The Standard - 2016 February 15- Monday

VOL. XXX NO. 5 3 Sections 32 Pages P18 MONday : FEBRUaRy 15, 2016 www.thestandard.com.ph editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Chiz tells LP: Stop pressuring high court

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‘noy aCCountabLe foR mamaSaPano’

By Joyce Pangco Pañares

MOST voters said they want more Senate hearings on the Mamasapano massacre and said President Benigno Aquino III should be held accountable for the deaths of the 44 police commandos, the latest The Standard Poll showed.

More than a year after the bloody encounter, 67 percent of Filipinos said they remain dissatisfied with the results of the Senate investigation and would like more public hearings.

Only 16 percent of the respondents said the Senate probe on the botched operation to neutralize two high-profile terrorists in Mamasapano should be concluded.

A majority of voters across all geographic areas—70 percent in Metro Manila, 62 percent in North and Central Luzon, 71 percent in South Luzon and Bicol, 68

percent in the Visayas, and 66 percent in Mindanao—said they were in favor of reopening the probe.

Most respondents in both urban (67 percent) and rural (68 percent) areas also said the hearings should continue.

Despite repeated explanations from Malacañang and its congressional allies on his limited role in the operation, President Aquino remained the top person blamed for the Mamasapano massacre, with 46 percent of respondents saying he should be held accountable.

Others that respondents held accountable were former Philippine National Police chief Alan Purisima (37 percent), the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (22 percent), former Interior Secretary and Liberal Party standard bearer Manuel Roxas II (21 percent), the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (19 percent), and former Special Action Force head and senatorial candidate Getulio Napeñas (18 percent).

Only 12 percent of the respondents said no one should be blamed for the Mamasapano tragedy.

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POLL

Looking back. In this file photo taken on Jan. 26 last year, police commandos load body bags containing the remains of their comrades who were killed in a clash with Muslim rebels the previous day in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.

Garin tells women not to get pregnant

By Macon Ramos-Araneta HEALTH Secretary Janette Garin advised women not to get pregnant this year, amid fears that the mosquitoborne Zika virus, which continues to spread rapidly across Latin America, can cause abnormalities in their babies.

“Get pregnant next year, when we already have more knowledge about this

virus,” Garin said in an interview on radio dzMM. Much remains unknown about Zika and its potential link to 4,300 suspected cases of microcephaly, a condition marked by abnormally small head size, Garin said.

She also reminded the public to avoid going to countries hit by the virus, which may hide in organs protect-

ed by the immune system.

“Travelers who contracted the disease abroad may then transmit the virus sexually to their partners,” Garin said, noting that those infected by the virus might show no symptoms.

DoH consultant Dr. Willy Ong said the Health Department should start testing Filipino workers returning from Latin America for the Zika virus.

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Row over Poe son’s sneakers continues

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Row over Poe son’s shoes rages

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

THE rubber shoes worn by the son of presidential candidate Senator Grace Poe were not worth P900,000 as one online news website and social media reported because they were knock-offs that he bought for P10,000, the owner of a specialty sneaker store said Saturday.

‘Noy...

Garin...

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A plurality or 46 percent of voters said they are dissatisfied with the way the Aquino administration responded to the clash while only 26 percent said they were satisfied.

Across geographic areas, dissatisfaction was highest in Metro Manila (60 percent) and South Luzon/Bicol (52 percent), followed by North/Central Luzon (46 percent), Visayas (42 percent) and Mindanao (39 percent).

The survey, conducted by resident pollster Junie Laylo from Jan. 27 to Feb. 4 had 3,000 respondents— all of whom are registered voters with biometrics and who said they are sure to vote in next year’s elections. Respondents came from 79 provinces across the country and the 17 cities in the National Capital Region. It has a national margin of error of +/- 1.8 percent.

Aquino earlier described the Mamasapano incident as a tragedy that he will carry to the grave.

“We cannot say we are Zika-free if we have not tested our OFWs and our people for Zika,” he said.

“How many Filipnos have we tested for Zika? How many are negative?” Ong said.

“I have received dozens of messages from OFWs in Latin America, asking what they should do once they return to the country. They are concerned that they maybe carrying the Zika virus. They want to protect their family,” further said Ong. In Honduras, he said, a Filipino worker was infected with the virus and was cared for by his relatives, who will be returning to the Philippines soon.

“I know that we only have 1,000 Zika kits at the moment.

But if we had one positive Zika case, I am sure that WHO [World Health Organization] will immediately send us more Zika kits,” he said.

“Recently, China, Thailand, Taiwan and Australia have reported Zika cases. In Australia, a pregnant woman tested positive for Zika. If these countries are testing their people for Zika, why can’t we?” he added.

Ong noted that the WHO

manual on crisis management states that the most important rule is to be completely honest and transparent—and to never downplay a threat.

“Because once the public loses trust in the government, then rumors will fly and it will be hard for the government to regain the public’s trust. I urge the DoH to start checking some barangays for Zika virus, especially those pregnant with symptoms of fever and rashes.

I believe that Zika may already be here... We are just not testing our people yet,” Ong said.

So far, the country has had one confirmed case in Cebu in 2012.

Ong said he had gathered 14 cases of microcephaly in the Philippines, ages 1 and below.

“It could be some other cause or it could be Zika,” he said.

Garin said the Health Department continues to study the virus and to find ways to prevent its entry into the country.

She said they have started training several hospitals on how to detect possible Zika cases using new machine testing kits.

Among these hospitals are the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, Baguio General Hospital, Mindanao Medical Center, Vicente Sotto Hospital, San Lazaro Hospital and the Lung Center of the Philippines.

Symptoms of the Zika disease include rashes, fever for more that two days, conjunctivitis and muscle weakness.

Garin also stressed the importance of keeping the surroundings clean to stop the virus-carrying mosquitoes from breeding.

Zika, which has spread to 29 countries, was also linked to to neurological disease GuillainBarre syndrome.

The World Health Organization estimates Zika could eventually affect as many as four million people. Colombia alone expects up to 600,000 cases this year.

A specialist in infectious diseases said it is important for arriving passengers to fill up the health declaration checklist upon their arrival in the Philippines.

“Declaring your travel history [in countries where emerging infectious diseases are spreading] is one way of protecting our loved ones,” said Dr. Arthur Dessie Roman, who is also a member of the Philippine College of Physicians and a fellow of Philippine Society of Microbiologist and Infectious Diseases.

A properly filled up health checklist declaration by travelers will help authorities manage and control the spread of possible diseases that they have contracted from their point of origin. With PNA

The senator’s 23-year-old son, Brian Poe Llamanzares, posted a photo of himself in what looked like limited edition Nike Air Mag Back to the Future Marty McFly 2015 sneakers on his Instagram account, drawing f lak from social media users.

The news site Rappler reported the furor caused by the shoes, and noted that a pair of the limited edition sneakers sold for $19,999 or about P839,000 on eBay. But Antonio Aguirre Jr., the proprietor of the sneaker store Sole Slam Manila, said he felt compelled to set the record straight in a comment on Twitter, saying that the shoes worn by the senator’s son were merely an imitation.

“LOL. THE SHOES ARE FAKE. What he’s wearing is worth about $100USD only. Get your facts straight,” he said.

The McFly 2015s are an exact copy of the sneakers worn by Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) in the 1989 timetravel flick Back to the Future 2. The shoes, which are self-lacing and light up just like the ones in the movie, sell for as much as $20,000 on eBay. Rappler CEO Maria Ressa tweeted back that the facts were straight, and suggested that Aguirre, who goes by the name @soleslammanila on Twitter “read beyond the headlines.”

Aguirre shot back: “I read it. Top to bottom. PhP 10,000 he said. But you forgot to mention its a FAKE.” The article’s writer, Camille Elemia, also questioned Aguirre’s credibility and said she had asked Llamanzares if the shoes were fake but received no response.

Reporting on the exchange, Politics. com.ph said: “Located in BF Homes, Parañaque City, Sole Slam Manila specializes in tracking down limited edition and other hard-to-find sneakers. One look at the shop’s innards and you’ll never doubt the passion of the man behind the business.”

Sought for comment, Poe said she asked her son about it after the news about it came out in social media. Her son told her how much he paid for the shoes.

Poe did not divulge the cost, but admitted she was shocked by what appeared on social media.

But she said her son used his own money to buy the shoes.

“We are teaching our son to save and to give importance to [his] job.

But sometimes, we as women also want something for ourselves like bags or perfume,” she said.

She said she saw nothing wrong buying something for yourself as long as you worked hard for the money and did not steal it.

She also asked her critics to spare her family because they are private persons.

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LP told: Stop dictating on Supreme Court VICE presidential candidate Francis Escudero on Sunday slammed the ruling Liberal Party’s members and told them to stop dictating on the Supreme Court how it should rule on the disqualification cases of his running mate presidential candidate Grace Poe. “I hope the members of the Liberal Party will stop dictating on the Supreme Court to do that or to do this,” Senator Escudero told reporters at the Star Plaza Hotel in Dagupan City.

He made the statement even as he and Senator Poe said they will continue the Conditional Cash Transfer program or dole to the poor following the allegations it will end if the administration candidates lose in the May elections.

“They do not own the CCT. It did not come from their pockets. It’s not their personal money,” Escudero said.

“In fact, that was started during the time of GMA [former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo].”

Escudero had been asked to comment on the repeated calls of the LP, particularly of the party’s national vice chairman Senate President Franklin Drilon, for the Supreme Court to conduct marathon hearings on

Poe’s disqualification cases.

Those cases were filed by the petitioners who claim Poe is not qualified to run for president because she is not a natural-born Filipino citizen and she failed to meet the 10-year requirement for a candidate running for president.

The first case involves the petition filed by losing senatorial candidate Rizalito David after the Senate Electoral Tribunal ruled that Poe is a natural-born Filipino citizen.

The second case is about the petition filed

by Poe on the Comelec’s cancellation of her Certificate of Candidacy for president.

Escudero said they were hoping that the high court justices would finish the oral arguments on Poe’s disqualification cases toward the end of this month.

“We are hoping that their decision will come out by March,” Escudero said.

“We are hoping they will favor Senator Grace for the simple reason that this was similar to the issue that hounded FPJ [the late Fernando Poe Jr., Poe’s adoptive father who ran in the 2004 elections].”

Drilon says he is not dictating on the Supreme Court “but it is very frustrating because we know for certain that the Court could hasten the process by conducting marathon hearings but it has chosen not to do so.”

He urged the high court “to give the case extraordinary attention so that it can be decided earlier in order to protect the integrity and credibility of the May 2016 polls.”

Macon Ramos-araneta

Lovers’ day. A couple roams

around Rizal Park in Manila on Sunday, Valentine’s Day. Ey acasio

Roxas backers accused of bribing local executives THE camp of Vice President Jejomar Binay on Sunday accused the Liberal Party of using P100 billion as "grease money" to bribe local executives to win votes for its standard bearer Manuel Roxas II in the May elections.

United Nationalist Alliance spokesman Mon Ilagan said the money from the administration's Bottom Up Budgeting program could be called "Bribe Ur Baran-

gay" to make Roxas win.

He said the administration had been desperate as a result of Roxas’ poor showing in the surveys.

“The Bribe Ur Barangay is the newest localized version of porkbarrel politics,” Ilagan said.

“The power of the LP’s purse is energized by the administration’s CCT and BUB projects.”

Ilagan said the BUB’s rationale was no longer developmental but

envelopmental and no longer economics but politics.

He said the ruling party had been dangling billions of money from the nation’s coffers for election purposes. He said about P25 billion was tucked in the 2016 national budget for the BUB. “Some P24.7 billion was inserted in the national budget and this is so far the biggest pork barrel in election year history,” said Ilagan as he cited

the warning issued by Binay.

Binay has told voters to accept the bribe money but to vote for the candidates they prefer.

“Take the money but follow your conscience and your heart.

Vote wisely,” Binay said.

During the National Assembly of the Liga ng mga Barangay sa Pilipinas and Forum on the BUB the other day, Roxas promised to give village officials access to as much as

P100 billion in funds each year.

“No matter how Mar and the LP call it or sweeten the packaging, it is still legalized vote-buying because it is meant to influence the people’s voting preferences,” Ilagan said.

He said the BUB aside, the administration was also using the Conditional Cash Transfer program or dole to the poor to win the support of local officials and voters. Macon Ramos-araneta

Duterte slams sorry state of MRT

Dancing in the park. Actress Monique Wilson and her supporters dance at the Lapu-Lapu Shrine in Rizal Park on Sunday. Danny Pata

PRESIDENTIAL candidate Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday again slammed administration standard bearer Manuel Roxas II for the "sorry state of the Metro Rail Transit 3 and for protecting the business interests of illegal miners."

Duterte also said rogue policemen would be his first target in case he won the presidency this year.

“They will be the first to go if they are into drugs,” Duterte told a wildly cheering crowd at the Tagum City New City Hall late Saturday afternoon.

Senator Aquilino Pimentel III, Duterte’s candidate for vice president, said key figures were crossing party lines to back Davao City Mayor Duterte to have someone in Malacañang whose heart belongs to Mindanano.

“We are proud of him,” Pimentel said of Duterte.

Duterte, meanwhile, said he had found a “powerful ally” in Pope Francis in his fight against drugs.

“As a Catholic, I am proud that Poe Francis has taken the courage to name the issue and

face down narcopolitics,” Duterte said.

Duterte has consistently expressed his outrage against law enforcers who are involved in crime but Saturday was the first time he declared he would go after them first.

He also claimed Roxas was involved in several anomalies when he was Transport secretary and then Interior secretary.

He also slammed President Benigno Aquino III over his failed Straight Path, saying the Aquino administration had make the life of the Filipino people more miserable.

“You, the Filipino people, you are the witnesses to what is happening to this country,” he told the 20,000 crowd in Tagum City.

He criticized the government’s failure to address the worsening traffic situation, the shakedown of travelers at the airports and the MRT contract mess.

Duterte said Roxas was using a plane owned by a controversial miner in Surigao.

“Why did you go into this?” he said. Rio n. araja

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‘Poll gadgets lack safeguards’ The Commission on elections’ vote-counting machines still lack safeguards to accurately count votes, an election watchdog group said on Sunday.

Kontra Daya, a broad alliance of advocates of clean and honest elections, expressed apprehensions about the glitches in the vote-counting machines used in Comelec’s nationwide mock elections in 20 locations last Feb. 13.

Rick Bahague, an information technology expert and Kontra Daya convenor, said he is worried Comelec may not be able to secure the votes cast on May 9.

“Present enhancements on the vote-counting machines are still sorely lacking in basic safeguards to

ensure accurate vote recording and counting,” he said.

He said he personally participated in one of the mock polls.

“After taking part in the mock polls in Barangay Pag-asa Elementary School and Ramon Magsaysay Elementary School, we are still not assured that our votes are counted accurately by this vote-counting machine.”

According to Kontra Daya, verification was still missing since the votes cast shown on the machine screen and a print-out of the con-

firmation receipt were “conspicuously” absent.

The new machines can now print out system hash codes as part of the initialization report that is printed out when a voting precinct opens.

The printed hash, however, cannot be compared with the published hash of the source code available from the Comelec website.

“This is because only the hash of the archive or zipped source code is available online,” Kontra Daya said in a statement.

“In Aklan, Kontra Daya monitors reported that 11 ballots out of a total 66 were rejected. If not addressed satisfactorily, ballot rejection could lead to massive

disenfranchisement,” the election watchdog said.

But Comelec chairman Andres Bautista described as “good” the outcome of the mock polls held on Saturday, saying majority of the vote-counting machines were able to transmit the results to the central server in their warehouse in Sta. Rosa, laguna.

Bautista revealed that of the 40 clustered precincts that participated in the mock elections, 37 were able to successfully transmit the results after voting ended at 12 noon.

“What happened was good.

Out of the 38 precincts that closed on 12 noon, 37 were able to transmit the results within two hours. That’s a good omen

for us,” the Comelec chairman said in an interview. nonetheless, the Comelec official noted that besides transmission, they were also able to identify other problems during the end-to-end simulation of the entire voting process.

These include the proper shading of the ovals in the official ballots, the correct placing of signatures by members of the Board of Election Inspectors and the proper way to feed the ballots into the machines.

“It was a good learning experience. At least, we can already see what are the things we still need to fix, like, in terms of voter education,” Bautista said.

Palace grieves with kin of Lauro

Fireworks display. Promenaders watch the fireworks of Luso Pirotecnica of Portugal on Saturday, the first day of 2016 Philippine International

Pyromusical Competition at the Mall of Asia grounds in Pasay City. Thousands witnessed the international competition showcasing the work of pyrotechnics companies from 10 countries. DANNY PATA

MAlACAÑAng on Sunday condoled with the family of lauro Vizconde, co-founder and chairman emeritus of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption, who died Saturday afternoon at a Parañaque City hospital after suffering four successive heart attacks.

Vizconde was 78.

“Mr. Vizconde served as a member of the Board of Directors of Intercontinental Broadcasting Corp., a government-supervised television network, since 2008,” Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said during an interview over state-run radio station dzRB. Vizconde founded the VACC with current chairman Dante Jimenez in 1998 as a movement to pursue justice for victims of heinous crimes.

Jimenez said Vizconde was rushed to the Unihealth Parañaque Hospital and Medical Center in Sucat at 8 p.m. on Thursday after complaining of weakness.

Envoy: 500 Filipinos lost jobs in Qatar OVER 500 overseas Filipino workers have lost their jobs in government-run companies in Qatar, the Philippine ambassador to that Middle Eastern country confirmed on Sunday.

Those affected by the retrenchment have been given a two-month notice of termination to enable them to find new employment, Ambassador Wilfredo Santos said.

At least 22 Filipino nurses have also been laid off from health-care centers run by the Qatari government, Santos said.

The drop in world oil prices is also affecting OFWs in Qatar, Santos said, since it is a major producer of natural gas.

But he added that most Filipinos there “are not that affected because Qatar’s income does not depend mostly on oil,” he stressed.

Migrante Middle East, an alliance of Filipino migrant workers denied Santos’ claim, saying economic woes brought about by falling prices of oil products are causing the layoffs of OFWs and other foreign nationals working in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

There are about 200,000 Filipinos working in Qatar.

Santos denied reports of retrenchment of Filipinos in the private sector in Qatar.

“There is no mass lay-off

among OFWs working in the private companies. Most of those who were laid off are working for governmentowned and -controlled corporations,” he said.

Job opportunities still remain for skilled workers such as architects, engineers, pharmacists and health-care professionals, he explained.

John leonard Monterona, Migrante Middle East regional director, said Filipinos and other nationals working for private companies in Qatar have received termination notices.

He said some of the affected OFWs have sought Migrante’s help. Rio N. Araja

Mass wedding. Senatorial candidate and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez gives marital advice and a Valentine’s Day message to 250 newly wed couples during the 39th Pa-wedding ni Tambunting sponsored by Parañaque Rep. Gus Tambunting at the SM Mall in Bicutan Parañaque City. VeR NoVeNo

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Grace-Chiz in Pangasinan. Survey frontrunners Grace Poe and Chiz Escudero (2nd and 3rd from left) receive a major boost to their presidential and vice presidential bids following the

luncheon hosting by the illustrious Fernandez clan led by former Immigration Commissioner and Dagupan City Mayor Al Fernandez (left), his sons former Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez and Councilor Alfie Fernandez. Team Grace Chiz also got the support of the Samson clan, owners of the University of Luzon, led by UL President MacArthur Samson and comebacking Councilor Luis “Chito” Samson Jr. The Galing at Puso Party were in Pangasinan last week to court the votes of Pangasinenses who gave FPJ, considered a native son, the moral victory in the 2004 presidential elections. Grasya ng Masa founder Adonis Samson (5th left, 2nd row) predicts a landslide win for Pangasinan’s adoptive daughter Grace Poe and her slate.

Binay, Poe ready to take the test

By Macon Araneta

Presidential candidates Vice President Jejomar Binay and senator Grace Poe are ready to subject themselves to medical tests to prove that they are fit to run for the presidency in the May 2016 elections.

“I think if you have nothing to hide in the medical records, VP is ready for that,” said United Nationalist Alliance spokesperson Mon Ilagan, referring to Binay.

Sought for comment on Poe’s challenge to a drug test, Ilagan replied: “That challenge might boomerang to others.”

While in Pangasinan last Thursday, Poe expressed confidence she is physically fit

to become the country’s next president.

Poe, the youngest among the five presidential contenders, also supported calls for candidates to present their health records to prove they are physically capable of handling the stress that comes with occupying the highest post of the land.

While the Commission on Elections has no health-related

requirement for candidates for president and vice president, Poe said it was only fair for the people to know if their future leaders have any health issues.

“Our people have the right to know the truth. I am willing to submit a medical certificate from a physician that will reflect that I am physically fit to run for public office,” said Poe, who topped the recent presidential preference surveys.

The 47-year-old Poe said when she was in grade school, she had tonsillectomy. She said her first visitors were then teen matinee idols Gabby Concepcion and William Martinez. More recently, Poe said she had a few kidney stones removed.

The senator said she was also open to having voluntary drug

tests for all presidential and vice presidential candidates, especially as she had vowed to declare illegal drugs as a national security threat.

“But I believe we should focus more on the candidafes’ voluntary submission to a drug test because that is illegal. That is not allowed under the law. And the drug test that should be submitted should be official,” she further said.

Poe said she has no qualms about meeting her demanding schedule in the next three months leading to the May 9 elections. The lone independent presidential bet has been to Cebu, Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte in the three days following their campaign kick-off in Plaza Miranda in Manila on Feb. 9.

‘LRTA service contract aboveboard’

ThERE was no irregularity in the reduction of janitorial personnel contracted by the Light Rail Transit Authority in 2009, which saved the government money and was ultimately beneficial to the riding public.

This was the reply of former LRTA administrator Melquiades Robles to reports that the Office of the Ombudsman had asked the Sandiganbayan to indict him and 12 others after finding probable cause for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. In a statement, Robles said the reduction of personnel of service providers of the joint venture of COMM Builders and Technology Philippines Corp., PMP Inc. and Gradski Saobracaj GRAS was made after the LRTA determined that not all contracted janitorial personnel were needed for the work required.

“The reduction is allowed by law as a negative variation order, meaning payment of less than the contracted price,” Robles said. “Republic Act 9184, or the Government Procurement Reform Act,

allows variation orders upwards or downwards.

Since contracts with the government can no longer be changed once approved, such variations are reflected in the payment vouchers with the contractors, which are in the possession of the Ombudsman, in this case.”

Robles said the minutes of the negotiation meeting last Jan. 6, 2009 between LRTA and CPG show that the parties agreed to reduce janitorial personnel by 87, leading to savings P864,084 in the contractor’s monthly billing.

The proof of the propriety of this action— which was ratified by the entire LRTA Board —is the renewal of the same janitorial contract with the same contractor, with the same conditions, since its approval in 2009 until this year, Robles said.

Three LRTA administrators and their respective boards after Robles have since ratified and extended the same contract, with was also subjected to a special audit of the Commission on Audit, the former administrator said.

Robles also described reports that the

janitorial contract was worth P400 million as “inaccurate” since the deal was only worth P3 million a month.

After the contract was signed in 2009, Robles said, he stayed on as LRTA administrator only until August 2010 and could not have paid that much during his term.

Robles said it was ironic that while the Senate and the public are demanding that the current leadership of the Department of Transportation and Communications be charged over the failure of the country’s rail systems, it is he and his managers who are being charged by the Ombudsman.

Recommended for indictment in the charge sheet in a resolution released by the Ombudsman last Tuesday, apart from Robles and the joint venture contractor, were former LRTA officials Federico Canar Jr., Dennis Francisco, Evelyn Macalino, Marilou Liscano, Elmo Stephen Triste, Eduardo Abiva, Nicholas Ombao, Roger Vaño, Maynard Tolosa and Juliet Labisto.

PDEA chief heartened

by Justice decision on drug suspect

By Rio N. Araja DIRECTOR General Arturo Cacdac Jr. of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency on Sunday welcomed the decision of Justice Secretary Emmanuel Caparas to stay away from the detention transfer plea of Lt. Col. Ferdinand Marcelino, who was arrested in Sta.Cruz, Manila on drug charges.

Cacdac lauded the Justice department for its decision not to interfere with the issue of who should have custody or jurisdiction over Marcelino, but instead would abide by their mandate of determining probable cause to charge Marcelino and his co-accused Chinese national Yan Yi Shuo.

Marcelino, who is detained at Camp Bagong Diwa, Bicutan in Taguig City, requested his transfer to the Philippine Navy, citing safety and security reasons.

In response to Marcelino’s request, the investigating prosecutor, in a Jan. 29 letter, proposed his transfer to the National Bureau of Investigation, or to the Navy.

Cacdac wrote Theodore Villanueva, senior deputy state prosecutor, and objected to the latter’s proposal to transfer of Marcelino to NBI or the Navy.

“We respectfully oppose Marcelino’s transfer since the NBI’s detention center is not a regular jail facility in contemplation of the law.

It serves only as a temporary lockup facility, basically for its arrested persons. Also, our State, at present has specifically created regular jail facilities in the entire country when it enacted Republic Act No. 6975, [or the Department of Local Government Act of 1990] as further amended by RA 9263 [or the Bureau of Fire Protection and BJMP Professionalization Act of 2004],” Cacdac said.

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PNoy leaves for Asean-US summit

By Sandy Araneta PRESIDENT Benigno S. Aquino III will be leaving for the United States today to attend the two-day AseanUS Leaders Summit.

El Niño’s impact. A farmer walks in the middle of a rice field in Sta. Cruz, Porac, Pampanga. El Niño in the Philippines has destroyed millions of pesos worth of crops. El Niño is a climate pattern that affects the tropical Pacific Ocean over a period that varies from three to seven years and is best-known for inducing floods, drought and other weather disturbances in many regions of the world. DANNY PATA

Agri teamup seen to boost PH rice supply AMID the dreaded impact of El Niño on the country’s farms, AgriNurture Inc. has entered into a partnership with Phoenix Commodities Ltd., one of the world’s top three players in the global rice trading industry.

AgriNurture will distribute rice and fertilizer to meet the self- sufficiency targets of the country, a company statement said.

The Philippines will not be able to meet its rice sufficiency target before the end of the current administration and is aiming to bring in 500 MT of rice.

Due to El Niño which has engulfed 17 provinces mostly in the rice-producing areas in Mindanao, supply from other rice-exporting countries is also expected to decline. The entry of Phoenix-ANI will give rice supply a big boost, the statement said.

ANI is also into hybrid rice seedling production with China‘s biggest agricultural firm Bei Da Huang under a joint venture company.

Phoenix is one of the top 3 players in the global rice trading industry today, trading close to 1,000,000+ tons

of rice annually and is now among the top five exporters from India. Its business model is based on upstream integration and is now in the process of duplicating the Basmati experience across other origins of premium rice including Thailand, Vietnam and USA. At any given time, it has enough inventory to augment part of our country‘s shortage, the company said.

Meanwhile, presidential candidates were urged by a grassroots group to adopt a farm-based program that

will ensure protection for local farmers amid the natural disasters brought on by climate change and the prolonged drought caused by El Niño.

The group, Dignidad stresses the need for the new administration to have a clear program of agricultural industrialization if it were to address inequality and achieve genuine development, said the group spokesman Rene Ofreneo, former dean of the school of labor and industrial relations at the University of the Philippines in Diliman.

The Summit to be held in Sunnylands, California, aims to strengthen the cooperation of the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the United States, Malacañang said on Sunday.

“The Asean and the US have raised their mutual cooperation in strategic partnership during an earlier dialogue at the 3rd Asean-US Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Nov. 21, 2015,” said Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. There is a possibility that claimants to certain territories on the South China Sea may meet in the sidelines to raise the issue on the territorial disputes, Coloma said.

This was the very first meeting of the Asean member-states and the US as strategic partners, Coloma said..

Coloma said the Asean-US Leaders’ Summit will be an important event to discuss assistance that may be extended by the US to boost the Asean economic integration.

“Politics and security, such as maritime security, transnational challenges and other effective ways in dealing with violent extremism. The two-day summit will be informal so that the heads of the Asean member states will be able to express their sentiments on any issue that they think would be important,” said Coloma.

Based on the issues discussed during the last Asean Summit in Kuala Lumpur last November, President Barack Obama might have a dialogue with the heads of the Asean member states regarding issues on maritime security, he said.

“President [Benigno] Aquino [III] has always represented the Philippines’ position on the importance of ensuring freedom of navigation and overf light, as well as adherence to UNCLOS and international law,” said Coloma.

Lust, not love: Pornography a social cancer, bishop warns

By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan THE Philippine Catholic Church has warned all faithfuls that prolonged exposure to pornography in young people makes them cynical about love, marriage, and child raising and would expose them to sexually transmitted diseases, adding that these filmed sexual acts have become a “social cancer” in the country.

Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines president Archbishop Socrates Villegas said that pornography harms not only those who watch it, but also the “producers and performers” of adult-erotic-sexual-films, which destroys their order to observe chastity before marriage.

“Pornography is a grave evil that offends against chastity because it perverts and undermines the marriage act, the

sexual intimate self-giving of husband and wife to each other, which should be enjoyed as a personal and private gift from God,” Villegas said.

In a statement, Villegas said, pornography harms the performers in the sex industry, even as they have given their consent to their “immoral activities,” the actors and actresses may wound their hearts and may have a hard time to enter into a real relationship with “mutual trust and respect.”

“It reduces them from persons made in the image and likeness of God who have been created for love, into me sexual objects who are brought, sold, and used by others for sexual objects who are bought, sold and used by others for sexual gratification,” Villegas said.

“And in the process, it stunts their emotional development and wounds their hearts, making it difficult for them

to enter into the life-giving relationships of mutual trust and respect for which they were made. Not insignificantly, sex performers also face physical harm, sex abuse, and sexually transmitted infections,” he added.

Pornography also affects the consumers or those who watch it.

Villegas lamented that pornography has become a pervasive social cancer among men, women and children worldwide.

“It is a global scourge that has been fed by the rise of the Internet. Online, pornography is instantly accessible, apparently anonymous, and mostly free,” he said.

Data from a 2015 Study of World Internet Users and Population Statistics showed that there are almost 3.3 billion Internet users around the world or 46 percent of the population.

In the Philippines, 47 million citizens

or 43 percent of the population, regularly use the web.

Significantly, Filipino children are among the children in Asia with high access to the Internet with 82 percent of Filipino children use the Internet at least once a week, while 37 percent are online every day.

“Given the all-pervasiveness of the Internet, it should not be surprising that pornography has invaded our homes, workplaces, schools, and churches,” he said.

Villegas cited from a report from the Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study of Filipino Youth in 2013 revealed that 56.5 percent of Filipinos aged 15 to 24 years old have been exposed to pornographic videos and movies, 35.6 percent have been exposed to sexually explicit reading materials, and 15.5 percent have viewed pornographic websites.

M O N D AY : f e b r u A r Y 1 5 , 2 0 1 6

A7

NEWS

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

DENR sets habitat for endangered sea turtles

By Anna Leah E. Gonzales THE Environment Department has designated a 612-hectare area in the town of Magsaysay, Misamis Oriental as a critical habitat for hawksbill sea turtles, bringing to more than 6,300 hectares the total area being protected in Northeastern Mindanao to ensure the survival of the critically endangered marine species.

The designation of Magsaysay Critical Habitat for Hawksbill Turtles is embodied in DENR Administrative Order No. 2016-02, establishing the coastal barangays of Kadiis, San Isidro and Damayohan as wildlife critical habitats where a total of 63 nesting sites of hawksbill sea turtles are found.

DENR Secretary Ramon Paje said the new directive is tied to DAO 2012-18 he issued in October 2012, designating a 5,756-hectare coastal area as “Carmen Critical Habitat for Marine Turtles” which covers the coastal barangays of Vinapor, Gosoon, San Agustin, Cahayagan and Tagcatong in Carmen, Agusan del Norte province.

“The two administrative orders are a culmination of an eight-year-old collaborative work by our field officers with local executives and residents of Carmen and Magsaysay municipalities,” Paje said.

In 2008, the DENR conducted a series of marine wildlife assessment studies in Carmen and observed that sea turtles were nesting in the town’s five coastal barangays.

This prompted local authorities to expand the study area to adjacent barangays of Magsaysay (Misamis Oriental), and came up with the same observations.

Will you? Xavier Biadness proposes to his girlfriend Diana Talha, a nurse working at the Cotabato Regional and Medical Center, on Valentine’s Day at the CRMC ground in Cotabato City. OMAR MANGORSI

Fire razes 200 houses in Cagayan de Oro City CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—A 12-hour fire struck this seaport capital Sunday morning, leaving about 1,000 people homeless.

The fire gobbled up more than 200 houses of light and concrete houses in Pinikitan, Camaman-an, Cagayan de Oro City about 2 a.m. Fire out was declared past 1 p.m.

Fire officials are still determining the cause of the fire even as witnesses said

that the fire started in a house owned by a certain “Judy.” The fire occurred just as the rain drizzled after months of dry spell spawned by the El Niño phenomenon.

Fire Supt. Dominador Tambalo, of the regional Bureau of Fire Protection, said that a major fire alarm was sounded early morning Sunday, but fire trucks could not go near because of narrow and muddy streets.

He said that the firefighters had to struggle to keep the fire from spreading as private fire volunteer brigade served as

backup.

Tambalo said that no injuries have been reported yet, but damage to property has been estimated to reach more than P5 million.

Village officials said that the homeless are now housed in the village covered court which would serve as the temporary evacuation center.

Village Chief Pedro Arda said that the village officials have started to organize relief operations and urged city residents to extend any form of assistance to the fire victims.

Vice mayor sues Galera mayor, 3 others for travel non-payment

By Robert A. Evora

Kids’ strokes. Children show their painting talents at the annual ‘Panagbenga’ flower festival in Burnham Park in Baguio City.

DAVID CHAN

PUERTO GALERA, Oriental Mindoro—The vice mayor of this resort town sued his municipal mayor and three other department heads over nonpayment of travel expenses in the amount of P20,580.

Puerto Galera Vice Mayor Robinhood D. Ylagan filed in the Office of the Ombudsman a graft complaint against Mayor Hubbert Christopher A. Dolor and three other municipal officials for their refusal to reimburse him for expenses he had incurred during a three-day official travel to Manila last December.

The complaint stemmed from Dolor’s refusal to approve a travel order and re-

imburse travel expenses requested by Ylagan to attend, on official time, a three-day regular meeting of the national executive board of the Vice-Mayors League of the Philippines in Manila last Dec. 1-3, 2015.

An administrative aide of Ylagan, Gigi C. Balinton, said that when she went to the office of the municipal mayor to bring the travel documents for his signature, Dolor allegedly told her: “Pera na naman ng gobyerno, sayang lang! Malaking halaga ito! May mga empleyado gumaganap na hindi maka claim ng TEV (travel expenses voucher) dahil wala budget. Si Vice Mayor ay magta-travel na naman ay hindi naman pumupunta sa seminar at kung

saan-saan pumupunta. Hindi naman nag re-echo!”

Ylagan alleged that Dolor and three other respondents in the complaint, municipal accountant Maria Cristina G. Balitaan, municipal treasurer Crisol R. Calda, and municipal administrator Rafael Cataquiz, violated several provisions of Republic Act No. 3139 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. After several attempts of the vice mayor to make Dolor approve his travel request, Ylagan proceeded with his official travel. Being a full-fledged member, Ylagan was invited by Manila Vice Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso, VMLP president, to attend the meeting on official time.

M O N D AY : F E B R U A R Y 1 5 , 2 0 1 6

A8

OPINION

ADELLE CHUA EDITOR

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

OPINION

BACK CHANNEL ALEJANDRO DEL ROSARIO

SICK

[ EDI TORI A L ]

RIGHTING A GRAVE INJUSTICE

IT IS emblematic that one of the last acts of this administration was President Aquino’s veto of a bill—already approved by both chambers of Congress—to raise Social Security System pensions by P2,000. The act perfectly illustrated the callousness and inequity that have been the hallmarks of Mr. Aquino’s six years in office.

To justify his veto to some 2 million pensioners, Mr. Aquino fell back on the arguments from the coterie of political appointees on the SSS board, who think nothing of voting at least P1 million in bonuses for each of them but insist that granting the P2,000 increase in pensions would bankrupt the system by 2027. These parasites are led by the brother of a rabidly pro-Aquino columnist—an example if there ever were one of patronage politics at work.

SSS president and chief executive Emilio de Quiros Jr. insists that the P10 million that he and the other seven board members received and the P276 million paid out to SSS employees as bonuses were all in accordance to a “performance-based” system approved by the government.

Yet the Commission on Audit has called this “performance” into question, noting that the agency has P325 billion in uncollected revenues—an amount that clearly would have paid for the pension hike.

The audit agency also found that the SSS was sitting on idle assets worth almost P18 billion in 2014, which could have earned it P198 million more.

By its own reckoning, the SSS collects only 38 percent of the money set aside by private companies for the SSS contributions of their employees.

In a private company where merit is the yardstick for an employee’s position and income, anyone with a 38-percent collection rate would be fired on the spot.

Despite their dismal showing, however, SSS officials are among the highest paid government employees in the country.

In 2014, De Quiros earned P6.84 million from the SSS, which included a P2.25million bonus.

In 2013, he received a total of P7.1 million, which included a P1.9-million bonus and P3.4 million in allowances. The SSS also paid millions to two executive vice presidents, seven senior vice presidents, 16 vice presidents and eight members of the board of directors.

None of these executives can begin to imagine what it is like to live on a monthly pension of P1,200.

The injustice in all this is that the SSS pensioner who has worked a lifetime has probably never seen P1 million—yet has worked more diligently and honestly than the SSS executives and board directors who collect fat salaries and think nothing of voting obscene bonuses for themselves.

One of the best features of a democracy is that every so often—in our case, six years— we get to right the obvious wrongs that have been inflicted upon us by voting out nonperformers and electing leaders who can do a better job.

This administration has had its run and has proved unworthy of our trust. Will we renew an odious and inequitable contract now that it has run its course? Should we keep in place leaders who are so insensitive to the injustices they inflict? Clearly, the only way to go is to cut, and to cut cleanly when we go to the polls in May.

BURLESQUE POLITICS PENSÉES FR. RANHILIO CALLANGAN AQUINO THAT is, to me, one of the most apt descriptions for the lurid exchanges between politicians, at least those of which I catch wind. One Facebook entry has a candidate for president raising intriguing questions about the health of another, and the other challenging the first to prove that he is circumcised! A caricature of what is supposed to be serious—that is the definition

A9

of the burlesque, and that is exactly what we are getting now.

Of course, it started with impertinent questions about who graduated where—impertinent because neither Constitution nor statute requires Wharton or Oxford. And from then on, the discourse took one grotesque— burlesque—turn after another.

What does the common good really require? What are the demands of justice today, in our circumstances? What are the indicia of prosperity that are not sickeningly dependent on GDP and corporate figures?

These are what Alisdair Mac-

We should realize the practical urgency of providing sound arguments for positions we advocate, rather than the wellworn appeals to pity, cries from misery or, worse, threats and intimidation.

Intyre calls “Aristotelian questions,” the questions we should be asking, the questions worth asking but are not asked because what we have is the prattling of clowns! In one recent essay, “How Aristotelianism Can Become Revolutionary,” MacIntyre, whom I did not give much heed to earlier but has since captured my interest, blames the institutions of modernity by which we go for the poverty of discourse—our reluctance if not incapacity to raise Aristotelian questions.

The first factor MacIntyre identifies is “compartmentalization”: Every person dons a different hat, at different times of the day, in different places, under different circumstances.

A father at home, a teacher and an authority-figure at school, a compliant member of a religious organization after work, and an attentive husband at night. Each of these roles goes by different rules; each raises its own expectations. When you have chopped up your life into bits like this, how do you even raise the question about “the good life,” about “human flourishing,” about “what it is to be human”—regardless of role, position or hat? In fact, there is impatience with the question.

And because the question has very little currency, if any at all, then there is hardly any incentive to answer it, let alone propose one’s answer to voters in the May elections.

Our politicians should be telling us how they are to respond to what the country needs, to what the Filipino needs, but talk like this easily generates into placating their wants, no matter how whimsical. Not only have we lost the faculty for distinguishing between “need” and “want,” but we have been completely dominated by an economy that makes us responsive to its needs, rather than it responding to ours. And so it is that the primary goal of the market is to make the market more robust, and corporate endeavors become

increasingly self-serving, with only begrudging and token acknowledgment of “social responsibility.” Economists and financiers mesmerize us with recitals beyond our comprehension, like the economy has taken on a life of its own totally disparate from quotidian human concerns—and, because we do not understand, we trust that “they know best.”

MacIntyre also returns to Aristotle’s point on disparities that prevent discourse. Rational deliberation is not possible when the divide is sim-

5550.

5550.P.O. P.O.Box Box2933, 2933,Manila ManilaCentral Central Post PostOffice, Office,Manila.

Manila.Website: Website:www. www. manilastandardtoday.com manilastandardtoday.com E-mail: E-mail: contact@thestandard.com.ph contact@thestandard.com.ph

Published PublishedMonday MondaytotoSunday SundaybybyPhilippine Philippine Manila ManilaStandard StandardPublishing PublishingInc. Inc.atat6/F 6/F can canbebeaccessed accessedat:at: Universal UniversalReReBuilding, Building,106 106Paseo Paseode deRoxas, Roxas, ONLINE www.manilastandardtoday.com www.manilastandardtoday.com corner cornerPerea PereaSt., St.,Legaspi LegaspiVillage, Village,Makati MakatiCity.

City. ONLINE Telephone MEMBER Telephonenumbers numbers832-5554, 832-5554,832-5556, 832-5556, MEMBER Philippine PhilippinePress PressInstitute Institute 832-5558 832-5558(connecting (connectingall all departments), departments), The TheNational NationalAssociation Association (Editorial), ofofPhilippine (Editorial),832-5546, 832-5546,(Advertising), (Advertising),832832PhilippineNewspapers Newspapers

MST MST

PPI PPI

ply too great—and that is exactly the kind of fissure that runs across Philippine society. When one segment of the population is completely taken up in the struggle to survive, while the other segment engages itself in the calculus of wealth’s increase, not only is there hardly anything common to talk about; neither will there be a common language. So it is that we become witnesses to varied, if pathetic attempts on the part of the well-heeled and the preposterously wealthy to mimic the Continued on A11

MST MSTManagement, Management,Inc. Inc. Philip PhilipG. G.Romualdez Romualdez Arnold ArnoldC. C.Liong Liong Former FormerChief ChiefJustice Justice Reynato ReynatoS.S.Puno Puno Jocelyn JocelynF.F.Domingo Domingo Ron RonRyan RyanS.S.Buguis Buguis Anita F.Grefal Grefal Treasury Manager Anita F. Treasury Manager

Chairman Chairman President President&&Chief ChiefExecutive ExecutiveOfficer Officer Board BoardMember Member&&Chief ChiefLegal LegalAdviser Adviser Director DirectorofofOperations Operations Finance FinanceOfficer Officer Edgar M. Valmorida Circulation Manager Edgar M. Valmorida Circulation Manager

THE level of public discourse coming from presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte is sickening. From cursing Pope Francis and threatening to slap rival Mar Roxas, Duterte has now challenged Mar to a public show and tell who between them is “tuli” or circumcised. The latest outburst from the Davao City mayor was sparked by Mar’s statement that presidential candidates should make public their health records.

While Duterte may have gained a few guffaws from the men folk and the street crowd, his latest loose-lips remark only show that he’s crass and totally without class. Cussing the head of the Roman Catholic Church and later saying he would go to Rome to seek an audience with the Pope to ask for forgiveness won’t wash away what he already said even if the Pope forgives him. Even if Duterte drinks a whole bottle of holy water to wash his mealy mouth. Dirty Rudy is no longer funny. He can no longer be romanticized by his publicists as toughtalking and just being flamboyant.

Voters are one with Mar Roxas in this case that candidates seeking the highest post in the land must make public their health record. The people have a right to know that the person they are electing president is fit and can last the rigorous six-year course the presidency demands.

Duterte has already admitted suffering from at least four ailments. But to what extent and how seriously he is sick need to be certified by doctors.

Like the incumbent President, voters should have insisted on the medical records of one Benigno Simeon Aquino III as to his true state of mental health. The same should be sought from Duterte whose reckless public outbursts could be alarm bells or red flags. If Duterte decides to join the presidential debates proposed by the Commission on Elections, Miriam Defensor Santiago might show him as less healthy than she is— and Santiago is cancer-stricken.

Who will join the presidential debate and who will not? This should be the first test of the qualifications of the candidate. There are reports that only Roxas, Santiago and Poe are willing to join the debate proposed by the Comelec.

In the current race for the United States presidency, a series of debates gave voters a good look at the candidates. Their demeanor and the substance of what they say give an insight into the kind of persons that they are.

This is good for a vibrant democracy.

Aside from the presidential debates, the American presidential candidates are put to another test: the presidential Continued on A11 Rolando RolandoG. G.Estabillo Estabillo Jojo JojoA. A.Robles Robles Ramonchito RamonchitoL. L.Tomeldan Tomeldan Chin ChinWong/Ray Wong/RayS.S.Eñano Eñano Francis FrancisLagniton Lagniton Joyce JoycePangco PangcoPañares Pañares Adelle AdelleChua Chua Romel RomelJ.J.Mendez Mendez Roberto RobertoCabrera Cabrera

Publisher Publisher Editor-in-Chief Editor-in-Chief Managing ManagingEditor Editor Associate AssociateEditors Editors News NewsEditor Editor City CityEditor Editor Senior SeniorDeskman Deskman Art ArtDirector Director Chief ChiefPhotographer Photographer

Emil EmilP.P.Jurado JuradoChairman ChairmanEmeritus, Emeritus,Editiorial EditiorialBoard Board

M O N D AY : F E B R U A R Y 1 5 , 2 0 1 6

A8

OPINION

ADELLE CHUA EDITOR

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

OPINION

BACK CHANNEL ALEJANDRO DEL ROSARIO

SICK

[ EDI TORI A L ]

RIGHTING A GRAVE INJUSTICE

IT IS emblematic that one of the last acts of this administration was President Aquino’s veto of a bill—already approved by both chambers of Congress—to raise Social Security System pensions by P2,000. The act perfectly illustrated the callousness and inequity that have been the hallmarks of Mr. Aquino’s six years in office.

To justify his veto to some 2 million pensioners, Mr. Aquino fell back on the arguments from the coterie of political appointees on the SSS board, who think nothing of voting at least P1 million in bonuses for each of them but insist that granting the P2,000 increase in pensions would bankrupt the system by 2027. These parasites are led by the brother of a rabidly pro-Aquino columnist—an example if there ever were one of patronage politics at work.

SSS president and chief executive Emilio de Quiros Jr. insists that the P10 million that he and the other seven board members received and the P276 million paid out to SSS employees as bonuses were all in accordance to a “performance-based” system approved by the government.

Yet the Commission on Audit has called this “performance” into question, noting that the agency has P325 billion in uncollected revenues—an amount that clearly would have paid for the pension hike.

The audit agency also found that the SSS was sitting on idle assets worth almost P18 billion in 2014, which could have earned it P198 million more.

By its own reckoning, the SSS collects only 38 percent of the money set aside by private companies for the SSS contributions of their employees.

In a private company where merit is the yardstick for an employee’s position and income, anyone with a 38-percent collection rate would be fired on the spot.

Despite their dismal showing, however, SSS officials are among the highest paid government employees in the country.

In 2014, De Quiros earned P6.84 million from the SSS, which included a P2.25million bonus.

In 2013, he received a total of P7.1 million, which included a P1.9-million bonus and P3.4 million in allowances. The SSS also paid millions to two executive vice presidents, seven senior vice presidents, 16 vice presidents and eight members of the board of directors.

None of these executives can begin to imagine what it is like to live on a monthly pension of P1,200.

The injustice in all this is that the SSS pensioner who has worked a lifetime has probably never seen P1 million—yet has worked more diligently and honestly than the SSS executives and board directors who collect fat salaries and think nothing of voting obscene bonuses for themselves.

One of the best features of a democracy is that every so often—in our case, six years— we get to right the obvious wrongs that have been inflicted upon us by voting out nonperformers and electing leaders who can do a better job.

This administration has had its run and has proved unworthy of our trust. Will we renew an odious and inequitable contract now that it has run its course? Should we keep in place leaders who are so insensitive to the injustices they inflict? Clearly, the only way to go is to cut, and to cut cleanly when we go to the polls in May.

BURLESQUE POLITICS PENSÉES FR. RANHILIO CALLANGAN AQUINO THAT is, to me, one of the most apt descriptions for the lurid exchanges between politicians, at least those of which I catch wind. One Facebook entry has a candidate for president raising intriguing questions about the health of another, and the other challenging the first to prove that he is circumcised! A caricature of what is supposed to be serious—that is the definition

A9

of the burlesque, and that is exactly what we are getting now.

Of course, it started with impertinent questions about who graduated where—impertinent because neither Constitution nor statute requires Wharton or Oxford. And from then on, the discourse took one grotesque— burlesque—turn after another.

What does the common good really require? What are the demands of justice today, in our circumstances? What are the indicia of prosperity that are not sickeningly dependent on GDP and corporate figures?

These are what Alisdair Mac-

We should realize the practical urgency of providing sound arguments for positions we advocate, rather than the wellworn appeals to pity, cries from misery or, worse, threats and intimidation.

Intyre calls “Aristotelian questions,” the questions we should be asking, the questions worth asking but are not asked because what we have is the prattling of clowns! In one recent essay, “How Aristotelianism Can Become Revolutionary,” MacIntyre, whom I did not give much heed to earlier but has since captured my interest, blames the institutions of modernity by which we go for the poverty of discourse—our reluctance if not incapacity to raise Aristotelian questions.

The first factor MacIntyre identifies is “compartmentalization”: Every person dons a different hat, at different times of the day, in different places, under different circumstances.

A father at home, a teacher and an authority-figure at school, a compliant member of a religious organization after work, and an attentive husband at night. Each of these roles goes by different rules; each raises its own expectations. When you have chopped up your life into bits like this, how do you even raise the question about “the good life,” about “human flourishing,” about “what it is to be human”—regardless of role, position or hat? In fact, there is impatience with the question.

And because the question has very little currency, if any at all, then there is hardly any incentive to answer it, let alone propose one’s answer to voters in the May elections.

Our politicians should be telling us how they are to respond to what the country needs, to what the Filipino needs, but talk like this easily generates into placating their wants, no matter how whimsical. Not only have we lost the faculty for distinguishing between “need” and “want,” but we have been completely dominated by an economy that makes us responsive to its needs, rather than it responding to ours. And so it is that the primary goal of the market is to make the market more robust, and corporate endeavors become

increasingly self-serving, with only begrudging and token acknowledgment of “social responsibility.” Economists and financiers mesmerize us with recitals beyond our comprehension, like the economy has taken on a life of its own totally disparate from quotidian human concerns—and, because we do not understand, we trust that “they know best.”

MacIntyre also returns to Aristotle’s point on disparities that prevent discourse. Rational deliberation is not possible when the divide is sim-

5550.

5550.P.O. P.O.Box Box2933, 2933,Manila ManilaCentral Central Post PostOffice, Office,Manila.

Manila.Website: Website:www. www. manilastandardtoday.com manilastandardtoday.com E-mail: E-mail: contact@thestandard.com.ph contact@thestandard.com.ph

Published PublishedMonday MondaytotoSunday SundaybybyPhilippine Philippine Manila ManilaStandard StandardPublishing PublishingInc. Inc.atat6/F 6/F can canbebeaccessed accessedat:at: Universal UniversalReReBuilding, Building,106 106Paseo Paseode deRoxas, Roxas, ONLINE www.manilastandardtoday.com www.manilastandardtoday.com corner cornerPerea PereaSt., St.,Legaspi LegaspiVillage, Village,Makati MakatiCity.

City. ONLINE Telephone MEMBER Telephonenumbers numbers832-5554, 832-5554,832-5556, 832-5556, MEMBER Philippine PhilippinePress PressInstitute Institute 832-5558 832-5558(connecting (connectingall all departments), departments), The TheNational NationalAssociation Association (Editorial), ofofPhilippine (Editorial),832-5546, 832-5546,(Advertising), (Advertising),832832PhilippineNewspapers Newspapers

MST MST

PPI PPI

ply too great—and that is exactly the kind of fissure that runs across Philippine society. When one segment of the population is completely taken up in the struggle to survive, while the other segment engages itself in the calculus of wealth’s increase, not only is there hardly anything common to talk about; neither will there be a common language. So it is that we become witnesses to varied, if pathetic attempts on the part of the well-heeled and the preposterously wealthy to mimic the Continued on A11

MST MSTManagement, Management,Inc. Inc. Philip PhilipG. G.Romualdez Romualdez Arnold ArnoldC. C.Liong Liong Former FormerChief ChiefJustice Justice Reynato ReynatoS.S.Puno Puno Jocelyn JocelynF.F.Domingo Domingo Ron RonRyan RyanS.S.Buguis Buguis Anita F.Grefal Grefal Treasury Manager Anita F. Treasury Manager

Chairman Chairman President President&&Chief ChiefExecutive ExecutiveOfficer Officer Board BoardMember Member&&Chief ChiefLegal LegalAdviser Adviser Director DirectorofofOperations Operations Finance FinanceOfficer Officer Edgar M. Valmorida Circulation Manager Edgar M. Valmorida Circulation Manager

THE level of public discourse coming from presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte is sickening. From cursing Pope Francis and threatening to slap rival Mar Roxas, Duterte has now challenged Mar to a public show and tell who between them is “tuli” or circumcised. The latest outburst from the Davao City mayor was sparked by Mar’s statement that presidential candidates should make public their health records.

While Duterte may have gained a few guffaws from the men folk and the street crowd, his latest loose-lips remark only show that he’s crass and totally without class. Cussing the head of the Roman Catholic Church and later saying he would go to Rome to seek an audience with the Pope to ask for forgiveness won’t wash away what he already said even if the Pope forgives him. Even if Duterte drinks a whole bottle of holy water to wash his mealy mouth. Dirty Rudy is no longer funny. He can no longer be romanticized by his publicists as toughtalking and just being flamboyant.

Voters are one with Mar Roxas in this case that candidates seeking the highest post in the land must make public their health record. The people have a right to know that the person they are electing president is fit and can last the rigorous six-year course the presidency demands.

Duterte has already admitted suffering from at least four ailments. But to what extent and how seriously he is sick need to be certified by doctors.

Like the incumbent President, voters should have insisted on the medical records of one Benigno Simeon Aquino III as to his true state of mental health. The same should be sought from Duterte whose reckless public outbursts could be alarm bells or red flags. If Duterte decides to join the presidential debates proposed by the Commission on Elections, Miriam Defensor Santiago might show him as less healthy than she is— and Santiago is cancer-stricken.

Who will join the presidential debate and who will not? This should be the first test of the qualifications of the candidate. There are reports that only Roxas, Santiago and Poe are willing to join the debate proposed by the Comelec.

In the current race for the United States presidency, a series of debates gave voters a good look at the candidates. Their demeanor and the substance of what they say give an insight into the kind of persons that they are.

This is good for a vibrant democracy.

Aside from the presidential debates, the American presidential candidates are put to another test: the presidential Continued on A11 Rolando RolandoG. G.Estabillo Estabillo Jojo JojoA. A.Robles Robles Ramonchito RamonchitoL. L.Tomeldan Tomeldan Chin ChinWong/Ray Wong/RayS.S.Eñano Eñano Francis FrancisLagniton Lagniton Joyce JoycePangco PangcoPañares Pañares Adelle AdelleChua Chua Romel RomelJ.J.Mendez Mendez Roberto RobertoCabrera Cabrera

Publisher Publisher Editor-in-Chief Editor-in-Chief Managing ManagingEditor Editor Associate AssociateEditors Editors News NewsEditor Editor City CityEditor Editor Senior SeniorDeskman Deskman Art ArtDirector Director Chief ChiefPhotographer Photographer

Emil EmilP.P.Jurado JuradoChairman ChairmanEmeritus, Emeritus,Editiorial EditiorialBoard Board

M O N D AY : F E B R U A R Y 1 5 , 2 0 1 6

A10

OPINION

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

ELECTIONS AND CHANGE OUT OF THE BOX RITA LINDA V. JIMENO LIKE a contagion, our preoccupation with the May elections is nearing epidemic proportions. Every six years, the Filipino people go through the same high, almost like getting hooked on an addiction. One might wonder— what is in elections that fascinate the Filipino people so much?

If one will get to the bottom of it all, one will realize that the people’s underlying motivation lies in their common desire for a better life, through a better government, run by better leaders.

The people pin their hopes in the elections to solve this country’s socio-economic and political problems. They choose a president who they think can create more jobs and lift their lives. Sadly, as

We should actively advocate a change in our system of government through constitutional reform.

stated by retired Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno in his speech on Constitution Day to the members of Philconsa: “We will have our elections in May but it will not solve our political and economic problems. We can always change the persons who will rule us but unless we change the architecture of their constitutional power, we will end up in frustration.”

Chief Justice Puno explained that although the Philippines is the oldest democracy in Asia, it is now a mere plutocracy or one run by oligarchs and the wealthy.

It is consistently classified by Freedom House as not a free state. How did we get to where we are? Chief Justice Puno

said that the concentration of too much power in the presidency has allowed presidents to overwhelm Congress and the Courts and to pack such constitutional commissions as the Commission on Audit, the Ombudsman, the Human Rights Commissions, etc., with their factotum. With the Philippine presidents’ enormous power to implement the national budget, they have extended undue financial favors to chosen legislators and compelled them to follow the executive department’s agenda. Such overload of power has resulted in the Priority Development Assistance Fund and Disbursement Acceleration Program anomalies and corruption running riot, Puno said. The problem with our presidential system, Puno further explained, is that even if the president can theoretically be impeached, no one has ever been impeached in this country because of the immense power he wields. And, because the president has a fixed six-year term, a bad president does not even fear the adverse judgment of the electorate as he can no longer seek re-election anyway.

Political parties should play an indispensable role in real democracies because they are supposed to represent the interests of the people and express them in concrete programs through enforceable laws and policies, Puno said.

Yet, in this country, the political parties are mere alliances of self-seeking individuals who lack a vision of the greater good for the greatest number. All we have are politicians who flutter like butterflies from one party to another in search for the nectar that will perpetuate them in power, he added.

If political parties are the poison of our political system, the high cost of election is the cancer of our democracy, Puno said. He then went on to present figures from the 2010 elections obtained from the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism. Every presidential or vice presidential candidate spent anywhere from P2 billion to P4 billion in 2010. In this year’s national election, Nielsen Philippines reported last month that the top four aspirants have already spent P1.6 billion on pre-campaign advertisements alone.

TRUE HEALTH does not afflict a certain de- me stress, should not conmographic. stitute the sole metric in Another scourge which determining fitness for the PASTOR does not discriminate is poljob. No matter how modern APOLLO lution.

As any

asthmatic medical diagnostics equipQUIBOLOY who treats ERs as revolving ment are today, they don’t AGE is just a number. doors would attest, the Ven- capture a person’s true esThis was my reply to a tolin generation cuts across sentials. query if voters should ages.

A cardiac 2D Echo may factor in a candidate’s age On the other hand, to be capture the cross-sectional in making their choice. spritely or energetic is no snapshot of beating heart Holding office is not like longer the exclusive trait of but it cannot measure bravbuying beer where one the young. If you want proof, ery or courage. Or a stout should f lash an ID to prove join a fun run and you can heart that will beat for the that he has reached the al- see how many juveniles eat poor. No heart machine lowable minimum age to be the dust seniors kick up. that can test compassion has intoxicated .

In the days to come, ex- been invented.

To be a congressman, you pect this sideshow to Same with a brain MRI. have to be 25 to take, or emerge beside the political It may produce detailed imbuy, a seat in the Batasan, circus in town : barkers ages of the brain but is not a while 35 is the minimum age wanting to stage a battle of predictor if that brain will requirement for the Senate. health records. be used to help the poor.

For the Malacañang throne, But the presidency is not a The public can even watch the presidency can only be- contest of who the healthiest an intrusive colonoscopy gin at 40. is. Unless we need a chief video but nothing in the The Constitution only sets executive whose job includes footage can be used to forethe minimum age. It doesn’t carrying sacks of rice like a cast if the person has the set a maximum. While it stevedore, then we ought “intestinal fortitude” to mentions when one is too to ditch physical strength make tough decisions. young to hold an office, it among the hiring criteria.

X-rays can film what is does not state when one Of course, there will be inside a person’s body but is too old. candidates who will taunt it is not a keyhole into his So what the basic law their opponents to a foot soul. All candidates can does not disqualify, the vot- race. Those who may want even be required to undergo ers must not forbid. They to pull this stunt must be re- DNA testing but I wonder shouldn’t attach expiry la- minded that we’re not look- if some gene for honesty bels on candidates and con- ing for people who can run would be found. clude that this one is past his a marathon. We are looking A candidate’s pulse rate best-before date. for people who can run the can be clocked but there is It will be a pity if voters country. no way of telling if he would will be swayed by propaI, however, support calls be able to feel the pulse of ganda that candidates in that candidates make pub- the masses. Or, he may be their 70s are “too ripe” for lic their health records, or gasping for air a minute afhigh offices or those in at least be very candid about ter mounting the treadtheir 40s aren’t ripe yet. the health issues they’re mill. This, however, does not This is because the clas- grappling with. mean that he cannot endure sic stereotypes on aging no I’m for the full disclosure punishing hours of work. longer apply today. There of what a wag describes the A candidate can also bleed are many 60-somethings “medical version of a SALN.” a gallon of blood as specimen whose bad cholesterol and Well, if those applying for for a million of tests. And blood sugar count are lower janitor in a government of- the lab results will discover than people 20 years their fice is required to submit a many things except comjunior. medical certificate, then why petence, valor, fairness and Taking hypertension meds can’t the same be required of the many characteristics is no longer the monopoly applicants for the highest we want in a good leader. of the old. People in their 30s office in the land?

In reading a candidate’s platare taking them too. Diabetes But medical records, let form, don’t use a stethoscope.

PLUMBLINE

How much do advertisements cost? In the 2013 figures disclosed by the networks to the Supreme Court, Puno said, a 30-second prime time commercial costs P834,374.00 in ABS CBN while it costs P695,500.00 in GMA 7. A 30-second primetime radio commercial costs P67,000.00 on DZMM, P70,000.00 on DZBB and P52,000.00 on DZRH. If a candidate buys 10 primetime commercial spots in a day, that would cost P8.3 million for ABS CBN and P6.95 million for GMA 7 in just one day.

What is the consequence of the escalating cost of elec-

tions? Chief Justice Puno said that it will ultimately kill our democracy. Politicians tap the pockets of businessmen, criminal syndicates, including gambling lords and, worst of all, drug lords. If and when the candidate wins, it will be payback time for all who financially supported him. And, lest we forget, it will be payback time too for the winner. That is how corruption worsens and thickens in this country.

The saddest day for our democracy, Puno said, is when narco-politics becomes our kind of politics.

Elections will change noth-

ing unless we change our political structure to one of federal-parliamentary, Puno said. Data show that more countries that have failed as democracies had the presidential rather than the parliamentary form of government. If we seek genuine change, we should not waste our hopes for change through the electoral system. Rather, we should actively advocate a change in our system of government through constitutional reform.

Email: ritalindaj@gmail. com Visit: www.jimenolaw. com.ph

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OPINION lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

WHY DEEPENING EU-ASEAN TIES IN AVIATION IS A WIN-WIN SITUATION

By Violeta Bulc AVIATION is a strong driver of growth, jobs, trade and mobility for the world’s economy.

The European Union was one of the first markets to be fully deregulated in the 1990s and owes this to its success. As a result, European aviation today represents 26 percent of the world market, contributes €110 billion (P5.890 trillion) annually to Europe’s Gross Domestic Product, and directly employs 2 million Europeans. As for consumers, they now benefit from lower fares, more choice and better connections. Th is is why I am following with great interest the process within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to create a single aviation area, and I am convinced that it would lead to a boom similar to what the EU experienced.

The rapid economic growth of Asia is already pulling the world economy’s center of gravity, and the air transport

Burlesque... From A9 ways of the poor—even if it is clear to all that no real dialogue is taking place and that it is all a sham.

One other factor that goes into the making of the national burlesque to which the national campaign season treats the nation is the absence of a “transcendental reference.” McIntyre decries the eclipse of natural law. Of course, of natural law, positivists will be most impatient, but positivism in this respect is claiming ultimate authority for the law, but if law is to be more than the policy decisions of those in power because of their wealth and because they have sequestered a sizable portion of the electorate, then there must be natural law—the fi rm conviction that what is ordained is demanded by reason and can be reasonably justified, provided that proponent and interlocutor alike are reasonable people. When we shall have learned to test the positions we advance by the standards of the demands of practical reason—or “right reason”—then shall we realize the practical urgency of providing sound arguments for positions we advocate, rather than the well-worn appeals to pity, cries from misery or, worse, threats and intimidation all of which we have received in good measure of late.

To be sure, MacIntyre has his critics, but for now I am interested in the lessons he has to teach us— and of this, there is indeed much that is germane and, beyond that, demonstrably true! rannie_aquino@sanbeda.edu.ph rannie_aquino@csu.edu.ph rannie_aquino@yahoo.com

industry that serves it, to the East. The Asia-Pacific region will account for around 40 percent of the world air traffic in 20 years and demand for air transport between the EU and the Asean region is booming. The air traffic between the two regions has grown by more than 75 percent over the past 10 years.

These figures clearly illustrate the need for the EU and Asean, to strengthen our aviation relations as our two markets represent a combined population of 1.1 billion.

That is why in December 2015, the European Commission adopted a new aviation strategy where we propose to negotiate the first ever bloc-to-bloc aviation agreement between the European Union and Asean. Such agreement would be an important building block in our ambition to bring the EU-Asean overall relationship to a higher level. This new partnership would improve mutual market access, provide investment opportunities and

foster regulatory cooperation.

In particular, it will create commercial opportunities for enhancing direct flights between Europe and Asean destinations, such as Singapore.

Demand for air travel between the EU and Asean may be growing, but nearly all of it is currently channelled through indirect routes—notably through the Gulf, with neither European nor Asean carriers benefitting from it.

I therefore hope to be in a position to soon start negotiations, which is why I will travel to Singapore to directly discuss the matter with Asean transport ministers who are gathered there for the Aviation Leadership Summit.

This approach has proved to be a win-win situation in the past. With the US and Canada the number of passengers increased by 3 million, with Morocco the number of direct routes increased by 87 percent, and with the Western Balkans

the number of scheduled airlines increased by 59 percent. As we know, more traffic means more jobs and more wealth. Evidence also shows that better connectivity leads to more trade and is a major determinant in the location choices of large firms’ headquarters.

While air traffic growth offers tremendous economic opportunities, it poses an increasing challenge to the environment. According to the International Civil Aviation Organization, emissions from aviation are forecast to grow by at least 63 percent by 2020 compared to 2006.

According to the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, over the past 20 years the Philippines was fourth in the world among countries hit by the highest number of natural disasters, the majority of which were weather and climate-related.

At the COP21 in Paris, both the EU and the Philippines, through its chairmanship

of the Vulnerable Forum, played an instrumental role to broker a historic deal, which gave the world a lifeline and I hope that we will now be able to build on this momentum. This year, we will be working closely with ICAO on two ambitious global measures, the first is an unprecedented standard to cap CO2 emissions, which will push industry to be as fuel-efficient as possible. The second is a global mandatory system to offset aviation emissions, to stabilize emissions from 2020 in a cost-effective manner.

I am convinced that deepening the cooperation between the EU and Asean will be beneficial to our respective industries and citizens, and will also send a clear message: that the competitiveness of the aviation sector can be reconciled with its sustainability.

Violeta Bulc is the European Commissioner for Transport.

MAIL MATTERS JURADO CAN TOUR THE AIRPORT FACILITIES THE general manager of the Manila International Airport Authority has read Atty. Emil Jurado’s article, ‘The Worst Ever,” dated Feb. 9. His points regarding the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in particular are well taken.

We would like to assure Atty. Jurado that, despite the issues being thrown at the airport management, these are not being taken lightly.

All means are being carried out to attend to passenger concerns.

The issues of bullet planting and, recently, collapsing

Sick... From A9 caucus of which Iowa, the heartland of America, and the New England state of New Hampshire primaries, are the benchmark of how the polls would go.

Mark Rubio topped the Iowa caucus while business tycoon Donald Trump came out first in New Hampshire for the Republican nomination. Senator Bernie Sanders edged out former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton for the Democratic nomination.

There are certain issues in

ceilings, have been properly addressed.

For one, chances of bullet planting have been eliminated following a change in procedure: screening officers are not allowed to even touch the baggage of passengers. Proper authorities such as prosecutors from the

Department of Justice and public attorneys have been deployed to the terminals to assist passengers who claim to be victims of the bullet scheme.

The restaurant involved in the collapsed ceiling incident, secondly, had been closed pending investigation and proper renovation.

Needed inspections are in place to prevent similar occurrences in the future.

Finally, please note that the Sleeping in Airports survey has removed the Naia from the list of its worst airports worldwide. The re-

habilitation particularly of Terminal 1 was cited to have removed the Naia from the said list.

In this line, we would like to invite Atty. Jurado to a tour of the facilities of Terminal 1 so he could personally witness the improvements made at the airport.

This includes, of course, improvements of its comfort rooms which you claim to be filthy.

the US presidential race that have striking similarities with the Philippine political landscape. The brash-talking Trump whom Duterte must be using as campaign template, is questioning the citizenship of Mark Rubio who has a large following with the Latino community. But his Latino votes is shared with Ted Cruz, also of Hispanic descent.

Trump, with his outrageous public statements that found resonance with Americans, is leading the race with 33-percent.

Sanders—although the age

issue is not directly raised by Clinton—looks like your jovial grandfather. But his grandfatherly looks give him the appearance of someone who can be trusted.

Speaking of trust, that may be the hardest sell for a certain candidate in Philippine politics. Those who skipped the presidential debates may be suspected of trying to hide something or cannot defend the issues that could be raised against them. They will probably dismiss the debates as a waste of time. That would be the first sign they

are not qualified to exchange ideas and air their platform of government. The presidential debates should be all about the platform of government the candidates who want to lead the nation should offer the electorate.

Will Duterte join the debate?

Will Miriam be able to come clean on the state of her health?

Will Grace Poe’s citizenship be already cleared by the time the debates start? Will Mar Roxas be able to say something new instead of just mouthing PNoy’s discredited “daang matuwid?”

DAVID FAUSTINO CASTRO Public Relations Officer Manila International Airport Authority

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sports sports@thestandard.com.ph

LaVine edges Gordon for dunk title MONTREAL—Minnesota Timberwolves forward Zach LaVine earned a second straight NBA All-Star Slam Dunk title in Toronto on Saturday in a scintillating showdown with Orlando’s Aaron Gordon.

LaVine, fresh from earning Most Valuable Player honors in Friday’s Rising Stars Challenge exhibition game, earned his fifth maximum score of 50 on the night with a through the legs dunk from just within the free-throw line to seal the win.

He became the fourth player to win back-toback dunk titles, after Michael Jordan (198788), Jason Richardson (2002-03) and Nate Robinson (2009-10).

But Gordon didn’t make it easy, as the two traded spectacular soaring dunks in the final round.

“We should share the trophy, because (Gordon) did some stuff I’ve never seen before,” LaVine said.

Gordon launched the final round with an incredible display of timing, grabbing the ball from the Orlando Magic mascot who was spinning on a hoverboard. He twisting through the air himself to throw down a one-

handed dunk.

LaVine responded by throwing himself an alley-oop pass and soaring for a one-handed finish.

Gordon then again used the mascot, vaulting over the costumed creature, plucking the ball from its head and passing it from one hand to another beneath his body on his way to the rim.

LaVine answered with a classic windmill dunk that also received maximum points.

In the first dunk-off, Gordon had teammate Elfrid Payton bounce an alley-oop softly off the backboard. He caught it and completed a reverse dunk. AFP

Halep pulls out of Dubai net meet DUBAI—Holder Simona Halep is back to head a field at the Dubai Tennis Championships which has been seriously weakened by the late withdrawals of Serena Williams and Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber.

What had looked to be a strong start to the postMelbourne season began deteriorating last week as the pullouts due to various aliments and injuries mounted prior to Monday’s first day at the Aviation Club.

In addition to world number one Williams and Germany’s Kerber, other absentees include 2012 champion Agnieszka Radwanska, Russian star Maria Sharapova and 2011 winner Caroline Wozniacki.

Halep, second seeded Garbine Muguruza, her fellow Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro and number four Petra Kvitova all have byes into the second round. AFP

200 million watch Jun win crown

By Ronnie Nathanielsz Zach LaVine of the Minnesota Timberwolves goes up for a dunk during the Verizon Slam Dunk Contest as part of 2016 NBA All-Star Weekend at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. AFP

Nadal crashes out of Argentina Open BUENOS AIRES—Defending champion Rafael Nadal suffered another setback Saturday when he squandered a match point before losing 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) to Austria’s Dominic Thiem in the Argentina Open semifinals.

Top seed Nadal, playing on his favourite clay surface, finally wilted in the 32-degree heat in Buenos Aires after two hours and 50 minutes on court against Thiem, the world number 19, who goes on to face Nicolas Almagro in Sunday’s final.

“It was a tough match.

I had a chance to win and missed it but Thiem

played well,” said Nadal, whose claycourt title total remains on 47.

“I’m not worried. I just lacked consistency and need to make fewer unforced errors, but that’s nothing.”

Nadal now heads for Rio next week where he will again be top seed and where he was champion in 2014.

He is expecting similarly gruelling conditions in the Olympic host city.

“I struggled a bit to adapt to the extreme conditions here. I felt more tired than usual. I know that in Rio de Janeiro it’s not going to be better, so I must continue to adapt.”

AFP

Manila Bay Seasports listup set THOSE interested to take part in the 2016 Manila Bay Seasports Festival may begin registering with Manila Broadcasting Company on Feb. 16.

To be held on March 19 and 20, the festival will feature mixed team championships for the Dragon Boat Race, with stock and formula races comprising the motorized banca competitions in annual summer event presented by MBC and the City of Manila, in cooperation with the Philippine Coast Guard.

Water enthusiasts and hobbyists are invited to cheer on the participants in these spectator sports made popular in island nations such as the Philippines.

MBC and its partners have set aside over half a million in prizes for all race divisions. Rowing clubs, student groups, and

Some of last year’s Manila Bay Seasports Festival participants try to outdo each other.

even top athletes are expected to see action in the dragon boat race, while bangkeros from all over the country will pit their skills in a show of seafaring brains and brawn.

Registration is on firstcome, first-served basis.

Call Lida Aquino at mobile

number 0995.118.7610.

The 2016 Manila Bay Seasports Festival is supported by Cobra Energy Drink, Kremtop, The Generics Pharmacy, Executive Optical, Revicon, M. Lhuillier, My Juiz, White Castle, and Herco Trading Corporation.

IN ANOTHER massive show of support for boxing in China, 200 million fans watched the television coverage from the Olympic Park Arena in Lou Zhou, China as “The Dragon” Qui Xiao Jun beat Ghana’s World Boxing Association Pan Pacific champion Raymond “Chorkor Banku” Commey to successfully retain his title in the first defense of the belt he had earlier won from Amor Belhadji Ali three months ago in Monte Carlos.

All three judges scored the fight by a lopsided 118109 decision for Jun. In a post-fight interview in the presence of WBA president Gilberto Mendoza Jr, the champion said: “Now, I want the black and gold belt (which goes to the regular champion).”

The title fight rated 5.9 percent which was reportedly the highest among all CCTV Channels in China and the third in all China, while 200 million people tuned in to watch the promising Chinese fighter in action.

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sports sports@thestandard.com.ph

Lefty seizes Pro-Am lead

Phil Mickelson plays a shot from the bunker on the fourth hole during round three of the AT&T Pebble Beach National ProAm at the Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California. AFP

Brazilians promise worry-free games RIO DE JANEIRO—Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Saturday launched a door-to-door “war” on mosquitoes that carry the Zika virus, vowing they will not jeopardize the Rio Olympics in August.

“The situation does not compromise the Olympics,” Rousseff said as she joined soldiers in a nationwide campaign to teach citizens how to fight the outbreak.

“We are confident that by the time the Olympics begin we will have considerable success in exterminating the mosquito” known as Aedes aegypti that transmits the virus, she added.

Rio de Janeiro will host the Summer Games August 5 to 21, drawing athletes and spectators from around the world.

Brazil has been most affected by the outbreak that has spread rapidly through Latin America and the Caribbean, with 1.5 million people in the country infected since early 2015.

It has confirmed three deaths linked to the virus.

While it causes only mild flu-like symptoms in

most people, Zika is strongly suspected of a rapid rise in the number of children born with microcephaly -- abnormally small heads and brains -to mothers infected during pregnancy.

Several countries have urged women to avoid getting pregnant as researchers work to confirm whether Zika causes microcephaly and the neurological disorder Guillain-Barre syndrome.

- ‘War’ on Zika mosquitoes Rousseff spoke to reporters after visiting houses in a poor neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro as part of the national anti-Zika campaign.

Early Saturday, some 220,000 soldiers fanned out across the vast South American country, part of an operation aiming to knock on three million doors and distribute informational leaflets.

Warning that pregnant women were especially at risk, Rousseff urged all Brazilians to come together.

“The war depends on us,” she said, accompanied by officials, health workers and a swarm of journalists. Wearing a white cap and short-sleeve shirt with the slogan #ZikaZero, the president personally sprayed larvicide in areas where mosquitoes can breed. AFP

LOS ANGELES—Phil Mickelson was poised to strike for a record-tying fifth Pebble Beach Pro Am crown after seizing a two-shot lead Saturday with a third-round 66.

Mickelson’s six-under effort on the par-72 Pebble Beach Golf Links -one of three courses in use over the first three rounds of the US PGA Tour event - gave him a 54-hole total of 16-under 199.

“It’s fun to just have a chance going into Sunday,” said Mickelson, the five-time major winner who hasn’t won a US tour title since lifting the 2013 British Open trophy.

As Mickelson was eyeing his chance to match Mark O’Meara’s record of five Pebble Beach titles, reigning Masters and US

Open champion Jordan Spieth was just happy to be hanging around for the final round.

The world number one looked out of sorts all day en route to a two-over par 74 at Pebble Beach for a one-under total of 214, just making the cut.

“What a really nice up and down to be able to play on Sunday,” said Spieth, who arrived at the 18th right on the projected cut line and drove into the rough.

With a tree in play he had to play out to the fairway, but finished with a three-footer for par.

“I had a bad attitude that first nine,” admitted Spieth, adding he didn’t adapt well to difficult, windy conditions.

AFP

Registration for Yakult 10 Miler underway WITH barely three weeks to the 27th staging of the pioneering and longest-running Yakult 10 Miler on March 6 at the CCP grounds in Pasay City, registration at selected Mizuno outlets continues to be at a brisk phase since it started Feb. 12.

Registration fees are pegged at P500 for the 16K run, P400 for 5K and P300 for the 3K run, inclusive of a singlet upon registration and finishers’ shirt to all finishers.

Some 3,000 runners are expected to join the 10-Mile run, powered by Mizuno and also supported by GoodAH!!! and Salonpas.

Registration centers are at the Mizuno outlets in Trinoma Mall (916 6495); SM Megamall (954 2066); Bonifacio High Street (551 3957) and at the SM Mall of Asia (954 2407).

Yakult Phils, Inc. started

supporting medium-distance running in 1982 with the Department of Youth and Sports Development when they started holding 10K running circuit every month until 1989 when the company added two more events held every year.

Since then, the 3K kiddie run, the 5K fun run, and the firstever 10-Mile run in the country, the Yakult 10 Miler, were added, making Yakult Phils., Inc. one of the pioneers and longest benefactors of the country’s running phenomenon.

Aside from cash prizes to the top finishers of the 10-mile run, Mizuno will also award running shoes and apparel to the 10-mile top three finishers and the first finisher of the 5K run, men and women.

Registration ends 5 p.m. on March 3.

Moralde captures WBF feather title

By Ronnie Nathanielsz PROMISING unbeaten John Vincent “Mulawin” Moralde won the World Boxing Federation featherweight title by a unanimous 10-round decision over tough Anthony Sabalde in what well-known boxing writer Dr. Rene Bonsubre described as “a tense bruising tactical battle” in the main event of f Brawl at the Mall: Glory in General Santops City on Saturday.

After a tentative start, Sabalde opened up in the third round in which he pinned the favored Moralde against the ropes and although Moralde began to

work to the body in the fourth round, he was hurt by a quick left counter from Sabalda, the southpaw.

Moralde began to stick and move in the fifth round and caught Sabalde on several occasions.

In the sixth round, Moralde got his timing right and according to Bonsubre caught Sabalde coming in with his right lead.

Moralde also effectively clinched when Sabalde got too close for comfort.

In the seventh, a hematoma around the right eye of Sabalde became more prominent and Moralde landed at will.

In between round, the ring doctor checked out Sabalde, who chose to continue on but using his quick footwork in the later rounds when Moralde began to connect with effective one-two combinations to win by a 98-92 margin on the scorecards of all three judges.

Moralde, who fights out of the Sanman Gym of General Santos City remains unbeaten with a record of 15-0 with 7 knockouts.

The Gaisano Mall Atrium was packed with enthusiastic fans for this free to the public event presented by Sanman Promotions CEO JM MManangquil.

Ooops! Jens Byggmark of Sweden falls on the course during the FIS Ski World Cup 2015/2016 men’s slalom competition first run at the Naeba ski resort in Yuzawa town, Niigata prefecture. AFP

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SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

Cervantes powers Elite past Enforcers

By Jeric Lopez REIL Cervantes came up huge in the clutch to help Blackwater turn back Mahindra, 110-102, following a nip-and-tuck battle for most part to earn its first win in the 2016 Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Sunday.

Mahindra’s Chito Jaime is confronted by Blackwater’s Bam Gamalinda and MJ Rhett on his way to the basket in a PBA Commissioner’s Cup game won by the Elite, 110-102.

The Bicolano swing man scored 18 of his 24 points in the payoff period to give the Elite the much-needed boost and separation to come up with hard-fought victory.

Carlo Lastimosa once again led Blackwater by dropping a team-high 26 points as he was consistent from start to finish.

These second year teams are now both tied at 1-1 in the team standings. ‘’We had to dig deep,’’ said Blackwater coach Leo Isaac of his team’s win. ‘’We lacked big men, but we were able to cope up.’’

With the game still hanging in the balance with under four minutes left, Blackwater was only ahead by two, 93-91, when Cervantes, who was scorching hot in the fourth, connected with two crucial triples to stretch the Elite’s lead to 99-91.

Gutsy rookie Arthur Dela Cruz then provided the back-breaker as he drained one from downtown as well, to push the Elite’s lead further to double-digits, 102-91, and cap off the game-turning 9-0 run with exactly two minutes remaining.

CYAN MAGENTA YELL Manila

Standard

TODAY

Republic of the Philippines Province of Bataan City of Balanga

BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE OFFICE Invitation to Bid No. Infra -019-2016 The Provincial Government of Bataan, through the Special Educational Fund19intends to apply the below listed project w/ corresponding Approved Budget of the Contract (ABC). Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected a bid opening.

Name of Project

Approved Budget of the Contract (ABC) =P=6,099,939.60

1. Construction of Two (2) Storey Four (4) Classroom School Building at Casupanan Elementary School Barangay Palihan, Hermosa, Bataan 2. Construction of Two (2) Storey Four (4) Classroom School Building, San Ramon ElementarySchool Barangay San Ramon,Dinalupihan, Bataan

=P=5,849,989.41

3. Construction of Two (2) Storey Four (4) =P=5,539,975.00 Classroom School Building at Bataan, Mariveles National High School-Malaya Barangay Malaya, Mariveles, 4. Construction of Two (2) Storey Four (4) Classroom School Building at Nagbalayong National High School Barangay Nagbalayong, Morong, Bataan

=P=6,069,991.51

5. Fabrication of Armchairs, Provincewide

=P=12,999,950.00

The Provincial Government of Bataannow invites bids for the above listedProjects. Completion of works is requiredon 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 Committeeand inspect the Bidding Documents from 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. at the same office.

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 (in Philippine Peso) 500.00 1,000.00 5,000.00 10,000.00 25,000.00 50,000.00 75,000.00

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.

The Provincial Government of Bataanwill hold a Pre-Bid Conference on February 22, 2016 at 10:00 A.M at Provincial BAC Office, PEO Capitol Compound, Balanga City, Bataan, which shall beopen only to all interested parties who have purchased the Bidding Documents.

Bids must be delivered on or before March 07, 2016 at 1:30 p.m. at Provincial BAC Office, PEO Capitol Compound, BalangaCity, Bataan. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated on IRR of RA 9184 and Bid Securing Declaration in standard form.

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

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

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

2.

3.

4.

5.

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

Schedule February 15 - 21, 2016 Refer to date of Opening of Bids February 15 – March 07, 2016 February 26, 2016 March 07, 2016

The Provincial Government of Bataanreserves 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, BalangaCity, Bataan 047-237-9316 bac@bataan.gov.ph (SGD) ENRICO T. YUZON BAC Chairman (TS-FEB. 15, 2016)

Banned import makes apology BANNED Talk ‘N Text import Ivan Johnson apologized to Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner Chito Narvasa and the league’s fans for his outburts during his team’s game against the Meralco Bolts on Saturday.

“I do want to sincerely and most humbly apologize to commissioner Narvasa for my action’s in last night’s game,” Johnson wrote on his Facebook account that was also posted on his Twitter page. “I ask that you forgive me. Thank you,” The Philippines’ professional basketball league on Saturday banned the former NBA player Johnson for life after he cursed at its commissioner during a game, a spokesman said Sunday.

Johnson, who plays with lo-

cal team Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters, was banned mid-game after he used “the F-word” in an argument with Commissioner Narvasa, said PBA media officer Willie Marcial.

Talk ‘N Text was playing the Meralco Bolts when Johnson was ejected for two technical fouls. However an angry Johnson contested this, Marcial told AFP. “That is when he stood up. He was told to calm down. But that was when he said the F-word and that is to a commissioner, the highest official of the PBA,” Marcial recalled.

Narvasa then convened a technical committee at the game’s halftime and had Johnson banned and fined 250,000 pesos ($5,600) even before the game was over, said Marcial.

Foreign imports are highly-

valued in the basketball-crazy Philippines where they can play a dominant role in the highlycompetitive PBA. But Johnson, 31, had already been in trouble, having previously been suspended for one game earlier this month for fighting with players of an opposing team.

The six-foot, eight-inch (two meter)-tall power forward was previously banned for life by the Korean Basketball League in 2010 for making an obscene gesture at a referee and also had a controversial career in the NBA. Johnson, who played with the Atlanta Hawks from 2011-2013, was initially defiant over his latest ban, posting “the devil is working overtime,” and “what’s the hate against me?” on his Twitter account. AFP

Letran Knights still looking for new coach THE search is still on for a new coach, who will handle the Letran Knights.

National University’s junior coach Jeff Napa and Mapua Cardinals assistant mentor Randy Alcantara are among those being considered to handle the Knights in their quest to defend their crown in the 92nd National Collegiate Athletic Association men’s basketball season.

Sources said the hunt for a new coach could take another month.

For now, it’s Nap Garcia and his assistant Al Ogahayon calling the shots for the Knights.

Equipment sponsor. Former First

Lady Amelita “Ming” Ramos (second from right) and Asia Traders Corp. vice president John Christopher Tan (third from left) are shown after signing the contract making Carlton, exclusively distributed by ATC, as equipment sponsor of the Ming Ramos Youth Age Group Badminton Championships. Others in photo are (from left) technical committee head Efren Pollentes, ATC marketing manager Hector Aquino and organizing committee head Joel Mabborang. The regional circuit kicked off in Pangasinan last month with the second leg set Feb. 19-21 in Cavite at the Imus Drive and Smash BC Lotus Mall. For listup, call 0927-5332988, 0916-5601740 or 0932-4713313 or email pbaevents2012@gmail.com.

School officials are looking for a new coach after Aldin Ayo vacated the post to handle La Salle, a month after steering the Knights to an NCAA title.

Napa coached the NU Bullpups to their firstever UAAP junior crown two years ago.

Alcantara was a former standout in the PBL and MBA and who was picked by Shell in the third round of the talent-laden 1998 PBA Rookie Draft.

He also handles the Mapua Red Robins, who made it to the semis in Season 91 and to a finals appearance two years ago. Peter Atencio

M O N DAY : F E B RUA RY 1 5 , 2 0 1 6

A15

SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

Fernando, pals rule Anvaya golf MHARK Fernando complemented well with amateur partners Luis Ramirez, Benigno Victorio and Rolen Paulino as they pooled a 20-under 52 to rule the ICTSI Anvaya Cove Invitational proam tournament at Anvaya Cove Golf and Sports Club in Morong, Bataan recently.

Marvin Dumandan and teammates Bienvenido Perez, Jimmy Bustamante and Eimie Hedeager assembled a 52 to place second while Jhonnel Ababa, with Fred Salonga, Mario Pangan and Alex Ong, scored a 53 to finish third in the 18-hole tournament that drew the country’s leading pros along with their amateur partners from the sponsors and backers of the traditional pro-am event.

The wind-swept layout, carved out in the Bataan mountains near the boundary of former US naval base in Subic and built inside the 470 hectares land owned by the Ayala Land Corp. where long-time golf patron ICTSI operates its

container business, has been PGT’s able partner the last two years, providing a different kind of challenge to the men of the tour with its top notch course, kept to championship condition all year.

It was in fact voted as the best course in last year’s ICTSI PGT season topped by Miguel Tabuena who won four tournaments to claim the coveted Order of Merit title.

Meanwhile, Justin Limjap shared the pro-am spotlight when he won the nearest to the line and longest drive honors on Nos. 5 and 15, respectively, while Nico Sevilla took the nearest to the hole award on No. 13.

Volley queens. The San Sebastian College Recoletos Lady Stags – Grethcel

Soltones and Dangie Encarnacion – display their championship trophy after winning the 91st National Collegiate Athletic Association beach volleyball tournament at the Boardwalk in Subic.

Petron Blaze Spikers The athlete in Derek Ramsey still hungry for a title LOCKER ROOM RANDY CALUAG

SHOWBIZ maybe his bread and butter, but Derek Ramsay is first and foremost, an athlete by heart.

No wonder, at an age nearing 40, Derek is still able to maintain a physique fit for elite athletes.

The Fil-British actor, model and host, was a competitive ball player, having played briefly with commercial squad Blu Detergent in the now-defunct Philippine Basketball League before he was lured to the glitz and glamour of show business.

But even while he’s slowly making a name for himself in the entertainment world, sports still runs in his veins.

Having influenced by the growing popularity of the UFC’s Royce Gracie era, Derek, in fact seriously considered fighting in the Ultimate Reality Combat Championship, the country’s first professional mixed martial arts tournament.

This corner caught up with the most sought-after celebrity hunk during the launch of Tough X Rough, TV5’s newest extreme series, at the Greenfield Central Park in Mandaluyong City.

“Oh yes, I almost fought

in the URCC. All my friends were into it. I was training with Orlando Dulay and even joined his corner in his first and only fight in the URCC,” admitted Derek, who will host the Canada-based program, the country’s first international obstacle course series that will also serve as the only Asian Qualifier for the World Championship in Ontario Canada in October.

But hectic showbiz commitments prevented Derek from going into full-time training.

But as a true-blue athlete, Derek knows the importance of discipline and focus. *** As an ardent follower of combat sports, Derek has a lot to say about the MMA. “My favorite fighter of all time, he’s somebody new. Let’s take out his personality outside the ring. I admire Connor Macgregor,” he said.

Mcgreggor is currently the UFC featherweight champion and is going for a second division title as he faces off with title holder Rafael Dos Anjos.

“He (Connor) knows that this is his job, he makes a lot of money from it, he just doesn’t run his mouth, I don’t like that he runs his mouth, but whatever he says, he backs it up.”

Derek also gives a premium to clean living outside the cage.

“You have great champi-

ons that lost it because of the stupidity and recklessness outside the sport. (Jon) Bones Jones threw his career away, he’s making his comeback now but doesn’t look like the Bones Jones back in the day.”

“He (Jones) is at the top of the game, when you’re on top of your game, it’s hard to stay up there because of many bad influences that can direct you to other path and this (McGregor) guy’s is so focused.” *** In boxing, Derek admires Mayweather a lot.

“I won’t say what I think of him outside the ring, but we have to respect what he’s done inside the ring. Some people don’t like his fighting style but that’s boxing. He’s good at it, the only reason why he’s good at it is because he is totally dedicated to boxing when he is competing.”

Up to this day, Derek remains in competitive sport.

A national Frisbee and beach football player, he was the 9th top scorer as part of the team that competed in the 13th World Ultimate and Guts Championship.

On being selected host of Tough X Rough, Derek said: “This is about me. This all about my personality. I love sports, I love living an active lifestyle. This really fits my personality and shows who I am. I am very excited.”

PETRON will be marching into a brand-new season of the Philippine Superliga still hungry for a title and carrying the intensity that won it a pair of crowns last year.

Tri-Activ Spikers coach George Pascua said regaining the crown remains their ultimate goal when the country’s premier inter-club women’s volleyball league kicks off the year with its Invitational Cup on Thursday at The Arena in San Juan.

Pascua, the former national team mainstay and architect of Petron’s 2014 Grand Prix and 2015 All-Filipino Cup titles, said their latest recruits are all capable of completing a dynasty for the Tri-Activ Spikers, who lost four stars in Dindin Manabat, Fille Cayetano, Rachel Anne Daquis and Aby Marano.

Manabat decided to take a leave of absence this year due to pregnancy.

Cayetano will also sit out to join her family in the campaign trail for the national elections while Daquis and Marano have been released.

Pascua said their acquisition of veterans Aiza Maizo-Pontillas of University of Santo Tomas and Bang Pineda of Adamson University, as well as rising stars Christine Joy Rosario and Angel Legacion of Arellano University and Cherry Rose Nunag of La Salle-Dasmarinas is an added boost to the already solid roster of Frances Molina, Maica Morada, Jen Reyes, Carmina Aganon, Ana Marie del Mundo, Acy Masangkay and Mayette Zapanta.

“The firepower, the solid defense

Salud to convince Pacman to promote fight card

By Ronnie Nathanielsz REX “Wakee” Salud, a close friend and confidant of eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao, said he will try to convince the Filipino ring icon to promote a double world championship in Manila.

The double fight features Jerwin Ancajas vs McJoe Arroyo and Marlon Tapales against WBO bantamweight champion Pungluang Sor Singyu, who retained his title on Friday in Korat, Thailand against 26-year-old Fili-

pino southpaw Jetro Pabustan, when referee Raul Caiz Jr. stopped the headbutt- infested title fight at the end of Round 7 as he deemed a cut above Pabustan’s left eye too severe for the contest to continue.

Salud, who is a sponsor at the wedding of Pacquiao’s youngest brother in Davao City today, said he learned that the Filipino wants to promote the fight of the promising southpaw Ancajas, who will face Puerto Rico’s IBF super flyweight champion Arroyo after wellknown international promoter and match-

maker/manager Sampson Lewkowicz won the purse bid to stage the fight in Manila.

The 24-year-old Ancajas has an impressive record of 24-1-1 with 16 knockouts and is coming off run of 11 stoppages, 6 by knockout and 5 by TKO. In his last fight on Nov. 13, Ancajas capped his amazing run with a first-round knockout of Paul Apolinario in a scheduled 10-round bout after a ninth-round KO of Juan Purisima in another scheduled 10-rounder on May 30, 2015.

and the chemistry are still there.

It’s still basically the same strong and hungry team,” said Pascua, looking forward to explosive battles with powerhouse teams like RC Cola-Army, Foton, Cignal, San Jose Builders and F2 Logistics in this tournament which will be aired live over TV5.

Pascua noted that the 27-year-old Pontillas, who steered the Tigresses to a pair of University Athletic Association of the Philippines titles, is a massive upgrade in the opposite position due to her vast experience, leadership and scoring ability. Same goes with Rosario, who once served as a strong force in the middle for the Lady Chiefs in the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

But what excites Pascua the most is the fact that they now have a bigger room for Molina, Morada, Zapanta and Aganon to grow and develop, something which they lacked last year when the Tri-Activ Spikers used to have a star-studded lineup topped with a pair of powerful reinforcements.

“I have a strong feeling that this will be a breakout season for them,” said Pascua, adding that the strong floor defense of Reyes and Pineda will be their biggest edge against other teams.

“I’m also excited about the development of Ces (Molina). After winning an award (2nd Best Opposite Spiker) last conference, she continues to work hard and strive for greatness. With that kind of work ethic, I’m pretty sure that she will go far. And this conference could be the start.”

LOTTO RESULTS

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3 DIGITS 0-0-0 2 EZ2 0-0

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m o n day : f e b rua ry 1 5 , 2 0 1 6 rIera u. maLL arI EDITOR

reueL vIdaL A S S I S TA N T E D I T O R

sports@thestandard.com.ph

sports

Fellow PSA Athletes of the Year Nonito Donaire Jr. (left) and Donnie Nietes display their trophies at the One Esplanade. mAnnY pAlmero

‘Let’s inspire each other’ REIGNING World Boxing Organization superbantamweight champion Nonito Donaire Jr. called on local athletes to help inspire each other and show the world what kind of people the Filipino race is.

“To all the athletes, let us all be inspired and inspire each other, to try to be the best with all that we are, as one for the whole world to see that we, as Philippines and everyone, are a force to be reckoned with,” said Donaire in his acceptance speech as co-winners of the Athlete of the Year award during the Philippine Sportswriters Association Annual Awards Night presented by MILO and San Miguel Corp. at the One Esplanade Saturday night.

“Let us all be great, let us all be

inspirational to one another, and let us all be one. Thank you for inspiring me to be the best that I am,” added the 33-year-old boxing champion.

Donaire shared the spotlight with fellow world champion Donnie Nietes and rising golf star Miguel Tabuena in receiving the highest accolade bestowed by the country’s oldest media organization under president Riera Mallari of The Standard.

The three winners of the Athlete of the Year trophy led the to-

lAvine is dunk chAmp AgAin

tal of 111 awardees recognized for their feat and doing the country proud in the year that has just past during the formal affair, which had the Philippine Sports Commission as major sponsor and supported by long-time friends of sports such as Smart, MVP Foundation, Maynilad, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., Philippine Basketball Association, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office/ Philracom, Accel, Sen. Chiz Escudero, SM Prime Holdings, Rain or Shine, Globalport, National University, and One Esplanade.

Mallari personally handed out

the President’s Award to Gilas Pilipinas and received by national team manager Butch Antonio, deputy coach Alex Compton, and players Dondon Hontiveros, Sonny Thoss, and JC Intal.

Alaska team owner Wilfred Uytengsu Jr., meanwhile, made a heartfelt speech in addressing the local sports community as recipient of the Executive of the Year award.

Uytengsu stressed how sports – first, as member of the national swimming team before becoming the man behind one of the most successful franchises in PBA history – allowed him to learn about the “importance of great work ethics, commitment, dedication, and sacrifice.”

elite stun enforcers for 1st triumph

turn to A12 turn to A14

Eaglets need to beat Junior Archers twice Games Monday (The Arena in San Juan) 9 a.m. La Salle-Zobel vs Ateneo

By peter Atencio THE defending champion Ateneo Blue Eaglets will try to live up to the challenge of needing to beat the La Salle-Zobel Junior Archers twice when they clash 9 a.m. today in the second stepladder semifinals of the 76th University Athletic Association of the Philippines junior basketball at the Arena in San Juan.

“It’s a must-win situation for us. But the boys are up to the challenge,” said Blue Eaglets’ coach Joe Silva, after they swamped the Far Eastern University-Diliman Baby Tamaraws, 84-68, last Wednesday in their stepladder semifinal encounter.

To get past the Junior Archers, they must stop their main man, Aljun Melecio who leads the overall MVP race, with National University Bullpups Justine Baltazar close behind.

MONDAY: FEBRUARY 15, 2016

RAY S. EÑANO EDITOR

RODERICK T. DELA CRUZ ASSISTANT EDITOR

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

BUSINESS

B1

Power outages still possible PSe comPoSite index Closing February 12, 2016

8000 8340 7880 7420 6960 6500

6,654.45 8.98

PeSo-dollar rate

Closing February 12, 2016 48.00 46.00 45.00

P47.510

44.00

CLOSE

43.00

HIGH P47.490 LOW P47.615 AVERAGE P47.567

By Alena Mae S. Flores

MANILA Electric Co., the country’s biggest electricity retailer, warned over the weekend unexpected outages of power plants could affect supply during the dry months and result in higher rates.

Meralco president Oscar Reyes told reporters the power supply was adequate during the critical months after generators moved their maintenance schedules after the May elections.

Reyes, however, said any unexpected power plant shutdown would impact on the demand and supply scenario.

“We’re moving now to the start of summer months. However, because of the elections, generation plants have been re-scheduling

maintenance. In terms of supply side, you have significantly less maintenance shutdown and hopefully less outages. Our forecast is there should be adequate supply unless we have unexpected plants going down,” Reyes said.

He said Meralco had kept its more than five million customers aware of possible rate increases due to higher demand during the dry months.

After months of low prices, Meralco reported higher rates of P0.42 per kilowatthour for residential consumers in February, prompting an investigation from the Energy Regulatory Commission.

“In the end it’s going to be a question of fuel procurement. Fuel component started to go up because of cost of fuel, gas and foreign exchange. If they remain benign, then hopefully the increases will not be significant,” Reyes said, when asked if power rates will go up by the same level as the February levels.

Reyes said higher demand and any unexpected power outages could affect power

rates.

“If not, hopefully impact will be less. Normally, we see rates going up during summer months. It’s something not out of the ordinary. it’s reflective of the patterns of the past.

Rates tend to, because of generating charges, increase during the months of March to June [and] July,” he said.

Reyes said the sales growth in January “seems to be strong” as more residential and commercial projects were being built and energized.

“For 2015 against 2014, we were at 5 or 5.4 percent so we’re seeing continuing growth in January but have to wait for the quarter,” he said.

Reyes urged the ERC to approve Meralco’s pending capital expenditure application of close to P18 billion to meet the demands of the distribution business.

“We’re still working with ERC. We remain hopeful that they will of act on it. It’s important for us to put in place infrastructure to support load growth and customer increases,” he said.

VOLUME 560.100M

P417.00-P627.00 LPG/11-kg tank P33.30-P40.75 Unleaded Gasoline

oPriceS il P today

P20.40-P23.80 Diesel P34.55-P39.15 Kerosene Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Friday, February 12, 2016

F oreign e xchange r ate Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

47.4310

Japan

Yen

0.008898

0.4220

UK

Pound

1.447400

68.6516

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.128353

6.0879

Switzerland

Franc

1.028912

48.8023

Canada

Dollar

0.718236

34.0667

Singapore

Dollar

0.719580

34.1304

Australia

Dollar

0.708316

33.5961

Bahrain

Dinar

2.656748

126.0122

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266702

12.6499

Brunei

Dollar

0.717000

34.0080

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000074

0.0035

Thailand

Baht

0.028374

1.3458

UAE

Dirham

0.272287

12.9148

Euro

Euro

1.132100

53.6966

Korea

Won

0.000834

0.0396

China

Yuan

0.152332

7.2253

India

Rupee

0.014623

0.6936

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.241838

11.4706

New Zealand

Dollar

0.667690

31.6692

Taiwan

Dollar

0.030349

1.4395 Source: PDS Bridge

‘Negosyo’ sale. PLDT Smart SME Nation solidifies its support for the country’s bustling micro, small-and-medium enterprise sector by

holding a three-day sale event on IT and business productivity offerings. Techmobile, a mobile e-commerce store on wheels, will go around the country to offer services to more MSMEs across the country to help push the campaign further. Shown during the launching of the event are (from left) PLDT executive vice president and ePLDT president and chief executive Eric Alberto and PLDT Smart SME Nation vice president and head Mitch Locsin.

Marubeni, Sumitomo bidding for 120 new cars of LRT 1

By Darwin G. Amojelar TWO Japanese companies are vying for the P30-billion contract to supply 120 brand-new light rail vehicles for the oldest metro rail transit in Southeast Asia.

The Transportation Department said Marubeni Corp. and Sumitomo Corp. expressed interest to participate in the auction for the procurement of 120 brand-new cars for LRT Line 1.

Only Japanese companies or groups will be allowed to partici-

pate in the auction, as the project will be funded through a loan from Japan International Cooperation Agency.

The deadline for submission and opening of the technical and price bid for the project is scheduled on Feb. 16.

The winning bidder will cover the technical design of the coaches, procurement of materials required for manufacturing the LRVs and ensure compliance with technical specifications through testing.

The 120 LRVs will be config-

ured in 30 four-car train sets to allow the rail line to accommodate up to 750,000 passengers daily.

The winning bidder will have three years to complete the delivery of the new LRVs, which will be done in two tranches. The first delivery is set in 2017 and the second in 2018.

The government allocated P30 billion for the 120 new coaches for the LRT Line 1 under the P64.9billion LRT Line 1 Cavite extension project, which was awarded to Light Rail Manila Corp.

LRMC will construct the Cavite extension over the next four and a half years, making the entire line operational by the fourth quarter of 2020.

LRMC, a joint venture between Ayala Corp. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp., has been operating and maintaining the existing LRT-1 system since the functions were handed over by Light Rail Transit Authority in September last year.

LRTA remains the regulator of the railway while the Transpor-

tation Department is the implementing agency of the 32-year public-private partnership concession agreement with LRMC. LRMC said the company planned to start the construction of LRT Line 1 Cavite extension project in the second half of 2016.

The consortium would spend over P40 billion to rehabilitate and expand LRT Line 1.

Eight new stations will be provided with three intermodal facilities across Pasay City, Parañaque City, Las Pinas City and Cavite.

MONDAY: FEBRUARY 15, 2016

B2

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

The STandard BuSineSS Weekly STockS revieW FEBRUARY 9-12, 2016 Close Volume AG Finance Asia United Bank Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. Bank of PI China Bank BDO Leasing & Fin. Inc. Bright Kindle Resources COL Financial Eastwest Bank Filipino Fund Inc. First Abacus I-Remit Inc. Manulife Fin. Corp.

MEDCO Holdings Metrobank Natl Reinsurance Corp.

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

2.79 44.75 99.50 89.90 35.2 2.50 1.38 14.3 16.6 6.62 0.72 1.66 575.00 0.435 73.9 0.89 15.00 50.85 98.85 267 33.4 143.8 1295.00 56.30 1.45

Aboitiz Power Corp.

Agrinurture Inc. Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. Alsons Cons.

Asiabest Group C. Azuc De Tarlac Century Food Cirtek Holdings (Chips) Concepcion Crown Asia Da Vinci Capital Del Monte DNL Industries Inc. Emperador Energy Devt. Corp. (EDC) EEI First Gen Corp.

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

LBC Express Liberty Flour LMG Chemicals Mabuhay Vinyl Corp.

Manila Water Co. Inc. Maxs Group Megawide Mla. Elect. Co `A’ Panasonic Mfg Phil. Corp.

Pepsi-Cola Products Phil.

Petron Corporation Phil H2O Phinma Corporation Phoenix Petroleum Phils.

Phoenix Semiconductor Pryce Corp. `A’ RFM Corporation Roxas Holdings San Miguel’Pure Foods `B’ Splash Corporation Swift Foods, Inc. TKC Steel Corp.

Trans-Asia Oil Universal Robina Victorias Milling Vitarich Corp.

Vulcan Ind’l.

42 4.54 0.63 1.37 10.86 190.00 16.98 19.36 37.1 2.1 2.19 11.5 8.160 7.29 5.19 5.68 17.68 56.5 11.00 13.90 5.4 2.250 210.40 9 25.00 1.85 3.19 26 14.9 5.83 317.20 3.95 2.99 7.64 2.5 11.50 3.55 1.61 2.4 3.80 5.19 144 2.38 0.147 1.06 2.07 192 4.55 0.6 1.05

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

Forum Pacific GT Capital House of Inv. IPM Holdings JG Summit Holdings Keppel Holdings `A’ Keppel Holdings `B’ Lopez Holdings Corp.

Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp.

Mabuhay Holdings `A’ Metro Pacific Inv. Corp.

Pacifica `A’ Prime Media Hldg Prime Orion Republic Glass ‘A’ San Miguel Corp `A’ Seafront `A’ SM Investments Inc. Solid Group Inc. South China Res. Inc. Top Frontier Unioil Res. & Hldgs Wellex Industries Zeus Holdings

0.320 57.9000 14.24 0.96 6.00 0.226 0.191 689.5 7.36 11.80 5 4.60 0.213 1240 5.30 9.77 66.90 4.66 5.25 0.61 16.4 0.53 5.62 0.0320 1.170 2.030 2.74 73.00 2.39 813.50 1.03 0.77 135.000 0.2850 0.1920 0.310

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

Ayala Land `B’ Belle Corp. `A’ Cebu Holdings Centennial City City & Land Dev. Cityland Dev. `A’ Crown Equities Inc. Cyber Bay Corp.

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

MRC Allied Ind. Phil. Estates Corp.

Phil. Realty `A’

6.900 7.00 0.74 1.190 0.215 31.000 2.5 4.8 0.500 0.96 1.020 0.117 0.395 23.35 0.860 0.145 0.90 1.48 1.24 3.32 0.083 0.2500 0.320

Value

FINANCIAL 2,305,770.00 2,705,155.00 740,765,142 239,085,677.50 1,864,430.00 133,380.00 355,520.00 191,574.00 1,607,836.00 24,642 5,040 135,990.00 69,300.00 160,850.00 231,315,187.50 4,450.00 16,011,120.00 4,868,844.00 188,083.00 659,050.00 9,027,900 301,043,082.00 149,675.00 4,000,870.00 1,955,590.00 INDUSTRIAL 4,226,400 177,208,865.00 1,743,000 7,847,280.00 921,000 601,210.00 4,513,000 6,019,070.00 53,100 552,566.00 5,570 816,402.00 4,502,500 73,741,180 789,300 15,334,080.00 236,200 8,776,690 1,480,000 3,070,780.00 71,461,000 157,026,930.00 116,700 1,343,688.00 14,693,300 120,385,318.00 18,354,200 133,954,932.00 34,857,400 181,359,816.00 1,432,800 8,099,116.00 9,743,800 175,624,806.00 374,810 21,089,987.50 10,200 112,328.00 106,300 1,500,880.00 1,021,700 5,424,912.00 12,569,000 29,170,720.00 5,121,520 1,076,262,008.00 33,300 286,900.00 700 17,500.00 54,000 99,700.00 88,000 254,840.00 4,445,900 115,952,600.00 3,438,900 50,920,064.00 363,000 2,094,546.00 622,760 196,755,092.00 25,000 98,750.00 10,827,000 32,516,700.00 75,855,800 555,935,931.00 16,000 39,420.00 3,200 36,200.00 1,117,000 4,010,940.00 3,581,000 5,360,710.00 1,216,000 2,825,300.00 638,000 2,451,830.00 12,000 58,240.00 14,550 2,051,747.00 879,000 2,117,280.00 31,550,000 4,817,790.00 204,000 207,420.00 8,540,000 17,811,630.00 15,040,580 2,904,291,461.00 233,000 1,060,210.00 2,122,000 1,269,420.00 487,000 499,170.00 HOLDING FIRMS 930,000 308,750.00 2,147,410 123,445,233.50 15,741,400 223,998,660.00 517,000 499,140.00 718,700 4,296,402.00 340,000 70,100.00 30,000 5,710.00 704,970 483,124,065.00 6,508,200 47,919,317.00 10,086,800 118,298,166.00 19,100 91,400.00 182,000 854,830.00 1,490,000 302,870.00 366,225 454,337,930.00 5,000 26,500.00 6,962,200 68,077,563.00 5,095,310 333,159,967.50 400 2,028.00 15,919,200 79,554,369.00 329,000 198,630.00 15,076,600 247,669,146.00 42,000 22,260.00 140,921,500 800,347,500.00 567,500,000 18,070,400.00 47,000 51,150.00 6,328,000 12,725,090.00 48,000 127,960.00 5,816,290 425,853,824.50 3,000 6,710.00 787,100 638,155,170.00 319,000 331,370.00 166,000 125,370.00 578,910 74,330,536.00 4,560,000 1,285,650.00 120,000 23,960.00 24,880,000 7,778,950.00 PROPERTY 525,500 3,702,999.00 1,000 7,000.00 2,999,000 2,259,940.00 57,000 67,440.00 610,000 130,680.00 18,856,100 589,360,560.00 8,002,000 19,421,890.00 942,000 4,252,290.00 5,925,000 2,988,355.00 6,000 5,660.00 35,000 33,550.00 1,990,000 234,160.00 2,120,000 841,750.00 6,490,300 145,678,845.00 6,911,000 6,059,130.00 350,000 50,750.00 6,714,000 6,094,380.00 48,840,000 72,969,290.00 878,000 1,088,850.00 111,787,000 381,743,890.00 10,610,000 889,240.00 400,000 90,380.00 60,000 19,500.00 851,000 60,600 7,452,800 2,688,030 52,900 53,000 256,000 13,400 97,600 3,700 7,000 79,000 120 370,000 3,148,250 5,000 1,039,900 96,240 1,880 2,470 271,100 2,095,270 115 71,420 1,341,000

FEBRUARY 1-5, 2016 Close Volume Value 2.89 44.8 101.00 90.00 35.2 2.50 1.31 14.3 16.6 6.70 0.72 1.78 570.00 0.450 75.3 0.91 15.00 51.35 103.2 275 33.5 144.1 1310.00 56.50 1.45

3,463,000 136,700 15,401,380 17,136,710 212,600 31,000 1,587,000 52,500 2,442,600 23,500 1,000 78,000 400 1,710,000 17,047,140 52,000 683,800 513,990 10 3,480 916,800 4,097,650 215 474,090 754,000

10,918,840.00 6,077,865.00 1,538,353,903 1,530,223,186.50 7,483,900.00 77,500.00 2,267,680.00 740,292.00 39,176,480.00 148,090 720 137,910.00 229,450.00 802,550.00 1,239,319,869.50 46,010.00 10,095,402.00 26,192,302.00 1,032.00 932,298.00 30,203,775 589,277,320.00 273,325.00 26,672,786.00 1,087,880.00

42.2 4.52 0.67 1.26 10.2

20,851,300 2,956,000 2,117,000 1,635,000 22,900

867,443,290.00 13,474,710.00 1,313,810.00 2,094,610.00 229,622.00

16.32 19.56 37.5 2.09 1.88 11.6 8.200 7.30 5.23 5.50 18.9 56.55 11.50 13.80 5.2 2.510 214.60 8.5 25.00 1.81 2.9 26 15.02 5.5 312.80 4.05 2.97 6.69 2.99 11.50 3.60 1.36 2.3 3.80 4.91 139.5 2.44 0.142 1.01 2.10 199 4.64 0.6 1.02

2,276,700 651,400 633,100 1,731,000 51,566,000 152,500 47,975,500 4,589,900 84,920,900 2,912,800 38,120,500 2,688,660 800 119,900 563,300 45,375,000 6,288,900 532,100 1,900 356,000 2,000 4,753,100 15,645,400 798,900 1,263,570 4,000 943,000 30,325,100 16,000 5,600 2,854,000 1,046,000 5,739,000 672,000 57,000 69,120 11,752,000 2,590,000 415,000 21,621,000 12,368,510 624,000 448,000 1,093,000

36,318,956 12,721,058.00 23,702,365 3,592,860.00 104,156,950.00 1,794,184.00 384,622,206.00 33,574,373.00 452,366,265.00 15,542,948.00 711,759,026.00 152,225,254.50 9,016.00 1,697,188.00 2,850,213.00 112,091,370.00 1,311,138,232.00 4,158,828.00 47,500.00 643,260.00 5,800.00 120,662,805.00 226,963,990.00 4,440,165.00 387,999,506.00 16,200.00 2,800,660.00 200,060,541.00 43,650.00 62,772.00 10,262,710.00 1,396,790.00 13,902,720.00 2,526,830.00 279,518.00 9,708,277.00 28,304,740.00 373,060.00 434,980.00 45,469,850.00 2,404,956,107.00 2,844,740.00 266,350.00 1,116,870.00

0.325 57.7000 14.70 1.18 6.20 0.208 0.230 694.5 7.35 11.90 4.72 4.74 0.220 1273 5.70 9.72 66.70

3,140,000 10,022,540 37,739,500 304,000 95,700 14,830,000 50,000 1,845,460 7,261,500 35,385,400 501,900 898,000 760,000 1,536,000 126,500 10,195,500 10,262,310

964,550.00 570,976,610.00 552,095,652.00 322,890.00 574,332.00 2,976,110.00 11,500.00 1,242,706,685.00 53,631,282.00 406,388,278.00 2,539,313.00 4,217,640.00 154,500.00 1,965,415,080.00 669,483.00 98,692,620.00 670,056,179.00

5.13 0.55 16.32 0.52 5.7 0.0290 1.130 2.040 2.74 73.00 2.4 847.00 1.07 0.80 122.000 0.2800 0.2050 0.270

15,071,200 748,000 39,719,000 336,000 197,424,800 56,800,000 45,000 24,858,000 183,000 5,028,220 4,000 1,332,220 2,067,000 47,000 631,240 19,870,000 1,050,000 4,660,000

79,753,264.00 416,150.00 625,620,856.00 177,670.00 1,086,388,364.00 1,627,000.00 50,220.00 51,118,240.00 499,520.00 361,139,336.50 9,050.00 1,106,208,890.00 2,105,140.00 36,200.00 71,884,735.00 5,539,300.00 206,180.00 1,249,600.00

7.100

7,646,200

53,837,012.00

0.77 1.180

11,398,000 168,000

8,748,910.00 184,090.00

32.150 2.46 4.5 0.510

64,904,500 8,485,000 148,000 15,646,000

2,060,874,370.00 20,602,770.00 669,060.00 7,921,695.00

0.960 0.120 0.400 21 0.890 0.145 0.94 1.50 1.25 3.6 0.075 0.2600 0.365

20,003,000 7,400,000 13,300,000 4,664,500 17,191,000 80,000 21,407,000 73,419,000 7,554,000 274,163,000 1,240,000 1,140,000 1,470,000

19,202,880.00 866,000.00 5,731,400.00 95,407,663.00 15,177,360.00 12,230.00 19,529,250.00 109,430,000.00 9,753,470.00 952,854,460.00 92,540.00 259,110.00 509,350.00

STOCKS

FEBRUARY 9-12, 2016 Close Volume

Primex Corp.

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

8.48 25.50 1.48 3 21.00 0.75 5.9 0.960 4.220

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

Cebu Air Inc. (5J) Centro Esc. Univ.

Discovery World DFNN Inc. Easy Call “Common” FEUI Globe Telecom GMA Network Inc. Harbor Star I.C.T.S.I. IPeople Inc. `A’ IP E-Game Ventures Inc. Island Info ISM Communications Jackstones Leisure & Resorts Liberty Telecom Lorenzo Shipping Macroasia Corp.

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

Pacific Online Sys. Corp.

PAL Holdings Inc. Paxys Inc. Phil. Racing Club Phil. Seven Corp.

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

SSI Group STI Holdings Travellers Waterfront Phils.

Yehey

6.33 55.15 1.15 0.440 10.08 4.11 0.0450 3.06 80.5 9.31 1.47 5.90 2.38 990 1850 6.72 1.15 56.5 11.96 0.0092 0.157 1.1200 2.18 7.28 4.09 1.12 2.25 18.00 0.510 1.97 2.1 3.30 0.260 0.700 17.9 4.50 2.4 9 99.00 25.80 2168.00 0.405 0.810 33.15 60.00 5.10 3.28 0.405 3.73 0.335 4.150

Abra Mining Apex `A’ Atlas Cons. `A’ Atok-Big Wedge `A’ Basic Energy Corp.

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

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

TA Petroleum United Paragon

0.0044 2.27 4.45 12.00 0.220 5.4000 5.5000 0.59 0.435 8.10 0.630 0.280 0.330 0.350 0.0130 0.014 1.74 4.3 2.4 0.5700 1.1500 0.0092 0.0094 3.47 6.11 1.64 0.0110 122.10 1.84 0.0077

ABS-CBN Holdings Corp.

Ayala Corp. Pref ‘B1’ Ayala Corp. Pref ‘B2’ First Gen F FPH Pref C GLOBE PREF P GMA Holdings Inc. Leisure & Resort Pref.

MWIDE PREF PCOR-Preferred A PCOR-Preferred B PF Pref 2 PNX PREF 3A PNX PREF 3B SMC Preferred B SMC Preferred C SMC Preferred E SMC Preferred F Swift Pref

50.8 530 531 112.9 500 521 6.52 1.09 112 1035 1088 1025 105 109 80.5 82.5 77 79.6 2.1

Leisure & Resort Warr.

2.430

Alterra Capital Makati Fin. Corp.

Italpinas Xurpas

3.57 2.8 2.39 12.58

First Metro ETF

108.6

FEBRUARY 1-5, 2016 Close Volume Value

Value

17,500 4,206,000 109,000 1,000 34,450,500 2,251,000 5,299,700 45,749,000 29,053,000

147,825.00 105,204,440.00 158,530.00 3,000.00 733,486,520.00 1,698,520.00 29,476,200.00 46,910,240.00 120,524,460.00 SERVICES 284,800 1,784,768.00 411,280 22,577,918.00 7,000 8,110.00 10,200,000 4,486,700.00 133,000 1,339,880.00 17,166,000 70,669,200.00 501,900,000 23,185,700.00 1,120,000 3,449,710.00 1,663,840 130,292,762.50 61,900 576,511.00 115,000 171,350 1,369,200 8,000,167.00 47,000 111,630.00 550 534,640.00 184,530 341,500,335 447,700 2,949,076.00 217,000 250,490.00 3,848,360 220,082,232.50 3,500 40,812.00 91,000,000 856,700.00 73,780,000 11,662,500.00 6,257,000 7,135,150.00 21,000 44,460.00 197,300 1,436,136.00 1,161,000 4,642,370.00 3,000 3,360.00 115,000 244,130.00 900 16,200.00 2,000 1,020.00 1,000 1,970.00 135,072,000 280,254,660.00 4,923,000 16,191,560.00 220,000 55,450.00 19,433,000 13,865,240.00 125,200 2,140,444.00 4,000 17,990 300,000 720,000.00 15,700 141,300.00 2,160 213,680.00 260,600 6,767,770.00 282,170 608,345,090.00 1,120,000 439,650.00 167,002,900 160,093,490.00 4,355,700 144,814,770.00 1,124,880 67,734,445.50 5,973,600 30,378,070.00 34,036,000 112,946,530.00 4,090,000 1,669,950.00 1,333,000 4,945,330.00 1,610,000 503,550.00 359,000 1,484,630.00 MINING & OIL 10,150,000,000 45,005,600.00 5,994,000 12,833,570.00 3,861,000 17,630,030.00 4,800 55,602.00 11,690,000 2,660,770.00 41,800 223,780.00 22,900 106,560.00 3,827,000 2,235,860.00 15,330,000 6,435,650.00 494,000 3,861,395.00 63,355,000 41,240,940.00 1,570,000 430,800.00 1,490,760,000 426,055,240.00 299,790,000 87,073,970.00 4,342,800,000 56,354,000.00 1,215,600,000 16,385,600.00 1,876,000 3,249,440.00 37,825,800 171,313,095.00 2,970,000 7,301,200.00 646,000 360,960.00 1,139,000 1,340,720.00 38,000,000 353,400.00 5,000,000 48,000.00 23,000 79,620.00 37,100,700 214,645,545.00 9,380,000 14,836,600.00 152,000,000 1,665,400.00 2,174,640 266,291,322.00 575,000 1,059,830.00 11,000,000 87,200.00 PREFERRED 1,257,130 66,572,700.00 680 359,400.00 21,780 11,599,990 10 1,129.00 2,000 1,000,000.00 640 333,980.00 190,900 1,237,051.00 1,163,000 1,275,270 2,680 300,160.00 270 279,450.00 650 705,600.00 19,570 20,063,635.00 324,200 34,041,000.00 16,130 1,750,000.00 23,000 1,849,600.00 196,070 16,226,020.50 47,030 3,621,310.00 154,630 12,304,798.00 12,000 27,250.00 WARRANTS & BONDS 3,936,000 9,975,490.00 SME 128,000 426,950.00 84,000 235,670.00 1,062,000 2,652,030.00 1,201,300 15,027,214.00 EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 4,970 538,378.00

8.39 25.50 1.45 3.05 21.00 0.75 4.59 0.960 4.250

1,300 21,657,900 1,305,000 80,000 56,697,900 6,339,000 9,000 29,441,000 51,528,000

10,907.00 536,379,465.00 1,921,770.00 236,730.00 1,194,354,705.00 4,806,710.00 39,520.00 29,231,020.00 207,257,690.00

6.3 55.5 1.14 0.420 10.06 4.11 0.0430 3.23 77.5 9.99 1.6 6.00

187,300 348,280 557,000 14,610,000 136,500 67,902,000 144,100,000 285,000 3,350,570 6,700 14,000 342,200

1,181,883.00 19,385,953.00 634,780.00 6,032,050.00 1,372,954.00 292,398,440.00 6,122,000.00 899,230.00 257,695,457.50 65,072.00 22,530 2,036,520.00

955 1898 6.51 1.18 58.7 11.24 0.0081 0.144 1.1700 2.07 7.12 4.12 1.21

600 361,075 282,100 387,000 8,647,590 6,457,200 20,000,000 53,960,000 13,984,000 17,000 897,300 707,000 1,000

573,320.00 674,332,180 1,835,581.00 455,760.00 500,228,408.50 72,598,064.00 163,200.00 8,280,060.00 16,954,800.00 34,740.00 6,449,493.00 2,876,530.00 1,210.00

18.00 0.550 1.94 2.05 3.47 0.255 0.730 18.3 4.50 2.4

3,400 99,000 24,000 319,398,000 14,506,000 730,000 73,207,000 15,600 144,000 71,000

61,200.00 53,330.00 46,720.00 710,891,380.00 48,663,450.00 181,750.00 53,729,610.00 286,806.00 638,650 170,300.00

100.00 28.00 2190.00 0.390 0.710 33.85 61.10 5.06 3.25 0.415 3.8 0.330 4.200

1,004,030 986,800 679,825 2,200,000 110,341,000 5,823,900 6,012,870 7,223,200 86,112,000 6,140,000 2,725,000 790,000 426,000

100,403,000.00 22,488,092.00 1,468,158,990.00 839,200.00 80,641,710.00 196,702,910.00 362,987,128.50 36,932,038.00 288,221,980.00 2,507,800.00 10,352,540.00 256,400.00 1,706,160.00

0.0041 1.82 4.32 12.00 0.207

3,914,000,000 990,000 7,933,000 31,200 410,000

16,550,300.00 1,780,850.00 33,818,400.00 362,190.00 83,860.00

4.8000 0.54 0.400 6.80 0.670 0.260 0.182 0.199 0.0110 0.012 1.81 5.05 2.55 0.4850 1.1300 0.0097

14,000 2,607,000 4,710,000 162,600 269,769,000 470,000 56,390,000 5,410,000 164,100,000 37,800,000 3,137,000 75,520,000 3,496,000 110,000 606,000 30,000,000

67,180.00 1,408,090.00 1,845,650.00 1,037,761.00 190,469,000.00 75,150.00 10,199,340.00 1,075,470.00 1,678,300.00 453,000.00 5,618,620.00 362,491,129.00 8,841,090.00 52,900.00 701,520.00 280,500.00

3.48 4.85 1.56 0.0100 126.10 1.92

56,000 13,103,000 18,630,000 895,000,000 3,017,880 488,000

191,100.00 60,527,400.00 28,723,900.00 9,706,900.00 369,884,456.00 933,970.00

54.65 500

1,359,880 268,000

74,228,388.00 2,373,210.00

118 500 523 6.02 1.1 111 1023 1065 1025 105 108 79 82.5 77 79.5

260,750 8,000 4,610 112,800 390,000 2,000 3,020 100 14,715 10,000 2,520 44,800 102,460 275,580 258,200

30,752,350.00 4,000.00 2,410,150.00 677,437.00 426,750 222,000.00 3,093,100.00 106,500.00 15,100,470.00 1,050,000.00 271,760.00 3,381,050.00 8,460,577.00 21,220,537.00 20,503,803.00

2.530

4,171,000

11,243,080.00

3.45 2.54 2.49 12.8

198,000 4,000 1,383,000 5,416,900

643,870.00 10,180.00 3,452,560.00 70,316,230.00

110.5

333,390

36,019,211.00

WEEKLY MOST TRADED STOCKS Abra Mining Manila Mining `A’ Lepanto `A’ Manila Mining `B’ Pacifica `A’ Boulevard Holdings Lepanto `B’ Premium Leisure Philodrill Corp. `A’ Metro Pacific Inv. Corp.

VOLUME 10,150,000,000 4,342,800,000 1,490,760,000 1,215,600,000 567,500,000 501,900,000 299,790,000 167,002,900 152,000,000 140,921,500

STOCKS Universal Robina Jollibee Foods Corp.

Metro Pacific Inv. Corp.

Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. SM Prime Holdings SM Investments Inc. PLDT Common Ayala Land `B’ Petron Corporation Ayala Corp `A’

VALUE 2,904,291,461.00 1,076,262,008.00 800,347,500.00 740,765,142 733,486,520.00 638,155,170.00 608,345,090.00 589,360,560.00 555,935,931.00 483,124,065.00

MONDAY: FEBRUARY 15, 2016

B3

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

Colliers supports biking. Fondo

Manila, in partnership with Colliers International and Ayala Land, are hosting the next Fondo Manila biking event on Feb. 21 at the Alabang Town Center grounds at 6 a.m. Funds raised from ‘Share the Road: A Bike Charity Event’ will support the creation of functional and stylish cycling helmets to be given to cyclists of indigent communities.

Shown during the announcement of the event are (from left) Colliers International associate director for office services Bryan David, Colliers International managing director David Young, Colliers International associate director for office services Maricris Sarino-Joson, Fondo Manila founder Patrick Joson and Colliers International senior manager Carlos Cang.

BDO bullish on property sector

By Julito G. Rada

BDO Capital and Investment Corp., the investment banking arm of BDO Unibank Inc., said it remains bullish on the property market this year, with growth likely to be driven by the business process outsourcing industry.

BDO Capital president Eduardo Francisco said over the weekend demand for commercial, retail and mixeduse developments would remain strong, as BPO companies continued to expand.

“BPO will continue to drive growth. This sector will not only encompass office and commercial establishments, but will also include heightened demand for mid-market residential properties within and around central business districts,” Francisco said in a statement.

“We all know that BPO employees, because of their work schedule, don’t want to stay away from their place

of work. As much as possible, they want to live within the billion will be due within seven years. vicinity of their workplace. Along with this, they prefer “This agreement is a clear show of confidence by BDO that their other needs addressed by convenience stores not only on the fundamentals of DMCI Homes, but also and shopping centers are also near where they live and on the housing mortgage sector. Housing prices have work,” he said. increased significantly since 2014, but banks and develBDO Capital showed its optimism on the real estate in- opers still see this as caused by improving fundamentals, dustry when it acted as the lead arranger and sole book- such runner of the recently-inked P10-billion fixed-rate corporate notes facility with Republic of the Philippines DMCI Project Developers Inc. Depar tment of Environment and Natural Resources The note holders include BDO LeasCOMMUNITY ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES OFFICE ing, BDO Private Bank, BDO Unibank, Office of the CENR Officer Masinloc, Zambales Bank of the Philippine Islands, China Banking Corp., Land Bank of the Philippines, BPI Asset Management, ALFM N OTIC E O F B ID D IN G Mutual Funds, Development Bank (L e a se o f Fo re s h o re /O f f s h o re L a n d) of the Philippines and Security Bank Corp.

N o t i c e i s h e r e by g i ve n t h a t t h e D E N R - C E N R O a t M a s i n l o c , DMCI Homes will pay the notes facilZ a m b a l e s w i l l a c c e p t o r a l o r w r i t t e n b i d s n o t l a t e r t h a n (10 : 0 0) o 'c l o c k A . M . o n M a r c h 0 9 , 2 016 f o r t h e l e a s e o f t h e t r a c t o f l a n d h e r e i n b e l o w ity at prevailing interest rates, with the d e s c r i b e d: terms of payment broken down into two Location : Binabalian, Candelaria, Zambales parts. The first P5 billion will be paid for within five years, while the balance of P5 Description : B o u n d e d o n t h e N o r t h by S o u t h C h i n a S e a &

Profit reports seen to support stocks

By Jenniffer B. Austria STOCKS are expected to move sideways this week, as investors will likely watch developments overseas and monitor the earnings reports of domestic companies.

“While we expect the market to react to external news, investors will also be looking closely at the earnings releases by local corporates,” BPI Asset Management said in a weekly outlook.

Early earnings results were mixed so far, with Jollibee Foods Corp. reporting a 10-percent decline in net income in 2015 due to one-time extraordinary cost.

Globe Telecom Inc. declared a net profit of P16.48 billion in 2015, up 23 percent year-onyear, while Security Bank Corp.

said net income rose 7 percent last year to a record P7.7 billion.

Aside from earnings reports, investors will also await the release of local economic data including remittances in December 2015.

Analysts earlier warned the continued decline in world oil prices could have a severe impact on remittances from workers abroad.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company bellwether, fell 1.6 percent to close at 6,654.45 on Feb. 12, while the broader all-share index declined 0.7 percent to 3,839.97.

Analysts said while the market was up in the early part of last week’s trading on renewed investors appetite for equities, the benchmark index retreat-

ed on continued decline in oil prices and weak manufacturing data from China.

Except for the mining and oil index which surged 8.6 percent, all other major indices ended in the red led by property (-2.1 percent), holding firms (-1.5 percent), services (-1.3 percent), industrial (-1.1 percent) and financials (-0.9 percent).

Overseas investors were net sellers last week by P1.62 billion, as total foreign selling reached P10.44 billion, while foreign buying amounted to only P8.81 billion.

Mining stocks emerged the top gainers, led by Lepanto A and B shares which climbed 81.3 percent and 75.8 percent, respectively, while Benguet A shares jumped 35 percent to P5.40.

u n o c c u p i e d Fo r e s h o r e L a n d; S o u t h by S o u t h C h i n a S e a & u n o c c u p i e d Fo r e s h o r e l a n d; We s t

by S o u t h C h i n a S e a; E a s t by S a l v a g e Z o n e

Boundaries

:

P o r t i o n o f L a n d: L i n e 1- 2: S . 2 2 ° 3 6 ' E ., 87. 5 3 m .; L i n e 2- 3: S .

8 9 °19 ' W., 2 51. 07 m .; L i n e 3 - 4 N . 01° 41' E . 91. 2 8 m .; a n d L i n e 4 -1 S .

8 8 ° 01' E . 214 . 8 5 m .

Area

:

20,000 square meters

Appraised

:

Land

: P10 ,70 0 , 0 0 0 . 0 0

Va l u e o f

:

Proposed/Existing I m p r o ve m e n t s

: P39,80 0,0 0 0.0 0

A p p l i e d f o r by

:

B E N G U E TC O R P N I C K E L M I N ES , I N C R e p r e s e n t e d by : M r. L e o p o l d o S . S i s o n I I I P r e s i d e n t & C EO

A p p r ove d A n n u a l R e n t a l - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - P 719 , 0 0 0 . 0 0 The right to lease the land will be awarded to the person of fering the highest annual rental, which shall not be less than three percent p e r c e n t u m (3%) o f t h e v a l u e o f t h e l a n d p l u s o n e p e r c e n t u m (1%) o f t h e v a l u e o f t h e p r o p o s e d a n d /o r ex i s t i n g i m p r ove m e n t s . I n o r d e r t h a t a p e r s o n m ay b e e n t i t l e d t o p a r t i c i p a t e i n t h e b i d d i n g h e m u s t b e a qualified public land applicant, and must, before the commencement o f t h e s a m e , m a ke a d e p o s i t e q u i v a l e n t t o a t l e a s t t h r e e (3) m o n t h s’ r e n t a l . O n l y d e p o s i t i n c a s h , m o n ey o r d e r, t r e a s u r y w a r r a n t , c e r t i f i e d check or manager 's check can be accepted. A person bidding in r e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f a n o t h e r m ay d o s o u n d e r a d u l y exe c u t e d p o w e r o f a t t o r n ey. D u r i n g t h e b i d d i n g , t h e b i d d e r h a s t o m a ke a n a d d i t i o n a l d e p o s i t eve r y t i m e h i s b i d i s r a i s e d , t o c o m p l e t e t h e t h r e e (3) m o n t h s ' rental, other wise, such bid as raised shall not be accepted. The right i s r e s e r ve d t o r e j e c t a ny o r a l l b i d s .

R AY M O N D A . R I V E R A CENR Of ficer ( T S - J A N . 18 / 2 5 / F E B . 1/ 8 /15 / 2 2 , 2 016)

B4 Hitachi upbeat on Clark project

More fun in Davao.

AirAsia, the world’s best low-cost carrier for seven consecutive years, signs an agreement with the Tourism Department through Visit Davao Fun Sales vice chairman Fides Bernabe (left) and Tourism Region XI director Roberto Alabado III. The partnership aims to establish Davao as a premier tourist destination in the Philippines with abundant resources for eco-tourism and available facilities for sports and outdoor competitions. AirAsia as partner is offering low fares for its Manila-Davao flights to encourage more tourists to visit and enjoy Davao’s latest attractions.

By Alena Mae S. Flores HITACHI Ltd. of Japan is exploring investment opportunities at the Clark Green City in Pampanga being developed by the Bases Conversion and Development Authority, officials said over the weekend.

Hitachi chairman and chief executive Hiroaki Nakinishi told reporters during a press briefing the company was interested in providing water, power and transportation services at the Clark Green City.

“There are so many things to consider, water, utilities, how to connect [Clark] to other cities,” Nakinishi said.

BCDA president and chief executive officer Arnel Casanova said the agency was open to a possible partnership with Hitachi to help develop the Clark Green City.

Cassanova said Hitachi had not “submitted a proposal yet” and said “they still need to conduct a study” to determine final investment opportunities.

Nakinishi said Hitachi planned to boost its presence in the Philippines where the company had been doing business since the 1930s.

The company started operations in the Philippines with the delivery of generation components for hydro and thermal power projects.

Hitachi Asia Ltd. Philippine branch general manager Mitsuhiko Shimizu said the company’s strategy could include the launching of new businesses like power transmission and home appliances and participating in urban developments.

“Hitachi is back and active again. After almost 50 years, Meralco’s power business was revived with the delivery of GIS [gas insulated switchgear] and GCB [gas circuit breaker] to Meralco. We also relaunched our home appliances in 2015,” he said.

Banks’ 2015 income slightly down—BSP

By Julito G. Rada

COMBINED net income of universal and commercial banks in 2015 slightly declined from a year ago due to higher non-interest expenses, data from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas showed.

Bigger banks realized a net profit of P120.275 billion, one percent lower than P121.661 billion in 2014. However, the 2015 figure was significantly higher than the P87.336-billion net profit at the end of third quarter 2015.

Non-interest expenses—which include compensation and fringe benefits, taxes and licenses, fees and commission expenses, other administrative expenses, depreciation/amortization, and impairment losses—amounted to P252.584 billion as of end-December 2015.

The figure was significantly higher than the P238.993 billion non-interest expenses a year ago.

Profits of universal and commercial banks came mainly from higher interest income. Data showed net interest income stood at P283.878 billion in 2015, higher than P261.750 billion a year ago.

Non-interest income reached P112.402 billion, lower than P127.495 billion a year ago.

The Philippines has 36 universal and commercial banks.

Earlier this month, Bangko Sentral said the non-performing loan ratio of universal and commercial banks as of end-October 2015 improved despite the increase in their total loan portfolio.

Data showed the ratio between the gross non-performing loans of universal and commercial banks and their total loan portfolio stood at 1.77 percent as of end-October 2015.

The U/KBs’ NPL ratio improved from the 1.82 percent reported at end-September last year amid a month-on-month decline in gross NPLs and an expansion in total loan portfolio. The industry’s NPL ratio has been below 2 percent since November 2014.

In October 2015, lending by universal and commercial banks increased to P5.35 trillion

from the P5.24 trillion posted a month earlier.

The banks’ gross NPLs, meanwhile, slightly declined to P94.52 billion in October from the P95.24 billion recorded a month earlier.

Aside from keeping the NPL ratio low, U/ KBs continued to allocate substantial reserves as buffer for potential credit losses.

At end-October last year, the industry provisioned for 140.97 percent of its gross nonperforming loans. The NPL coverage ratio registered at 139.74 percent a month earlier.

The U/KB industry’s gross NPLs also remained manageable across economic sectors as seen in financial and insurance activities; real estate; manufacturing; wholesale and retail trade; and electricity, gas, steam and airconditioning supply, which represented 69.3 percent of the banks’ total loan portfolio in October 2015.

Bangko Sentral said the latest loan quality indicators showed that universal and commercial banks were adhering to high credit standards.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas keeps track of the loan quality of U/KBs as part of its supervisory role to ensure the soundness of the banking system.

Govt eyeing investments, new technologies from EFTA nations

By Othel V. Campos THE Trade Department is looking at fresh investments and new technology once it signs a bilateral trade agreement with the members of the European Free Trade Area, possibly in the second quarter of 2016.

Trade Secretary Adrian Cristobal Jr. said the Philippines and EFTA were close to sealing a free trade agreement after the concluding talks on April 2016.

“It’s clear to us that EFTA member economies’ complement ours. One of our clear interests and benefits are the source of investments from these member

states and the technology that their MNCs [multinational companies] possess. As a market, we have agricultural products that we really don’t produce and vice versa so that’s another area of interest,” he said.

The Trade Department is also confident the country’s niche products had a premium once it reached Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. The four countries comprise EFTA as a single trade bloc.

The government noted that despite being smaller markets compared with other European countries, the economies of the four

were more stable and ready to accept specialized organic products as well as high-end furnitures from the Philippines.

The Philippines will continue with domestic consultations with exporters who are interested in penetrating the EFTA market.

“We believe that alongside trade negotiations, marketing and promotion efforts should be pursued this early rather than wait for the agreement, for us to have a good head start,” Cristobal said.

The Philippines is pushing the signing of agreement to revitalize the international bilateral trade relations.

“After JPEPA, there has been a lull in our free trade agreements since 2010. In this administration, we’ve been building up our trade policy and negotiating capability.

We’ve also set up our consultative mechanism—the one-country, one-voice, but we’ve also reached a level of awareness in critical sectors that will now enable us to negotiate with confidence,” said Cristobal.

Among the concessions the Philippines is negotiating with EFTA is the inclusion of rice and meat in the list of commodities.

Other potential exports to EFTA are footwear, ceramic

wares, motor cars, upholstered seats, mineral or chemical fertilizers, fuel oils, cigarettes, lubricating oils, granulated sugar, breakfast cereals, non-alcoholic food preparations, ground nuts, unroasted coffee, corn feeds and frozen seafood.

The Philippines may also export air-conditioning units, apparels, navigational aids, telescopes, periscopes, and food preparations like sauces.

EFTA members have a combinied gross domestic product of $1.22 trillion and an average GDP per capita of $91,928 with a population of only 13.52 million.

M O N D AY : F E B R U A R Y 1 5 , 2 0 1 6

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

B5

SMC to cut dollar debt by half

By Ian Sayson, Cecilia Yap and Clarissa Batino

SAN Miguel Corp., the Philippines’ largest company, aims to cut the portion of its dollardenominated debt by half in two to three years to shield earnings from a weaker peso.

The energy, infrastructure and beer company will borrow more in pesos and sell preferred shares to refinance existing dollar debt and fund infrastructure projects ranging from rail and power to ports and toll roads, president Ramon Ang, 62, said in an interview Friday. The company had $8.54 billion of dollardenominated debt at the end of September, 47 percent of its P855.8-billion ($18 billion) total liabilities, according to the com-

pany’s third-quarter filing.

“We will balance our debts.

We may not prepay all our dollar debts, but we will limit future borrowings to pesos,” Ang said.

“Without the effect of foreign exchange, our operations are doing very well.”

Profit at the century-old brewer, which is now heavily invested in oil and electricity, fell by more than half to P6.17 billion for the first nine months of the year as a weaker peso quadrupled for-

eign exchange losses to P10.3.

Falling fuel prices cut sales at its oil ventures, paring revenue 15 percent to P504.5 billion. San Miguel’s pretax profit is eroded by more than P5 billion each time the local currency weakens by one peso against the dollar, according to the company’s latest financial statement.

“Reducing their dollar-debt exposure is prudent and wise given the outlook that as the US raises interest rates, we will see a strong dollar,” said Jonathan Ravelas, chief market strategist at BDO Unibank Inc., the largest lender by assets. “The domestic market remains very liquid and will be accessible for a company like San Miguel.”

The peso has depreciated 6.8 percent over the past 12 months.

The currency is expected to weaken 2.6 percent to 48.3 a dollar by the third quarter from 47.06 at end-2015, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. It has slumped 0.9 percent this year, the worst performer among Southeast Asia’s most-traded currencies.

San Miguel gets more than half its revenue from oil ventures Petron Corp. and Petron Malaysia Refining & Marketing Bhd. That’s followed by the food, beverage and packaging business and its other energy ventures, according to the company’s latest financial results. The company doesn’t plan to sell its beer business even after receiving some offers, Ang said.

Falling valuations for assets in the oil and gas industries present opportunities, Ang said. Discus-

sions are ongoing for a possible acquisition overseas, he said.

The target is worth about $2 billion now, he said, down from about $5 billion in equity investment terms in 2012, when Ang first began looking at the asset.

“San Miguel’s problem now is how to look for new investments,” Ang said. “We don’t have a cash problem.”

Chairman Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. and Ang have helped San Miguel, which started as Southeast Asia’s first brewery in 1890, expand beyond food and drink operations to create a conglomerate in infrastructure, energy and telecommunications. Outside of the Philippines, it has manufacturing operations in Hong Kong, China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia. Bloomberg

MetroPac unit starts expansion of NLEx

By Darwin G. Amojelar MANILA North Tollways Corp. said it will spend P2.6 billion to expand the North Luzon Expressway ahead of an anticipated vehicular traffic congestion by 2018.

Scheduled to start this month, the road-widening project will expand the existing two-lane portion of NLEx between Sta. Rita and San Fernando to three lanes on both the northbound and southbound sides.

The current one-lane stretch between Dau and Sta. Ines will be expanded to two lanes on both sides.

“These are where queues of vehicles usually form especially during holidays when many motorists from Metro Manila leave the metropolis for destinations in Central and Northern Luzon,” MNTC president and chief executive Rodrigo Franco said.

MNTC is a subsidiary of Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., the toll road arm of the Metro Pacific Group.

The Toll Regulatory Board as early as 2013 informed the MNTC, Cavitex Infrastructure Corp. and South Luzon Tollways Corp. about the anticipated congestion in their respective tollways by 2018.

CIC and SLTC run the ManilaCavite Expressway and South Luzon Expressway, respectively.

“Traffic volume increases every year, so we need to build additional lanes in certain portions of the expressway in order to maintain the high quality service that we provide motorists,” Franco said.

Vehicle entries in NLEx, according to MNTC data, rose to over 218,000 last year from almost 200,000 in 2014.

Franco said aside from making travel on NLEx more comfortable for motorists, the project would also benefit merchants who use the expressway to transport their goods.

‘Deal of the Year.’ San Buenaventura Power Ltd. receives the ‘Asia-Pacific Power Deal of the Year’ award from Thomson Reuters Project Finance International. The company, a joint venture between Meralco PowerGen Corp. and New Growth B.V., is among the 40 companies that made it to PFI’s 2015 Roll of Honor. It received the award during an awards dinner held in London on February 3 after closing a landmark P42.15-billion funding, the Philippines’ largest all-peso project finance transaction to date. Officials of First Metro Investment Corp., SBPL, Meralco PowerGen and BDO Unibank Inc. pose during the awarding ceremony.

EDC pushing for more use of renewable energy

By Alena Mae S. Flores ENERGY Development Corp. is pushing for more use of renewable energy and a reduction in the country’s reliance on coal power generation to arrest climate change.

EDC president chief operating officer Richard Tantoco said in a statement with the energy sector a significant contributor to climate change, industry players—government, investors and consumers—should all act collectively and decisively to switch to low carbon options.

Tantoco said countries that depending on coal plants, which offer lower electricity prices as their main source of electricity, had learned that such reliance could ultimately be very costly.

“On an ex-plant basis, coal

may readily appear to be the cheaper option—especially with the recent crash in global coal prices—but what other countries may have saved in electricity prices by taking the fast and cheaper route is quickly being eroded by the mounting social and environmental costs that they did not foresee or simply chose to ignore,” he said.

“The truth is coal has costly externalities, way beyond the explant price, and these have not been priced-in to the illusory ‘least cost’ equation,” Tantoco said.

He cited a study by the International Monetary Fund which excluded the environmental and health costs from the price of fossil fuels amounting to $5.3 trillion dollars in 2015 or about $10 million per minute.

He also cited figures from the

World Health Organization on diseases and premature deaths that could be traced to outdoor air pollution caused largely by burning coal.

Tantoco said that the Philippines and 19 other countries comprising the V20 or nations most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, faced an average of around 50,000 climate change related deaths per year.

He said the number was expected to rise exponentially by 2030. The Philippines economically faces escalating annual losses of at least 2.5 percent of the gross domestic product potential per year, about P360 billion or P150,000 per person.

“The phenomenon that is climate change has never been territorial. It does not matter how much or how little carbon we emit

today as a country relative to others—what should really matter is that the whole world recognizes that the Philippines will always be one of the hardest hit by the adverse impact of climate change, year after year,” he said.

“That as a country with limited resources, our capacity to respond to emergencies, disasters and calamities has proven to be clearly inadequate. We cannot continue to live with this fact unaffected, and we have to make our choices and set policies sooner than later to stop this selfinflicted harm on both a national and global scale,” Tantoco said.

Tantoco said the Philippine government’s COP 21 commitments, including undertaking GHG (CO2e) emissions reduction of about 70 percent by 2030, was a critical step in the right direction.

MONDAY: FEBRUARY 15, 2016

B6 Otsuka executive posts bail A MAKATI court has ordered the arrest of an executive of the local unit of Japanese conglomerate Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. for alleged perjury that nearly resulted in the collapse of a small Filipino trading company.

Court records showed Makati City metropolitan trial court branch 63 presiding judge Alberto Azarcon III issued a warrant of arrest against Jose Jacinto Aquino, the associate finance director of Otsuka (Philippines) Pharmaceutical Inc. The Makati court scheduled the arraignment on March 17, 2016, after Aquino posted a cash bond of P6,000.

The Makati City prosecutor’s office earlier indicted Aquino for alleged perjury, after his alleged “false” statements under sworn affidavit almost led to the garnishment of the properties of the Filipino trading company.

The trading company is the former exclusive distributor in the Philippines of ‘Pocari Sweat,’ a healthy drink imported and supplied in the country by Otsuka.

Aquino had sworn that the trading company failed to pay for the goods delivered by Otsuka Philippines, a claim that was strongly denied by the trading company.

The trading company then filed a perjury case against Aquino for claiming that it stopped paying for the goods delivered by Otsuka.

Aquino’s affidavit, made before Makati City Regional Trial Court Branch 57, prompted the court to issue a writ of preliminary attachment against the assets of the trading company in May 2015.

The former distributor of ‘Pocari Sweat’ said it did not stop paying for the goods even after the agreement had expired as evidenced by official receipts issued to Otsuka from October 28, 2013 to November 10, 2014 in the total amount of P26.218 million.

BUSINESS business@manilastandardtoday.com extrastory2000@gmail.com

Election not likely to hurt PH economy

By Julito G. Rada

US FINANCIAL group J.P. Morgan said the Philippine economy will remain strong, despite the outcome of the presidential election in May. “In our view, we do not see the presidential election as a gamechanging event to the economy or equity market,” J.P. Morgan said in its Asia Pacific Equity Research over the weekend.

“We think post-election policy changes are remote given that economic planning is institutionalized, particularly fiscal reforms that were put in place over the last two administrations,” it said.

The US bank said there could be

risks on policy execution depending on who won the election. It said Vice President Jejomar Binay’s strength would be his long experience in government and his track record as a pragmatic government executive. Binay’s government-style of emphasis on the lower socioeconomic echelon might also help improve inclusive growth, it said.

“However, the perceived lack of good governance and the extent of the corruption charges are rea-

sons why Binay does not appear to be popular with the middle class and educated voters,” it said.

J.P. Morgan said presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte’s biggest weakness was his lack of political machinery to wage a nationwide campaign, while Senator Grace Poe’s disqualification cases “sapped” her popularity.

“The bottom line for this election, in our opinion, is for the electoral process to be completed in a peaceful and credible manner,” J.P. Morgan said.

The continuation of policy reforms after the Aquino administration is one of the hottest issues usually tackled in different economic fora in the country.

Some sectors have expressed concern on whether the next administration could sustain the reforms instituted over the past several years.

Government think-tank Philippine Institute of Development Studies said earlier that slower global growth and the next administration’s uncertain commitment on policy reforms and good governance could pose major risks to the Philippine economy this year.

PIDS president Gilbert Llanto said in a report the issue of succession after the May presidential election had provoked several questions, such as if the next leader would be as committed to policy reform and improved governance.

New community.

Over a hundred informal settler families belonging to Goldmine Interior Homeowners Association Inc.who used to live in shanties along Tullahan River move to their safer and permanent homes located at Barangay Nagkaisang Nayon, Novaliches, Quezon City.

The housing project amounting to P41.6 million is under Social Housing Finance Corp.’s high density housing program.

Collaborative pairs THE campaign season started a few days ago, with the presidentiables as well as the vice-presidentiables roughed it out on stage addressing a crowd and raising both their arms as a sign of unity, partnership and indomitability. But whoever wins in the May elections, it’s optimal that both come from the same party to ensure collaboration and cooperation for the betterment of our nation.

Look at what happened with President Aquino and Vice Prescient Binay who, coming from different parties, manifested their divergent interests in the end.

There is wisdom in a pair collaborating and working with each other towards a common purpose. In fact, in the landmark book Collaborative Circles: Friendship Dynamics and Creative Work, author Michael Farrel shows that collaborative pairs have been the cornerstone of many masterpieces and breakthroughs in art and society. He argues that pairs together engenders an environment of “instrumental intimacy”, wherein both can constructively criticize each other.

Successful pairs Examples of successful pairs Farrel cited are the first daring experiments in impressionism -Claude Monet and Frederic Bazille and Pierre-Auguste Renoir and

Alfred Sisley, and later by Monet and Renoir.

Another example is authors J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings) and C.S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia) who discovered that they shared an interest in what Lewis called “Northernness.”

Other examples I can cite are Francis Crick and research fellow James Watson who described the structure of DNA in 1953; Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels who created “scientific socialism”; and more recently John Lennon and Paul McCartney who composed beautiful timeless music; and Vin Diesel and Paul Walker who, with their inimitable chemistry, filmed one the most successful movie franchises of all time.

Legendary pairs Even in business, creative and collaborative pairs have become a formidable force to reckon with. As cited by Professor Roberto Verganti in his Harvard Business Review article, The Innovative Power of Criticism, former Apple colleagues Tony Fadell and Matt Rogers started with a shared vision, contemplated on some rough ideas, criticized each other but with mutual trust and respect, until they founded Nest Labs, a home automation technology start up in 2010, which was later bought by Google for

$3.2 billion in 2014.

As cited by Verganti, recent history is rife with successful pairs who created REYNALDO C. LUGTU, JR. legendary companies: Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Bill Gates and Paul Allen, to name a few.

Mathematics in Germany which is running a Sparring partners Pairs can also play a role in the innovation program called “Research in Pairs” with the process at established organizations objective of bringing together small groups by finding a sparring partner. Verganti of researchers, usually in pairs, to carry out succinctly prescribes the necessary elements joint research in the stimulating atmosphere. to make this successful: “Trust and respect This resulted in productive and innovative between the two individuals is a must. A prior research outputs in the field of mathematics.

Collaborative pairs are a new way of working relationship often helps, because that provides a foundation of interpersonal working that can bring innovative and trust and understanding. Some degree of creative outputs, may it be in personal life, difference in background and perspective like a husband and wife team, or in business, can be helpful, in that it generates cognitive science, arts and other endeavors. diversity. A thick skin is crucial. You don’t The author is a senior executive in a want someone who has a hard time taking criticism. You want someone who isn’t going technology firm. He also teaches strategy, to play it safe, afraid to hurt your feelings. management and marketing courses in the Finally, you are looking for someone who MBA Program of the Ramon V. del Rosario has similar motivations and objectives. Are College of Business, De La Salle University. you on the same page in terms of what you The views expressed here are the author’s are trying to accomplish?”

One example of an organization and do not necessarily reflect the official who adopted a similar tack is the MFO position of DLSU, its faculty, and its Oberwolfach Research Institute for administrators.

GREEN LIGHT

M O N D AY : F E B R U A R Y 1 5 , 2 0 1 6

WORLD

CESAR BARRIOQUINTO EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

11,000 Afghan civilian deaths KABUL—The number of civilians killed or wounded in Afghanistan in 2015 was the highest recorded since 2009, the UN said in a new report Sunday, with children paying a particularly heavy price There were 11,002 civilian casualties in 2015 including 3,545 deaths, the UN said in its annual report on civilians in armed conflict, a fourpercent rise over the previous high in 2014.

“The harm done to civilians is totally unacceptable,” said Nicholas Haysom, the UN’s special representative for Afghanistan.

“We call on those inflicting this pain on the people of Afghanistan to take concrete action to protect civilians and put a stop to the killing and maiming.”

Fighting and attacks in populated areas and major cities were described as the main causes of civilian deaths in 2015, underscoring a push by Taliban militants into urban centers “with a high likelihood of causing civilian harm”, the report stated.

The UN began compiling the annual report in 2009.

Including the Taliban-claimed attacks, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan assigned responsibility for 62 percent of the total civilian casualties in 2015 to antigovernment elements.

But the report also noted a surge in casualties caused by pro-government forces, including the Afghan army and international troops.

Seventeen percent of all casualties in 2015 were caused by such forces—a 28-percent increase over 2014—the report said. It was not possible to say which side caused the remaining 21 percent of casualties.

The report criticized Afghan forces in particular for their reliance on explosives in populated areas.

“Why did they fire this rocket? Why was it necessary?” the father of a man killed in shelling in a village in Wardak province in December was quoted as saying in the report.

Nine people died in that attack, according to the report, highlighting the dangers to civilians during ground engagements. AFP

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Taiwan grieves as search for quake survivors ends TAIPEI—As rescuers in Taiwan said they had retrieved all the missing from the ruins of a building felled by an earthquake, a tragic picture emerged of the cross-section of society killed in the disaster.

Fashion week. A model walks the runway at the 212

The Ply Experience fashion show during Fall 2016 New York Fashion Week on February 12, 2016, in New York City. AFP

The quake took the lives of 114 in the Weikuan apartment complex in the southern city of Tainan, from a 10-day-old baby to a 75-year-old woman.

Among the dead were a security guard, a mother-to-be, and the chairman of the building’s management committee—the last body to be pulled from the rubble Saturday.

But it was the young who suffered most as a third of the victims were under 25-years-old.

Among them was a pair of university students reported to have been found in each other’s arms in the rubble.

Tsai Meng-chia and Huang Ro-hsin had been out singing karaoke to celebrate a friend’s birthday, returning to Wei-kuan just before the earthquake struck at 4:00 am local time last Saturday, local media said.

Their fate was mentioned in a tribute by Taiwan’s president Ma Ying-jeou.

“It’s very, very saddening that two 21-yearold lives disappeared, just like that,” Ma said.

Although the building housed only 256 reg-

Republic of the Philippines NATIONAL FOOD AUTHORITY REGION 10 BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE Baloy, Cagayan de Oro City

INVITATION TO BID FOR THE SUPPLY OF SECURITY SERVICES FOR NFA REGION 10 FOR CY 2016 The NATIONAL FOOD AUTHORITY (NFA) REGION-10, through its Corporate Operating Budget for CY 2016, intends to apply the sum of FOURTEEN MILLION NINE HUNDRED THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED SIXTY PESOS & 51/100 (PhP 14,900,260.51) being the APPROVED BUDGET FOR THE CONTRACT (ABC) to payments under the contract of security services for NFA Region 10 for CY 2016 as follow: NFA PROVINCIAL OFFICE NO. OF SECURITY APPROVED BUDGET FOR THE (USER) GUARDS CONTRACT (ABC) (Php) 1. BUKIDNON 26 4,367,149.75 2. CAMIGUIN 7 1,164,406.91 3. LANAO NORTE 12 2,042,046.65 4. MISAMIS OCCIDENTAL 12 2,031,510.97 5. MISAMIS ORIENTAL 31 5,295,146.23 TOTAL 88 14,900,260.51 The scope of work, requirements and specifications of the Contracts include the provision and deployment of duly licensed security guards and firearms (including live ammunitions), vehicles and communication equipment and the design and implementation of security systems and procedures aimed at maximizing protection for NFA personnel, stakeholders and properties.

Bidders should have completed within the immediate last three years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the project. The description of an eligible bidder and the minimum qualification requirements are contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly in Section II. Instructions to Bidders (ITB).

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using nondiscretionary “pass/fail” criteria as specified in the implementing Rules and Regulation (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”.

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be purchased by interested bidders on February 16, 2016 – March 8, 2016 (working days only) from the address below and upon payment of a non-refundable bidding fee of Php 25,000.00.

The NFA Region 10 Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) will hold a Pre-bid conference on February 23, 2016 at 1:30 P.M. at the 2nd Floor, NFA Building, Baloy, Cagayan de Oro City, which shall be open only to all interested parties who have purchased the Bidding Documents.

Bid must be delivered to the address below on or before March 8, 2016 at 1:30 P.M. All bids must be accompanied by a Bid Security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18. Late bids shall not be accepted.

Bid opening shall be on March 8, 2016 at 1:31 P.M. at the 2nd Floor, NFA Building, Baloy, Cagayan de Oro City. Bids will be opened in the presence of the Bidders’ representatives who choose to attend.

For further information, please inquire from: MS BEVERLY M. NAVARRO BAC Head Secretariat National Food Authority 2F, NFA Building Baloy, Cagayan de Oro City Telephone Numbers (088) 855-2721; (08822) 73-2215, Fax Number (088) 855-2723 NFA reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

(Sgd.) VICTORIA R. DURAY Asst. Regional Director/ RBAC Chairman (TS – Feb. 15, 2016)

istered residents, there were more than 380 there on the night of the quake.

Many had joined their families for the start of the Lunar New Year holidays. Authorities said student tenants would also not have been on the official register.

Relatives told how their families had been all but wiped out by the disaster.

Survivor Lee Tsong-tian, 40, was the only one of eight family members to be pulled out alive after more than 50 hours, and was among the last residents to be rescued.

“Out of my family of eight, Tsong-tian was saved,” his sister Lee Su-tsu told reporters during a memorial service held for victims Friday.

“I hope they departed quickly without much pain,” she said.

Rescuers worked for 20 hours to free Lee, whose leg was trapped in the rubble and which was later amputated.

The mother of the 10-day-old baby who died told of her last moments with the child.

Liu Yi-chen, a 38-year-old nurse, was breastfeeding in bed when the floor of the room caved in.

“The baby fell nearby, I heard her cry but I couldn’t reach her,” Liu told AFP. “The baby cried for an hour and then there was no voice.”

Liu also lost her husband and two other young children.

As the search operation ended Saturday, the focus now is to clear the rubble and disinfect the site, Tainan’s mayor William Lai said. AFP

Republic of the Philippines Office of the President National Irrigation Administration (PAMBANSANG PANGASIWAAN NG PATUBIG) UPPER PAMPANGA RIVER INTEGRATED IRRIGATION SYSTEMS DIVISION V OFFICE ADDRESS : CLSU Cmpd. Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija TIN Nos. : 000916416114

TELEPHONE No.: (044) 456-5963 TELEFAX No. : (044) 456-5963

INVITATION TO BID No. NIA-UPRIIS-DV-INF2016 The National Irrigation Administration, Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation Systems (NIA-UPRIIS DIVISION V)CLSU Compound Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija hereby invite Contractors/Bidders to apply for eligibility and to bid for theImplementation of infrastructure Project for CY 2016.

Amount of Bid Approved PCAB Contract Documents Pack. No. Name of Project Location Budget Category Duration (Php) (P) CW-NIACONSTRUCTION / Trial/ Bunol, UPRIISIMPROVEMENT OF Guimba, 8,230,096.50 Small B 240 CD 10,000.00 DV-2016-01 CALINAT DAM Nueva Ecija CW-NIACONSTRUCTION Villa Santos, UPRIISIMPROVEMENT OF Munoz, 14,061,949.75 Small B 240 CD 20,000.00 DV-2016-02 CONCRETE LINING Nueva Ecija Prospective bidders should be PhilGEPS Registered and have experience in undertaking a similar project within the last two (2) years with an amount of at least 50% of the proposed project for bidding, and have key personnel and equipment (owned, leased or under purchase) available for the prosecution of the project. The list of minimum equipment requirement is indicated in the Eligibility Forms. The Eligibility Check/Screening as well as the Preliminary.

Examination of Bids shall use non-discretionary “pass/fail” criteria. Post-qualification of the lowest calculated bid shall be conducted.

All particulars relative to Eligibility Statement and Screening, Bid Security, Performance Security, Pre-Bidding Conference(s), Evaluation of Bids, Post-Qualification and Award of Contract shall be governed by the pertinent provisions of R.A.9184 and its implementing Rules & Regulation (IRR).

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2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

The complete schedule of activities is listed, as follows: Pre-Procurement Conference February 10, 2016 @ 9:00 AM Letter of Intent (Attached Company Profile) February 15 – February 22, 2016 Issuance of Bid Documents February 15 – March 07, 2016 Pre-Bid Conference February 22, 2016 @ 2:00 PM Deadline of Submission of Bids March 07, 2016, @ 12:00 NN Opening of Bids March 07, 2016, @ 2:00 PM

Bid Documents will be available to prospective bidders upon payment of nonrefundable amount to the Cashier.

The NIA-UPRIIS assume no responsibility whatsoever to compensate or indemnity bidders for any expenses incurred in the preparation of the bid. It likewise reserved the right to reject any all bids, or any part thereof, to waive any defect in the bid/s received without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders, and to accept such bid/s considered most advantageous to the government. The decision of the BAC in the evaluation of bids/quotations is final.

For additional information, interested parties may inquire at the above office.

Approved by: (SGD.) LEONARDO F. RAMOS Chairman, Bids and Awards Committee

Noted by: (SGD.) CARLITO M. GAPASIN Manager, Division V NIA-UPRIIS

Conformed: (SGD.)FLORENTINO R. DAVID , CESE Department Manager, NIA-UPRIIS (TS-FEB. 15, 2016)

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CESAR BARRIOQUINTO EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

WORLD

Honoree. Lionel Richie walks to the stage during the 2016 MusiCares Person of the Year honoring him at the Los Angeles Convention Center on February 13, 2016, in Los Angeles. AFP

Robots threaten millions of jobs ‘Industrial zone funded N. Korea nuke program’

WASHINGTON—Advances in artificial intelligence will soon lead to robots that are capable of nearly everything humans do, threatening tens of millions of jobs in the coming 30 years, experts warned Saturday.

SEOUL—South Korea on Sunday defended its decision to abruptly pull out of an inter-Korean industrial zone, claiming 70 percent of the wages for North Korean workers were for years used to finance Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile development.

Seoul on Wednesday announced it would withdraw from the Kaesong industrial complex—where South Korean firms operated factories that employed North Korean workers—to punish Pyongyang for its latest nuclear and missile tests staged in violation of UN resolutions.

“Any foreign currency earned in North Korea is transferred to the Workers’ Party, where the money is used to develop nuclear weapons or missiles, or to pur-

“We are approaching a time when machines will be able to outperform humans at almost any task,” said Moshe Vardi, director of the Institute for Information Technology at Rice University in Texas.

“I believe that society needs to confront this question before it is upon us: If machines are capable of doing almost any work humans can do, what will humans do?” he asked at a panel discussion on artificial intelligence at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Vardi said there will always be some need for human work in the future, but robot replacements could drastically change the landscape, with no profession safe, and men and women equally affected.

chase luxury goods,” unification minister Hong Yong-Pyo said in a televised interview.

“About 70 percent of the US dollars paid in wages are taken by the government, while the workers are only given tickets to buy food and other essential items, as well as some local currency,” he said.

The zone, which sits 10 kilometers north of the tense border, was officially shuttered Thursday after Pyongyang expelled all South Korean managers and placed the complex under military control.

The shock shutdown of the complex—a major symbol of inter-Korean cooperation since its opening in 2004—sharply escalated tensions and caused massive damage to the 124 Seoul firms operating there. AFP

“Can the global economy adapt to greater than 50 percent unemployment?” he asked.

Automation and robotization have already revolutionized the industrial sector over the last 40 years, raising productivity but cutting down on employment.

Job creation in manufacturing reached its peak in the United States in 1980 and has been on the decline ever since, accompanied by stagnating wages in the middle class, said Vardi.

There are more than 200,000 industrial robots in the US and their number continues to rise. research is focused on the reasoning abilities of machines, and progress in this realm over the past 20 years has been spectacular, said Vardi.

“And there is every reason to

believe the progress in the next 25 years will be equally dramatic,” he said.

By his calculation, 10 percent of THE jobs related to driving in the United States could disappear due to the rise of driver-less cars in the coming 25 years.

According to Bart Selman, professor of computer science at Cornell University, “in the next two or three years, semi-autonomous or autonomous systems will march into our society.”

He listed self-driving cars and trucks, autonomous drones for surveillance and fully automatic trading systems, along with house robots and other kinds of “intelligence assistance” which make decisions on behalf of humans.

“We will be in sort of symbiosis with those machines and we will start to trust them and work with them,” he predicted.

“This is the concern because we don’t know the rate of growth of machine intelligence, how clever those machines will become.” AFP

150,000 penguins killed in Antarctica SYDNEY—Some 150,000 penguins died after a massive iceberg grounded near their colony in Antarctica, forcing them to make a lengthy trek to find food, scientists say in a newly-published study.

The B09B iceberg, measuring some 100 square kilometers, grounded in Commonwealth Bay in East Antarctica in December 2010, the researchers from Australia and New Zealand wrote in the Antarctic Science journal.

The Adelie penguin population at the bay’s Cape Denison was measured to be about 160,000 in

February 2011 but by December 2013 it had plunged to an estimated 10,000, they said.

The iceberg’s grounding meant the penguins had to walk more than 60 kilometers to find food, impeding their breeding attempts, said the researchers from the University of New South Wales’ Climate Change Research Center and New Zealand’s West Coast Penguin Trust.

“The Cape Denison population could be extirpated within 20 years unless B09B relocates or the now perennial fast ice within the bay breaks out,” they wrote in the re-

search published in February.

Fast ice is sea ice which forms and stays fast along the coast.

During their census in December 2013, the researchers said “hundreds of abandoned eggs were noted, and the ground was littered with the freeze-dried carcasses of previous season’s chicks”.

“It’s eerily silent now,” UNSW’s Chris Turney, who led the 2013 expedition, told the Sydney Morning Herald Friday.

“The ones that we saw at Cape Denison were incredibly docile, lethargic, almost unaware of your existence. AFP

Grief. The mother and sisters of Kalzar al-Uweiwi, a Palestinian

teenager who was killed a day earlier following a reported stabbing attack, mourn over her body ahead of her funeral in the Israeli occupied West Bank city of Hebron on February 14, 2016. AFP

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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

E AT, DRINK , T R AV EL

LIFE 64-sqm One Bedroom Suite - Living Room

64-sqm One Bedroom Suite - Rooms

MAKATI DIAMOND RESIDENCES:

LUXURY LIVING IN THE HEART OF CBD

V

acationers and long-term business travellers now have another venue to consider when staying in the Central Business District of Makati. A stone’s throw away from Greenbelt Shopping Mall and a few steps off Ayala Center is Makati Diamond Residences, owned by San Miguel Properties, Inc., the real estate arm of San Miguel Corporation.

The property carries the Diamond hotel name that forms part of the personal portfolio of SMC president Ramon Ang, but unlike Diamond Hotel, Makati Diamond Residences is a luxury serviced apartment where people can book longterm stays perfect for expats staying a while for business. It just opened recently but it has already been recognized by Asia’s leading hotel booking site Agoda.com in its 2015 Gold Circle Awards, in recognition of properties around the world that have a good number of customer reviews and embody the qualities admired when it comes to online booking experience.

Convenience of booking in Makati Diamond Residences allows guests to experience luxury living with services such

Champagne Brunch

as housekeeping, room service, and concierge. It has 418 guestrooms including 222 studio rooms, 191 suites and five lofts. An overnight stay would start at around P7,000 on a 41-sqm studio,

Each unit comes with a fully equipped kitchen, 55” LED televisions, ceramic stoves, with walk-in closets for the bigger units. Each room is also equipped with clothes washers and

Amenities include a 24-hour Fitness Center including a TRX studio with personal trainers and machines to assist guests. Makati Diamond Residences also has a

dining area, bar lounge, a whisky and cigar bar, private cinema and a kitchen studio that can be used for intimate celebrations.

Business spaces include function rooms, boardrooms and

Alfred Restaurant

and P20,000 and higher for a 94-sqm two-bedroom suite. The rooms’ interiors are lined in contemporary design and outfitted with top-of-the-line furniture.

Cochinillo

dryers. And since it’s a San Miguel property, you will find a complimentary treat of cold San Miguel beers waiting inside the ref when you arrive.

25-meter indoor lap pool located at the 4th floor.

For guests staying in bigger suites, a Club Lounge is accessible on the 27th and 28th floors featuring a private

Jamones

banquet areas large enough to accommodate a sit-down event for 400 persons.

Another great part of the stay is the speedy Wi-Fi connection.

Raclette Station

For dining options is Alfred, the 24-hour restaurant located at the ground floor near the lobby. Every Saturday and Sunday until March 20, take advantage of the Weekend Champagne Brunch.

Overflowing champagne from brands like Jean Vesselle and Delamotte would only cost P1,000, and that already includes the buffet menu that boasts of its US Angus Rib Eye Steak, Rack of Lamb, Cochinillo and a Raclette station. The promotion also extends on weekdays but for only P850 and servings of unlimited champagnes and tapas. So if you’re planning a postValentine brunch, it might be a perfect venue to gather with your friends and loved ones. Reservation is strictly required so you better call before heading there as seats may not be readily available.

Makati Diamond Residences is located at 118 Legazpi Street, Legazpi Village, Makati City 1229 Philippines. For more information, contact +63 2 317 0999 or visit www. makatidiamond.com. Stay connected with the property at Makati Diamond Residences for Facebook and @makatidiamondresidences for Instagram.

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

Taste of Japan in Manila included a demonstration of Japanese cuisine and introduction to some Japanese products used for cooking

@LIFEatStandard

Japanese chef and inventor Machiko Chiba showed how to use her Cook-Zen invention to cook tender meat, assisted by her daughter Akiko, a Juilliard-trained pianist

A TASTE OF JAPAN IN A MICROWAVE OVEN PHOTOS BY STAR SABROSO

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lmost every home now owns a microwave oven and it is mostly used for convenient and faster cooking.

There has been a long debate on whether the microwave is good for your food or not, and there are different studies that say no and yes. But understanding how microwaves cook your food, plus what kind of food you put and the kind of material you use to cook food in, can determine whether the microwave oven is good for you or not.

In a recently held food demonstration presented by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries of Japan, Tokyo- and New York-based chef and inventor Machiko Chiba introduced her revolutionary CookZen microwave pot and demonstrated its use for traditional Japanese cuisine. Aiming to promote better appreciation of Japanese cuisine among Filipinos, she highlighted Japanese recipes and ingredients during the demo. But instead of using traditional ways of cooking Japanese cuisine, chef Chiba demonstrated a faster, easier, and not just convenient but healthier way of preparing the dishes – using a microwave oven.

Now, one would think, how can it be healthier if you use plastic, and doesn’t microwaving break down food nutrients?

Cook-Zen is made from polypropylene plastic and can withstand high heat and cold-minus environments; it is designed especially for microwave ovens and is a result of a 10- to 15-year study and experimentation of chef Chiba. During the demonstration, she cooked traditional dishes like green beans and fried tofu, Japanese clams steamed with sake and garlic, Japanese roast beef, and she even sampled her version of spicy pork adobo. You won’t even know the difference if it’s cooked in a microwave or done in the traditional way of cooking when you taste the food. Not only is the dish tender, it retains most of the colors of the food especially the greens and reds of the fruits and vegetables.

According to the chef, this method of cooking is healthier because, when you cook with Cook-Zen, you use the meat’s natural oil, no need for using vegetable or other kinds of oil just to avoid sticky pots, so your dish will naturally be low in fat. And because cooking time is shorter, you retain most of the nutrients and vitamins without breaking them down.

Vegetables are also steamed without use of

Machiko Chiba demonstrated how to make delicious Japanese dishes with Cook-Zen

water so original food components are retained. “Sometimes you boil it in pots and it breaks down and takes too many things. With Cook-Zen, you wash and put the vegetables inside, don’t add water and let them cook on their own.

Cook from two to four minutes and you retain most of the nutrients,” explains Akiko, chef Chiba’s daughter, a Juilliardtrained pianist who assisted her mother during the event.

Some Japanese cuisines take time and effort to prepare and chef Chiba invented this microwave pot with the goal of making it easier for households to enjoy everyday cooking and to actually appreciate cooking at home more. Her method honors the traditional Japanese old ways of cooking and combines it with an innovative style of cooking.

Cook-Zen ware invented

by Chef Machiko Chiba, used for healthier microwave cooking

Cook-Zen is not yet available in the Philippines but you can purchase it online together with the Cook-Zen cookbooks authored by chef Machiko Chiba. Visit www.cook-zen.com for more details.

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

A LITTLE LESSON IN BOOZE HISTORY (PART THREE)

TIPPLE TALES

BY ICY MARIÑAS

L

ast week, we discussed little tidbits about the Prohibition Era and how drinking culture changed during that time. Once the Prohibition Act was lifted in 1933, a new age in drinking had to take over. These things come in cycles (as with everything else in life), and what took over from the Prohibition Era of speakeasies and bathtub gin was the elaborately designed, Polynesianinfluenced Tiki Bars.

I mistakenly flubbed the timeline at the end of my last article, when I mentioned that the Tiki Bars emerged in the 1960s and 1970s. The trend actually took up where the Prohibition left off. I’ll tackle the two main people who drove this style of bars, and the reasons why the Tiki Bars became popular and why they declined.

WHAT ARE TIKI BARS? Tiki bars are Polynesianthemed drinking establishments that serve

elaborate, mostly rumbased drinks and decorated with dark wood, rattan, bamboo, plus an assortment of other South Pacificinspired decors. The golden age of Tiki could be placed at the end of Prohibition to the dawn of Disco.

DON THE BEACHCOMBER Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt, who is best known as Don the Beachcomber (and later changed his name to Donn Beach), is credited for starting Tiki cocktail culture. He spent several years in the Caribbean and South Pacific and learned about drinks. He came back from his travels with suitcases filled with souvenirs and a head full of drink ideas and set up the world’s first Tiki bar called Don the Beachcomber in Los Angeles in 1934. The idea to bring the vacation and South Pacific lifestyle to people during a time when international travel was uncommon proved to be a successful one. People came in droves, including the Hollywood elite.

Gantt is credited for creating the zombie (supposedly so “manly” men would be enticed to drink the fruity Tiki cocktails) among 70 original cocktails in the 1930s. At that time, no one wanted

to drink rum, as it was associated with sailors and poor people. Don learned to mix rum drinks in the Caribbean and tweaked them to make some pretty innovative concoctions.

The Planter’s Punch (from Jamaica), used multiple syrups and citrus fruits and used multiple rums as well, which was a new idea at the time. Rum is more varied, in the sense that there are so many different kinds, from dark rich heavy rums to light dry floral rums.

Don was one of only a few people who knew all the nuances of these rums and no one had tasted drinks like his.

Tiki cocktails are still served in modern bars and concoctions range from classic to contemporary mixes PHOTO BY STAR SABROSO

TRADER VIC AND THE RIVALRY Imitation, as they say, is the sincerest form of flattery. A visit to Don the Beachcomber prompted “Trader” Vic Bergeron to open a similar bar in Oakland (renaming his bar from Hinky Dinks to Trader Vic’s) in 1937.

You can thank him for coming up with the quintessential beach drink, the Mai Tai. Because of the popularity of the Tiki concept and the cocktails that they produced, all sorts of questionable behavior sprouted as well.

Bartenders were getting poached by rival bars, recipes were being stolen,

humdrum of city life, even momentarily. It became very chic. Hollywood artists who did film sets designed restaurants and furniture, leading to homes being decorated in the same Tiki bar style.

There was Tiki fever everywhere.

The Tiki drinks were sweet, colorful, and ornately garnished. It wasn’t uncommon to see cocktails garnished like a garden. But they weren’t all for show, though. The ubiquitous tiny paper drink umbrella is said to prevent the ice in the drink from melting too fast, as it protects the drink from the sun’s rays (as the drink is meant to be savored by the beach).

DECLINE

The Tiki cocktail glass is sometimes used for rum based Tiki cocktails

accusations sprung left and right. This prompted bar owners to write recipes in code and kept them under lock and key to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands. Sounds a bit like a spy movie, don’t you think?

TIKI COCKTAIL CULTURE Apart from the novelty of new drinks and design

aesthetic, there were several reasons why the Tiki bars grew popular.

The people who were stationed in the South Pacific during World War II found familiarity with the breezy, beachy, Tiki bar atmosphere and began patronizing them.

The post-war economic boom made the drinks affordable to people who wanted to escape the

But all good things come to an end, as they say. Trends come and go, and the end of the Tiki bar came around the 1970s. While previously the idea of a remote island beach seemed appealing, the horrors of the Vietnam War no longer incited relaxation and vacations.

Soon enough, the Tiki fad was over.

What could the next thing in drinking culture be after this? Stay tuned, dear imbibers. Cheers!

Follow me on Instagram @ sanvicentegirl

MICHELIN-STARRED FRENCH BISTRO ATELIER VIVANDA OPENS IN MANILA

BY PATRICIA ROMUALDEZ PHOTOS BY STAR SABROSO

B Atelier Vivanda, the latest culinary offering at Forbes Town Center, Forbes Town Road, BGC, Taguig City

Chef Akrame Benallal

Atelier Vivanda’s 50-day-aged smoked beef straight from the bistro’s Berkel meat slicer

usiness partners Khristine Gabriel and Grace Lee, OCVI investors, and French chef Akrame Benallal officially launched the Manila station of Atelier Vivanda last February 5. The casual French bistro, which has three branches in Paris and one in Hong Kong, reimagines the concept of meat and potatoes with a tightly edited menu made up of hearty, simply prepared dishes that allow the quality of the ingredients to shine.

Guests at the grand launch enjoyed bite-sized portions of Atelier Vivanda’s most popular appetizers and sides, including paper-thin cuts of 50-day-aged smoked beef straight from the bistro’s Berkel meat slicer (“the Ferrari of meat cutters”); softboiled eggs with cottage cheese, mayonnaise, grated egg yolk, and Woods perfume; Pommes Dauphines (crisp potato puffs with butter, Old Comte, and white pepper) with homemade ketchup; and Pommes darphin (shredded potatoes with onion, chives, and Brie).

Live French-language music entertained the packed house well into the night. There was also free flowing wine and seasonal French cheese from Brut, Chef Akrame’s wine and cheese bar concept to be merged with Atelier Vivanda for the first time in the Manila outpost. Chef Akrame is currently sourcing more local ingredients and plans to add exclusive seasonal dishes to the Atelier Vivanda Manila menu. He and the team of four young French chefs he personally trained shared big plans for the bistro: they are aiming to bring in the country’s first Michelin star.

Atelier Vivanda is located at U-A8 Forbes Town Center, Forbes Town Road, BGC, Taguig City. For inquiries and reservations, call 02 VIVANDA (848-2632) or 0918 VIVANDA (848-2632).

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

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@LIFEatStandard

A GRIP ON IPOH

ot too long ago, in one of the Tourism industry gettogethers I attended, I met a Malaysian travel agent who had such an effervescent personality that I simply was floored by all the nice MERCURY RISING destinations in his country

BY BOB ZOZOBRADO which he described with much gusto and enthusiasm.

Rocky Kho is the managing director of Skyzone Tours & Travel SDN BHD headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, and he exudes all the qualities that an effective salesman should have.

One of the destinations he described was Ipoh. I didn’t even know there was a Malaysian city by that name. But when I found out that Hollywood actress Michelle Yeoh is from this city, I became interested because I watched her in that James Bond movie, Tomorrow Never Dies, and several years later, in Memoirs of a Geisha.

Ipoh is approximately 200 kilometers north of Kuala Lumpur and, just like the Philippines, its climate is tropical, with temperatures reaching as high as 32 degrees. It started out as a mining town and progressed into a bustling city when a local millionaire who amassed wealth from mining tin developed large tracts of land. Today, the city is home to many progressive Malaysian businesses.

So, what attractions lure visitors to Ipoh? Gua Tempurung, popular among spelunkers and cave enthusiasts, is one of the longest caves in Malaysia. Part of it has been developed as a show cave with electric lighting and walkways, and tours of different lengths and difficulty are being offered. There are three very large chambers that display spectacular stalactites and stalagmites.

A most interesting attraction is Kellie’s Castle, which was owned by Scottish rubber planter William Kellie Smith who also dabbled in the tin mining industry. He built it to celebrate the birth of his son who came 11 years after his firstborn, a girl. Smith had this fascination with India, so he incorporated many Hindu elements in the structure, making its exterior quite attractive. The building prides itself with having the very first elevator in Malaysia, which goes from the roof of the castle down to the underground tunnels.

Unfortunately, the castle was never finished because Smith contracted pneumonia and died while on a short trip to Portugal. A short time thereafter, his wife and children left Malaysia and never came back. The impressive structure is quite well preserved and was even used for the movie Anna and the King. Spirit questors would be interested to know that the late owner’s spirit has been reportedly seen pacing at night in the second floor corridor, and his daughter, wearing a white blouse and curly hair, still haunts her old bedroom.

Another attraction ideal for families with young children is The Lost World, a water theme park hidden among lush greenery and surrounded by limestone cliffs. Drawing in the crowds for the past 12 years, the park is landscaped with vines, creepers and lush tropical plants to give the illusion of a pre-historic lost world. It features a wave pool, natural hot spring, tube slides and a petting zoo.

Something interesting is the former Hakka miners clubhouse, now the Han Chin Pet Soo Museum. It is a source of curiosity among the locals who never got to enter it during those early years. It became a symbol of the shadowy deals that took place among the tin miners – prostitution, gambling, opium smoking and triad activities. These are

Kellie’s Castle

A breathtaking view of Ipoh at night

Rocky Kho, managing director of Skyzone Tours in Malaysia

Hollywood actress Michelle Yeoh is from Ipoh

The Rafflesia is the biggest flower in the world

www.skyzonetours.com. Better still, if you plan a trip to that neighboring country soon, you might want to contact Rocky directly through rockykho@skyzonetours.com. His zest for Malaysian tourism, which gave me a good grip on Ipoh, already convinced me to schedule a visit to that city soon.

Han Chin Pet Soo Museum

shown and explained in detail as you go through the exhibits in the museum, providing an interesting insight into the early history of Ipoh.

And if you really want something exotic, the Rafflesia, the world’s biggest flower, may be found about an hourand-a-half ’s drive from Ipoh, and by trekking for another hour-and-a-half more. Named after Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, who led an expedition that first discovered it deep in an Indonesian forest, the Rafflesia is parasitic and gets its nutrients from the lianas it grows on. It is quite fascinating because these “plants” have no stem, no leaves, no bark, and no roots. Neither do they need chlorophyll which is staple to all plants. This five-petal flower has an average diameter of three feet and emits a very foul odor resembling that of a rotting corpse, a terrible way, I must say, to direct tourists to their specific location.

There were many other attractions that my newfound friend, Rocky, described and you can check them all out at

D

For feedback, I’m at bobzozobrado@gmail.com

YOUR MONDAY CHUCKLE: Paddy, the Irishman, was driving down the street in a sweat because he had an important meeting and couldn’t find parking space. Looking up to heaven, he said, “Lord, take pity on me. If you find me a parking spot, I will go to Mass every Sunday for the rest of me life and give up me Irish whiskey!”

Miraculously, a parking slot appeared. Paddy looked up again and said, “Okay, no need! I found one!’

CELEBRATE THE LOVE MONTH WITH MOËT ROSÉ IMPÉRIAL

rinking rosé champagnes has become more popular than ever and during this love month, it is definitely apt to raise a glass of pink romantic bubbly on your dinner date.

Osé means “daring” in French, and this year Moët & Chandon unleashes the osé attitude in rosé with Moët Rosé Impérial. Though in the past rosé is known as a girly drink, today men have shared consumption. And as they say, real men drink pink. This February, take advantage of the bold, radiant and oh-so-stylish Moët Rosé Impérial in a romantic dinner of your choice in your preferred hotel as the brand prepared an exclusive menu to be consumed with this pink bubbly. For post Valentine gifts, you may also purchase special packs in gift boxes or isothermal canisters of Moët Rosé Impérial available in leading supermarkets.

Moët Rosé Impérial is a radiant, romantic expression of the Moët & Chandon style that is distinguished by its bright fruitiness, seductive palate and elegant maturity aged for three years in the Maison’s cellars. The bottle features a

glowing pink color with amber highlights, and it is lively on the nose with flavors of red fruits, floral nuances of rose, and a slight hint of pepper. Its taste in the palate combines intensity and suppleness with the juicy, persistent intensity of berries, the fleshiness and firmness of peach, and the freshness of a subtle note of menthol.

“Moët Rosé Impérial is the most glamorous face of Moët & Chandon, and this champagne is as effortlessly stylish as those who drink it,” says Arnaud de Saignes, International director of marketing and communications for Moët & Chandon.

Moët Rosé Impérial inspires and celebrates the moments of togetherness, which make life worthwhile. “This year, Moët Rosé Impérial is the perfect choice for life enthusiasts who dare to share their sentiments and make the most of life.”

For more information, visit www.moet.com, www.youtube. com/moet/. For news and updates follow Moet on Facebook and @moetchandon on Instagram.

M ONDAY : F ebruA rY 15, 2016

SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. reD EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

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the computer-animated action comedy martial arts film is produced by Dreamworks Animation and Oriental Dreamworks

O

BIggEsT aDvEnTuRE cOmEDy In BlOckBusTER fRanchIsE

ne of the most successful animated franchises in the world returns with its biggest comedy adventure yet, Kung Fu Panda 3. When Po’s long-lost panda father suddenly reappears, the reunited duo travels to a secret panda paradise to meet scores of hilarious new panda characters.

But when the supernatural villain Kai begins to sweep across China defeating all the kung fu masters, Po must do the impossible—learn to train a village full of his fun-loving, clumsy brethren to become the ultimate band of Kung Fu Pandas. the film marks the return of the plump black-and-white bear who has only one aspiration – to become an expert in a martial art that requires agility, mental prowess and lightningfast reflexes. it was a formidable, if not impossible quest.

But then Po doesn’t know the word “impossible.” He’s always striving to be the best he can be…to be his own hero.

Kung Fu Panda 3 takes full advantage of DreamWorks Animation’s breakthrough technical advances, while making history as the first production to create two different films, in English and Mandarin, with the same story and characters. But most of all, it returns us to the fun, adventure, humor and heart of the first film, and reminds us why audiences around the globe fell in love with Po. According to Jack Black, who once again voices the iconic role, that scene points to the fact that “Po is no Shifu, let’s be honest. He’s freaking out and doesn’t think he’s up to these new responsibilities, which are weighing him down even more than the countless dumplings he consumes.”

Black makes a welcome return to the role, and as he had done before, provides much of the film’s heart. “Jack is always funny and appealing and really conveys Po’s enthusiasm, likability and eagerness – all of the best things that mark

so many of Jack’s film characters. Jack and Po both remind us that if we follow our heart, anything is possible,” says Jennifer Yuh Nelson.

“Jack has an innate sweetness,” adds co-director Alessandro Carloni. “He’s a gentle, good-hearted soul who’s always funny and charming.”

Black embraced the opportunity to revisit one of his most treasured movie characters and foundit easy to reclaim his inner-Dragon Warrior. “i just go back to a younger me, when i was starting my career,” he explains. “that’s how i see Po – as young lover of kung fu. My love was rock and roll and acting, but Po and i share that unreserved passion. i, too, was a young Dragon Warrior,” he jokes.

Get ready for the weightiest action adventure when Kung Fu Panda 3opens March 9 in cinemas nationwide, a DreamWorks Animation and 20th Century Fox presentation to be distributed by Warner Bros.

Jack black reprises voice role in the recent installment of the animated action film kung Fu Panda

chris botti and Sting

PrIce OFF cHrIS bOttI’S cONcert tIcketS wItH cItI creDIt cArDS Citi cardholders can grab an exclusive 20 percent discount on ticket prices to the highly anticipated concert Chris Botti and Sting, Together Up Close and Personal when they purchase from now until March 3.

The concert, slated on March 3 at the Grand Ballroom of the Marriott Hotel in Resorts World Manila, features jazz trumpeter Chris Botti, whose 2012 album impressions won the 2013 Grammy Award for Best Pop instrumental Album. The multi-awarded Botti has performed alongside legendary musicians such as lead singer Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, composer David Foster, tenor Josh Groban and cellist Yo-Yo Ma, among others.

Botti will perform on stage together with iconic musician Sting, a multi-instrumentalist and lead singer of the popular American rock band The Police who gained fame for hits such as “Don’t Stand So Close to Me”, “Every Breath You take”, and “Message in a Bottle.”Sting will sing a number of his greatest hits during the concert.

Prepare to listen to a night of world-class jazz and rock music from these legendary artists. Use your Citi credit or your Citi debit card to get your discounted tickets to “Chris Botti and Sting, together Up Close and Personal” at all ticketWorld outlets or through www.ticketworld. com.ph today!

Learn more about exclusive concert privileges and other promotions available only from Citi cards at www.citibank.com.ph, or call the 24hour CitiPhone Hotline at 995 9999.

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M ONDAY : F EbRuA RY 15, 2016

SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

AIAI AnD SAnchO In An InDIE pROjEcT

A

fter the box-office success of her 2015 Metro Manila Film Festival entry My Bebe Love #Kilig Pa More, Ai Ai delas Alas is set to do the indie project titled Area (Magkera naka, Magkanu?), a far cry from the usual characters she breathes life on screen.

“Oh yes!” she says. “Here, I will play the role of a ‘has been’ prostitute, which is a dreamcome-true, the reason why after reading the whole script, I accepted the offer right away. I don’t want to miss the opportunity since it’s not every day meaty roles such as this land onto my lap, right? The public will see a different Ai Ai in this project---that’s for sure!”

Interestingly, the story is based on a true person who is still alive.

“That’s right! The movie will revolve around the life of Baba, an ageing streetwalker from Area, the popular red light district in Pampanga.

I’m Baba in the story and my character is based on a living individual who used to be an in-demand prostitute during her heydays. I’m really excited to do this indie film.”

According to the Comedy Queen, Batangas Governor Vilma Santos-Recto is her inspiration in doing the movie.

“I’ve always been vocal about my being a Vilmanian! People know that. Actually, apart

just arranging her schedule to be able to start shooting for the project.

“I really want the cameras to start grinding for this movie as soon as possible since we plan to enter it in various international film festivals,” ends Ai Ai.

ShTIcKS jOSEph pETER GOnzAlES

******** According to Jericho Rosales, his eldest son Santino (with commercial model Kai Palomares) has no plans of venturing into show business despite his good looks.

“It’s not his interest,” he states. “He’s not cut for it. His passion is sports. Santino is only 15 years old but he’s already 6 feet tall. He goes to San Beda where he plays with two teams.”

How about commercials?

“That’s more possible. He likes said idea better than following into my foot steps as an actor. I’m supportive of him when it comes to this aspect. But even in commercials, he still likes to endorse products related to sports like rubber or running shoes by the leading brands. Or sports drinks. Anything that’s sports-related!”

The 2015 MMFF Best Actor is also okay with the idea of Santino entering modeling.

“Yes, just like his mom. I’m here to guide him if ever,” avers Echo.

FEBRUARY 15, 2016 Sancho and his comedy star mother AiAi delas Alas

from a prostitute, my other dream role is a nun, something that Ate Vi was able to both do successfully. Remember Tagos ng Dugo and Sister Stella L? “Now, I try to emulate or do

PoP oPera grouP looking for members

Paper Moon poster

IF you are a tenor with classical training and performing experience; 21 – 30 years old, willing to live and train in Japan for three months,and free of management or recording contracts, you are what Paper Moon is looking fore.

Come to the auditions on Feb. 26, 2016 at 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM at Amerasian Studios at 61 Sct. Madrinan St. near Tomas Morato in Quezon City. Call or text telephone number 0932-8711193 for schedules and inquiries. Please bring recent picture.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

ANSWER FOR PREVIOUS PUZZLE

1 4 9 12 13 14 16 17 18 19 21 23

ACROSS RCMP patrol zone Caper Egg — yung Bristle Zaire, now Waikiki’s locale Basilica area Aleut carving Black hole, once Janet of pop Flirts China neighbor

25 26 29 31 32 33 37 38 41 42 44 45 47

Flowering shrub UFO crew Amigo of Che Singer — Lauper Herr’s spouse Broadcast Hundreds of mins.

Linked together Howl Sherpa’s sighting What rainbows are Temple images Igneous rock

source 49 Addison’s partner 50 Brown or amber tea 53 Shirt measurements 55 Slip past customs 57 Crowed over 61 Jet route 62 Less cordial 64 Makes a typo 65 — — upswing 66 Our, to Pierre 67 What fans do 68 Spleen 69 Pesky bugs 70 QB objectives DOWN 1 Auto-parts store 2 Madison loc.

3 Went on safari 4 Oscar nominees 5 Not a soul (2 wds.)

6 Explosive letters 7 “— — misty ...”

8 What a bill does (2 wds.)

9 Dinosaur bones 10 Movie with a posse 11 Windy City airport 12 Uris novel “The —”

what she has done. She’s my idol.

As I’ve stated earlier, the public will get to see another side of me through this vehicle. I’m leaving no stones unturned just to make this a must-see.” avers Ai Ai. The role is clearly challenging and somewhat delicate. Up to what extent is she willing to give?

“Honestly, I’m setting no limitations for this one. I’m ready to give my all as long as it’s vital to the story and the role calls for it. For one, I’ll be paired with Allen Dizon here who is an award-winning actor so I should always be on my toes in order to match his intensity. I wish that through this potboiler, I’ll be able to win an URIAN Best Actress trophy!”

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

15 Bear in the air 20 Hedgehog mascot of Sega 22 Tarzan’s nanny 24 Kind of violet 26 Stiff and sore 27 Homer’s instrument 28 Part of MIT 30 McKellen and Holm 32 Work the land 34 Clarinet kin 35 Berlin had one 36 NASDAQ rival 39 Bargaining with 40 NFL’s “Iron Mike” 43 Sid’s foil 46 Piece of cake, maybe 48 Director — Lee 49 Makes a basket 50 Peace Prize city 51 Yemeni’s neighbor 52 Moon-based 54 Siskel cohort 56 Business subj.

58 Clomped 59 Mythical archer 60 It ends in Oct. 63 Give — — rest!

Her son Sancho (de las Alas) has an interesting part in the film as well.

“Yes! He’s a pimp here. It’s pretty challenging on his part!”

The popular comedienne is

Actor Jericho Rosales and teenage son Santino

M ONDAY : F EbRuA RY 15, 2016

SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

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ClauDInE pROvEs shE’s OnE gOOD aCTREss

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Now kapatid star Claudine barretto

laudine Barrettois still one damn hell of a good actress. That’s the consensus of those who watched the pilot episode of Bakit Manipisang Ulap, which premieres on TV5 at 9 p.m. tonight.

In the hour-long episode shown to members of the press last Thursday night, Claudine was applauded a couple of times, first in the wedding scene with Bernard Palanca who plays her boyfriend but married someone else, and, second, in a scene with DietherOcampo where she was pouring her heart out.

In the wedding scene, Claudine was crying while delivering a long monologue with the crowd watching her, and many in the audience said that they felt the pain the actress was illustrating in the scene as she was dumped by her boyfriend for another.

Similarly, while she was pour-

Grace Glad TV5 reViVes ‘anG Panday’ Richard Gutierrez as the new Panday in a tV5 television production

the original: Fernando Poe, Jr as Panday

S

enator Grace Poeis happy to know that TV5 is bringing back Ang Panday to the small screen. If you recall, Fernando Poe, Jr. starred in the first big-screen version of the now TV5 series.

The Senator even promoted the show that now stars Richard Gutierrez.

“Ay, nga pala po. Sa lahat po ng mga nakikinig na mga taxi driver natin. Mayroong teleserye din ang TV5 naPanday,” Grace said while being interviewed by Martin Andanar and Erwin Tulfo on Radyo Singkoon Feb. 8.

Ang Panday is Grace’s favorite among the films of his father because she sees a similarity of Flavio in her.

Flavio is a foundling or pulot says “Komiks King” Carlo J. Caparas,

I

the creator of the most popular character FPJ had played onscreen.

“It’s mere coincidence that it was Grace’s dad FPJ who helped immortalize Panday,which he portrayed in four movies that were Metro Filmfest top grosser,” Carlo added.

“Marami akong paboritong pelikula ni FPJ pero siguro ang tumatak na rin sa isip ng maramisa akin din, yung Panday. Kasi talagang noong ginawa niya yon, kakaiba yung mga panahon na iyon at kahit ngayon lalo na yung fully restored na Panday,” Grace said.

Apart from Ang Panday, Grace also counts among her favorites Isang Bala Ka Lang, Kapag Puno na ang Salop, and Muslim .357.

ing her heart out in a scene with Diether saying how painful it was to be given up for someone, the actress owned the scene.

The consensus of the members of the press was Viva and TV5 have a winner in Bakit Manipis Ang Ulap as the first episode exuded not only fine performances but also the visual quality of the show. Apparently, Viva and TV5 gave their all out support for the project directed

by Joel Lamangan.

And it was just the first episode. Already, the show gave hints to what the audience should expect from it, like a torrid love scene between DietherOcampo and Meg Imperial who also showed some skin in a beach scene.

The editing was remarkable, giving the series a fast-paced feeling and making the audience wanting for more.

Claudine is very thankful to

all those who have given the show positive feedback.

TV5 Chairman Manny V. Pangilinan was in the audience and said he was impressed

by Claudine’s performance.

In Instagram account, Claudine thanked her parents who were also in the audience.

She even sent her mother a text message, “Goodnight mommy ko. Thank u Mom for watching earlier. I promise to make you and Dad proud of me everyday. I just wanna let you know how much you mean to me. I thank God for u and Dad. I luv u so much. Thank u for being my Rock that pushes me to be a better actress and idol to my fans who I luv so much. For teaching me to be a better mother, friend, sister and aunt, while I’m still trying to be a good daughter. I appreciate u so much mom. I luv u so much.”

GMa chief MarkeTinG Officer aT 2016 asia Pacific effie awards GMA Network Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Lizelle G. Maralag will participate as a judge at the 2016 Asia Pacific Effie Awards, which will be held in Singapore this month.

Maralag will join a carefully selected group of senior level executives from various marketing disciplines in evaluating some of the best marketing communication works in the region.

The Effie Awards is recognized as the industry’s global standard of marketing effectiveness excellence.

As GMA’s CMO, Maralag is responsible for driving revenue growth and marketing innovation across all media platforms of the Network.

She led GMA to become the most awarded Philippine network in terms of local and international marketing awards, winning top honors at the 2015 Asia Pacific SPARK Awards, 2015 Asia Pacific Mobile Excellence Awards, 2014 Araw Values Awards, 2013 University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) Tambuli Awards 7th Asia-Pacific IMC Effectiveness and Values Awards, and Catholic Mass Media Awards, among others.

Prior to joining GMA in 2010, Maralag held an outstanding career as an advertising media pro-

GMA Network Chief Marketing Officer lizelle G Maralag

fessional spanning two decades, wherein she drove top-ranked media agency StarcomMediavest Group Philippines Co. Inc. to leadership position.

She was founding Co-Chairperson of the Media Specialists Association of the Philippines from 2008 to 2009, Chairman of the Radio Research Council Adjudication & Review Board, and a Director of the TV Research Council. She served as a global juror at the SMG Fuel Awards in 2004 and is a frequent jury member in local and regional advertising industry awards.

Maralag earned her Bachelor of Science degree major in Statistics at the University of the Philippines Diliman. She also took postgraduate studies at the INSEAD in Singapore.

HEAltHY SkIN EquAlS NO FIltER SElFIE

n this day and age, there’s a widespread obsession with digitally capturing moments and sharing them on social media.

As per usual, vanity compels many to put their best foot forward. In anticipation of those perfect social media photo sharing moment, more and more people are dressing up in almost all occasions. That’s why it’s no surprise that people are becoming more fashionable.

However, when it comes to looking good, people tend to overlook skincare.

With the emergence of phone photo editing apps, removing blemishes and enhancing appearances have become too easy. In real life though, there is no app to edit our skin. Make-up can only do so much. It’s a good thing there is a natural supplement that is packed with ingredients that produces healthy and radiant skin.

ATC Grape Seed Oil is an all-natural extract containing “OligomericProcyanidin,” an antioxidant 50 times more potent than Vitamin E and 20 times stronger than Vi-

tamin C. This antioxidant, found in ATC Grape Seed Oil, is said to have the ability to protect our bodies against free radicals, which damage cells, allowing us to have healthier and more radiant skin.

Taking ATC Grape Seed Oil regularly may also help in lowering the level of bad LDL cholesterols in the body. It also helps relieve the pain and swelling caused by arthritis by repairing and strengthening capacities of damaged capillaries and blood vessels. Aside from that, ATC Grape Seed Oil may help in

boosting the immune system and blood circulation but be reminded that this is not a medicinal drug and should not be used to treat the symptoms of any disease.

ATC Grape Seed Oil is to be taken 2 to 3 times a day or as prescribed by your doctor.

Take ATC Grape Seed Oil every day and let it work from the inside out to make you feel good on the inside and look great on the outside. At P7 per capsule, ATC Grape Seed Oil is available at Mercury Drug and other leading drugstores nationwide.

M ONDAY : F EBRUA RY 15, 2016

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ISAH V. RED EDITOR isahred @ gmail.com

ISAH V. RED

SHOWBITZ

S

he’s unstoppable. Today, Heart Evangelista is celebrating her first wedding anniversary with Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero. It has been a years since the controversial couple exchanged marital vows in one of the country’s (as a society columnist puts it) tres tres exclusif island resorts…Balesin.

Just recently she had an exhibit of her recent work as an artist (under her off-screen name Love Marie Ongpauco-Escudero) at Ayala Museum’s Art Space (the run ended last Feb. 10).

A day before Oceans Apart concluded, Philippine Veterans Bank (PVB) introduced her as the face of its new advertising campaign, the “Bank with a Heart for Every Filipino.” Heart Evangelista-Escudero is the brand ambassador.

A short program at the historic Kamuning Bakery in Quezon City before members of the press marked the launch with Evangelista-Escudero.The actress/artist signed an agreement with the bank along with PVB Chairman Roberto F. de Ocampo, OBE and PVB President Nonilo Cruz.

The new ad campaign is aimed at revitalizing the bank’s image and focuses on what makes PVB unique among the country’s 36 universal and commercial banks - corporate social responsibility is at the core of the PVB’s existence in that it has to be profitable to be able to give aid and assistance to,surviving Filipino World War II veterans and their descendants.

In fact, 20 percent of its annual net income is reserved for such a purpose. PVB is the only bank that looks after the welfare of the

Philippine Veterans Bank chairman Bobby de Ocampo with the bank’s latest celebrity endorser Heart Evangelista

FROM SCREEN TO CANVAS TO BANK¼

HEART EVANGELISTA IS HOT

veteran community.

This ability of the bank to deliver services to an equally unique sector of society allows it to be sensitive to the needs of its customers from all walks of life, veteran or not. Coupled with a banking survey released a few years ago that stated that Philippine banks are perceived as stiff and uncaring, it was this impetus that gave birth to the suitable campaign of PVB as a bank with a heart for every Filipino.

After the campaign theme was identified, the choice of Evangelista-Escudero to be the brand ambassador of PVB was already given. Aside from the quick association to the campaign, thanks to her name, PVB believes she embodies the traits shared by Veteran Bankers all over the country: professionalism, integrity, and the pursuit of excellence. Her passion in pursuing her acting and modeling career, arts, and sociocivic advocacies make her a fitting choice to represent the bank and its products and services.

The new PVB ad campaign will feature Heart in TV and radio commercials, print advertisements, and other marketing collaterals that will be released through a variety of traditional and online media.

Philippine Veterans Bank is a private commercial bank owned by about 300,000 FilipinoWorld War II veterans and their descendants.

So, how does Heart feel about being the face that Vetrans Bank is hoping to bring in more clients in the next 13 months or so?

“I am very thankful that Mr. DeoOcampo and Mr. Cruz and the rest of the officers of the bank have put their trust on me. I will do the very best I can to live up to their expectations of me as the ban’s brand ambassador,” Heart said. The officers of the bank at the launch were delighted.

Now, Philippine Veterans Bank is really the bank with a “Heart.”

Kapuso actress Heart Evangelista (right) during her contract signing with Philippine V

(From left) Philippine Veterans Bank’s Bobby de Ocampo, Heart Evangelista and the author

Members of the Entertainment press during Heart Evangelista’s contract signing with Philippine Veterans Bank

Philippine Veterans Bank officials with Philippine Star’s Wilson Lee Flores (second from left) and the author (center)