The Standard - 2016 February 22 - Monday by Manila Standard

VOL. XXX NO. 12 3 Sections 32 Pages P18 MONday : FEBRUaRy 22, 2016 www.thestandard.com.ph editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Church supports ‘biblical’ Pacquiao

TV DEBATE: SNIPING, BUT NO FIREWORKS

By Sandy Araneta, Macon Ramos-Araneta, Christine F. Herrera and Rio N. Araja

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—All five candidates for president used the first live television debate in more than two decades and their first gathering on a single stage on Sunday night to showcase their platforms of government and to engage in some sniping, as well. There were no heated exchanges in the two-hour debate Sunday night in Cagayan de Oro City, hosted and officially sanctioned by the Commission on Elections, but the candidates used some of the

time allotted them to take potshots at their opponents. Administration candidate Manuel Roxas II, who has been trailing in all the opinion polls, took the offensive in his opening

statement, by comparing the president to a family driver to whom people would entrust their children. “Who would you place your trust in to transport your children safely?” he said in Filipino. “To a person who is a crook and who has been charged with stealing? To someone who is hot-headed and might cause accidents? To someone who is just learning to drive?” Although Roxas did not name names, it was clear that he was referring to Vice President Jejomar Binay, Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and Senator Grace Poe.

Later during the debate, Roxas returned to Poe’s inexperience, saying the presidency was not a position for an OJT (on-the-job trainee). Poe shot back, saying she didn’t need long years of experience to know that Roxas had failed at his jobs at the Department of Interior and Local Government and the Department of Transportation and Communications, both of which were investigated in the Senate. Roxas was secretary of the DILG when 44 police commandos were slaughtered in Mamasapano. He has also been blamed for the dete-

rioration of Metro Manila’s commuter train system, which was his responsibility as Transportation secretary. Binay also criticized Roxas for his dismal performance at the DILG and DoTC and promised that the “analysis paralysis” that characterized the Aquino administration would not happen under his leadership. The vice president also hit the administration for its lack of compassion, and said Roxas failed to address the mess in the MRT or help the survivors of Super Typhoon ‘‘Yolanda’’ in Leyte. Next page

First debate. This screen grab shows the five presidential candidates—from left, Vice President Jejomar Binay, Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, Senator Grace Poe and former Secretary Mar Roxas—striking a pose for the camera after their first-ever televised debate. LINO SANTOS

No politics in Edsa rites, says Palace

Roxas defends ex-aide in SSS pay scandal By Joyce Pangco Pañares ADMINISTRATION standard bearer Manuel Roxas II defended his former chief-of-staff, Eliza Antonino, whose seven-figure salary as commissioner of the Social Security System came under heavy criticism after President Benigno Aquino III vetoed a bill to raise monthly pensions by P2,000 a month for retirees.

“Regarding the photo being circulated online, it is not true that she receives that amount. Executive Order No. 24 prescribes rules to govern compensation of Board of Directors/Trustees in government-owned and/or -controlled corporations and government financial institutions. It is clear that the maximum a member can receive (for Class A GOCCs) is P960,000 per year.

Anything above that is remitted to the GOCC,” Roxas said on his Twitter account. In Roxas’ Facebook campaign page, the presidential aspirant’s camp wrote: “Don’t believe everything you read in social media. Enemies of good governance will fabricate stories just to discredit PNoy, Mar Roxas and their allies. Read, Next page ask and research.”

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Recto: Pay hikes hinge on local share of taxes By Macon Ramos-araneta

SENATE President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto on Sunday warned that thousands of government employees won’t be able to fully enjoy the pay hikes recently ordered by Malacañang unless the share of barangays, towns, cities and provinces from national tax collections will be increased. He said the country’s 1,490 towns spent almost 40 percent of their combined operating income of P146.2 billion two years ago on salaries. “Their payroll expense of P58.3 billion in 2014 was half of the P114.9 billion Internal Revenue Allotment [IRA] they got from the government that year,” he said. IRA refers to the 40-percent share of local government units from the national government’s in-

ternal revenue collection. Recto wants the LGUs’ share raised to 50 percent “under an equal 50-50 split” with the national government. He is also batting for the inclusion of the taxes collected by the Bureau of Customs (BoC) in the computation of revenues, which will be plowed back to the 81 provinces, 114 cities, 1,490 municipalities and 42,028 barangays. He said in 2013 and 2014, BoC collected P526 billion in what are clearly internal revenues. “Because these were not factored in reckoning the IRA, the LGUs were denied P207 billion in lawful share,” he said. “In taxes on oil alone, LGUs lost about P60 billion in those two years. These are taxes ultimately paid by LGU residents,” Recto said. The Local Government Code provides that the LGUs shall have a 40-percent share from the national government’s internal revenue collection. The 40-percent share of the LGUs is distributed as follows: 23 percent for provinces, 23 percent for cities, 34 percent for municipalities, and 20 percent for the barangays. For 2016, the IRA of LGUs will reach P428.6 billion, based on tax collected three years before.

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Roxas shot back that he was in Tacloban City before, during and after the typhoon, and did not merely fly in for a photo opportunity—a dig at Binay. Roxas, who lost the vice presidency to Binay in 2010, also said the vice president could not claim credit for success in Makati because it is divided into the affluent side on Ayala Avenue and the poor side in West Rembo. In the part of the debate on Mindanao, Roxas said the island has received P260 billion in the last five years under the administration’s “straight path” policy—a claim that Duterte contested. “I have not seen a straight path. All I see is a crooked path,” he said. “Sixty-four percent of the infra-

structure projects are here in Metro Manila, while 19 percent was allocated to Region 11. That’s why Mindanao is very angry… Even our lawful share [from the government] is not given to us. Mindanao contributes 54 percent in export dollars to the country’s gross domestic product but only P19 billion goes to Region 11,” Duterte said. Exchanges between Duterte and Santiago were more cordial, with Duterte saying that Santiago was the only other candidate on stage who was qualified to be president. When questions about Santiago’s bout with cancer were raised, Duterte added that he did not see the senator passing away in the next 20 years. During his turn, Binay said his administration would be the antithesis of the Aquino administration, which he said was beset by “analysis paralysis.” He said the biggest problem was

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Recto is proposing that the IRA be based on taxes collected two years from the current year. “It is unfair for LGUs to wait for three years before they can get their dividends.” The senator said raising the IRA is the only way for local governments to meet the financial cost of the Salary Standardization Law IV, which President Benigno Aquino effected through Executive Order 201 on Feb. 19 and other non-salary challenges, like garbage collection and peace order. “The EO itself already limits how much in additional pay LGUs can grant their workers,” Recto said. “Under EO 201, 4th class towns are only allowed to grant an increase equivalent to 80 percent of what is prescribed in EO 201. Employees of 6th class towns are only entitled to a maximum of 65 percent,” Recto said. “Under SSL IV, a Nurse 1 will be getting P19,077 a month this year. But if you are a nurse in a 6th class town, it is possible that you’ll only get P12,400 a month when you are doing the same job that a nurse does in a big government hospital,” Recto said. There is a need for LGUs employees and national government employees to have parity in pay and enjoy the same benefits, the senator added.

Competition. Italy and the United Kingdom show what they have during the 7th Philippine International Pyromusical Competition at the Mall of Asia on Sunday. Teddy Pelaez

TV debate: ...

Roxas...

poverty, and that he would address this in the same way he improved Makati when he was mayor there. Duterte, on the other hand, emphasized his peace-and-order agenda. “Why am I here? I am here because I love my country and I love the people of the Philippines,” he said. “There is so much corruption, so much crime and drugs are flooding [the country]….Nobody is minding it. If you give me the chance, by God’s will, I will stop it all.” He said he would have no compunction about killing criminals—as long as this was done legally. “If I become president, it would be bloody,” he said. Asked about his reputation as a womanizer, Duterte said he was separated from his wife. “I am doing all of these in [the privacy] of a room. You don’t flaunt it... If you have to do it, why not? I am separated and my other wife, the

nurse, is in the United States. So in between those years... it’s biology,” he said. Despite being a neophyte in politics, Poe said, she was not easily fooled. She also said if elected President, she would bring transparency to government by issuing an executive order to implement freedom-of-information measures. Poe also promised to allocate 30 percent of the national budget to Mindanao, push for food security, better health care services, housing and respect of gender rights. “Many with experience have ruled, but the situation remains the same. What we need is someone who has concern, who has conviction and who can act swiftly to give solutions,” she said. Santiago, who spent much of her time responding to questions about her health, said that as president, she would pump more funds into health

Antonino’s hefty earnings came to light after a table of the alleged salaries received by SSS officials went viral, weakening Malacañang’s claim that the proposed P2,000 pension hike would cause the government agency to bankrupt. The table erroneously suggested that Antonino, with a salary of P5.99 million in 2014, earned more than SSS chairperson Emilio de Quiros Jr. who was shown to have earned only P2.65 million. A check with the Commission on Audit showed that De Quiros actually earned P6.8 million, higher than Antonino’s salary of P5.99 million. Official COA reports also showed that Antonino, as SSS commissioner, earned P1.3 million in 2011; P1.244 million in 2012; P2.373 million in 2013; and P5.997 million in 2014. Roxas said Antonino, who graduated with a degree in Hotel and Restaurant Administration in 2000, was a successful businesswoman in the food and beverage industry before joining SSS in 2010. There is no information on this business experience, however, in any of Antonino’s online resumes, including the one on Bloomberg. Some time between 2004 and 2010, she also served as Roxas’ chief of staff while he was still a senator. Since she was appointed SSS commissioner in 2010, she represented the pension fund in the boards of Philex Mining Corp. and Union Bank of the Philippines. Bayan Mura Rep. Neri Colmenares earlier accused the administration of being callous and heartless for vetoing the pension hike while continuously granting huge salaries and “exorbitant bonuses” to SSS officials. “SSS should cut down on exorbitant bonuses to its board members. It cannot claim that the SSS lack funds to support a pension increase but awarded its board members with more than P1 million bonus each in 2012,” Colmenares said.

and education. She also urged voters to choose a leader who excelled in school, and showed professional and moral excellence. At 70, she said she wanted to spend her next years in service. “I do not want to spend the next six years lying in bed and feeling sorry for myself,” she said. “In fact, I did not lie in bed. I did not feel sorry for myself. I felt sorry for my country because graft and corruption are endemic and everybody speaks out but nobody has done very much.” Roxas spent much of his time citing the accomplishments of the administration, and said he would continue its programs. He also said he would continue to implement a reinvigorated anticrime program. Asked why he wants to be president, Roxas said he realized that he had much more than many Filipinos.

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Digong sleepless before debate PRESIDENTIAL candidate Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte admitted that he was excited and nervous to finally meet with the other aspirants for the presidency in a televised nationwide debate at the Capitol University in Cagayan de Oro Sunday.

Oblivious. A homeless man sleeps beside a memorial in Manila listing the names of the people who fought the late President Ferdinand Marcos’ Martial Law regime which culminated in the People Power Revolution 30 years ago this month. Ey AcAsiO

Poe: I’m different, I delivered on my promises CABANATUAN CITY—Independent presidential candidate Senator Grace Poe said she is different from other politicians because she fulfilled the promises she made when she ran for senator in 2013. “When I sought your help in 2013, I pushed in the Senate my promises. All those bills and laws were intended to help our farmers,” said Poe, who topped the Senate race in the last elections with over 20 million votes. Speaking before a crowd of 4,000 people during a Partido Galing at Puso rally here, Poe said that she delivers on her promises and that her work in the Senate will attest to that. If she wins the presidency, Poe

said her government will give priority to agriculture and education, vowing to give free irrigation service for farmers and scholarships for students from pre-school to college. Nueva Ecija, known as the “rice granary of the Philippines,” relies heavily on agriculture but has been hard-hit by El Niño, with around 12,558 hectares of land in the province affected by the extended dry spell. Poe said Filipinos, especially those in the rural areas, have been patient for so long. “Perhaps, we should stop being patient now,” Poe said. Nueva Ecija has 1.3 million voters. Poe was the top pick of voters

in its capital, Cabanatuan, during the senatorial elections, with more than 80,000 voters choosing her. “We are focused on helping the poor. Programs on agriculture are very important,” she said. Poe said she will abolish the service fee charged by the National Irrigation Authority on farmers, who pay an estimated P4,500 per hectare annually. Agricultural development, Poe said, is crucial to include farmers in rapid, inclusive and sustainable growth. While majority of the population depends on agriculture, farmers remain some of the poorest members of society, with some earning only P20,000 annually.

The senator plans to build agro-industrial zones to help farmers market their products and to generate employment. She also wants to establish seed banks in every region that will serve as a supplies and materials hub for farmers, especially after a natural disaster. Poe and her running mate, Senator Francis Escudero, who also leads in the vice presidential surveys, visited Cabanatuan City with the other candidates running under their PGP coalition. While they don’t have a political party, Poe said they have an organization with only one goal—to serve the people honestly. Macon Ramos-Araneta

Duterte said he was still wide awake even at past 3 a.m. thinking about what he was going to say. He said he finally promised not to let “probinsiyanos” like himself down. “I am very excited, but I am also very nervous. A very important day for me and for all of us. I am a probinsiyano, I will be representing Mindanao and the provinces,” Duterte said before the debate. He said he was nervous because the other candidates appeared to have prepared well for the gathering. “I am nervous because I know [the other candidates] are good,” he added. But Duterte said he took heart because he was giving many Filipinos hope by running for president. “I will not let Mindanao, the provinces and the entire Philippines down. I am the Filipino people’s last card,” he said. He reiterated he join the presidential race because he was angered by the government’s neglect of the people. The Duterte campaign’s political agenda entails ending corruption in the government, fighting criminal, maintaining peace and order and addressing the lack of education and massive poverty. “I will stand there in defense of the future of the Philippines and the Filipino people. I promise to stand for you. I will never let you down,” he said. According to the camp of Duterte, the Davao City mayor engaged some volunteers in a simulated debate on the night of Feb. 20 at the Marco Polo Hotel in Davao City. Earlier, Duterte admitted that debating is not one of his strengths, that he is not that articulate and is not good at speaking when there is an imposed time limit.

Binay well-prepared for face-off By christine F. Herrera CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY— Vice President Jejomar Binay wanted so much to get his message across clearly that he tapped the services of a voice coach and a personality development institute, aside from consulting scholars and experts to prepare for Sunday’s first televised presidential debate. According to Binay’s daughter Senator Nancy Binay, her father tried to develop the best arguments and strong positions on every gut issue ahead of the face-off. Senator Binay said the vice president was “more than ready and in his usual good mood” while preparing for the debate. Binay was the first presidential candidate to arrive in this city on Saturday and

started his day acceding to the “dry run” asked by the debate organizers led by the Commission on Elections at the debate venue. He attended mass at a local Catholic Church after the dry run. “My father believes he is addressing the nation and the public will put him under close scrutiny. He has to accord them with respect and give them importance. He needs to convey his message to them truthfully and sincerely. He has to present his platform of government, his track record and show that his economic and social service policies will surely make a difference for the country and greatly improve the lives of the poorest of the poor,” Senator Binay said. The senator said Pocholo

Gonzales, known as “the man with a thousand voices,” extended his services as a voice coach to Binay for free. He was also advised by experts from the John Robert Powers personality development institute. Binay spokesman former Cainta Mayor Mon Ilagan said the vice president underwent breathing exercises to improve his vocal quality and stage presence. Senator Binay recounted that during the 2010 vice presidential race, which he won, Binay also underwent training and took lessons from John Robert Powers to correct his posture and speech delivery. “My father used to slouch and when he was slouching, the delivery of his speech is adversely affected,” Senator Binay said.

celebration. US Ambassador Philip Goldberg and SM Prime Holdings president Hans Sy walk with sufferers of Down Syndrome in celebration of the National Down Syndrome Month at the Mall of Asia in Pasay City on Sunday. Ey AcAsiO

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Beleaguered Pacquiao defended The Catholic Church on Sunday defended boxing hero Manny Pacquiao for his opposition to gay marriage, saying he was only quoting the Bible. But Fr. Jerome Secillano also said over radio station dzMM that Pacquiao should respect homosexuals and not judge and condemn them after the eight-division world champion last week described them as worse than animals. Pacquiao, 37, who converted from Catholicism to an evangelical Protestant faith late in his boxing career, was pilloried by local gay rights groups and celebrities and has lost lucrative commercial endorsements as a result. Secillano, executive secretary of the Catholic bishops’ public affairs office, said: “This is really in the Bible. There is this quote he [Pacquiao] uses from the Bible and we cannot change that.” He said it was “unfair” to condemn Pacquiao for echoing what he reads in the Bible when he was asked about same-sex marriage. But Secillano also said the boxing hero should not have used such offensive language. “The church... says that if this is your lifestyle, if this is your orientation, then we respect that, we cannot condemn them,” the priest said. He reiterated that the Catholic Church, which counts 80 percent of Filipinos as followers, still opposed legalization of same-sex marriage. Church influence has also kept divorce and abortion from being legalized in the Philippines. However, homosexuality is not criminalized and several LGBT figures have become celebrities. Pacquiao, who intends to retire after his April fight against American Timothy Bradley to pursue a career in politics, issued an apology on social media on Tuesday but later said his apology was qualified. Nike, Pacquiao’s major global sponsor, cancelled its endorsement deal with him in the past week, describing his comments as “abhorrent”. Pacquiao, a former street kid with little education, has used his fame and fortune to launch a political career. Already a two-term congressman, he is campaigning to win a Senate seat in May elections. Surveys published before the controversy indicated he will win. Pacquiao has said his ultimate ambition is to be president of the Philippines. AFP

Launching. Unicef celebrity advocate Anne Curtis and Unicef Philippines representatives Lotta Sylwander led the Unicef Children

First Storybooks launching to promote reading and stimulate children’s imagination on Sunday. Anne Curtis conducted a story-telling episode during the launching held at The Block in SM North Edsa in Quezon City. MAnny PALMero

Kidnapped Malik nephew freed THE kidnapped nephew of a former commander of the Moro National Liberation Front has been released and two suspected members of the Abu Sayyaf Group were arrested in Sulu on Saturday in connection with his kidnapping, an official said Sunday. Citing a police report, Joint Task Group Sulu commander Brig. Gen. Alan Arrojado said 20-year-old Omar Carlo Masdal was released around

11 a.m. by the group of Abdel dela Cruz in Latih village in Patikul. The military and police say Dela Cruz is the leader of the Ajang-Ajang group who has close links with the sub-leaders of the Abu Sayyaf. “Masdal is a student from the Sulu State College and is reportedly a nephew of the late MNLF commander Habier Malik,” Arrojado said. Malik, the right-hand man

of MNLF founder Nur Misuari, led the bloody Zamboanga City siege in 2014. Months later, the MNLF announced Malik’s death. Police said Masdal was abducted on Feb. 14 in Buanza village, Indanan, Sulu, by Dela Cruz’ group. “He [Masdal] was mistaken for a member of a wealthy family,” Arrojado said. “The release was made possible through the negotiations being facilitated by an uni-

dentified MNLF commander. The victim is now with his family.” Fifteen minutes after the release, the military and police personnel manning a Commission on Elections checkpoint intercepted two suspected Abu Sayyaf members around 11:15 a.m. in Sitio Sligpang in Barangay Lower Patbulan, Panamao. The two were on a motorcycle when intercepted. Florante S. Solmerin

‘No politics in 30th Edsa celebrations’

Partners. A man

and his sunglasswearing dog enjoy the sun by the Baywalk on Roxas Boulevard. Diana B. noche

MALACAÑANG on Sunday denied the allegations politics is involved in the coming celebration of the 30th anniversary of the People Power Revolution of 1986. “There is no truth [to] the allegations there is politics of revenge,” Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. told the state-run dzRB radio. “We have been united in Edsa [since] 1986 due to the principle of democracy, freedom and justice. This is the real meaning of our celebration of Edsa 30.” President Benigno Aquino III will lead the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the People Power Revolution on Feb. 25, a special non-working holiday. Today, Feb. 22, the celebration starts with a wreath-laying ceremony at the Libingan ng mga Bay-

ani to be led by former President Fidel V. Ramos. “Thousands of students will participate in the traditional welcoming of the Edsa celebration in front of the People Power Monument at the corner of Edsa and White Plains Avenue,” Coloma said. He urged the public to go to the People Power experiential museum at the parade grounds of Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City to know the history of Martial Law. Coloma said the People Power experiential museum will be open the whole day starting Thursday and Friday, Feb. 25 and 26, from 8 a.m. up to midnight the following day. “The People Power experiential museum combines elements

of theater, cinema, photography, performances, installations and other allied arts as it recreates the experience of Martial Law and the struggle of courageous Filipinos to awaken the sleeping masses,” Coloma said. “The visitors enter the various halls of the museum such as the Hall of Deadly Sleep, the Hall of False Dreams, the Hall of Forgotten Martyrs, and the Hall of Awakening as they journey through the various phases of the Martial Law experience and the eventual triumph of the Edsa People Power Revolution.” “We especially invite young Filipinos who were born or were growing up at the time of the Edsa People Power Revolution to visit the museum with their parents and elders.” Sandy Araneta

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Poll lawyer urges SC to affirm Grace’s candidacy By Rey E. Requejo

AS THE Supreme court is set to deliberate on the petitions of Senator Grace Poe seeking to reverse the commission on Elections decision cancelling her certificate of candidacy for the May 9 polls, an election lawyer on Sunday asked the tribunal to uphold her natural-born citizenship despite being a foundling. lawyer Romulo Macalintal stressed that the 15-member bench should render judgment in favor of Poe to show its compassion to the foundlings, like her, “who should not be blamed for being born of parents who have not compassion at all for their sinless child.” “Justice without compassion is no justice at all,” Macalintal said, citing an Sc decision in October 2005 reinstating the retirement benefits of a Regional Trial court judge whom it previously dismissed for gross misconduct “indeed, if the Sc could be compassionate in rendering justice to an erring judge, then with more compassion should justice be rendered in favor of foundlings seeking to be recognized as a citizen of the country and not to be treated as a “stateless” individual in the country where he or she was found,” he added. Macalintal argued that if the tribunal could extend its care and sympathy to one who had violated the norms of conduct of the judiciary, “with more compassion should it look into the case of an innocent foundling who should not be blamed for being born of parents who have no compassion at all for their sinless child.” According to him, to deny foundlings recognition as our “fellow citizen” is tantamount to imposing on them a penalty for the crime committed by their parents.

Palace defends Mar from Chiz criticisms “if we are to sum it all—the term of President Erap, the term President Arroyo, which was Independent vice presidential candidate Fran- ifmore than nine years, and the cis “Chiz “ escudero and Liberal party standard term of President Aquino, it’s more than 15 years, and your only bearer Mar Roxas have swapped barbs and Ma- son [Roxas] is close to the one sitlacañang was quick to come to the defense of the ting in Malacañang,” said Escudero, the running mate of Senator administration bet. Grace Poe, one of Roxas’ opponents in the presidential race. Roxas, former member of too personal?” Roxas, a former congressman the Aquino cabinet, last week While campaigning in Roxas and a senator also served as secrebelittled Escudero as “saling city on Wednesday, Escudero tary of the departments of Trade pusa” after the senator claimed took potshots at Roxas, who said and industry of Transportation that Roxas has done little for his the lP standard bearer could and communications and of inhome province in capiz. “Saling have done more for his own terior and local Government. He pusa” is a term used to refer to province due to his “closeness” was a member of the cabinet unchildren fond of joining games to two former presidents and in- der the terms of former President or work of grown-ups. cumbent President benigno S. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, now Roxas appeared to have been Aquino iii. Pampanga Representative, former offended, said Escudero. “My Escudero said residents of President Joseph Estrada and now answer to that is simple. First, capiz were lucky because for a Manila Mayor and Aquino. it was just a small criticism so long time, their “son” has been “Why did he has to be personwhy did he get angry and too close to former presidents of our al? if he won the presidency, no personal? Why did he become country for three terms. matter how farfetched it could be,

By Macon Ramos-Araneta and Sandy Araneta

would he be that “pikon?” What if somebody from your provincemate criticized him, would he be “pikon?” He said it’s not worthy for a president in a democractic country to be onion-skinned against all criticisms. Escudero’s criticisms against Roxas drew a reaction from the Palace. Due to the intense political campaign, one cannot avoid that some may resort to heckling or name-calling, said communications Secretary Herminio coloma Jr. Despite the name-calling, coloma said, Roxas remains to be “rational” and a “gentleman.” “Secretary Mar Roxas is seen as a rational and gentleman. He follows the principles that issues and programs must be tackled by the government in promoting the Straight Path,” coloma said.

Pointers.

Former First Lady and now Rep. Imelda Marcos of Ilocos Norte gives her advice on campaign strategy to her nephew senatorial candidate Martin Romualdez during the commemoration of the 4th death anniversary of Ambassador Benjamin ‘Kokoy’ Romualdez. VER NoVENo

US envoy joins ‘Happy Walk’ By Macon Ramos-Araneta

Nlex repair. The Manila North Tollways Corp. starts its 2016 heavy maintenance program for the North Luzon Expressway until June this year. The program focuses on road patching of approximately 120 square meters of portions of Nlex from Valenzuela City to Sta. Ines in Pampanga. MNTC president and chief executive officer Rodrigo E. Franco said heavy maintenance work on Nlex is done annually to ensure continuous delivery of safe and smooth travel. MNTC added that there will be no road repairs during weekends and holidays in anticipation of the high traffic volume. Patching works are being undertaken from Mondays to Thursdays, 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., and Fridays, 6:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

“Public acceptance with children afflicted with Down Syndrome and other People With Disabilities is a very important feature of every democracy,” said united States Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg. Joining Sunday’s “Happy Walk for Down Syndrome,” at the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay city, Goldberg noted that accepting PWDs is a strong component in every democratic country. “And that is what today is all about and we are very happy to participate,” said Goldberg who came with a group of participants from the uS Embassy. He said the uS government has always advocated for the acceptance and inclusivity of PWDs in the communities and society. Goldberg likewise participated in the walk around MoA with SM president Hans Sy and DSAPi officers. “We have a group here from the uS

Embassy and we are very happy to be part of this very important event. We thank SM malls for sponsoring this event and we are happy to participate because what it does is to bring public recognition to a community that is getting more self-confident, to highlight the problems and issues in a way that will benefit many many people,” said Goldberg. The annual Happy Walk for Down Syndrome has set many firsts in its 14-year history. Aside from the participation of the uS Embassy, it has set a new record for attendance and it has transferred to a new home. Elmer lapena, president of the Down Sydrome Association of the Philippines, said more than 2,000 people attended this year’s Happy Walk in its new home at the SMX Mall of Asia, an unprecedented feat since only 1,200 attendees were recorded last year.

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Justice: Amend anti-hazing law By Rey Requejo

THE Department of Justice has backed measures seeking to amend Republic Act 8049 or the AntiHazing Law, saying the statute merely regulates hazing, but does not actually prohibit such act as criminal offense. In a three-page legal opinion submitted to the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs headed by Senator Grace Poe, Justice Undersecretary Zabedin Azis said the DoJ is supporting any bill in Congress aimed at enhancing the Anti-Hazing Law due to numerous reported incidents of death among neophytes “which the present law failed to curtail.” “We reiterate our suggestion to consider hazing, which has been defined under the proposed legislative measures as including both the infliction of physical and psychological harm to neophyte, as a prohibited act,” the DoJ said. “Notably, the present law merely regulates hazing and does not exactly make the act criminal,” the Justice department added. According to Azis, she agreed with the proposed measures in Congress seeking to impose stiffer penalties against hazing in fraternities, sororities and other organizations. It also backs the legislative measures seeking to prohibit the participation of school authorities, including barangay, municipal and city officials in ensuring the regulation of initiation rites. The DoJ cited the Supreme Court’s previous rulings on hazing cases regarding the implication of the presence of alumni in initiation rites. The high court proposed the amendment of the Anti-Hazing Law to include the fact of intoxication and the presence of non-resident or alumni fraternity member during hazing as aggravating circumstances that would increase applicable penalties.

Skills training. Two foundations—the Paquito C. Ochoa Foundation and the Ang-Hortaleza Foundation—launch a livelihood and skills training program called ‘Ganda Mo, Hanapbuhay Ko.’ The program focuses on basic cosmetology training. The foundation also offers candle making for 50 participants, and breast cancer awareness for 199 women. From left: Beth Ochoa Regala and Marlene Ochoa finalize arrangements for the ‘Ganda Mo’ with officials of the Ang-Hortaleza Foundation.

Labor, urban poor ally with Escudero PARTIDO Lakas ng Masa, a political party composed of marginalized sectors like labor and the urban poor, has thrown its support behind independent vice presidential candidate Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero, who will work to push for a “Plataporma ng Pagbabago” (Platform of Change), a seven-point platform of meaningful reforms for the rights and welfare of the poor. PLM chairman Sonny Melencio said on Thursday that “an alliance has now been forged between the party of the laboring masses and Senator Escudero on the basis of advancing specific and concrete demands of the toiling and impoverished majority.” He added that teaming up with

Escudero would ensure that “the urgent, everyday problems of the Filipino masses are not lost in the raucous electoral arena.” Escudero for his part said that the seven-point agenda was consistent with the platform he shared with running mate Senator Grace Poe. “We believe in a government with a heart, one that is sensitive to the problems confronted by the majority of our people. We also believe that whatever growth and progress enjoyed by the nation should be shared by all and not just a few—dapat walang maiiwan [no one should be left behind],” said the senator. Melencio said that the seven key reforms include (a) regular employment; (b) social services such as education, housing, transportation; (c)

land use and government support for farmers; (d) climate justice; (e) pro-people budgeting and progressive taxation; (f) eradication of corruption; and (g) people’s sovereignty. The seven-point platform, launched last week in Quezon City, is supported by seven senatorial candidates, 37 local candidates, and three party-list groups. The senatorial hopefuls that have expressed support for the “Plataporma ng Pagbabago” include retired general and Young Officers Union founder Dado Valeroso of Partido Lakas ng Masa, former Akbayan representative Walden Bello, Rep. Neri Colmenares of the Makabayan bloc, labor leader Allan Montano of the Federation of Free Workers,

migrant workers advocate Susan Ople, and legal counsels Lorna Kapunan and Levi Baligod. Among the local candidates that support the platform are Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman and Puerto Princesa Mayor Edward Hagedorn, along with party-list groups Ating Guro, Ang Nars, and Sanlakas. Melencio said that the elections presented an opportunity “to organize the masses under a platform for social change and meaningful reforms.” He also explained that Escudero and the PLM had agreed to push for a clear pro-people agenda that will address issues that “have aggravated the poverty and misery of the Filipino people, but are wantonly pursued by the Liberal Party” like contractualization.

House asked to stop GMO tests By Rio N. Araja Expansion.

INC Executive Minister Eduardo V. Manalo is set to inaugurate this house of worship in Lubbock, Texas this March. The new church seats 484 people in its main hall and another 150 in the function hall.

A PARTY-LIST lawmaker is seeking congressional intervention on the alleged action by government to rush the issuance of a joint administrative order on the new rules and regulations on research, approval and commercialization of genetically modified organisms crops. Rep. Fernando Hicap said that on Dec. 5, 2015, the Supreme Court issued its final ruling concerning the GMO, particularly on the BT eggplant case, upholding in the process an earlier Court of Appeals decision. “Assessing the evidence on record, as well as the current state of GMO research worldwide, the court finds all the three conditions present in this case—uncertainty, the possibility of irrevocable harm and the possibility of serious harm,” its decision read. Several groups—Greenpeace, Magsasaka at Siyentifiko para sa pag-unlad ng Agrikultura, Green Action PH, Advocates of Science and Technology for the People, Pesticide Action Network Philippines, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas and the

Center or Health Initiatives and Management of Eco-systems—have also urged Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala not to rush the issuance of rules and regulations on GMO crops. Hicap authored House Resolution 2650 “expressing the sense of the House of representatives against the fast-tracking of a joint administrative order on the rules and regulation for the research and development, handling and use, transboundary movement, release into the environment and management of plant and plant products derived from the use of modern biotechnology.” The Department of Agriculture has reset the signing of a joint department order on Feb. 23. He noted the SC decision also temporarily stopped the government from accepting application for field testing, propagating, and importing GMO and effectively nullified Administrative Order No.8 series of 2002 or the “Rules and Regulation for the Importation and Release into the Environment of Plant and Plant Products Derived from the Use of Modern Biotechnology.”

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Ilocos Norte wind plant still offline after blast By Alena Mae S. Flores THE 81-megawatt Caparispisan wind power project in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte remains offline after two transmission towers of North Luzon Renewable Energy Corp. toppled due to damage suffered from explosives. Energy Undersecretary Mylene Capongcol confirmed that the wind project remains off line and added that an investigation into the bombing of the privately-owned towers is ongoing. Capongcol said the wind project, the second biggest wind project in Ilocos Norte, will be online once repair of the two towers commences. “No feedback yet but please note that the damaged towers are private-owned and not NGCP [National Grid Corporation of the Philippines],” Capongcol said. North Luzon Renewable reported that a little after 9 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 18, its wind project in Pagudpud was disconnected from the Luzon Grid due to a tripping of its interconnection facility. It was determined in the early morning of Friday, Feb. 19, that two of its transmission towers in Barangay Tadao in the Municipality of Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte, had toppled. The towers are located outside the wind farm facility. Initial investigations indicate that explosives were used to take down the transmission towers. No one has claimed responsibility at this time.There were no fatalities or injuries related to the incident. “NLR is working to ensure that we are connected to the grid at the soonest possible time,” it said.

With a heart. Senator and presidential candidate Grace Poe greets a mother and her child during a sortie in Cabanatuan City. EY ACASIO

LPG plant in Batangas on fire since Saturday A LIQUEFIED petroleum gas storage plant at Salong Village, Calaca, Batangas has been on fire for more than 24 hours as of press time. Two have been reported injured. Fred Bragas, regional information officer of the Office of Civil Defense-Calabarzon, said Sunday morning that a general alarm has been declared in the area and a total of 559 individuals have been evacuated to Calaca Central School for temporary shelter as a precautionary measure in case of

gas explosion. The fire started just after 4 p.m. Saturday. The injured residents are undergoing treatment at the Calaca General Hospital. Bragas said that personnel of the Bureau of Fire Protection in Batangas and nearby provinces

are still fighting the fire with special chemicals because the LPG in the terminal needs special skills and special equipment to contain. Meanwhile, food packs are being distributed to the evacuees from the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Batangas province, Bragas said. BFP personnel are still investigating the cause of the fire at the gas depot. Meanwhile, the development may cause the shutdown of the oil depot of Phoenix Petroleum for three days.

Company spokesman Raymond Zorilla clarified it was not Phoenix’s depot but an LPG plant from another company co-located in the park that caught fire Saturday around 4 p.m. Still, “we need to check the integrity of our facility and take all necessary precautions first,” Zorilla said. Zorilla said he does not see any supply crunch arising from their plant shutdown as they will draw from their other depots in the country such as in Visayas and Mindanao. PNA

Soil bureau stops cloud-seeding operations

Foldable shelters. Forty-four foldable shelter units are turned over to ‘Yolanda’ survivors in Barangay San Isidro, Sitio Suhi Resettlement Site, Tacloban City. MEL CASPE

TAGBILARAN CITY—A minor aircraft has problem forced the Bureau of Soil and Water Management to temporarily stop last week’s round of cloud-seeding operations. Larry Pamugas, officer-in-charge at the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist, explained that the left wing of the aircraft that the BSWM team had been using in its cloud seeding operations bogged down on Tuesday last week. Pamugas said the scattered light rains experienced in the rest of the week must have been brought by the natural weather pattern. Cloud-seeding operations are expected to resume later this week after the needed spare parts are installed on the aircraft’s left wing. Pamugas said they had barely reached the required 48 hours of artificial rains, since the BSWM team could only proceed with a round of cloud seeding operation when cumulunimbus clouds are spotted in target areas. At the start of February, the Depart-

ment of Agriculture allocated additional funds for 90 more hours of cloud-seeding operations. The ongoing implementation of the first phase of the cloud-seeding operations only covers 42 hours. If the drought persists, the BSWM team will proceed to the next phase that covers 90 hours of cloud seeding operations. So far, there have been at least 12 rounds of cloud seeding operations conducted in Bohol to sustain the stability of water supply for irrigation of rice fields and also for the rain-fed areas. Leon Parac Jr., agricultural technician at the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist, said the BSWM has to continue conducting cloud seeding operations while the El Niño also continues to affect the farms, especially at this time of the planting season. The first round of cloud-seeding operation this year was conducted on Jan. 13 at the start of the planting season for rice. PNA

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opinion

ADELLE chuA edITOR

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opinion

the PoPe’s other BomBshell

[ EDI TORI A L ]

Bloomberg editorial

IndefensIble AN AdmiNistrAtioN spokesman seemed to be grasping at straws last week when he tried to defend the appointment of a former chief-of-staff of the administration’s presidential candidate, manuel roxas ii, as a commissioner of the social security system. “i think she has run several successful businesses,” the spokesman said, referring to Eliza Bettina Antonino, who was appointed commissioner of the sss in 2010. “Perhaps her professional profile is available online so you can look it up. But, what i would like to emphasize is that she was not appointed out of the blue and remained in her position because she is close to someone,” the roxas spokesman added. in good faith, we did as the spokesman suggested, and here is what we found. First, there is absolutely no evidence online that Antonino ran several successful businesses. From her executive profile in Bloomberg, we can ascertain that Antonino graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Hotel and restaurant Administration from the University of the Philippines in 2000. she then worked as vice president of business development at a company called Wemilco management and development Co. from 2003 to 2004. There is precious little information online available about Wemilco, but it seems safe to say that it does not qualify as any of the “several successful businesses” that she ran. A six-year gap in ms. Antonino’s professional resume coincides with roxas’ stint as a senator, from 2004 to 2010. A biography posted on the website of the mindanao development Authority, in which her mother serves as secretary, lists Antonino as being “chief of staff of the office of senator mar roxas” at that time. From 2010, when President Aquino took office, ms. Antonino’s fortunes began to rise. she was appointed as a commissioner of the sss, and then began to sit in the boards of Philex mining Corp. and Union Bank of the Philippines, to represent the pension fund. reports in various websites erroneously suggest that Antonino, as commissioner, earned more than sss president Emilio de Quiros. This is wrong (de Quiros earned P6.844 million in 2014, or about P847,000 more than Antonino did), but her seven-figure salaries starting in 2011 are nothing to sneeze at. Here are what successive Commission on Audit reports—available on its website—show. As an sss commissioner, Antonino earned P1.3 million in 2011; P1.244 million in 2012; P2.373 million in 2013; and P5.997 million in 2014. Not too shabby for an Hrm graduate with no experience whatsoever in the financial industry. The roxas spokesman said Antonino represented “the general public” in the sss board, and she joined some of roxas’ campaign sorties because “she belongs to a family of leaders in mindanao.” The spokesman was perhaps understating the facts, as the Antonino family is widely acknowledged as one of the political dynasties in mindanao. The spokesman then negated his earlier defense with this statement: “As to her record, i really can’t speak on it. i’m not familiar with her work history.” But thanks to his original suggestion, we now know more about ms. Antonino and her good fortune— and how her appointment as an sss commissioner has been just another sordid example of political patronage at work. We still remember how former President Gloria Arroyo, toward the end of her term, gave her personal manicurist and gardener jobs in the Pag-iBiG Housing Fund and Luneta Park administration. There are differences, however, in the case of the underqualified and overpaid sss commissioner. As misguided as it was for mrs. Arroyo to appoint her manicurist and gardener to government jobs, few people will suggest that doing so would reap her any political benefits. This is not true in Antonino’s case, where the sss appointment and fat paychecks might rightfully be perceived as not only as a reward for her past loyalty, but also as a promise that her influential family will work doubly hard for a roxas victory in mindanao ahead of the may elections. The brazen example of political patronage is even worse because this administration misrepresents itself as a guardian of moral politics and a follower of “the straight path.” it is hardly any wonder that roxas’ spokesman was at a loss to defend Antonino’s appointment. Viewed from any angle, the act was indefensible.

Intolerance and ratIonalIty pensées fR. RanHIlIO callangan aquInO The blows dealt him by his critics—not counting the dent in his finances from Nike’s decision—certainly stung more than any he had received in the ring. Many of them were completely disproportionate; many of them were grossly

unfair. But he could have been better advised. I do not know what Aling Dionisia and Jinky advised him, but he should have sought wise and prudent counsel. There could have been a way of making the same point in less abrasive a manner. Similes and metaphors can be enlightening. In this case they were distracting and destructive! What should really set off alarm bells, however, is the

virulence and hysteria of the reactions coming in the wake of Manny’s rejection of same-sex unions. And the paradox should not escape any thoughtful person: What we saw was a display of ferocious intolerance in the name of tolerance! Pacquiao was called a bigot, an ignoramus, a human-rights violator, a discriminator. The proponents of same-sex unions it seems are intolerant of opinions other

How many are there who are willing to allow the better reason to prevail?

than theirs, a posturing they a plurality of alternatives is claim is the proper disposition now available and tolerance of tolerance! for this often-confusing Plurality is the distinctive plurality has been rendered phenomenon of modernity. normative by a particular Conceptual frames, value rendering of democracy systems and ideologies once and the transmutation of controlling have not really tolerance into constitutionally disappeared. They merely guaranteed rights: the have lost their grip because freedoms of religion, thought

and expression, research and dissemination principally. But tolerance is no magic formula, no master-word. In fact, it is selflimiting. Our tolerance for a variety of religious beliefs, no matter how bizarre, has engendered a dangerous society that harbors individuals who are quite willing and frankly determined to kill and maim in the name of God. And that is just the problem with a society that has

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discredited the notion of natural law. When the objective referent of all discourse has been eliminated, how does one deal with contradictory propositions except through “tolerance” which simply means allowing contradictions to exist side by side, until the time comes that it becomes impossible for them to do so. And for the starry-eyed who foolishly think that contradictories can continue in peaceful co-

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existence, our dangerous times should be clear proof of the folly of this assumption. By “self-limiting,” I point to the dangerous times we live in. There are many for whom the utterance of a contrary view is “blasphemous.” Paquiao’s fate is a more recent demonstration. he expressed his opinion—thinking that the Constitution allowed him to do so—and reaped a whirlwind of Continued on A11

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LIke Icarus edging too close to the sun, Pope Francis learned Thursday what it means to graze Donald Trump’s news cycle: even the most meticulously chosen words are burned away in the nebular heat. Largely overlooked in the uproar over the pope’s criticism of Trump was an understated—but no less intentional—observation about contraception. Avoiding pregnancy is not an absolute evil, Francis noted, apropos of a question about the Zika virus. That may not seem like a momentous statement. Yet taken to its logical conclusion, it could herald a substantial shift in Catholic thinking on contraception—and, perhaps, a promising advance for global health. Zika is a horrible mosquito-borne disease: so mild as to sometimes be undetectable in adults, yet potentially devastating if contracted by a pregnant woman, whose child might suffer brain damage as a result. There’s suggestive evidence that it can be spread sexually, yet unlike most STDs, it could be transmitted unwittingly within a faithful marriage. From the standpoint of Catholic theology, that makes Zika something like a worst-case scenario, where the church’s teachings about valuing life and affirming sexual morality are in tension. Yet as any Jesuit will tell you, worst-case scenarios are often logically clarifying. As Francis noted in the interview, there is precedent in Catholic thought for considering birth control a “lesser evil.” During the Congo crisis, Pope Paul VI granted that Catholic nuns should be permitted to use birth control when faced with mass rape. In 2010, Pope Benedict XVI—no one’s idea of a theological permissive— allowed that using condoms to prevent hIV “can be a first step in the direction of moralization.” Francis, more alive to the messiness of human affairs than his immediate predecessors, seems to be advancing this notion another step. And the consequences may stretch well beyond the Vatican. A more lenient stance on the matter in the face of grave risks— hIV, in particular—might go a long way among African Catholics, the church’s fastest-growing constituency. It might be particularly comforting to the millions of hIV-positive African children, who contracted the disease through no fault of their own. It Continued on A10 Rolando G. Estabillo Jojo A. Robles Ramonchito L. Tomeldan Chin Wong/Ray S. Eñano Francis Lagniton Joyce Pangco Pañares Adelle Chua Romel J. Mendez Roberto Cabrera

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opinion

ADELLE chuA edITOR

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opinion

the PoPe’s other BomBshell

[ EDI TORI A L ]

Bloomberg editorial

How many are there who are willing to allow the better reason to prevail?

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A10 unemployment and its causes In a couple of months, tens of out of the thousands of college box graduates will, rita linda once more, join v. jimeno the workforce. The unemployment rate in the Philippines is projected to be 6.2 percent by the end of this quarter. From 1994 to 2015 the average unemployment rate has been 8.78 percent, way higher than our neighbors in the asia Pacific region. In malaysia, the average unemployment rate is 3.4 percent; in Thailand, 2.3 percent; in Singapore, 3.4 percent; in Vietnam, 5.6 percent, China, 3.9 percent; and Taiwan, 4.3 percent. Only Indonesia has an unemployment rate close to ours, that is, 8.9 percent. The Philippine Institute for Development Studies said that in the Philippines, unemployment is a time bomb. Between 2005 and 2030, the labor force will increase from 32 million to about 52 million. Yet it is befuddling why, in some sectors, there are many available jobs, but few qualify to fill up the vacancies. In the food sector, for instance, there is a dearth of workers with skills in cooking, food preservation, etc. Generally, companies have

more than the disconnect between education and the need of industries, the real cause of massive unemployment in the philippines can be blamed on government.

difficulty searching for accountants, bookkeepers, competent drivers, among others. In the medical sector while there is a glut of nurses, there has been a shortage of CT scan operators, cardio technicians, occupational therapists, respiratory therapists, etc. Studies reveal that 22 percent of the unemployed have attended college while 19 percent have graduated from college. What does this indicate? That there is a serious disconnect between what schools teach and the demand of the jobs market. Students are not acquiring the skills they need to fill up available jobs when they graduate. Schools still offer, and students still enroll in, traditional courses without so much as examining the demand of industries. The quality of graduates has also steadily declined such that professions requiring qualifying examinations such as medicine, accountancy, library science, and others suffer high failing rates. In nursing, for example, the passing rate in 1998 was 55.8 percent. In 2006, it went down to 45 percent and in 2010, it was a low of 39 percent. Thus, those who desperately need jobs but do not qualify in their desired professions settle for work as domestic helpers or nannies and blue-collar workers, either here or abroad. Still, there is a greater number of the unemployed who are unable to take on available jobs because they are not connected with what they learned. However, more than the disconnect between education and the need of industries, the real cause of massive unemployment in the Philippines can be blamed on government. It has failed to create the needed

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OPINION

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What the debate Will not tell us I am writing this before the first question is tossed and before the plumbline first below-the-belt blow is parried in the first presidential debates in pastor Cagayan de Oro. apollo I am glad that none of the appliquiboloy cants for the P400,000-a-month job did not back out, dissuaded a platform is if it is poorly articuperhaps by the thought that an lated then the author will not be empty stool would represent able to score points with an audience more easily swooned by spin them if they don’t show up. But I am lowering my expecta- than substance. a candidate who had built a tions insofar as what this presidential candidate-got-talent will reputation chasing after criminals teach me on what these contest- can be outtalked by a newbie who has never even been inside a poants have to offer. The culprit is the format itself, lice precinct. There will be promises galore which can only accommodate answers compressed in 60 seconds. in agriculture by those who can’t Free-flowing discussion it is not even distinguish an abaca plant but a referred round-robin quiz from a banana tree or a nipa frond from a coconut. where the clock is king. I can only hope that the audiFor the life of me, I can’t image how someone can pack 250 words, ence won’t use the debate as the that is if the candidate spews out single yardstick in choosing who words with mach 1 speed, into a to vote for. an informed choice, 90-second spiel a cogent position I believe, should come from mulon a complicated topic like “devel- tiple sources and just not out of opment” which is one of the five Twitter-long statements. Let us not grade them solely on topics of the debate. another topic is “peace and or- this recitation alone. There is no der.” How can even one begin to correlation between oratory prowdistill the hundreds of things to ess and managerial skills. There be done to combat crime into a are other ways of weighing them blurb no longer than a TV sham- like track record, campaign literature, policy statements and many poo commercial? If there’s something the debate more. If you were able to watch yeswould show then it would perhaps be the candidate’s ability to think terday’s debate, you can dison his or her feet and pray that the cern if an answer was polished audience would extrapolate the through rote memorization or bite-size reply as representative of something that was honed through years of hands-on work a larger wisdom. Call it a stress test of some on that subject. This brings me to a related topic sort in which hidden weaknesses on how to boost candidate interwould surface. anyway, this is my prediction: action with voters during rallies. Textbook rallies follow the rouThe debate will be won by, who tine in use since the age of telelse but by the best debaters. Experts in elocution will win egram of candidates speaking this one. For no matter how good before a crowd already fired up by the pope’s... From A9 would also have health benefits for women and comfort those (especially among the poor) who have trouble feeding and caring for the children they already have.

Throughout his life in the Vatican, Francis has shown that he’s a master of small gestures: of offhanded remarks that aren’t so offhanded, and seemingly spontaneous acts that are freighted with symbolism. This

climate to attract investors and, on its own, to create jobs. Our 29-year-old Constitution had long needed revisions to make the country more competitive amidst globalization yet, President Benigno S. aquino III has consistently refused to allow any change to it, ignoring calls to lift its too restrictive provisions. If the President did not want to touch his mother’s Constitution, the very least he could have done in his term was to create as many jobs as possible to reduce the growing unemployment. The construction of infrastructure like the north rail train system, a mass public transport system, an improved mRT, more irrigation systems, and more farm to market roads, among a host of others, would have spurred opportunities to make a living. at the same time, it would have created jobs in the process. The great american President who won a record four presidential elections, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, led the United States during a time of worldwide depression and total war. In his first 100 days in office, Roosevelt spearheaded unprecedented major legislations and

entertainers and paid barkers. Candidates recycle the spiels which had drawn laughs, shrieks and claps a hundred rallies before. Expect for the salutations, like greeting the audience in the vernacular, the message remains the same throughout. Rallies are designed for the candidates to be seen and not heard so that’s why the allotted time to speak does not go beyond five minutes. I’ve been told that candidates spend less time on the microphone and more on running the gauntlet of selfie seekers because photos are shareable while no one has blasted an audio clip of a candidate to his FB friends. So here’s my proposal: Why can’t presidential candidates insert a question-and-answer forum during their rallies? By this, I mean interacting authentically with the people and not fielding planted questions by pre-briefed partisans. Instead of preaching before a bused-in crowd who will already vote for them, why can’t they hold real town hall-type meetings where citizens are given the opportunity to ask questions? If candidates are job applicants and the people the employers who would hire them, then this unfiltered Q-and-a will serve as some sort of a job interview. a candidate nowadays is a product who has gone extensive makeover, from hair style to speech. an army of wordsmiths, cheat sheet writers, PR men trail them. Every move they make are choreographed in advance. We need our candidates unplugged. and this can be done out in the hustings when face the people on their own, untethered from their support group. latest statement seems of a kind: opening the door to new dialogue on a once-moribund argument. That’s his particular gift as pontiff —and it’s one that may prove quite valuable to the world outside the Vatican.

issued numerous executive orders that instituted the new Deal. This involved a variety of programs designed to produce government jobs for the unemployed. The federal government played a big role in the US economy, allowing its people to survive the great depression and rise to make a great nation. Then again, not only President aquino should take the heat. We are where we are for the collective failure of our leaders to focus on real progress more than their political and self-seeking goals. We can continue asking ourselves every election period, will we produce this time a leader who will aim to attain even half as much as what President Roosevelt had done to the american economy? If you ask the former Chief Justice, Reynato S. Puno, he will tell you that elections will change nothing unless we change our political structure to one of federal-parliamentary. Email:ritalindaj@gmail.com Visit: www.jimenolaw.com.ph

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A11

OPINION lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

Races shape Up aRoUnd clinton and RUBio By Jonathan Bernstein AfTEr the third major voting event for both parties, one nominee looks clear—Hillary Clinton—while Marco rubio, having recovered from his New Hampshire disaster, is once again well positioned to capture the republican nod, although he has a lot further to go. By defeating Bernie Sanders by about 5 percentage points in the Nevada caucuses, Clinton continued to do what she’s done so far: win enough votes to keep her nomination utterly safe, even without winning in the kind of landslide that would knock Sanders out or make it impossible for pundits to imagine a Sanders win. Iowa was a fairly good state for Sanders, and New Hampshire probably his second-best, other than Vermont. Nevada should have leaned Clinton, and it went Clinton. Now she gets to the strong part of her schedule: next Saturday in South Carolina, which she is expected to win by so much that Sanders didn’t bother mentioning it in his post-Nevada speech Saturday, followed by several Southern states with lots of black voters on March 1. Unless she makes a huge misstep, she’s going to emerge from those states with a large lead both in pledged delegates and superdelegates. It’s unlikely Sanders will make much of a dent in that lead at any point. Meanwhile, Donald Trump put up his second win in South Carolina. Iowa was a tough

intolerance... From A9 national opprobrium! The problem is not with natural law but with those who do not understand it, and I fear it most when people who should know better utter it with the contemptible unction of the pretentious! Many think it as the argument that makes of propositions of fact statements of norms—the famous accusation that natural law effects the illogical shift from “is” to “ought.” “The door is open,” therefore, “It ought to be open.” That is clearly ridiculous, and I know of no proponent of natural law—none

#failocracy

state for him and he still received 24 percent of the vote. New Hampshire should have been good for him, and he improved to 35 percent —enough, if he could repeat it everywhere, to be competitive in a three-candidate contest. Now, in South Carolina—which seemed neither particularly good or bad for Trump going in—he wound up with 33 percent of the vote (with a few votes remaining to be counted as of late Saturday). That was enough for an easy win against five other candidates, but one of those—Jeb Bush —dropped out as soon as the results came in. In his victory speech, Trump ridiculed the pundits who added up the non-Trump votes and predicted he will be in trouble once the field consolidates. So far, however, that’s exactly what is happening: Polls in which few voters consider him their second choice also predict he won’t benefit when other candidates leave. So do polls that show his “favorable” ratings are considerably lower than his competitors’. So does his campaign style, which makes it likely that supporters of the other candidates have felt personally insulted by the reality TV star. And so does the simple fact that Trump has dominated the media for months, making it likely that most voters who are likely to support him already do so, and those who don’t have made a relatively firm decision not to. Bush is out. John Kasich had a disappoint-

especially among the High Scholastics who wrote prodigiously on it—who thought of it in this fashion. And G.E. Moore who is credited with having formulated the charge of the “naturalistic fallacy” did so only to advance his own agenda: to make of normative propositions a class all their own, leaving dangerously open the question of their rational and discursive anchorage! To refer to natural law is to allow for the arbitration of “sound reason.” In other words, it is to insist on reasonability and the settlement of disputes by the sheer force of argument. “Satyagraha”—truth-

ing night as well. As a less conservative Midwesterner, Kasich didn’t have to win in South Carolina, but finishing in a weak fifth place, with only about 8 percent of the vote, makes it clear that he received little help from his (mediocre) second-place finish in New Hampshire. He has little money, a hard-to-discern path to victory, and most likely a host of republican insiders who will be pushing him to drop out. Trump beat rubio and Ted Cruz by about 10 percentage points each in South Carolina. Bush and Kasich combined for about 15 percent of the vote. There’s no guarantee all of those go to rubio, but it sure seems likely, all being things equal. rubio also seems likely to receive many more endorsements in future contested states, as well as plenty of money to fuel his campaign (including florida money previously pledged to Bush). Cruz appears to have less room for improvement than rubio. Still, he’s one of three candidates who still has a chance to win the nomination, and if rubio falters—still quite possible—Cruz will inherit the entire anti-Trump vote. The problem for Cruz remains that he is a factional candidate who just doesn’t have an obvious argument against anyone who thought Bush or Kasich was a good candidate. What he needs is for Trump to collapse, and that doesn’t seem to be happening. Bloomberg

force—is what Gandhi called it. do not share his belief, and another “Communicative action” is what it claims that his faith commands him is for Habermas. Is the matter of to love even his enemies, surely this is same-sex unions together with other not a disagreement that will be quieted contentious issues ultimately a matter by the mantra of “tolerance,” precisely of “choice” with no way of settling because one position is intolerant! the disagreement? Ultimately then, a There has to be the willingness to argue matter of live and let live, in the full one’s position, to adduce argument, knowledge that at some time, it is no to rebut opposition and to allow the longer possible for contradictories better reason to prevail. to “live” together? But unless one But, aye, there’s the rub. How many has given up on rationality, which is are there who are willing to allow the ultimately a very dangerous thing, better reason to prevail? then there has to be a way of deciding the issue. When one claims that his rannie_aquino@sanbeda.edu.ph faith in God obligates him to blow up rannie_aquino@csu.edu.ph and send to kingdom come all who rannie_aquino@yahoo.com

chong ardivilla

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Fraser wins KL title; Tabuena 2nd KUALA LUMPUR—Marcus Fraser of Australia savoured his first win in nearly six years Sunday after overnight leader Lee Soo-Min crumbled down the homestretch to hand him the inaugural Maybank Championship Malaysia. The win is the third European Tour title for Fraser, who carded a bogey-free three-under-par 68, and ends a drought that saw him go 119 events without a victory. “It’s an absolute dream come true,” said the ecstatic Fraser, who takes home a victor’s purse of $500,000. “It’s been six years since I last won a golf tournament and I’ve had a lot of chances and completely

stuffed it up.” He finished at 15-under, two strokes ahead of South Korea’s Lee and Miguel Tabuena of the Philippines in the tournament, which is co-sponsored by the European and Asian tours. The final round was a two-horse race between overnight leader Lee, a South Korean youngster with K-pop looks, and the 37-year-old Aussie.

Starting Sunday with a threestroke advantage over Fraser, Lee fought off the persistent Australian for most of the round as the playing partners matched fine iron shots on the par-71 Royal Selangor Golf Club. But the relatively inexperienced Lee, who is just 22 and was making just his second European Tour start, opened the door on the parfour 16th with a double-bogey that allowed Fraser to draw level. Shaking on 18 After they both parred the short 17th, Lee got into trouble again on the par-four closing hole, leaving Fraser with a par putt to win it.

“I wasn’t sure how I actually held on to the putter on that last one. I was pretty nervous and I could see the putter head shaking,” Fraser said. But he bent it in for the win, leaving Lee to mop up with a double-bogey. Lee, who shot a dazzling thirdround 64 on Saturday, later admitted he wilted under the pressure of closing out the tournament. He finished Sunday with a two-over 73. But it was the second recent strong performance by the South Korean, who finished tied for third in the Hong Kong Open in October. Nathan Holman, a 24-year-old from Melbourne who won the

Nadal sent off by Cuevas in Rio Open golf RIO DE JANEIRO— World number five Rafael Nadal was ousted in the ATP Rio Open semi-finals on Saturday, falling to 45th-ranked Pablo Cuevas 6-7 (6/8), 7-6 (7/3), 6-4. Uruguay’s Cuevas denied the 29-year-old Spanish left-hander his 100th career ATP final by outlasting 14-time Grand Slam champion Nadal over three hours and 28 minutes on his beyond red clay surface. Cuevas, who fired the last of his 11 aces on the final point of the match, will play for the title on Sunday against Argentina’s 71st-ranked Guido Pella, who eliminated Austrian fifth seed Dominic Thiem 6-1, 6-4. Nadal converted only two of 13 break-point chances and made 33 unforced errors against 32 winners while Cue-

Australian PGA title in December, had led the tournament the first two days. But he gave up the lead late in the third round and struggled to find a rhythm Sunday, posting a one-over 72 to finish in eighth place. England’s world number 13 Danny Willett had been considered the favourite in Malaysia after winning the Dubai Desert Classic two weeks ago, but played himself out of contention with weekend rounds of 73 and 75. The tournament is the successor to the long-running Malaysian Open, which has been discontinued due to a sponsorship realignment. AFP

Miguel Tabuena of Philippines lines up a shot during Round 2 of the 2016 Maybank Malaysia Championship golf tournament in Kuala Lumpur. Tabuena ended up tied for second with Korean Lee Soo-Min. AFP

vas, 30, blasted 48 winners against 37 unforced errors. In the first tie-breaker, Nadal sent a forehand long and double faulted to squander his first two set points but followed with a forehand crosscourt winner before Cuevas sent a backhand wide to end the 77-minute opening set. Cuevas grabbed a 5-3 edge in the second set but netted a forehand to surrender a break in the ninth game that led to the second tie-breaker. Cuevas captured the last three points on two forehand winners and a netted Nadal forehand to force a third set. Nadal surrendered an early break in the final set and could not answer, Cuevas winning all 17 of his first serve points in the third set, seven of them aces.

Warriors bounce back from setback, edge Clippers, 115-112 LOS ANGELES—Reigning NBA champion Golden State bounced back from losing for only the fifth time this season for an emotional 115-112 road victory Saturday over the Los Angeles Clippers. Klay Thompson scored 32 points while Stephen Curry added 23 points and nine assists, and Draymond Green contributed 18 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists to lead the Warriors, who own the NBA’s best record at 49-5. The Warriors are chasing the all-time best record in league history, the 72-10 mark of the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls. A night after losing 137Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors handles the ball against the Los Angeles Clippers 105 at Portland, the worst at the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. AFP blowout defeat by a defend-

ing champion in nearly a decade, the Warriors had 32 assists and only 14 turnovers. At Portland they had 20 turnovers, 13 in the third quarter alone. “The electricity in this building got us up,” Thompson said. “We didn’t have 13 in one quarter. The 30 assists, that’s crazy. It’s a testament to how unselfish we are.” The Warriors pulled their starters with a 16-point lead in the final minutes and the Clippers responded with a 13-0 run to pull within 115-112 with 5.1 seconds remaining. A Golden State turnover on the inbounds pass gave C.J. Wilcox a shot at a tying 3-pointer, but he missed at the final buzzer.

“We got careless with the ball,” Thompson said. “We’ve got to learn from it, learn it’s a 48-minute game and no matter whoever is out there to never stop fighting.” At Miami, Britain’s Luol Deng scored 27 points to lead the Miami Heat over Washington 114-94. Playing without top scorers Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade for the second consecutive game, the Heat never trailed after scoring 11 unanswered points for a 15-5 lead with 6:54 remaining in the first period. Center Hassan Whiteside returned from a one-game suspension and scored a career-high 25 points with 22 rebounds for Miami. AFP

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Miriam nails 5 WNCAA crowns

Winners and participants in the third leg of the ICTSI Philippine Kiteboarding Tour Season 3 pose during awards rites in Anguib, Sta. Ana, Cagayan Valley recently. They include Twin Tip Masters champion Atte Kappel of Sweden, Twin Tip rulers Jing Gajisan and Doque delos Santos, Freestyle champions Julia Castro of Spain and Slovenian Jaka Komocar and novice winner Sboy Garcia.

Luisita out to challenge Canlubang with new bets FIFTEEN-TIME champion Luisita has added three new faces in its bid to unseat Canlubang in the 30th Philippine Airlines Seniors Interclub golf team championships which begin Wednesday at the Mimosa Golf and Country Club in Clark, Angeles, Pampanga. Luisita will miss long-time mainstay Francis Gaston, Seve RoxasChua and Rudy Amata—their spots taken by Jingy Tuason, Benjie Sumulong and Chito Laureta. Returning for the Tarlac-based squad are last year’s individual champion Eddie Bagtas, Richie Garcia, Pepot Iñigo, Minieng Maravilla and Bong Sison. “I believe we have a solid 8 team that can give Canlubang a good fight,” said Luisita non-playing

PH Under-14 Team. The Philip-

pine Tennis Association named 10-yearold Alexandra Eala (right) to be one of the members of the Philippine 14-Under Team that will play in the 2016 World Junior Tennis Championships on March 3 to 8 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. “It is my first time to represent our country in the World Juniors. I am only 10 years old but I am now ranked no. 1 in the under-14,” said Eala, who is supported by Babolat Philippines. Eala is joined here by Philippine Olympic Committee President Jose Cojuangco Jr.

team captain Jeric Hechanova in a text message. Last year in Cebu City, Luisita started hot, but faded in the last three days, losing to Canlubang by 17 points. Tommy Manotoc, who lost to Bagtas in the individual contest via countback, will spearhead Canlubang’s title-retention bid. He will be backstopped by holdovers Dave Hernandez, Rolly Viray, Mari Hechanova, Rene Unson and Tony Olives.

Former national seniors champion Abraham Aveña and Zaldy Villa are the team’s new addition. Canlubang and Luisita have dominated the seniors’ event since 2000, each winning eight crowns. In fact, only three other teams have won the event since its inception in 1987—inaugural champion Club Filipino de Cebu, Villamor and Wack Wack. A total of 105 teams have signified their intention to join, according to tournament director Henry Arabelo. Aside from the championship division, trophies will also be disputed in the Founders, Aviator, Sportswriters and Friendship brackets. Aviator is a newly-created class

featuring the lower half of the Founders and upper half of the Sportswriter divisions. Following the seniors event is the 69th PAL Men’s Regular Interclub championships set March 2 also at Mimosa. The PAL Interclub is sponsored by People Asia, Travelife, Mareco Broadcasting Network (Crossover), Manila Broadcasting Corporation, Airbus, Business Mirror and Philippine National Bank. Other supporters are Philippine Daily Inquirer, Inquirer.net, Plantation Bay Resort and Spa, Tanduay Distillers,Asia Brewery, Splash Corporation, RFM Corporation, Goldilocks, Eastgate Publishing Corporation, Robinsons Land and Rolls-Royce.

MIRIAM College accounted for five of 24 championships while Rizal Technological University and De La Salle Zobel plucked four apiece in the 46th WNCAA which concluded another successful season over the weekend. Five-time basketball champion Centro Escolar University, St. Paul College Pasig and Assumption College each won three crowns and getting at least one title were Chiang Kai Shek College and Poveda. Miriam ruled junior softball for the third straight year and junior volleyball for the second consecutive year while also topping junior and senior badminton and midget swimming. RTU kept its senior volleyball and taekwondo crowns and likewise dominated senior futsal and table tennis. DLSZ was midgets’ basketball winner for the fifth straight year and added the junior futsal, swimming and table tennis titles to its collection. Aside from the cage diadem, CEU also retained its senior cheerleading title over the weekend at Rizal Memorial Coliseum and bagged the senior swimming title last month; St. Paul was tops in midget volleyball, junior cheerleading and junior taekwondo; and Assumption prevailed in midget badminton, midget taekwondo and the inaugural senior poomsae. Rounding up the 46th season winners were CKSC (junior basketball) and Poveda (midget cheerdance). Aside from host Philippine Women’s University, other participating schools were Angelicum College, St. Scholastica’s College, San Beda College Alabang, La Salle College Antipolo, Saint Jude Catholic School, University of Asia & the Pacific and St. Stephen’s High School.

Yakult 10 Miler opens online registration thru Goohana site YAKULT Philippines Inc., organizers of the coming Yakult 10 Miler on March 6, powered by Mizuno and supported by GoodAh!!! and Salonpas at the CCP Complex grounds in Pasay City, announced the activation of registration online thru the Goorhana online registration service. This is to lessen the expected crowding at the Mizuno outlets designated registration centers now that registration is on its final 11 days. To register on line, those interested should visit www.goorahana.com. Race packets of those reg-

istering online can be picked up at any Mizuno store at the Trinoma Mall, SM Megamall, Bonifacio High Street and the SM Mall of Asia by presenting and surrendering their payment confirmation receipt. Printed copy of their payment confirmation is required. Pick up of race packets also ends at 5 p.m. March 3. There will be no pick up or registration on race day. As this developed, organizers also announced that a coordinating conference to ensure the safety of participants and to avoid inconvenience to motorists on the designated south-

bound lane of Roxas Blvd. will be held on Feb. 26 at 11 a.m. at the Aloha Hotel, Roxas Blvd. Attendees of the conference are representatives of the Southern Police Districts, PNP Traffic Enforcement Group of the Manila Police District, Pasay City and Paranaque, MMDA South Sector, and the local traffic enforcers of Pasay City and Parañaque. Also supporting the event are the Spectrum Communications for race monitoring and Medic One Ambulance Services for medical and emergency assistance.

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Property Expert sets pace By Arman Armero

Ceremonial moves. Asia’s first grandmaster Eugene Torre and General Santos City Mayor Ronnil Rivera perform the opening ceremonial moves

signaling the start of the 1st Bobby Pacquiao Random Chess Festival 2016 at the Trade Hall of the SM Mall on Saturday. With them are NCFP Executive Secretary GM Jayson Gonzales, GM Darwin Laylo and GM Richard Bitoon.

Arum: Pacman-Bradley will go on as scheduled By Ronnie Nathanielsz

TOP Rank promoter Bob Arum insisted the third encounter between eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley scheduled for the MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 9 won’t be postponed because of the supposed backlash from members of the gay community, who ranted against the Filipino ring icon for his statement that he was against same-sex marriages and said such individuals were worse than animals. In an interview with ABSCBN sports consultant Peter Musgni on his program “Teka Muna” over dzMMTeleradyo on Saturday evening, Arum said: “The fight won’t be postponed. There is tremendous interest in the fight and many people will buy (the pay-per-view)

because it’s a good fight.” Arum, who initially said he supported the decision of Nike to withdraw from its contract with Pacquiao because of his remarks, which he termed “reprehensible,” seems to have had a change of heart after Filipinos rallied around Pacquiao and said

they agreed with his position on same-sex marriages. Arum even pointed out that there were “many people in the US who believe what Manny said.” “Pacquiao was entitled to say he was against same-sex marriages, that is his religious belief and while people

may disagree with it, he is entitled to say it,” said Arum. The Top Rank promoter told Musngi that he doesn’t share Pacquiao’s position, but “will defend to death his right to say it.” Arum indicated that when Pacquiao goes to Los Angeles to continue training under Freddie Roach at the Wild Card Gym in a couple of weeks, he will “sit with him and talk to him” in an effort to counsel Pacquiao. Meanwhile, a group of fans of Pacquiao burned a collection of Nike shoes at the parking lot of the Cebu Coliseum, with the video going viral on the Internet. The video, which lasted some 2 minutes and 40

seconds, was uploaded by a man identified as Oriel Ballano and was viewed initially as many as 131,260 times. It had 2,610 likes and generated 787 comments. The Cebu Daily News reported that the man holding a pair of Nike shoes said: “Burn the Nike sole for the soul,” before putting the shoes on a collection of other Nike pairs on what looked like a metal tray. Another man then poured gasoline from a plastic bottle and set the shoes on fire. While the shoes were burning, the man on the video explained that their group does not hate lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender groups, which bashed Pacquiao over his remarks.

SEEDED 25th, Property Expert Realty-B scored the biggest upset on Sunday, as it blanked no. 4 seed M.A. Yabut & Liwagon Law Offices, 4-0, even as the FM Alekhine Nouri-led Roel Pacquiao Team crushed Guevarra Law Defenders, 3-1, to remain tied on top with 10 other teams after two rounds in the Bobby D. Pacquiao Random Chess Tournament at the Trade Hall of the SM Mall here. The untitled foursome of Ricardo Batcho, Sherwin Tiu, Kimuel Aaron Lorenzo and Paul John Lorenzo beat their respective foes to tow Property Expert Realty B squad to the share of the lead in the tournament organized by the Eugene Torre Chess Foundation and sponsored by Sarangani Cong. Manny Pacquiao. Meanwhile, the top-seeded Bobby Pacquiao C banked on the wins by Alfredo Rapanot and Kevin Morano to turn back the Haridas Pascua-led Pangasinan Chess League, 2.5, 1.5 to also remain in the lead, despite a second straight draw by Board 1 player GM Jayson Gonzales. Also with four points going into the third are Novelty Chess Club-Bulacan, one of three squads managed by Sonsea Agonoy, Team Cong. Anthony del Rosario, Dimachintucan Team, Tagaytay City, NICA Team Ilonggo, Gensan Omicrons, MDFragana, Cotabato Province and Elman Team A. Seeded no. 3, the Novelty Chess Club-Bulacan edged Nurjay Sahali Team A, 2.5-1.5; Team Cong. Anthony del Rosario slipped past M.A. Yabut Team B(Pampanga); Dimachintukcan ripped Property Expert-A, 3-1, Tagaytay.

Sea Horses win 1st-ever UCLAA basketball crown

Members of the PATTS College of Aeronautics Sea Horses flash the victory sign after winning their first-ever UCLAA championship.

THE PATTS College of Aeronautics Sea Horses, drawing 24 points from John Paul Manansala, defeated the College de San Lorenzo Griffins, 68-61, for their first-ever crown in the 8th Universities and Colleges of Luzon Athletic Association men’s basketball tournament. The 6’0” Manansala struck hardest with 12 points in the fourth period and his big effort allowed the Sea Horses to finish their best-of-three finals series with two wins and a loss at the Marikina Sports Complex. “Sa wakas at nakuha rin namin,” said Sea Horses coach Rencie Aranzaso in steering the squad to a title since they first joined the league three years ago. They struggled to gain

control in the first half and moved away from a 26-all deadlock off Arvee Capinding’s twinner at the end of the second period. Capinding’s split charity in the last 27.8 seconds also kept the Sea Horses slightly in front, 48-46, at the end of the third. Their adjustments with their man-zone defense finally kicked in the third period as the Sea Horses gained the upperhand, 54-49, off Manansala’s drive and Rogiemar Calubag’s two charities with 7:10 to go. The Griffins, who struggled in the absence of Jun Gabriel after he was thrown out in Game 2 and later suspended, drew 18 points from James Alvarado. They also lost Rustom Borja to five fouls with

5:51 to go in the fourth and Manansala’s split freebie gave PATTS an eight-point lead, 58-50. Griffins’ coach Bonnie Garcia was thrown out with 4:45 remaining because of unsportsmanlike behavior and the Sea Horses went on to take a 10-point lead, 62-52, off Manansala’s two free throws. Neilmore Cayson tallied 15 points for the Sea Horses, while Jayson Orada and Calubag had eight each. In volleyball, National College of Business and Arts prevailed over AIMS, 25-14, 25-17, 23-25, 2522, for their fourth straight win, while PATTS won over CDSL, 25-14, 25-17, 28-28, to improve to 3-1 at the start of the men’s division second round.

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Oranza claims nd 2 straight win BUTUAN CITY—Navy-Standard continued its domination for the second straight day with Ronald Oranza claiming his second stage victory and Jan Paul Morales hanging on to the overall lead in the Mindanao Leg’s Stage Two of the LBC Ronda Pilipinas 2016 at the Butuan City here Sunday. The 22-year-old Oranza timed an hour, 17 minutes and 59.32 seconds to rule the 3.71km Stage Two criterium and collected his second straight lap win after he topped the Stage One road race the day before. “I knew someone from my team will win this stage. I’m just not sure I will have that chance again,” said Oranza, a proud son of Villasis, Pangasinan and who now has four stage triumphs in six Ronda editions, in Filipino. Morales finished second in 1:17:59.47 despite figuring in a spill in the last 20 minutes of the required one-hour loop after he hit the rear wheel of Oranza in one of the turns. The 31-year-old Calumpang, Marikina native suffered contusions on his right shoulder

and thigh, but it didn’t slow him down and even caught up with Oranza at the end to finish second in the stage. “It was an accident,” said Morales, one of the country’s top sprinters. Oranza, for his part, said he didn’t mean to hit Morales. “I didn’t see him. I’m happy he’s okay,” said Oranza. Navymen Daniel Ven Carino, Rudy Roque and Joel Calderon finished third to fifth in the same stage with clockings of 1:17:59.84, 1:17:59.88 and 1:18:00.25, respectively. John Mark Camingao, the yellow MVP Sports Foundation local leader jersey holder given to the top cyclist from Mindanao, ran into problems with his gear-shifter.

But like Morales, he recovered in time to end up at No. 6 in 1:22:01.65. For Navy captain Lloyd Lucien Reynante, he was contented to end up at seventh in 1:23:09.58 that kept his grip at No. 2 overall with 23 points. Team LCC Lutayan’s James Paolo Ferfas, LBC/MVPSF’s Ronnilon Quita and Navy’s El Joshua Carino finished eighth to 10th with times of 1:23:09.76, 1:23:54.00 and 1:25:16.86. Oranza remained at No. 3 with 20 points, thanks to his pair of stage victories. Organizers are implementing a new scoring system where in they give put equivalent points to the sprint, KOM and stage positioning and amass it to come up with the overall lead.

Speed kills LOCKER ROOM RANDY CALUAG ONCE again, this young prospect from Malaybalay, Bukidnon has proven that speed “kills.” Giving away at least three inches in height and facing a more powerful opponent, Jonathan Refugio ran rings around Richard Claverias in their entire fight to the delight of the crowd in the United Cup XI at the Taguig City Sports Center in Bagumbayan. Refugio jumped the gun at every opportunity, peppering Claverias with combo punches and before the latter could react, he would disappear like a ghost. His speed was a killer. Early in the fight, the veteran Claverias subjected his younger opponent to various ring trickeries, probably his way of asserting himself on Refugio. When the faster Refugio started to box in and out, scoring almost at will and toy-

ing with Claverias, the crowd cheered him on. He just made himself the crowd favorite. Too bad for Claverias, he lost his presence of mind. Instead of using his reach to the hilt by jabbing and sizing up Claverias and putting himself out of reach, he chased Refugio with body punches, hoping to soften his opponent and make him crumble. But the young, bright prospect wisely evaded trouble as he continued to bombard Claverias with in-and-out combinations. It was ring craftsmanship at its best, coming from a 22-year-old at that. It was a sight to behold. The Saturday night crowd loved it. After all, it was a championship fight for the World Boxing Council International lighflyweight belt with Refugio as the challenger. *** Refugio started his boxing career at the age of 17 in Bukidnon, making his debut in 2010 and winning the first four fights of his career. Three times, he failed the most important fights in his

career. He lost his bid for Philippine minimumweight title in 2011 to Crison Omayao, the WBC international and OPBF minimumweight title clashes in 2012. His last defeat was a fifthround knockout to Thai Wanheng Menayothin for the WBC World Youth Championship in Thailand in 2014. He stopped boxing for quite a while after those failures. He evaluated his priorities and made so much thought if boxing can still give him a comfortable life that he dreamed of. In January this year, he decided to come back for a tuneup fight and won via unanimous decision against compatriot Fabio Marfa in a small promotion in Misamis Oriental. His outing against Claverias was a complete turnaround of himself. He came out smarter and more matured this time around. After the dark days, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel for Refugio, the new WBC International lightflyweight champion. This kid will go a long, long way.

Podium ﬁnishers of the Mindanao Leg’s Stage Two of the LBC Ronda Pilipinas 2016 at the Butuan City, led by Ronald Oranza (second from left), are shown here after Sunday’s race.

National triathletes assert might in PNG EVEN in the absence of some of the country’s top triathletes, who are attending high-performance training in Portugal, the remaining national team members asserted their might on the rest of the field. Current Philippine record holders John Leerams Chicano and Ma. Claire Adoma clinched the top two places in both the men’s and women’s divisions in the PSC-POCsponsored Philippine National Games Sunday morning inside the Subic Bay Freeport Zone were In the mini-sprint competition, up-and-coming triathletes Joshua Alexander Ramos of Baguio City and Lauren Plaza of Laguna were the winners, while in the sprint 16-19 race, Andrew Remolino and Marga de Los Reyes emerged as champions. The Olongapo native Chicano, 24, pulled away in the first lap of the final 10K run from their threeman group lead pack with national teammate Jonard Saim and Mark Anthony Hosana after the 40K bike leg and steadily pulled away from the two en route to a solo finish in 2:00.33 for his second PNG title. “Kumpiyansa ako manalo dahil ‘di nakalayo si Jonard sa swim, tapos sabay sabay na kami sa bike. Tulungan lang, sa run ko talaga plano sila iwanan,” said Chicano after the race organized by the Triathlon Association of the Philippines and Chili Grass, in cooperation with the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, and which started and ended at the ACEA beach area. Adorna, the 2015 SEA Games gold medalist and top-ranked fe-

Magdaleno KOs substitute PH boxer Perez By Ronnie Nathanielsz FILIPINO Rey Perez, a late substitute has been knocked out by WBO No. 1-ranked super bantamweight Jessie Magdaleno in the main event of a ﬁght card at the Celebrity Theater in Phoenix, Arizona. The unbeaten Magdaleno, who is also rated No. 3 by the WBA, No. 5 by the IBF and No. 10 by the WBC, dominated

Perez before nailing him with a vicious body shot to end the contest at 2:51 of the seventh-round of a scheduled 10-round bout. With the win, the 24-year-old southpaw Magdaleno improved to 23-0 with 17 knockouts, while the 25-yearold Perez dropped to 20-8-5 with 5 knockouts. Magdaleno is the mandatory challenger to WBO super bantamweight

champion Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire, who is scheduled to defend his title against Hungarian Olympian Zsolt Bedak at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on April 23. Magdaleno was originally scheduled to face another Filipino Edward Mansito, who apparently failed to get a US visa and was replaced by Perez, who last fought on Aug. 1 last year when he lost by a onesided decision to Chris Avalos.

male triathlete, who is still recovering from a leg injury, did not push herself but still won handily in the women’s division as she led from start to finish. The multi-titled former UAAP swimming sensation posted a winning time of 2:30.21. “It was okay, I did not feel any pain and I did not push myself, I am preparing for the Asian Triathlon Championship in Japan in April,” said the 23-year-old athlete, who reset the women’s triathlon mark in the Incheon Asian Games. She was followed by national teammate, 17-year-old Vicky Deldio, who was a far second with a time of 2: 43.50. In third place was Kriska Sto. Domingo in 2:46.45. “I am happy with the results, our national triathletes showed they are the best right now. For TRAP, we have already integrated our developmental program with the grassroots program of the POC and the PSC and that is why a lot of our national training team members now are former Batang Pinoy winners. Now, there is continuity for young triathletes after the Batang Pinoy,” said TRAP president Tom Carrasco Jr., who also awarded the medals to the top finishers together with TRAP Secretary General Mon Marchan. The event was a two-in-one affair as it also served as the first leg of this year’s National Age Group Triathlon (NAGT) Series, to be followed by legs in Cebu City and Cagayan de Oro with outstanding performers for each year making it to the national training pool of TRAP.

LOTTO RESULTS

6/49 00-00-00-00-00-0

P16M

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

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK M O N DAY : F E B RUA RY 2 2 , 2 0 1 6

A16

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

Kazakh rider Oleg Zemlyakov (left) sets the pace during the ﬁnal stage of the 2016 Le Tour de Filipinas, won by Australian Timothy Guy (inset).

Aussie wins stage, but Kazakh is overall champ By Peter Atencio

LEGAZPI City—Kazakh rider Oleg Zemlyakov did not exert too much effort Sunday in the 160.2-km. Stage 4 of the 2016 Le Tour de Filipinas here, allowing Australian Timothy Guy to find an opportunity to grab stage honors with his aggressive moves in the last 10 kilometers. Zemlyakov didn’t have to, as he stuck it out with the main peloton from start to finish and got help from teammates Yevgeniy Gidich and Zhandos Bhizghitov as they protected the advantage they earned over the two previous days. Their efforts paid off. The 22-year-old rider from Kazakhstan eventually took home the top hon-

ors in the individual general classification, while Vino 4-Ever SKO grabbed the team crown. Checking in with a time of three hours, 53 minutes and one second, Zemlyakov made it to the provincial capitol finish line tied from fifth to 33rd places. He had an overall time of 17 hour, 36 minutes and 23 seconds, 19 seconds ahead

of teammate Gidich and 21 seconds in front of Mongolian Bathmunk Maral-Erdene. “From the start, I told them there will be no attack. Just control the race,” said Vino 4Ever SKO coach Sergey Danniker. With his first title conquest in Asia, Zemlyakov, according to Danniker, is being considered to be a part of Team Astana, one of their elite teams back in Kazakstan. The Le Tour champ could also eventually find himself joining the Tour de France next year. Meanwhile, the 26-year-old Guy did not wait for the sprint stage to come along as he and Attaque Team Gusto teammate Cameron Bayly went on the attack in the last five kilometers in Bicol Memorial Park. They ended up having a 1-2 fin-

ish, with Guy submitting a clocking of 3:52.50 and Bayly behind by nine seconds, with Korean Jang Jung Sae. “I told the boys not wait for the sprints and attack inside the last 10 kilometers. The guys listened to me and did exactly that,” said Tomas Polajanec after his riders received their trophies from Albay governor Joey Salceda. Zemlyakov’s carbon fiber alloy bike’s brake shifter may have been busted in the last 30-kms, along roads around the majestic Mayon Volcano. But he and his teammates reached the finish line together with a 33-man group, which also included with Cebu Kopiko’s Ronnel Hualda, national team rider Rustom Lim and team 7-Eleven’s Jesse James Ewart.

DUBS BOUNCE BACK

TABUENA 2ND IN KL GOLF

TURN TO A12

Meralco remains unbeaten By Jeric Lopez STILL unbeaten. League-leader Meralco remained unscathed after it outsteadied Games Wednesday Phoenix (Smart Araneta Coliseum): d o w n 4:15 p.m. - Star vs. Blackwater t h e 7 p.m. - Talk ‘N Text vs. Alaska st retch to carve a 90-87 squeaker in the 2016 Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. Arinze Onuaku scored a gamehigh 17 points and teamed up with Chris Newsome, who scored 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting, to backstop the Bolts’ attack and help their team overcome a lethargic first half. Jared Dillinger sank a coldblooded go-ahead triple with 45.5 seconds remaining to put the Bolts ahead, 89-86, for good. Following scrappy exchanges in the next possessions, Phoenix still had a chance to tie things up as the door remained open for it with ball in hands and the score at 90-87 for Meralco. But Josh Urbiztondo’s desperation trey at the horn went astray after Onuaku swatted it away. The surprising Bolts improved to 4-0 in solo first place, while the Fuel Masters dropped to an even 1-1 card. “I’m really proud of our team. We missed shots in the field and on the free throw line in the end but our defense held up,” said Meralco coach Norman Black. “It’s a big win for us.”

MONDAY: FEBRUARY 22, 2016

RAY S. EÑANO EDITOR

RODERICK T. DELA CRUZ ASSISTANT EDITOR

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

BUSINESS

B1 New PRSP board.

Ombudsman Conchita CarpioMorales administers the oath of office of the new set of board of directors of the Public Relations Society of the Philippines at the Office of the Ombudsman. The newly-elected officers are (from left to right) Ron Jabal of PageOne Media, president; Bong Osorio of ABS-CBN, ex-officio president and adviser; Rochelle Gamboa of Light Rail Manila Corp., vice presidentinternal; Harold Geronimo of Megaworld Corp., vice presidentexternal; Andres Saracho of Millennium Challenge Account–Philippines, secretary; Martin Bunag of Investor Relations Global, treasurer; Ed Timbungco of San Beda College-Mendiola, auditor; and Chito Maniago of Cemex, Luz Amandolina Navasero of M.N. Fotoslick Communications Inc. and Jika Mendoza-Dalupan of Pepsi-Cola Products Philippines Inc. as directors.

PSe comPoSite index Closing February 19, 2016

8000 8340 7880 7420

MRT3 takeover stalled By Darwin G Amojelar

6960 6500

6,792.06 56.81

PeSo-dollar rate

Closing February 19, 2016 48.00 46.00 45.00

P47.665

44.00

43.00

HIGH P47.630 LOW P47.690AVERAGE P47.665 VOLUME 490.000M

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

THE Transport Department is unlikely to take over the assets of Metro Rail Transit Line 3 by June despite an executive order issued three years ago. “We’ve spoken to Secretary [Cesar] Purisima. We’re pushing through. We are already filing the proper motions and pleadings to the arbitration court,” Transport Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said when asked about the update on the MRT3 buyout. While the government was pushing for the buyout, Abaya said the execution would take time because it was under arbitration. “This is arbitration. It’s not when we signed then, we’re ok. We are in an arbitration court and these are all subject to arbitration procedures. What’s im-

portant is a direction is set and we move toward that direction,” Abaya said. “No one ever assures you of a timeline if you go to a quasijudicial or full judicial body,” he added. MRTC in January 2009 filed an arbitration case in Singapore against the government for failure to pay equity rental payments on time. Abaya added the remaining challenge was the financial issue raised by Land Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines on possible losses once the government executed the buyout.

“The [government financial institutions] are very much concerned about taking a hit or a loss when we execute the amount. We tried our best, very difficult. We’ve chosen a certain track where probably most of us will agree that’s the track to pursue,” he said. LandBank and DBP own a combined 80-percent economic interest in MRT 3, while the remaining stake is held by creditors of MRTC. Abaya earlier said the government would need over P40 billion to take over MRT 3, down from as high as P53.9 billion two years ago. President Benigno Aquino III issued Executive Order No. 126 in 2013, directing the Transportation and Finance Departments to buy MRTC out of MRT 3, under the build-lease-transfer agreement. Metro Pacific Investments Corp. earlier proposed a

$524-million expansion of MRT 3, which was lower than the government’s $1.13-billion buyout plan. MPIC’s proposal has yet to be formally rejected by the Transportation Department. Metro Pacific signed a cooperation agreement in 2011 with various groups holding rights and interests in MRT 3, including MRTC, Metro Rail Transit Holdings Inc., Metro Rail Transit 2 Inc. and Monumento Rail Transit Corp., giving the company led by businessman Manuel Pangilinan an option to acquire 48 percent. Metro Pacific has not exercised the option. MRT 3, which runs along Edsa from North Avenue in Quezon City to Taft Avenue in Pasay City, serves 500,000 passengers a day, beyond its rated capacity of 350,000 passengers. The line has a fleet of 73 Czech-made air-conditioned rail cars.

World Bank OKs $450m for conditional cash transfer

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Friday, February 19, 2016

By Gabrielle H. Binaday

F oreign e xchange r ate Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

47.5590

Japan

Yen

0.008832

0.4200

Pound

1.433300

68.1663

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.128576

6.1149

Switzerland

Franc

1.007252

47.9039

Canada

Dollar

0.728120

34.6287

Singapore

Dollar

0.712860

33.9029

Australia

Dollar

0.714898

33.9998

Bahrain

Dinar

2.657454

126.3859

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266702

12.6841

Brunei

Dollar

0.710328

33.7825

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000074

0.0035

Thailand

Baht

0.028130

1.3378

UAE

Dirham

0.272287

12.9497

Euro

1.110300

52.8048

Korea

Won

0.000811

0.0386

China

Yuan

0.153445

7.2977

India

Rupee

0.014592

0.6940

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.240385

11.4325

New Zealand

Dollar

0.661989

31.4835

Taiwan

Dollar

0.030089

1.4310 Source: PDS Bridge

THE World Bank said over the weekend it approved a $450-million loan to support the conditional cash transfer program called Pantawid Pamilya, which disburses subsidies to poor Filipino families. The Washington-based multilateral lender said its board of executive directors approved the new financing package to support the continued implementation of CCT program in the country. It would complement the $400-million loan approved by the Asian Development Bank to the CCT program. Pantawid Pamilya provides regular health and education

grants to millions of the country’s poorest households. The program targets poor and vulnerable households and helps protect them from the impact of economic shocks, natural disasters and other crises. It currently benefits more than 4 million poor families with 11 million children. The World Bank said the $450-million Social Welfare Development and Reform Project II would contribute to the government’s financing of health and education grants for CCT beneficiaries nationwide from 2016 to 2019, covering about seven percent of the total cost of the program’s implementation. “Pantawid Pamilya, as a long-

term investment helps reduce the vulnerability of families to sudden economic difficulties and contributes to breaking the intergenerational poverty by helping today’s children become productive members of society,” said Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman. “After only a few years of implementation, we are already seeing its tangible benefits to poor Filipinos. With continuing support from development partners like the World Bank, we can sustain our momentum toward reducing poverty and inequality,” she said. Recent studies showed the program had reduced the total poverty and food poverty

among CCT beneficiaries by up to 6.7 percentage points. Estimates showed the program reduced both total poverty and food poverty by up to 1.4 percentage points in 2013. Soliman said the CCT program was delivering on its education and health objectives, resulting in the 5-percent increase in enrollment among poor elementary school children and the 7-percent increase in secondary education enrollment. The program also improved prenatal and postnatal care by 10 percentage points and increased the delivery of babies in health facilities by skilled health professionals by 20 percentage points.

MONDAY: FEBRUARY 22, 2016

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

The STandard BuSineSS Weekly STockS revieW FEBRUARY 15-19, 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 Bank of Comm Phil. National Bank Phil. Savings Bank PSE Inc. RCBC `A’ Security Bank Sun Life Financial Union Bank Vantage Equities

2.93 44.85 101.00 90.40 36 2.60 1.40 14.2 16.5 6.65 0.7 1.78 566.00 0.480 79.05 0.95 15.00 24.70 52.40 96.9 274.6 34.1 141.7 1315.00 55.60 1.49

Aboitiz Power Corp. Agrinurture Inc. Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. Alsons Cons. Asiabest Group C. Azuc De Tarlac Century Food Conc. Aggr. À’ 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. Macay Holdings Manila Water Co. Inc. Maxs Group Megawide Mla. Elect. Co À’ Panasonic Mfg Phil. Corp. Pepsi-Cola Products Phil. Petron Corporation Phil H2O Phinma Corporation Phoenix Petroleum Phils. Phoenix Semiconductor Pryce Corp. À’ RFM Corporation Roxas and Co. Roxas Holdings San Miguel’Pure Foods `B’ SPC Power Corp. Splash Corporation Swift Foods, Inc. TKC Steel Corp. Trans-Asia Oil Universal Robina Victorias Milling Vitarich Corp. Vivant Corp. Vulcan Ind’l.

42.95 5 0.69 1.46 10.1 200.00 17.52 45 18.22 39.3 2.06 2.19 11.4 8.500 7.30 5.82 6.75 21.1 59.9 12.00 13.98 5.53 2.300 217.80 8.8 27.15 1.9 3.37 38.75 26.8 15.5 5.8 320.20 3.95 3.25 9.20 3.19 11.38 3.75 1.56 2.7 3.75 2.79 4.7 143 4 2.4 0.151 1.01 2.11 188.2 4.7 0.63 22.50 1.04

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

0.325 57.3000 14.60 1.07 6.01 0.231 0.240 693.5 7.23 12.30 4.85 4.75 0.232 1260 5.61 9.79 69.00 5.57 0.66 16.3 0.48 5.9 0.0300 1.470 2.220 71.35 2.44 827.00 1.06 0.78 144.900 0.2900 0.2020 0.310

8990 HLDG A. Brown Co., Inc. Araneta Prop À’ Arthaland Corp. Ayala Land `B’ Belle Corp. À’ Cebu Holdings Centennial City City & Land Dev. Cityland Dev. À’ Crown Equities Inc. Cyber Bay Corp. Double Dragon Empire East Land Ever Gotesco Global-Estate Filinvest Land,Inc. Interport À’ Megaworld Prop. MRC Allied Ind. Phil. Estates Corp.

6.980 0.86 1.400 0.217 31.350 3.01 4.7 0.570 0.94 1.040 0.116 0.420 23.85 0.830 0.153 0.91 1.55 1.24 3.46 0.090 0.2300

Value

FINANCIAL 3,273,860.00 4,696,595.00 1,198,504,021 745,873,771.00 5,854,085.00 1,033,770.00 1,683,190.00 842,578.00 4,604,042.00 29,188 20,000 191,560.00 430,630.00 1,592,550.00 1,008,521,946.50 75,020.00 3,832,420.00 2,470.00 14,347,738.00 1,851,315.50 2,215,242.00 14,599,055 426,291,717.00 812,220.00 13,718,832.50 716,620.00 INDUSTRIAL 13,263,400 561,798,395.00 8,929,000 42,686,460.00 913,000 621,570.00 3,909,000 5,604,530.00 9,900 102,981.00 310 59,198.00 4,168,300 71,060,848 1,100 47,540.00 2,809,600 52,058,300.00 170,200 6,404,410 2,016,000 4,157,430.00 14,112,000 31,546,790.00 363,900 4,156,402.00 34,790,300 299,686,052.00 18,479,500 134,417,027.00 145,151,600 816,488,306.00 8,162,200 52,449,499.00 53,059,600 1,036,073,719.00 1,185,080 69,272,219.00 16,500 194,988.00 377,300 5,132,642.00 1,311,600 7,255,245.00 12,965,000 30,626,840.00 7,515,510 1,619,299,558.00 118,500 962,314.00 1,800 48,870.00 84,000 154,370.00 21,000 63,770.00 25,500 988,125.00 9,985,500 263,327,865.00 16,190,200 247,395,376.00 3,625,484.00 624,200 760,930 244,785,780.00 69,000 275,180.00 4,091,000 13,044,260.00 96,168,000 838,477,837.00 78,000 238,010.00 10,700 120,758.00 8,924,000 33,122,770.00 3,191,000 4,768,550.00 7,331,000 19,923,110.00 573,000 2,167,170.00 47,000 115,630.00 18,800 88,513.00 110,760 15,826,189.00 7,000 28,000.00 2,892,000 7,000,450.00 17,770,000 2,712,650.00 218,000 221,600.00 10,146,000 21,125,390.00 13,478,440 2,562,936,591.00 1,345,000 6,463,990.00 11,976,000 7,740,710.00 3,000 67,500.00 961,000 968,300.00 HOLDING FIRMS 1,330,000 443,700.00 7,306,130 390,541,505.00 28,780,800 417,334,894.00 22,000 22,460.00 4,289,400 25,737,439.00 3,830,000 885,010.00 1,240,000 294,670.00 1,475,710 1,025,541,255.00 10,358,400 75,837,091.00 28,605,700 344,579,964.00 53,200 250,045.00 170,000 791,640.00 6,880,000 1,574,130.00 906,840 1,118,308,835.00 119,600 687,621.00 9,855,000 96,018,145.00 9,030,650 616,595,071.50 77,437,200 387,316,919.00 3,773,000 2,455,640.00 17,268,500 280,830,426.00 1,455,000 711,465.00 250,407,900 1,450,645,637.00 164,660,700 4,968,400.00 142,000 181,350.00 30,563,000 66,145,230.00 3,563,050 259,547,659.50 59,000 134,830.00 928,190 769,361,830.00 343,000 356,820.00 279,000 221,480.00 702,690 100,012,566.00 40,180,000 11,821,850.00 3,540,000 756,760.00 2,480,000 753,400.00 PROPERTY 475,100 3,307,107.00 22,460,000 18,734,710.00 6,317,000 8,888,030.00 360,000 78,180.00 37,474,700 1,182,672,640.00 34,886,000 100,350,940.00 676,000 3,041,020.00 26,632,000 14,685,400.00 112,000 108,570.00 50,793,000 45,752,680.00 17,770,000 2,091,260.00 11,070,000 4,660,400.00 3,631,800 85,962,800.00 8,902,000 7,541,800.00 200,000 29,830.00 11,303,000 10,484,140.00 98,889,000 151,596,190.00 1,142,000 1,400,280.00 230,888,000 796,571,890.00 23,790,000 2,125,810.00 2,400,000 553,540.00 1,133,000 105,000 12,020,120 8,276,140 163,400 411,000 1,117,000 59,500 277,700 4,400 28,000 111,000 760 3,340,000 13,189,520 83,000 254,500 100 280,950 19,100 8,160 432,100 3,009,410 615 247,360 491,000

FEBRUARY 9-12, 2016 Close Volume Value 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

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

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

50.85 98.85 267 33.4 143.8 1295.00 56.30 1.45

96,240 1,880 2,470 271,100 2,095,270 115 71,420 1,341,000

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

42 4.54 0.63 1.37 10.86 190.00 16.98

4,226,400 1,743,000 921,000 4,513,000 53,100 5,570 4,502,500

177,208,865.00 7,847,280.00 601,210.00 6,019,070.00 552,566.00 816,402.00 73,741,180

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

789,300 236,200 1,480,000 71,461,000 116,700 14,693,300 18,354,200 34,857,400 1,432,800 9,743,800 374,810 10,200 106,300 1,021,700 12,569,000 5,121,520 33,300 700 54,000 88,000

15,334,080.00 8,776,690 3,070,780.00 157,026,930.00 1,343,688.00 120,385,318.00 133,954,932.00 181,359,816.00 8,099,116.00 175,624,806.00 21,089,987.50 112,328.00 1,500,880.00 5,424,912.00 29,170,720.00 1,076,262,008.00 286,900.00 17,500.00 99,700.00 254,840.00

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

4,445,900 3,438,900 363,000 622,760 25,000 10,827,000 75,855,800 16,000 3,200 1,117,000 3,581,000 1,216,000 638,000

115,952,600.00 50,920,064.00 2,094,546.00 196,755,092.00 98,750.00 32,516,700.00 555,935,931.00 39,420.00 36,200.00 4,010,940.00 5,360,710.00 2,825,300.00 2,451,830.00

5.19 144

12,000 14,550

58,240.00 2,051,747.00

2.38 0.147 1.06 2.07 192 4.55 0.6

879,000 31,550,000 204,000 8,540,000 15,040,580 233,000 2,122,000

2,117,280.00 4,817,790.00 207,420.00 17,811,630.00 2,904,291,461.00 1,060,210.00 1,269,420.00

1.05

487,000

499,170.00

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 5.25 0.61 16.4 0.53 5.62 0.0320 1.170 2.030 73.00 2.39 813.50 1.03 0.77 135.000 0.2850 0.1920 0.310

930,000 2,147,410 15,741,400 517,000 718,700 340,000 30,000 704,970 6,508,200 10,086,800 19,100 182,000 1,490,000 366,225 5,000 6,962,200 5,095,310 15,919,200 329,000 15,076,600 42,000 140,921,500 567,500,000 47,000 6,328,000 5,816,290 3,000 787,100 319,000 166,000 578,910 4,560,000 120,000 24,880,000

308,750.00 123,445,233.50 223,998,660.00 499,140.00 4,296,402.00 70,100.00 5,710.00 483,124,065.00 47,919,317.00 118,298,166.00 91,400.00 854,830.00 302,870.00 454,337,930.00 26,500.00 68,077,563.00 333,159,967.50 79,554,369.00 198,630.00 247,669,146.00 22,260.00 800,347,500.00 18,070,400.00 51,150.00 12,725,090.00 425,853,824.50 6,710.00 638,155,170.00 331,370.00 125,370.00 74,330,536.00 1,285,650.00 23,960.00 7,778,950.00

6.900 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

525,500 2,999,000 57,000 610,000 18,856,100 8,002,000 942,000 5,925,000 6,000 35,000 1,990,000 2,120,000 6,490,300 6,911,000 350,000 6,714,000 48,840,000 878,000 111,787,000 10,610,000 400,000

3,702,999.00 2,259,940.00 67,440.00 130,680.00 589,360,560.00 19,421,890.00 4,252,290.00 2,988,355.00 5,660.00 33,550.00 234,160.00 841,750.00 145,678,845.00 6,059,130.00 50,750.00 6,094,380.00 72,969,290.00 1,088,850.00 381,743,890.00 889,240.00 90,380.00

STOCKS

FEBRUARY 15-19, 2016 Close Volume

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

0.395 8.39 26.00 1.49 3.05 21.10 0.76 5.9 0.940 4.450

2GO Group ABS-CBN Acesite Hotel APC Group, Inc. Asian Terminals Inc. Berjaya Phils. 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. Phil. Racing Club Phil. Seven Corp. Philweb.Com Inc. PLDT Common PremiereHorizon Premium Leisure Puregold Robinsons Retail SBS Phil. Corp. SSI Group STI Holdings Transpacific Broadcast Travellers Waterfront Phils. Yehey

6.5 54.3 1.18 0.495 10.5 28.5 4.27 0.0510 3.18 82.55 10 1.48 5.90 2.70 958 1840 6.68 1.19 59.35 11.74 0.0097 0.165 1.2000 2.1 7.60 4.02 1.04 2.50 25.90 0.560 1.96 1.94 3.52 0.265 0.730 18.08 4.60 9 100.00 27.00 2246.00 0.390 0.820 34.10 63.00 4.95 3.50 0.475 1.51 3.81 0.335 4.900

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

0.0043 2.07 4.45 11.30 0.222 5.2000 5.5000 0.61 0.430 7.25 0.710 0.295 0.315 0.320 0.0130 0.014 1.81 4.97 2.45 0.5400 1.2500 0.0097 0.0094 3.51 5.82 1.81 0.0120 123.00 2.35

ABS-CBN Holdings Corp. Ayala Corp. Pref ‘B1’ Ayala Corp. Pref ‘B2’ BC Pref. A First Gen G 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 D SMC Preferred E SMC Preferred F Swift Pref

54 525.5 530 18.48 118 520 6.52 1.1 112.4 1035 1090 1028 105 110.9 80.5 82.3 78 77 78.4 2.2

Leisure & Resort Warr.

2.400

Alterra Capital Makati Fin. Corp. Italpinas Xurpas

3.74 2.75 2.45 13.58

First Metro ETF

110.6

FEBRUARY 9-12, 2016 Close Volume Value

Value

4,930,000 1,914,550.00 73,500 617,395.00 7,923,900 203,417,805.00 1,802,000 2,668,810.00 116,000 344,240.00 59,064,000 1,261,006,025.00 103,641,000 77,766,280.00 1,687,500 9,730,919.00 11,215,000 10,805,870.00 39,770,000 172,967,150.00 SERVICES 197,700 1,264,898.00 223,570 12,198,155.00 17,000 19,950.00 18,410,000 8,743,350.00 322,700 3,257,322.00 2,200 62,700 86,581,000 392,306,250.00 600,120,000 30,191,980.00 859,000 2,713,210.00 1,222,010 99,915,747.00 100 1,000.00 92,000 137,310 3,432,100 20,129,932.00 49,000 120,850.00 7,040 6,862,030.00 407,055 763,547,860 585,200 3,967,134.00 352,000 405,970.00 9,071,250 533,006,808.00 100 1,174.00 16,000,000 148,400.00 50,330,000 8,209,140.00 15,490,000 18,274,920.00 133,000 284,600.00 1,194,300 8,897,192.00 2,263,000 9,080,950.00 32,000 33,360.00 333,000 759,870.00 12,600 324,180.00 254,000 133,750.00 76,000 137,710.00 242,215,000 523,363,400.00 5,727,000 19,808,420.00 980,000 261,600.00 21,920,000 15,966,150.00 9,400 163,842.00 134,000 601,850 900 8,100.00 108,100 10,796,930.00 1,616,700 43,944,575.00 1,138,645 2,584,151,320.00 4,560,000 1,818,800.00 232,362,000 197,575,670.00 12,625,000 431,877,460.00 4,949,230 306,339,685.50 5,737,400 29,547,372.00 65,485,000 225,731,600.00 39,080,000 17,838,100.00 7,000 10,570.00 11,729,000 45,341,040.00 860,000 277,000.00 1,673,000 7,906,890.00 MINING & OIL 2,910,000,000 12,638,900.00 988,000 2,049,560.00 1,684,000 7,522,480.00 4,400 53,190.00 1,930,000 417,250.00 53,200 274,920.00 29,500 162,250.00 2,613,000 1,565,250.00 4,060,000 1,778,550.00 626,900 4,494,746.00 140,661,000 100,579,350.00 6,740,000 1,952,650.00 1,093,710,000 345,390,800.00 202,890,000 66,236,650.00 508,200,000 6,422,900.00 558,900,000 7,340,600.00 5,311,000 10,036,700.00 71,059,300 351,520,506.00 4,541,000 11,018,370.00 76,000 41,550.00 1,958,000 2,538,220.00 22,000,000 203,300.00 22,000,000 207,800.00 114,000 397,750.00 29,544,300 169,499,386.00 57,025,000 107,220,420.00 397,300,000 4,556,500.00 1,795,960 220,591,964.00 5,639,000 13,607,320.00 PREFERRED 924,950 49,108,247.10 15,860 8,334,430.00 9,960 5,286,000 200 3,696.00 108,590 12,803,129.00 10,200 5,293,600.00 288,400 1,895,067.00 409,000 442,750 83,440 9,354,138.00 6,475 5,631,400.00 2,460 2,677,820.00 43,495 44,650,790.00 29,800 3,129,270.00 10 1,109.00 3,000 241,500.00 168,640 13,914,946.00 91,200 7,119,400.00 631,730 48,838,061.00 376,280 29,602,189.50 11,000 24,300.00 WARRANTS & BONDS 2,934,000 7,287,670.00 SME 138,000 497,750.00 17,000 48,730.00 1,004,000 2,461,010.00 3,055,300 40,617,480.00 EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 238,140 26,241,188.00

0.320 8.48 25.50 1.48 3 21.00 0.75 5.9 0.960 4.220

60,000 17,500 4,206,000 109,000 1,000 34,450,500 2,251,000 5,299,700 45,749,000 29,053,000

19,500.00 147,825.00 105,204,440.00 158,530.00 3,000.00 733,486,520.00 1,698,520.00 29,476,200.00 46,910,240.00 120,524,460.00

6.33 55.15 1.15 0.440 10.08

284,800 411,280 7,000 10,200,000 133,000

1,784,768.00 22,577,918.00 8,110.00 4,486,700.00 1,339,880.00

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 9 99.00 25.80 2168.00 0.405 0.810 33.15 60.00 5.10 3.28 0.405

17,166,000 501,900,000 1,120,000 1,663,840 61,900 115,000 1,369,200 47,000 550 184,530 447,700 217,000 3,848,360 3,500 91,000,000 73,780,000 6,257,000 21,000 197,300 1,161,000 3,000 115,000 900 2,000 1,000 135,072,000 4,923,000 220,000 19,433,000 125,200 4,000 15,700 2,160 260,600 282,170 1,120,000 167,002,900 4,355,700 1,124,880 5,973,600 34,036,000 4,090,000

70,669,200.00 23,185,700.00 3,449,710.00 130,292,762.50 576,511.00 171,350 8,000,167.00 111,630.00 534,640.00 341,500,335 2,949,076.00 250,490.00 220,082,232.50 40,812.00 856,700.00 11,662,500.00 7,135,150.00 44,460.00 1,436,136.00 4,642,370.00 3,360.00 244,130.00 16,200.00 1,020.00 1,970.00 280,254,660.00 16,191,560.00 55,450.00 13,865,240.00 2,140,444.00 17,990 141,300.00 213,680.00 6,767,770.00 608,345,090.00 439,650.00 160,093,490.00 144,814,770.00 67,734,445.50 30,378,070.00 112,946,530.00 1,669,950.00

3.73 0.335 4.150

1,333,000 1,610,000 359,000

4,945,330.00 503,550.00 1,484,630.00

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

10,150,000,000 5,994,000 3,861,000 4,800 11,690,000 41,800 22,900 3,827,000 15,330,000 494,000 63,355,000 1,570,000 1,490,760,000 299,790,000 4,342,800,000 1,215,600,000 1,876,000 37,825,800 2,970,000 646,000 1,139,000 38,000,000 5,000,000 23,000 37,100,700 9,380,000 152,000,000 2,174,640 575,000

45,005,600.00 12,833,570.00 17,630,030.00 55,602.00 2,660,770.00 223,780.00 106,560.00 2,235,860.00 6,435,650.00 3,861,395.00 41,240,940.00 430,800.00 426,055,240.00 87,073,970.00 56,354,000.00 16,385,600.00 3,249,440.00 171,313,095.00 7,301,200.00 360,960.00 1,340,720.00 353,400.00 48,000.00 79,620.00 214,645,545.00 14,836,600.00 1,665,400.00 266,291,322.00 1,059,830.00

50.8 530 531

1,257,130 680 21,780

66,572,700.00 359,400.00 11,599,990

521 6.52 1.09 112 1035 1088 1025 105 109 80.5 82.5

640 190,900 1,163,000 2,680 270 650 19,570 324,200 16,130 23,000 196,070

333,980.00 1,237,051.00 1,275,270 300,160.00 279,450.00 705,600.00 20,063,635.00 34,041,000.00 1,750,000.00 1,849,600.00 16,226,020.50

77 79.6 2.1

47,030 154,630 12,000

3,621,310.00 12,304,798.00 27,250.00

2.430

3,936,000

9,975,490.00

3.57 2.8 2.39 12.58

128,000 84,000 1,062,000 1,201,300

426,950.00 235,670.00 2,652,030.00 15,027,214.00

108.6

4,970

538,378.00

WEEKLY MOST TRADED STOCKS Abra Mining Lepanto À’ Boulevard Holdings Manila Mining `B’ Manila Mining À’ Philodrill Corp. À’ Metro Pacific Inv. Corp. Melco Crown Premium Leisure Megaworld Prop.

VOLUME 2,910,000,000 1,093,710,000 600,120,000 558,900,000 508,200,000 397,300,000 250,407,900 242,215,000 232,362,000 230,888,000

STOCKS PLDT Common Universal Robina Jollibee Foods Corp. Metro Pacific Inv. Corp. SM Prime Holdings Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. Ayala Land `B’ GT Capital First Gen Corp. Ayala Corp `A’

VALUE 2,584,151,320.00 2,562,936,591.00 1,619,299,558.00 1,450,645,637.00 1,261,006,025.00 1,198,504,021.00 1,182,672,640.00 1,118,308,835.00 1,036,073,719.00 1,025,541,255.00

MONDAY: FEBRUARY 22, 2016

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

Axa-PSBank partnership.

Insurance company Axa Philippines and Philippine Savings Bank strengthen their bancassurance partnership as they unveil the first ‘Axa Advisory Corner’ at the PSBank Paseo head office in Makati City. Shown cutting the ribbon are (from left) Axa Philippines sales director Christopher Cabognason, Axa Philippines chief banbassurance officer Marie Raymundo, PSBank president Vicente Cuna Jr., Axa Philippines president and chief executive Rien Hermans and PSBank executive vice president Jose Vicente Alde.

Ayala, LT to start C5 project By Jenniffer B. Austria

PROPERTY developer Ayala Land Inc. said it may break ground for a 35-hectare mixed-use project along C5 Road in Pasig City in joint venture with LT Group of tycoon Lucio Tan within the year. Ayala Land senior vice president and head of strategic lank bank management group Meean Dy said the joint venture partners might initially launch projects such as office or retail developments, which would generate recurring income. Dy said there were no existing structures within the C5 property, which would enable the partners to easily develop the project. “We have some initial plans together with our joint venture

partner. We will get into a more detailed master plan but the property is ready for development,” Dy said. “Maybe we could start with leasing business, either office or mall development,” Dy said. Ayala Land and LT Group signed an agreement in January to jointly develop the 35-hectare lot along the C5 corridor. The project, a 50:50 joint venture between the two firms, is envisioned to be a township development that spans portions

of Pasig City and Quezon City. Both companies said they would co-develop the project pursuant to a joint master plan. Ayala Land earlier said the joint venture partnership with LT Group would combine their capabilities towards the development of a 35-hectare integrated mixed-use project. LT Group said the partnership would be an excellent addition to the growing portfolio of property unit Eton Properties Philippines Inc. This is the third partnership between Ayala Land and LT Group. LT Group’s Eton Properties teamed up with Ayala Land’s mass housing arm Amaia Land Corp. in 2010 to develop a fourhectare property in Calamba Laguna. Ayala Land through its mid-

Market likely to advance this week STOCKS are expected to sustain an upward movement this week, on improving market sentiment and strong 2015 corporate earnings reported by major companies. BPI Asset Management said in its weekly outlook investors would closely watch the release of US data on inflation rate, housing and consumer confidence. “We expect markets to trade sideways with a slightly upward bias as the somewhat positive sentiment carries over into next week, though caution on global growth prospects may limit gains,” BPI Asset said. Analysts said as more companies released their 2015 earnings this week, positive reports could sustain the market’s incipient rally.

Among the companies scheduled to release earnings results this week are SM Prime Holdings Inc., Manila Water Co. Inc. and Philex Mining Corp. The Philippine Stock Exchange index rallied 138 points, or 2.1 percent, to close at 6,792.06 on Feb. 19, on improved investor sentiment arising from rising oil prices and a strong recovery on Wall Street. PSEi’s rally was spurred by services (up 3.1 percent); industrials (3.1 percent), financials (2 percent) and property (1.9 percent). F. Yap Securities investment analyst Jason Escartin said the market’s favorable performance in the past trading weeks managed to lift optimism, at least for the short-term.

Foreign investors were net sellers last week by P1.16 billion, as total overseas selling hit P18.64 billion while overseas buying amounted to P17.48 billion. Among the advancers last week were Petron Corp., which jumped 20.4 percent to P9.20; First Gen Corp., which climbed 19.3 percent to P21.10; and EEi Corp., which rose 19.3 percent to P6.75. San Miguel Corp. president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang said last week he expected Petron to post P18 billion in net income in 2016. Heavy losers last week were Universal Robina Corp, which declined 2 percent and Melco Crown (Philippines) Resorts Corp., which declined 7.6 percent. Jenniffer B. Austria

dle-income housing unit Avida Land also tied up with Eton Properties in 2011 to develop a four-tower residential condominium along Edsa at the corner of Reliance Street in Mandaluyong City. LT Group’s Eton Properties has an

extensive land bank in strategic locations all over the country. It specializes in high-end and mid-income high-rise and horizontal residential developments, office projects, commercial centers and mixed-use township developments.

Republic of the Philippines Depar tment of Environment and Natural Resources COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES OFFICE

Office of the CENR Officer Masinloc, Zambales

N OTIC E O F B ID D IN G (L e a se o f Fo re s h o re /O f f s h o re L a n d) 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 , Z 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 d e s c r i b e d: Location

Binabalian, Candelaria, Zambales

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 & 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 Eastern backs oil stockpile program By Alena Mae S. Flores EASTERN Petroleum Corp. is backing the plan of the Energy Department to establish an oil stockpile and urged the use of the Malampaya funds to finance the facility. Eastern Petroleum chairman and chief executive Fernando Martinez said in a statement the department’s move to conduct a feasibility study on oil stockpiling was a step in the right direction. “Given the significant reduction in world oil prices by 60 percent, it is right time for the government to look into and decide on this [oil stockpiling] as the likelihood of prices to appreciate in the next 18 months is eminent with major oil exporting countries agreeing to either cut or maintain their production levels,” Martinez said. Martinez said world oil prices were likely to double to $60 per barrel in the next two years. “It’s unlikely for fuel prices to drop further since it has already hit bottom or its 13-year low,” he added. “To begin with, the government should immediately put in place the mechanisms needed and consider stockpiling either through actual volume storage or paper placement.” Martinez said paper placement could help the government from incurring additional cost for storage. He said the government could tap the Malampaya fund or part of the reserves of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. The official said the country’s annual fuel consumption had already dropped to $6 billion from $12 billion in the past years due to low oil prices. Martinez said the oil reserves would not only assure supply stability but also provide additional revenue streams for the government. He said fuel prices could double within a year or two and lose their value just what happened in the last two years.

2016 LUAP trustees. Insurance Commissioner Emmanuel Dooc (center) leads the induction of the new officers of the board of trustees of

the Life Underwriters Association of the Philippines for 2016. With Dooc are (from left) Francis Nicole Serrano, president’s cabinet Christine Duran, LUAP Secretary Karen Yulo, LUAP second vice president VP Rachel Arimas, LUAP treasurer Angela Flores, LUAP first VP Sherry Ong, LUAP president Emmanuel Paras, Janette Lee, Joy Go, president’s cabinet Rogel Morales, AisaV illacorta, Mark Fernandez, Cecil De Mesa and president’s cabinet Agnes Ng.

Swiss Challenge set on expressway link By Darwin G Amojelar

THE Public Works Department is set to start the Swiss Challenge for the long-delayed expressway that will link the north and south of Manila. “We will publish the Swiss Challenge next month,” Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson said over the weekend. The board of the National Economic and Development Authority in December approved the Swiss Challenge on the NLExSLEx Connector Road Project on the condition that the original proponent, Manila North Tollways Corp., will lower the project internal rate of return to 10.87 percent from 12.09 percent, by lowering the opening tariff from P100 to P87. The project involves the con-

struction of an eight-kilometer, four-lane toll road that lining the North Luzon Expressway and South Luzon Expressway, passing through Metro Manila and using the existing Philippine National Railway alignment as its route. The Public Works Department will implement the project, which has a total estimated cost of P23.2 billion and a concession period of 35 years. Citra Metro Manila Tollways Corp., which is separately constructing the P26.7-billion Skyway Stage 3 Project, will build

the five-kilometer common alignment from Polytechnic University of the Philippines in Sta. Mesa, Manila to Buendia in Makati City of the NLEx-SLEx project. The Neda board earlier approved the NLEx-SLEx Connector Project under the unsolicited mode, subject to a Swiss Challenge. MNTC, which operates NLEx, earlier sealed a joint venture with Philippine National Construction Corp. in a bid to facilitate construction of the NLEx-SLEx Connector Road. Other MNTC shareholders are Egis Projects S.A. of France, Leighton Asia Ltd. of Australia and PNCC, which holds the franchise to run the expressway. The government decided to subject the project to a Swiss

challenge after the Justice Department issued a legal opinion, saying the Neda board’s decision to implement the project as a joint venture was “without factual basis or jurisdiction.” The joint-venture route aimed to do away with the Swiss challenge, which was required of the project when it was still being pursued as an unsolicited venture. MNTC earlier reported a net income of P2.22 billon in the January-September period, up 22 percent from P1.82 billion a year ago, mainly due to high traffic growth and toll revenues generated during the period. MNTC’s revenues in the nine-month period grew 10 percent to P6.04 billion from P5.47 billion last year as average daily traffic hit 199,196, up 9 percent in 2014.

PCSO chief dismisses charges vs officials and board members PHILIPPINE Charity Sweepstakes Office general manager Jose Ferdinand Rojas II defended the performance of the agency’s board, saying it adheres to good governance. The board faces another plunder complaint before the Ombudsman over the non-remittance of documentary stamp tax on small town lottery operations. “We will continue to work. We are not guilty so there’s no reason to sulk in one corner,” Rojas said. Diego Magpantay and Carlo Batalia of the Citizens Crime Watch on Thursday filed the plunder and graft complaint

against Rojas and other board directors for allowing the STL operators not to remit the 10 percent documentary stamp tax from 2006 to July 2015. Rojas in a statement called the complaint “malicious” and “baseless” designed to “malign the present board for the personal agenda and self-serving interest of certain individuals.” Rojas said the PCSO board introduced reforms since 2010 to improve charity services and gaming activities, which earned the office a recommendation for an ISO-certification. “We have implemented longlasting improvements in proce-

dures and policies and judicious expenditures, among others. PCSO is a small but successful story of our performance and good governance,” Rojas said. “It is a pity that there are those who, in their desperation to find evidence that good governance does not work, will go to the extent of destroying agencies where good governance worked and works,” he added. The complainants cited a September 2012 board resolution excluding the payment of documentary stamp tax in the implementing rules and regulations of the STL operations. The tax was removed from

the STL implementing rules, although other authorized PCSO games were required to pay the documentary tax. A November 2015 memorandum addressed to newly installed PCSO chairman Erineo Maliksi showed the 2005 and 2010 implementing rules and regulations provided no provision on the payment of a 10 percent documentary stamp tax. The same directive showed the STL remittance to the PCSO from 2006 to 2014 did not include the documentary tax. Meanwhile, the 2014 revised rules provided for the payment of the documentary stamp tax from

the gross sales of the STL games effective only on Jan. 2015. Section 190 of the National Internal Revenue Code said a documentary stamp tax of P0.10 should be collected on each jai-alai, horse race ticket, lotto, and any other authorized numbers game. Rojas said board directors Francisco Manuel Joaquin III, Mabel Mamba and Betty Nantes remained in high spirits despite the cases lodged against them. “We work to serve the public. We are not politicians. PCSO should not be dragged into the personal interests of some politicians,” he said. Gabrielle H. Binaday

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

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

Meralco justifies rate adjustment By Alena Mae S. Flores

MANILA Electric Co., the country’s biggest electricity retailer, said over the weekend it complied with the order of the Energy Regulatory Commission to explain its P0.42 per kilowatt-hour rate increase in February. Meralco said in a filing with the ERC it adhered to the rules of the regulator in computing its pass-through charges. It said the February power rates reflected the normal power costs compared with the January rates that included computation on the outage allowances of power plants. “It is further emphasized that the Epira [Electric Power Industry Reform Act] and its implementing rules and regulations allows the automatic pass through of these charges,” it said. Meralco said the generation charges for February increased P0.2453 per kWh to P4.1425 per kWh from P3.3863 per kWh

due to the rise in the average rate of power supply agreement plants in January over the December 2015 supply months. “After the true up of the capacity fees every December of each year to account for the unutilized outage allowance of the power plants for the full calendar year, the capacity charges normalize in January of the following year,” Meralco said. Meralco reported that generation charges in the January billing dropped P.049 per KWh brought about by the reconciliation of the outage allowances of the Pagbilao, Sual, Calaca and Ilijan power plants. It said the recent February billing merely reflected the normal generation costs of plants supplying power to Meralco under their respective PSAs. The PSAs approved by the ERC provide for an (forced and unforced) outage allowance for each plant. Each of the PSA plants has a fixed capacity fees spread over 12 months by dividing the total by the number of days in a year less the outage allowance to arrive at a daily capacity fee rate. “Without the effect of the unused outage allowance, the average rate of the PSAs for the January 2016 supply month would have increased by P0.17 per kWh and the generation charge for the February 2016 billing months would have gone down instead by P0.266 per kWh,” Meralco said.

PTT in Cavite City. PTT Philippines president Sukanya Seriyothin (second from right) and Cavite Vice Governor Ramon Revilla III lead the ribbon cutting ceremony of the newlyopened gas station in Ronquillo, Cavite City February 19, 2016. With them are (from left) Cavite 1st district board member and Star Gas Petroleum Corp. president Dino Reyes Chua and Noveleta Vice Mayor and Star Gas chief operating officer Davey Reyes Chua.

BCDA wins case vs navy officers THE Supreme Court denied the appeal of the Navy Officers’ Village Association Inc., allowing the Bases Conversion Development Authority to take possession of a 47-hectare hectare property in Fort Bonifacio. BCDA and chief executive Arnel Paciano Casanova said the Supreme Court decision would benefit the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the government. “With the Supreme Court ruling, the BCDA can now proceed in disposing of the 47-hectare property and generate billions of pesos to fund the [Armed Forces of the Philippines] Modernization Program and bankroll government programs and projects,” Casanova said. The court denied the appeal with finality, saying the associations arguments were already considered and that “no substantial argument having been adduced to warrant the reconsideration sought.” Casanova said the 475,009 square me-

ter Novai property was now estimated to be worth more than P47 billion based on the current selling price of approximately P100,000 per sq. m. Casanova said the favorable ruling on the Novai case ws a testament to the commitment of the Aquino Administration’s straight path policy. The Novai is a group of retired military officers claiming ownership of the disputed property inside the former Fort Bonifacio Military Reservation. Casanova served as the lawyer of the BCDA when the agency filed a complaint in the court against military generals involved in illegal settlements inside military reservation areas. He said there was rampant land grabbing in which the involvement of officers affected the morale of soldiers and eventually weakened the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

GO NEGOSYO’s presidentiables series with Mayor Duterte THE GO NEGOSYO “Meet the Presidentiables Series,” produced together with PLDT, TV5, Sta Elena Construction and Bilang Pilipino 2016, recently went into its fourth episode with no less than the highly controversial PDP-Laban standard bearer, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte. I served as a panelist once more together with fellow regulars Babe Romualdez of PeopleAsia magazine and Mon Lopez of Go Negosyo as well as Sherill Quintana of Oryspa Spa Solution, Myla Villanueva of the MDI Group, and Grace Gupana of the HalleluYAH Prophetic Global Foundation. TV5 News and Public Affairs Head Luchi Cruz-Valdez did duties once more as the moderator. Throughout the forum I wanted to count how many times the good Mayor would cuss, but I lost track. Verily, if every cuss word uttered would translate into votes, then Mayor Duterte would really have a good headstart. Before I hurled my first question, I greeted him in Bisaya – from one Bisaya to another – and informed him that a lot of Bisayans I know are ecstatic that a Bisaya like him is running for the highest office in the land. Believe me when I say that a lot of Bisayans out there are saying it’s about time someone from the South occupied Malacañang. They argue that the North does not have a monopoly of leadership qualities. In the course of our engagement with him I realized that he was not a mere onedimensional candidate as oft portrayed through mass media; rather, he has a clear platform with positions on such issues as foreign direct investments, charter change, foreign policy with the US and China, agriculture, and so on. His priorities, of course, were on poverty, criminality, and corruption. We know that corruption takes two forms: one, where the perpetrator enriches herself or himself in office; and the other, more insidious kind, where certain benefits or privileges are given to cronies. It is the latter form that does more damage, in the long-term, to the economy. From the way he tackles the policy questions thrown at him, it seems Mayor Digong has a good set of advisers. In private he has mentioned to me that he was briefed on taxation by no less than the former Prime Minister, Cesar Virata. His gesture, likewise, of apologizing to the Pope for his earlier slur, with the promise to seek guidance from The Holy See whether or not he wins the presidential race, was also acknowledged as The presidentiable answers questions with candor admirable. That isn’t something to cuss about.

The columnist with Sherill Quintana, Oryspa Spa Solution president; TV5 News and Public Affairs head Luchi Cruz Valdez; Manila Overseas Press Club president and PeopleAsia publisher Babe Romualdez; MDI Group chairman Myla Villanueva; presidential candidate and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte; Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion and executive director Mon Lopez; and HalleluYAH Prophetic Global Foundation’s Grace Gupana

Moderator Luchi Cruz Valdez with Mayor Duterte

Panelists grill Mayor Duterte on various issues With (from left) Stratbase Group deputy managing director RP Manhit; MOPC governor Art Lopez; PeopleAsia publisher Babe Romualdez; and Tony Garcia of Chemphil

MONDAY: FEBRUARY 22, 2016

BUSINESS business@manilastandardtoday.com extrastory2000@gmail.com

Job skills mismatch affecting 3 industries

DoE to tighten rules on coal power plants

By Othel V. Campos

By Alena Mae S. Flores

JOB skills mismatch is affecting the growth of automotive manufacturing, electronics sector and tourism, according to a study. A policy framework developed by International Labor Organization and the Employers Confederation of the Philippines showed that jobs skills mismatch remained a critical concern in the Philippines. Jobs skills mismatch occurs when education and training institutions tech skills that employers no longer demand or when competencies of graduates do not meet the requirement of employers. The study attributed the jobs and skills mismatch to a weak labor market information systems, a vicious cycle that affects both demand and supply as well as inadequate training and weak support for science and technology. The study, conducted in December 2015, recommended that Ecop focus initially on the manufacturing sector because the contributing factors to the job skills mismatch in that sector were more extensive and that manufacturing had greater potential for future value creation. The study recommended three options, including a marketoriented educational system and training which called for the inclusion of Ecop as a member of the Philippine Qualification Framework National Coordinating Council. It also pushed for enhancing the existing vacancy database to create fluid labor market information and for a strong innovation culture by reviving the country’s research and development capability.

THE Energy Department said over the weekend it will tighten the rules on coal-fired power plants to ensure that these facilities meet the standards on emissions, fuel quality and coal handling. “We are meeting with the coal plant operators and generators because we want to be more strict with standards, emissions and fuel quality,” Monzada told reporters. She said the regulations would also cover the storage, handling and distribution of coal. “We want to impose more strict standards so that even dust particles are mini-

mized,” she said. Monsada said the department planned to categorize the power plants, into basedload, mid-merit or peaking plants. “So we will know what to do to let natural gas and renewable energy competitive because if you recall, all power supply agreements have to undergo CSP [competitive selection process]. But coal is really the cheapest, except hydro, so we need the categorization,” she said. Monsada said the department’s task was to ensure sufficient and reliable power “but not just any type of power.” “What’s happening now, because investments in the power sector are private-sector driven, they see coal because it is faster and cheaper to build. But eventually, by itself, it will correct because the coal plants are baseload,” Monsada said. “If you have too much baseload, they won’t build many more baseload plants. Because you

can’t easily turn it on and off. While we still allow coal plants, it should be of the latest technology, which can reduce emissions compared to the other [existing] coal plants,” she said. Monsada said the department wanted a balanced energy mix by 2030, which would be composed of 30-percent renewable energy, 30-percent coal, 30-percent natural gas and 10-percent oil. Data from the Energy Department showed that as of June 2015, there were around 5,800 megawatts of installed capacity of coal-fired power plants located across the country’s three power grids. The bulk or 4,775.6 MW was in the Luzon grid. The existing coal plants in Luzon are Pagbilao (764 MW), Calaca (600 MW), Masinloc (630 MW), Sual (1,294 MW), Quezon Power (511 MW), Apec (50 MW), Mariveles (651.6 MW), Petron (140 MW) and South Luzon Thermal Energy Corp. (135 MW).

First Metro’s CSR. A student at

Fernando Ma. Guerrero Elementary School in Manila gets her eyes checked during the conduct of ‘Bigay Liwanag’ project of First Metro Investment Corp., the investment banking arm of the Metrobank Group. For eight years, First Metro has sponsored the project, which has already helped about 2,000 vision-impaired public elementary school students to read and study better by giving them prescription eyeglasses.

Of ethics and moral standards TODAY, we talked about ethics and moral standards, and how they affect one’s personal and business decisions. I would like to tackle about the company’s ripple effect – when the company makes a decision, there is an impact not only on the primary stakeholders but also on society. The backbone of business Moving on to the arguments of business ethics…I concur with what my professor said, that business would not prosper without ethics. For me, ethics is the backbone of the entire business structure and operating system. A business operates based on what it believes to be right, and that the only way to practice ethics is to be ethical. For instance, one of the things I consider before applying for a job is the company’s principles. Do I agree with its values? What I really like most about Metrobank is how the company gives a lot opportunities for its employees to grow their career. The very reason I moved to this bank was they offered me a Management

Training program. After one year of being with the bank, I clearly observed how Metrobank values its employees in both monetary and non-monetary terms. Compensation and benefits package are sufficient enough for employees to stay until retirement. No wonder, most people I work with have been with the bank for more than 10 years, because of that rewarding experience they get. This makes me really motivated to work better, because it’s true that we only reap what we sow. Also, the company values worklife balance, as employees are encouraged to not stay too late at work. It observes both Chinese and Filipino traditions (i.e. dragon dance, Catholic masses, chapel in the office, employees discouraged to weak all black in the office, etc.) Born naturally good On a personal perspective, I believe people are born naturally good human beings, since we are all God’s wonderful creations. It just depends on the environment we grew up in, the people we’re

CHARMINE CANITES

GREEN LIGHT with, the government we have and the society we live in that our moral standards are molded, if not challenged. For instance, abortion is legal in other countries but not here in the Philippines because the Church plays a big part in our society. Polygamy is accepted in Islam but not for Catholics. Samesex marriage is legally accepted in other countries such as the United States, but not in our country. Looking at both perspectives, we cannot say one act is immoral simply because we do not agree to it, and vice versa. At the end of the day, it all boils down to different cultures, different environment, and mutual respect. Not about the money At the end of today’s session, we discussed a very interesting case: The Ford Pinto. My take on this case is that it is not morally right.

One can never make an act at the expense of other people’s lives. Going back to the previous argument, a business will not prosper without ethics. Also, not everything is about the money. Like what Ms. Suze Orman said, truth creates money; lies destroy it. Had Mr. Lee Iacocca been truthful from the very beginning that extensive R&D should have been considered before venturing out to producing small cars, instead of putting profits on top of the priority to keep up with the competition, it would have resulted to lesser damages. Learning about the Ford Pinto case, I remember a quite similar story about business ethics. There was a certain news I read four years ago about SM Malls and the pine trees in Baguio, where SM had to ‘uproot’ lots of pine trees to make room for more parking space in SM Baguio. One would say that there should be nothing wrong with it because it’s SM’s property and they can literally do anything they want to do with it. But what about the nature and

the environment? Shouldn’t we be also wary about the effects of this to the whole city of Baguio during heavy rains and typhoons that might result in a landslide? SM’s counterargument is that they would ‘uproot’ the tree and plant it somewhere else. However, how many years would it take to grow trees? For me, it does not have to be always about money. After all, we are not called stewards of God’s creation for nothing. Quoting what my professor said, “We are not the true owners of the Earth, the future is.” The author is an MBA student at the Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business. This essay is part of a journal she keeps in fulfillment of the requirements of the course, Lasallian Business Leadership with Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethics. Visit her blog at https:// mincanites.wordpress.com/. The views expressed here are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official position of DLSU, its faculty, and its administrators.

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WORLD

CESAR BARRIOQUINTO EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Aegean Sea Nato’s new mission ATHENS—In its new mission in the Aegean to help Europe tackle its worst migration crisis in 60 years, NATO is wading into one of the world’s most contested seas. The Aegean has claimed the lives of hundreds of migrants in the past year, including scores of children. It has also been a habitual source of tension between Nato members Greece and Turkey for decades. Ever since the two countries nearly went to war over an uninhabited islet in 1996, Ankara has stepped up challenges to Greece’s dominance in the area. Greece claims a 16-kilometer air space limit around its coastline and islands, but Turkey only recognizes six miles, arguing that under international rules Greece’s airspace should be the same as its territorial waters. As a result, there are often mock dogfights when Turkish warplanes

enter airspace that Greece claims as its own. Turkey also says there are a number of Greek islets and islands such as Agathonissi and Farmakonissi, whose sovereignty remains unclear. But the migration challenge has forced Athens and Ankara to work together, despite their long-standing differences. After repeated calls from Berlin for closer cooperation between Greek and Turkish coastguards fell on deaf ears, Germany and Turkey earlier in February asked Nato to help police the latter’s shores. “The EU wanted a safe and indisputable means of informing the Turkish coastguard on the move-

ment of migrant smugglers,” says Angelos Syrigos, assistant professor of international law and foreign policy at Athens’ Panteion University. “[EU border agency] Frontex has no authority to survey the Turkish coasts where the smugglers are active.” He adds: “If the Turkish coastguard cooperates, there will be results without loss of human life.” Though the precise details of the operation are still being worked out with Brussels, a five-ship Nato flotilla deployed to the Aegean last weekend, a Nato source said. “Nato’s standing maritime group 2, which currently consists of five ships—from Germany, Canada, Italy, Greece and Turkey—has already deployed in the international waters of the Aegean Sea,” a Nato official told AFP. “They are currently conducting reconnaissance, monitoring and

surveillance activities, which will provide critical information,” the official said, adding that the alliance would also “intensify” intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance at the Turkish-Syrian border. “We are currently working on the details, including the framework of cooperation with the EU, and we’ll finalize them in the coming days,” the Nato official said. Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos this week said organizers had been careful to keep GreekTurkish differences from hampering the operation. Under the terms of the plan, the two country’s units will be confined to their respective waters. “We asked this to be specifically included in the deal, so that Nato and the operation are not embroiled in differences we were sure Turkey would seek to raise,” Kammenos told a news conference. Manila

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TODAY

“We never said we resolved Turkey’s absurd demands in the Aegean [with this operation].” The flow of refugees and migrants, which last year reached levels unseen since the end of World War II at over a million people, shows no signs of slowing. Fabrice Leggeri, head of EU border agency Frontex, this week warned the bloc should brace for another charged year in 2016. “We have to expect a very high number of irregular border crossings,” he told AFP. “Last year we had 1.8 million. This year the trend in January is increasing again—140,000 irregular border crossings at the EU level,” Leggeri said. With large warships now plying the sea lanes, there are also concerns regarding the safety of migrants who are coming in densely packed flimsy boats and dinghies. AFP

Republic of the Philippines Province of Bataan City of Balanga

BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE OFFICE INVITATION TO BID NO. INFRA -031-2016 The Provincial Government of Bataan, through the General Fund intends to apply the below listed project w/ corresponding Approved Budget of the Contract (ABC). Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected a bid opening. Name of Project 1.

Approved Budget of the Contract (ABC)

Construction of Drainage Canal leading to Capitol Drive Outfall (Phase I) Barangay San Jose, Balanga City, Bataan

=P=36,499,926.68

Construction of Drainage Canal leading to General Capinpin Outfall (Phase I) Barangay San Jose, Balanga City, Bataan

=P=34,499,980.60

Construction/Improvement of Access Road (Capitol to Roman Superhighway) PhaseI Barangay Tenejero, Balanga City, Bataan

=P=12,199,991.94

Construction/Improvement of Access Road (going to Camacho Street) Phase I Barangay Tenejero, Balanga City, Bataan

=P=8,999,973.23

Construction/Improvement of Access Road (Camp Tolentino to Roman Superhighway) Phase I Barangay Tenejero, Balanga City, Bataan

=P=9,049,970.13

Construction of Box Culvert Barangay Sta. Isabel, Dinalupihan, Bataan

=P=9,999,969.22

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.

Inspection. This undated photo released by North Korea’s ofﬁcial Korean Central News Agency on February 21, 2016, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un inspecting maneuvers for attack and defense between large combined units of the Korean People’s Army staged in three directions at the same time at an undisclosed location. AFP

Jeb Bush ends his bid for White House COLUMBIA—In the end, a famous name, political pedigree and deep-pocketed donors were not enough to rescue the lackluster presidential campaign of Jeb Bush. Bush withdrew from the presidential race Saturday after another humiliating primary defeat, this time in South Carolina. “Tonight, I am suspending my campaign,” an emotional Bush, who at times appeared on the verge of tears, said after the disappointing result. “I’m proud of the campaign that we have run to unify our country.” The former Florida governor— son of one president and brother of another—started his campaign as the odds-on favorite to win the Republican presidential nomination, backed by a prodigious political brain trust and millions of dollars in donations from private and corporate supporters. Although the 62-year-old Bush

led some opinion some polls very early in the campaign, his support had dwindled by Saturday to single digits nationally, and his White House aspirations were on life support. The coup de grace came after he earned less than eight percent of the vote in the primary in South Carolina, a state where his family had always made strong primary showings. Donald Trump was the big winner in South Carolina—a particularly bitter pill to swallow for Bush, who throughout the campaign was bullied and demeaned by the billionaire businessman. Bush’s campaign logo sported a jaunty exclamation mark after his first name—Jeb!—a jarring juxtaposition to the candidate himself, who came across as plodding and unexciting. Bush and his Right to Rise super PAC vastly outraised his competitors, garnering some $118 million but the money—

largely spent on television ads— failed to help generate excitement about his campaign. A super PAC is an independent body that can raise unlimited amounts of money to support a candidate, but cannot coordinate their efforts with the party or candidate, or make direct campaign contributions. Bush was mercilessly pilloried by Trump, who lampooned him as “low energy” and lacking the requisite resolve and the fire-inthe-belly to lead the nation—a catchphrase that stuck in the popular imagination. In recent weeks, Jeb’s famous mother, former first lady Barbara Bush, went out on the campaign trail for him, as did his brother, two-term former president George W. Bush. Trump only intensified his barbs, lampooning Bush as a mama’s boy dependent on riding his family coattails for his past success. AFP

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. Bid documents will be available only to eligible bidders upon payment of a non-refundable amount of using standard rates approved by GPPB as stated on their Resolution No. 04-2012 listed below. Approved Budget for the Contract 500,000 and below More than 500,000 up to 1 Million More than 1 Million up to 5 Million More than 5 Million up to 10 Million More than 10 Million up to 50 Million More than 50 Million up to 500 Million More than 500 Million

Maximum Cost of Bidding Documents (in Philippine Peso) 500.00 1,000.00 5,000.00 10,000.00 25,000.00 50,000.00 75,000.00

The Provincial Government of Bataanwill hold a Pre-Bid Conference on February 29, 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 14, 2016 at 1:00 P.M. at Provincial BAC Office, PEO Capitol Compound, Balanga City, Bataan. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated on IRR of RA 9184 and Bid Securing Declaration in standard form. Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend opening of Bids at Bataan BAC Office. Late bids shall not be accepted. In case of the above dates is declared a special Non-Working Holidays, it will automatically reset on the next working days. Other necessary information deemed relevant by the Provincial Government of Bataan Activities Schedule 1. Advertisement/Posting of Invitation to Bid February 22 – 28, 2016 2. Eligibility Check Refer to date of Opening of Bids 3. Issuance and availability of bidding Documents February 22 – March 14, 2016 4. Request for Clarification March 04, 2016 5. Opening of Bids March 14, 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 (TS-FEB. 22, 2016)

(SGD) ENRICO YUZON BAC Chairman

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CESAR BARRIOQUINTO EDITOR

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WORLD

Party! Confetti drops during the first ever iHeart80s Party at The Forum on February 20, 2016, in Inglewood, California. AFP

Russia pledges more Syria raids Double car bombing kills 25 in Syrian city BEIRUT—At least 25 people were killed and dozens injured on Sunday in a double car bomb attack in the central Syrian city of Homs, a monitor said. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said most of those killed appeared to be civilians, adding that the toll could rise further because of the number of seriously wounded. Homs provincial governor Talal Barazi gave AFP an initial toll of 17 dead and 29 wounded in the blasts. Syrian state television broadcast footage from the scene of the attack in the Al-Zahraa neighborhood, showing the air thick with dust and smoke rising from blazes started by the blasts. Firefighters ran through debris strewn by the explosions as secu-

rity forces and civilians tried to prise open the wreckage of one vehicle to retrieve a person inside. Nearby, a charred body was carried away on a stretcher by emergency services workers. The bombings appeared to have caused extensive damage, ripping the fronts off shops surrounding the site and mangling cars and minibuses. Homs city is almost completely controlled by the Syrian government, and has regularly been targeted in bomb attacks. Al-Zahraa neighborhood in particular has been the target of multiple attacks, including last month, when at least 22 people were killed in a double suicide bombing claimed by the Islamic State group. AFP

BEIRUT—Moscow pledged Saturday to continue backing the Syrian government in its fight against “terrorism”, dashing hopes for a ceasefire the opposition said it would only back if the regime and its supporters held fire. The world powers have been pushing for a so-called cessation of hostilities to pave the way for renewed negotiations aimed at ending Syria’s war nearly five years after it began. But the truce has proved elusive so far, while fighting has intensified on the ground in northern Syria as tensions simmer between Russia and opposition backer Turkey. UN-led talks on the ceasefire scheduled for Saturday have been postponed indefinitely, raising fresh concerns the day after US and Russian officials failed to agree concrete details on how it would be implemented. Efforts to find a political solution to Syria’s civil war collapsed earlier this month, and UN envoy Staffan de Mistura has said a plan to restart

them on February 25 was no longer “realistically” possible. Multiple groups are jostling for territory in northern Syria, with Russia pledging to keep up its air campaign supporting President Bashar alAssad as the regime pressed its offensive around the Aleppo region. Moscow on Saturday said it would continue “to provide assistance and help to the armed forces of Syria in their offensive actions against terrorists”. Russia also said it was “concerned at the growing tension at the SyrianTurkish border,” as Turkey continued shelling Kurdish-led forces in northern Syria it blames for a bomb attack in Ankara that killed dozens. Assad also hit out at Turkey, telling Spanish daily El Pais he was

“ready” for a ceasefire but only if “the terrorists” did not exploit it to improve their positions. “It’s about preventing other countries, especially Turkey, from sending more recruits, more terrorists, more armaments, or any kind of logistical support to those terrorists,” according to a transcript on the daily’s website. Speaking for Syria’s opposition, the head of the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) umbrella group said they would agree to a temporary truce only if regime backers halted fire. Riad Hijab said any ceasefire must be reached “with international mediation and with guarantees obliging Russia, Iran and their sectarian militias and mercenaries to stop fighting”. “There will not be a truce unless fighting stops simultaneously on the part of all the belligerents, sieges are lifted, humanitarian aid is delivered to those in need, and prisoners, particularly women and children, are released,” Hijab said. AFP

Seoul slams North for vulgar attacks SEOUL—South Korea urged North Korea Sunday to stop its “vulgar” personal attacks on President Park Geun-Hye after Pyongyang described her as a “crazy old bitch” in its latest diatribe. “We express strong regret over... the North’s personal attacks that targeted our head of state with such base, vulgar language,” Seoul’s unification ministry that handles cross-border affairs said in a statement. “The North should... immediately stop such vulgar attacks.” Rodong Sinmun, newspaper of the North’s ruling communist

party, earlier Sunday slammed the South’s conservative leader for seeking stronger sanctions against Pyongyang following its nuclear and missile tests. Headlines in the full-page coverage described Park, 64, as a “murderous devil” and “senile old woman” seeking to topple the North’s government with her recent moves to punish Pyongyang. “This tailless crazy old bitch called Park Geun-Hye is heaping further misery on our people, already suffering from the tragedy of division,” one article said. The North earlier this month

launched a satellite into orbit in what many saw as a disguised test of a long-range ballistic missile banned under UN resolutions. The widely-condemned launch, following Pyongyang’s fourth nuclear test in January, sharply raised tension and prompted Park to close a joint inter-Korea industrial zone as a reprisal. The Kaesong estate in the North, where 126 Seoul firms operated factories that employed 54,000 North Koreans, had been considered a precious source of hard currency for the impoverished North since its opening in 2004. AFP

Victory. Pro-refugee activists keep vigil outside the Mater Hospital

in Brisbane on February 21, 2016. Australia on February 21 was set to allow an asylum-seeker’s baby to remain in the country instead of being deported back to a remote Pacific detention camp, in what refugee advocates claimed as a victory after a public outcry. 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

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LIFE

Sobremesa at The Sapphire Bloc in Ortigas offers Filipino-South American fusion cuisine

DELICIOUS CONVERSATIONS AT SOBREMESA South American and Filipino-inspired restaurant by Chef Benjo Tuason opens at The Sapphire Bloc in Ortigas

F Chef Benjo Tuason

The warm ambience encourages one to relax and just enjoy the signature dishes

ilipinos love to linger on the table and engage in a lively conversation after a particularly delightful dinner, reluctant to end what has been a wonderful culinary experience. This is exactly the kind of atmosphere evoked by Sobremesa, the new Filipino-South American fusion restaurant by Chef Benjo Tuason over at The Sapphire Bloc in Ortigas. After all, the restaurant’s name is inspired by the Spanish tradition known as “sobremesa” wherein family and friends exchange pleasant stories and amusing anecdotes after enjoying a hearty meal. “It’s actually the time spent with the people you had lunch or dinner with,” explains Chef Benjo during the restaurant’s recent launch, where guests embarked on a culinary journey that was made even more pleasant by the chef ’s jovial personality. It is certainly no accident that each table has a phone cage where guests can lock up their gadgets to avoid any distractions like phone calls or text messages that could detract from one’s enjoyment of the food. Everything about the restaurant – from the warm ambience, down to the pleasant manner of the staff encourages one to relax and just enjoy the signature dishes and the wonderful cocktail concoctions. Interestingly, Chef Benjo’s partner in his latest restaurant venture is the family of actor Daniel Matsunaga who happens to be South American, with some of the dishes and recipes contributed by the actor’s mom. According to the chef, his research and his exposure to South American culture when he worked abroad made him

BY BING PAREL PHOTOS BY STAR SABROSO realize that no matter how far those South American countries are, they are actually similar (to the Philippines) in terms of the ingredients used as well as the cooking techniques, even rice which is an important part of the meal. Sobremesa, in essence, offers the best of both worlds through its dishes. Guests enjoyed everything that was served – from starters like the Seafood Ceviche made more flavorful by citrus and sweet pepper that went well with the red onion, corn kernel and lettuce down to signature dishes such as the Barako Coffee Crusted Rib Eye Steak served with sweet potato and Baguio beans (the idea for the dish came about while Chef Benjo was cooking beef tapa and having coffee), the very tender, “falloff-the-bone” Bulalo Estofado (which is a family recipe from his mother), the juicy Peruvian Roast Chicken made sumptuously delicious with herbs and spices, and the light on the tummy Grilled Blue Marlin Fillet. Not to forget the rice of course, with the dishes perfectly complemented by the Chorizo and Green Pea Fried Rice. The chef ’s food philosophy – “prepare with care, cook with love (and) serve with pride” is very much apparent especially in the way his pleasant staff presented every dish. Spicing up the occasion was host Sam Rodriguez who engaged the guests in a “True or Fork” game of True or False with questions revolving around food (naturally). Everyone was also encouraged to take photos of the food and post them online via the hashtags #SobremesaPH and #DeliciousConversations

to let everyone know that Located in The Sapphire Bloc in the Latin American food Ortigas, Pasig, Sobremesa by Chef revolution is set to take the Benjo Tuason serves a uniquely local culinary scene by storm innovative take on South American with the opening of Sobremesa. and Filipino fusion. From the None of the guests though kitchen to the wait staff to the locked up their cellphones ambience, Sobremesa delivers for and smart gadgets as everyone a seamless restaurant experience became busy taking food shots – like no other. For reservations it was hard not to do so because or inquiries, call or text 0906the presentation of each dish 4452559. Follow Sobremesa on was done in such an attractive Facebook at /sobremesaph or on and creative manner. Happily Twitter @sobremesaph. though, the techno gizmos did not serve as a distraction from enjoying the meal, with most everyone engaged in a “sobremesa” kind of experience as they lingered on the table to talk about the wonderful culinary experience – long after every tasty morsel prepared by Chef Benjo had been consumed con mucho gusto. Bulalo Estofado

Salted Caramel and Banana Cheesecake

Peruvian Roast Chicken

Barako Coffee Crusted Rib Eye Steak

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The gastronomic feast of special Oriental themed dishes at Seasons restaurant

@LIFEatStandard

New executive chef Giovanni Sias

MANILA PAVILION HOTEL STARTS 2016 STRONGLY AND APPOINTS NEW EXECUTIVE CHEF

The Manila Pavilion Hotel ushered in the Year of the Fire Monkey with a great blast, starting with a traditional lion and dragon dance from the lobby to the functions rooms and back, followed by an “Ang Pao” ceremony and a coin shower, with the celebrations capped by a fireworks display that delighted guests. The hotel, located in the heart of historic Manila, prepared a well staged, artfully presented gastronomic feast of special Oriental themed dishes by the hotel’s culinary team helmed by newly appointed executive chef Giovanni Sias. Guests partook of the Chinese cuisine that are not only pleasing to the palate but also believed to bring one good luck, among them the Lion’s Head Meatballs made of giant meatballs and wrapped in a

mane of steamed cabbage and “Jiaozi,” the traditional Chinese dumplings. Fruits such as grapes, pomelo and tangerine, greens like spinach, lettuce and cabbage, the wellknown sweet dessert, rice flour also known as “Nian Gao” (tikoy) and of course the favorite long noodles that represent long life added color to the sumptuous fare. According to Manila Pavilion general manager Jimmy Boyles, the appointment of Chef Giovanni is set to stir up the dining experience at the hotel especially in its wellknown restaurant Seasons. “Chef Giovanni has the passion and character to build on and reinvent the hotel’s menus and kitchen operations in general. We are delighted to welcome him as Manila Pavilion’s new executive chef where he will lead a dynamic culinary team,” Boyles shared.

Of Italian-American descent, Chef Giovanni graduated from the Italian Culinary Institute of Sassari in Sardinia, Italy and refined his skills through exposure to various roles and responsibilities in the various establishments he has worked in, maintaining the highest professional food quality and sanitation standards. His experience has been broadened by travel and work assignments that have brought him from Europe to the US and Asia. In 1995, Chef Giovanni established Face, a restaurant in Davos, Switzerland. From 1997 to 2001, he served as sous chef in Jolly Hotel Carlton in Amsterdam whose restaurant was touted as the best Italian restaurant in the Netherlands. During his many years of formal training, the chef has always craved the freedom to experiment

with ingredients, envisioning a more innovative Italian cuisine and integrating traditional recipes with contemporary flavors to come up with inventive dishes. Prior to his current posting, Chef Giovanni served as executive chef at the upscale Jolly Hotel Madison Towers in New York. It is this vast experience that he now brings to Manila Pavilion’s restaurants where guests can expect a wide array of new and innovative flavors fused with unique culinary traditions around the globe. Visit the Manila Pavilion Hotel at United Nations Avenue corner Maria Orosa Street in Manila. Log on to www.waterfronthotels. com.ph or call 5261212 for inquiries and reservations. Like or follow @WaterfrontMNL for regular updates.

GOOD FORTUNE, ABUNDANCE AND PROSPERITY CELEBRATED AT THE HERITAGE HOTEL MANILA

Guests were delighted to watch the little drummer boy during the festivities

The Heritage Hotel Manila celebrated the Chinese New Year with a traditional dragon dance with the performers dancing in time to the energetic beat of the drums. Guests were particularly charmed by a young boy who displayed his skill at the drums, much to the applause of guests. A highlight of the festivities is the Riviera Café’s Lo Hei Buffet featuring the Yu Sheng Prosperity Salad – a traditional Chinese cuisine that symbolizes prosperity, long life, wealth and happiness. Guests were acquainted with the various ingredients that

make up the prosperity salad such as shredded vegetables like carrots, radish, red pepper, pickled ginger, chili, chopped peanuts, crackers, various powders and spices and a special sauce, among many others. Gathering together before the table, guests used their chopsticks to carefully mix the ingredients together then tossed them up amid shouts of “yu sheng!” In cantonese, the prosperity salad is also known as lo sheng, with “lo” meaning tossing up good fortune. The action of tossing is called “lo hei” which means to mix up, but

the words also sound like “to prosper more and more.” The Heritage Hotel Manila, which is expanding the celebration for the Chinese New Year until March, is offering the Chinese Food Fest Lo Hei Prosperity Buffet until March 6 at the Riviera Café with the Yu Sheng Salad as a special feature. The buffet features authentic Chinese cuisines with a wide array of dimsums, steamed prawn dunplings, seafood and vegetable dishes for semilunch at P950++ for adults and P650++ for child, while the dinner buffet can be had for P1,300++ (adult) and P700++

(child) until March 6. The Yu Filipino artist Nestor Vinluan. Sheng Prosperity Salad is also Guests who book the Merriments available for takeaway orders at Getaway staycation by February P688 net good for three to five 29 can enjoy a 25 percent off persons or P1,288 net good for with complimentary WiFi and six to 10 persons. breakfast for two. Guests may For nearly two decades, also avail of leisure facilities Heritage Hotel Manila – now such as the outdoor pool, fitness managed by the Millennium center, salon and spa services. Hotels and resorts with more than 120 properties across Asia For reservations, Pacific, the US, Europe, Middle call 854-8888 local 7355 east and North America – has or email to been delivering admirable foodbev@heritagehotelmanila com. service and comfort to its guests You may also visit www. , who can choose from the 450 heritagehotelmanila.com to find elegantly appointed rooms set in out more about special offers and light and earth tones, decorated promos, or like and follow on with masterpieces by fames Facebook: TheHeritageHotelManila.

The ingredients of the Yu Sheng Prosperity Salad are mixed together and tossed up to invite good fortune

The traditional dragon dance

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VIGAN’S BEST KEPT SECRET MERCURY RISING BY BOB ZOZOBRADO

uring my last year’s tour to the North, when our guide told me that our hotel in Vigan was “One Vittoria,” I had this quizzical and somewhat disparaging look because, in my mind, I was asking, “What and where on earth is that?” I have never heard of the hotel before and was worried about how the guest rooms would be, its facilities and its quality of service. Well, that trip revealed to me a tourism “gem” that should be enjoyed by anyone seeking classy and prestigious accommodations in the historic capital of Ilocos Sur. Although officially not within the city limits of this Heritage City, One Vittoria is a 7-storey boutique hotel in the quaint, Hispanic town of Bantay, just adjacent to Vigan. Strategically located along the National Highway, the hotel is only five minutes away from Vigan’s downtown area and, as such,

may be considered as one of the city’s hotels. As I walked through One Vittoria’s main entrance, I immediately knew I was going to enjoy my stay. It right away struck me as a very avantgarde, very chic hotel. The first thing I noticed was a pair of Kenneth Cobonpue’s signature flower chairs that are positioned in front of the Reception Desk. Then, farther to the right of the desk, the lobby’s lounging area is also filled with Cobonpue’s classic rattan furniture. And, I saw several of those graceful brass figures that sculptor Daniel de la Cruz is known for. In a matter of minutes, I was already convinced that, gauging from the hotel owner’s classy taste, I would be pleased with the rest of the hotel facilities and its services. My spacious suite had big picture windows offering a colorful view of the rest of the city’s downtown area. It had the usual accoutrements of deluxe hotels – plush pillows, 32-inch flat screen high definition TV, strong Wi-Fi (even in the other parts of the hotel), coffee and tea-making facilities, Lionel & Firma lighting fixtures, and my favorite VIVE bath essentials, among other things. At the ground floor is The Commissary, a full service restaurant which offers buffet

breakfast daily, included in the room rate, and a la carte items of the best Filipino and Ilocano delicacies. Every meal I had at this restaurant was a feast… and they say Ilocanos are stingy? Not on their food! The staff at the hotel are such a joy to deal with because they make you feel that they really are there to serve you! One time, I called the Front Desk for information. I got all the details pertinent to my query without my having to ask additional questions. The lady was very proactive and delivered the information in a gracious and service-oriented manner. It was like googling something, but getting volumes of information in a personalized and courteous manner. I called up Housekeeping one evening to check if they had a very big plastic bag which I could use as protective cover for a big box of souvenirs I bought during the trip. They said they didn’t have any, so I left it at that. An hour later, they surprised me with a big piece of plastic made up of smaller cutout plastic bags taped together. You can imagine how pleased I was with their sincere desire to give me what I needed. If the hotel is worth writing about, more so its owner, Marsha Navarro Chua, who comes from Irosin, Sorsogon, one of the country’s very

The hotel’s façade

poor areas. Many years ago, she ventured far away from that southern part of Luzon to look for a brighter future, and ended way up north in Bantay, Ilocos Sur. She started baking bibingka (rice cakes) for family and friends who would order it during special occasions. The baked delicacy soon became a favorite of many, including the mayor of the town who would order tons of it to serve to guests. With such success, Marsha was able to put up a small store. Her special bibingka recipe, which to this day she keeps secret and is known

only to her husband and their daughter, has made it possible for Marsha’s baking business to grow by leaps and bounds. Fast forward to today. From her earnings, Marsha now has One Vittoria Hotel, named after her mother Victoria, and built right next to her palatial residence which has a big annex where her employees live. She made it a point to hire people from her hometown of Irosin, to help uplift their economic status… a shining example of what corporate social responsibility should be! What was once a small store is now Marsha’s Delicacies, a big showroomcum-distribution center-cum store at the front of her house. It is the favorite stopover of every Vigan visitor before returning to Manila, for their pasalubong of Royal Bibingka,

Bibingka Supreme, cassava cake, pudding and many other “sweet temptations.” My discovery of One Vittoria Hotel was certainly a pleasant and most enjoyable experience. It made my first visit to Vigan even more memorable. The hotel’s brochure says, “One Vittoria Hotel…A Destination…An Inspired Setting…A Unique Experience.” I can honestly say it’s all that and many more. With this piece, I hope that the hotel’s existence will no longer be a secret to many people because its facilities and service are something that should be experienced by those who go for the finer things in life. But, if you’re out to copy the recipe for Marsha’s bibingka, perish the thought. It will always be Vigan’s wellguarded secret!

YOUR MONDAY CHUCKLE: The Reception Counter with Kenneth Cobonpue’s attractive floral chairs

Other Kenneth Cobonpue furniture pieces in the lobby lounge

My spacious bedroom with big picture windows

Part of the living room, as seen from my bedroom door

On their honeymoon night, the husband isn’t sure how to tell his bride about his stinky feet and smelly socks, and the wife is also wondering how to break the news to him about her awful breath, which so far, she’s been able to cover up. After some soul-searching, the husband gathers his nerve and says, “I have a confession.” The wife draws closer, peers into his eyes, and says, “Darling, so do I.” Recoiling, the husband says, “Don’t tell me! You’ve eaten my socks.” One Vittoria Hotel owner Marsha Chua and me

For feedback, I’m at bobzozobrado@gmail.com

THE BELLEVUE RESORT BOHOL BAGS 16th UBI FESTIVAL COOK FEST TITLE The Bellevue Resort Bohol emerged as champion in the recently concluded 16th Ube Cookfest 2016 at the Bohol Cultural Center. Ube Cook Fest 2016 is a project of The Bohol Provincial Tourism Council Inc. in collaboration with the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist and Bohol Association of Hotels, Resorts and Restaurants. “This only proves that our resort is topnotch, not only in providing warm Boholano hospitality and distinctive stay experiences, but also in culinary offerings that delight the palate of our guests,” says Rommel Gonzales, resort manager of The Bellevue Resort Bohol. Executive chef Eugene San Juan led the winning culinary team that used a creative approach in infusing ubi for their dish. “Ubi is very flavorful that if you will infuse the correct mixture of handpicked ingredients and spices, it will come out as a wonderfully delightful dish,” says Chef Eugene.

The cook fest highlights ubi (purple yam) as the main ingredient for the challenges faced by various resorts and restaurants that gathered for the culinary battle. In 2000, Boholanos first held their Ubi Festival in gratitude for a good harvest where they usually display various ubi delicacies and recognize the biggest ubi harvested annually. The farmed crop is found in most parts of Bohol, held in respect by Boholanos who know its importance in the Central Visayas region. Today, the ubi is slowly gaining popularity as an ingredient for Filipino dishes in Western countries. The Bellevue Resort Bohol is located at Barangay Doljo, Panglao Island, Bohol, Philippines. For more information contact (+632) 7718181, or visit www.thebellevue. com/bohol. Check out The Bellevue Resort Bohol in Facebook or follow @BellevueResort for Instagram and Twitter.

The Bellevue Resort Bohol Team led by resort manager Rommel Gonzales and executive chef Eugene San Juan was declared as Overall Champion during the Ubi Cook Fest 2016

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C O C K TA I L S T O R I E S

Smash

Long Tall Italian

If you sit by the bar, you get to watch how your cocktails are prepared

GET HOOCHED! PHOTOS BY STAR SABROSO

“H Hooch Happy Hour starts at 12 noon until 6:00 p.m. every weekday. Be sure to check out their drinks at this time as they are 50 percent off

ooch” – no, we don’t mean your casual hoochie momma, as the term may often be heard in the context of a promiscuous female. We mean booze – and by booze, we mean a strong one. The term was popular during the Prohibition era as it was slang for moonshine or bootleg alcohol. Today, it is a term we use when we want to get quality cocktail drinks after work hours in the heart of L.P. Leviste. Hooch is part of the burgeoning LP Leviste strip

Salcedo Ave. has been a favorite concoction in Hooch since it opened, it has vodka, Grand Marnier, lemongrass, caramelized sugar and pineapple

Hooch Sours

where food and drinks satiate expats, office workers and millennials including popular personalities and celebs. Since it opened a couple of years back, it has remained a popular place to go to for nightcap and good food, and now it also hosts DJs during the weekends with Reminisce retro nights on Saturdays. Hooch recently said goodbye to one of its English mixologists, Jay Doy, but is expecting another hip foreign guy soon to man the bar and mix some goo goo juice that most of us crave for especially after work hours. For the month of February, Hooch added a few more concoctions to its already lengthy list of 104 signature cocktails. Catch these mouthwatering libations before the mixes are changed for the next month. Hooch is located at the ground floor of 125 V Corporate Center, L.P. Leviste Street, Salcedo Village, 1227 Makati, Philippines. It is open everyday from 12:00 noon to 3:00 a.m. (or until the last man standing) For reservations call +63 915 751 1226 or email Hooch@luluresto.com.

Choc-Nutter

Arrow Head

Filipinas Julip

Devil's Share

Yellow Bird

PHILIPPINES TO JOIN FOOD&HOTELASIA2016 IN SINGAPORE

The Philippine booth

remier industry event Food&HotelAsia2016 slated on April 12 to 15 is expected to be even more exciting with over 300 first-time exhibitors and new international group pavilion entrants joining the most established and comprehensive food and hospitality trade show in the region. “The ongoing ASEAN economic integration presents a world of opportunity for Philippine companies in the food and hospitality industries. FHA2016 presents enterprises with a unique opportunity to network and establish trade relationships with players in the region and the rest of the world,” remarks Ting Siew Mui, project director of Lifestyle Events at Singapore Exhibition Services, organizer of FHA. Philippine participants to the FHA2016 can certainly look forward to a wide array of new products and ingredients, equipment

and supplies, and best-of-breed services from exhibitors occupying approximately 100,500sqm of the Singapore expo. Among the Filipino companies that will leverage the event to showcase their products to the world include DLA Naturals Inc., Shanghai Global Corp., and Sweet Serenity Flavoring Syrup. Among the companies and groups that have pre-registered for FHA2016 are the Association of Purchasing Managers of Hotels & Restaurants, Creative Food Group, MacroAsia Catering Services, Solaire Resort & Casino, and Vanguard Hotels. The Singapore expo will feature six specialized exhibitions, namely FoodAsia, HotelAsia, SpecialityCoffee&Tea, Bakery&Pastry, HospitalityStyleAsia and HospitalityTechnology, each with its own unique theme and area of focus. FHA2016 will also host a series of activities including intense, prestigious competitions

targeting professionals from specific groups and sectors of the food and hospitality industry. These include the FHA Culinary Challenge 2016, the FHA Barista Challenge 2016, the FHA Latte Art Challenge 2016 and Asian Pastry Cup 2016. The event will also feature a lot of firsts that include first ProWine Asia exhibition in Southeast Asia with Messe Düsseldorf Asia; first Sweet High Tea challenge; first Hotels & Resorts Management conference track that will explore topics on suitable business models for hospitality owners and the use of smart technology for operational efficiency; and the first talk track on F&B Productivity covering sustainable kitchen concepts and design to maximize productivity, among others. Check out www.foodnhotelasia.com for additional information.

M ONDAY : F EBRUA RY 2 2, 2016

SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

NADINE LUSTRE TOPS MYX MUSIC AWARDS NOMINATIONS

apamilya star NaBamboo and OPM sensadine Lustre is flying tion Julie Anne San Jose high this 2016, topwith five nominations each. ping OPM artists across Both artists are also nomiall genres with six nomiISAH V. RED nated for Favorite Artist tonations for the 11th MYX gether with Nadine. Music Awards. Bamboo scooped nomiNadine leads the race nations in other categories for this year’s awards including picks for including Favorite Male Artist, Favorite Favorite Artist, Favorite Female Artist, Music Video, Favorite Rock Video, and Favorite Collaboration alongside James Favorite Song, while Julie Anne received Reid, Favorite Music Video, Favorite Song, nods in the Favorite Female Artist, Favorite and the coveted Best Music Video award, Music Video, Favorite Song, and Favorite whose winner will be handpicked by a spe- Remake categories. cial panel of judges. Even young OPM artists scored nominaRunning for second place in the most tions in the MYX Music Awards. number of nominations are rock icon The Voice Kids alumni Darren Espanto

Television star Nadine Lustre leads nomination in this year's Myx Music Awards

Myx VJs with the finalists of this year's VJ search

and Juan Karlos Labajo, were the only music artists under 16 in the nominations list. Darren earned five nominations with Juan Karlos followed closely with three. Darren is among the hopefuls pitted against this year’s leading nominee Nadine for Favorite Artist. His name is also up for Favorite Male Artist, Favorite Music Video, Favorite MYX Celebrity VJ, and Favorite Song. Juan Karlos meanwhile, is nominated in the same category as Darren in Favorite Male Artist and Favorite MYX Celebrity VJ. He also received a nomination for Favorite Mellow Video.

Other notable OPM artists who garnered a handful of nominations are Sarah Geronimo, Abra, Kathryn Bernardo, and Alden Richards. To vote, visit http://myxph.com/myxmusicawards/vote/ until March 13. Fans can vote once per IP address, per category each day. The 11th MYX Music Awards will be on March 15 and will be telecast on MYX and will be livestreaming on myxph.com. The Myx Music Awards recognizes the most popular Filipino artists in the industry and honors the contributions of OPM icons. For more information, visit myxph.

NOMINEES FOR THE 2016 MYX MUSIC AWARDS Favorite Music Video Firepower - Bamboo (Director: Paolo Valenciano) Makin’ Moves - Darren Espanto (Director: Ian Galsim) Me and You - Nadine Lustre (Director: MiggyTanchangco) Minamahal - Sarah Geronimo (Director: Nolan Bernardino) Tidal Wave - Julie Anne San Jose (Director: Laura Ferro) Favorite Song Firepower - Bamboo Me and You - Nadine Lustre Stuck - Darren Espanto Teka Break - Sam Concepcion Tidal Wave - Julie Anne San Jose Favorite Artist Bamboo Nadine Lustre Darren Espanto Julie Anne San Jose Nadine Lustre Sarah Geronimo Favorite Female Artist Julie Anne San Jose Kathryn Bernardo Nadine Lustre Sarah Geronimo YengConstantino Favorite Male Artist Abra Alden Richards Bamboo Darren Espanto Juan KarlosLabajo Favorite Group Callalily Gimme 5 Silent Sanctuary Slapshock Sponge Cola Favorite Mellow Video Dance Without The Music - YengConstantino (Director: CristhianEscolano)

Mr. Right - Kim Chiu (Director: CristhianEscolano) Nag-iisa Lang - Angeline Quinto (Director: CristhianEscolano) Para Sa ‘Yo - Juan KarlosLabajo (Director: Frank Lloyd Mamaril) Wish I May - Alden Richards (Director: Louie Ignacio) Favorite Rock Video Firepower - Bamboo (Director: Paolo Valenciano) Kagulo - Sandwich (Director: Quark Henares) See You - Hale (Director: Veejay Jimenez) Tayo Na Lang Dalawa - Mayonnaise (Director: JuanchoPancho) Why - Pupil (Director: Mike Talampas& Nick Santiago) Favorite Urban Video Cerberus - Abra feat. Loonie& Ron Henley (Director: Willan Rivera) Diwata - Abra feat. Chito Miranda (Directors: Marco Gatchalian& Mark Ginolos) Langit - Ron Henley feat. BV (Director: Jasper Salimbangon) The Revival - Q-York (Director: CristhianEscolano) Walking Distance - Smugglaz feat. Ashley Gosiengfiao (Director: Edrex Clyde Sanchez) Favorite New Artist Alex Gonzaga Jason Dy Jensen and the Flips Julian Trono The Juans Favorite Collaboration Bitter Song - Callalily feat. MaychelleBaay Diwata - Abra feat. Chito Miranda HanapHanap - James Reid & Nadine Lustre Move On - Sponge Cola feat. Jane Oineza Tandaan Mo ‘To - Erik Santos feat. Gloc-9 Favorite Remake Cruisin’ - Christian Bautista & Julie Anne San Jose I Got You (I Feel Good) - Daniel Padilla Mr. DJ - Kathryn Bernardo On The Wings Of Love - Kyla When I Met You - Nikki Gil Favorite Media Soundtrack

HanggangWala Nang Bukas - EbeDancel Happily Ever After - Janella Salvador Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now - Daniel Padilla feat. Morissette On The Wings Of Love - Kyla Paano Ba AngMagmahal - Sarah Geronimo &PioloPascual Favorite Guest Appearance In A Music Video Alden Richards (Kapangyarihan Ng Pag-Ibig - Aicelle Santos) Ella Cruz (IsangAraw - Kaye Cal) JeronTeng (Move On - Sponge Cola feat. Jane Oineza) LoisaAndalio& Joshua Garcia (Ako’yTinamaan - REO Brothers) Xian Lim (Mr. Right - Kim Chiu) Favorite International Video Bad Blood - Taylor Swift Drag Me Down - One Direction One Last Time - Ariana Grande She’s Kinda Hot - 5 Seconds of Summer Where Are U Now - Skrillex& Diplo feat. Justin Bieber Favorite MYX Celebrity VJ Kathryn Bernardo Jairus Aquino &Sharlene San Pedro InigoPascual Darren Espanto Kim Chiu Alex Gonzaga Nash Aguas&AlexaIlacad Janella Salvador Ella Cruz Juan KarlosLabajo Jane Oineza MatteoGuidicelli Special Award: Best Music Video (Not for public vote) Cerberus - Abra feat. Loonie& Ron Henley (Director: Willan Rivera) Me and You - Nadine Lustre (Director: MiggyTanchangco) Minamahal - Sarah Geronimo (Director: Nolan Bernardino) See You - Hale (Director: Veejay Jimenez Teka Break - Sam Concepcion (Directors: VoltzHubillo&Icko Gonzales

m onDAy : F EbRuA Ry 2 2, 2016

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mARIAn bAck on ScREEn

fter taking a furlough due to her deliv“They know that I don’t have a nanny,” states. ery of daughter Letizia, Marian Ri“Honestly, I can’t be away from my daughter that vera stages a grand comeback on the long. I’m more at peace if I’m the one beside showbiz scene. her all the time, although if I have an imporJOSEph “I’m just so happy to be back,” she says. “It tant function or commitment to attend to, my pETER makes me proud knowing that GMA still has mom and grandmother take turns in looking gOnzalES strong faith in me, in what I can offer the public. after her.” There are my fans, too who continue to support According to the sultry actress, Zia’s arrival in me despite my change in status. I’m simply grateful!” their lives made her and Dingdong more mature. Upon her return, three shows are lined-up for her. “Our perspectives changed. When we talk, we always “First is Sunday PinaSaya where I have my own seg- mention to each other how lucky we are to have a child. It’s a ment called MD. I’m also to host a talk show designed for blessing and considered as one of life’s greatest miracles. Every wives and moms like me. It’s exciting since I will be able to time we look at Zia, we can’t help but smile. share my views and experiences. Then, of course, I will play “Right after our wedding, we thought of having a baby and Inang Reyna in the grand remake of the ground-breaking it was given to us. We’re so happy, especially that our daughter tele-fantasya Encantadia. Originally, it was portrayed by is very jolly. I can’t explain the feeling. Now I realized there’s Ms. Dawn Zulueta. I’m really thrilled this early!” nothing that can match the genuine happiness we can get How about a project opposite Dong (Dingdong from having a family. It really makes you feel complete!” Dantes)? Do she and Dingdong want to have their second child “Well, I’m not in the position to divulge any detail yet soon? but I assure the fans that GMA is cooking up something “On the contrary, we are not rushing. Dong told me for the two of us. I guess it’s high time that we work to- to relax and enjoy in the meantime before I get preggether once again. It’s been four years since our last col- nant again. If I’ll conceive our second baby that soon,I laboration in My Beloved, right? I’m sure our followers wouldn’t be able to focus on their developments since missed us.” my attention will be divided. We want to plan everyMarian is thankful to her mother studio because it has thing to ensure that the age gap of our kids would just arranged a work schedule that would still give her time to be right. Proper spacing and planning are important attend to her motherly duties to Zia. factors here,” ends Marian.

ShTIcKS

FEBRUARY 22, 2016 marian Rivera as ynang Reyna in the reincarnation of top-rating fantasy series

SERgIO MEnDES cElEbRaTES 50 yEaRS Of bRaSIl ’66 aT ThE bIg DOME

young onscreen tandem miguel Tanfelix and bianca umali

******** Asked if he’s already courting Bianca Umali, Miguel Tanfelix say,“No, we’re just very close. That’s the truth. This closeness dates back to our Mga Basang Sisiw days. Our friendship grew from there!” The handsome young star points to work as his priority at this point. “Yes, and Bianca shares the same views. We are both focused to fulfill our dreams in show busi-

ness. Anyway, we’re still young. I will just turn 18 while her, 16. We’re also studying. Let’s just see in the coming days.” According to the Wish I May male lead, it will be hard if he and Bianca would have a relationship. “It will reflect in our work output. If we have a misunderstanding for example, the public will trace it even if we’re just acting. So, it’s better that we’re like this in the meantime,” Miguel explains.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

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45 Brooks 47 Most grizzled 48 Ben & Jerry rival 49 Tax shelters 50 Emphatic refusal (2 wds.) 53 VIP’s carpet 54 1/3 tbsp. 57 Ketch’s cousin 58 Stickers 61 To — — (exactly) 62 Heavy reading? 63 Formic acid producers 64 Nosegay 65 Downward trend 66 Solar radiation DOWN 1 Info request encl. ANSWER FOR PREVIOUS PUZZLE 2 Deck hands 3 Tell — — (falsify) ACROSS pattern 4 Aug. and Feb. Defraud 25 Born as 5 Low-budget film Wild horse 26 Frisk about (hyph.) Huh? 29 Monarch’s fill-in 6 Upset Woody’s son 33 Hoarse 7 Mrs. Lennon Secondary 34 Meditation guide Eggy drinks River in France 35 Dragged into court 8 9 Flack’s job Faulty science? 37 Authorizes (2 wds.) Classical poet 38 Dress carefully 10 Warm clothing Dolly the clone 39 Mao — -tung 11 Drone’s home Morn counterpart 40 Chick talk 12 Garage sale tag (2 Moves crabwise 42 “The Sweater Girl” wds.) Graph paper 43 Fleeting

World-renowned artist Sergio Mendes will take concertgoers through a breathtaking array of bossa nova hits in his upcoming concert on March 12 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. Mendes’ concert tour celebrates the 50th anniversary of his seminal album, Sergio Mendes &Brasil ’66, an opus of Brazil’s bossa nova king‘s successful musical career. Brasil ’66 was Mendes’ first album that put Brazilian music on the map in the 1960s through 1970s. It was produced by Herb Alpert and Mendes himself, with songs that integrated Latin jazz and bossa nova with elements of American pop music. In 2011, the groundbreaking album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and went platinum based largely on the success of its single “Mas Que Nada,” sung entirely in Portuguese with soaring vocals by Lani Hall. The album also appealed to pop audiences through Mendes’ versions of the Beatles’ “Day Tripper” and Little Anthony and the Imperials’ “Going Out of My Head.” Other songs included in the album were “the Look of Love,” “ChoveChuva,” “Scarborough

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2016

13 A Kennedy 18 Something to beg for 23 Billy — Williams 24 Stat for Greenspan 26 Gun, on stage 27 Tools with teeth 28 Cash, for instance 29 Mesa Verde attraction 30 Ms. Bombeck 31 — pie 32 Oui and da 34 Chemist’s weight 36 Skillful 38 Pretends 41 Groupie idol 43 Razor filler 44 Hwys. 46 Tokyo, to shoguns 47 Familiar threat (2 wds.) 49 Vexed 50 Its HQ is Brussels 51 Has debts 52 Cool place to hang out 54 Adjust a piano 55 Baja Ms. 56 Attention getter 57 Sharp bark 59 Caesar’s 901 60 Scrooge’s oath

Fair,” “Roda,” “Night and Day,” among others. Mendes is the ultimate jazz-fusion icon that loves to constantly create new sounds with contemporary artists. In his 2006 album “Timeless,” Mendes worked with the Black Eyed Peas on a fresher version of his 1960s hit, “Mas Que Nada.” He also opened up the collaborative channels with other fresh artists like Jill Scott, India Arie, Justin Timberlake and Erykah Badu. More recently, he collaborated with John Legend, Carlinhos Brown and Will.i.am in his 2014 release “Magic”. The same album also featured the hit single, “One Nation,” the official song of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. A brilliant and prolific artist, Mendes has released 55 albums over the past five decades, including the Grammy Award-winning “Basileiro” in 1993 and “Bom Tempo” in 2010. In 2005, he received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, making him one of the best Brazilian musicians of all time! Watch Sergio Mendes: A Celebration of 50 Years of Brasil ’66 concert on March 12 at the Big Dome. Visit TicketNet website for more details. Buy your tickets now!

m onDAy : F EbRuA Ry 2 2, 2016

SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

Little Grace with her late father FPJ

GRAcE mISSES FPJ Host comedian michael V and actress Iya Villania

‘lIp synC BaTTlE phIlIppInEs’ aIRs saTuRDay Lip Sync Battle is an original series from the US that premiered on Spike TV on April 2, 2015. Since the show aired, it has become part of pop culture and a huge viral sensation. It is hosted by two-time Grammy Award winner LL Cool J. and supermodel ChrissyTeigen as color commentator. The show has featured a number of A-list Hollywood celebrities includingAnne Hathaway, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, John Legend and Justin Bieber. In the Philippines, GMA Network acquired the rights to produce Lip Sync Battle,which premiereson Saturday. Michael V will host the show and IyaVillania will be the color commentator. The game pits two Kapuso celebrities against

each other in a lip synch battle for two rounds: Round 1 is the ‘Strip Down’ and Round 2 is the ‘Full Blown Concert’. The celebrities can lip sync the song/s of their choice. Then the crowd determines the winner of the battle after the two rounds have been completed. The winner gets the bragging rights to be the Lip Sync Champion and gets the Lip Sync Champion Belt. Lip Sync Battle Philippines is under the direction of Rico Gutierrez. Catch your favorite Kapuso stars go head-tohead in Lip Sync Battle Philippines every Saturday. after Magpakailanman on GMA7. Get the latest updates about Lip Sync Battle Philippines from the GMA Network website www. GMANetwork.com

Sentor Grace Poe couldn’t contain her feelings when she went to Ilocos Norte recently. She remembered the adventures she had with her late father, Fernando Poe, Jr. in the province. Those who were there with the Senator said the saw her feeling the walls of Paoay church, as it was one of FPJ’s favorite locations when he was still directing and acting in films. “Baka nahawakan ng tatay ko dati,” Grace answered when asked why she was touching the walls of the church. It has been more than a decade when Da King passed on. Still, Grace still misses her father so much and recalls those days when she would go with him to his location shoots in the provinces, including Ilocos Norte where he shot AngPanday “Ang pakay ng pagpunta ko dito ay para ipakilala muli ang aking sarili sa ating mga kababayan dito

sa Ilocos. Ang tatay ko ay palaging nandito noon. Nagpupunta din ako talaga dito madalas. Maganda ring balikan ang mga lugar na pinuntahan namin,” explained why she had to go to Ilocos Norte. Grace remembered the bagnetand other Ilocano produce that his father brought home from the shooting in Ilocos Norte. “Alam niyo dati ang paborito ng tatay ring kainin ay yung dinengdeng, tapos yung mga malalaking chicharon. Tapos kapag uuwi sa Maynila, magdadala iyon ng kumot nahabi ng Iloko. So parang laking Ilocano narin ako,” Grace said proudly. Grace also visited the statue of FPJ on Paoay’s sand dunes where the late actor shot most of the scenes for Ang Panday. Grace spoke some Ilocano words she learned from his father, like danum, which FPJ would sy when she would ask water from her.

pIa WuRTzBaCh sTOlE ThE ThunDER In nEW yORk FashIOn WEEk By ETOn B. COnCEpCIOn

Miss Universe 2015 Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach in her latest Fadil Berisha shot

Miss Universe 2015 Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach continues to make waves around “The Big Apple” from her successful stint as Inside Edition special correspondent at Super Bowl 50 at the Levi’s Stadium where she was seen zip lining and mobbed by National Football League players and fans alike. Wurtzbach was also seen in Cooking with Chef Anne Burrell and had a photo shoot with highly-acclaimed fashion photographer Nigel Barker of the hit TV show America’s Next Top Model.Wurtzbach wore a beige gown in the shoot held at the luxurious Baccarat Hotel in New York City for the Philippine Tatler. Pia also brightened two New York Fashion Week events, the “Go Red for Women” Red Dress Collection 2016, presented by Macy’s and sponsored by the American Heart Association, on Feb. 11 and the Sherri Hill Fall 2016 runway show on Feb. 12. Go Red for Women which campaigns on raising awareness on the issue of women and heart disease is an exclusive event where top designers, models and celebrities demonstrate their support for women’s heart health during New York Fashion Week. Pia, with hair pulled straight back, wore a red dress by Carmen Marc Valvo and proved that she could work the

ramp like no other. While critics noticed that she draws audience to her face by making faces and her “chunky” walk, as if unsure whether to walk like a beauty queen or a ramp model, Pia nevertheless looked radiantly beautiful and demonstrated incredible stage presence. Pia also shone in the group of models for Sherri Hill blue gown collection which also featured some Miss Universe contestants like Miss USA Olivia Jordan and Miss Kosovo Mirieta Shala. While Pia is enjoying every minute of her reign miles away from the country, hundreds of aspiring beauty queens applied to become her successor and Bb. Pilipinas organization just recently announced the names of forty (40) girls as official candidates for the 2016 Bb. Pilipinas search. The lucky 40 are the following (in alphabetical order) are Angelica Arita, Loren Artajos, Paula Rich Bartolome, Mariella Castillo, Nicole Cordoves, Aniger Wiji Cruz, Sheena Seine Dalo, Leonalyn dela Cruz. Priscilla Kim dela Cruz, Angelique de Leon, Kim Ross delos Santos, Joanna Eden, Kristi Angeli Estoque, Angela Fernando, Edjelyn Gamboa, Daziella Gange. Alexandra Faith Garcia, Maria Gigante, Jessica Gonzales, Jennifer Hammond, Jehza Huelar, Anjellica Lopez, Marlan Lopez, Tatiana Maher, Jennyline Carla Malpaya, Nichole Manalo, Maxine Medina, Janel Olafson, Vina Openiano. Dindi Pajares, Riana Pangindian, Kimberle Mae Penchon, Maria Lina Prongoso, Christianne Ramos, Crescent Samaco, Jeslyn Santos, Roshiela Tobias, Angela Ritter Valdez, Kylie Verzosa, and Apriel Smith.

The official 40 BinibiningPilipinas candidates during the final screening held at Novotel.

Dynamics of the Duo A look at Chris Botti and Sting’s stage history BY JAMIL E. DESMA

hen Chris Botti and Sting perform at Marriott Grand Ballroom in Resorts World Manila (RWM) on March 3, it will mark the first time the two Grammy awardwinning artists share the stage together on our shores. Although the two have performed solo in the country before, they certainly are no strangers to each other when it comes to live collaborations, having toured together on many occasions. In fact, Botti and Sting’s history extends far beyond what most

people would expect. “I certainly owe Sting most of my career for giving me my big breaks,” shares Botti. “In many ways, I have patterned my career after what I learned being around him for those two or three years on the ‘Brand New Day’ Tour. When I was in his band, he gave me so much exposure by doing solos with me and really promoted my career in a big-time way, but it was his urging that really made me and the opportunity to be his opening

act throughout the world that really launched my career in a big-time way. He’s always been the biggest supporter and the best friend, and he’s like my big brother, really.” It has been twenty-one years and 10 studio albums since Botti first made a name for himself in the music scene and as the celebrated trumpeter himself says, he owes most of it to Sting. Be that as it may, however, it could be fairly argued that Sting might not have taken notice had Botti not dazzled him with raw talent in the first place. Having picked up a trumpet at the tender age of nine, Botti’s epiphany came at age 12 when he heard Miles Davis play ‘My Funny Valentine’. “I think the emotional impact of Miles Davis’ sound resonated with so many people, but for me as a 12 year old kid, it was like a lightning bolt,” explains Botti. “I had never heard music played that melancholy and free, so I knew at that moment, I wanted to make the trumpet my career. I didn’t think about coming to Manila necessarily, or any of the big career stuff, but I knew I wanted to play music for the rest of my life.” And if ever he needed validation regarding his chosen career path, it would ultimately come from the be-all and end-all of music gods, as far as this Oregon native is concerned. “I’ve been fortunate to work with many supremely talented musicians over the years,” states Sting. “I tend to sur-

round myself with people whom I can learn something from, and my strategy has always been to play with musicians better than myself. Chris brings the trumpet to its most poetic, vocal-like quality. He’s altogether unique in that respect. His sound provides a compelling complement to my vocals and it’s always a true joy to perform with him.” Such mutual respect and admiration for one another can only be born out of a deep appreciation for the other’s craft. Both are intensely passionate musicians possessing the maturity and dexterity to complement the other’s musical style, and the product of this reality is what will take place on the stage of the Marriott Grand Ballroom on March 3. Marriott Grand Ballroom is one of the newest additions to RWM’s ever-growing property which is currently home to four lodging brands (MAXIMS Hotel, MARRIOTT Hotel Manila, REMINGTON Hotel, and BELMONT Hotel) and two more hotels (SHERATON Hotel Manila and HILTON Manila Hotel) currently under construction. Tickets for Chris Botti with special guest Sting Up Close and Personal are now available at the Resorts World Manila Box Office (632) 908-8000 loc. 7700 and TicketWorld (632) 891-9999. Visit www.rwmanila.com or call the Tourist/Visitor Hotline at (632) 9088833 for more information on upcoming special events at Resorts World Manila.

WTF! is Jon Santos up to now?

Jon Santos is out to tickle your funny bone with his new political comedy show at Resorts World Manila BY REN MARTINEZ

Jon as P-Nyoy

on Santos is a tough guy. Aside from growing up in a family with a military background, Jon pursued a challenging career that only a few flourished in, such as legends Tessie Tomas and Willie Nepomuceno— both Jon’s mentors. Mimicking the personas of powerful politicians and trending celebrities and tackling the most sensitive social issues in his comedy performances, Jon is certainly a tough guy for a tough crowd. Having mastered the art of costume and make-up, Jon’s comedy career continues to draw

attention with his funny yet insightful writing that he has continuously honed since he first started jotting down comic quips on paper during his college years as a writer for TV shows. On cable TV, “The Jon Santos Show” continues to be a hot talk show. Most recently, Jon has enjoyed success both at home and abroad through his Canada tour with pop princess Sarah Geronimo and theater performances for Resorts World Manila’s “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert” in Manila and Singapore and “Bituing Walang Ninging: The Musical”.

Having impersonated over 50 prominent icons in Philippine culture including Basana Roces, Armida SiyonMakareyna, Sherap Estrada, Shawie, Bro, Mike Volare, Tita Kory, Sen. Juan Flavor, Pres. Gloring, Krissy Anino, and Okrah Weenfree, Jon is not letting up with the laughs just yet. This time, Jon takes on another challenge in his newest political comedy “WTF! Wala Talagang Forever (sa Malacañang)” at the Ceremonial Hall of the Marriott Grand Ballroom in Resorts World Manila as he takes Filipino audiences into a portal of hysterics

Jon Santos and his many faces (Top: as Miriam the Defensive Defender; Left: Grace Foe; Right: Sherap Estrada).

wherein feisty senator Miriam the Defensive Defender corrects Miss Universe Pia Horseback about her answers on the US Bases issue in the country, or concert goddess Majonna’s being shocked by her discoveries on the sensual potentials of balut and ube ice cream, or how outgoing president P-Nyoy draws up plans on post-Malacañang and his own lovelife.

Other candidates in the upcoming national elections are not spared of Jon’s witty antics as Grace Foe gets back at her detractors to the point of making mincemeat out of FPJ’s legendary action scenes, plus the real score on Ate Vi’s plans to run for a senatorial seat or away from the ballot. Jon also introduces the newest “cougar” in town, Diyoning, the big bad mama of Pakyaw, plus many more trending personalities in Philippine society.