams, bubble bath and body scrub; and the Jardin De Fleur Lavender Floral Gift Set for a refreshing lavender scented bath.

This holiday season, give your friends the gift of beauty-ful and natural skin care from Watsons and SM Store Beauty Section.

Watsons is Asia’s leading health and beauty retailer, currently operating over 4,000 stores and more than 1,000 pharmacies in 12 Asian and European markets.

Follow Watsons: www.watsons.com.ph; www. facebook/WatsonsPH; www.twitter/WatsonsPH

The Sense of Spa Hand Care gift set softens and pampers your hands

Skin Favorites Mixed Berries Gift Set includes body scrub, body lotion, and hand cream made from your favorite antioxidants

Cupcake Treats Bath Set brings sweet cupcake scents to hand soap, shower gel, body scrub, body lotion and hand cream

The BodyXpert Cherry Blossom Gift Set has fresh floral scent in its shampoo, shower gel, body scrub and body butter

The Aloe Vera Botanical Pamper basket brings the spa experience to the home

Skin Luxury Cocoa Butter and Luxury Milk

The BodyXpert Raspberry and Pomegranate Indulge Gift Set is perfect for gift giving this Christmas

Sweet stuff. BodyXpert Vanilla Sugar Set includes shower gel, body scrub, body lotion, and loofa

Jardin De Fleur Collection's Lavender Florals Bath and Body Set

The Indulgent Deluxe Pampering Collection is an elegant body spa gift set perfect for the holidays

Fruit-ful scents with Fabulous Frootz shower and bath set

The BodyXpert Milk & Almond Bath Set includes pampering body soap, shower gel, and face towel

BodyXpert Lavender & Jasmine Bath Set includes shower gel, body scrub, hand soap, and body lotion with mixed scents of lavender and jasmine

The Skin Indulgence Gift Set includes body lotion, body wash and body scrub

The Silky Blossom Collection includes a body scrub, body lotion, and hand cream to make your skin smooth as silk

The revitalizing Skin Favorites Green Tea Body Set

Affordable luxury courtesy of Sophie

O Sophie Paris Philippines celebrates its 13th anniversary with a dazzling launch of its latest collection

ne of the companies that is bringing affordable fashion to everyone, Sophie Paris recently celebrated its 13th anniversary in the Philippines with a launch of its new collection via a dazzling fashion show.

“Sophie Paris Philippines' anniversary collection mirrors our commitment to providing the latest trend in fashion while ensuring affordability and quality on top of our minds,” said Sophie International founder Bruno Hasson.

Since the opening of its first Philippine affiliate in Mandaluyong City in 2002,

Sophie Paris has established itself as a direct selling and multi-level marketing company that offers a wide array of French-designed garments, bags, shoes and other fashion products sans the hefty price tag.

The anniversary collection featured ready-to-wear pieces for women including t-shirts, dresses and blouses in floral prints and light colors. Also showcased were the latest in women's sweaters, blazers, jumpsuits and long sleeved dresses.

Models also walked the runway wearing the freshest addition to Sophie Paris' affordable lineup of accessories

which included analog watches in rose gold and silver, fancy bracelets, necklaces and earrings. New styles of sandals, flats and wedges for women were also launched.

Completing the glamorous showcase of the women's range were the newest Sophie Martin luxury handbags faux leather hobo, travel and drawstring bags, two-toned tote handbags and sling bags.

The latest in the brand’s men’s collection were also presented in the fashion show, including long sleeves and polo shirts in muted colors, shirts in fun prints, sweaters, suede shoes, backpacks, belts and sunglasses.

F RIDAY : NOV EMBER 27, 2015

SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

C5

STAr-STudded ‘experience STore’ opening

T

he newly opened Cyberzone area at the SM Mall of Asia was abuzz last Saturday as celebrities graced the opening of perhaps one of the most elegant looking stores in the area.

The new Experience Store symbolizes Huawei’s continuous growth from a reliable and respected brand into an aspirational brand with a meaningful purpose.

“Innovation has always been in the DNA of Huawei, fearlessly envisioning cutting edge technologies,” said Charles Wu, country head of Huawei Technologies Philippines. “But rather than innovate just for innovations sake, Huawei creates innovations that serve as tools to realize the vision and passion of its consumers.”

Hosted by Gelli Victor, guests were serenaded by Nicole Asensio prior to the ribbon cutting ceremonies. Shortly thereafter were appearances of Kapuso actor Rocco Nacino and Beauty queens Maggie Wilson, and Miss Grand International 2015 3rd runner-up Parul Shah, who went around the store to explore various mobile devices on display, and to check out the large LED screens which show the smart connectivity among various Huawei devices.

The arrival of two of the most popular Pinoy Big Brother housemates, Teen Grand winner Jimboy Martin and 2nd Placer Tommy Esguerra further drew the attention of shoppers who flocked to the store to get a glimpse of the two Kapamilya talents.

Both are now regulars of It’s Showtime, with Tommy cast in “Tomiho: A Love Realiserye” segment of the ABS-CBN noontime show.

The 110-sqm Huawei Experience Store is designed with simple, all white, minimalist interiors that reflect the “Huawei and I” philosophy, which aims to establish better engagements with end-users.

The result is a space that is both inviting and relaxing with a well-designed store layout. It guarantees you to quickly find the device you are looking for. The store likewise engages your visual and auditory senses with the top-of-the-line fixtures

Benjamin and Lovi

on the ceilings, the fit-outs, and the long stretch of audiovisual output that highlights the lifestyle themes of the shop.

More than just a store where families, students, and professionals can shop and learn more about Huawei’s innovations, the experience store also is positioned as a place where you can get some expert opinions.

“Knowledgeable sales people are available to help consumers learn about all the latest products from Huawei and test the best features of each device and guide them in choosing the best device according to their specific needs and passion,” says Jojo Vega, Consumer Business Group director of Huawei Technologies Philippines.

The hands-on Huawei store experience provides visitors with a chance to try Huawei’s entire product line such as the new Huawei MateS that revolutionize the power of touch with its Knuckle Sense 2.0 and Fingerprint Sense 2.0 technologies. Shoppers can try the Beautification 3.0 Technology of the newly launched Huawei G8. This first-ofits-kind feature allows users to enhance images with various makeup styles and preview the effects in real time with a single touch.

The store also showcases the much awaited most stylish Android watch -- Huawei Watch and the Google’s best smartphone to date – the Huawei Nexus 6P. Another attraction in the store is the Huawei Powerbike, a consumer engagement activity that highlights the power saving advantage of Huawei brought about by its telecommunications network superiority.

“Filipino consumers have shown tremendous affinity for our devices, as translated to Huawei’s impressive market share growth every year. Today, and more than ever, we are bullish that with the increasing platforms to engage our consumers everyday, their trust in our brand and our mutual connections will continue to grow,” added Vega.

With the opening of the Huawei Experience Store, Huawei now has 40 brand stores and 32 kiosks and lounges all over the country. The brand targets 60 brand shops by the end of the year.

Dina Bonnevie

(From left to right): Huawei Country Manager Charles Wu, beauty queens Parul Shah and Maggie Wilson, and Huawei Sales and Marketing Director Jojo Vega

Tommy Esguerra, PBB 737 Ist Runner Up

Experience Store owner Leandro Poblete with Huawei official Charles Wu

Lovi Poe

GMA Star Rocco Nacino

Jimboy Martin, PBB teens Big Winner

Ms. Grand International 2015 3rd runner Up Parul Shah and former Bb. Pilipinas World Maggie Wilson

‘Beautiful StrangerS’ CaSt on the Soap’S end

Q&A

Benjamin Alves

Wu, Nacino and Vega at the newly-opened Huawei Experience Store

The Kapuso network’s soap Beautiful Strangers ends tonight. And before the show fades to black, we talked to the Dina Bonnevie, Lovi Poe, and Benjamin Alves on their thoughts on tonight’s final episode.

Excerpts from the conversation…

What can the viewers expect in the finale of Beautiful Strangers?

Dina Bonnevie: The viewers can expect an ending that addresses wrongdoings that have to be corrected by paying the price for mistakes.

Lovi Poe: Expect the unexpected. Our writers have had a very good vision on how the story will go. The ending is heartbreakingly beautiful.

Benjamin Alves: Some people will not make it to the final episode…and you’ll be surprised who they are. So that’s a much watch.

What was your most memorable scene/moment while doing the series?

Dina: When Alejandra pours out her heart to Ron-

aldo telling him what she did out of her love for him.

Lovi: I loved all of my taong grasa scenes.

Benjamin: Siguro all of my scenes with Lovi, I feel like our friendship grew deeper after this show.

Like every time I see her now I know I will always connect with this girl, even if we were in a different soap in the future.

What have you learned from the show?

Dina: Aside from the fact that crime does not pay, all our thoughts, actions, and decisions spell out our future and the consequences of our actions, thoughts and decisions.

Lovi: We live in a world where getting even with the ones who have done us wrong seems to be the right thing to do. But this show teaches us a lesson that revenge won’t make anyone happy. It may be a never- ending cycle.

Benjamin: Professionalism from our seasoned actors and to really fall in love with my character.

To understand that we are all human and we all make mistakes.

F RIDAY : NOV EMBER 27, 2015

C6

Screengrab of Sarah's latest MV

SHOWBITZ isahred @ gmail.com

PeOPle

...aRE taLkinG abOUt

SaRah GEROnimO Have you ever wondered why the pop singer has been trending on social media for days now? Well, days before her two-night already sold out concert at the Smart Araneta Coliseum; Sarah dropped the music video of her latest single, “Minamahal.” In the four-minute music video, Sarah goes artsy. It shows Sarah in a perfectly choreographed lyrical dance routine without any elaborate backdrop.

Just like the song’s lyrics, the MV furthers the singer’s signature style – simple yet classy.

A photo of the baby shared

by Dingdong on Instagram

maRia LEtiZia That’s the name of a future television star, that is, if Marian Rivera and Dingdong Dantes would allow their first child enter the industry that made them television royalties. Zia, the baby’s nickname, made her debut on social media when her dad shared a picture of her on Instagram. That photo that showed only her tiny little hands already created lots of buzz. What more when the couple starts to share more photos of her?

We see it now, endorsements, and lots of endorsements.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE 47 49 50 51 53 56 57 61 65 66 69 70 71 72

ACROSS 1 Supermarket amenity 5 Guys 10 Purple vegetable 14 Where poi is served 15 Buggy drivers 16 Old barge canal 17 Valhalla honcho 18 — luego, senor!

19 Daybreak 20 Enjoyed a repast

22 24 27 28 32 36 37 39 40 42 44 45

Dumbfounded Chariot race locale Legumes Medieval sport Scenery Libras’ mo.

Pocket Monkeyshine Erik the Red’s son TV awards Early Teuton Not spelled out

Diet returns to TV

CyRUS ViLLanUEVa What’s next to the teenage singer after winning the X-Factor Australia? The talented Fil- Aussie mutt said he’d probably try launching a music career in America or the Philippines, where he has a growing fan base. That’s good news for the local industry infested by many talentless singers who apparently have sold multi-platinum records. At least, Cyrus doesn’t have to prove himself when it comes to this department. Oh, we can hardly wait for this to happen.

Fil-Aussie Cyrus Villanueva wins X Factor Australia

ANSWER FOR PREVIOUS PUZZLE

...aRE nOt taLkinG abOUt

73 74 75

Joshua tree, e.g.

Tact ender Pitfall, maybe Won with ease Polite address Crooked Convenience store treat Word of woe Bring on board Look a long time Tony’s cousin Alien tour buses?

Repair-bill item Patricia of “Cookie’s Fortune” Places to winter Shake off Trough fare

DOWN 1 Lummox 2 Honda rival 3 Shower, maybe 4 Guitar adjusters 5 Lah-di- — 6 Ms. Thurman 7 Frisbee, e.g.

8 Legally impede 9 Alan Ladd oater 10 Perplexing 11 Winged god 12 Gael republic

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2015

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Gravitate toward Pixels Kind of bean Wee being Ill-wisher Nasty shocks Canoe anagram Mohawk Valley city Full range Unflinching Something to defend Felt sore Brand of spandex Determination Trash hauler Salad bowl wood Mystique They have legs and run Ticket info Gold or lead Dull sound Bachelor’s lack Do a laundry chore The “Elephant Boy” Explorer — Tasman Hi or bye Sushi wrap Retina cell Prior to

Majasty was the title of Maja's concert

Alma Moreno

DiEthER OCamPO The 42-year-old hunk suddenly made a surprise appearance last week when it was announced that he’s going to be part of TV5’s Wattpad series. We were so disappointed that Diet chose to appear in a series known only to cast either washed-up actors or those who couldn’t even get bit roles in programs in bigger TV networks. We understand that Diet needs to be on TV so people won’t forget him but his move after more than a year of hiatus will just put him back to oblivion. maja SaLVaDOR Just so you know, the Kapamilya star has staged a concert at the 15-thousand seater Mall of Asia Arena. Since the concert took place, we haven’t heard much about the show that was hyped and endorsed by numerous Kapamilya stars. Truth is, even the general admission area was full of vacant seats. Yes, the concert flopped.

Her desire to be a recording star is already too ambitious let alone staging a show in one of the biggest concert venues in the country. So there, we’re not going to rub it on her face. aLma mOREnO A few weeks after her disastrous interview with Karen Davila, people still can’t stop launching hilarious tirades about her inability to answer simple question including those asked in Tagalog. Alma’s lack of preparation or probably knowledge in answering critical issues made the awkward TV moment even memorable to some people. Though she’s finally expressed her feelings towards the interview that put her in a very bad light, it’s still difficult for us to understand why Alma still wants to pursue her Senatorial bid and expose herself to more humiliation if she’s that too sensitive.

F RIDAY : NOV EMBER 27, 2015

C7

SHOWBITZ isahred @ gmail.com

Diether ocampo hops over to KapatiD networK From c8

While not in any of his mother network’s drama series or other programs, Diether Ocampo, with permission from Star Magic, accepted an offer from a group line producing shows for TV 5.

The former hot Kapamilya star top bills this week’s Wattpad Presents: Wicked Ways seen at 9 p.m., Monday to Friday.

Ocampo said at the press conference for the series, “I am grateful to TV5 for inviting me to be part of Wattpad Presents and StarMagic for allowing me to work outside the Kapamilya network.”

He added, “It’s nice to work with actors on a different network, also with writers and directors. It expands my experience.”

Asked if he would make his stay on TV5 permanent, the actor said, “I am still under contract with Star Magic, and I have no plans of moving out of the Kapamilya stable yet.”

We remember that several years ago, Ocampo had exploratory talks with the Kapuso network that eventually fizzled out.

His mother network gave him projects until lately when he was noticeably became a rarity in the Kapamilya shows.

There were rumors he was sick and had to go on an extended vacation. Wattpad Presents Wicked Ways serves as his television comeback after a two-year hiatus.

Wicked Ways is authored by Wattpad writer Ann Syril and was published by Bookware with an estimated of over a million reads.

It is a story of seduction, romance and a one-of-a -kind friendship between three millennials living in one house Ocampo plays Ram Sobrevega, a popular racecar driver who will do everything to seduce the mysterious female auto mechanic named Charlie who remains to be the only girl who can resist him.

Ritz Azul is Charlie, an automobile mechanic and object of Ram’s fantasies. She is a tough chick who continues to fight her urge to be seduced by Ram’s bad boy charms.

John James Uy as Jasper, Charlie’s best friend and roommate who has a platonic relationship with Charlie, but would soon realize that he has also fallen for his best friend.

Diether Ocampo temporarily is a Kapatid. He stars with Ritz Azul and John James Uy in Wattpad Presents on TV5 this week

HHHHH BuBBle GanG celeBrates 20th anniversary GMA Network’s award-winning comedy/gag show is undeniably part of Philippine pop culture. From its spoofs of TV commercials, gags and sketches, to iconic characters, Bubble Gang never fails to tickle the viewers’ funny bone. Kapuso ace comedian Michael V. shared in an interview, “Ang theme namin ay IMBG o I Am Bubble Gang kasi masasabi natin na lahat ng Pilipino may maliit na piraso ng Bubble Gang sa kanila. And at the same time, the show itself e pinagsama-samang pagkatao ng mga Pilipino.”

And as Bubble Gang continues to keep its comedy stronghold for 20 years, the longest-running comedy/gag show offers the viewers a documentary special tonight.

In coordination with GMA News and Public Affairs led by two of the country’s respected news personalities Jessica Soho and Mike Enriquez, the documentary treats viewers to an exciting and amusing episode.

Friday night will definitely be

Bubble Gang with GMA News and Public Affairs presents a documentary tonight with Michael V and Jessica Soho.

Ogie Alcasid returns for the anniversary show

remarkable as the cast shares the years they have spent together, and showcases what their show is truly made of.

Get an exclusive scoop on what happens behind the camera through its creative director Michael V. Also, make sure to catch Ogie Alcasid as he returns to the Bubble Gang set to reveal their secrets in maintaining the strong bond of the entire production team.

Don’t miss the documentary special of Bubble Gang this Friday after Beautiful Strangers on GMA. HHHHH rocco reacts to speculations Did Rocco Nacino spend the money he and Lovi Poe saved up?

A writer for a vernacular tabloid said that it was the reason the couple broke up.

According to the writer, while the couple is not admitting they are going on their own separate ways, their fans have accepted their status.

In the same article, the writer hints that there’s a third party, another girl the actor is pursuing even when he and Lovi were still together.

Michael V and Mike Enriquez

And add to that, the couple has a joint account which Rocco has been withdrawing from and spending the money for his personal use.

Reading this report, the actor reacted instantly and posted on his Instagram account: “Been receiving news about me stealing money from a joint account and having a third party in our relationship. No joint account. No third party. I have the utmost respect for Lovi. Please do respect the privacy that we both request right now. Thank you.”

In a failed relationship, it is usually the male that gets the brunt, while the female gets all the sympathies.

But, in the first place, have Lovi Poe and Rocco Nacino called it quits?

The last time I talked to either of them they were simply saying they have become too focused on their respective careers to be seen together most of the time. Poe is saddled with assignments – indie film projects, endorsement deals, and another soap opera in the off-

ing – while Nacino; apart from his business ventures (a franchise of Rufo’s and a boxing gym) is also busy shooting several indie films apart from another planned soap opera for the Kapuso network.

They were together in Beautiful Strangers, which bids adieu tonight, but they will not be together in the end. Perhaps this fans the speculation that they have also bid goodbye to each other.

But, let’s give Rocco and Lovi space, as they say. Maybe they need to re-think how their relationship is affecting their career.

Most of all, respect for their privacy is what these actors are requesting, most especially from the press. Can we just give it to them?

HHHHH conGratulations!

The Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) congratulates one of the actors in its latest infomercial, Erlinda Villalobos, for her performance as the lead character in Carl Joseph Papa’s Manang Biring.

The ground-breaking animated film, creatively based on live action, won the Best Film Award at the Cinema One Originals Festival 2015, the awarding ceremony of which was held at ABS-CBN’s Dolphy Theater on Nov. 15. The film was also conferred the Champion Bughaw Award and Best Music by Dinno Christopher Parafina.

The Cinema One Originals Festival is a joint project of the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) and Cinema One. FDCP and MTRCB have a Memorandum of Agreement providing for self-regulation of festival content.

HHHHH christmas Bazaar The Rotary District 3810, under the leadership of Governor Roberto “Obet”Pagdanganan, is hosting the first Rotary International District 3810 Christmas Bazaar on Dec 12-13, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the SMX Convention Center Manila, MOA Complex, Pasay City.

This event is a fundraising project of District 3810, which covers Rotary Clubs in Manila, Pasay, Cavite, and Mindoro provinces.

Proceeds will go to the District’s End Polio campaign fund and its other community service projects.

MTRCB Chairman Toto Villareal, Erlinda Villalobos, Ronald Arguelles, Cinema One Festival Director (extreme left), andMarch Ventosa, SkyCable President (extreme right)

F RIDAY : NOV EMBER 27, 2015

C8

ISAH V. RED EDITOR isahred @ gmail.com

Paulo Avelino joins the cast of On The Wings of Love and will play the role of Simon, Leah's new boss and will be a potential threat to Clark and Leah’s love

SHOWBITZ

Paulo aVelino joins ‘on the WinGs of loVe’ ISAH V. RED Kapamilya heartthrob Paulo Avelino is joining the powerhouse cast of ABS-CBN’s hit primetime teleserye On the Wings of Love starring James Reid and Nadine Lustre.

Paulo is set to play Leah’s new boss (Nadine Lustre) Simon in the advertising firm she is working for.

Paulo’s addition to On the Wings of Love spices and shakes things further between Clark and Leah’s romance. The character he plays is expected to become a potential rival of Clark (James Reid) along with Jigs (Albie Casino).

Although he has not made an appearance yet in the teleserye, Paulo’s character is anticipated to be one of the twists in the story.

Avid viewers must not miss this.

Biboy Arboleda, Ad prom manager of Dreamscape remarked, “Paulo’s character will bring a new kind of excitement because we firmly believe that Simon’s character is fit to Paulo.” He added, “We patterned it after him and added new elements on how people are in the advertising industry so that Simon will have a contrast to

Gary V with his guests performing on stage at the Newport Performing Arts Theater, Resorts World Manila

Clark, but blends well with Leah.”

On the Wings of Love is consistently making social media abuzz every night and is maintaining its strong lead as the no.1 most watched program on iWant TV for two months in a row, with a whopping 4.4 million total views in October alone.

Solid OTWOListas should also look forward to many events and merchandise of On the Wings of Love in the upcoming months including a worldwide Spread the Love Tour.

How will Paulo Avelino’s character affect the love story of Clark and Leah?

Find out in On the Wings of Love, weekdays after Pangako Sa’Yo, on ABS-CBN’s Primetime Bida.

HHHHH Gary V Presents¼ returns to resorts World Due to insistent public demand Gary Valenciano returns for a much-awaited third serving of Gary V Presents… at Resorts World Manila 9 p.m. on Dec. 15.

Gary V Presents… first had a successful two-night run at the Newport Performing Arts Theater on Oct. 30 and 31.

The concert is a spectacular musical event featuring Gary and

his personal choice of new and up and coming artists –Bullet Dumas, Carla Guevara-Laforteza, Jannice Javier, Jimmy Marquez, Katrina Velarde, Lara Maigue, Maki Ricafort, Mitoy Yonting, Monique Lualhati, Timmy Pavino, and RJ Dela Fuente.

As an added bonus for the repeat, a special and surprise guest artist will join the talented group of artists that Gary personally assembled.

These artists are all known for their exceptional artistry and the respective musical genres they each represent. Most of them were catapulted to mainstream recog-

nition after they became part of different talent competitions on national TV. Gary chose them to be part of the concert on the basis of their individual achievements as solo artists as they are rapidly conquering the fields of recording, live shows and local bar circuits, theater, and television.

The repertoire of the show will showcase Gary’s chart topping hits as well as a sampling of songs that have been identified with him for past 32 years. With Mon Faustino as musical director, each of the songs will be re-arranged to highlight each of the guest artist’s respective genres in their spot numbers as well as in their production numbers with Gary.

Gary V Presents… is for the benefit of the scholarship programs of Shining Light Foundation and UNICEF. For ticket inquires call Ticketworld at 891-999 or contact 09175413389 and (632) 706-2170.

For more details, visit www. garyv.com, like GaryValencinaoOfficial on Facebook, follow Gary on Twitter (@garyvalenciano1) and on Instagram (@therealgaryv), like ManilaGenesisEM on Facebook, and follow Manila Genesis on Twitter (@manila_genesis), and Instagram (@manilagenesis). ➜ Continued on C7

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What are you giving your friends and loved ones this Christmas? For many people, gift giving may come as a challenge. While many people may have started on their gift shopping earlier on, many are still waiting for their bonuses and extras to start shopping. What’s more, some people are just plain hard to shop for!

When it comes to Christmas, a desire to give good, memorable and often, expensive, gifts can create added pressure.

Don’t fret. Here are a few ideas to help you with your gift-giving.

GO HOMEMADE. If you’re talented or artistic, put your skills to good use and get started making instead of buying.

Food. Homemade candy, cookies, and food items will be appreciated even more this year. When someone brings you food, which do you prefer….the grocery store version or homemade?

If you can’t cook, a quick trip to the bazaars and tiangges will show you a whole slew of food products made from a real-life, honest to goodness kitchen, not just a factory.

Crafts. Personalized ornaments, make go-green cloth shopping bags, or gift baskets. This can be pure entertainment as the family comes up with ways to personally bless someone. Think about what that person does on a daily basis and ask God to help you get creative.

Or help a neighborhood artisan make some sales.

SERVICE. Offer IOU cards for babysitting, yard work or other services that you’re good at that will bless the recipient. That can truly be a gift of love for you and the other person.

RECYCLING. Look through your unused items for things to wrap up! These may include CDs, games books and more.

GIFTS THAT GIVE. There are stores and companies that donate a certain percentage of the price of gifts bought to worthy causes. When you patronize them, you’re not just giving to a friend or a loved one, you’re giving to the needy as well.

YOURSELF. How much of yourself goes into a gift?

If you’re a busy person, a dinner or time with your family counts a lot. Make time for a special meal together or an entire series of them! The gift of time and a personal commitment counts so much more to the people you love.

These are just a few ideas that can make this Christmas more memorable.

Christmas Shopping Guide

D1

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Christmas SHOPPING GUIDE www.thestandard.com.ph

REPORT

TO CHARGE OR NOT TO CHARGE? The Credit Card Conundrum You want to do your Christmas shopping a bit early, but your 13th month pay isn’t due until next month. Oh, and you have a credit card. That’s great.

But… you’ve always been prudent in the use of your card. And rightfully so, because the experts have told you to always exercise caution when it comes to charging your purchases.

They’ve told you that the only valid reasons to use your credit card are emergency needs, fuel rebates, and high-priority expenses.

THE STANDARD

2015

VISIONARY

AWARDEES:

Awards

RACHEL HARRISON (AUTISM AWARENESS AND EDUCATION) • WAYA ARAOS WIJANGCO (SPECIAL NEEDS CULINARY ARTS EDUCATION) • CHARIE VILLA (CITIZEN JOURNALISM) • JAAFAR KIMPA (MUSLIM RIGHTS)• CASIMIRO OLVIDA (WATERSHED PROTECTION) • SLIM’S FASHION & ARTS SCHOOL SANDY HIGGINS AND MARK HIGGINS (FASHION EDUCATION) • LENORA CABILI (FASHION) • QUINTIN PASTRANA (READING AND LITERACY ADVANCEMENT)• MAIKI ORETA (CHILDREN ADVOCACY) • HINDY TANTOCO (SUSTAINABLE LIVING) • ROBERTA DANS THOMAS (ARTS AND CULTURE) • CRISTINA LIAMZON AND EDGARDO VALENZUELA, KEVIN LEE, MA. INES FERNANDEZ, JOHN PAUL MAUNES (SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP) • XYZA CRUZ BACANI (YOUNG VISIONARY FOR PHOTOGRAPHY) • AISA MIJENO AND RAPHAEL MIJENO (YOUNG VISIONARY FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY) • CHARLENE TAN (YOUNG VISIONARY FOR COMMUNITY SHARED AGRICULTURE) • JASON BUENSALIDO (YOUNG VISIONARY FOR ARCHITECTURE) • CRISTALLE BELO HENARES (YOUNG VISIONARY FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP) • ROLANDREI VIKTOR VARONA (YOUNG VISIONARY FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP)

SPECIAL THANKS TO

F R I D AY : N O V E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

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Christmas SHOPPING GUIDE www.thestandard.com.ph

Wait, let’s look at that last one. High-priority expenses.

Doesn’t Christmas shopping qualify?

Well sure, why not? After all, this only comes once a year, and it’s important that you let the people you care about know that you remembered them during the Holiday Season. So yes, it’s perfectly all right to charge your purchases this time of the year. You just have to be methodical about it.

Plan ahead. So you have yet to receive your 13th month pay, and whatever other yearend bonuses your employer will give you. Add to these your regular salary, and you know you’ll have a substantial amount of cash in your bank account by the time the next credit card bill rolls around. You just need to do some simple accounting, set your budget, and plan carefully.

Canvass. Set a day or two to browse around the shops. Do not buy yet. Make a list of the items you plan to purchase, and note down their prices. List as many as you want, even if you end up with more than you plan to buy. You may even opt to take pictures of the items with your smartphone (if the shops allow this). When you get home, decide which of these you can afford, and scratch the others from the list.

Hunt for bargains. As you do your browsing, you’ll no doubt encounter a lot of items on “Holiday sale.” Find out how much has been slashed off the original price. If it looks to you like a great deal, and it fits your budget, don’t let it pass. If it’s the last item in stock, and you’re afraid it might not be there anymore when you go back, you can ask the store clerk to reserve it for you. You’ll only have to shell out a small reservation fee, and it’s yours. Just be sure to ask for a receipt.

Study the installment plans. If you see an item that can be purchased on installments via credit card, ask about the options. Can you afford the three-month plan? Or would you have to go with the six-month plan? Yes, you’ll have a hefty bonus coming your way in a month or so, but after that month, will you be able to afford the following installments? As with all credit card purchases, it’s best to err on the side of caution.

Ask about bulk purchase deals. If you’re planning to give the same gift to 20+ officemates, ask the store clerk if they’re willing to give you a bulk-purchase discount. You’ll be surprised at how many of these small- and medium-sized establishments are perfectly willing to make such deals with their customers.

It’s one of those things that shoppers don’t know about, simply because they don’t ask. So go ahead and inquire. After all, you’ve got nothing to lose.

Note that none of the above steps involves actual shopping.

Well, didn’t we say you had to be methodical? Once you’ve done all that has to be done in preparation for the big shopping day, make your list, check it twice, and go out and shop. And yes, whip out the plastic.

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Writer Gabriel Antonio O. Escasa Editor Judith S. Albano Layout Romel J. Mendez Advertising Solutions Specialist Edith D. Angeles Deskman Shiela P. Suarez

CHRISTMAS TRIVIA FROM AROUND THE WORLD DID you know that Fidel Castro removed Christmas from Cuba’s list of national holidays in 1969?

His reason: Yuletide festivities interfered with the Sugar Harvest Festival. He banned the public display of Christmas trees, Nativity scenes, and all other Christmas decorations. It wasn’t until 1998 that Castro put Christmas back in the Cuban calendar, in honor of the historic visit of Pope John Paul II. As you can see, Scrooge and the Grinch had nothing on the Cuban strongman.

Christmas stories and traditions from around the world run the gamut from the intriguing to the funny to the outright weird, and even scary. Want to learn about Next page

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some of the most fascinating factoids about everyone’s favorite season from all across the globe? Read on.

In Belgium, St. Nicholas, better known to us as Santa Claus, supposedly pays two visits to each house. His first visit, on December 4, is to find out how each child has behaved. That’s right, one day is devoted to the naughty-and-nice routine.

He then returns on the evening of December 6 (his feast day), to leave presents for those who made the “nice” list and switches (sticks used for whipping) for the “naughty.”

According to Greek folklore, goblins called killantzaroi appear during the 12-day period between Christmas and Epiphany. They enter people’s houses through the chimneys and pull all sorts of mischievous pranks on the occupants. Fortunately, there’s a way to keep them out. Families keep a shallow wooden bowl with a piece of wire strung across the rim, from which hangs a wooden cross wrapped in basil. Water in the bowl keeps the basil fresh. Each day during the 12-day period, the mother of the family dips the cross in holy water and uses it to sprinkle the water around the house.

In Israel, one of the most popular tourist attractions is the Christmas celebration held in Bethlehem, at the site of Jesus’ birth. Marked by several processions and observances, the celebration traces its origins to the 4th century AD, when the emperor Constantine built the Church of the Nativity above the cave that is believed to be the manger where Jesus was born.

The Nativity scene, also known as the crèche, and popularly known in the Philippines as the Belen, made its first appearance in Italy in 1223. The man behind its creation: St. Francis of Assisi. In the small town of Grecio, St. Francis helped the townsfolk celebrate Christmas by organizing the midnight mass.

As the town church was deemed too small for the congregation, he set up an altar in a niche in a rock near the town square. But he wanted to add a touch that would make this mass a memorable one. Thus he put up the first Nativity scene.

In Syria, it is believed that Christian children receive their Christmas gifts from a camel. The story goes that The Three Wise Men travelled to Bethlehem in a caravan of camels. The smallest of these camels, exhausted by the long trek, was unable to continue. God blessed him with renewed strength, and he made the journey.

In gratitude, every year he brings gifts to the children of Syria.

In certain parts of India, mango and banana trees serve as Christmas trees, appropriately decorated with garlands and lights. The rest of the house is typically decorated with mango and/or banana leaves.

In Japan, there is no “Christ” in Christmas. In fact, it’s not a holiday, so people go to work as on any other regular day. However, the Japanese have made Christmas a day of romantic celebration, much like Valentine’s Day. Couples typically go on romantic dinner dates and exchange gifts on this occasion.

In Auckland, New Zealand, an annual early Christmas tradition takes place late in November. The Santa Parade rolls down Queen Street.

It features floats and marching bands, much like the Fourth of July celebrations in the USA, and draws thousands of people each year. Late November is nowhere near as early as our September start, but it’s quite advanced for any other country.

If you think a two-hour midnight mass is long, try going to a church at the Democratic Republic of the Congo during Christmas Eve. They hold elaborate musical productions and plays that last all night. A typical play starts at 6:00 PM with the Creation of the Garden of Eden and ends with the birth of Jesus Christ at 12:00 midnight. The festivities don’t end there.

The play is followed by singing that lasts until dawn of Christmas Day. In Ukraine, Christmas tree decorations include an artificial spider and web. It is believed that spider webs found on Christmas morning bring good fortune, as the arachnids supposedly kill flies in Champagne.

The Good King Wenceslas in the famous Christmas carol was a real king. Wenceslas was actually the Duke of Bohemia, Czechoslovakia. Well loved by the people for his virtuous ways and deep devotion to Christianity, he served as Duke from 921 to 935 AD, when he was assassinated by his own brother. He was elevated to sainthood (he is now the patron saint of the Czech Republic) and posthumously declared king. The Christmas carol in his honor was composed more than 900 years later, in 1853, and has remained popular over the years.

Finally, we leave you with this tidbit that may hit close to home. If you’ve had to time and again silently suffer through your neighbor’s loud karaoke singing, you would do well to avoid spending Christmas Eve at Zimbabwe. The people there celebrate the occasion by bringing their stereo sets out to their front yards and playing these at full blast! Their playlists include pop and African favorites, as well as the usual Christmas songs. It’s a safe bet that “Silent Night” isn’t among these.

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Spanish brand Sfera to open two new stores, at SM Seaside City Cebu and SM Megamall

( S f e r a ) WARMS UP FOR FALL-WINTER 2015 In its Fall/Winter 2015 Collection, popular Spanish brand ( S f e r a ) ushers in two major trends for women: a sophisticated ‘70s look and a nostalgic, romantic style with dramatic overtones.

And with cooler weather ahead, distinct fabrics such as cord and velveteen and unique

black and other earthy tones.

And the latest urban and casual fashion trends are coming to (Sfera) in the shape of coats, ponchos, ethnic jackets, fringes, leopard prints, and knitwear.

Warm up in style with heritage-inspired double-breasted coats; as well as newly re-in-

Holiday Chic Dressing. Houndstooth check print swing knit with fringe, white button-down with bow, and slim black pants.

features add a bohemian touch to classic outerwear pieces such as the sweater and jacket.

Denim makes an important appearance in this trend, seen in the fine details coats and capes. The ‘70s trend captures a color palette that includes mustard, marsala,

vented long cardigans for a breezy walk downtown or up the corporate ladder. There are also modern updates of knit pullovers, capes that make dramatic entrances, elegant fauxfur gilets, and a statement suede kimono-inspired jacket.

Paired with a versatile mix of fashionable pieces from the latest (Sfera) Woman Collection, like the throwback 70s widelegged or flared or modern classic skinny pants, romantic blouses, sheer shirts with bows, and so much more, these latest cover-ups come mostly in the subtlest of neutral tones and the deepest shades of wine red.

(S f e r a), a popular Spanish fashion brand, was launched in Madrid in 2001, and has become known for fun, dynamic, up-to the minute fashions in a minimalist modern setting. The brand owned by Spanish retail giant El Corte Ingles has several product lines, ranging from innovative and daring to urban and formal.

In partnership with SM, (S f e r a) opened its first Asian store last September 30, 2014. The brand also caters to the fashion needs of Men and Kids, providing stylish pieces embodying the Spanish Style. ( S f e r a ) is located at the 2/F of The SM Store Makati, its first store in Asia. You can also follow the latest from (S f e r a) on instagram: @sfera_ph (#SferaPH), on facebook: SFERA Philippines and on its international website: www.sfera.eu.

Textured coat worn with turtleneck top, slim black pants, and ankle boots.

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YOUR ONLINE CHRISTMAS SHOPPING GUIDE It’s the most wonderful time of the year, so the song goes. But when you’re out in the malls competing with thousands of other shoppers for your turn to make your purchase, well, there’s really nothing wonderful about that. Not to mention having to weave through that tangled mess called metro traffic just to get to the shopping center.

Fear not. There’s a way to do your Christmas shopping right from the comfort of your home. Just sit down at your computer, get online, visit your favorite shopping sites, and click away to fill up your cart.

Welcome to the world of online shopping, the no-hassle way to get the products you want delivered to your doorstep. If you haven’t tried it yet, now may be a good time. And in case you’re the type who’s hesitant to send your credit card information out into cyberspace, no worries. These sites offer a cash on delivery option, giving you peace of mind to go with your shopping convenience.

Below is a list of popular online shopping sites you may want to explore.

Please note that we at The Manila Standard based our choices on users’ feedback posted online and objective review sites. We cannot guarantee that the products you order will live up to the claims made by the sites. We suggest you also do your own research before you start your online shopping.

Goods.ph. If your shopping list includes groceries, this is the site to go to.

These are neatly categorized into snacks, beverages, baby needs, pasta and noodles, condiments, and canned goods.

Aside from groceries, this site also offers items under the following categories: mobiles and tablets, fashion, health and beauty, consumer electronics, appliances, home and living, and movies, books and music. Their website is very neat and user-friendly. Shipping is free, and you can opt for cash on delivery. url: goods.ph

Kim Store. Your one-stop online shop for everything techie. At the top of their homepage, you’ll see the following categories: mobile phones, tablets, cameras, laptops, music players, gaming consoles, and accessories. Mouse over each of these, and a drop down menu of the different brands available appears below.

Click on the brand you want to look into, and you’ll see all the products of that brand. Neat layout, easy navigation.

Aside from a comprehensive lineup of products, they also have a friendly staff that promptly responds to your queries through text. A word of warning: a product can get sold out, and this wouldn’t be reflected in their website. You’ll need to inquire about availability before placing your order. url: kimstore.com Lazada Philippines. Log on to this site, and the moment you hit their homepage, you’ll see why this is one of the most

popular online shopping site is the Philippines. One look at the category links on the left side and you know that this site is loaded: fashion, health & beauty, computers & laptops, watches/jewelry/ sunglasses, mobiles & tablets, TV/audio/ video/gaming gadgets, cameras, home & living, hope appliances, toys, kids & babies, travel & luggage, sports & automotives, and media, music and books.

On top of ll these (literally), is a Highlights at Lazada link. Mouse over this and you’ll see special ongoing promos, discount deals and most popular items.

You’ll probably spend a few hours browsing over this site, after which you can opt for cash on delivery or installment plans you can avail of using your credit card. url: lazada.com.ph O Shopping. While offering a rather limited number of products compared to the others here, O Shopping nevertheless

deserves a mention here, because they have products from Korea, Japan, and Europe that are not available anywhere else. These include ceramic non-stick pots and pans, an amazing multi-use saw, a cordless drill set from Switzerland, and an electric egg roll maker, among others.

This website is actually the net equivalent of the O Shopping TV channel (11 on Sky Cable). Their products are categorized as follows: health and fitness, home and living, home improvement, travel and luggage, electronics, outdoor, kids and babies, fashion and accessories, and health and beauty. One of the pluses of this site is, each product’s landing page contains a video of the infomercial – as seen on TV. O Shopping boasts of next-day delivery from the time you place your order, and you can pay cash on delivery. url: oshopping.com.ph Zalora Philippines. Widely regarded as the fashionista’s favorite online shopping portal, this site boasts the widest range of fashion items on the local web scene. Mango, Levi’s, Nike, Oakley, Guess?, the list of brands is a veritable who’s who in the fashion scene. Aside from clothes, you’ll find watches, shoes, headwear, ties, scarves, bags, grooming needs, and various accessories.

Like Lazada, Zalora Philippines offers cash on delivery, and free shipping for orders totaling Php1000 or more. They also give Php250 discounts to first-time purchasers and hold monthly sales (yes, monthly sales). url: zalora.com.ph Aside from the above sites, you may also want to look into classified ads sites like olx.ph and ayosdito.ph. These are not online shopping sites in the strict sense of the term. Rather, they are platforms for sellers to advertise their good. But you may find vendors who are willing to deliver to your home (which is the point of online shopping), or meet up with you at a convenient place.

Happy shopping!

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WHAT NOT TO GIVE THIS CHRISTMAS It’s the thought that counts, we always say. The question that follows is, how much thought do you give to the gifts you give? If you don’t spend a good deal of time on the process of deciding what to buy for your friends, chances are, you’ll end up giving them something they’ve received too many times before.

It’s like this: a gift that’s not given much thought betrays laziness on the part of the gift-giver. It says, “I’ll just give you this because I really didn’t have time to look around the stores.”

And mind you, people can see that.

They won’t complain, of course, but you shouldn’t use that as an excuse to give cliché gifts. Take a look at this list, and see if you’ve been guilty of being more than a little predictable in your choice of gifts.

Fruitcake. Easily makes the top of he list. A popular joke has it that each Christmas season, there are really only 12 fruitcakes that are passed around the world. While obviously just that, a joke, this should give you an idea of how awfully common this is as a gift item. Scratch this from your shopping list.

Mugs. Another item that ranks high on this list. Ever notice how coffee mugs

in the store shelves magically multiply in number come Christmas time?

There’s your cue. It’s a popular gift item.

Too popular. Some mug makers even place their creations in boxes for easy gift-wrapping. Don’t get swayed. A boring gift in a fancy box is still boring.

Stuffed toys. Teddy bears, bunny rabbits, kittens, puppies, they’re all cute. But it’s likely that your female friend already has more than enough in her collection.

Why give her something that won’t fit in

her shelves?

Candles. Ah, yes, the ubiquitous waxand-wick creation. Make no mistake about it, there are a lot of nice-looking candles out there, but really, you should steer clear of this as a gift item. It’s just too painfully predictable.

Picture frames. Have you ever given one of these to a friend, gone to his house, and found your gift nowhere in sight? Take the hint. See, you have to keep in mind that a picture frame, aside

from being too common a gift item, has to match the interior of your friend’s home. If it doesn’t, he won’t use it.

Calendars/planners. Not so much cliché, as impractical. Your friends in the corporate world are likely to receive desk calendars and planners from their clients and suppliers, so why give them another? Also, more and more people nowadays are relying on their computers, smartphones, and tablets to organize their to-do lists, effectively pushing planners out of their list of needs.

Disclaimer: this is not a hard-and-fast guide to gifts you shouldn’t give. If you find a coffee mug with a 3D image of Marilyn Monroe’s face carved in front, and your friend is the biggest Marilyn fan you know, go ahead and get it for him. If your female friend has such an unhealthy obsession with stuffed toys that she can never have enough, then by all means, get her a stuffed toy. If your non-techie coworker prefers writing on a planner than entering data on a computer, there’s nothing wrong with getting him a nice planner.

You get the point.

Oh, and one last note: this is by no means a comprehensive list. You might know of some cliché gifts yourself. All you have to do is look at the gifts you’ve received again and again over the years.

EKSPERIENCE THE MAGIC CARD Enchanted Kingdom, the country’s leader in rides and attractions industry is launching a very special loyalty program for its valued guests.

Enchanted Kingdom exerts great effort to reinvent its magical offerings so they can always present fresh, new and exciting experience. It constantly delivers the magical experience to its guests at its finest by upholding high satisfaction standards and innova-

tion. For 20 years, this has been the commitment of Enchanted Kingdom for keeping the magic alive.

A very special loyalty program is been offered to bring VIP treats for its beloved guests. “EKsperience The Magic Card” is especially designed to entitle the holders to have unlimited admission and exclusive discounts and premiums on EK Day Passes, food, special events, merchandise and birthday

packages all year-round.

This can be availed for as low as Php 2,000 only until November 30 as the introductory price, with the regular price of Php 2,500 with free gifts upon purchase. The EKsperience the Magic Card gives the cardholder several privileges and benefits that are truly irresistible. This includes special promos and perks from merchant partners such as Acacia Hotel, Angel’s Corn, Bioessence, Browhaus, Buko Delite, Caliburger, Dairy Queen, Dimsum N’ Dumplings, Fruit Magic, Frutti Delite, Great Image Photography, Hawk Bags, Heima, Ice Monster, Karate Kid, Lil Orbits, One Tagaytay Place Hotel Suites, Pizza Hut, Potato Corner, Res | Toe| Run, Sarabia Optical, Shakes Station, Shawarma Shack, Seda Hotel Nuvali, Sesou Nature Source, Strip, Suesh, and Treetop Adventure Nature Park.

EKsperience the Magic Card member will be eligible to receive periodic mailers and e-newsletters and other communications about Enchanted Kingdom’s products and services, including events information, opportunities and special offers available only for members.

For more details, you may email Janessa Rocha at EKmagiccard@ enchantedkingdom.ph.

Application forms are available at the Makati Sales Office and at the Magical Guest Relations Office near the front gates.

CRAZY OVER DON’S ORIGINAL SPANISH CHURROS® Pinoy foodies are literally lining up to enjoy the warm comforting goodness of Don’s Original Spanish Churros®, which recently opened at SM City Iloilo Fastfood. Crispy on the outside, but chewy on the inside, churros are fried dough pastries shaped like sticks, sprinkled with sugar, then dipped in rich dark chocolate.

Don’s Original Spanish Churros® are not oily and can be paired four dip flavors: rich dark chocolate, dulce de leche, strawberry, and blueberry. Its bestseller is the Classic Churros, served as eight long sticks for Php 79, or 12 long sticks for Php 95, and comes with one free dip. Also available are the Fiesta Box of classic churros

that comes with two dips to choose from and The Filled Churros, which are hollowed treats filled with fruit filling or Dulce De Leche.

Don’s Original Spanish Churros® has also made “the perfect snack for a delightful day” available for franchising. Indeed, there are huge advantages to operating this unique food franchise in preferred target locations (malls, cinemas, schools, indoor and outdoor commercial establishments, offices, airports, villages).To be part of this growing business and maximize your profit potential, contact Dondee Lagman at 0917-8136552, 0917-5867415, 02-5077406 or visit www.donspanishchurros.com

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KEEPING IT SMALL Small businesses play a huge role in our lives. Whether it’s the sari-sari store, the local carinderia, or the salon, people rely on small businesses to meet their needs.

Economists say that small businesses are the backbone of our country. They generate jobs, come up with innovative ideas, and help solve problems in the community. According to the 2012 Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Statistics, small businesses make up 99.58% of the 944, 897 business enterprises operating in the country. Majority of the MSMEs in operation in 2012 are in the wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycle industries, information and communication, financial and insurance activities, and other service activities.

Here are a few small businesses that have become an inspiration to many.

1. Habi Habi started out as a thesis project at Ateneo de Manila University. Janine Chiong and her two teammates – Paola Savillo and Bernadee Uy thought of a social enterprise that would employ mothers from Kawan ni Sto. Niño in Old Balara and Saint Luigi Oriones Creations in Payatas, two of the poorest communities in Quezon City.

From a simple thesis project, homemakers are now weaving the rags used in the Habi espardilles and sandals. And since 2011, Habi has carried a brand that is environment-friendly and is 100% Filipino-made.

2. Muber Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) graduate, Francis Plaza describes Muber as “an online marketplace that connects buyers of unique and hard-to-find items to travelers who can buy and deliver it for you.” In short, it is a package delivery marketplace that lets people find their own courier around the globe. So whether it’s cheese from the Netherlands or gold from Saudi, Muber users get the privilege to get what they want while tourists earn extra income.

Muber started as Plaza’s senior project at MIT. It was called Balik Bayan and the idea birthed out of Plaza’s travels around the globe with co-founder, Leo Lofranco.

The vision is to redefine how the world sends.

And for Francis and his partners, there’s still a lot of work ahead.

PayMaya widens travel opportunities for non-credit cardholders New payment App allows you to book and purchase flights and accommodations online without a credit card.

We save to travel to our dream destinations. We follow airlines on Facebook for seat sales. We read about must-see places, many in our bucket list of things to do, and experience in ourt lifetimes. But what will you do if you don’t have a credit card?

Now, you can book and purchase flights and accommodations with PayMaya, the newest digital payments innovation from Smart eMoney, Inc. Pay online with a reloadable virtual Visa card PayMaya is the first reloadable virtual Visa card in the Philippines that allows anyone to book flights and accommodations online in the easiest way yet so anyone can purchase airline tickets and reserve hotel bookings with their very own PayMaya Visa card. All you have to do is go to the Google Play Store or App Store, download the PayMaya mobile app, and register with just your mobile number. Your

own PayMaya virtual Visa will be instantly generated by the app for immediate reloading and use.

You can then go ahead and purchase your airline ticket and hotel booking online at the checkout or payment page.

Still Paying Over-theCounter?

While airlines do offer other payment options such as over-the-counter cash at certain banks, malls, and convenience stores, they pose certain limitations. First, payment centers are dependent on operating hours for accepting payments.

Second, if you aren’t able to pay by end of the day--the day you made your booking--your reservation, whether domestic or international, will expire and be cancelled. You must then create another reservation that will again be dependent on the trip’s availability. This affects customers who don’t have the time to line up and pay at crowded

payment centers. Now if you’re out lining up also means that you might miss the sudden seat sales that come out at random points throughout the day. Should the sale happen at night, you’ll have to wait till next day to secure it, and go back to the long lines, when the payment centers open.

“Belong Anywhere” with Airbnb. Now you can with PayMaya “Belong Anywhere” with Airbnb. Now you can with PayMaya Now what if the more spirited traveller in you prefers the more rustic country home experience, or a suburban bungalow, or even the more quaint yet authentic city dwelling? PLDT and Smart’s newest partner, Airbnb, has been bringing these one-ofa-kind experiences to the new online generation. Their mission, “Belong Anywhere”, is evocative of their service’s unique nature. Airbnb helps

people find beautiful places around the world where they can feel home away from home, whether it’s renting an apartment, an entire house, castle, or a villa. Customers can easily filter for listings according to their preferences such as privacy in private rooms versus whole apartments, amenities or budget. As the holidays draw nearer, Airbnb will allow PayMaya users to try Airbnb with a discount on their first Airbnb stay. Book using PayMaya and get Php1,500 off for a minimum purchase of Php4,500 on your first Airbnb trip. So to travellers, adventurers, those looking to experience new and different places, start searching for your next destination. Paying online?

Now you can.

Apart from the virtual PayMaya VISA, actual cards are also sold at selected venues. Use the PayMaya Visa to pay at over 30,000 establishments accepting Visa.

Visit www.paymaya.com for more information.

3. TIÑO Suits Eilene Ramirez started Tino Suits to recognize the talent of her father, Napoleon Arienza. As a Master Tailor trained in Europe, Arienza takes the measurements, does the fittings, drafts the pattern, and cuts the fabric for their clients.

Tino boasts of suits with distinguishing qualities as details are usually done by hand. They are considered high end as prices are much higher compared to off-the-rack suits found in malls.

Rather than hire tailors abroad, Ramirez and her team thought of partnering with a local fashion school to train aspiring Master Tailors. Their goal is to support Filipino tailors and pay them above market rates.

4. What If Handmade Shop Tita Boluso-Rimando and Melody Chua-Chan worked as consultants for Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) before starting the What If Handmade Shop. Their vision is to create earth-friendly items at the same time, help marginalized communities like the weavers of the north and the PWDs in the cities.

What IF Handmade Shop includes the process of re-purposing, recycling, and reusing vintage and scrap materials to create products. They also outsource specific products to the Rehabilitation Workshop, a half-way house for the deaf-mute, blind, and orthopedic cases.

5. Jertie’s Kitchen Jertie’s Kitchen offers gluten-free, vegan, and plant-based alternative for people. But more than giving consumers a healthy food choice, Jertie’s Kitchen also host and teach health and wellness workshops and seminars to educate Filipinos of a mindful and conscious diet and lifestyle.