The Standard - 2016 March 2 - Wednesday by Manila Standard

VOL. XXX NO. 21 3 Sections 32 Pages P18 WEDNESDay : MaRCH 2, 2016 www.thestandard.com.ph editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Grace: Let’s not preempt tribunal

‘binay, not poe, is npc’s candidate’

By Christine F. Herrera and Macon Ramos-Araneta

THE founders of the Nationalist People’s Coalition and stalwarts of vote-rich provinces said they will support the presidential bid of Vice President Jejomar Binay, openly defying the party leadership’s decision Monday to back independent candidate Senator Grace Poe “We are still for Binay,” said reelectionist Pangasinan Rep. Kimi Cojuangco, daughter-in-law of business tycoon Eduardo Cojuangco Jr., founder and chairman

emeritus of the NPC, the country’s second largest political party. Cojuangco and her husband former Pangasinan Rep. Mark Cojuangco made the stand on

the same day that NPC spokesman Quezon Rep. Mark Enverga, president Isabela Rep. Gior NPC gidi Aggabao and NPC secretary-general Batangas Rep. Mark Llandro Mendoza announced the NPC would adopt Poe and her running mate Senator Francis Escudero as their candidates for president and vice president, respectively. The Cojuangcos are cousins of President Benigno Aquino III, whose anointed candidate Manuel Roxas II is the standard bearer of the ruling Liberal Party. But the Cojuangcos have chosen to

support Binay, Roxas’ political archrival instead. Roxas ran and lost to Binay in the 2010 vice presidential race and the two are again squaring off for the presidency in May. Aggabao said the decision was arrived at after months of consultations with their members, 90 percent of whom secretly voted for the Poe-Escudero tandem. In defying the party stand, the Cojuangcos were joined by members of the biggest political clans such as the Dys of Isabela, and the Fuentebellas, Villafuertes and Alfelors of Camarines Sur.

Party leaders must now decide if they will discipline members who do not toe the party line. Mark Cojuangco, who is running for governor of Pangasinan, is the NPC chairman while former governor Alfonso Dy was the party’s former president. Other Binay supporters were the party’s provincial chairmen. In a statement, NPC member and Camarines Sur Rep. Felix William Fuentebella said the NPC leaders were aware of his decision to support Binay and the United Nationalist Alliance slate. Next page

Reply to Dick. This file photograph shows the Supreme Court during a recent session. The high court has thrown out an appeal by the Commission on Elections for more time to answer the demand of former Senator Richard Gordon to provide voters with paper receipts immediately after they vote in the May elections. DANNY PATA

Miriam says she remains in race

SC tells Comelec to answer Gordon suit By Rey E. Requejo and Sara Susanne D. Fabunan THE Supreme Court junked the appeal of the Commission on Elections for more time to comment on the petition filed by former senator Richard Gordon seeking to compel the poll body to issue

receipts for votes cast during the May 9 national and local elections. During its en banc session Tuesday, the justices denied Comelec’s plea for an extension and gave the poll body only five more days to respond to Gordon’s motion. Gordon’s petition had asked the Court to compel the Comelec to carry out the provisions of the Automated

Election Law, which sets out a paper audit trail as among the minimum requirements for an automated election system, and as a key security feature for vote counting machines. Gordon said the printed receipt allows every voter to confirm whether the machine cast the vote correctly, thereby ensuring the integrity of the Next page elections.

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Poe: Let’s not preempt high court By Macon ramos-Araneta

THE camp of presidential candidate Senator Grace Poe called upon on all parties Tuesday to refrain from preempting the Supreme Court, which is expected to release its decision on the disqualification cases filed against her in the next few days.

Campaigning in Apalit. Presidential candidate Grace Poe attends a public consultation with the officials of Apalit, Pampanga, on Tuesday. JAy MorAles

‘Binay... From A1

“I am a member of the NPC supporting VP Jojo Binay for president. I, with the other NPC members in Camarines Sur, informed the leadership of the NPC about this decision,” Fuentebella said. Fuentebella said NPC members in his province support Binay because of his experience, track record as an executive and concern for poor. “Our constituents were rightfully consulted in arriving at this decision. Our local leaders are inspired by Binay’s programs for health, education and senior citizens. His proposal to abolish the income tax for the P30,000 monthly earners and commitment to improve and expand the 4Ps to include the senior citizens are close to the hearts of our constituents,” he added. The Fuentebellas, Villafuertes and Alfelors for decades had been political enemies but they set aside their rivalry when they all agreed to back Binay’s bid. Fuentebella said Binay has a solid track record as a public servant and as a human rights lawyer fighting for the oppressed. “We want Binay to become President. That’s the clamor on our end and I am sure that the leadership of the NPC will hold that in high regard,” he said.

SC... From A1

The paper audit trail, he added, was a “critical and indispensable” security feature that the Comelec must implement. The petition also said the Comelec must not be allowed to violate the law as it did in 2010 and 2013, when it failed to present the source code for the voting machines for review, and when it did away with another security feature, digital signatures.

“As a member of the NPC, I will reiterate this position,” he added. Fuentebella was often seen tagging along in Binay’s provincial campaign sorties. He was in Binay’s entourage last week in Quezon, the bailiwick of the Suarezes, stalwarts of Lakas-CMD. Reelectionist Gov. David Suarez and his father, former Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez, who were running unopposed, also back Binay’s candidacy. Incumbent Quezon Rep. Aleta Suarez, who would be replaced by her husband Danilo, was busy hosting the Binay camp during the two-day campaign sorties in the Quezon province. Mon Ilagan, UNA spokesperson and a member of NPC, said the NPC endorsement of the Poe-Escudero tandem will have minimal impact on Binay’s candidacy. Ilagan said he does not expect other local party members to support the tandem, since many local officials are actively supporting Binay. “You can’t say that everyone will follow the leadership’s endorsement, especially when it comes to the local races,” Ilagan said in Filipino. “Many of the members of the NPC are close friends with Binay when he was still mayor of Makati. You can’t say that the NPC endorsement of Poe and Escudero is solid,” he added. In justifying the Comelec’s decision, Chairman Andres Bautista said printing the receipts would add from six to seven hours to the voting period. He also said voters could use the printed receipts to prove how they voted so that they could collect cash from vote buyers. The Comelec on Tuesday said it has begun training for board of election inspectors on how to conduct a random manual audit to test the accuracy of the vote counting machines. Comelec Commissioner Luie Guia said that they will conduct

But a staunch supporter of Poe in the NPC, Senator Vicente Sotto III, said party members who could not support the decision to support Poe and Escudero were free to leave the party. He added that NPC members who cannot support the party’s decision should expect no support in the coming elections. Key officials of the NPC, meanwhile, said they would endorse senatorial candidate Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez as among the party’s 12 Senate bets, citing his “malasakit” (compassion) for the people’s welfare. Batangas Rep. Mark Llandro Mendoza, NPC secretary-general, said the party has seen Romualdez’s good governance and platforms of government that would champion people’s interests. “Definitely Congressman Romualdez is among the 12 names that we are going to endorse for the Senate,” Mendoza told reporters in an interview Tuesday. “The NPC will carry him [Romualdez]. He is a good addition to the lineup that we will be fielding,” On Tuesday, administration standard bearer Roxas said the NPC endorsement was not final. “I’ve been talking with the NPC leadership, and they still don’t have a choice for President,” Roxas told reporters in a chance interview after making rounds in Metro Manila Tuesday. random manual audits on 715 clustered precincts after the national and local elections on May 9, 2016. Guia said this was more than the 234 clustered precincts that were checked in 2013, but fewer than the 1,145 precincts audited in 2010. Under the current setup, some legislative districts will have more clustered precincts set for audit than others, Guia said. He said the Comelec decided to increase the number of clustered precincts checked to ensure that

But Roxas said Aggabao, Mendoza and Enverga do not represent the final stand of the NPC, which is an alliance partner of the ruling Liberal Party. “Those are just few members of the NPC,” Roxas said. “There are still other members, more than 20 governors and congressmen who remain with the straight path, with the Mar-Leni tandem,” he added. But Poe’s spokesman, Valenzuela City Mayor Rex Gatchalian, said other political parties should refrain from questioning the cohesion of the NPC. “Like a vast majority of NPC members, I am of the firm belief that the NPC will consolidate behind the candidacies of Senators Poe and Chiz [Escudero],” Gatchalian said.. “It’s quite surprising to hear some political parties doubting the unity of the NPC, when all of them courted the party precisely because of the collective strength of the party,” he added. Poe’s running mate, Escudero, said Tuesday he would welcome the support of members of the ruling Liberal Party as long as they were not involved in the P10billion pork barrel scam. “Politics is addition. Why not,” said Escudero when sought for his comment if they will accept defections from the LP and other parties. With Maricel V. Cruz and John Paolo Bencito margin of error would be kept to a minimum. “If there are more precincts, the margin of error will be smaller. We were told that having about 700 precincts for audit is already enough to represent the entire population of 92,000 precincts, as long as it is random,” Guia said. The Comelec has accredited the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections to conduct the random manual audits in May. Guia said they are looking forward to working with Namfrel considering their expertise in au-

“We should give the members of the Supreme Court space to be able to compose their respective decisions without the glare of speculation,” Poe’s spokesman Valenzuela City Mayor Rex Gatchalian said. Gatchalian issued his statement after a newspaper (not The Standard), quoting anonymous sources, reported that the Court has already decided that Poe failed to meet the 10-year residency requirement to run for president, and that Associate Justice Mariano del Castillo has written the draft decision, which has been circulated among the 14 justices. The report added that the Court skirted questions about her status as a natural-born citizen and focused instead on the length of her residency. It also said the draft decision called for the lifting of the Court’s temporary restraining order, which had prevented the Comelec from removing Poe’s name from the roster of candidates for president. The Palace declined to comment on the report. “Out of respect for the Supreme Court’s independence, we prefer to await its decision on Senator Poe’s qualifications and will therefore refrain from commenting on its deliberations and decision-making processes,” Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said in a statement. Poe’s election lawyer, George Erwin Garcia, said he is confident that the Supreme Court would uphold what is “true and just.” “Time and again, in the history of this nation, the high court had consistently upheld what is true and just,” he said. Two cases are pending before the Court—one filed by Estrella Elamparo, and the other a consolidation of a complaint filed by Francisco Tatad, Antonio Contreras and Amado Valdez. A third case, filed by Rizalito David, questions the decision of the Senate Electoral Tribunal finding Poe was qualified to sit as a senator. diting proceedings. “The Namfrel board has some of the top accountants in the country... we’ve been meeting with them for quite some time,” he said. In the 2010 and 2013 elections, it was the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting that headed the Random Manual Audit Committee. In the 2013 polls, the committee said the precinct count optical scan machines had a 99.97 percent accuracy rate, after finding only 237 variances in the 1,016,860 votes audited.

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Sanlakas denies deal to derail Marcos bid

Campaigning in Rizal. Residents of Rizal province greet presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as he goes around the province on Tuesday to campaign and to meet with the chief executives of Antipolo City, Teresa, Morong and Jala-Jala.

Miriam won’t back out from presidential race SENATOR Miriam Defensor-Santiago on Tuesday said there was no backing out from the presidential race despite the questions about her health. “It’s impossible to change my mind. You can ask my husband... There’s no backing out,” Santiago said. Santiago was diagnosed with stage-4 lung cancer in July 2014, and in October last year, when she filed her Certificate of Candidacy for president under her People’s Reform Party, Santiago said she was able to defeat her cancerous cells although some symptoms persisted. But on Feb. 9 this year, on her way to Ilocos Norte for her campaign kick-off with running mate Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Santiago said the signs and symptoms

of her disease were gone. Still, her voice trembled while delivering speeches in her campaign sorties. During the first leg of the Pilipinas Debates 2016 in Cagayan de Oro City on Feb. 21, it appeared Santiago was catching her breath while speaking. She was also seen on TV consistently sitting down in between takes and after her turn to speak. Santiago insisted during the debate that there was no provision in the Constitution disqualifying a person with illness from running for public office. At the University of Perpetual

Help System-Biñan Campus, Santiago admitted that it had been very hard for her to fight corruption in the government in her long years in public service. She acknowledged that many corrupt officials had the resources to hire black propagandists to destroy her reputation. “But I love my country with all my heart,” Santiago said. “This country is not without hope. I will not back out. We will go after them and will not allow them to defeat us.” Santiago said that, if elected as president, her administration will create about two million jobs by eradicating corruption in the government and by improving the country’s infrastructure. “That is the first thing to be

Duterte to visit Archbishop Villegas PRESIDENTIAL bet Rodrigo Duterte will go to Dagupan City to pay a courtesy call on Lingayen Archbishop Socrates Villegas today despite disappointing the Catholic Church after he cursed Pope Francis in a speech. The Davao City mayor and Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, his running mate, will visit Villegas at the Archbishop’s Residence on Jovellana Street as he steps up his campaign in Luzon after “a highly successful trip to [the] Visayas and Mindanao.” “A busy schedule awaits Duterte in the Pangasinan sortie which will be highlighted by a public rally and a courtesy

call [on] Lingayen Archbishop Soc Villegas,” the Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan said in a statement. “The PDP-Laban standard bearer will also pay a courtesy call [on] local officials and hold a press conference to wrap up his day.” Duterte is also scheduled to pay a courtesy call on Pangasinan Gov. Amado Espino Jr. at the provincial capitol early in the afternoon. A public rally at the Plaza de Lingayen follows. Duterte will also meet the press at the Lyceum Northwestern University gym before holding another rally to

be attended by students and residents for his final activity in Dagupan. “When a revered and loved and admired man like Pope Francis is cursed by a political candidate and the audience laughs, I can only bow my head and grieve in great shame. My countrymen has gone to the dregs,” Villegas said in a statement after Duterte’s speech against the pope. In his speech after being proclaimed the standard bearer of PDP-Laban, Duterte narrated how he got stuck in a five-hour traffic jam during the papal visit and blamed and cursed Francis. Rio N. Araja

done—to create two million jobs,” Santiago said. “In order to provide employment, we have to have additional jobs, and in order to have good jobs, we have to have good businesses. In order to have good businesses, we must get capital both from Filipino businessmen and imported capitalists.” Santiago said she would invest heavily in public infrastructure development to facilitate economic growth. “The poor state of public infrastructure that this administration inherited from its predecessor was pushed back further during the last five years. When I assume office, I will hit the ground running,” she said. Macon RamosAraneta

THE Sanlakas party-list group on Tuesday denied forging an “unholy alliance” with Senator Francis Escudero, who is running for vice president, in exchange for P70 million to derail the candidacy of his rival, Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Sanlakas president Manjette Lopez described the alleged alliance as “pure baloney.” “Sanlakas does not need any prodding, much less need to get paid, for us to take a clear and unequivocal stand against the electoral bid of another Marcos in office,” Lopez said. She said she herself was arrested twice and detained during Martial Law, when Marcos’ father and namesake was president. “We join hands with the ongoing Never Again Campaign and the Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses to Malacañang in calling for the rejection of Bongbong Marcos’ candidacy in the coming elections,” Lopez said. “We demand justice not only for the human rights violations but also for the economic injustice inflicted by the plunder of billions of dollars by the Marcos family and cronies.” In a statement, Sanlakas said it forged an alliance with Escudero to advance its demands on regular employment, education, public housing, universal health care and government support to farmers, among other things. “But then again, there is still a speck of truth in the article, and that is that an Escudero victory in the 2016 polls will stop on its tracks Bongbong’s bid to get back to Malacañang,” Lopez said. ‘‘Sanlakas reacted to an article published in a newspaper that P50 million from Escudero went to the Koalisyong Makabayan and P20 million to Sanlakas. “The allegations in the article of a certain Nelson Badilla are absolutely fabricated,” Lopez said. ‘‘Sanlakas has no relation with a certain Charlie Avila, the alleged conduit to Senator Escudero. This is pure baloney. We do not need a conduit for we have worked directly with Senator Escudero in the past on such issues as the fight against contractualization, higher wages, tax reform and the like.” Rio N. Araja and Sandy Araneta

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‘Legalized vote-buying’ hit By Joel E. Zurbano THE youth group Anakbayan on Tuesday slammed the Aquino administration for using the Conditional Cash Transfer dole program as “legalized vote buying” and also for the supposed use of public funds in the campaign of candidates running under Liberal Party.

Ready for fire month. A worker seals a fire extinguisher at the BNQI Enterprises refilling station in Sta. Cruz, Manila as the country observes Fire Prevention Month. DANNY PATA

‘Yolanda’ loans still pending TACLOBAN CITY—More than P120 million worth of housing loan applications from Eastern Visayas need approval from the Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG) pending the final approval of its board to extend the special program for Super Typhoon ‘‘Yolanda’’ victims. The Pag-IBIG Fund’s special loan program for typhoon-hit central Philippines expired in December 2015, but as of third week of February, 279 applications worth P120.11 million are still awaiting approval. Since July 2014, the program has only released P61.86 million loans to PagIBIG members in the region. About 230 approved applications with a total loan amount of P96.62 million have yet to be disbursed to members. Pag-IBIG Fund Tacloban Members Serv-

ices Branch head Alectys Bajarias said the proposal to re-extend the program is already “approved in principle.” Launched in mid-2014, the housing reconstruction loan program originally expired in July 2015, but was extended until December 2015. “Given the demand and available budget, we are optimistic that the proposal will be formally approved by our central office,” Bajarias said. In its December 2013 meeting, the PagIBIG Fund board approved a P4-billion budget for housing loans of typhoon victims in 13 central Philippines provinces. In Eastern Visayas, covered areas are Leyte, Samar, Eastern Samar, and Northern Samar. Kitchie Rex Barrantes, Pag-IBIG Tacloban housing relationship officer, said that under the special program, the Pag-

IBIG has waived the 6.5-percent interest rate for two years. “The loan is very much attractive because Yolanda victims are treated by the government as very special,” Barrantes said. Under the program, typhoon victims can avail up to P450,000 loans for housing rehabilitation, payable in 30 years. For the first six months, the interest rate is zero with monthly amortization of P1,250. Beginning on the seventh month up to 24th month, the interest rate goes up to four percent every year with a monthly amortization of P2,149. “After two years, the interest will be based on the prevailing rates under the end-user home financing or affordable housing, whichever is applicable,” Barrantes explained. PNA

“Out of desperation to let [last-placer] Mar Roxas win the presidential contest at all costs, the Aquino government is contributing all the resources under its command for the ruling party’s campaign,” said Anakbayan chairman Vencer Crisostomo. He said patronage politics is the real meaning of President Benigno Aquino III’s “straight path,” recalling statements by Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman who publicly warned voters that “the fate of these programs would now be up to people voting for new leaders in the 2016 elections.” Crisostomo said this is on top of the CCTs’ failure as an anti-poverty measure and the diversion of funds that should have been directly allotted for social services. For 2016, P64 billion will be allotted for the 4Ps, more than half of the DSWD’s P110.8-billion budget. The Commission on Audit previously criticized the dole program, pointing out that many beneficiaries are not actually poor and that billions in funds remain unliquidated. Despite the increase in the 4Ps budget in past years, CoA also noted a decline in the number of program beneficiaries. “The CCTs is being used by the Aquino government to buy votes and get support of local government for the Roxas campaign. 4Ps assemblies have been transformed into election sorties where beneficiaries are threatened with the slashing of doleouts if Roxas doesn’t win the presidency,” Crisostomo said. He also slammed the use of government vehicles and other facilities for the Roxas campaign as shown by the social media postings of netizens to protest the misuse of public funds for electoral purposes. Some of these include a photo of a government pickup used in a postering operation for Roxas in Zamboanga Sibugay and the photos of government dump trucks loaded with LP campaign materials and Dipolog City government buses reportedly used to welcome Roxas in Dipolog City.

Crop damage hits P110m COTABATO CITY—Damage to agricultural crops brought about by the long dry spell and rat infestation in Maguindanao rose to P110 million, officials said Tuesday. Because of this, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao will increase its support to affected farmers, according to Secretary Alexander Alonto of the ARMM Department of Agriculture and Fisheries. Alonto said 18,831 hectares of rice and corn in 18 of 36 municipalities in Maguindanao, with roughly 22,000 farmers, have been affected by the adverse weather condition now felt not only in ARMM but also in many parts of the country. Last Jan. 28, the Maguindanao provincial board placed the entire province under a state of calamity due to rising drought damage figures. Alonto said his office is expecting higher loss figures in the near term as municipal officers further validate updated reports on the extent

of crop damage. As immediate response, Alonto said DA-ARMM has already provided 4,400 bags of open-pollinated corn seeds and 3,000 bags of palay to affected farmers. “It is part of the region’s intervention to farmers affected by the drought,” Alonto said, adding that DAF-ARMM is still waiting for updates from municipalities hit hard by the dry spell. Alonto identified the towns hardest hit by dry spell and rat infestation as Datu Abdullah Sangki, Datu Anggal Midtimbang, Datu Montawal, Datu Unsay, Guindulungan, Kabuntalan, North Upi, South Upi, Sultan Kudarat, Sultan Mastura, Talayan, Ampatuan, and Datu Piang. Emma Ali, provincial social welfare officer, said the local office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development has distributed relief packs to affected residents noting her office is still validating latest reports. PNA

Earth Hour 2016. Actresses Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski and Iza Calzado help guide the mascot of Earth Hour Philippines along with Earth Hour Philippines director Angela Consuelo Ibay, World Wildlife Fund chairman Aurelio Montinola III and WWF president Josel Palma during the launch of the event at the Fairmont Hotel in Makati Tuesday. TEDDY PELAEZ

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PH insists on sea code, China calls for dialog By Vito Barcelo

Cainta campaign. Senatorial candidate and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez expounds on his malasakit platform on free education, health, job creation, agriculture, empowerment of local government and disaster preparedness during his campaign rally at Cainta Municipal hall in Rizal. VeR NoVeNo

RH law violations rampant; probe set By Rio n. araja THE Commission on Human Rights on Tuesday expressed alarm over violations of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act in Sorsogon and Manila. At a news conference, Commissioner Karen Gomez-Dumpit spearheaded the launch of a national inquiry on reproductive health to run from March until the first week of May. “You may ask, what is a national inquiry? And why RH?” she asked. she differentiated a public inquiry normally conducted by CHR from a national inquiry, citing the latter would gather

numerous accounts, complaints, statements on denial, barriers, and lack of access to RH services and information, or the absence of it. “A national inquiry process is a strategy adopted by national human rights institutions in order to deal with a large number of individual complaints in a pro-active and cost effective way,” she told reporters. “so why RH?” she asked.

While the past years have seen gain in looking after the welfare of the women sector through the passage of Republic Act 9710 or the Magna Carta of Women in 2009 and RA 10354 or the RH Law in 2012, there are still several local government units that do not support the RH law, she said. During the Convention on the elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women in 2015, findings of its special inquiry on reproductive health showed the government was accountable for grave and systematic violations. she cited Manila for its issuance of executive Order 00310 on the prohibition of the use and provision of modern contraception by then mayor Joselito

Atienza in 2009. “Also in sorsogon City, in February 2015, the mayor issued a pro-life resolution. Contraceptives were pulled out from health centers, depriving women of reproductive health services,” she said. in addition, sorsogon City proposed a measure criminalizing the dispensation of family planning commodities. it is still pending in the city council, she added. A public hearing in Metro Manila is set on April 4 to document the barriers and problems being experienced by service providers, both state and nonstate, and the affected women, particularly to those most vulnerable and marginalized.

Despite China’s call for a peaceful dialogue to resolve the territorial dispute in the south China sea, the philippines will continue to push for the legally binding Code of Conduct on the south China sea between the Asean and China. Foreign Affairs secretary Charles Jose said on tuesday that it has already given its position to call on China to respect the decision of the Arbitral tribunal which is expected to be released early this year. But China reiterated that it will not participate in the tribunal proceedings. “the DFA secretary already gave its statement. We’re not reacting anymore,” Jose said. Foreign Affairs secretary Albert Del Rosario, in his statement, said that the philippines has had countless meetings with China to try to address the issue but to no avail. “We have had countless meetings with China to try to address the issue between the two of us to no avail. We have invited China many times to join us in arbitration as early as 2012, again to no avail,” Del Rosario said. “China has adequate international legal evidence to not accept nor participate in the south China sea arbitration case lodged by the philippines. this stance is clear and consistent. the essence of the Chinaphilippines dispute over the south China sea is the dispute over territorial sovereignty and marine demarcation,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said. China claims almost the entire south China sea, believed to have huge deposits of oil and gas. Brunei, Malaysia, the philippines, taiwan and Vietnam also have claims on the waters, through which about $5 trillion in trade is shipped every year. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang said 2016 is the first year for the two countries to implement the agreement to elevate their bilateral relationship to an all-round partnership, as was decided during Chinese president Xi Jinping’s visit to singapore last November.

Solons press for veto rejection By Maricel V. Cruz A MeMBeR of the House’s Makabayan Bloc on tuesday welcomed the proposed p1000 pension increase being floated by some groups but maintained that this will not preclude the group from pushing for a p2000 social security system pension hike. “i will still move for the override resolution of president Aquino’s veto of the 2000 pension hike when Congress resumes on May 23. the good thing that the sss bill has done is that now the sss as well as other groups are now thinking on how to increase the pension. While not long ago even a p200 pension increase is immediately shot down by the sss,” House deputy minority leader and Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares, said. independent Bloc’s Rep. Martin Romualdez, a senatorial candidate, is also espousing the cause of the sss pensioners by calling for a rejection of the presidential veto on the

pension hike. Colmenares, principal author of House Bill 5842 or the proposed p2,000 pension hike bill, said the sss has to improve its efficiency collection and get rid of its high-paying board members to be able to grant its pensioners their much-needed monthly retirement allowance without having resulting in bankruptcy. “Again the sss will not go bankrupt with this if they improve their collection efficiency which is at a dismal 38 percent, by going after delinquent employers and by lessening the perks and bonuses of the sss officials,” Colmenares pointed out. “While the board and officials of the sss enjoy millions in salaries, perks and bonuses, they are giving pensioners a subhuman pension,” he added. Colmenares, a senatorial candidate, also disclosed the names and salaries of the high-paying sss officials. in total as of 2014, p 116,826,265.95 were given to the 34 officials as against the two million sss members awaiting the increase of their pensions.

3-in-1 cleanup. Crewmen of the Metro Manila Development Authority clean the Estero de Mapua along Antipolo street corner Blumentritt in Manila as the MMDA embarks on a ‘3-in1’ cleanup program in flood-prone areas and public market in Metro Manila. The campaign ranges from fumigation to extermination of dengue-causing mosquitoes in barangays and conducting lectures regarding solid waste management. DANNY PATA

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Road-widening deal. The Manila North Tollways Corporation, builder and concessionaire of the North Luzon Expressway, has signed a contract with First Balfour, Inc. and Haidee Construction and Development Corporation/4B Construction Corporation (Joint Venture) for the P2.6-billion NLEX road widening project. The contract signing signals the start of construction of the widening project aimed at addressing the increase in the volume of vehicles using the 93-kilometer tollway connecting Metro Manila to Central and North Luzon. Leading the contract signing are MNTC president and CEO Rodrigo Franco (center, seated), First Balfour executive vice president Rey Villar (3rd from left, seated) and HCDC president and authorized managing officer of the joint venture Rommel Concepcion (5th from left, seated). Other signatories to the contract are (from left, seated) MNTC chief financial officer Theresa Wells, First Balfour executive committee member Dr. Fiorello Estuar, MNTC chief operating officer Raul Ignacio, 4BCC vice president for sales Randy Viacrusis, and 4BCC vice president for administration and finance Eric Viacrusis.

Palace: Regulate Pacquiao’s boxing By Sandy Araneta and Sara Fabunan MALACAÑANG on Tuesday urged the Commission on Elections to regulate the activities of candidates during the campaign period, particularly that of senatorial bet Rep. Manny Pacquiao, who was scheduled to go up the ring in a televised boxing match in Las Vegas. Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr., in a statement, said it is the duty of Comelec to regulate the candidates’ activities, including that of Pacquiao’s fight. As if on cue, Comelec officials called for a press conference late Tuesday afternoon and revealed that the poll body might ban the TV coverage of Pacquiao’s match if it would be a violation of the fair election law. Coloma was reacting to Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon’s warning against Pacquiao’s televised boxing fight. Guanzon said that while Pacquiao has the right to box, the live telecast “will have consequences on his candidacy.” Prior to joining the legislature, Pacquiao was widely known as a world-renowned boxer. Pacquiao is running for the Senate under the banner of Vice President Jejomar Binay’s United Nationalist Alliance, an opposition party. Binay spokesperson Rico Quicho dismissed Guanzon’s comments, saying it is best to wait for an official Comelec statement. It was former Akbayan Representative Walden Bello, who is also a senatorial candidate, who asked the Commission to order Pacquiao to postpone his fight.

Defense sets supply bidding for 2 patrol jets By Florante S. Solmerin

THE Department of National Defense on Tuesday said that prospective bidders can now obtain from the Bids and Awards Committee documents for the supply of two patrol aircraft worth P5.9 billion for the use of the Philippine Air Force. The pre-bid conference for the Long Range Patrol Aircraft Acquisition Project was held on Feb. 16, 2016 and prospective bidders have until March 14, 2016 to buy bid documents worth P50,000. The budget for the plane acquisition was part of the P75-

billion budget approved by President Benigno Aquino to modernize the Armed Forces of the Philippines. PAF chief Lieutenant General Jeffrey Delgado said the acquisition of the two aircraft would be a big boost to the AFP’s air and maritime patrol particularly in

the West Philippine Sea. PAF has been using the C-130 “Hercules” cargo planes, S211, Nomad, and F27 Fokker for patrol missions Meanwhile, the DND has awarded the P594.4-million contract to Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, an Israeli firm, for the project to equip the 3 Multi-Purpose Attack Crafts the Philippine Navy bought from shipbuilders Propmech Corp. and Taiwanese company Lung Teh Shipbuilding Corp. Navy public affairs chief Captain Lued Lincuna declined to give details, saying that the

DND has the answer to mediamen’s questions. A source said the Rafael’s local representative was the same supplier who filed criminal and administrative charges before the Office of the Ombudsman against the retiring military chief General Hernando Irriberi over two ammunition contract worth P98 million. The complaint has reportedly been “not acted upon” for unknown reason. The Navy’s combat boats will be equipped with Remote Weapon Station and SPIKEER launchers and missiles.

Erap looks into plight of 116 medics at ONM By Joel E. Zurbano

Perpetualites run for a cause. The University of Perpetual Help kicked off its 40th founding anniversary with a race for the benefit of the inmates of the Bilibid Penitentiary at the SM Southmall, Las Piñas City. The University’s ‘Fun Run 2016 For A Cause’ had Dr. Alfonso H. Loreto, school director of the Perpetual Las Piñas Campus, together with the heads and deans of all the administrative departments and colleges of the University gracing the event held on Feb. 14, 2016.

MAYOR Joseph Estrada on Tuesday ordered an investigation on the case of 116 doctors of the Ospital ng Maynila whose contracts of service were not renewed by the previous hospital administration. Estrada also vowed to speed up the release of salaries of the doctors, who earlier sought the city government’s help about their plight. Estrada pointed out that he was informed late that the consultants have no valid and updated job contracts, the reason they have not been given their salaries for 2015. Estrada said he would have immediately acted on the contracts had he been informed accordingly. The mayor advised the doctors and other hospital personnel to always comply with the requirements of the law, stressing that he is religiously complying with the regulations of the Commission on Audit in signing payroll checks.

Meanwhile, Ospital ng Maynila director Edwin Perez said that doctorconsultants receive varying rates, usually, P600 per visit; some render their services from six to 12 days a month. “Some serve as consultant, who sometimes made 12 visits in a month, while some serve six visits a month. They were in different departments. We have a total of 11 departments,” he said. Perez said the city government under Estrada has sufficient funds for the payroll of the hospital personnel. “We have the budget for them. P5,140,000 for the whole 2015,” said Perez. The Ospital ng Maynila is presently under rehabilitation to bring the facility back to its stature as the leading public hospital of the country’s capital city. Estrada said the project is one of the ongoing infrastructure improvements under the city’s comprehensive P500million Modernization Program for all its hospitals and 59 health centers.

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Palace tells local leaders: Do not allow illegal mining By Sandy Araneta MAlACAÑANg on Tuesday urged all local government units not to allow illegal mining operations, amid the rising death toll in the mining mishap in Compostela Valley. Four people were killed when a mining tunnel collapsed Saturday night. “government is determined to enforce safety rules and regulations in the mining industry and to prevent a recurrence of the reported incident in Compostela Valley,” said Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr., in a statement. Coloma quoted Secretary Ramon Paje, secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, as saying: “…We believe that Executive Order No. 79 is already strict. In fact, it mandated the issuance of the Small Scale Mining guidelines/Minahang Bayan which has been passed by the Mining Industry Coordinating Council.” “Unfortunately, most of the operations in the area, particularly in Sitio Uno, are mostly illegal. They are not covered by Minahang Bayan permits. local government Units should not allow their operations…,” Paje also said. The four miners had been working in Australia Tunnel in Sitio Depot, Barangay Upper Ulip in Monkayo. The three other fatalities earlier confirmed by the police were identified as Ernesto loquena, 46, gelbert Bayot and Reynante gemino. Authorities have yet to identify the latest confirmed fatality. Three more miners identified as Bryan Monsoon, Roel Dacaldacal and Richard Monsoon remained trapped inside the collapsed tunnel. Those who have been rescued were Pepe Mendoza, Aljun Dumalaga, Oliver Uganap, Carlito Morado, Alberto Agyang and Angelito Tonio. Authorities have yet to determine the cause of the mining tunnel’s collapse. Rescue efforts continue.

Dancing on the streets. Students from different barangays in Daraga, Albay dance during the 2016 Cagsawa Festival street dance competition. DANNY PATA

Residents to LGUs: Stop renewable-energy projects By Robert A. Evora

CALAPAN CITY—Islanders here have asked top leaders of Oriental Mindoro to stop, at least temporarily, the ongoing but delayed construction of several renewable-energy projects suspected to have caused massive flooding and 13 deaths in this province during the onslaught of Typhoon “Nona.” Residents blame the P4-billion damage wrought by Nona on Dec. 15 on the excavations, tunneling, exploration works and drilling being undertaken for these geothermal, mini-hydro and wind farm renewableenergy projects. The Oriental Mindoro Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council

reported 13 deaths in the municipalities of Pinamalayan, Calapan City, Naujan, and Baco. Aside from the casualties, 10 remain missing and are still unaccounted for. Their deaths, according to the PDRRMC, were either caused by landslides or from drowning in floods. Former governor and con-

gressman Rodolfo g. Valencia urged Oriental Mindoro gov. Alfonso V. Umali Jr. and his brother, second district Congressman Reynaldo V. Umali, chairman of the House committee on energy, to “use their influential positions to look into the real cause of massive destruction and deaths that never happened in our province before.” Valencia strongly expressed fear of massive disaster in the future, including loss of lives, that may possibly result from erosion as well as pollution of the land and bodies of water in the rural villages if not presently contained. There are 11 still unfinished mini-hydro and geothermal

power projects, seven of them in three hardest-hit municipalities by Typhoon “Nona” and where major destruction and number of deaths were reported. There are three mini-hydro projects in Baco town, namely, the Dulangan MiniHydro Power Project, operated by the PNOC Renewable Corp.; the linaw Cawayan lower Cascade and the lower Cawayan Upper Cascade, all funded and operated by Oriental Mindoro Electric Cooperative Inc. There are three RE projects in Naujan municipality, namely, the $180-million 40-megawatt Montelago geothermal Power Project, of Emerging Power Inc., located in the protected

area of the 21,655-hectare Naujan lake National Park; and the P1.9-billion 8-MW Catuiran Mini-Hydro Power Project, of Sta. Clara Power Corp., located in Barangay Malvar. The other mini-hydro power projects are located in San Teodoro, three; Bongabong, one, and Victoria, one. Despite the project site of the EPI’s Montelago geothermal power project is within the protected area of the NauJan lake National Park, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources gave the green light to the Protected Area Management Board to approve a resolution declaring the land or project site as “multi-purpose zone.”

Medical students sue CheD officials for inaction over ownership row By John Paolo Bencito

Simply electric. electric floats constructed by different municipalities and cities of La

Union illuminate the crowded street of Bacnotan during the Grand electric Float Parade as part of the province’s 166th foundation anniversary. CHRISTINE JUNIO

MEDICAl students caught in an ownership struggle in a Cebu university on Tuesday slapped officials of the Commission on Higher Education with administrative charges before the Office of the Ombudsman. The students assailed the higher education body’s inaction over the legal scuttle between the two branches of Southwestern University. Charges were filed against Chairperson Patricia licuanan, four other CHED commissioners, namely Maria Cynthia Rose Bautista, Ruperto Sangalang, Minell Alarcon, Alex Brillantes, and CHEDRO-7 director Freddie Bernal for violation of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-graft and Corrupt Practices Act, particularly under section 3 (e), “causing undue injury to any party through manifest partiality and gross inexcusable negligence,” and other criminal offenses punishable under the Revised Penal Code, among others. The complaint arose from the 2013 ownership

conflict that created a division between the SWU, Inc. and the SWU-Matias H. Aznar Memorial College of Medicine. Eighty-three students of the Southwestern University students, of whom 23 graduated last year, claim the dispute endangered their preparations for the medical board examinations and, subsequently, for the medical profession. The students accused CHED of bias towards one of the schools by granting it government recognition and cancelling the permit and authority of the other to operate its College of Medicine. lawyer Joseph Noel Estrada, counsel for the students, said that they are taking up the issue to the Ombudsman as their earlier pleas “fell in deaf ears.” “The prejudicial acts, omissions and wanton bias of CHED and Bernal to MHAM place the current medical students’ academic status and future profession in great peril and uncertainty as CHED continues to unduly deprive recognition to their school, SWU,” according to the complaint.

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OPINION

ADELLE CHUA EDITOR

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

OPINION

BACK CHANNEL ALEJANDRO DEL ROSARIO

A LICENSE FOR INCOMPETENCE

[ EDI TORI A L ]

COMING HOME TO ROOST THE last two weeks have given us the rare spectacle of a sitting President working hard to stop the election of a vice presidential candidate. The vigor with which the President is pursuing this campaign leads us to wonder if he truly has the interest of the nation at heart, or if more primal forces of anger, hate and fear are at play. During ceremonies to mark the 30th anniversary of the Edsa Revolution last month, President Aquino dredged up the sins of the late strongman, Ferdinand Marcos, and used these as a bludgeon to stop his son, Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., from being elected vice president when the country goes to the polls in May. The President has also mobilized his considerable media machinery to drive home the point that Senator Marcos is undeserving of election and that he must be stopped from winning higher office. At stake in this campaign, Mr. Aquino says, is no less than the future of democracy. Senator Marcos, he says, has been unrepentant and unapologetic—and therefore, dishonest. Worse, he says, he could bring back martial law—as if the tendency to do this were somehow hereditary. The President, it seemed, was convinced that the son should pay for the sins of the father, and was doomed to follow in his footsteps. To his credit, the senator has largely shrugged off Mr. Aquino’s fevered attacks, except to say he was flattered by all the attention. Instead, he has kept his focus on problems that have beset the country in the last six years under Aquino’s inept administration and what needs to be done to address them. The possibility of martial law, he adds, is abhorrent, because that would mean the country was in crisis again. We understand, of course, that President Aquino might still bear rancor toward the family he holds responsible for his father’s detention during martial law, and his subsequent assassination. On the other hand, Mr. Aquino’s family has had all the opportunity to right these perceived wrongs, after his mother, the late President Cory Aquino, rose to power in 1986 and stayed in office for six years on the strength of the Edsa Revolution that ousted President Marcos. Mr. Aquino himself has also been in office almost six years now. If the Aquinos have been unable to gain satisfaction in their combined 12 years in power, perhaps the blame lies closer to home than with the Marcoses. Coming as it does during his last month in office, President Aquino’s antiMarcos campaign might also be seen as an act of self-preservation. After all, the ascendancy of a Marcos would be truly dangerous to him, if that Marcos turned out to be as vindictive as this president has been in his six years in office. Then the chickens would have truly come home to roost.

MEDDLING MAR LOWDOWN JOJO A. ROBLES WHAT does Mar Roxas, the fast-sinking presidential candidate of the administration Liberal Party, have to do with the Nationalist People’s Coalition? Nothing, really. But because Roxas didn’t get the endorsement of the NPC—something he really, really wanted—he is now saying that reports of the party

throwing its support behind his rival Senator Grace Poe are untrue. And no, Roxas hasn’t been sworn in as a member of the party founded by former Ambassador Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco. I happen to think that only members of the NPC—or any other party—have the right to talk about party decisions. But maybe it’s just me who thinks that way. After all, Roxas was just parroting the line earlier expressed by the spokesman of his Daang Matuwid Coalition,

Rep. Ibarra Gutierrez. And Gutierrez, like Roxas, doesn’t belong to NPC, either, but to the party-list group Akbayan. But it seems that Roxas was truly counting on the endorsement of the NPC to boost his own flagging campaign for the presidency. This is the only reason why Roxas was moved to second-guess the party leadership and say that he’s been told otherwise. It’s telling that all the other presidential candidates either ignored the NPC’s reported endorsement of Poe

Take care of your own declared supporters first before interfering in the affairs of other groups, Mar.

or expressed the appropriate congratulatory messages. These others know better than to meddle in an internal party matter—or perhaps are secure enough in their own strengths to just shrug off this latest development as par for the political course. Of course, I believe that the NPC members who aren’t supporting Poe and Escudero have all the right to question the reported decision of the party. Which a lot of them have done, by the way. But Roxas only showed how desperate he was when he reacted to the news of the NPC’s supporting Poe by

saying that the party leadership still “doesn’t have a choice for president.” Why he couldn’t convince any of these party leaders to put in a good word for him instead of him trying on the role of NPC spokesman is something I will never understand. What Roxas can do is to get his own party in order before attempting to meddle in some other group’s affairs. After all, persistent reports coming out of LP headquarters in Cubao say that even his candidates for the

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Senate are grumbling about the lack of support from Roxas, about sorties cancelled at the last minute and the general funereal atmosphere of what is purportedly the party with the most adherents and the biggest war chest. Take care of your own declared supporters first before interfering in the affairs of other groups, Mar. Or, if you really want to know what a growing number of people believe, just quit your desperate, impossible quest for the presidency.

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*** Lost amid reports of clashes between the military and Moro rebels in Mindanao are the ever-escalating raids by Communist rebels on agricultural estates and lands on the island, which produces 60 percent of the country’s agricultural exports. The attacks by the New People’s Army on plantations employing hundreds of thousands of farm workers continue amid relentless

Anita F. Grefal Treasury Manager

Continued on A11

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

THE report of 600,000 car license plates being held up at the pier for non-payment of import duty taxes is a classic case of government incompetence. While motorists and car owners stew over the delay in the issuance of license plates they have already paid for, the Bureau of Customs, the Land Transportation Office and the Commission on Audit are still wrangling over on why and who should pay taxes on the seized shipment. Will the shipment be released in four months, before the end of President Aquino’s term? “I don’t think so,” LTO chief Roberto Cabrera curtly replied as he stood pat that the Dutch-Filipino consortium his office contracted to supply the license plates should pay the necessary import duties. Customs Commissioner Bert Lina insists import taxes be paid by the Dutch-Filipino consortium or he would declare the shipment abandoned and put it up for auction. The shipment which arrived in batches at the Manila International Container Terminal port late last year piled up, adding to the cargo congestion at the pier. Lina wants the importer to pay P40 million in taxes and the additional demurrage and storage fees. This, even as truckers and customs brokers threatened a week-long holiday because of the cumbersome release of shipment by appointment. The Commission on Audit, on the other hand, issued a notice of disallowance on the deal between the LTO and the Knieriem BV and Power Plates Concept Inc. The CoA found the deal irregular under Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Act. The LTO sought three times to have CoA reconsider its decision but was denied. The Dutch-Filipino consortium bagged the P3.8-billion deal with the LTO in 2013 to supply the car plates. The LTO is under the Department of Transportation and Communications headed by Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya (him again!) who’s also in charge of the messed-up public railway system. PNoy’s closet candidates? The tandem of Senators Grace Poe and Francis Escudero will remain independent despite the announcement of the Nationalist People’s Coalition that it was willing to adopt them as its official standard bearers.

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W E D N E S D AY: M A R C H 2 , 2 0 1 6

OPINION

ADELLE CHUA EDITOR

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

OPINION

BACK CHANNEL ALEJANDRO DEL ROSARIO

A LICENSE FOR INCOMPETENCE

[ EDI TORI A L ]

Take care of your own declared supporters first before interfering in the affairs of other groups, Mar.

5550. P.O. Box 2933, Manila Central Post Office, Manila. Website: www. manilastandardtoday.com E-mail: contact@thestandard.com.ph

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Continued on A11

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

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

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

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

Emil P. Jurado Chairman Emeritus, Editiorial Board

W E D N E S D AY: M A R C H 2 , 2 0 1 6

A10

OPINION

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THE SUPREME COURT’S DEFINING MOMENT TO THE POINT EMIL P. JURADO

WHILE the majority of the 15 gods of Mount Olympus on Padre Faura are considering whether Mrs. Grace Natividad Kelly Poe Llamanzares is qualified to run for president, or even for senator, because she lacks the 10-year residency requirement and that she’s not natural-born, some events have taken place and these events could spell the difference. In fact, the Supreme Court already has a draft resolution. It was penned by Justice Mariano del Castillo and was supposed to be presented during the en

I still trust the justices would do the right thing regardless of who appointed them.

banc meeting yesterday. Some of the justices, however, opted to delay it because they have not made up their minds on whether to concur or not. Insiders at the Supreme Court have confirmed that aside from Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno and Justices Marvic Leonen and Francis Jardeleza, who were openly lawyering for Mrs. Llamanzares during the past oral argument, two other Aquino appointees have decided to declare Mrs. Llamanzares qualified for the presidency. My sources said that it would take only three more justices—swing

votes—to countermand Castillo’s draft resolution disqualifying Mrs. Llamanzares. Note that the other Aquino appointees, aside from Sereno, Leonen and Jardeleza are Associate Justices Bienvenido Reyes, Estela PerlasBernabe and recently, Benjamin Caguioa. The ploy of the proLlamanzares justices to delay the promulgation of Castillo’s draft resolution is to separate the ruling on her residency status from that on her citizenship. My sources also say that these Aquino appointees have been getting urgent telephone calls from Malacañang. This is why I consider Mrs. Llamanzares the “Manchurian candidate” of BS Aquino III. He knows that administration candidate Mar Roxas may not make it because he remains at the bottom of the survey ratings. BS Aquino III is perhaps hoping that Mrs. Llamanzares, if elected president, will prevent him from landing in jail. Why are these Aquino appointees at the Supreme Court so interested in qualifying Mrs. Llamanzares for President, and is Malacañang putting pressure on some undecided justices? And why did Senator Bam Aquino, the President’s nephew, vote in favor of Mrs. Llamanzares at the Senate Electoral Tribunal, considering the fact that Bam is a member of the Liberal Party? The bone of contention is whether or not to follow the intent and the letter of the Constitution. It mandates that those running for the Senate and for president must not only be natural-born, but must have resided in the Philippines for 10 years on the day of elections.

ENRILE: HERO OR VILLAIN? ONE of the most vilified personages of the Marcos and postMarcos era is Juan Ponce Enrile, 92. He is accused of 15 charges of corruption by the BS Aquino III government and is just out on bail since August 2015 on humanitarian grounds per order of the Supreme Court. Enrile allegedly received P172.8 million in bribe from his pork barrel money. Twenty-two senators helped themselves with pork barrel money. Only three were sent to jail by Aquino, Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Bong Revilla. The last two are still in a police prison camp. Enrile is a man who changed the course of history. He is a veritable national hero for ending a 20-year dictatorship and for battling, for nearly two decades, communists and separatists rebels. He led the four-day People Power revolt in February 1986 that toppled the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos. The strongman’s ouster led to two Aquino presidencies— Corazon Cojuangco Aquino’s, for six years and four months, and Benigno Simeon (BS) Cojuangco Aquino III’s, for six years until June 30, this year. The Aquino mother-andson reign (12 years and four months) is second only in length to Marcos’s 20. In 54 years, from 1962 to 2016, Philippine presidents came from only six families. Today, there are 25 million Filipino families. Only six families of 25 million families produced presidents. How is that for inclusion? Nearly all the six families were vile, corrupt and incompetent. Their respective reigns were their family’s golden age and the Filipino people’s recurring age of darkness and despair. In 1992, Enrile tried to run for president, but lost. Cory put Enrile behind bars, The facts show plainly that she is not qualified. On the other hand, there are justices who want to interpret the Constitution in such a way that would declare Mrs. Llamanzares qualified. They say that to disqualify her would be a form of discrimination against foundlings. There’s also the argument that the court should “let the people decide.” The voice of the people, its proponents say, is also the voice of God. They forget that the Constitution is already the voice of the people, having been

VIRTUAL REALITY TONY LOPEZ for rebellion. So did her son, BS Aquino III, for alleged graft. Without the country’s defense secretary of 17 years, Cory would not have been president and BS Aquino would have had all the time of the world with his PS3 or gallivanting in the various tourist spots. Before becoming president in 2010, Noynoy had not travelled farther than Hong Kong and USA. Two factors account for Enrile’s rather poor image problem: The animosity of the CojuangcoAquino family and the consistent hostility of the Philippine Daily Inquirer towards him. Ironically, Enrile is partly responsible for the birth of the Inquirer. In his book, “Juan Ponce Enrile, A Memoir,” the senator relates how the Inquirer came into being. He writes: “Eggie Apostol at the outbreak of the 1986 Edsa Revolution was running a monthly magazine called Mr. & Ms. She was also running a weekly tabloid-size, black and white version of Mr. & Ms. which chronicled the court hearings of Ninoy Aquino’s assassination. That weekly tabloidsize, black and white version of Mr. & Ms. was later replaced with The Weekly Inquirer, also a tabloid-size, black and white newspaper. The Weekly Inquirer was copyrighted and owned by the monthly Mr. & Ms. magazine and printed and published with funds of Mr. & Ms.” “Eggie Apostol and Cristina happened to go to the same dress shop. Now and then they would see each other in the place of their common dressmaker. As

ratified by the people in a plebiscite called for that purpose. The decision on the disqualification cases against Mrs. Llamanzares will be the defining moment of the Supreme Court. It will define what kind of justices we have—whether or not they will remain true to their mandate regardless of who appointed them to the high court. All I can say is that I still have faith in the Supreme Court and its justices who are dutybound to interpret the fundamental law of the land according to its

a result, they developed some familiarity with each other and became casual acquaintances.” “When Eggie Apostol lost her job in the Ramon Roces Publications—I cannot remember the exact date, but I think it was in the mid-70s—she and some of her friends set up a monthly magazine, the “Mr. & Ms.” Not long after, she convinced Cristina to invest in “Mr. & Ms.” “The magazine fared badly and lost money. Its original equity capital was almost gone. Peping Apostol, Eggie’s husband, when asked to put more money in “Mr. & Ms.” refused.” “Cristina helped Eggie Apostol in raising and putting in more money to support the magazine. Cristina even asked Ramon Siy Lay, a family friend, to invest in “Mr. & Ms.” And so did Luis Villafuerte.” “In order to support the operation of Mr. & Ms., I asked my associates and friends in the business community to buy calendars and corporate giveaways from Mr. & Ms. As Chairman both of the Philippine Coconut Authority and of the United Coconut Planters Bank, I also gave Mr. & Ms. contracts to print materials for the coconut industry and the coconut farmers. These gave Mr. & Ms. some financial vigor and made it a more viable and stable enterprise.” “Mr. & Ms. started to become critical of President Marcos, his wife, and his regime. This annoyed President Marcos. He talked to me about what he called “the unfriendly criticisms” of Mr. & Ms. President Marcos knew that Eggie Apostol was running Mr. & Ms. He also knew that she was very close to Cristina and almost a daily visitor for lunch or for dinner at home.”

letter and intent—not based on their feelings or what the people appear to want. Otherwise, we may as well throw the Constitution into the trash bin. *** Vice Presidential candidate Senator Bongbong Marcos should be flattered no end that BS Aquino III zeroed in on him during the latter’s commemoration of the 30th anniversary of Edsa. It was as if the young Marcos were already running for the presidency. Santa Banana, BS Aquino made the May

Continued on A11

9 poll a fight between the Aquinos and the Marcoses, that he is on the right and the Marcoses are evil. I don’t know what BS Aquino III was thinking, but that speech only made Bongbong Marcos the underdog in the coming polls. The President was actually campaigning for Bongbong by considering him a threat to the Aquinos! Marcos has thus become a focal point in the forthcoming polls— and he is not even running for president. Continued on A11

W E D N E S D AY: M A R C H 2 , 2 0 1 6

OPINION

ADELLE CHUA EDITOR

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

A license... From A9 The NPC has 2,000 incumbent officials nationwide; 4,469 are running for election. With their decision to stay independent, Grace and Chiz could make political history if they win in the May 9, 2016 elections. It will be the first time an independent president and vice presidential candidate will be elected without the usual political machinery. But it cannot be said that both of them do not have the necessary funding. The word going around is that certain business tycoons who are dismayed by the Aquino administration’s failure to deliver

are bankrolling the PoeEscudero team. Poe is leading in the SWS survey and would probably surge once the Supreme Court rules in favor of her citizenship eligibility. She has remained in the ballots being printed by the Commission on Elections. Whether the high court rules for or against her, the people can vote for Poe making the final tally of this close presidential race messy. Surely, there will be legal challenges if Poe wins. But are Poe and Escudero really independent candidates? Speculations are rife they are Aquino’s closet candidates, a Plan B in case the ruling Liberal Party’s presidential and vice presidential team of Mar Roxas

The Supreme... From A10 I would not be surprised if Bongbong gets a surge in his poll survey ratings. Thanks to BS Aquino III who has become his biggest endorser. *** The support given by the Nationalist People’s Coalition to the Poe-Chiz tandem will not have the desired effect since the party founded by businessman Danding Cojuangco is very much divided. A clear example of this is the pledge of support given by Mark Cojuangco, who is now running for governor in Pangasinan, to Vice President Jejomar Binay. This makes the reported pledge of support of the NPC for Poe-Chiz candidacy meaningless.

Enrile... From A10 “Eggie Apostol had an advantage over the rest (of the mosquito press—asl) because she enjoyed the protection of my family. The minions of the Palace and the NISA had not molested her or her group, which included Maximo Soliven, Luis Beltran, Betty GoBelmonte and several others.” “After the assassination of Ninoy Aquino in August 1983, Mr. & Ms. became a leading opposition paper in the country.

and Leni Robredo fail in their bids. Roxas is behind Vice President Jejomar Binay and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte in the last Social Weather Stations and Pulse Asia presidential surveys. The Palace, Poe and Escudero deny there is such a Plan B to make a “friendly” president succeed Aquino to insulate him from a slew of charges once he steps down from office on June 30. Britain leaving EU? Great Britain’s plan to leave the European Union is giving the EU anxiety. Already out of the Euronean common currency, Britain’s departure called “Brexit” could weaken the Union which is already experiencing economic difficulties and

Add this to the fact that many NPC local executives are benefiting from the many “sisterhood” programs of Binay with hundreds of cities and municipalities. At best, the reported endorsement of the NPC for the Poe-Chiz candidacies is good for propaganda purposes. *** Why is it that the poll survey ratings of administration candidate Mar Roxas is not improving as they should despite the fact that BS Aquino III is campaigning for him and with the built-in political grassroots machinery that the administration has? I have been asked this question so many times. I know Mar is qualified and truly honest as a public official

It was at this point that Mr. & Ms. made money by itself. This was more so when the weekly tabloid-size, black and white Mr. & Ms. and its successor, The Weekly Inquirer—also a tabloid-size, black and white newspaper—began to appear on the streets. Mr. & Ms. magazine prospered and gained financial strength. However, none of the stockholders, except Eggie Apostol, received any income from “Mr. & Ms.”.” Sometime in 1985, Eggie Apostol, Betty Go-Belmonte,

#FAILOCRACY

a wave of migrants from strife-torn Syria. Only Britain, Germany and France are still economically healthy. The British plan to leave the European Union will be submitted to a referendum, the results of which could be 50-50 with many Brits adverse to the Union since its inception. Under the EU and the no visa-required Schengen Treaty, in which nationals of all member countries are free to enter and work in each other’s states. Britain and Germany with their booming economies draw most of these immigrants resulting in resentment by the locals who feel their jobs and social benefits are being taken by the newcomers.

and legislator. The only answer to this is that his image as a clone of BS Aquino is more of a minus than a plus. The people see in Mar a continuation of the administration’s incompetence, lack of sensitivity and compassion and selective justice. Don’t Mar’s strategists and propagandists realize this? For one thing, Mar’s “Daang Matuwid” slogan attributed to BS Aquino does not resonate with the people. Why can’t his handlers present Mar as he is to the people instead of making him into somebody he is not? Let Mar be his own man! The straight-path slogan is Mar’s road to perdition.

Luis Beltran, Maximo Soliven, and some others published a daily newspaper. Enrile recalls Eggie “was at that time the head and manager of Mr. & Ms. and also of the tabloid-size, black and white newspaper, The Daily Inquirer, which replaced The Weekly Inquirer. Thereafter, The Philippine Daily Inquirer started to appear daily on the streets, and The Daily Inquirer vanished.” “Betty Go-Belmonte would later testify before the Securities and Exchange Commission in a

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Meddling... From A9 extortionist activities in a bid to raise “revolutionary taxes.” Farm workers, including many agrarian reform beneficiaries, have appealed to the communists to stop their attacks. The ARBs are particularly worried that they might lose their jobs if the multinationals operating the plantations get fed up and just leave the country. The farmers are asking the NPA to stop harassing plantations in Mindanao if they really want to help farmers. They also appealed to the Aquino administration to stop the rebels, an appeal that has mostly fallen on deaf ears in Manila. The NPA has sent text messages in the local dialect saying they will continue their attacks “until we topple down these capitalists.” “If you workers will lose your jobs for a short period, we call on you to sacrifice for true unity,” the message read. Since last year, the NPA has attacked Mindanao plantations almost on a monthly basis. The rebels have burned heavy equipment, container vans and cargo trucks loaded with bananas in various parts of Mindanao, such as T’boli and Surallah in South Cotabato; Barobo and Lianga in Surigao del Sur; Quezon, Bukidnon; Maco, Compostela Valley; and Maasim, Sarangani Province. The attacks stopped during the annual ceasefire in December, but the NPAs have stepped up their violent activities against the plantations after that. The number of attacks in less than a month have already equaled the number of attacks for the whole of 2015, locals say. This year, the NPA burned four spray trucks, a warehouse inside a packinghouse compound and other heavy equipment from eight different plantations in Bukidnon, Agusan del Norte and South Cotabato. The rebels have warned large banana plantations to stop the use of aerial spray planes, which they said they will shoot down. They have actually strafed one parked plane to show that they are serious.

case filed against Eggie Apostol for breach of fiduciary duty that she, Betty Go-Belmonte, thought all along that her partner in The Philippine Daily Inquirer was Mr. & Ms. magazine and not Eggie Apostol in her personal capacity. Betty Go-Belmonte categorically said under oath that she, as a matter of fact, knew that the assets and funds of Mr. & Ms. were used in the beginning to set up, publish, and maintain The Philippine Daily Inquirer.” “Then Betty Go-Belmonte,

Maximo Soliven, and several others had a falling-out with Eggie Apostol. I was told that the reason for the falling-out was the manner the financial resources of The Philippine Daily Inquirer were then being handled by Eggie Apostol. This led to the separation of Betty GoBelmonte, Maximo Soliven, and the others from Eggie Apostol and The Philippine Daily Inquirer and the formation of The Philippine Star.” biznewsasia@gmail.com

CHONG ARDIVILLA

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sports sports@thestandard.com.ph

James returns; Cavs hold off Pacers A little rest did leBron James a world of good, as the Cleveland star came back from a night off to score 33 points in the Cavaliers' 100-96 NBA victory over the indiana Pacers on Monday.

Davis Cup ‘stagnant’ —Courier UnITEd States captain Jim Courier admits the davis Cup has been in a “stagnant” period, but says he is bullish the International Tennis Federation’s new leadership can turn it around. new ITF chief david Haggerty said last month he was interested in a radical overhaul of the 116-year-old davis Cup and the Fed Cup, and Courier said he was “bullish” that he could do it. “We were certainly stagnant for a while under the previous leadership and there is a breath of fresh air coming,” Courier said in comments carried in The Australian newspaper on Tuesday. “There is a look forward to modernise the davis Cup and to make it sing in the way that the Australian Open and the majors are singing globally these days.” The United States play Australia in the World Group firstround tie starting Friday, in what Australia captain Lleyton Hewitt has said will be a tough encounter at Melbourne’s Kooyong. Young guns nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic are part of the team which includes Sam Groth and doubles specialist John Peers. They will be up against Courier’s roster of John Isner, Jack Sock and twins Bob and Mike Bryan. Courier said that while he was a passionate supporter of the davis Cup, if it and the Grand Slams were publicly traded companies it “would have been gobbled up by somebody already”. “It hasn’t carried its weight for the number of weeks that it has in the season,” he said. “And that hurts me because I’m passionate about it.” Haggerty has flagged the davis Cup being decided on neutral soil between four finalists. Under the current format, davis Cup finals are played on the home soil of one of two finalists.

Tristan Thompson (no. 13) of the Cleveland Cavaliers blocks George Hill (no. 3) of the Indiana Pacers during the final seconds of the second half at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. The Cavaliers defeated the Pacers 100-96. AFP

British cyclists back in world track tilt THE British track team returns to the scene of its greatest triumph at the UCI World Track Championships in London this week with the rest of the world having closed the gap on the hosts ahead of this summer’s Olympic Games in Rio. At their home Olympics in London 2012, the British team won a total of 12 cycling medals, an astonishing eight in the track events where their domination was near total. The British still have the star power with former Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins lining up alongside 26-time Tour stagewinner Mark Cavendish and double 2012 Olympic champion Laura Trott, but the air of British invincibility has certainly slipped since the Lee Valley Velodrome hosted the London Games. Other leading track nations— most notably France, Australia,

Germany and new Zealand, all of whom finished above Britain in the 2015 World Championships medal table—will be aiming to lay down a marker in the 10 disciplines that make up the Olympic programme in Rio. The team pursuit remains a strong event for Britain’s men and women with Wiggins part of a squad that believes it is on course to better the world record of 3mins 51.659sec they set in the last Olympics, although they will face stiff competition from defending champions new Zealand and an Australia team which remains a threat despite the absence of mainstays Jack Bobridge and Alexander Edmondson. “I think it’s got to be the Kiwis, you can’t underestimate them,” said GB’s Owain doull of the favourites for men’s gold. “What they did last year was pretty special, winning gold. The

Aussies are going to have a weaker team but I think they’ll still be very much in the thick of it. I think it will be quite close... and they will be quick times.” The British women team pursuers, whose four-time winning streak in the World Championships was brought to an end by Australia in France 12 months ago, will also start favourites, if only because of the advantage of the home crowd, although Australia handed them their first defeat at last year’s worlds since the event moved from three to four riders. In the sprint events, veteran French star Gregory Bauge is seeking to add to the double world titles he won 12 months ago in his homeland in the individual and team sprints, although the 31-year-old insists he is approaching this week in casual fashion as he focuses his entire year on the Olympics.

James, who sat out a blowout loss to the Washington Wizards on Sunday, added five rebounds and four assists and Tristan Thompson came off the bench to score a big basket and make a key block in the final minute to help the Eastern Conference-leading Cavs snap a two-game skid. "I think we showed some mental toughness tonight," said James, who posted his highest points-total of 13 games in February. "So many lead changes, so many ties. They grabbed the momentum late in the fourth and we were able to keep our composure, get some stops, make some shots and win the ballgame." Indiana's Paul George had appeared to tie the game at 89-89 with a three-pointer with 4:46 to play, but a review at the next timeout showed he didn't beat the shot clock. That left the Pacers with a onepoint lead with 2:27 to play, and James scored off an inbounds play to put the Cavaliers ahead. "That was a game changer right there," Cleveland's Kevin Love said. "That was a huge difference for us." Thompson was huge as well. Pulled from the starting lineup before the game in favor of Timofey Mozgov, he came in for Love in the final minute and scored a go-ahead basket off a James drive with 39 seconds left, giving Cleveland a 96-94 lead. Seconds later he rejected George Hill's driving effort at the rim. Guard Kyrie Irving scored 22 points with six assists for the Cavaliers, including four free throws in the final eight seconds. The Cavs halted a skid that saw them blow a nine-point lead late in a loss at Toronto on Friday, a defeat followed by their big loss to the Wizards.

Former world champ Aregawi tests positive for drug use SWEdEn’S Ethiopian-born 1500 metres former world champion Abeba Aregawi has tested positive for doping, according to the Swedish Athletics Association (SFIF) on Monday. The test for banned substances was conducted by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). “It is with dismay and with extreme disappointment that we report this issue,” said SFIF general secretary Stefan Olsson. “We totally reject all forms of cheating, doping... We have a zero tolerance, and this is totally unacceptable,” said Olsson. A full investigation will now be conducted, according to the association. “Because this is an ongoing investi-

gation, we cannot disclose the actual substance that she tested positive for,” said Fredrik Trahn, an association spokesman. “She is provisionally suspended, effective immediately.” The 25-year-old Aregawi, who competed for Ethiopia at the London 2012 Olympics, was world champion in 2013 in Moscow, but finished only sixth in a slow tactical race in Beijing last year. She has also won the European championships and World Indoors gold over her specialist distance. She finished fifth at the London Games, again in a slow tactical race, behind Turkey’s Asli Cakir Alptekin, who was later stripped of her Olympic title for a second doping offence.

Scuderia Toro Rosso's Belgian-Dutch driver Max Verstappen (right) and Spanish pilot Carlos Sainz pose with their new STR11 car during the official presentation at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo on the outskirts of Barcelona on the test day of the Formula One Grand Prix season. AFP

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sports sports@thestandard.com.ph

Cage hopefuls. Eleven Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA hopefuls, including four girls, pose with their coaches, headed by Craig Brown (back row, fifth from right), after topping the Jr. NBA and Jr. WNBA Presented by Alaska Regional Selection Camp at the Ateneo de Davao, Matina campus in Davao City recently. They include Kate Buenaventura, Aloha Marie Betanio, Marcilla Grace Dellosa and Rosie Amatong and Tryon Limar Langala, Alfonso Candari, Rysan Villasenda, Anscar Mamac, Lance Centeno, Jacen Neil Deligerio and Luise Andre Joring who will all see action in the National Training Camp in Manila on April 22-24 where they will be pitted against qualifiers from other regional selection camps.

San Agustin makes finals in 3 divisions COLEGIO San Agustin Makati sent three teams to as many division finals in the 20th Women’s Volleyball League over the weekend. First to reach the trophy game was CSA’s 13-and-Under Developmental squad, which routed Young Achiever’s School, 2512, 25-20, Sunday at the Xavier School gym. The triumph set it up against Jubilee Christian School, which survived a game School of St. Anthony, 12-25, 27-25, 15-8. Then, it was CSA’s team in the 13-and-under Competitive Division which marched into the final game with a 25-13, 25-14 clobbering of Escuela de Sophia for the right to face King’s Montessori, which beat Holy Family School, 20-25, 25-16, 16-14, in the other semis match. CSA will have a chance at a third crown after its 17-andunder Competitive Division squad easily disposed of San Antonio de Padua College, 255, 25-15, in their semis game, while King’s Montessori School will contend for the crown following its 25-17, 25-10 win over San Pedro Relocation National High School. The 17-and-Under Competitive crown will be disputed by Sisters of Mount Carmel Catholic School, a 22-25, 25-23, 15-10 semis winner over San Antonio de Padua College; and St. Raphaela College, a 20-25, 25-20, 1510, winner over St. Scholastica’s College-Manila. All championship matches are set Sunday at the San Beda gym.

Y4J fishing tourney set MORE than a hundred young anglers are expected to compete in the Fish for Peace tournament on Friday at the Aling Nene’s Pond, 675 Cabeza C. Porciuncula St. Coloong I, Valenzuela City. The event is part of the fifth Y4J Summer Camp organized by the Youth for Jesus (Y4J), including a family day out also happening on the same day as the angling tournament.

Taiwan LPGA aces boost PH Ladies’ Golf Tour cast FIFTY Taiwan LPGA Tour campaigners, headed by ICTSI Ladies Open winner Hwang Ye-Nah, gear up for a return stint on the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour, which kicks off its fourth season on March 9-11 with the ICTSI Champion Tour at Splendido Taal Golf Club in Tagaytay. Hwang nipped local amateur ace Princess Superal by one to rule the inaugural staging of a TLPGA event at Southlinks last year but the Korean ace faces a formidable challenge in her drive for another TLPGA and LPGT crown against a stellar roster toughened up by a slew of Taiwan LPGA players. They include Yu Pei-lin, No. 8 in the current TLPGA Order of

Merit ranking, No. 10 Chen Yu-Ju, No. 12 Huang Ching, No. 18 Lu Ya Huei and No. 19 Pan Yen-ling and Thai Kanphanitnan Muangkhumaskul, winner of the Hitachi Ladies Classic, the kickoff leg of this year’s Taiwan LPGA. With the cream of the country’s pro crop and leading amateurs also in the fold, the battle for top honors in the $75,000 event pre-

sented by Champion and TLPGA and sponsored by International Container Terminal Services, Inc. is expected to be fierce and tight. The 54-hole championship, organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc., is the first of two LPGT tournaments serving as the fifth and sixth legs of the Taiwan LPGA, underlining the LPGT’s growing status as one of the circuits to play in the region. The ICTSI Champion Tour at Manila Southwoods will be held next on March 16-18 at the Legends course in Carmona, Cavite with practically the same Splendido field clashing in another $75,000 tournament backed by adidas, Custom Clubmakers, KZG, TaylorMade, Champion, Summit Natural Drinking Water, Pacsports,

Sharp and Rustans Supermarket. Joining Muangkhumaskul in the crack Thai roster are Amolkan Phalajivin, winner of the LPGT Splendido in 2014, Walailak Satarak, Kurika Jang, Panuma Vitayakonkomol, Thanuttra Boonraksasat, Saruttaya Ngam-Usawan, Saranporn Langkulgasettrin, Supakchaya Pattaranakrueang, Chayuda Singhsuwan, Mookharin Ladgratok and Pornpak Paksakul. Others joining the title hunt are former Philippine Ladies Open champion Lee Jeong-hwa and fellow Koreans, Kang Ji-won, Grace Lee and Gu Na-eun, Japanese Tomoko Takahashi, Fumika Kawagishi, Ai Asano, Senno Yasufuku and Mayumi Chinzei, and Aretha Pan and Dianne Luke of Malaysia.

Magnaye-Morada pair captures Prima doubles’ crown NATIONAL players Peter Gabriel Magnaye and Alvin Morada bagged the men’s open doubles’ title of 9th Prima Pasta Badminton Championship by beating Antonie Carlos Cayanan and Philip Joper Escueta yesterday at the Powersmash in Makati City. Magnaye and Morada overcame a sluggish first-set performance to score a 14-21, 21-16, 21-19 win over fellow national players Cayanan and

Escueta in the championship round to grab the doubles’ crown of the competition organized by Alex Lim. National players Alyssa Ysabel Leonardo and Thea Marie Pomar bashed fellow national players Jessie Francisco and Eleanor Christine Inlayo, 21-16, 16-21, 21-16, to capture the women’s open doubles’ crown. The tournament attended by at least 2,000 participants was supported by Smart, Boysen Paints,

Mabz Builders, Monocrete Construction, Morning Star Milling, ILO Construction, Pioneer Insurance, Promax, Babolat, Vitwater, Regent Foods Corp., and Del Monte Fit N Right. The competition Is backed by Jones Lang LaSalle Leechiu, Jose Siao Ling & Associates, Goldilocks, Mega Subic Terminal Services Inc., Sincere Construction, U2 Electrical, United Colourtech,

Wl-An Aluminum, Window One, Waterlite Engineering, Unitech Industrial Sales, Ultracote, Amstar, NCS Builders, Unipak Plastics and Containers, GCI Industries, Belarmino and Associates, and Sidel Industrial. In other men’s doubles finals, National University’s Mike Minuluan and Alem Palmares defeated JC Clarito and Jan Sotea, 21-13, 2118, to win the doubles’ A class title.

Phoenix backs slalom EVERYTHING is all set for the 2016 RACE Motorsports Club Phoenix National Slalom Series, powered by Phoenix Premium 98 and Phoenix Accelerate fully synthetic oil. The series will hold 12 National Slalom and 3 Invitational events. Major Sponsors Federal Tires, the official tires, Outlast Battery and Robinsons Malls, will support the series. Present during the contract signing are (from left) Lito and Bing Bang Dulce of RACE; Phoenix Chief Operating Officer Romy de Guzman; Celina Ilustre, Assistant VP for Brand and Marketing and Jay Mujar, National Sales Manager. The series will be held at Robinsons Novaliches on March 13, Robinsons Antipolo on April 3, Robinsons Las Pinas on April 24, Robinsons Starmills Pampanga on May 1, Malolos Commercial Center on May 22, Robinsons Sta. Rosa on June 5, Robinsons Novaliches on June 26, Robinsons Starmills Pampanga on July 10, Robinsons General Trias on August 7, Robinsons Antipolo on Sept. 4, Robinsons Novaliches on Oct. 9 and Riverbanks Marikina on Nov. 6.

W E D N E S D AY : M A R C H 2 , 2 0 1 6

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R e p u b l i c o f t h e Ph i l i p p i n e s D E PA R T M E N T O F E D U CAT I O N R E G I O N I V- A G a t e 2 K a r a n g a l a n D r i ve Cainta, Rizal

SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

I N V I TAT I O N T O B I D T h e D e p E D R e g i o n I V - A , t h r o u g h t h e 2 016 G A A i n t e n d s t o a p p l y t h e s u m o f T h r e e H u n d r e d T h r e e M i l l i o n N i n e T h o u s a n d Tw o H u n d r e d T h i r t y T h r e e P e s o s ( P h p 3 0 3 , 0 0 9 , 2 3 3 . 0 0) b e i n g t h e A p p r o v e d B u d g e t f o r t h e C o n t r a c t ( A B C) t o e l i g i b l e p a y m e n t s u n d e r t h e c o n t r a c t f o r t h e S u p p l y a n d D o o r- t o - D o o r D e l i v e r y o f Te c h n i c a l , Vo c a t i o n a l a n d L i v e l i h o o d M a t e r i a l s , To o l s and Equipment for 33 Subject Specializations to Public Senior High Schools in DepED Region IV- A , inclusive of installation and testing of such G oods at Deliver y Sites. Bids rec eived in exc ess of the A BC per Lot shall be automatic ally rejected in ac c ordanc e with S e c t i o n 31.1 o f t h e R e v i s e d I R R o f R A 9 18 4 a t b i d o p e n i n g . LOT No.

Subject - Specializations

Budget for the Contract in Php

HE- Beauty Care & Hairdressing

Bread and Pastr y

Bar tending

310 , 0 0 0 . 0 0

Caregiving

4 , 8 5 0 ,12 4 . 0 0

D r e s s m a k i n g & Ta i l o r i n g

8 , 5 5 7, 8 8 0 . 0 0

Handicraft

1,74 3 , 3 9 1. 0 0

H o u s e ke e p i n g

Nail Care

P h p11, 0 2 9 , 5 5 3 . 0 0 4 8 , 016 , 3 7 5 . 0 0

11, 2 8 6 , 4 2 4 . 0 0 664,968.00

Wellness Massage

1, 0 9 6 , 2 9 4 . 0 0

C o o ke r y

38,563,800.00 2 0 , 0 8 7, 2 9 0 . 0 0

Food & Beverages

Fr o n t O f f i c e I n d u s t r i a l A r t s

5 , 411, 3 3 0 . 0 0

Electrical Installation & Maintenance

9,624,573.0 0

Carpentr y

3 , 4 47, 6 6 8 . 0 0

Masonr y & Tile Setting

Consumer Electronics Ser vicing

Refrigeration and Airconditioning

S M AW, G M AW, G TAW

17, 4 9 0 ,10 0 . 0 0 16 , 5 0 0 , 9 6 0 . 0 0

Automotive Ser vicing

Broadband Installation

Mechatronics

19 2 , 5 5 4 . 0 0 6 , 2 5 5 ,151. 0 0 4 9 1, 4 9 0 . 0 0

9 3 , 0 51. 0 0 15 7, 4 4 3 . 0 0

Plumbing

Tr a n s m i s s i o n L i n e I n s t a l l a t i o n & M a i n t e n a n c e I C T

33,950.00 278,460.0 0

M e d i c a l Tr a n s c r i p t i o n

Animation

1, 2 41, 9 7 9 . 0 0 4 ,115 , 4 3 0 . 0 0

Computer Hardware Ser vicing

3 ,7 5 5 , 2 7 0 . 0 0

Contact Center

Computer Programming

1, 2 81,12 8 , 0 0 3 0 ,181, 9 5 4 . 0 0

Te c h n i c a l D r a f t i n g A g r i c u l t u r e & F i s h e r y A r t s

Plant Production/Hor ticulture

Animal Production

Fish Production

Food Proc essing

6 , 5 47, 8 6 5 . 0 0 29,43 4,8 40.0 0 2,380,336.00 4 ,719 ,14 9 . 0 0 13 ,16 8 , 3 5 3 . 0 0

T O TA L

303,009,223.00

T h e D e p E D R e g i o n I V - A t h r o u g h i t s B i d s a n d A w a r d s C o m m i t t e e ( B A C) , n o w i n v i t e s b i d s f o r t h e h e r e i n G o o d s . D e l i v e r y o f t h e G o o d s i s r e q u i r e d w i t h i n S e v e n t y F i v e ( 75 ) c a l e n d a r d a y s u p o n r e c e i p t o f t h e N o t i c e t o P r o c e e d . B i d d e r s m u s t h a v e c o m p l e t e d , w i t h i n f i v e (5 ) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The amount of the similar completed contract must be at least 50% of the ABC to be bid. T h e p r o s p e c t i v e b i d d e r s h o u l d h a v e c o m p l e t e d a t l e a s t t w o (2) s i m i l a r c o n t r a c t s a n d t h e a g g r e g a t e c o n t r a c t a m o u n t s s h o u l d b e e q u i v a l e n t t o a t l e a s t 5 0 % o f t h e A B C t o b e b i d; a n d the largest of these similar contracts must be equivalent to at least 25% of the ABC to be b i d . (S e c . 2 3 . 5 .1. 3 I R R) . T h e d e s c r i p t i o n o f a n e l i g i b l e b i d d e r i s c o n t a i n e d i n t h e B i d d i n g documents, in Section II, Instr uction to Bidders. Bidder may bid for one, more than one or a l l o f t h e i t e m s i n o n e , m o r e t h a n o n e o r a l l o f t h e l o t s . Ev a l u a t i o n a n d a w a r d s h a l l b e m a d e on a per item/lot basis. B i d din g w ill b e c o n duc te d t hr o u g h o p e n c o m p et it i ve b i d din g p r o c e dur e using a n o n di sc ret i o nar y "pas s / f ail " c r ite r i o n as sp e c i f i e d in t h e I m p l e m e nt in g Rul e s an d Re g ulat i o ns (I R R) of Re pub li c Ac t (R A) 918 4, ot h e r w i s e k n ow n as t h e " G ove r nm e nt Pr o c ur e m e nt Ac t ."

Jelik stuns champion, leads Subic-Bora race BORACAY—Top contender Jelik, skippered by Hong Kong’s Frank Pong, drew the first blood as foreign entries dominated the 7th Standard Insurance Subic Bay to Boracay Race.

B i d d i n g i s r e s t r i c t e d t o F i l i p i n o c i t i z e n s / s o l e p r o p r i e t o r s h i p, p a r t n e r s h i p s , o r o r g a n i z a t i o n s w i t h a t l e a s t s i x t y ( 6 0 %) i n t e r e s t o r o u t s t a n d i n g c a p i t a l s t o c k b e l o n g i n g t o c i t i z e n s o f t h e Philippines, and to citizens or organizations of a countr y the laws or regulations of which g r a n t s i m i l a r r i g h t s o r p r i v i l e g e s t o F i l i p i n o c i t i z e n s , p u r s u a n t t o R A 518 3 a n d s u b j e c t t o C o m m o n w e a l t h A c t 13 8 .

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

A c omplete set of Bidding Documents may be purchased from the DepED Region IV- A BAC Secretariat, loc ated at Gate 2 Karangalan Drive, Cainta, Rizal, Supply O f f ic e upon acc omplishing a bidder 's infor mation sheet and payment in c ash of a non - refundable fee by i n t e r e s t e d b i d d e r s i n t h e a m o u n t s t a t e d b e l o w t o t h e D e p E D C a s h i e r. LOT No.

Subject - Specializations

HE- Beauty Care & Hairdressing

Bread and Pastr y

Bar tending

Cost of Bid Docs P h p10 , 0 0 0 . 0 0 10 , 0 0 0 . 0 0 ------------------

Caregiving

D r e s s m a k i n g & Ta i l o r i n g

Handicraft

H o u s e ke e p i n g

Nail Care

Wellness Massage

10 , 0 0 0 . 0 0

C o o ke r y

10 , 0 0 0 . 0 0

3,000.00 10 , 0 0 0 . 0 0 3,000.00 10 , 0 0 0 . 0 0 500.00

Food & Beverages

10 , 0 0 0 . 0 0

Fr o n t O f f i c e I n d u s t r i a l A r t s

10 , 0 0 0 . 0 0

Electrical Installation & Maintenance

10 , 0 0 0 . 0 0

Carpentr y

Masonr y & Tile Setting

Consumer Electronics Ser vicing

10 , 0 0 0 . 0 0 -----------------10 , 0 0 0 . 0 0

Refrigeration and Airconditioning

S M AW, G M AW, G TAW

-----------------10 , 0 0 0 . 0 0

Automotive Ser vicing

10 , 0 0 0 . 0 0

Broadband Installation

------------------

Mechatronics

------------------

Plumbing

------------------

Tr a n s m i s s i o n L i n e I n s t a l l a t i o n & M a i n t e n a n c e I C T

------------------

M e d i c a l Tr a n s c r i p t i o n

Animation

3,000.00

Computer Hardware Ser vicing

3,000.00

Php 3,000.00

Contact Center

Computer Programming

Te c h n i c a l D r a f t i n g A g r i c u l t u r e & F i s h e r y A r t s

Plant Production/Hor ticulture

Animal Production

Fish Production

Food Proc essing

3,000.00 10 , 0 0 0 . 0 0 5,000.00 10 , 0 0 0 . 0 0 3,000.00 3,000.00

The Bids and Awards Committee of the Municipality of Limay will be accepting bids for the procurement of the ff; Name of Project/ Contract 1. Supply, Delivery and Installation of 8”x12” Household Number Plates with Number Embossed 3M Sticker with Lamination and Limay Logo Centennial Imprinted 2. School Classroom Modernization

Submission & Opening of Bids

M a r c h 2 , 2 016 - M a r c h 16 , 2 016 8 : 0 0 a m t o 5 : 0 0 p m ( M o n . - S a t) M a r c h 4 , 2 016 -10 : 0 0 a m DepED IV- A c onferenc e room M a r c h 16 , 2 016 - 10 : 0 0 a m DepED IV- A Conferenc e Room

P r o s p e c t i v e B i d d e r s a r e s t r o n g l y e n c o u r a g e d t o o r d e r f r o m t h e P h i l G E P S w e b s i t e: w w w. philgeps.net. for them to be included in the Document Request List of the Project. The pre - bid c onferenc e is open to all interested par ties who may have or have not bought the bidding documents. Bids must be delivered to the address and on the date and time stated herein, All bids must be ac c ompanied by a bid secur it y in any of the ac c eptable for ms in the amount stated i n S e c t i o n I I I , B i d D a t a S h e e t I T B C l a u s e 18 .1. A v a l i d B i d S e c u r i n g D e c l a r a t i o n m u s t a c c o m p a n y t h e b i d (s) i n l i e u o f a B i d S e c u r i t y. B i ds w i ll b e o p e ne d in t h e p r e s e nc e of t h e b i d d e r 's r e p r e s e nt at i ve s w h o c h o o s e to at te n d t h e o p e ning of bi ds at t h e ad dre s s, date an d t im e st ate d h e r e in. L ate b i ds shall n ot b e ac c e pte d. The DepED Region IV- A reser ves the r ight to reject any and all bids, declare a failure of b i d d i n g , n o t a w a r d t h e c o n t r a c t (s) , o r a n n u l t h e b i d d i n g p r o c e s s w i t h o u t t h e r e b y i n c u r r i n g any liabilit y to the af fected bidder or bidders.

( T S - M A R , 2 , 2 016)

Limay, Bataan

General Fund

30 Days

Limay, Bataan

SEF Fund

30 Days

(SGD) ANN GERALYN T. PELIAS BAC Chairman

Approved Budget Cost(ABC)

Cost of Bid Doc’s.

2,849,000.00

5,000.00

245,329,800.00 50,000.00

Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening. Delivery of Goods shall not exceed thirty (30) calendar days upon winning bidder’s receipt of the Notice to Proceed. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders. Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act.” The Bidding Documents is available at the office of the BAC Secretariat, 2nd Floor, Limay Municipal Building, National Road, Barangay Townsite, Limay, Bataan and may be acquired by interested bidders through payment of non-refundable fee for the bidding documents. The schedule of activities is listed, as follows: ACTIVITIES

SCHEDULE

VENUE

Issuance of the Bidding

March 01-14, 2016

Procurement Office, Ground Floor, Documents Limay Municipal Bldg.

Pre-Bid Conference

March 04, 2015, 2:00 P.M.

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

Submission/Opening

March 16, 2016, 2:00P.M.

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

The schedule and venue of the procurement activities are as follows:

Pre-bid Conference

Location Sources Duration of FUNDS

10 , 0 0 0 . 0 0

Only bidders who purchased the Bidding Documents will be allowed to submit bids.

Issuance of Bidding Documents

Pong, the 2013 Asian Yatching Grand Prix Skipper of the Year and 1997 President’s Cup Champion, outclassed 15 other elite sailors from Asian countries, Australia, Germany and China, including record holder Syd Fisher’s Dubios 90 Ragamuffin 90 skiperred by David Witt. Perfect conditions marked the Subic-Boracay race as competing boats sailed under strong winds, according to American race officer Jerry Rollin. The four-day regatta, which will be a combination of Pointto-Point and windward/leeward courses, is part of the Asian Yachting Grand Prix season with captain Marty Rijkuris as the main judge. Aside from bragging rights, participants will gain precious points for the much-coveted Asian Yachting Skipper and Yacht of the Year awards.

Jelik defeated last year’s champion TP 52 Davidson Centennial III of Judes Echauz. Reichel/Pugh 75 Jelik, last year’s runner-up, ruled the IRC Racing Class with a corrected time of twenty eight hours, 19 minutes, 46 seconds in the 210-nautical mile of the event presented by PLDT SME Nation, Tanduay Rum, Cebu Pacific, The Lighthouse Marina Resort, Watercraft Ventures Inc. and Seawind Hotel Boracay. Defending champion Centennial III came in second in 30:29:37, while Smith 72-Custom Antipodes steered by Geoff Hill, took third place 30:40:30. This gave Jelik a solid start in the combined series of the fourday Boracay Cup Regatta that started Tuesday morning from this pristine beach resort to Carabao Island off Romblon and back.

The Pre-Bid Conference shall be open only to all interested parties who have purchased the Bidding Documents. The BAC of the Municipality of Limay reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders. For further information, please contact: Mr. Ronnie Latanafrancia BAC Secretariat 2nd Floor, Limay Muncipal Building, National Road, Brgy. Townsite, Limay, Bataan Telephone No. 613-8026

(TS- MAR. 2, 2016)

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

Arellano University dancers seek repeat ARELLANO University seeks to duplicate its sensational feat last year, while Perpetual Help hopes to regain lost glory when the 91st NCAA cheerleading competition unfolds on March 8 at the MOA Arena in Pasay City. After two straight seasons of playing second fiddle to the Altas Perps Squad, the Chief Squad finally came through and captured their first-ever cheerleading title while ending the former’s stranglehold on the sport. And Arellano University did it by the closest of margins and edged the Las Pinasbased school by a solitary point, 405.5-404.5. The cheer squad from Legarda hopes to duplicate, if not better, its performance a season ago. “We’ve prepared for the whole year and we hope to successfully defend our title,” said Arellano University coach and trainer Lucky San Juan. Arellano University is gunning for its fourth senior title this season after it topped chess, football and centerpiece athletics. They will have their hands full though against Perpetual, which is expected to exact revenge after Arellano University put a stop to the former’s five-year reign. The Altas Perps Squad is the league’s most titled teams after snaring eight of the possible 11 crowns. “We’ve trained harder after what happened last year. We’re confident we can win it back this season,” said Perpetual mentor Randolph Rosario. Perpetual Help missed a sixth-peat feat after committing too many mistakes despite performing tougher stunts and routines. Aside from Perpetual Help and Arellano University, the only other schools to win the event were Mapua and Jose Rizal in 2004 and 2008, respectively.

W E D N E S D AY : M A R C H 2 , 2 0 1 6

A15

SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

LOTTO RESULTS

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

P0.0 M+ P0.0 M+

Jr. Archers eye 2 more wins vs NU

PAL Men’s Interclub tees off. Philippine Airlines President and Chief Operating Ofﬁcer Jaime J. Bautista leads the ceremonial tee-off to open the Men’s tournament of the 69th PAL Interclub from March 2 to 5 at the Mimosa Golf and Country Club in Clark, Pampanga.

2017 SEAG hosts may be forced to add more events ORGANIZERS of the 2017 Southeast Asian Games in Malaysia have lined up 34 sports offering 342 gold medals, but may be forced to include a handful more disciplines before the final deadline. Philippine Olympic Committee sports and rules committee member Julian Camacho was in Kuala Lumpur last week for a meeting among members of the SEA Games Federation. Camacho graced Tuesday’s Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at Shakey’s Malate, and bared the list of sports to be contested in the next biennial meet scheduled Aug. 17 to 31 in Malaysia. Included in the calendar of events so far are athletics, aquatics (swimming, diving, synchronized swimming, water polo and open water swimming), archery, badminton, basketball, men’s boxing, bowling, cricket, cycling, equestrian, football, futsal,

golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, ice skating (figure and speed), karate, lawn ball, pencak silat, petanque, rugby 7, sailing, sepak takraw, shooting, snooker and billiards, squash, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, indoor volleyball, water-skiing, men’s weightlifting, and wushu. Camacho said there are countries, including the Philippines, lobbying for the inclusion of other sports like baseball, judo, triathlon, and wrestling, and additional events in the sports already in the list. The POC has asked the different national sports associations to formalize their request for inclusion if they’re not yet in the list or their requests for additional events.

“We’re giving them until March 9. We also asked them to write their own IFs (international federation) if they want to make an appeal. We will gather all the requests before we submit them to the SEA Games organizers,” he said in the session presented by San Miguel Corp., Accel, Shakey’s, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. The next SEAG Federation meeting is scheduled July 13 and 14, and then another one will be held in August or exactly one year before the Games. Camacho said the Wushu Federation of the Philippines will strongly suggest the inclusion of sanda (combat) events in the next SEA Games after Malaysia focused on the taolu (form) events, where the hosts have better chances of winning. “Malaysia wants 17 events in taolu and none in sanda, where our Filipino athletes are good. Malaysia is not good in these combat events,” said Camacho.

THE De La Salle Zobel Junior Archers are facing a brick wall against the National University Bullpups, but coach Boris Aldeguer isn’t about to throw in the towel when they meet in Game 3 of the 78th University Athletic Association of the Philippines junior basketball finals. “Our backs are still against the wall. NU needs one more game. We need two more to get the championship,” said Aldeguer, who along with his assistant Warren Capitan guested Tuesday at the weekly Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at the Shakey’s Restaurant in Malate, Manila. Aldeguer said that to beat the Bullpups, the Junior Archers need to accomplish several things. “Either we let them become a shooting team, a rebounding squad, or an inside points and rebound team. We just have to take care of limiting their inside points and rebounds,” he said. The Junior Archers were actually able to do just that when they beat the Bullpups 7160, in Game 2 at the Arena in San Juan. They were led by Marco Sario, who scored a game-high 16 points, including two of three triples at the start of the third period as the Junior Archers led by 11 going into the fourth, 47-36. The Junior Archers used a 1-3-1 zone to befuddle the Bullpups, blocking out rebounders and boxing them out to stop NU’s transition game. La Salle-Zobel, meanwhile, had 13 fastbreak points, and made 41 perimeter points. The Bullpups, who enjoy a thrice-to-beat incentive over the Junior Archers, were led by John Lloyd Clemente;s 25 points. He had 14 in third built around two treys, a three-point play and two charities keeping NU within range, 50-55. Aldeguer said the team still needs to focus on protecting the shaded area against NU’s big men.

Low Profile takes PCSO Freedom Cup THE HOARSE WHISPERER JENNY ORTUOSTE

SENT off as the outstanding favorite, Low Profile claimed the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office Freedom Cup last Feb. 28 at Metroturf. Low Profile, the Philippine Racing Commission 2015 Horse of the Year, crushed five foes to earn the P800,000 purse for owner Ruben Dimacuha. Tap Dance ran off the pace to the frontrunning Low Profile but faded in the middle stage, allowing Kanlaon to press Low Profile for the lead. But Low Profile (Tribal

Rule x Lacquaria), guided by Mark Alvarez and trained by Dodek Vicente, proved too powerful and won wire-towire by eight lengths. Biseng Bise 2nd, Kanlaon 3rd, and Tap Dance 4th. Time for the mile: 1:36.4 (24.4-23-23.2-25.8). *** That same day, Herminio Esguerra’s Manalig Ka ruled the Philracom 4YO and Older stakes race likewise as the top choice. Sharpshooter led for most of the 1,400-meter race, paced by Mabsoy. It wasn’t until the far turn that Manalig Ka’s jockey Fernando Raquel Jr. stepped on the gas, engaging Mabsoy in a frantic race down the stretch to win by an impressive three lengths.

Mabsoy 2nd, Hugo Bozz 3rd, Icon 4th. Time: 1:24 (1321’-23-26’). Present at the awarding ceremony were Philracom commissioners Ramon S. Bagatsing Jr., Wilfredo J. de Ungria (both lawyers), and Lyndon Noel Guce. Manalig Ka (Real Spicy x Tatler Cover) also won the Philracom 1,400-meter 1st leg Import/Local Challenge last Feb. 14 at San Lazaro Leisure Park with the same rider. *** Silhouette finished three lengths ahead of Indianpana last Feb. 26 at Santa Ana Park in the trial race for the PCSO 3YO Open maiden. Reined by Fernando Raquel Jr., Silhouette stopped the clock at 1:20.6

for 1,300 meters, beating Indianpana to the wire by less than a second. The other finishers were, in order: Tapped It, Lollipop, World Famous, Clean Time, Big Cat Drama, and Wolverine. The actual race will be held at the same track on Mar. 12. *** In a faceoff of the entries of two young horseowners, James Albert Dichaves’s Holly Bear won the mile Philracom charity race last Feb. 25 at Santa Ana Park, edging out Migs Almeda’s Love To Death. Don Albertini 3rd, Our Angel’s Dream (also owned by Dichaves) 4th. Time: 1:42. The race benefits the Baco,

Oriental Mindoro shelter rehabilitation program. In the Philracom-Santa Ana Park Freedom Day Cup the same day, Tek Heng Chua’s Puting Biyaya outran seven others over a mile. Lady Leisure 2nd, Real Talk 3rd, Spinning Light 4th. Time: 1:43.8. *** To augment the low racehorse population, Philracom eased restrictions on the racing of imported horses. Resolutions 6-2016 and 13-2016, said Philracom Chairman Andrew A. Sanchez, “will level the playing field among participating horses” and also “ease the burden on horseowners” who have invested in acquiring horses from abroad.

A large pool of horses is necessary for exciting and fair races that will attract racing fans and sustain the sport. While there is an average of 2,000 registered racehorses each year, not all of them race at any one time. About a third of them are sidelined throughout the year because of injury, illness, suspension or other penalty, or on spell. There is also attrition due to poor performance, age, death, or other causes. The new rules shall be effective for five years, after which they are subject to review. *** Facebook: Gogirl Racing, Twitter: @gogirlracing, Instagram: @jensdecembe

A16

W E D N E S DAY : M A R C H 2 , 2 0 16 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

Ginebra a tough test for Mahindra By Jeric Lopez

SECOND-RUNNING Mahindra is about to face yet another stiff test as it returns to action in the 2016 Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup.

James returns; Cavs hold off Pacers TURN TO A12

Volcanoes are runners-up. The Philippine Volcanoes Men’s 7s Team recently returned from the 1st leg of the 2016 Asian 7s Championships, where they settled for the silver medal. The championship was played over two weekends in Chennai and the United Arab Emirates. Here, Jonico Ater Hardwick, the PH’s top-scorer with 15 tries over the two tournament weekends, tries to evade a defender.

SSC trackster shatters 2 NCAA records By Peter Atencio JOMAR Udtohan broke the sprints’ records in the recent 91st National Collegiate Athletic Association athletics’ competition at the Philsports track oval in Pasig City. The 19-year-old Udtohan, a student of San Sebastian College, tied the standing 100-meter run mark twice, clocking 10.66 seconds in the heats, before finishing with a new mark of 10.59 seconds in the finals. This broke the previous best mark of 10.73 seconds, established by Anfernee Lopena

of College of St. Benilde in 2004. Udtohan also broke the 200-m sprint mark, clocking 21.89 seconds to reset the 21.94 seconds by national athlete Henry Dagmil in 2005. Lopena came in second to Udtohan in both the 100-meter and 200-meter sprints. Udtohan first made a splash in the 2014 Palarong Pambansa where he was named as Most Valuable Player after ruling the 100-meter, 200-meter and 400-meter runs in record-breaking fashion. Despite Udtohan’s feat, however, SSC finished seventh overall with 200 points.

Arellano University, which won its first-ever track and field crown, is no.1 with 692 points, getting the needed points from Immuel Camino, a fourthyear education student, who topped the 1500-meter run, the 3000-meter steeplechase, and the 5000-meter run. Mapua is second with 575.50, while Jose Rizal University and Perpetual Help placed third and fourth, respectively, with 407.5 and 312 points. In the junior side, Emilio Aguinaldo College lorded it over with 759 points, followed by SSC and Lyceum with 656 and 348.5 points.

Junior Archers need 2 more wins TURN TO A15 EY ACASIO

Sitting in solo second not panicking and we’re place with their impressive working our way better.” 3-1 card, the Enforcers will Both teams are coming off once again look to shock ev- hard-fought victories in their eryone when they last assignments. take on a tough Mahindra withGames Wednesday challenge from a (Ynares stood NLEX, 106Sports Center, streaking Baran99, last Friday, Antipolo City) gay Ginebra (2-2) 4:15 p.m. - Blackwater boosted by the vs. San Miguel today at 7 p.m. at 7 p.m. - Mahindra vs. 30-point perforBarangay Ginebra the Ynares Center mance of import in Antipolo City. Augustus GilIn the first game christ, while Gineat 4:15 p.m., an equally in- bra came up with a huge 92triguing clash takes place 87 win over Star last Sunday. as Blackwater (2-2) battles San Miguel Beer also Philippine Cup champion seemed to have found its San Miguel Beer (1-1). form after a quick champiThe sophomore squad onship hangover. Mahindra is enjoying its best After a stunning loss to start in a young PBA career. Mahindra to open their camThey are armed with a paign, the Beermen bounced two-game winning streak, back mightily last Friday, but so are the rejuvenated pouncing on GlobalPort, Gin Kings, who have recov- 120-109, to even their slate. ered nicely after a 0-2 start. Import Tyler WilkerCoaches from both son showed how much of squads like how their re- a weapon he can be, exspective teams are progress- ploding for a season-high ing as the conference ap- 52 points in that SMB win proaches the mid-point of against the Batang Pier. the elimination round. On the other hand, the “We’re staying composed Elite have alternated wins now,” said Mahindra coach with losses thus far in its Chito Victolero. “Naging four games. matured na rin ‘yung mga Blackwater suffered a players. They now know back-breaking 103-122 sethow to win and how to close back at the hands of the out games.” Hotshots last week. “The good news for our The Elite are now lookteam right now is that we’re ing to bounce back to keep settling down,” said Ginebra their place in the middle of tactician Tim Cone. “We’re the pack.

WEDNESDAY: MARCH 2, 2016

RAY S. EÑANO EDITOR

RODERICK T. DELA CRUZ ASSISTANT EDITOR

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

BUSINESS

PLDT to borrow P7b in 2 half nd

By Darwin G. Amojelar

PSe comPoSite index

PHILIPPINE Long Distance Telephone Co. said Tuesday it will borrow up to P7 billion in the second half to refinance maturing dollar-denominated debt.

Closing March 1, 2016

8000 8340 7880 7420 6960 6500

6,729.53 58.49

PeSo-dollar rate

Closing March 1, 2016 48.00 46.00 45.00

P47.350

44.00

43.00

HIGH P47.340 LOW P47.460 AVERAGE P47.391 VOLUME 796.600M

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

oPriceS il P today

P20.40-P23.80 Diesel P34.55-P39.15 Kerosene Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Tuesday, March 1, 2016

F oreign e xchange r ate Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

47.5680

Japan

Yen

0.008876

0.4222

Pound

1.391700

66.2004

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.128584

6.1165

Switzerland

Franc

1.002004

47.6633

Canada

Dollar

0.738662

35.1367

Singapore

Dollar

0.711035

33.8225

Australia

Dollar

0.713800

33.9540

Bahrain

Dinar

2.658161

126.4434

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266702

12.6865

Brunei

Dollar

0.708516

33.7027

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000075

0.0036

Thailand

Baht

0.028066

1.3350

UAE

Dirham

0.272287

12.9521

Euro

1.087500

51.7302

Korea

Won

0.000808

0.0384

China

Yuan

0.152579

7.2579

India

Rupee

0.014663

0.6975

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.238095

11.3257

New Zealand

Dollar

0.658800

31.3378

Taiwan

Dollar

0.030084

1.4310 Source: PDS Bridge

New UP building. SM Prime Holdings Inc. president Hans T. Sy (left) hands over the symbolic key to University of the Philippines president Alfredo Pascual during the turnover of the nine-level Henry Sy Sr. Hall building to UP Professional Schools in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City. BOBBY CABRERA

IMF urges higher infra spending to ‘raise potential growth’ By Julito G. Rada THE International Monetary Fund said Tuesday the Philippines must increase public investments, especially on infrastructure, to raise its potential economic growth and reduce poverty. A working paper titled “Improving Public Infrastructure in the Philippines” authored by Takuji Komatsuzaki studied the macroeconomic implications of public investment scale-up in the Philippines. It found out that the Philippines’ public infrastructure investment was lower compared with its neighboring countries. Persistently low public investment

in the Philippines, it said, had resulted in a low public capital stock relative to its regional peers. Survey-based indicators also painted an unfavorable picture on the current state of public infrastructure in the Philippines. “With a low capital stock and a fast-growing young population, addressing the large infrastructure gap is needed to raise potential growth and reduce poverty and external imbalances,” the report said. “This paper shows that increasing public investment spending can generate sustained output growth, and improving public investment efficiency can bring about substantial additional ben-

efits,” it said. It said upgrading public infrastructure was a major structural challenge in the Philippines. At 21.8 percent of GDP in 2014, the investment rate in the Philippines is well below regional peers. The report said the main impediments to private investment were inadequate infrastructure, a weak investment climate and restrictions on foreign direct investment. It said the low revenue base and fiscal consolidation prevented sufficient resource allocation for public investment in the past. “Raising investment, particularly in infrastructure, would allow the country to reap the dividends of its young and growing

population,” the report said. “Public investment efficiency has room for improvement. The Philippines has made steady progress in governance and fiscal transparency. However, there is still much room to strengthen institutions to improve public investment efficiency,” it said. In an earlier forum, IMF resident representative to the Philippines Shanaka Jayanath Peiris said the country must not rely solely on remittances from migrant Filipino workers and business process outsourcing industry, but instead improve both public and private investments to sustain the country’s economic growth momentum.

“In terms of our funding activity, I think we don’t have any financial requirement for the first half of the year. We are looking at second half for the additional financing. It would be in the order of about P5 billion to P7 billion,” PLDT chief finance officer Anabelle Chua told reporters. Chua said PLDT would use the proceeds of the loan to refinance dollar-denominated debt maturing in early 2017. PLDT Group’s gross debt reached $3.4 billion in 2015, with over 60 percent due after 2018. US dollar-denominated debt accounted for 42 percent of the group’s total debt portfolio. PLDT, partly owned by Hong Kong’s First Pacific Co. Ltd. and Japan’s NTT group, earlier reported a net loss of P3.27 billion in the fourth quarter, dragging down the full-year profit in 2015 to P22.1 billion from P34.1 billion in 2014. The company was now looking at a profit guidance of P28 billion in 2016, lower than PLDT’s usual annual income target of at least P35 billion. The company earned a record P42 billion in 2010. Core profit, which excludes foreign exchange gains or losses and other non-recurring income, fell 6 percent in 2015 to P35.2 billion from P37.4 billion in 2014. Consolidated revenues dropped 1 percent in 2015 to P162.93 billion from P164.94 billion in 2014. PLDT’s total wireless service revenues amounted to P110.72 billion, down by 4 percent from P115.03 billion in 2014. Data and fixed-line business posted P48.50 billion and P58.81 billion in revenues, respectively. The group said it expected the data business to drive future growth. “The goal of our consumer group is to be the preferred digital service provider. To achieve this, we need to establish data leadership by improving not only data usage but monetization as well,” PLDT executive vice president and head of consumer group Ariel Fermin said. “Note that higher data usage by mobile subscribers drove the 26-percent [growth] in mobile Internet revenues. Data traffic grew four times more than revenues, providing us with much scope for monetization. We will also ramp up our converged offers, leveraging on the combined strengths of our business,” Fermin said.

WEDNESDAY: MARCH 2, 2016

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

The STandard BuSineSS daily STockS review Tuesday, March 1, 2016

52 Weeks

High Low 7.88 75.3 124.4 107 56.5 2.49 4.2 17 30.45

2.5 66 88.05 88.1 45.45 1.97 1.68 12.02 19.6

STOCKS

Low

FINANCIAL 2.93 2.9 44.8 44.2 99.95 98.90 84.50 83.75 36.7 35.5 3.17 3.16 1.40 1.36 14.2 13.92 15.14 14.62 1.83 1.71 675.00 675.00 0.640 0.570 76.4 75.5 0.91 0.9 15.28 15.00 52.30 51.60 102.3 98 274 270 32.6 32.1 143.1 141 1325.00 1300.00 55.75 55.50 1.6 1.54 INDUSTRIAL Aboitiz Power Corp. 42.95 43.6 42.95 Agrinurture Inc. 5.82 5.94 5.52 Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. 0.69 0.69 0.69 Alsons Cons. 1.58 1.58 1.52 Asiabest Group 10.38 10.4 10.2 C. Azuc De Tarlac 170.00 190.00 180.00 Century Food 17.76 17.84 17.78 Conc. Aggr. ‘A’ 63 63 60 Cirtek Holdings (Chips) 19 19.3 18.5 Concepcion 40 40 40 Crown Asia 2.18 2.24 2.18 Da Vinci Capital 2.74 2.9 2.68 Del Monte 11.46 11.52 11.4 DNL Industries Inc. 8.500 8.550 8.350 Emperador 7.20 7.28 7.12 Energy Devt. Corp. (EDC) 5.70 5.76 5.67 EEI 6.96 7.00 6.76 Euro-Med Lab 1.83 1.83 1.83 First Gen Corp. 19.8 20.4 19.58 First Holdings ‘A’ 60.45 60.8 59.8 Ginebra San Miguel Inc. 12.00 12.00 12.00 Holcim Philippines Inc. 14.00 14.04 13.62 Integ. Micro-Electronics 5.54 5.55 5.4 Ionics Inc 2.380 2.460 2.350 Jollibee Foods Corp. 219.00 222.80 220.00 LBC Express 9.24 9.6 9 Liberty Flour 29.50 31.00 30.90 Mabuhay Vinyl 2.78 2.82 2.82 Macay Holdings 37.95 37.85 37.85 Manila Water Co. Inc. 26.8 26.8 26.4 Maxs Group 16.4 17.14 16.2 Megawide 5.9 5.9 5.8 Mla. Elect. Co À’ 325.00 332.00 325.00 Panasonic Mfg Phil. Corp. 4.01 4.01 4.01 Pepsi-Cola Products Phil. 3.15 3.3 3.15 Petron Corporation 9.05 9.16 8.89 Phinma Corporation 11.50 11.50 11.24 Phoenix Petroleum Phils. 3.79 3.79 3.70 Phoenix Semiconductor 1.75 1.77 1.71 Pryce Corp. À’ 2.85 2.85 2.8 RFM Corporation 3.84 4.10 3.84 Roxas Holdings 4.7 4.79 4.5 San Miguel’Pure Foods `B’ 140 141.5 139 Splash Corporation 2.51 2.54 2.46 Swift Foods, Inc. 0.160 0.161 0.150 TKC Steel Corp. 1.19 1.24 1.10 Trans-Asia Oil 2.27 2.35 2.30 Universal Robina 198 199.5 198.2 Vitarich Corp. 0.64 0.69 0.63 Vulcan Ind’l. 1.20 1.25 1.17 HOLDING FIRMS Abacus Cons. À’ 0.320 0.335 0.310 Aboitiz Equity 57.0000 58.1000 56.9000 Alliance Global Inc. 14.40 14.50 14.12 Anscor À’ 5.95 6.00 5.95 ATN Holdings A 0.240 0.240 0.230 Ayala Corp À’ 689 690 684.5 Cosco Capital 7.47 7.47 7.34 DMCI Holdings 12.80 13.08 12.68 Filinvest Dev. Corp. 4.80 4.80 4.80 Forum Pacific 0.224 0.222 0.222 GT Capital 1306 1313 1275 House of Inv. 5.88 6.00 6.00 IPM Holdings 9.80 9.80 9.55 JG Summit Holdings 66.90 69.20 67.45 Lopez Holdings Corp. 5.3 5.33 5.2 Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp. 0.68 0.7 0.65 LT Group 16.1 16.06 16 Metro Pacific Inv. Corp. 5.8 6.08 5.71 Pacifica À’ 0.0310 0.0310 0.0300 Prime Orion 1.940 1.990 1.950 San Miguel Corp À’ 74.80 74.80 73.40 SM Investments Inc. 820.00 882.00 830.00 Solid Group Inc. 1.05 1.05 1.00 Top Frontier 162.000 164.800 160.000 Unioil Res. & Hldgs 0.3200 0.3250 0.3050 Wellex Industries 0.2000 0.2000 0.1960 Zeus Holdings 0.285 0.285 0.280 PROPERTY 8990 HLDG 7.020 7.050 7.000 Anchor Land Holdings Inc. 7.05 8.04 7.50 A. Brown Co., Inc. 0.85 0.86 0.84 Araneta Prop À’ 1.500 1.540 1.380 Ayala Land `B’ 32.800 32.800 32.400 Belle Corp. À’ 3.08 3.15 3.06 Cebu Holdings 5.3 5.31 5.25

890 1.01 100 1.46 30.5 91.5 137 361.2 57 180 1700 124 3.26

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 Equitable PCI Bank 625 Manulife Fin. Corp. 0.225 MEDCO Holdings 78 Metrobank 0.9 Natl. Reinsurance Corp. 17.8 PB Bank 62 Phil. National Bank 88.35 Phil. Savings Bank 276 PSE Inc. 41 RCBC `A’ 118.2 Security Bank 1200 Sun Life Financial 59 Union Bank 2.65 Vantage Equities

47 5 1.46 2.36 15.3 148 20.6 85 36 65.8 2.97 4.14 21.5 21.6 11.96 9.13 11.8 2.89 31.8 109 20.75 15.3 9.4 0.98 241

35.9 1.11 1.01 1.86 7.92 32 15.32 20.2 10.08 29.15 1.5 1.5 10.72 9.55 9.04 6.02 8.86 1.06 20.2 71.5 13.86 13.24 5.34 0.395 173

79 4 74 33.9 90 13.26 293 5 5.25 12.98 15 7.03 3.4 4.5 6.3 7.34 238 3.28 0.315 2.18 2.65 234 1.3 2.17

34.1 1.63 33 23.35 17.3 5.88 250.2 3.37 3.87 8.45 10.04 3.03 1.95 1 4.02 5.9 161 1.55 0.138 1.02 2.09 152 0.640 1.2

0.59 59.2 30.05 7.39 3.4 823.5 10.2 84 4.92 0.66 1455 7.5

0.44 48.1 20.85 6.62 0.23 634.5 7.390 12.8 2.26 0.152 837 5.3

76 9.25 0.85 17.3 5.53 0.0670 1.61 84.9 974 1.66 156 0.710 0.435 0.510

49.55 4.84 0.59 12 4.2 0.030 0.550 59.3 751 1.13 80 0.211 0.179 0.310

10.5 26.95 1.99 1.75 41.4 5.6 5.59

6.74 12 0.65 1.2 30.05 3.36 4.96

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

High

SHARES 24,595,839 83,806,920 129,332,440 78,853,909 198,046,458 414,362,884 929,753,075

2.96 44.5 99.00 83.75 36.1 3.18 1.39 14 14.34 1.46 675.00 0.580 75.6 0.91 15.00 52.00 97.85 270 32.5 142.4 1325.00 55.75 1.55

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

2.93 44.4 99.45 83.95 35.6 3.16 1.40 14 15.08 1.71 675.00 0.590 75.9 0.9 15.28 51.95 98 274 32.5 141.8 1300.00 55.75 1.54

-1.01 -0.22 0.45 0.24 -1.39 -0.63 0.72 0.00 5.16 17.12 0.00 1.72 0.40 -1.10 1.87 -0.10 0.15 1.48 0.00 -0.42 -1.89 0.00 -0.65

141,000 11,900 2,056,910 806,860 514,800 37,000 425,000 534,900 3,028,900 20000 30 9,648,000 1,124,440 270,000 11,200 232,370 120 55,820 145,700 632,900 30 201,190 353,000

43.45 5.53 0.69 1.55 10.3 190.00 17.8 60 18.96 40 2.19 2.9 11.5 8.470 7.19 5.70 6.85 1.83 20.4 60.8 12.00 14.00 5.46 2.400 221.60 9.35 31.00 2.82 37.85 26.7 17.1 5.9 332.00 4.01 3.16 9.09 11.50 3.75 1.71 2.85 4.08 4.5 140 2.5 0.152 1.19 2.35 199.2 0.67 1.17

1.16 -4.98 0.00 -1.90 -0.77 11.76 0.23 -4.76 -0.21 0.00 0.46 5.84 0.35 -0.35 -0.14 0.00 -1.58 0.00 3.03 0.58 0.00 0.00 -1.44 0.84 1.19 1.19 5.08 1.44 -0.26 -0.37 4.27 0.00 2.15 0.00 0.32 0.44 0.00 -1.06 -2.29 0.00 6.25 -4.26 0.00 -0.40 -5.00 0.00 3.52 0.61 4.69 -2.50

2,698,000 3,066,500 73,000 386,000 1,700 50 335,200 420 156,300 802,700 390,000 5,279,000 126,800 10,752,600 1,020,200 19,354,700 275,400 6,000 1,641,300 163,520 2,600 42,000 21,300 2,106,000 1,721,300 30,100 1,400 1,000 100 133,900 1,785,200 4,800 628,950 3,000 278,000 3,000,500 59,000 347,000 248,000 91,000 403,000 160,000 2,420 199,000 13,000,000 78,000 5,806,000 1,859,020 4,381,000 851,000

0.310 58.1000 14.38 5.96 0.240 690 7.43 12.94 4.80 0.222 1313 6.00 9.78 68.50 5.26 0.69 16.02 6.05 0.0300 1.960 74.00 877.00 1.01 164.800 0.3050 0.2000 0.285

-3.13 1.93 -0.14 0.17 0.00 0.15 -0.54 1.09 0.00 -0.89 0.54 2.04 -0.20 2.39 -0.75 1.47 -0.50 4.31 -3.23 1.03 -1.07 6.95 -3.81 1.73 -4.69 0.00 0.00

810,000 1,106,920 2,550,400 16,400 400,000 196,790 1,213,300 5,887,200 48,000 240,000 137,815 2,000 3,090,500 1,388,440 4,002,000 2,140,000 756,400 60,438,300 36,700,000 1,357,000 542,920 329,430 747,000 118,890 4,600,000 90,000 140,000

7.040 8.04 0.85 1.380 32.700 3.13 5.31

0.28 14.04 0.00 -8.00 -0.30 1.62 0.19

45,600 3,000 483,000 999,000 6,872,400 1,076,000 243,000

340,330.00 24,812,953 124,138.50 14,400.00

649,342.00 -220,770.00 -6,036,464.00 -127,664.50 -10,780.00 0.00 -465,715 -9,349,617.00

29,752,175.00 817,750.00 -4,710.00 940,424.00 -19,240.00 -53,850.00 -1,279,048.00 23,969,719.00 3,847,841.00 56,226,278.00 3,400.00 -9,563,546.00 991,579.00 -578,278.00 -467,060.00 320,860,170.00

1,647,765.00 12,867,944.00 -14,641,072.00 -233,810.00

-158,800.00 -91,015.00 3,060.00 5,266,950.00 177,322,060.00 266,280.00

26,614,499.00 -14,373,944.00 -10,246,270.00 5,325,218.00 14,987,800.00 230,400.00 -13,626,625.00 25,144,229.50 17,315,846.00 55,622.00 36,386,571.00 129,000.00 1,083,000.00 -3,907,440.00 58,896,090.00 -28,926.00 -13,000.00

52 Weeks

High Low

STOCKS

1.44 1.48 0.201 0.69 10.96 0.97 2.22 2.1 1.8 5.94 0.180 0.470 0.72 8.54 31.8 2.29 21.35 1.06 1.62 8.59

0.79 0.97 0.083 0.415 2.4 0.83 1.15 1.42 1.27 4.13 0.090 0.290 0.39 2.69 22.15 1.6 15.08 0.69 0.83 5.73

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

10.5 66 1.09 14.88 15.82 0.1430 5.06 99.1 12.3 7.67 2720 8.41 70.5 1.97 119.5 0.8200 2.2800 5.93 12.28 3.32 3.2 1 15.2

1.97 35.2 0.63 10.5 8.6 0.0770 2.95 56.1 10.14 4.8 1600 5.95 17.02 1.23 102.6 0.041 1.200 2.34 6.5 1.91 1.95 0.650 6

0.62 1.040 22.8 6.41 185 22.9 3486 0.760 2.28 46.05 90.1

0.335 0.37 14.54 3 79 4.39 2748 0.435 1.2 31.45 60.55

11.6 0.85 10 1.9

7.59 0.63 5 1.14

2GO Group’ ABS-CBN APC Group, Inc. Asian Terminals Inc. Bloomberry Boulevard Holdings Calata Corp. Cebu Air Inc. (5J) Centro Esc. Univ. DFNN Inc. Globe Telecom GMA Network Inc. Grand Plaza Hotel Harbor Star I.C.T.S.I. Island Info ISM Communications Jackstones Leisure & Resorts Liberty Telecom Macroasia Corp. Manila Bulletin Melco Crown Metro Retail MG Holdings NOW Corp. Pacific Online Sys. Corp. PAL Holdings Inc. Phil. Seven Corp. Philweb.Com Inc. PLDT Common PremiereHorizon Premium Leisure Puregold Robinsons RTL SBS Phil. Corp. SSI Group STI Holdings Travellers Yehey

0.0098 5.45 17.24 0.330 12.7 1.19 1.62 9.5 4.2 0.48 0.420 0.440 0.022 0.023 8.2 49.2 4.27 1.030 3.06 7.67 12.88 10.42 0.040 420 9 0.016

0.0043 1.72 6.47 0.236 6.5 0.85 0.77 5.99 1.17 0.305 0.2130 0.2160 0.013 0.014 3.240 18.96 2.11 0.365 1.54 5.4 7.26 2.27 0.015 115.9 3.67 0.0100

Abra Mining Apex À’ Atlas Cons. À’ Basic Energy Corp. Benguet Corp À’ 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. Petroenergy Res. Corp. Philex À’ PhilexPetroleum Philodrill Corp. À’ Semirara Corp. TA Petroleum United Paragon

70 553 525 120

33 490 500 101.5

515 111 1047

480 101 1011

78.95 84.8

74.5 75

ABS-CBN Holdings Corp. Ayala Corp. Pref `B1’ Ayala Corp. Pref ‘B2’ First Gen G FPH Pref C GLOBE PREF P MWIDE PREF PF Pref 2 PNX PREF 3B SMC Preferred B SMC Preferred C SMC Preferred D SMC Preferred E SMC Preferred F

6.98

0.8900 LR Warrant

-14,000.00 277,187.00 16,080.00 -17,000.00 77,570,210.00 -315,680.00

3.5

12.88

5.95

Makati Fin. Corp. Italpinas Xurpas

130.7

105.6 First Metro ETF

High

VALUE 817,604,123.079 1,506,817,682.534 1,454,330,782.15 634,617,950.99 1,873,058,814.46 192,207,586.67 6,483,989,137.879

FINANCIAL 1,500.43 (UP) 2.78 INDUSTRIAL 11,210.36 (UP) 100.82 HOLDING FIRMS 6,539.19 (UP) 171.46 PROPERTY 2,736.66 (DOWN) 5.82 SERVICES 1,369.70 (DOWN) 37.79 MINING & OIL 10,787.97 (UP) 217.36 PSEI 6,729.53 (UP) 58.49 All Shares Index 3,901.07 (UP) 24.69 Gainers: 82; Losers: 88; Unchanged: 42; Total: 212

0.550 0.970 0.126 0.430 25 0.820 0.91 1.52 1.26 3.6 0.088 0.2300 0.400 8.5 26.25 1.46 20.70 0.77 0.950 4.420

0.57 0.550 0.560 0.960 0.950 0.960 0.125 0.118 0.118 0.445 0.435 0.435 25.5 24.65 25.5 0.820 0.810 0.810 0.91 0.90 0.90 1.54 1.51 1.54 1.28 1.27 1.27 3.57 3.49 3.53 0.088 0.088 0.088 0.2260 0.2260 0.2260 0.450 0.400 0.405 8.5 8.5 8.5 26.10 25.60 25.70 1.47 1.41 1.47 20.95 20.65 20.70 0.79 0.77 0.77 0.950 0.920 0.920 4.550 4.400 4.550 SERVICES 6.68 6.75 6.62 6.62 54.05 54.15 54 54 0.485 0.500 0.500 0.500 10.5 11.2 10.1 11.2 4.18 4.24 4.15 4.21 0.0530 0.0540 0.0520 0.0520 3.1 3.15 3.06 3.11 83 82.9 81.55 82.05 10 9.5 9.5 9.5 6.12 6.14 5.98 5.98 1768 1715 1671 1684 6.57 6.64 6.57 6.57 17.56 21.40 21.25 21.25 1.17 1.17 1.17 1.17 62 62.5 61.05 61.1 0.205 0.219 0.194 0.202 1.1800 1.2000 1.1600 1.1600 2.2 2.2 2.2 2.2 7.55 7.45 7.22 7.35 4.00 4.05 3.97 4.00 2.58 2.58 2.58 2.58 0.580 0.580 0.520 0.570 1.95 2.03 1.98 1.99 3.43 3.42 3.30 3.36 0.265 0.265 0.265 0.265 0.710 0.710 0.690 0.690 18 17.12 17.12 17.12 4.55 4.60 4.50 4.60 101.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 23.00 23.00 21.90 22.35 1830.00 1860.00 1750.00 1755.00 0.445 0.440 0.425 0.440 0.870 0.890 0.860 0.880 34.00 34.00 33.80 34.00 61.30 62.00 60.10 60.30 4.95 5.08 5.00 5.04 3.50 3.45 3.20 3.20 0.495 0.530 0.495 0.520 3.8 3.82 3.72 3.72 4.930 4.750 4.510 4.600 MINING & OIL 0.0044 0.0045 0.0043 0.0044 2.09 2.10 2.10 2.10 4.28 4.36 4.28 4.34 0.245 0.250 0.245 0.245 5.2000 4.89 4.89 4.8900 0.58 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.435 0.440 0.430 0.440 7.24 7.45 7.24 7.40 0.700 0.700 0.680 0.680 0.280 0.295 0.285 0.285 0.290 0.310 0.290 0.295 0.295 0.315 0.305 0.305 0.0130 0.0130 0.0120 0.0130 0.013 0.013 0.013 0.013 1.87 1.9 1.84 1.85 4.99 5.15 5 5.1 2.46 2.49 2.46 2.48 0.5500 0.5500 0.5500 0.5500 1.2400 1.2800 1.2500 1.2500 3.50 3.50 3.38 3.38 5.75 5.95 5.79 5.79 1.75 1.78 1.60 1.65 0.0110 0.0110 0.0110 0.0110 123.00 128.50 124.00 127.20 2.28 2.36 2.28 2.33 0.0076 0.0070 0.0070 0.0070 PREFERRED 54 54.5 53.7 53.85 545 544.5 526 544.5 540 532 532 532 118 118 118 118 500 500 500 500 545 527 527 527 115.9 113 112 112 1048 1045 1045 1045 110.8 108.8 107 107 79 80 80 80 83 82.8 80.15 82.8 78 76.5 76.5 76.5 77 77 76.5 76.6 78.2 78.2 78 78 WARRANTS & BONDS 2.290 2.350 2.300 2.300 SME 2.95 3.24 2.94 3 2.6 2.58 2.45 2.5 13.8 13.54 13.5 13.52 EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 109 109.8 109.1 109.5

T op g ainerS STOCKS

Low

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

1.82 -1.03 -6.35 1.16 2.00 -1.22 -1.10 1.32 0.79 -1.94 0.00 -1.74 1.25 0.00 -2.10 0.68 0.00 0.00 -3.16 2.94

1,808,000 83,000 6,180,000 1,660,000 1,560,800 2,226,000 1,396,000 7,465,000 46,000 19,515,000 100,000 20,000 2,530,000 8,000 1,543,900 551,000 7,110,600 229,000 549,000 7,624,000

-571,240.00

-0.90 -0.09 3.09 6.67 0.72 -1.89 0.32 -1.14 -5.00 -2.29 -4.75 0.00 21.01 0.00 -1.45 -1.46 -1.69 0.00 -2.65 0.00 0.00 -1.72 2.05 -2.04 0.00 -2.82 -4.89 1.10 -0.99 -2.83 -4.10 -1.12 1.15 0.00 -1.63 1.82 -8.57 5.05 -2.11 -6.69

52,900 43,690 210,000 300 1,423,000 -2,574,050.00 25,230,000 -21,200.00 245,000 -15,450.00 30,990 1,169,773.50 800 39,100 350,860,680 41,000 700 69,000 80,730.00 793,730 3,186,815.50 98,890,000 255,500.00 801,000 1,000 46,500 371,000 -132,000.00 1,000 26,000 7,665,000 269,810.00 648,000 549,900.00 50,000 4,138,000 89,000.00 3,000 41,000 130,550 0.00 910,600 3,080,680.00 546,915 -182,618,200.00 1,570,000 7,000.00 10,177,000 -1,328,110.00 5,928,900 23,820,120.00 1,098,120 Err:522 558,000 760,670.00 29,679,000 -8,200,690.00 5,170,000 20,600.00 674,000 209,760.00 30,000

0.00 0.48 1.40 0.00 -5.96 3.45 1.15 2.21 -2.86 1.79 1.72 3.39 0.00 0.00 -1.07 2.20 0.81 0.00 0.81 -3.43 0.70 -5.71 0.00 3.41 2.19 -7.89

196,000,000 -35,200.00 148,000 41,000 570,000 24,500.00 300 65,000 360,000 24,800 10,970,000 -1,734,900.00 20,000 80,980,000 7,250,000 24,800.00 85,600,000 2,000,000 267,000 7,900,000 -4,874,990.00 16,000 71,000 34,000 -6,400.00 10,000 3,417,400 -2,283,402.00 6,848,000 1,039,700.00 7,300,000 650810 -12,184,502.00 50,000 3,000,000

-0.28 -0.09 -1.48 0.00 0.00 -3.30 -3.36 -0.29 -3.43 1.27 -0.24 -1.92 -0.52 -0.26

374,420 20,560 3,010 12,000 2,000 1,000 1,000 3,000 5,990 53,200 38,230 13,300 98,970 7,170

0.44

114,000

1.69 -3.85 -2.03

124,000 367,000 258,400

0.46

5,220

7,056,340.00 -16,400.00 45,000.00 -5,325,820.00 6,400.00 -19,252,060.00

-418,120.00 240,900.00 12,578,360.00 11,850.00 -1,309,030.00

935,345.50

-1,000,000.00

0.00 0.00

-212,350.00 -1,710,402.00

T op L oSerS Close (P)

Change (%)

STOCKS

Close (P)

Change (%)

Grand Plaza Hotel

21.25

21.01

SSI Group

3.20

Equitable PCI Bank

1.71

17.12

Araneta Prop `A'

1.380

-8.57 -8.00

Anchor Land Holdings Inc.

8.04

14.04

United Paragon

0.0070

-7.89

C. Azuc De Tarlac

190.00

11.76

Yehey

4.600

-6.69

SM Investments Inc.

877.00

6.95

Crown Equities Inc.

0.118

-6.35

Asian Terminals Inc.

11.2

6.67

Benguet Corp `A'

4.8900

-5.96

RFM Corporation

4.08

6.25

PhilexPetroleum

1.65

-5.71

Da Vinci Capital

2.9

5.84

Swift Foods, Inc.

0.152

-5.00

Eastwest Bank

15.08

5.16

Centro Esc. Univ.

9.5

-5.00

Liberty Flour

31.00

5.08

Agrinurture Inc.

5.53

-4.98

WEDNESDAY: MARCH 2, 2016

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

D&L sees higher 2016 profit By Alena Mae S. Flores

MANUFACTURING company D&L Industries Inc. said it expects a double-digit growth in net income this year, after profit climbed 12 percent to P2.28 billion in 2015. D&L executive vice president and chief finance officer Alvin Lao said the anticipated growth in 2016 would come from all businesses. “The port congestion that held back performance in late

2014 and first half of 2015 posed short-term challenges to the company, but also created a tremendous long-term opportunity,” Lao said. “While [port congestion was] a setback to the specialty

plastics business, it highlighted the importance of having a strong domestic supplier like D&L, particularly in such highly dynamic markets as consumer food and beverage,” he said. Lao said the upcoming national elections would also boost sales and earnings, on strong demand for food, fuel and paint. D&L reported a recurring net income of P2.29 billion in 2015, translating into earnings per share of P0.32.

Earnings before interest and taxes increased 13 percent year-on-year to P2.9 billion despite the 5 percent drop in revenues. D&L said volume growth of specialties, led by food ingredients, more than offset the decline in commodities. In total, high-margin specialties accounted for 62 percent of revenues. Margin gains in both specialties and commodities drove overall gross profit margin from 15.8 percent in 2014

to 18.3 percent in 2015, a record in the company’s 53-year operation. “Notwithstanding the 10-percent decline in revenues due to lower vegetable oil prices, the improvement in the revenue mix of oleo-fats drove margins higher and resulted in a 19-percent increase in net income for 2015. Growth was fueled by increased volume and margin expansion in specialties, specifically specialty ingredients and food safety,” the company said.

Market rebounds; SMIC tops advancers STOCKS rebounded Tuesday, as crude oil climbed to an eightweek high as monetary stimulus in China brightened prospects for the world’s second-largest economy. The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, advanced 58 points, or 0.9 percent, to close at 6,729.53. The bellwether was still down 3.2 percent since the start of the year. The heavier index, representing all shares, also gained 24 points, or 0.6 percent, to settle at 3,901.07, on a value turnover of P6.5 billion. Losers outnumbered advancers, 88 to 82, while 42 issues were unchanged. Eleven of the 20 most active stocks ended in the green, led by SM Investments Corp., the holding company of tycoon Henry Sy, which jumped 7 percent to P877. Metro Pacific Investments Corp. climbed 4.3 percent to P6.05. JG Summit Holdings Inc., the investment company of tycoon John Gokongwei, gained 2.4 percent to P68.50, while power retailer Manila Electric Co. added 2.2 percent to close at P332. Meanwhile, most Asian markets traded higher, after the People’s Bank of China cut lenders’ reserve requirements, freeing up funds to help spur lending in the nation. The yuan gained for the first time in eight days and higher oil prices buoyed Malaysia’s ringgit. Copper retreated after a gauge of Chinese manufacturing declined, matching its lowest level of the past seven years. Gold rose and Japan sold 10-year debt at a negative yield for the first time. The mixed picture for stocks across the region followed a choppy session on Wall Street where the major indices finished Monday in the red, as profit-taking set in following a string of gains in the last two weeks. Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.69 percent by the lunch break, while Shanghai edged up 0.20 percent and Hong Kong added 0.55 percent. Sydney was up 0.54 percent.

Hditrade launched. HDI Securities launches its online trading service called HDitrade through a bell ringing ceremony at the Philippine Stock Exchange. HDitrade is powered by PSETradex, the online service platform developed by the exchange. Shown are (from left) HDI Securities director and president George Cabo Cheng, HDI Group of Companies chairman and chief executive Brandon Chia, PSE president and chief executive Hans Sicat, PSE chief operating officer Roel Refran and PSE director Alejandro Yu.

PSE to offer dollar-denominated securities trading By Jenniffer B. Austria THE Philippine Stock Exchange said Tuesday it will soon launch dollar-denominated securities trading in the country. PSE president and chief executive Hans Sicat said it would allow trading and settlement in US dollar of securities listed and quoted on the local bourse. Sicat said the exchange would issue the guidelines for DDS trading for public comment. The guidelines would then be submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission for approval this year. Among the companies that may qualify for dollar-denominated securities are Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., Del Monte Pacific Inc., Manulife

Financial Corp. and Sunlife Financial Inc. Sicat said DDS trading would provide issuers flexibility to meet their capital requirements. It will also provide alternative investment instruments for investors with US dollar deposits. PSE said with the launch of the new project, it planned to attract offshore investors and reduce currency risk exposure. The re-introduction of DDS trading is one the new initiatives the exchange plans to implement this year to boost trading. Sicat said this year, he was expecting earnings to be affected by the decline in average daily trade volume, which already dropped to P6.7 billion in the first two months from P8.96 billion in

2015. Sicat said he expected trade volume to recover in the coming years, as the Philippines’ underlying economy remained strong. “Philippine macroeconomy is very healthy versus Asian neighbors, which overtime should have us viewed as reasonable place to invest in or expand their businesses in,” Sicat said. PSE is also finalizing the rules on infrastructure listing, in order to attract more initial public offerings in the market. Sicat said the exchange might waive track record and profitability requirements for infrastructure companies with concrete infrastructure plans for toll roads, power plants and port projects. He said a similar waiver was

granted to renewable energy companies in 2011. Several infrastructure companies expressed interest in listing in the PSE once the rules were finalized. Sicat said it was important for the exchange to set the rules for infrastructure listing, as several infrastructure projects would require massive funding over the next three years. PSE registered a net income of P683 million in 2015, down 21 percent from 2014, as operating revenues and other income went down by 15 percent to P1.4 billion. Listing-related income, which accounted for 40 percent of operating revenues, fell 41 percent year-on-year to P483 million.

B4 Chevron plans sale of steam holdings CHEVRON Corp. is considering a sale of its geothermal assets in Asia, including those in the Philippines, as it seeks to counter a slump in energy markets, according to people familiar with the matter. The operations could fetch as much as $3 billion, said one of the people, who asked not to be named because the deliberations are private. Chevron, the largest US oil producer after Exxon Mobil Corp., is working with financial advisers on the sale, though no formal process has started, and Chevron may decide to keep the assets, the people said. A spokesman for Chevron said the company doesn’t comment on mergers, acquisitions or divestitures. Chevron has slashed headcount and canceled drilling projects to slow the exodus of cash as prices in the world energy markets spiral downward. The company is also seeking buyers for its stake in an Indonesian oil and natural gas field that may fetch about $1 billion, people with knowledge of the matter said in October. The San Ramon, Californiabased company joins ConocoPhillips and Apache Corp. in selling assets as oil prices hover near the lowest level in more than a decade. Brent, the global benchmark, dropped 35 percent last year for a third annual loss. Chevron’s main Asian geothermal holdings, which generate energy from the earth’s heat, are based in Indonesia and the Philippines. In Indonesia, the explorer owns the Salak fields, one of the largest geothermal operations in the world, with a total operating capacity of 377 megawatts, according to information on its Web site. The company also has a 40 percent interest in Philippine Geothermal Production Co. Unit Chevron Malampaya LLC, meanwhile, owns a 40-percent stake in the Malampaya natural gas field off northwest Palawan. The Malampaya consortium, which also includes composed of Shell Philippines Exploration B.V. and PNOC Exploration Corp. is jointly offering the banked gas, which can fuel a power plant with a capacity of 400 megawatts.

Water for Bulacan.

President Aquino (left) lauds the signing of the concession agreement on the Bulacan Bulk Water Supply Project between San Miguel Corp.Korea Water Resources Corp., represented by San Miguel president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang (center), and Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, led by administrator Gerry Esquivel. The project is set to provide potable water from Angat Dam to about three million people in Bulacan.

Metro Pacific books record P10.3-b profit By Jennifer B. Austria

METRO Pacific Investments Corp., the flagship unit of Hong Kong-based conglomerate First Pacific Co. Ltd. in the Philippines, said Tuesday core net income in 2015 rose 22 percent to a record P10.3 billion on strong volume growth across all subsidiaries. Metro Pacific president Jose Ma. Lim said in a press briefing reported net income also climbed 20 percent to P9.6 billion as consolidated revenues rose 10 percent to P37.2 billion. The conglomerate reported strong financial growth despite the delay in the tariff rate adjustments on its water, rail and tollroad businesses. “Our strong earnings growth reflect our intense focus on operational efficiencies but at the cost

of years of elevated capital expenditures. Our earnings—and our ability to finance infrastructure build which this country so badly needs—would be still stronger, if we were simply allowed to play on a level regulatory playing field,” Lim said. Unit Maynilad Water Services Inc., which serves the western zone of Mstro Manila, contributed P4.8 billion to Metro Pacific’s income or 38 percent of the total, while Manila Electric Co.

accounted for P4.5 billion or 36 percent of the aggregate contribution. The group’s tollroads businesses delivered P2.8 billion while the hospital group accounted for P473 million “All our businesses are fully focused on service quality and operational efficiency, while at the same time growing our sales and core profitability to improve the lives of all our customers—providing first-class medical care, offering safe and efficient road and rail transportation, delivering electricity to power homes and businesses, and piping clean, safe water to improve consumption and sanitation,” said Metro Pacific chairman Manuel Pangilinan. Pangilinan expects Metro Pacific to sustain its growth momentum in 2016 as the company is prepared to spend P70 billion

in capital expenditures to support the expansion projects of core subsidiaries. Including other Philippine companies under the First Pacific Group, like Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., Philex Mining Co. and Roxas Holdings Inc., total capital spending is set at P120 billion. “While it may be rather early to provide earnings guidance for 2016—given continuing regulatory uncertainties and the impending change in government starting July—we have maintained a positive outlook for the year. Despite the accumulated regulatory risks associated with delayed tariff progression and other issues in water, roads and now light rail, we remain committed in our support of the PPP program under this Government and beyond it,” Pangilinan said.

Shell, BIR team up to investigate tax informer’s reward scam By Alena Mae S. Flores PILIPINAS Shell Petroleum Corp. is coordinating with the National Bureau of Investigation on the investigation of an alleged “syndicate” involved in the tax informer’s reward scam. Lawyer Victor Pangilinan, a partner at Cruz Marcelo & Pangilinan law office, claimed the syndicate involved in the rewards scam were composed of retired and incumbent personnel of the Bureau of Customs and the

Bureau of Internal Revenue in conspiracy with certain private individuals. Shell earlier wrote Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima on October 20, 2015 calling for an investigation of the alleged scam. The Finance Department referred the matter to NBI for investigation, which issued a recent subpoena to Shell. The Shell lawyer decried the payment of millions of pesos in informer’s reward, citing a previous fraudulent scheme

perpetrated against another oil company, Chevron Philippines. Pangilinan said the rewards scheme “now appears to be the incentive of the syndicate to fabricate liabilities against lawabiding taxpayers even when no tax is legally due.” He said Chevron had to pay over P1 billion in duties when its goods were declared abandoned due to its failure to file the required import entry documents within the non-extendible period of 30 days as provided by law.

Pangilinan said the supposed informer in the case of Chevron allegedly collected about P200 million as reward, equivalent to 20 percent of the dutiable value of the shipments declared abandoned. The P200 million was paid out in 2010. He said the same syndicate, emboldened by their scheme and payout in Chevron, was now after Shell to make it liable for alleged unpaid excise taxes amounting to around P7 billion in a case now pending with the Court of Tax

Appeals. Pangilinan said the principal amount, along with alleged surcharges and interests, reached at least P40 billion covering the period 2004 to 2009. He said the alleged syndicate was looking at an P8-billion reward. He said an informant to be entitled to a reward must provide information that was instrumental in the discovery and seizure of goods not yet in the possession of the tax authorities.

W E D N E S D AY : M A R C H 2 , 2 0 1 6

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Candidates fail to impress JFC By Othel V. Campos

SMEs need a shipping partner to succeed ONLINE shopping is getting to be popular here in the Philippines— said to be the third in Southeast Asia and the 16th in the world when it comes to Internet usage—and more small and medium enterprises are utilizing the power of technology to become more aggressive in competing in the e-commerce industry. The reality, however, is that startup companies have to work a lot harder to keep their head above the water and have a chunk of the market dominated by bigger players. While these enterprises can take full advantage of the power of the Internet, they also need partners that would deliver what their customers demand and in the process, achieve exponential growth, observes Quito San Agustin, country manager of Zyllem Philippines. Zyllem to the uninformed is a logistics company formerly known as RocketUncle that operates in Malaysia and Singapore and recently expanded in the Philippines. Those familiar with the firm say it has developed a reputation as a leading provider of fast, cost-effective and reliable same-day delivery service. According to San Agustin, having a good delivery service provider as a partner is crucial to the success of SMEs, particularly those that run online enterprises. We know at least several startup companies selling beauty products, perfumes and other items that have seen some of their customers turning away because of delivery issues. “The possibilities are endless when you have a reliable partner that does the job for you,” shares Agustin. These partners can help customers beat deadlines, deliver products/items ordered where and when the customer wants them. A shipping partner is not only a means to deliver orders, it is also one way to establish trust between customer and company because the former will not worry about whether a document or item will be delivered and on time, too. Zyllem aims to complement the operations of new businesses by offering a solution to shipping/delivery needs by providing reliable same-day delivery services at lower costs. “Every small and medium enterprise needs a reliable delivery service provider that has proven its reliability,” avers San Agustin, adding that this is the reason why after successful operations in Singapore and Malaysia, Zyllem has decided to bring the same kind of service to Filipinos. An additional convenience is the pay-as-you-go pricing model offered by Zyllem, which does not require upfront investments from the SME. Users can also monitor the status of their parcel through SMS and email, and receive real-time confirmation of successful orders with an electronic signature. “We are actually giving our customers more time to grow their business while we help them deliver their customer’s needs. Small and medium businesses are seen as a major economic driver in the Philippines, and it is through our end-to-end shipping operations that we can further boost their growth. At Zyllem, we believe that these SMEs hold a promising future, and we want to help them become successful one point at a time,” San Agustin stated. JCI Manila welcomes new Board, bares 2016 projects Junior Chamber International (JCI) Manila, which bested 5,000 other JCI chapters the world over to emerge as the 2015 Most Outstanding Local Organization in the World, continues its mission of creating positive change by welcoming a new set of directors. With new president Ramiro Villavicencio at the helm, JCI Manila is expected to develop more young men who could become this country’s future leaders. JCI Manila, which was established in 1947, has been focusing efforts to develop leaders by addressing the nation’s biggest issues, with its projects and activities anchored on aiding government in community development, encouraging entrepreneurship, protecting the environment, and responding to disasters. For 2016, JCI Manila has set its sight on several projects that include the Sea of Life Program wherein artificial domes are dropped in damaged reefs to help rehabilitate marine life; the Ramon V. Del Rosario Award which is an annual award that recognizes exemplary individuals who have significantly contributed to nation building; and its newest project, Golden Heart, which provides care and treatment for children with cerebral palsy. ••• For comments, reactions, photos, stories and related concerns, readers may email to happyhourtoday2012@yahoo.com. You may also visit and like our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ happyhourmanilastandard. We’d be very happy to hear from you. Cheers!

THE Joint Foreign Chambers said Monday the group is not satisfied with the economic platforms of presidential candidates and wants the next administration to keep current reforms and make them bolder and more inclusive. “We expect to see a continuation of reforms that the previous administration had introduced and build on that,” JFC and American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines advisor John Forbes said during the 5th Arangkada Forum held at the Marriott Hotel in Pasay City. Arangkada is a government policy watch group composed of the JFC and Philippine Association of Multinational Companies Headquarters Inc. that assesses and makes recommendations on improving the economy and business transactions. JFC noted that 2016 presidential candidates, who were given the chance moment to present

their economic platform during the event, did not address the question of how to improve Philippine economy. The group conceded that despite the failure of the current administration to meet its goals, the program to lower poverty rate gained momentum, while foreign direct investments significantly improved. “This government has raised revenues well, close to what previous administrations combined were able to generate in their time,” said Forbes. Data from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development showed that FDI generated by the previous administrations from presidents Marcos to Arroyo reached $5.5 billion compared with $6.2 billion in 2014, based on the JFC data. The foreign chambers said they would help the government to raise the FDI by two to two-and-ahalf times from the current level in the next 10 years. The group cited the success and the benefits of the public-private partnership program to the consumers. It said the privatization of water services effectively reduced water cost and expanded distribution channels to reach even the remote areas in Metro Manila.

WEDNESDAY: MARCH 2, 2016

B6 Analysts see 1.5% inflation in February INFLATION rate likely rose to as high as 1.5 percent in February from 1.3 percent in January, according to economists polled by The Standard. Analysts and economists polled by The Standard said inflation rate likely fell within a range of 1.1 percent to 1.5 percent in February, considering the impact of the El Niño dry spell and transport fare reduction. ANZ Research economist Eugenia Victorino said the February inflation likely inched up to 1.5 percent in February. “We expect headline inflation in the Philippines to have returned to its upward path, rising to 1.5 percent year-on-year in February,” Victorino said in an e-mail. “The gains in diesel prices marginally offset the continued decline in gasoline prices. Meanwhile, electricity prices rose over the month of February. On a sequential basis, consumer prices should have risen 0.3 percent month-on-month. We expect core inflation to have remained soft at 1.6 percent year-onyear,” Victorino said. ING Bank economist Joey Cuyegkeng said inflation may have picked up by 0.1 percentage point from January’s 1.3-percent rate, following the adverse effects of the El Niño dry spell. “Impact of El Niño and agriculture problems continue, including output from fisheries and poultry being affected by Newcastle disease . Core inflation [was] likely to remain steady at around 1.8 percent year-on-year,” Cuyegkeng said in a separate e-mail. “We expect gradual increase in inflation rate to average out at 2 percent this year, ending the year at around 2.7 percent. We are closely monitoring not only the impact of agriculture production but also oil with a possible March meeting of major oil producers,” he said. Standard Chartered economist Jeff Ng, however, said inflation in February likely eased to 1.2 percent. “Petrol prices were adjusted downwards and then upwards in February, while food prices remained largely stable. Inflation ex-food and energy registered a modest m/m [month-on-month] increase but slowed to 1.9 percent year-on-year from 2.3 percent in December. This likely suggests little inflationary pressures at the moment,” Ng said in an e-mail. Gabrielle H. Binaday

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BIR weighs tax unit targeting the affluent By Gabrielle H. Binaday

BUREAU of Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares said Tuesday forming a new unit exclusively targeting the rich or high net worth individuals will be difficult to implement and could be abused by tax authorities.

Henares was responding to the suggestion of Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima to put up a new unit that would tax high net worth individuals. “It is hard to put up a unit for high net worth individuals. There’s a difficulty of doing a high net worth unit because the population keeps moving,” Henares said at the sidelines of the Large Taxpayers Service tax campaign kick-off. LTS, a unit of BIR targeting top corporations, was assigned a collection goal of P1.23 trillion this year. Henares said an LTS unit would be more

effective, because it targets businesses that continue to book revenues on an annual basis. She said when forming a separate unit for rich individuals, “you have to guard against harassment. We’re talking about individuals here.” Purisima earlier advised the BIR to put up a high net worth individual unit after the agency failed to meet its LTS collection target. Purisima said high net worth individuals were apparently lagging behind in terms of their tax payments. “High net-worth individuals are still lagging behind in terms of their share in nation-building, in terms of their share in paying taxes. My proposal is for the BIR to create a high net worth individuals tax payer group,” Purisima said. “We only have a few months to the next administration [so] this is an idea that we want to leave behind. Maybe we can do the groundwork to set this up,” he said. Henares said forming the new unit was still possible, but there should be appropriate and well-thought preparations. “I am not saying it is not possible. I am just saying it has to be well thought of, because

there are pros and cons. The pro is that you have one group that is paying attention to that, but the population keeps on moving. And second, you have to put up a lot of safeguards so that people do not abuse,” she said. Meanwhile, BIR’s LTS collection grew 7 percent in 2015 from a year ago, but failed to meet its P1.05-trillion target collection. The BIR, which accounts for more than 70 percent of total revenues of the government, said LTS collection missed by 16 percent the P1.05-trillion goal, as only 2,320 companies were registered in the LTS sector. LTS collection in 2015 grew 6.9 percent to P881.4 billion from P824 billion in 2014. LTS collection accounted for 61.2 percent of the agency’s total collection. Purisima said the BIR should expand its LTS coverage to improve the country’s revenue collection. “We need to expand the LTS. This country is not just about 2,000 plus companies. There are more than 2,000 companies that make this economy vibrant, that made it grow by an average of 6.2 percent in the past six years,” Purisima said.

Manila Doctors’ award. Manila

Doctors Hospital brings home a Gold Award during the 51st Anvil Awards organized by the Public Relations Society of the Philippines at Makati Shangri-La Hotel. PRSP recognizes MDH for its ‘Going Zero Waste Program,’ which aims to streamline waste segregation and reduce the volume of waste generation in the hospital. Shown are (from left) MDH hazardous waste management task force assistant lead person Arthur Mijares, deputy administrative director Dr. Terrence Cham, facilities management department head Rizaldy Mendoza, facilities management officer Ren Reyes and linen and housekeeping head Celso Lizano Jr.

Cigarette packs to start showing graphic warnings on March 3 THE government will require cigarette manufacturers to start printing graphic warning signals on cigarette packs on March 3, but an executive said it will take months before the order is fully implemented. British America Tobacco Philippines said consumers would start to see packs with new graphic health warning signals on retail shelves by November. “We would like to clarify the significance of the March 3 implementation date. It is

the date when manufacturers or importers are now required to have GHWs on their packs upon removal of the goods from their factories or release of the goods from Customs, as the case may be, for storage in their warehouses and eventually for distribution,” BAT chief executive James Lafferty said. “It does not mean that all packs offered for sale in the market or in retail stores are now required to be in the GHW format,” Lafferty said.

Lafferty lauded the recent release of the implementing rules and regulations of Republic Act No. 10643, or the Graphic Health Warning law. The GHW law, enacted in July 2014, mandated graphic health warnings on cigarette packs to warn smokers of the potential health risks associated with cigarette smoking. The law requires that manufacturers and importers start using GHW packs 12 months after the Health Department released the picture templates on March

3, 2015, thus paving the way for the March 3, 2016 implementation date. Lafferty said the cigarette packs with GHW would likely be seen in the market eight months after the implementation or by November. “It is important to remember that the law provided for a two-step implementation period. In addition to the March 3 deadline, there is an eightmonth period or until Nov. 3 this year, when stores are still allowed to sell packs with the

text health warnings. This means that in the interim the market will see a combination of both text and GHW packs. After Nov. 3, all packs should be GHW-compliant,” Lafferty said. “We believe it is important to clarify this in order to avoid confusion amongst retailers and consumers. But undoubtedly, BAT will fully comply to the letter of the law,” Lafferty said. BAT is the maker of Pall Mall and Lucky Strike cigarettes. Gabrielle H. Binaday

W E D N E S D AY : M A R C H 2 , 2 0 1 6

WORLD

CESAR BARRIOQUINTO EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Corruption rife in Russian prisons MOSCOW—A better cell, a hospital stay or early release—everything can be bought in Russian jails as corruption revelations have shown. Yelena Fedoseyeva, a former inmate at Prison Camp No. 7 near the city of Kaluga, around 180 kilometers southwest of Moscow, recalled how she was asked for a bribe. “At the end of 2014, Darya Antonova, who was in charge of prisoner education at the No. 7 camp, asked my ex-husband for the equivalent of $2,600 in exchange for my early release,” she told AFP. Six months after he paid the necessary amount—officially to “buy bedsheets” for prisoners—Fedoseyeva said she was released. Wealthier prisoners convicted of financial crimes as Fedoseyeva was—known as “sweet” inmates in prison slang-are the main targets of such attempts to extort funds. In July, the families of inmates at the prison camp where Fedoseyeva served her sentence accused the governor of organizing large-scale fraud. The prison governor allegedly forced families to buy items of equipment for the prison and then got reimbursed by the state, using invoices provided by the families. “The governor has been removed from her job and is currently under investigation,” a spokesman for the regional Investigative committee, which probes serious crimes, told AFP. “You pay bribes to get a cellphone or medication, to be put in hospital, to get married or have a shower— everything is for sale in prison,” said Inna Bazhibina, an activist for Rus Sidyashchaya, or Russia in Jail, a movement that defends prisoners’ rights. Prices vary according to the prison, said Bazhibina, an accountant who spent two years behind bars on a smuggling charge before being released in 2011. She recalled that a former businessman complained recently the “monthly rent” for his cell at Medvedkovo penal detention center in northeast Moscow was excessively high—around a million rubles (12,000 euros, $13,000), she said. “Transfer to a better cell at Moscow’s penal detention center Number 1 [known as Matrosskaya Tishina] costs 50,000 rubles,” said Yelena Masyuk, a journalist and member of the Kremlin’s rights council who visits prisons. AFP

Premiere. Actress Alexia Rasmussen (L), director Caspar Newbolt, and actress Nora Zehetner attend the LA premiere of “Creative Control” on February 29, 2016, in Hollywood, California. AFP

Evidence of coral bleaching on Barrier Reef SYDNEY—Scientists Tuesday warned coral bleaching was occurring on the Great Barrier Reef as sea temperatures warm, and it could rapidly accelerate unless cooler conditions blow in over the next few weeks. Authorities cautioned last year that the world faced a mass global coral bleaching event driven by the warming effects of the El Niño weather phenomenon, and the ARC Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies said it was a growing concern. “Current reports of coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef do not equate to a mass bleaching event,” said the center’s director Terry Hughes, based at James Cook University in Townsville in Queensland state. “But we are concerned about a growing incidence of minor to moderate bleaching at multiple locations along the reef as the peak of

summer approaches.” Bleaching is a phenomenon that turns corals white or fades their colors, threatening a valuable source of biodiversity, tourism and fishing. It occurs when reef symbiosis— the mutually beneficial relationship between two organisms that inhabit corals—is disrupted by a rise in ocean warming, although there can also be other causes. Janice Lough, senior research scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science, said the next few weeks were crucial. “The latest Bureau of Meteorology forecasts suggest that we could see significant above average temperatures through the month of March, which may mean more bleaching ahead for corals on the Great Barrier Reef unless we get some windy and cloudy weather soon,” she said. The Barrier Reef—the world’s

biggest coral reef ecosystem—is already struggling from the threat of climate change, as well as farming run-off, development and the coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish. It narrowly avoided being put on the UN World Heritage in danger list last year with Canberra working on a plan to improve the reef ’s health over successive decades. A study by the University of Queensland and the US National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration in October said only two previous mass coral bleaching events had been recorded in history and Hughes said he hoped the reef would avoid a similar fate. “We have been closely monitoring conditions on Australia’s coral reefs for the past six months,” he said. “The best outcome is that the bleaching doesn’t get any worse, but if it becomes more widespread,

we are ready to mobilize a network of scientists to document the extent of the bleaching, which will help us understand how the reef is responding to successive major bleaching events.” WWF-Australia said a wide variety of corals were being impacted. “Global warming—fuelled by burning fossil fuels—is increasing the water temperature and bleaching coral reefs,” said WWF Great Barrier Reef campaigner Louise Matthiesson. “Right now, the Great Barrier Reef is on a knife-edge.” One of the worst mass bleaching episodes on record, which affected reefs in 60 tropical countries, took place in 1998, when the El Niño weather pattern was exceptionally strong. The phenomenon occurs when trade winds that circulate over waters in the tropical Pacific start to weaken and sea surface tempera-

‘Naked Gun’ star George Kennedy, 91

Rally. Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton waves to the

crowd during a campaign rally on February 29, 2016 at, George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. AFP

LOS ANGELES—George Kennedy, the Oscar-winning star of “Cool Hand Luke” and the “Naked Gun” comedy movies, has died at the age of 91, his family announced. The burly American actor—famed for his tough guy roles before playing against type later in his career—died on Sunday morning in Boise, Idaho, grandson Cory Schenkel said on his Facebook page. “I have traveled on many business trips and movie shoots with my grandpa... I have created so many great memories and I will enjoy them for life,” he said. “While I am extremely sad that they are both gone—my grandma [on] September 14 and my grandpa

this morning—I am grateful for the life, memories and knowledge they shared with me.” Kennedy’s local newspaper the Idaho Statesman reported that the six-foot, four-inch actor had died of natural causes, citing Canyon County Coroner Vicki DeGeus-Morris. “He had a history of heart problems,” it quoted her as saying. Kennedy often played second billing to the likes of Frank Sinatra, Cary Grant, Gregory Peck, James Stewart, Robert Mitchum and, on several occasions, Clint Eastwood. He won a best supporting actor Oscar as a sadistic chain gang prisoner in 1968 for “Cool Hand Luke” and starred in more than 200 films and

TV series, including disaster movies “Airport 1975” and “Earthquake,” and the long-running soap opera “Dallas.” He was best known in his later career for playing bumbling police captain Ed Hocken in “The Naked Gun” spoof cop series, from 1988 to 1994. Fellow actor and comedian Albert Brooks, who was Oscar-nominated for “The Shipping News,” led the online tributes, tweeting: “R.I.P. George Kennedy. Lucky enough to work with him in Modern Romance. Great guy.” “Rest in peace—friend. I miss you,” “Tarzan” actress Bo Derek tweeted. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce said flowers would be placed on his star on the Walk of Fame. AFP

W E D N E S D AY : M A R C H 2 , 2 0 1 6

CESAR BARRIOQUINTO EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

WORLD

Visit. French far right Front National party’s president Marine Le Pen (2nd R) and FN member of parliament Marion Marechal Le Pen (2nd L) smile as they visit the Salon de l’Agriculture (Agriculture Fair) in Paris on March 1, 2016. AFP

Abused laborers to get $1.3m ‘North Korea must pay price for nuclear test’ SEOUL—North Korea must pay the price for its latest nuclear test and rocket launch, South Korean President Park Geun-Hye said Tuesday, vowing to pressure Pyongyang into accepting denuclearization as its only viable option for survival. In a televised speech to mark the anniversary of a key date in Korea’s struggle against Japanese colonial rule, Park said failure to respond to the North’s “reckless provocations” would only result in further nuclear tests. “If we leave them alone, they will continue,” said the president, who has significantly toughened her stance against Pyongyang in the wake of the North’s fourth nuclear test on January 6 and a long-range rocket launch last month that was widely condemned as a ballistic missile test. “North Korea must clearly un-

derstand... that they can no longer maintain their regime through nuclear weapons,” Park said. Her comments came as the UN Security Council prepared to vote Tuesday on a new US-drafted resolution that would impose the toughest sanctions yet on North Korea over its nuclear weapons program. US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power said the adoption of the resolution would send “an unambiguous and unyielding message to the DPRK regime: The world will not accept your proliferation. There will be consequences for your actions.” The draft text would require countries to take the unprecedented step of inspecting all cargo to and from North Korea, impose new trade restrictions and bar North Korean vessels suspected of carrying illegal goods from ports.AFP

BANGKOK—A Thai tuna processing factory has agreed to pay staff A $1.3-million compensation for a litany of labor abuses, an official said Tuesday, a rare victory for migrant workers in the kingdom’s scandalstricken seafood industry. Hundreds of Myanmar laborers at Golden Prize Tuna Canning, a processing plant in Samut Sakhon that sells fish to markets around the globe, have spent months seeking compensation for exploitative working conditions. Thailand is the world’s thirdlargest seafood exporter, but the industry is plagued with rights abuses and fueled by trafficked labor from neighboring Myanmar and Cambodia. The sector has come under heightened scrutiny from foreign governments over the past year, with the European Union currently weighing an all-out ban on Thai fishing products. The United States also passed a bill last week outlawing goods pro-

duced by forced labor that could see Thailand targeted with import bans. Rights groups say Golden Prize workers had long been subject to unlawfully low salaries, supervisor abuse and a lack of compensation for machine accidents on the 25-acre processing sites. Following a more than 1,000-strong worker strike last week, company representatives joined negotiations with military officers, government officials and migrant worker leaders, reaching an agreement late Monday evening. “The company began paying 1,100 workers last night involving money of 48 million baht [$1.3m],” Boonlue Sartpetch, the head of the province’s labor department, told AFP Tuesday.

He said 700 workers haD been paid, with the rest expected to receive compensation Tuesday. Golden Prize Tuna Canning, whose 2,000 workers hail mostly from Myanmar, declined to comment. The junta that seized power in a 2014 coup has struggled to revive Thailand’s flagging economy and is desperate to avoid any costly sanctions on the multi-billion-dollar seafood sector. It remains to be seen how Washington will enforce its new legislation on slave-produced goods. But the US labor department currently lists Thai fish and shrimp as products the government has reason to believe are manufactured by slave labor. Thai officials say they have moved fast to clean up the industry with new laws and crackdowns on traffickers and fish factories. This month Thai police said they arrested more than 100 people on trafficking charges linked to the fishing industry. AFP

18 caned in Indonesia’s Aceh province BANDA ACEH, Indonesia— Eighteen people were publicly caned Tuesday for breaking Islamic law in Indonesia’s Aceh province, including a young unmarried couple who were caught spending time alone together. A hooded man meted out lashings with a rattan cane on a stage next to the mosque in Banda Aceh, the capital of the western province, in front of a large, cheering crowd. A 19-year-old woman and a 21-year-old man were caned eight times each after they were found

spending time alone together, which is against the law for unmarried Muslim couples in the province. Public caning happens regularly in Aceh, the only province in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country to implement Islamic sharia law, but is less common for women. Six young men were also caned 40 times each after they were caught drinking alcohol, which violates Islamic law, at a birthday party in a hotel room in December. Authorities did not disclose the

offenses committed by the rest of the group, who were all men. Aceh began implementing sharia law after being granted special autonomy in 2001, an effort by the central government in Jakarta to quell a long-running separatist insurgency. Islamic laws have been strengthened since the province struck a peace deal with the central government in 2005. More than 90 percent of Indonesians describe themselves as Muslim, but the vast majority practice a moderate form of the faith. AFP

Cold in Germany. A witch-hazel is covered in snow in a garden in Sieversdorf, northeastern Germany, on March 1, 2016. AFP

W E D N E S D AY : M A R C H 2 , 2 0 1 6

TATUM ANCHETA EDITOR

BING PAREL

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

BERNADETTE LUNAS

life @ thestandard.com .ph

WRITER

@LIFEatStandard

H oME & L I v ING

LIFE

Artisanal and sustainable lifestyle products from Marilen.ph collection

Distressed hexagon wood tray from R2R Living

R2R Living hamper in gray

R2R: DESIgnIng A bETTER WORlD CaleidosCope World

by CAl TAvERA hen we come across products produced by a social business enterprise, we find the whole process admirable, but the word “stylish” rarely comes to mind in describing the items. However, when I attended my first Rags2Riches launch last month, its latest home collection changed my perspective. The wonderful thing about the company is that it forms partnerships across the country with local artisans to bring us eco-ethical accessories created from scrap material like overstock indigenous fabrics and cloth. Years ago, the company started this partnership with mothers from the depressed area of

Payatas. Today, it has extended such opportunities beyond this community. Rags2Riches (R2R) has been around since 2007 but R2R Living was only introduced just a couple of years ago. Since its debut in 2014, the brand has been attracting an increasing number of homeowners who share the same passion for sustainable and chic home decorations for their personal spaces. No wonder, for aside from its in-house designers, the brand has been collaborating with inspiring icons such as Amina AranazAlunan and Rajo Laurel for its fashion collections. A line for the home was designed with FrenchFilipino artist and designer Olivia d’Aboville. The brand continues its commitment to inspire people with handcrafted and beautiful pieces by brainstorming with interior stylist Marilen FaustinoMontenegro. What traits do these various role models have in common that resulted in a collaboration with R2R? According to the brand, it was the appreciation of artisanal and sustainable lifestyle products. It is their (the partners’) shared values

Designer Marilen Faustino-Montenegro (third from left) during the launch of R2R Living

and their genuine interest in becoming part of the Rags2Riches community, and the fact that these individuals share R2R’s mission to lift Filipino artisans out of poverty through design.

ThE R2R lIvIng x MARIlEn.ph COllECTIOn

For almost a decade, Marilen Faustino-Montenegro has been designing homes and model units. What influenced her to take that next step of designing a line for R2R? She loved the purpose behind the brand and the versatility of its items. She shares, “I’ve always known R2R for their bags and I was pleased when I learned that they started doing home products. I immediately wanted to collaborate with them.” The result turned out to be another beautiful exhibit of functional and charming pieces of woven floor planters, handmade poufs, hanging planters and Scandinavian-inspired distressed wood trays. “I have always been inspired by Scandinavian and French country design. I love the point where clean and simple meets rustic chic. I am also an advocate of organizing so I thought of coming out with functional home décor. I believe in good organizing accessories so the floor plant holders and trays are a must for this collection,” says the designer. She adds, “The color palette is composed of joyful hues like salmon pink and turquoise and complementing, conservative ones like grey and natural abaca. The salmon pink is my brand color and the turquoise complements it. I included the neutral colors for those who shy away from too much color so there is something for everyone.”

Scandinavian-inspired distressed wood trays

A TRuE pARTnERShIp

Coming up with a collection with these designers is always a collaboration. The designer provides his or her initial ideas and the brand gives its recommendations on them. Once the design is finalized, they evaluate the skill sets needed. If new training is needed, the designer educates the artisans on how to create them. The production time depends on the intricacy of design. For the hanging planters in the Marilen collaboration, it takes around 13 hours to complete one product from producing the rope from scrap fabric to the finished macramé. If you would like to include these eco-ethical home accessories to your home, the R2R Living accessories can be purchased through R2R stores in Glorietta 3, Rockwell Powerplant and The Podium. They can also be located inside Robinsons Department Store in Robinsons Magnolia. For the items from the collaboration with Marilen, try shopping via www.marilenstyles.com.

Functional and charming pieces of woven floor planters

To learn more about Rags2Riches, visit http://rags2riches.ph. Check out facebook.com/rags2richesinc, instagram.com/rags2richesinc and twitter.com/rags2richesinc. Follow me on Instagram @caltavera

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

UNICEF laUNChEs ChIldrEN FIrst! storybooks Author Anne Curtis talks about Anita, the Duckling Diva

nited Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in the Philippines recently launched a collection of six books written in Filipino and English for ages three and above to inspire children to read and build their imaginations. UNICEF celebrity advocate Anne Curtis authored one of the six books, and this fact captured public curiosity and gave the other books much needed attention to help the UN body promote its goal. Entitled Anita, the Duckling Diva, Anne read from her book amidst a group of children who were all ears, asking questions about the inspiration for Anne’s story. Illustrated by James Abalos, Anita, the Duckling Diva tells the story of a duck named Anita, who is bullied by her peers when she sings – until she proves them wrong when she enters a singing contest. Inspired by her real life experience, Anne gives this little duckling the voice by which the young generation can get inspiration from. “I’m very happy to have written my first children’s book, which I hope can help children particularly with their self-

Anne Curtis gamely answers questions about her first book

confidence and self-esteem,” Anne shares. “I believe that children should be given all the emotional and moral support they need as they grow so they can express themselves with confidence and explore their full talent,” she enthuses. “Children learn language quickly and easily through hearing and singing songs, having stories told or read to them, repeating rhymes and playing games,” explains Lotta Sylwander, UNICEF Philippines Representative. “Having a supportive environment in these early years will help children get ready for school and lifelong learning,” she adds. The Children First! Storybooks is composed of a series of stories by some of the most notable Filipino writers and artists of storybooks in the country. The organization aims to promote the importance of teaching lessons to children through materials that contain a child-friendly version of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as Internet safety reminders for young people. Through books, children can put themselves in someone else’s shoes

The author busily signing books

Children are all ears as Anne Curtis talks about Anita, the Duckling Diva

and learn how to express themselves as they’re growing up. Children who grew up with books and storytelling have been proven to become better problem solvers, have higher self-esteem and have a better understanding of the feelings of others. With the support of SM North EDSA and SM Cares, the Children First! Storybooks were on exhibit last February 20-25. For a minimum donation of P500, you may get the entire collection of Children First!

Storybooks with this offer to last until March 6. Visit www.unicef.ph. to get the full list of locations where you can drop off your donation. You may also purchase the storybooks individually or in sets by checking out UNICEF Philippines’ e-Bay store at www.stores.ebay.ph/unicefph or visit the UNICEF Philippines office at 31F Yuchengco Tower, RCBC Plaza, 6819 Ayala Avenue cor. Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue, Makati City. For more information, call 758-1000 or email psfrmanila@unicef.org.

Hong Kong’s auspicious customs for luck and love in the Year of the Monkey The fireworks and celebrations may have already waned after the first week of the New Year, but the Year of the Monkey has just begun. We have a whole year to look forward to, and based on Chinese customs, there are things you have to prepare for to bring fun, adventure, luck and good fortune to you and your family. For weeks, this section has been guiding readers with the art of feng shui, but here’s another side of Chinese culture people have yet to explore – the Hong Kong side. The place has one of the most colorful traditions in warding off bad things and welcoming the good, so the Hong Kong Tourism Board has put together a guide to five of the most auspicious practices for the Chinese New Year. Here’s a list of the things you have to put together to prepare for a prosperous year ahead: 1. Find your partner with Peach Blossom luck The peach blossom concept is part of the four pillars of destiny calculations called Tao Hua luck and it is said to attract love energy. Yes, love energy, so if you’re looking for Mr. Right or Ms. Right, then this might just be what you need this year. Peach Blossom luck is a special application of feng shui, it is not as simple as just displaying peach blossoms around your home. Depending on your zodiac sign,

you need to display an image of your Peach Blossom animal in a specific direction of the home. There are charts about this that you can find online. But for Hong Kongers, they say that all you have to do is walk around a peach blossom tree three times in a clockwise direction, and be ready when true love shows up! Now that sounds a bit easier, all you have to do now is find where to get that tree. 2. Place a tangerine tree at home Apparently in Chinese, tangerines and luck share the same characters and pronunciation, and the color of the fruit is somehow reminiscent of the gold color so people usually have these orange fruits during the New Year. They say that in order to keep a successful business going, place a tangerine tree at home or at your place of business to attract luck and profit. There are a lot of kiat kiat trees being sold during Chinese New Year, and these will do if you live in the Philippines. 3. Keep your pinwheels spinning for good fortune The symbolic meaning of a pinwheel is “to turn one’s luck around,” so if you have pinwheels at home, make sure that they are always spinning so you can ward off bad luck and bring in endless good fortune.

Decorate your home with plenty of red

Handwritten Fai Chun

4. Bring on the warm blessings with handwritten Fai Chun Go to Chinatown and find someone who can write phrases wishing for good luck on red paper, along with other phrases for prosperity and other blessings. Stick this Fai Chun on your door for a very fruitful year to come. 5. Decorate your home with plenty of red As with most of the establishments we’ve seen draped in red during the love month and the Chinese New year celebration, it won’t hurt if you extend the

To keep a successful business going, place a tangerine tree at home to welcome good fortune

practice to your homes. Red is associated with happiness and good fortune; decorating your house in red not only helps keep those two wonderful things in your home, it also gives off a jubilant and festive atmosphere for any family member or guest. So, these don’t seem so hard to do. You might want to consider these five things to welcome good luck and fortune for the Year of the Monkey. For more information, visit DiscoverHongkong.com.

W E D N E S D AY : M A R C H 2 , 2 0 1 6

LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

Measuring spoons ensure that accurate amounts are used

@LIFEatStandard

Glaze baked goods with this silicone pastry brush from Ecko

ExpERIENCE tHE joYS oF BAkINg WItH SM HoME

“B

Add an irresistible finish to your cupcakes with Wilton’s Pink Flower Party wraps

Baking trivet mats that are perfect for oven-fresh cookies

aking and love go hand in hand, for as one bakes a tasty treat and fills the room with its sweet aroma, the true joy is to take what has been made and share it with another.” These words of author Heather Wolf capture the sweet joys that the act of baking brings. From preparing to measuring the ingredients, mixing them, watching a cake rise then putting in the icing in soft layers – everything evokes a sense of love and care to make something that would delight not only the palate but one’s sense of sight and smell. Most everyone will agree, there is something that is so joyful about baking, churning out those sweet treats that are a delight to behold and taste – such as scrumptious cookies, colorful cupcakes and other sweet desserts. Moms and kids can also discover the joys of baking right in their home, thanks to SM Home’s baking basics and accessories. From measuring cups and bowls to an

assortment of baking pans, dishes, and sheets mixing bowls as well as electric or hand held mixers – SM Home has virtually everything you need to set you on the way to creating wonderful cakes and icings. For sure, you’ll also love the colorful and delightful cupcake, cookie, and cake accessories. Innovative and easy to use, these will easily turn your home kitchen into a delightful bakery where sweetness and joy reign.

Have fun baking with these cute cupcake molds

SM Home’s latest Bakeware collection is available at the SM Home section at all SM Stores.

Kneading dough is easy with this silicone Joseph Joseph pastry mat and Joseph Joseph Adjustable rolling pin

Wilton Summer Picnic 3pc-set metal cookie cutters

Make full sized doughnuts with Wilton’s 6-Cavity Doughnut Pan

Turn into a Baking Diva with this cupcake decorating set Bake your favorite French macarons at home with Baking Diva Silicone Macaron Mat

W E D N E S D AY : M A R C H 2 , 2 0 1 6

LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

SIXINCH specialises in foam-coated furniture and architectural products

Customize your own furniture in the new siXinCh showroom

IXINCH, a furniture brand established in Belgium in 2003, stands for creativity in design and innovation that is coupled with fun and exploration of materials and progressive design. Why SIXINCH? According to the company, the name is a representation of the 6-inch space between the ears, which is believed to be the place where creativity lies. What a quirky name, right? And their designs are as quirky as the name suggests. The company specializes in manufacturing high concept, foam coated furniture and architectural products. For years, its signature designs carved a niche in the global furniture landscape by crafting refreshingly creative and efficient furnishings for various spaces. The company designs architectural products that spice up a space while providing premium functionality and comfort. Just recently, SIXINCH Philippines opened its latest showroom at Ronac Center in Greenhills, and it aims to stir up the market by focusing on product customization. Its doors are open for guests and customers who want to have their furniture customized according to their own designs. Experts will guide customers

Sixinch showroom at Ronac Art Center in Greenhills

and help unleash the latter’s own creativity by executing high quality products based on one’s prescribed designs. “Customization is an important highlight of SIXINCH Philippines,” explains Big Boy Cheng, SIXINCH Philippines president. “This showroom will be the visual and physical proof that furniture can be more than just your ordinary run-of-the-mill pieces. You imagine, we provide.” This makes a revolutionary turn in the local contemporary market scene as the brand makes it part of its commitment to help local designers create modern and avant-garde designs that can help elevate local talents who can be recognized here and abroad. “Furniture is no longer just ‘furniture’ nowadays,” says Cheng. “It has to keep up with the multipronged needs of its users. The game isn’t just about comfort and functionality. SIXINCH Philippines commits to bringing dynamism to a space,” he adds. SIXINCH has an established presence in Japan, the United States, Russia, and the European Union. In the Philippines, the opening of its store aims to change the game in the local furniture industry. To know more about SIXINCH, visit its showroom located at Ronac Center, Greenhills.

From left: William Lee, executive vice president ofRGC Group of Companies; Naty Cheng, president and CEO of RGC Group of Companies; Big Boy Cheng, president of Sixinch Philippines; Michel Sels of Sixinch Belgium; Eddie Galor; and John Rosagas, vice president of Sixinch Philippines

SIXINCH Philippines aims to stir up the market by focusing on product customization

WEDnES DAy : M A RcH 2, 2016

SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

AnOThER TERRORIsT sTORy In ‘BAsTIllE DAy’

Richard madden in a film against terrorism called Bastille Day Richard Madden and Idris Elba in Bastille Day

rance’s Bastille Day, the country’s national holiday commemorates the beginning of the French Revolution. The Bastille is a medieval fortress and prison in Paris. Many people in France associated it with the harsh rule of the Bourbon monarchy in the late 1700s. On July 14, 1789, troops stormed the Bastille. This was a pivotal event at the beginning of the French Revolution. Fête de la Fédération was held on July 14, 1790. This was a way to celebrate the establishment of a constitutional monarchy in France. The fight against terrorism has become a global issue unifying countries and strengthening security measures to protect its people – such measures and struggle of government working

with various entities will soon be seen in the latest thrilling action film against terrorism in Bastille Day. Starring this year’s Screen Actors Guild Awards’ double winner Idris Elba, who won Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture (Beasts of No Nation) and Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries (Luther), Elba takes on the role of a former CIA agent who embark on an anti-terrorist mission in France. James Watkins directs the engrossing and mindblowing Bastille Day, written by Andrew Baldwin, where a young American artist Michael (Richard Madden) living in Paris and a washed-up CIA agent Sean

(Elba) are thrown together and tasked with diverting an imminent attack on the city. On the eve of Bastille Day, a young French woman, Zoe Naville (Charlotte Le Bon), slips across Paris with the intent of planting a bomb to make a radical political statement though meant to kill no one. At the last moment, she decides that she cannot commit this violent act. Michael Mason, an American artist and pickpocket, steals Zoe’s bag, keeps what he can use and throws the rest away into a garbage bin next to a busy Metro stop. At the same time, inside the ultra-secure CIA Station in Paris, Sean Briar, an agent brought in from the battlefields of Syria and Iraq in the wake of a mission that has gone ter-

Idris Elba in the action drama directed by James Watkins

ribly wrong, struggles to adjust to his reassignment as a desk-bound data analyst : a misfit real warrior in a world of cyber counter-terrorists. When the bomb goes off, Michael becomes the only suspect. Briar is determined to find him and bring him into custody before the French authorities do. From then on, Briar,

Michael, and Zoe will be bound together in a 24-hour suspense ride across the city, in a frantic attempt to expose a conspiracy of chaos and greed that only they can prove. Bastille Day opens in April nationwide from AxiniteDigicinema. Check out the film’s trailer release here: https://youtu.be/C-dcy86h5_8

CARmAkER’s hOmAgE TO hOllywOOD AnD BEyOnD

One of the model cars on display at the Museo Enzo Ferrari

o celebrate Enzo Ferrari’s birthday, a new exhibition will be unveiled at the Museo Enzo Ferrari in Modena entitled Red Carpet. As the name suggests, the exhibit is a tribute to Ferrari’s role on the Silver Screen and beyond. This exhibition brings together the models used on screen with clips of them in action in an homage of sorts to the world of film and television which was so quick to spot their star quality and give them their moment in the spotlight: from the famous Magnum P.I. 308 GTSs to the Miami Vice Testarossa, the 512S used in Le Mans and

the 375 America driven by Sophia Loren in Boy on a Dolphin. But Ferrari’s relationship to Hollywood is not limited to its role in the films themselves. Many actors and actresses are or were devoted Ferrari owners also. Paul Newman, for instance, even competed a 365 GTB4 in legendary races such as the 24 Hours of Daytona while Steve McQueen owned a whole slew of Ferraris now much sought-after by collectors. Marilyn Monroe adored Ferraris too - the white 250 GT Cabriolet Pininfarina featured in this exhibition was one of her favorites, in fact. Peter

Sellers, Nicholas Cage and many other famous faces besides also fell under the Prancing Horse spell. Like any exhibition, this one has taken a little artistic licence to include the F430 Schumacher voiced in Cars, complete with big cartoon eyes. We also picked the Thomassima, an Americanstyle Ferrari sculpted by designer Tom Mead on 250GT running gear, to symbolize the many Maranello cars that have appeared on screen in disguise, not least in the Fellini-directed segment of Histoires Extraordinaires, The Racers and The Love Bug. On a racing tack, movies of the likes of Grand Prix, Le Mans and, more recently, Rush are the reason why we’ve featured a contemporary Formula 1 car as the symbol of the event. Ferrari would never have existed without the track..

WEDnES DAy : M A RcH 2, 2016

ISAH V. RED editor

SHOWBITZ isahred @ gmail.com

How to identify

Solenn

witHout wang2 nickie wang

in tHe crowd?

here happens to be a lot of pretty girls who fit the bill of dumb blonde, but there are a lot of them too who break the stereotype – women who are physically attractive at the same time Einsteins on the catwalk, multi-talented, can carry conversations, and amazing multitaskers. These traits probably set Solenn Heussaff from a bevy of good-looking celebrities we see on television and the big screen. For one, the 30-year-old French Filipino is a singer, writer, actress and painter. And she’s a restaurateur, too. “But I don’t want to be known for the things I do. I’m not really ‘actress or a singer,’ I don’t want any label to define me as a person,” Solenn told The Standard in a previous interview. True enough, Solenn surprises people for wearing many hats yet still manages to remain outstanding in everything she does. In fact, next month she is going to stage a oneman exhibit displaying some of her art works. It’s a sort of a culminating event where people will see her dedication to painting, a passion she’s inclined to since the age of three. “If you get any magazine from 2010, you’d read in my interviews that I’m going to stage an exhibit so I’m glad it’s finally happening next month,” she shared when we met with her for an interview last week. She also told us her book, which she cowrote with her best friend Georgina Wilson, would soon have a sequel due to the positive feedback they have been receiving from fans. The book has sold over 75,000 copies and has landed on the bestsellers list for months. Additionally, she’s going to star in another comedy with AiAi delas Alas, a film to be produced by Regal Entertainment. It’s going to be her third big screen project this year after the bike movie Lakbay2Love (with Dennis Trillo) and Love is Blind (with Kiray Celis and Derek Ramsay).

But the real highlight of our tête-à-tête with Solenn is her “passion project,” her first ever scent line called Scents of Solenn (SOS). The French in her has always kept Solenn fascinated with fragrances and this made for a perfect collaboration with no less than one of the leading perfume and scent experts in France, Bel Perfumes. To date, Bel Perfumes has collaborated with top celebrities including Thai star Mario Maurer and Indonesian diva Anggun, to name a few. The collaboration with Solenn marks Bel Perfume’s first foray into the Philippine market – and it seems they were only too happy to have the actress as their first Filipino celebrity partner. Conceptualized by Solenn personally, SOS fragrances naturally embody her personal style. It has three variations, which she aptly called Sunrise, Sunshine, and Sunset to suggest the best time of the day to wear the perfumes. “I believe the scents embody who I am as a person. It’s your way of identifying yourself in a crowd, your scent makes you distinct. And I’m the type of person who identifies a person by the way he or she smells,” she explained. It’s obvious that there’s a lot of things, good things, happening in her career and personal life. She has a successful TV and movie career and she’s “really” tying the knot this year. So, what’s next for Solenn? “I don’t know. I’m turning 31 this year, I always go with the flow, I do make plans but I’m not the type of person who sticks to my plan. That’s why I don’t like to talk things in advance because they don’t usually happen the way we planned it,” she concluded.

MARCH 2, 2016

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

ANSWER FOR PREVIOUS PUZZLE

ACROSS 1 On the house 5 Raw-fish delicacy 10 Dangerous shark 14 Cheryl or Alan 15 Tunes for divas 16 Anatomical passage 17 “Nova” anagram 18 Country estate 19 “Unfaithful” lead 20 Geishas’ attire 22 Foams 24 King of Spain

25 Bunkhouse item 26 Gray rock 29 Vegas lead-in 32 Errors like thiss 36 Aloha State port 37 Germanic goddess of spring 39 — Dawn Chong 40 It’s open at night (2 wds.) 43 — room (den) 44 Freed from frost 45 Had a mortgage 46 Come next

48 Harsh call 49 Too exacting 50 Kangaroo pouch 52 Pullet 53 Worldly 57 Food fish 61 Maintain 62 Gymnast’s stickum 64 Pavlov or Lendl 65 Huff and puff 66 Made a decision 67 Former NBAer — Thurmond 68 Diligent insects 69 Hippie wear 70 Shimmer DOWN 1 Strong opposition 2 Mr. Shankar 3 Ancient Dead Sea country 4 Ralph Kramden’s pal (2 wds.) 5 “Stompin’ at the —” 6 Novelist Leon — 7 Part of RSVP 8 Auditorium 9 Sir — Newton 10 Powerful 11 Fits to — — 12 “The Galloping Gourmet”

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 2016

13 Mineral deposits 21 Once called 23 Aleut carving 26 Kipling’s tiger — Khan 27 Perk up 28 Guinness et al. 29 Vulcan virtue 30 Humane org. 31 Scatter around 33 Where figureheads are 34 Camel halts 35 Like melons 37 Vane dir. 38 Disposed of 41 Just right 42 Math operation 47 Succeeds in a coup 49 Nourished 51 Imitation chocolate 52 Workers 53 Long story 54 John, in Wales 55 — la vie! 56 Hawser 57 Rushed off 58 Elliptical 59 Roman moralist 60 Had found out 63 RR stop

Multi-talented: Solenn Heussaff is a painter, writer, fashion designer, actress and entrepreneur

W EDNES DAY : M A RCH 2, 2016

SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

SUSAN ROCES WISH ENJOYS PLAYING 107.5 LOLA KAP IN FANDOM ‘ANG PROBINSYANO’ CHALLENGE

At 74, no one can stop Susan Roces from working. Currently, she is playing Lola Kap in ABS-CBN’s Ang Probinsyano. The one-time queen of Philippine movie said she enjoys working with younger actors, like Coco Martin who is currently the toast of the town. “I am happy na nakakapag-interact ako sa kapwa artist ako. Nakakasama ko rin ang mga baguhan, mga bata, so I get updated.” Susan said in Iloilo when she went with her daughter in her campaign sortie on Feb. 6. “Ang nilalabasan ko senior citizen na rin ang character kagaya ng Ang Probinsiyano, si Lola Kap ako ni Ador at Ricardo,” Susan added. It jives well with her advocacy for senior citizens like her that she’d like her daughter Grace to espouse if she would be elected and become the next president. Susan said that the elderly must have something to earn their keep.“Huwag mag-give up, tuluy-tuloy kung nagtatrabaho ka tulad ng larangan namin bilang artista, patuloy akong tumantanggap ng trabaho… Hindi naman ako nagpapakapagod, I continue to be useful I keep healthy in that way and I am happy that way.” Grace says she’s like her mom to stay home and rest, but Susan insists on working and become productive. “Ang sabi sa akin ng nanay ko, alam mo kahit na nagkaka-edad na kami gusto pa rin namin maging produktibo. Gusto pa rin namin na kahit sa mga community centers, kahit na sa mga munisipyo, kahit mga taga-bati o kaya mayroong mga office work na kaya naming.” She feels sad when she hears stories about elderly who are trying to keep both ends meet with the small amount of the monthly pension they each receive.

Susan Roces

COCO MARTIN IS MALE ANAK TV MAKABATA STAR

ulti-awarded actor and Primetime king Coco Martin was named one of the Makabata Stars of 2015 in the recently held 18th Anak TV Awards. The FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano star was also recognized as this year’s Top Male Anak TV Makabata Star for receiving the most number of votes among all the male winners this year. “This award motivates us to work harder and be an inspiration to the youth and all viewers,” said Coco. Meanwhile, the country’s most watched primetime series gets even more actionpacked as Roberto (Nonie Buencamino)

is all set to seek revenge against Michael (Christopherde Leon) by abducting Trina (Anne Curtis). As the rich fashion designer’s bodyguard, how will Cardo protect Trina from Roberto? Will Trina and Coco’s treatment of each other improve? Don’t miss the action-packed scenes in FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano, weeknights on ABS-CBN. For more information about the program, visit the official social networking site of Dreamscape Entertainment Television at Facebook.com/DreamscapePH, Twitter. com/DreamscapePH, and Instagram.com/ DreamscapePH.

tremendous dose of support that inspires and even brings an artist to fame is the energy that emanates from its avid, loyal fans. Indeed, behind a famous artist is the tenaciousbattalion of cheerers and supporters. Recognizing their huge contribution in a particular artist’s journey and in the music industry in general, Wish 107.5 launched the very best fandom challenge, with great prizes awaiting the winners. All official fandoms, recognized by the artists with at least a thousand in membership can register their entry via email to info@wish1075 – containing the fandom’s official name, representative and contact details. The artist being supported by the fandom must have a wishclusive performance onboard the Wish 107.5 bus not later than March 15 and has a solo album under a recognized record label. The challenge will run for three months via text and online votes, and actual judging leading to the finals night in June at the SMART Araneta Coliseum wheretwomillion Pesos in total prizes await the winners. The fandom and artist will also give 35 percent of their winnings to their chosen beneficiary. Wish107.5, the fast-rising music station in the metro, is again raising the bar on a oneof-a-kind musical experience via the Wish 1075 Fandom Challenge that will surely pave the way for a more vibrant and engaging music lovers and supporters. For more details, log in to www.wish1075.com

Kapamilya actor Coco Martin

GLOC 9 DITTY INSPIRES GRACE POE

Multi-awarded rapper and songwriter Gloc 9

loc 9’s “Upuan” inspires Senator Grace Poe. The presidential aspirant mentioned that in Cagayan De Oro City. The song, she said, reminds her of her being a public servant. She might be the newest in Philippine politics compared with her opponents but she sees this as an advantage because she knows what the Filipinos feel. “Talagang hindi ko pinagkakaila, sa lahat sa kanila, ako ang pinakabago rito. Pero sa ating mga kabataan, alam kong alam ninyo ang kanta ni Gloc 9. ‘Kayong nakaupo, subukan n’yonamang tumayo para maramdaman ninyo ang aming kalagayan, ang kinalalagyan ko,’” Grace said while quoting from the song’s lyric. “Sa tinginko, sa lahat sa kanila, ako nga ang pinaka maikli ang karanasan. Pero ang nakikita ko bilang isang nanay ay ang pan-

gangailangan ng isang pamilya,” added the senator. According to Grace, in the short period of her being in the government service, she was able to accomplish a lot, foremost of which is the investigation she did in graft and corruption and in pushing the Freedom of Information act, and seeking for enough funds for farmers and the nutrition of children. “Para sa akin, ang aking karanasan bilang isang teacher bagamat minamaliit ng iba, hindi po tayo makakarating sa puntong ito kung hindi dahil sa isang guro na nagmalasakit at nagturo sa atin kung ano ang tama at mali at kung anong naaayon para sa ating mga paksa,” Grace said. “Pare-pareho lang naman ang problema ng Pilipinas eh, pareparehong nandyan. Wala pong proof na kapag matagal ka na sa pwesto mas magaling ka,” she concluded.

W EDNES DAY : M A RCH 2, 2016

ISAH V. RED EDITOR isahred @ gmail.com

SHOWBITZ

The author (second from left) with Philippine Star columnist Wilson Flores, Neri Colmenares (in red shirt), Manila Bulletin columnist and Tempo entertainment editor Nestor Cuartero with some members of the press

Senatorial candidate Neri Colmenares

COLMENARES DISMAYED WITH DWINDLING LOCAL FILMS

akabayan senatorial candidate Neri Colmenares said at the Pandesal Forum of Kamuning Bakery Cafe in Quezon City that he is dismayed with the dwindling number of local films being produced in the country. “Nalulungkot po ako at paunti na po nang paunti ang mga napoproduce o nagagawang pelikulang Filipino. Regal, Viva, Star Cinema at GMA Films nalang po halos ang nagpro-produce. Wala na pong Sampaguita Pictures, Seiko at LVN. Maganda sana ay may pondo rin ang gobyerno para matulungan ang ating movie industry. Tumulong dapat ito sa pagpo-produce pa ng mga obra na kagigiliwan ng marami at maipagmamalaki natin,” said Colmenares, nephew of movie star Angel Locsin (Angelica Colmenares in real life). A recent report by the National Statistical Coordination Board found that from 1960 to 1999, the Philippines produced an average of about 140 movies each year. This gave local films at least 20 percent of the domestic market, the report said. At the time, the industry boasted of being one of the

ISAH V. RED

most prolific movie producers in the world after Hollywood and India’s “Bollywood”. But from 2000 to 2009, local film output fell to an average of 73 annually with only 11 percent of the market, the report said. “Sa Korea, Hong Kong at iba pang mga bansa nga ay subsidized ang film industry at sa China naman ay may quota. Maganda siguro na lagyan din natin ng subsidy ang sa atin dahil bubuhayin nito ang industriya at lalo natin itong maipagmamalaki,” said the progressive solon. “May mga pelikula tayo tulad ng Heneral Luna na di lang tumabo sa takilya pero marami ring awards na napanalunan. Mahusay din ang Andres Bonifacio ni Robin Padilla at Hele sa Hiwagang Hapis ni Lav Diaz starring Piolo Pascual and John Lloyd Cruz na kakapanalo lang sa Berlin. Malakas din ang mga pelikula ni Vice Ganda, Sarah Geronimo

Kamuning Bakery Cafe owner Wilson Flores (left) with senatorial candidate Neri Colmenares

at Jennylyn Mercado. Sa ganitong mga pelikula o pagkakataon ay nakikita ko na malaki ang pagasa ng ating movie industry at kailangan lang ng konting tulong galing sa gobyerno para lalo itong lumakas at yumabong,” added Colmenares. “Kaya naman po sa usapin

ng Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) ay naniniwala ako na dapat ay mga taga-industriya ang nasa board nito at tanggalin na sa Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) upang mas mahusay itong mapamunuan. Yung trapik nga ay di nila maayos, nakikialam pa sila sa mga pelikula,”

he added. “Natutuwa naman po ako sa inisyatibang Mowelfund at Nagkakaisa ng mga Manggagawang Pelikulang Pilipino (NMPP) sapagtulong nito sa mga artista at manggagawa sa pelikula at sana ay mas lumawak pa at dumami ang kanilang natutulungan,” ended Colmenares.

3 DOCUMENTARIES IN CINEMA ONE ORIGINALS CINEMA One Originals, the annual film festival organized by the country’s no. 1 cable channel, Cinema One, and headed by Ronald Arguelles has newly opened the “Full-Length Documentary” category. “On our 12th year of the festival this year, the channel chose three finalists who will be given P1.5 million each to produce it,” said Arguelles. 1) Piding by Paolo Picones and Gym Lumbera - The discovery of a bird inspired a modern eastern mythology about a man’s lost years. A groundbreaking evolutionary scientist goes on a much-needed vacation in the island paradise of Calayan. While haplessly

wandering through the forest, he stumbles upon a bird that drives him mad. 2) Forbidden Memory by Gutierrez Teng Mangansakan - This summons remembrances and memories of the fateful days in September 1974 when about 1,500 men from Malisbong and neighboring villages in Palimbang, Sultan Kudarat were killed while 3,000 women and children were forcibly taken to naval boats stationed nearby where they encountered unspeakable horror. For 40 years, the survivors lived in relative silence. Now they tell their stories. 3) People Power Bombshell (The Diary Of Vietnam

Rose) by John Torres -This is about then 19-year old naive newbie star Liz Alindogan and her harrowing ordeal in the making of a film. Its mystery dreamlike narration is structured in such a way that makes viewers ask themselves if they were to believe her account or not. “We are very excited for this year’s line-up. These Cinema One Originals documentaries along with seven selected Full-Length Feature category films will be shown in November 2016 for the 12th Cinema One Originals Festival,” added Arguelles. For more information, log on to https://www.facebook.com/CinemaOneOriginals.