The Standard - 2016 March 29 - Tuesday

VOL. XXX NO. 45 3 Sections 32 Pages P18 TUESday : MaRCH 29, 2016 www.thestandard.com.ph editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Ex-LLDA boss, mom sentenced by court

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roxAs, thE comic LP candidate draws flak for ‘fairytale’ on ‘Yolanda’

By John Paolo Bencito and Maricel V. Cruz

SUPPORTERS of administration candidate Manuel Roxas II are circulating a comic book portraying him as the hero and savior during Super Typhoon ‘‘Yolanda’’ in 2013, but survivors and critics slammed the depiction as “a fairytale,” given the government’s failure to deliver timely and effective assistance in the storm’s aftermath.

Distributed by Roxas supporters during the birthday celebration of a political ally in Imus, Cavite, on Sunday, the 28-page comic book “Sa Gitna ng Unos (In the Midst of Disaster)” features the life and times of the administration bet, and highlighted his actions in Tacloban City when the killer typhoon struck.

But Yolanda survivor Marissa Cabaljao said the comic book was a revision of history.

“That he came out with that comic book shows how desperate he is to show that he actually did something,” Cabaljao told The Standard in Filipino. That is far from the truth and reality that what he did and did not do resulted in the death of thousands of people. This was criminal negligence. He is cleaning his name and washing his hands of the tragedy.”

In the days following Yolanda, the administration came under fierce criticism for its slow response to the typhoon, which killed more than 6,000 people, left 1.9-million homeless and destroyed 90 percent of the structures in Tacloban and other cities in the Visayas. Five days after the typhoon struck, survivors continued to struggle with basic necessities such as food, water, and shelter while remote towns in Leyte and Samar had yet to be reached by aid. Next page

Erap declares he’s for Poe, Bongbong

By Joel E. Zurbano MANILA Mayor and former President Joseph Estrada on Monday endorsed Senators Grace Poe and Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as his bets for president and vice president in the May 9 elections.

He made the announcement during the proclamation rally of his entire ticket under the Partido ng Masang Pilipino Monday night at the Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila.

The 78-year-old Estrada supported Poe instead of his friend and political

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Tragicomic. This is the cover art of the comic book detailing Roxas’ version of the onslaught of Super Typhoon ‘Yolanda’ in Tacloban City, where he supervised government relief and rescue operations.

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Roxas...

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Estrada’s bet. Senator Grace Poe exchanges pleasantries with Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada at the latter’s proclamation rally on Monday.

Ex-LLDA head, mom guilty of pork abuse

By Rio N. Araja

THE Sandiganbayan on Monday sentenced Laguna Lake Development Authority general manager Nereus Acosta to six to 10 years in jail and barred him perpetually from holding public office for misusing his pork barrel funds when he was still congressman in 2002.

The Fourth Division of the anti-corruption court found Acosta guilty beyond reasonable doubt of graft for giving undue preference and advantage to the Bukidnon Vegetable Producers Cooperative, in which his mother, former Manolo town mayor Socorro Acosta, was the director.

Acosta, a Liberal Party member and presidential adviser on environmental protection, was acquitted of two other graft cases, however.

Acosta’s mother Socorro was also convicted in the same

graft suit, and was also convicted for approving financial assistance to BVPC that was funded by the congressman’s pork barrel funds.

The charges against Acosta arose from his alleged involvement in the pork barrel scam in which the Priority Development Assistance Funds allotted to lawmakers were siphoned off through ghost or non-existent projects.

Acosta was accused of graft in two other cases, but was acquitted.

The first case arose from the alleged transfer of a P2.5-

Erap...

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ally Vice President Jejomar Binay, who was his running mate when he ran for president but lost to then senator Benigno Aquino III in 2010.

In the run-up to the May 2013 elections, Estrada and Binay formed the United Nationalist Alliance, with the former serving as chairman and the latter as president.

“Here before us tonight is a person who has ability and heart. She is a Filipino, a daughter, a wife, a mother. She is a friend of everyone.

She has been with me in my fight as mayor, vice president and president. She has never abandoned me, so how can I abandon her?” Estrada told his supporters at the rally.

Poe thanked Estrada for the endorsement, referring to him by his nickname.

“Erap is a leader who embodies the ordinary Filipino. We are one with Erap that we should not be numb to the plight of our people,” Poe said.

Estrada’s support for Poe is expected to boost the candidacy of

million solar tunnel dryer purchased through Acosta’s pork barrel allocation to the Bukidnon Integrated Network of Home Industries Inc., whose incorporators included his father Juan and his aunt, Maria Nemia Bornidor. The equipment was intended for the use of Talakag town.

In the second case, Acosta was charged with graft for giving P2.5-million financial assistance to Binhi with funds coursed through the Talakag municipal government.

Acosta’s conviction came as an association of fishermen and the Save Laguna Lake Movement slammed President Benigno Aquino III for creating an inter-agency technical committee to implement the Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike Project.

“President Aquino is making sure it’s all systems go for the LLEDP before leaving Malacañang. He is making sure, he is fully paid to these giant businesses who funded his elec-

the senator, who has consistently led most opinion surveys.

Marcos also thanked Estrada for his support, saying Manila was in good hands with the incumbent mayor.

More than 3,000 supporters, clad in orange shirts and jackets, attended the rally which started around 2 p.m.

Liwasang Bonifacio was also the same venue where Estrada held his proclamation rally in 2013 and presented to the Manila electorate his urban renewal platform, with the aim of reclaiming the capital city’s lost glory and grandeur.

In less than three years, Estrada said, he managed to settle Manila’s more than P4.4-billion debts, including unpaid electricity and water utility bills, left by the immediately preceding administration; implemented massive infrastructure projects modernizing the city’s public service facilities, including hospitals, road networks, classrooms, low-cost housing, sports complex, parks and public markets; and successfully made Manila the Number 1 Most Competitive Highly Urban-

tion campaign last 2010. But also this time, he is begging for funding and political support for his heir apparent Mar Roxas in the coming presidential race,” Ronnie Molera, SLLM spokesperson said.

“The LLEDP is a serious threat to our lives and livelihoods. Laguna de Bay used to be a rich fishing ground, sustaining the everyday lives of the people living along the lake. But because of the various destructive projects implemented by the past and current administration, the lake is now on its deathbed,” Molera said.

The LLEDP is Aquino’s biggest project under the PublicPrivate Partnership (PPP) amounting to P122.8B. “Rehabilitation is our solution to the Laguna Lake woes, not LLEDP. We will continue to expose and oppose this wholesale destruction on Laguna de Bay until it is totally scrapped,” the groups said in a statement.

With Sandy Araneta

ized City in the country.

Under the policy “Bata’t Matanda, Alaga sa Maynila,” the city government provided comprehensive “womb-to-tomb” services starting from free medical care for all—from newborns to senior citizens, daily feeding programs for malnourished children, distribution of school supplies and uniforms for students, financial benefits for the elderly and centenarians, and even construction of a four-story columbarium for deceased indigents, he said.

Estrada vowed to build on the successes of his first term, especially in peace and order and social services.

Motorists and commuters encountered heavy traffic because of the road closure implemented by the Manila Police Traffic Enforcement Unit during the proclamation rally.

Estrada, who in the last May 2013 elections vowed he will serve the city for only one term to give way for his running mate Vice Mayor Isko Moreno, is seeking another term and was challenged by two opponents—former mayor Alfredo Lim and Manila 5th district Rep. Amado

But the comic book depicted Roxas in glowing terms, saying he was one of the first who responded before, during, and after the storm.

“Even Mar nearly lost his life at the onslaught of the Yolanda,” the comic strip said, adding that no communication lines and electricity were available during the time that Yolanda ravaged Eastern Visayas.

“Mar was at the middle of the depressing scenario,” the comic book said.

It also attacked Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez for partying the night before Yolanda struck, and said a video that showed him reminding him that “You are a Romualdez and the President is an Aquino” had been spliced to make him look bad.

But Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate said portraying Roxas as a hero of the Yolanda survivors was “a gross misrepresentation of what happened in Eastern Visayas... and a clear whitewashing of the government’s incompetence and criminal negligence.”

He added that the Roxas’ revisionism was “a grave insult to the victims of Yolanda.”

1-BAP party-list Rep. Silvestre Bello III said the more Roxas tries to fool the people and show them he thinks they are stupid, the more he will lose their support.

“It’s ridiculous and it will bring him down more,” Bello said.

“The whole nation witnessed how incompetent he was in handling the Yolanda crisis. No amount of propaganda can resurrect him,” he added.

ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio said: “The people of Eastern Visayas know the truth and they have decided to junk him in the polls.”

Buhay party-list Rep. Lito Atienza said Roxas should “stop the fairy tales.”

Bagatsing.

Estrada and former city councilor Shiela Honey Lacuna-Pangan, a candidate for vice mayor and daughter of former vice mayor Danilo Lacuna, are running under PMP, a political party that Estrada founded when he ran for president in 1998.

Also on Monday, Marcos said the founder of the Nationalist People’s Coalition, Eduardo Cojuangco Jr., said the party did not officially endorse any candidate, contrary to reports that it would support Poe. In a report over ABS-CBN website, Marcos said he was able to talk to Cojuangco, his godfather, who informed him that their political party “is open” to all the candidates, and that the endorsement for Poe and Marcos was not official.

NPC president Giorgiddi Aggabao earlier announced that the party had chosen Poe and Escudero for the presidential and vice presidential elections.

“That announcement, that was not official. It has no authorization from the leaders of the party,” Marcos said while campaigning in

A spokesman for presidential candidate and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte described the comic book as “comical.”

“It is a fantasy,” said Peter Laviña, Duterte’s spokesman.

In defense of Roxas, the comic book said “numbers cannot lie,” referring to the P4.012-billion budget earmarked by the Aquino administration for recovery efforts.

The comic book also said Roxas was unfairly put in a bad light after another photo of Roxas sliding off a motorcycle at the height of Typhoon ‘‘Ruby’’ went viral on the Internet.

The comic book reiterated Roxas’ statement that he had been kept out of the loop during the ill-fated Mamasapano police operation that killed 44 police commandos, even though he headed the Interior and Local Government department at the time.

The comic highlighted Roxas’ wedding to Korina Sanchez, and how they opted for a simple wedding so they could donate P3 million to victims of tropical storm ‘‘Ondoy.’’

The comic did not mention Roxas’ stint as Transportation secretary, however, or the problems that plagued Metro Manila’s urban train system under his watch.

Roxas’ spokesman, Rep. Barry Gutierrez, said the comic book was “made by his supporters” to belie the mounting critricism against the ruling party’s bet.

“The comic book was made by supporters who wished to inform our countrymen of what Mar did during Yolanda,” Gutierrez said.

“This was made due to the continued spread of lies about his deeds. Dramatization is an important part of the medium. We have long shown the truth about Mar’s actions in Yolanda.

His record is clear, and we stand by it,” he added. With Rio N. Araja

Tarlac.

The senator attended the flagraising ceremony in San Manuel town on Monday. The town mayor, Benjamin Tesoro, a retired colonel and classmate of the senator in Scout Ranger training, said he could not say no to Marcos.

Tesoro, an NPC member, said that while they have been separated by political boundaries, no such divide exists in terms of their love for country and personal relations. He said Marcos is the godfather of his eldest child.

In Moncada town, Mayor Benito Aquino also said he would endorse the candidacy of Marcos.

Another NPC member, Camiling Mayor Neil Agustin promised to support Marcos. He joined Marcos in meeting the 61 barangay captains and their officials in Camiling Sports Complex.

Paniqui Mayor Miguel Cojuangco Rivilla, the second cousin of President Aquino, is also backing Marcos. Rivilla is running for vice governor of the province as an independent candidate. With Macon Ramos-Araneta

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Group hacks Comelec website THE hackers group Anonymous Philippines hacked the official website of the Commission on Elections more than a month before the national and local elections on May 9.

Tarlac sortie. Vice presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr. addressed government workers and later met with the village leaders of San Manuel town in Tarlac on Monday during his campaign sortie in the province. Ey AcAsio

Neda chided for being ‘happy’ with poverty figures THE opposition United Nationalist Alliance on Monday said it was appalled with the latest government statistics placing the number of poor Filipinos at 26 million.

The group also chided the head of National Economic Development Authority for saying the country should be “happy” with the poverty figure.

“Only an administration that is insensitive to the poor will say this with a straight face,” UNA campaign communications director Joey Salgado said.

The Neda said the slight improvement in the poverty statistics was “good enough.”

The Philippine Statistics Authority had said 26.3 percent or around 26.48 million Filipinos were living below the poverty line in the first semester of 2015, the poverty line being the minimum income needed to meet basic food and non-food necessities.

The Neda insisted that the country was better off last year compared with 2012 when the poverty incidence stood at 27.9

percent, and with 2009 when it stood at 28.6 percent.

The Neda was also happy that only 12.1 percent or 12.18 million Filipinos lived in extreme poverty, which means they are not able to eat three times a day. That compares with 13.4 percent in 2012 and 13.3 percent in 2009.

Salgado said the poverty data exposed the lie behind the administration’s “kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap” mantra.

The PSA said 11 of the 20 poorest provinces in the country are in

Mindanao, led by Lanao del Sur where the poverty incidence is at 74.3 percent.

Salgado said the next six years would not see an improvement in the poverty data if the next leader was indifferent to plight of the poor.

He said a Binay presidency would not only implement nationwide the pro-poor programs and services he did in Makati but also pursue reforms to address poverty. christine F. Herrera and Vito Barcelo

Duterte celebrates quiet 71st birthday with family DAVAO City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte chose to stay home on Monday to celebrate his 71st birthday with his family and to take a rest from his presidential campaign.

“There is no party and that has always been his way of celebrating his birthday,” said Christopher Go, Duterte’s executive assistant and sortie manager.

“He is at home resting.”

Go made his statement even as a party-list lawmaker said he had withdrawn his reelection bid and decided to support Duterte who is running under the PDP-Laban party.

1-BAP party-list Rep. Silvestre Bello III also said he was no longer the first nominee of the 1-BAP which had been renamed 1-Ahapo, a group identified with Vice President Jejomar Binay.

“It is official. I withdrew my party-list nomination to support my longtime friend and classmate Mayor Duterte,” Bello said.

Go said Duterte was relishing his private moments and rest days as he needed a break from his tight campaign schedule.

He said Duterte was preparing for the battle ahead with the campaign period closely approaching its final stretch.

Duterte only recently said he would spend his birthday sleeping.

“I will just be at home sleeping.

That has always been my celebration,” he said.

On Sunday, during a service offered for him by Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, Duterte said his only wish was for “things to improve in my country.”

“In the Philippines we always pray for food,” he said. “I pray God will provide food for the poor.”

Duterte also prayed for the sick.

“Let us remember the sick. I wish we all had better lives,” he said.

On Instagram, Duterte’s daughter Inday Sara Duterte-Carpio posted a photo of her father and her son Stingray. The boy will celebrate his 3rd birthday today, Tuesday. “#HappyBirthday Digong and Stingray. I wish you good health,” she said. Maricel V. cruz

Guilty. Laguna Lake Development Authority Chairman Nereus Acosta walks with his lawyer Sigfred Fortun in Quezon City on Monday, when the Sandiganbayan found him guilty of graft. MAnny PAlMEro

Just before midnight on Sunday, the group defaced the poll body’s website (www.comelec.gov.oh) and demanded that it make sure the security features of the vote-counting machines would be there on Election Day. “What happens when the electoral process is so mired with questions and controversies?” The hacker named “Anonymous” wrote.

“Can the government still guarantee that the sovereignty of the people is upheld? We request the implementation of the security features on the PCOS [Precinct Count Optical Scan] machines.”

The group said it will watch how the Comelec will conduct the elections.

“Commission on Elections, we are watching! We are Anonymous. We are legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us!” the hacker said.

Meanwhile, the Comelec failed to file a resolution transferring the 352 clustered precincts to 86 shopping malls as the law only allows the poll body to make changes in the polling precincts 45 days before the May 9 elections, a source said.

The source warned that the Comelec may antedate the resolution to make it appear that it met the requirement that resolutions should be passed 45 days before the elections.

On Monday, another group called “LulzSec” accessed the data of the poll body’s website and posted it publicly online.

“A great lol to Commission on Elections, here’s your whoooooole database,” LulzSec Pilipinas wrote in a facebook post.

It was the first major open leak of elections-related data by a hacker group in the Philippines.

The hackers exposed voter data, voter registration data, and databases relevant to the functionality of the website.

On Monday afternoon, the hacker posted three mirror links to an index of files that could be downloaded.

These files are “the whole database leak of Commission on Elections.”

“Some of the tables are encrypted

by Comelec [it has[ the algo[rithms] to decrypt the data,” the hacker said, The files include comweb.sql.qz, a 312GB archive file.

The hacking and defacing come just days after the Supreme Court affirmed its order for the poll body to produce voter receipts on Election Day to serve as the Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail as required by the Poll Automation Law. The hackers’ group said it was imperative that the Comelec ensure the credibility of the elections as it was the prime opportunity for the Filipinos to exercise their sovereignty over the government.

“One of the processes by which people exercise their sovereignty is through voting in an elections, where people choose the candidates who will best represent them, who will serve them under the principle that public office is a public trust,” Anonymous said. sara susanne D. Fabunan

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UNA scores political killings

By Christine F. Herrera, Francisco Tuyay and Sara D. Fabunan THE opposition United Nationalist Alliance on Monday condemned the spate of political killings that have happened since the

start of the campaign last Jan. 10, the latest of which was the slay of an UNA youth leader Emman Peña in Laguna on Sunday.

UNA described the ambush of Calauan, Laguna Mayor Buenafrido Berris and the killing of youth leader Emman Peña as a “cowardly and das-

tardly act meant to intimidate the political opposition.”

“These unfortunate incidences of political violence have claimed the lives of people who despise violence. The atmosphere of carnage has become extremely callous and cruel. Calauan just lost a great fu-

ture leader with the death of Emman Peña,” UNA spokesperson Mon Ilagan said.

Peña, a youth leader of UNA who is running for councilor in Calauan, was killed while Berris was wounded in an ambush late Sunday afternoon.

Peña is the fourth UNA mem-

Give us real jobs. Youth activists picket the Department of Labor and Employment in Intramuros, Manila to protest the prevalence of contractualization in the labor sector and demand real and secure jobs for college graduates. LINO SANTOS

Kim Wong set to attend Senate cyberheist probe

By Macon Ramos-Araneta BUSINESSMAN Kim Wong, who allegedly referred four depositors to open foreign currency accounts in Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. that were used in the $81-million Bangladesh Bank cyberheist, is expected to appear in Senate Blue Ribbon committee hearing today.

Former senator Panfilo Lacson, who is seeking reelection in May’s election, said Wong, his long-time friend and supporter also known as Wong Kam Sin, will face the Senate hearing “to tell all and to correct some false testimonies.”

But Senator Koko Pimentel said he had some doubts about Wong after former RCBC branch manager Maia Deguito claimed the businessman is a friend of RCBC president Lorenzo Tan. “If he invokes some right and does not talk then he is not telling it all. Hence, either he lied to [former Senator Panfilo] Lacson or Lacson is lying to the media,” said Pimentel.

Senator Ralph Recto, on the other hand, welcomes Wong’s attendance during the third hearing of the Blue Ribbon committee chaired by Senator Teofisto Guingona.

“We hope he tells all he knows. He will be taking an oath to tell the truth. He can be penalized by the committee if he is caught lying,” Recto said.

ber killed since the start of the campaign, following the assassination of Sto. Tomas, Batangas Councilor Damasino Mabilangan Jr. last Feb. 12, former Pangutaran, Sulu mayor Ahmad Nanoh last March 17 and former Banisilan, North Cotabato mayor Floro Allado on March 18.

“Dirty politics has again taken a life in the quiet town of Calauan.

It was a traitorous step taken by people who cannot accept defeat so they have to put across their message through bullets instead of ballots,” Ilagan said.

Ilagan said UNA presidential candidate Vice President Jejomar Binay was saddened by the series of harassment and the spate of killings perpetrated against the ranks of UNA members and supporters.

But Mabilangan was not even in the Philippine National Police’s list of people slain in election-related violence.

While the list only contained Nanoh, Allado and three village leaders, PNP spokesperson Chief Supt. Wilben Mayor said the police are still verifying if the 34 other monitored incidents are election-related.

But Mayor said PNP chief Director General Ricardo Marquez has already identified six political hotspots—Pangasinan, Masbate, Negros Oriental, Western Samar, Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur—and has ordered local police to extensively investigate reported incidents.

But the Commission on Elections, through its spokesperson James Jimenez, could only urge local candidates to live up to the peace covenants they signed to maintain peaceful and orderly elections.

MILF helps military in anti-Abu operation

By Francisco Tuyay THE Moro Islamic Liberation Front and some civilian volunteers helped the military seize two temporary encampments of the Abu Sayyaf Group in separate operations at the outskirts of Albarka town in Basilan province.

Army Major Felimon Tan, spokesman of the AFP Western Mindanao Command, said the two camps seized were situated in Sitio Bohe Buug, Barangay Macalang and Akbar, both in

Albarka, Basilan, a known ASGinfested area.

Tan said the two ASG camps were being used by the bandits as temporary shelters preceding their terrorist activities.

Prior to the seizure of ASG camp, Army troops of the Charlie Company of the Army’s 18th Infantry battalion and a barangay security team from Sumisip, Basilan clashed with about 20 bandits last Saturday.

On Sunday, security forces from 18th IB and some 200 mili-

tiamen from Sumisip, Tuburan, Akbar and Albarka also assaulted an ASG concentration leading to the seizure of another camp.

As the assault team were clearing the two encampments, an improvised explosive device went off, wounding two militiamen.

They were rushed to Zambaonga City hospital for treatment.

After the assault, the contingent recovered a cadaver of a suspected bandit following the clash.

At least twenty MILF members have joined the military-led

anti-terrorist operations in Albarka, Basilan, even as the MILF vowed to pledge support to security forces against the ASG. Last Thursday, two ASG bandit were killed in a massive military operations in Albarka, Basilan.

Tan said the MILF decided to join the military in its operations against the ASG aimed at driving away the bandits from securing sanctuary in their camps especially in the aftermath of fierce encounter with Army troops.

Makati bets. Former

congresswomen Abigail Binay (right) and Monique Lagdameo wave to supporters during their proclamation rally as mayoral and vice mayoral candidates of Makati City. DANNY PATA

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Honasan warns of IS presence in Mindanao

By Vito Barcelo Vice Presidential bet Senator Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan of the United Nationalist Alliance on Monday urged the military and police to investigate claims on the alleged presence of islamic State fighters in Mindanao and prevent similar terror attacks in Belgium and Pakistan from happening in the Philippines.

Honasan made the call following the death of at least 65 people, mostly women and children, who were killed in the easter Sunday bombing in Lahore Park in islamabad, Pakistan. Two separate bombing incidents have also rocked Brussels and Maelbeek in Belgium.

He said there is the need to safeguard the country’s borders and intensify security measures in light of the recent spate of terrorist attacks in Belgium and Pakistan.

Honasan, a former military official, said: “i have said this in the past, that such attacks are rude awakenings that no free country and people are safe from terrorism.”

“This is an unfortunate reminder to nations like the Philippines, that anyone can fall victims to terrorism. This should serve as a wake-up call to the national government and the law enforcement agencies,” Honasan said.

Honasan explained it is necessary and important that the military and the police authorities go through strict validation and evaluation processes to ensure the safety of the Filipino people.

“All efforts should be exhausted to determine whether or not the iSiS has crossed the Philippine borders. And if ever, do we have concrete plans or steps to counter the islamic State forces?” Honasan asked.

Poll violence. United Nationalist Alliance’s standard bearer Vice President Jejomar C. Binay visits Calauan, Laguna Mayor Buenafrido Berris at a Manila hospital Sunday evening. Berris was wounded in an ambush on Sunday.

Binay tops Philcoman survey The Philcoman Research Institute Inc.’s platformbased survey conducted quietly at the start of the presidential campaign showed Vice President Jejomar C. Binay topping the list at 27 percent, way ahead of Senator Grace Poe’s 21 percent and Senator Miriam Santiago’s 18 percent.

Fleet booster. The Philippine Navy has received three Australian vessels to help it meet China’s aggression in the West Philippine Sea. PN-PAO

Navy boosts fleet amid China’s aggression

By Florante S. Solmerin THe Philippine Navy has received three decommissioned Landing craft Heavy (LcH) vessels from the Royal Australian Navy, thus boosting its fleet that is struggling to modernize in the face of china’s maritime activities in the West Philippine Sea. Navy public affairs chief captain Lued Lincuna said the Australian vessels arrived in Liloan, cebu on March 26 at 10:30 in the morning.

“They were transported by a

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cargo ship from NTG Shipping traversing the waters from Darwin, Australia via cairns, also of Australia, before heading to the Philippines,” Lincuna said.

He said the government bought the vessels for a total of P270 million “in conjunction with the two vessels of the same kind that were donated by the Australian government and subsequently turned over to the Navy on July 23, 2015.”

Lincuna said that from cebu the vessels will sail to the Navy’s ship-

yard in cavite in May for the commissioning that is tentatively scheduled on May 25, 2016 in time for the PN anniversary celebration.

“With their capability of moving large amounts of cargo, personnel and equipment, these vessels will bolster the [Navy’s] humanitarian assistance and disaster relief [HADR] operations. They will also be useful in transporting troops from one operational area to another especially during amphibious operations,” Lincuna said.

Trailing behind them are Mar Roxas with 16 percent and Rodrigo Duterte with 15 percent.

Dr. ernie Gonzales, a Fellow of the London School of economics & Political Science and PcMRii director for Research, said their field researchers had asked 1,200 respondents at random whom they would vote for president if elections were held on schedule on four important issues: social, political, economics and national security.

“The PcMRii survey differs from the usual popularity survey conducted by other research organizations. Ours is a nationalist, policy-oriented research study where respondents are asked who of the candidates they think have concrete plans for the country based on the four interrelated important issues,” Gonzales said.

Binay was the choice of 27 percent of 1,200 respondents; Poe, 21; Santiago, 18; Roxas, 16; and Duterte, 15; with 3 percent out of the respondents still undecided. The sampling errors for national percentages is three percent, plus or

minus; six for regionals; and the same for Metropolitan Manila.

With such margins of error, Santiago, Roxas and Duterte are practically tied for the third place.. each percentage point is equivalent to 440,000 votes, assuming 44 million of the 54 millions registered voters cast their ballot on May 9 as ordained by the constitution.

Of the presidential candidates, Binay is the only one with clearly defined platforms on the issues of political, social, economics and, in particular, national security, where he showed his expertise and policies on anti-terrorism and cybercrime safeguards and eradication which his office put into action in a series of seminars at the start of his term.

On the persistent issues of plunder and corruption, largely sourced from the one-sided Senate, Ombudsman and commission on Audit investigations, most respondents believed that Binay had merely been prejudged by his political enemies to degrade his popularity among the masses and the middle class.

Poe is highly admired among well-to-do respondents but has no anti-poverty, socioeconomic and national security platforms while Santiago is popular among women and voting-aged students, but her health is weighing her down.

Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. bested other vice presidential bets with 31 percent over chiz escudero’s 24 percent, Gregorio B. Honasan’s 16 percent, Rep. Leni Robredo’s 13 percent, Senator Allan cayetano’s 10 percent and Senator Trillanes’s six percent.

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MMDA drive targets local bets

By Joel E. Zurbano

THE Metro Manila Development Authority said it would forge ahead with its “anti-epal” operation to remove illegal and unsafe election materials as the campaign for local candidates officially began on Monday.

The latest operation, according to MMDA Task Force Baklas Billboard chief Rod Tuazon, resulted in the removal of 12,306 campaign materials of both local and national candidates.

Tuazon said the campaign, which started Feb. 8, covers the densely populated in Quezon City, Manila, San Juan, Valenzuela and Caloocan.

The MMDA recently turned over more than a ton of campaign tarpaulins to the members of envi-

ronmental group Ecowaste Coalition, which will recycle into bags and other useful items.

The tarpaulins were among the truckloads of illegal campaign or “epal” materials removed by the MMDA from foot bridges, lamp posts, cable wires and trees during the operation dubbed “Operation Baklas.”

Epal is Pilipino slang for “mapapel” or one who craves attention, takes credit for other people’s work, or needlessly meddles

in their affairs.

Also on Monday, Ecowaste and National Coalition to Save the Trees appealed to national and local candidates not to post campaign materials on trees.

“These acts of torture could stress out the trees and make them susceptible to decay-causing microorganisms, injurious insects and diseases leading to stunted growth, shorter lifespan and early death,” said Father Robert Reyes, NCST chairperson.

“We need trees to supply us and other animals with clean air to breathe, to prevent deadly landslides and floods, and to protect us from global warming and climate change. Please don’t hurt the trees to advance your political agenda,” he said.

“Poll candidates might claim they are not the ones committing

these acts of torture on trees and pin the blame solely on their supporters,” said Ecowaste coordinator Aileen Lucero.

“That is a lame excuse and unacceptable. Politicians have the responsibility to ensure that their campaign does not in any way harm trees and Mother Earth,” she emphasized.

Candidates placing campaign materials on trees would be violating Commission on Elections Resolution 10049, or the Rules and Regulations Implementing Republic Act 9006, the Fair Elections Act. Under that resolution, campaign materials should not be posted in public structures, schools, bridges, center islands, transportation terminals, waiting sheds, electric posts and wires, trees and other unauthorized places.

Bomb threat stops work, classes at Ateneo QC

By Rio N. Araja THE Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City was forced to suspend classes and work due to a bomb threat.

The bomb threat call on an employee turned out to be a hoax after the Quezon City Police District’s explosive and ordnance bomb squad cleared the area.

Students, teachers and nonteaching personnel were evacuated from the school premises.

“All buildings have been evacuated.

Classes in all levels are canceled starting 10 a.m. All Loyola Schools students and employees may leave the campus,” the Ateneo administration said.

An employee told the school authorities about several text messages sent to him or her that a bomb explosion was supposed to happen at around 8:30 a.m.

“At the moment a thorough inspection is being conducted,” the university’s Facebook post read.

The QCPD’s Station 9 scoured the school buildings with K-9 sniffers.

At around 1:52 p.m., the Ateneo management posted on its Facebook account that authorities had already declared the university safe.

School authorities then ordered the students, teachers and staff to go back to the campus and get their belongings.

Oil firms raising pump prices today Malasakit. Senatorial candidate and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez delivers his ‘Malasakit’ message to more than 10,000 supporters during the

proclamation rally of his wife congressional candidate Yedda Romualdez at RTR Gymnasium in Tacloban City. VER NOVENO

NPC dares bets: Reveal stand on media killings THE National Press Club of the Philippines challenged those running for the country’s top positions to disclose their stand, if any, on the damning issues of journalist killings and the culture of impunity that has plagued the country for the longest time, noting the past and even the present administration’s dismal failure in addressing the same.

“These victims are mostly provincial or local journalists who have criticized local officials past and present for their abuse of power and rights violations,” NPC president Joel Sy Egco said.

“Such intolerance for press freedom—the knee jerk reaction to silence media with a gun—has no place in a democratic society, and most definitely should not be the attitude of those who aspire for the presidency,” he added.

On the occasion of the NPC’s 63rd anniversary in October last year, the group posed a challenge to those gunning for the presidency and the vice presidency to discuss on what they intend to do to end the senseless media killings and the culture of impunity in the country.

“With only a few weeks remaining before the May 9 polls, we reiterate our call for them to say their piece and satisfy our eagerness to hear them speak and be heard for the sake of our murdered brothers and sisters in the profession and others like us who continue to dwell in fear in the face of these unabated killings,” Egco stressed.

The NPC president at the same time scored the administration of President Benigno Aquino III for not paying serious attention to the problem, the solution of which he only entrusted to underlings who utterly lack dedication.

“It is in the interest of justice that we vet who among our future leaders value press freedom equally as human rights, both of which are vital components of a truly free and democratic nation. We should know who among them have journalist blood on their hands and those who have not. Most importantly, we must know how they would be able to avoid committing the same mistakes as the present and previous administrations did in relation to media murders and intimidation,” Egco emphasized.

Kapihan guests. Party-list Rep. Joselito Atienza (left) and Jesus

Aranza, president of the Federation of Philippine Industries, take turns answering questions during the Samahang Plaridel Kapihan Sa Manila Hotel media forum on Monday. LINO SANTOS

By Darwin G. Amojelar PETROLEUM companies are raising pump prices today, the fourth oil price hike this month.

The companies said the price of gasoline would increase by P0.40 per liter while the prices of diesel and kerosene would rise by P0.20 and P0.10 per liter, respectively.

“This is to reflect movements in the international petroleum market,” Seoil Philippines said in an advisory.

Other oil firms that issued advisories on price hikes were Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., Eastern Petroleum Corp., PTT Philippines and Phoenix Petroleum Philippines.

Oil has climbed back from a 12year low earlier this year on speculation the global surplus will ease as US output declines and major producers including Saudi Arabia and Russia proposed an output freeze.

Iran and Libya are the only two Opec members that haven’t pledged to attend production cap talks next month.

Local oil firms announced the biggest oil price hike on March 15, with gasoline price rising by P1.60 a liter, diesel by P1.25 a liter and kerosene by P1.15 a liter.

The Energy Department said that during the March 14 to 18 trading week, the average Dubai crude increased by around $0.30 per barrel from the previous week.

T U E S D AY : M A R C H 2 9, 2 0 1 6

A7

NEWS

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Town council declares state of calamity in 5 Ecija villages

Off on Thursday. Tricycles, which serve as the main mode of transportation in Dipolog City, have designated days off to prevent heavy traffic.

OMAR MANGORSI

Stop open burning, DENR tells villagers around Apo THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources is urging communities around Mt. Apo to help prevent exacerbating fire woes in this mountain by avoiding open burning as much as possible.

DENR’s Forest Protection Section chief Raul Briz said fire from open burning can spread to upper portions of Mt. Apo, worsening problems already created by the blaze there at present.

“Prevention is still the best defense against future fires,” he said.

He noted spread of fire from open burning is very possible due to wind and dry conditions in the area, he noted.

“Fire there will be difficult to control once it spreads,” he said.

During the weekend, reports surfaced about fire razing the up-

per part of Mt. Apo. Briz said DENR already deployed personnel concerned to monitor the fire.

The fire already razed some 100 hectares of grassland in Mt. Apo, he said, citing initial feedback relayed to him Monday by a community environment and natural resources officer having jurisdiction over a village at the foot of Mt. Apo. It takes hours of walking to reach Mt. Apo’s upper portion so manually bringing water there to put out the ongoing fire is a difficult and almost impossible task, he noted.

DENR has no water bombers for aerial firefighting.

According to Briz, the ongoing fire in Mt. Apo might be due to disposal there of either charred wood used in cooking or cigarettes smoked in the area.

“There’s no natural fire in the Philippines,” he said.

Fire due to lightning strikes is unlikely as rain quenches sparks on the ground, he noted.

“Mountain fires nationwide are 99.9 percent man-made,” he said.

Authorities identified Mt. Apo as the Philippines’ highest peak with an elevation of 3,143.6 meters above sea level.

Mt. Apo is the main attraction of Mt. Apo Natural Park which straddles parts of regions XI and XII.

RA 9237 (Mt. Apo Protected Area Act of 2003) established Mt. Apo as a protected area under the category of a natural park to secure its protection and conservation.

The law also established Mt. Apo’s peripheral area as buffer zones.

All activities including open burning are banned inside Mt. Apo except in the multi-use area where some activities are permitted, noted Briz.

Mt. Apo Natural Park’s total buffer zone covers about 9,078 hectares, DENR also said.

Open burning is likewise banned there and in forestland outside such zone, Briz continued.

He noted DENR approval is still needed for open burning in titled private pasture land outside the buffer zone. PNA

STO. DOMINGO, Nueva Ecija— Five villages in this northern Nueva Ecija municipality were placed under state of calamity after army worms, hatched by a certain kind of butterfly inside and quickly ate up the young leaves of onion, totally damaged nearly 450 hectares of crops this season.

Town Mayor Leonido de Guzman Jr. said the declaration of state of calamity over barangays Dolores, Concepcion, San Francisco, San Agustin and San Fabian, was made by the Sangguniang Bayan upon the recommendation of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

Citing report from the Municipal Agriculture Office, De Guzman said 346.30 hectares of the 474.50 hectares planted to red creole onion in the municipality was totally damaged by the army worms infestation that was monitored last February.

It affected at least 495 farming families who should have harvested, if not with the attack of the army worms, some 500 bags of 25-kilo pack per hectare.

Based on March 10 market price of P29 a kilo, according to the MAO report, the farmers have lost a total of P125.5 million due to infestation.

Worse, the pest continues to affect the remaining plants despite concerted efforts by the Department of Agriculture Regional Field Office 3, local officials and the farmers to contain it, according to Emelita Flores, municipal agriculturist.

Of the initial damaged areas, the largest was Barangay Dolores at 187.40 ha (253 farmers affected); followed by San Fabian, 46.80 ha (65 farmers); Concepcion, 44.80 ha (76 farmers); San Francisco, 39.40 ha (61 farmers); and San Agustin, 28 ha (40 farmers).

The onions were supposed to be harvested by the end of this month to April.

De Guzman said the MDRRMC recommended the use of calamity fund to help affected farmers recover by giving them hybrid seeds for rice, corn and vegetables. PNA

Former Zamboanga Sibugay officials face graft charges

By A. Perez Rimando IPIL, Zamboanga Sibugay —The Office of the Ombudsman has filed criminal charges against three former provincial board members for alleged falsification of public documents to claim reimbursements from the “Aid to the Poor” program of this province in 2001.

A report received here recently from the OMB listed the accused ex-members of the Sangguniang Panglalawigan as “Leonardo Llagas, George Castilllo and Gawas Musa who

were indicted for malversation and falsification of public records in violation of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.” The Commission on Audit revealed that Castillo, Llagas and Musa allegedly “presented and approved disbursement vouchers and falsified supporting documents to claim reimbursements totaling P95,000 from the ‘Aid to the Poor’ program” even as they claimed in their liquidation that the “financial aid ranging from P1,000 to P5,000 was provided to

their constituents.”

However, the CoA, upon verification, noted that listed beneficiaries could not be located, prompting the respondents to claim that the beneficiaries “provided them with wrong addresses.”

In its resolution released last month, the Office of the Ombudsman argued that “it is apparent that respondents were actuated with dishonest purpose to appropriate the fund intended as aid to the poor which sufficiently manifests the existence of evident bad faith.”

Tokyo Bar. Integrated Bar of the Philippines-Bulacan chapter president, Arni Topico, welcomes Japanese lawyers visiting the sala of Regional Trial Court judge Victoria Fernandez-Bernardo in Malolos City. ORLAN MAURICIO

T U E S D AY : M A R C H 2 9, 2 0 1 6

A8

OPINION

ADELLE CHUA EDITOR

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

OPINION

EAGLE EYES DEAN TONY LA VIÑA

GLORIOUS CROSS OF THE RISEN LORD

[ EDI TORI A L ]

MAR’S TEMPEST SEVERAL weeks ago, former Interior and Local Government Secretary and now presidential candidate Manuel Roxas II said there was no drama at all to his candidacy. He did not have a compelling life story, he said, and his background pales in comparison to the tales of his opponents. All this was just work, and he was just looking to continue the Daang Matuwid— fill its gaps and correct its inadequacies.

The comic book distributed by Roxas’ supporters during the birthday celebration of Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office Chairman Irineo Maliksi in Cavite, however, belies this claim. Titled “Sa Gitna ng Unos (In the midst of the tempest),” the comic book portrayed Roxas as the hero and savior of the people during and after the onslaught of Super Typhoon “Yolanda.”

The story of Roxas’ predisposition to put country over self is the main theme. He left a lucrative career in New York, brought business to the Philippines, pushed ground-breaking legislation, fathered the business process outsourcing industry, gave way to the more popular Benigno Aquino III in the 2010 presidential elections, and pushed for the implementation of projects at the DILG that have earned recognition for the country.

A photo of Roxas in a fallen motorcycle also showed the candidate would go to great lengths to help his countrymen despite danger and adversity.

Campaign spokesman Barry Gutierrez said Roxas’ supporters came out with comic book to inform the people of what really happened before, during and after the typhoon.

The portrayal of Roxas as larger than life—shown most prominently in the booklet cover where he shields victims from the storm—is not lost on a representative of a group of Yolanda survivors, who slammed the attempt as a desperate move to show he did something when he did not.

If the comic book does not scream drama, then we do not know what does.

In these last few weeks of the campaign, Roxas and his supporters are inclined to do anything—even resort to tall tales—to change the former secretary’s dismal showing in the surveys. The comic book is likely to yield results that are the opposite of what it intended. How shameful it is to use a tragedy, and worse, lie about it, to boost one’s stock.

Comic books are popular for their entertainment value. Roxas’ should be seen for just that, and nothing more.

SUPERMAR, THE COMIC LOWDOWN JOJO A. ROBLES DON’T look now, but Mar Roxas just made himself into a comic-book supertyphoon hero. If “Sa Gitna ng Unos, The Movie” is coming soon, I wouldn’t be surprised.

My chief complaint about the adventures of SuperMar, the comic, is that it assumes that Filipinos are stupid.

This illustrated hack job, which purports (according to the spokesman of the Liberal Party, anyway) to tell the truth about what happened in Tacloban City during the onslaught of Super Typhoon “Yolanda,” is clearly the product of a conviction that many voters will believe anything as long as it is in comicbook form.

Those voters, obviously, are poor and cannot afford to get information anywhere else. And that, in this age

of wall-to-wall media, both traditional and social, and mobile Internet (yes, even among the poor), is a very dangerous presumption to make.

Now, I understand that adequate proof can also be produced to show that it is equally perilous to assume that Filipino voters are intelligent, as a rule. A quick look at the survey leaders in the race for the Senate, for instance, will surely make you wonder what the respondents are looking for when

A9

The only thing true in the entire comic book is that Roxas was in Tacloban when Yolanda hit.

they consider the people who should represent them in that supposedly august chamber.

But my problem with Roxas’ transmogrification into a comic-book hero is that it comes from the candidate who claims that he is against all drama and has a monopoly on decency. The LP says the comic book is a “dramatization,” something that it echoes in a disclaimer on the cover, to the effect that it is “based on real events”; and it certainly isn’t a decent thing to insult people by assuming that they are idiots who can be swayed by a badly inked

comic book.

And it doesn’t help Mar’s case that his party’s spokesman can only point to anonymous supporters as the creators and financiers of the Roxas comic book. If the LP can proclaim that the comic sets things straight about what Mar did in Tacloban when Yolanda hit, why can’t it even own up to being the author and funder of the project, instead of pointing to unknown people as its source?

Published Monday to Sunday by Philippine Manila Standard Publishing Inc. at 6/F Universal Re Building, 106 Paseo de Roxas, corner Perea St., Legaspi Village, Makati City.

Telephone numbers 832-5554, 832-5556, 832-5558 (connecting all departments), (Editorial), 832-5546, (Advertising), 832-

And I wonder how the real victims of Yolanda would react to the colorful panels in the comic book portraying Mar as their savior during the calamity. After all, the propaganda materials (because that’s what they really are) were only distributed in Cavite during a birthday party for a local political ally last Sunday night; if Mar and his gang are really peddling the truth, they should have no problem distributing their comic books in Tacloban

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

MST ONLINE

can be accessed at: www.manilastandardtoday.com

MEMBER

PPI

Philippine Press Institute The National Association of Philippine Newspapers

City next time they visit.

The only thing true in the entire comic book is that Roxas was in Tacloban when Yolanda hit. The rest is condescending propaganda of the most unimaginative, egregious kind.

Oh and yes, Roxas fell off the motorcycle he was riding without a helmet, the better to identify him. Remember, Superman has kryptonite to deal with, too.

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 Anita F. Grefal Treasury Manager

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

VENERABLE Fulton Sheen in one of his sermons said that unless there is a Good Friday in our lives, there will never be an Easter Sunday. The Cross is the condition of the empty tomb, and the crown of thorns is the preface to the halo of light.

To the secular world, the Cross is something to be cast aside; a burden to reject. The precepts of Christ only becomes bearable and attractive when there is no cross. Sheen adds: The whole political and religious situation of the world can be summed up in terms of the divorce of Christ from His cross.

On three occasions, Christ himself was tempted to repudiate the cross and take the easy way out. First, the devil tempted him three times in the desert.

Second, Jesus strongly rebuked Peter, calling him Satan, when the latter protested upon learning about the manner of death in store for his master. And lastly, while hanging on the cross, the priests standing beneath the Cross hurled a challenge: “Come down and we will believe.” In every instance, Jesus Christ rejected them and willingly embraced his cross even to the point of giving up his life. His enemies were grossly mistaken into believing that Christ would abandon his teaching of selfimmolation and turn his back from the Father. In obedience to the will of the Father, Christ preached to his disciples “unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”

For all the beautiful sermons and the parables taught by Jesus, his most eloquent and powerful teaching was the unspoken word of the Cross. The Cross made Christianity possible. Our very essence as creatures of God will be rendered naught without the Cross because in the Cross, Christ took it upon himself to ransom us from our sinfulness. It made possible our redemption and with redemption Christ God reconciled the world to himself, “not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:19) The Cross of Christ is a glorious cross.

As already said, the excruciating pain and the agony suffered by Our Savior made possible his resurrection. By his death, Christ, motivated solely by his love for humanity, conquered death. In the same vein, our mundane sufferings and daily travails become glorious and assume a supernatural dimension pleasing to the Father when done with great love. Suddenly, the drudgery of daily living, the pains, and difficulties it entails when done Continued on A11 Rolando G. Estabillo Jojo A. Robles Ramonchito L. Tomeldan Chin Wong/Ray S. Eñano Francis Lagniton Joyce Pangco Pañares Adelle Chua Romel J. Mendez Roberto Cabrera

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

T U E S D AY : M A R C H 2 9, 2 0 1 6

A8

OPINION

ADELLE CHUA EDITOR

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

OPINION

EAGLE EYES DEAN TONY LA VIÑA

GLORIOUS CROSS OF THE RISEN LORD

[ EDI TORI A L ]

MAR’S TEMPEST SEVERAL weeks ago, former Interior and Local Government Secretary and now presidential candidate Manuel Roxas II said there was no drama at all to his candidacy. He did not have a compelling life story, he said, and his background pales in comparison to the tales of his opponents. All this was just work, and he was just looking to continue the Daang Matuwid— fill its gaps and correct its inadequacies.

The comic book distributed by Roxas’ supporters during the birthday celebration of Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office Chairman Irineo Maliksi in Cavite, however, belies this claim. Titled “Sa Gitna ng Unos (In the midst of the tempest),” the comic book portrayed Roxas as the hero and savior of the people during and after the onslaught of Super Typhoon “Yolanda.”

The story of Roxas’ predisposition to put country over self is the main theme. He left a lucrative career in New York, brought business to the Philippines, pushed ground-breaking legislation, fathered the business process outsourcing industry, gave way to the more popular Benigno Aquino III in the 2010 presidential elections, and pushed for the implementation of projects at the DILG that have earned recognition for the country.

A photo of Roxas in a fallen motorcycle also showed the candidate would go to great lengths to help his countrymen despite danger and adversity.

Campaign spokesman Barry Gutierrez said Roxas’ supporters came out with comic book to inform the people of what really happened before, during and after the typhoon.

The portrayal of Roxas as larger than life—shown most prominently in the booklet cover where he shields victims from the storm—is not lost on a representative of a group of Yolanda survivors, who slammed the attempt as a desperate move to show he did something when he did not.

If the comic book does not scream drama, then we do not know what does.

In these last few weeks of the campaign, Roxas and his supporters are inclined to do anything—even resort to tall tales—to change the former secretary’s dismal showing in the surveys. The comic book is likely to yield results that are the opposite of what it intended. How shameful it is to use a tragedy, and worse, lie about it, to boost one’s stock.

Comic books are popular for their entertainment value. Roxas’ should be seen for just that, and nothing more.

SUPERMAR, THE COMIC LOWDOWN JOJO A. ROBLES DON’T look now, but Mar Roxas just made himself into a comic-book supertyphoon hero. If “Sa Gitna ng Unos, The Movie” is coming soon, I wouldn’t be surprised.

My chief complaint about the adventures of SuperMar, the comic, is that it assumes that Filipinos are stupid.

This illustrated hack job, which purports (according to the spokesman of the Liberal Party, anyway) to tell the truth about what happened in Tacloban City during the onslaught of Super Typhoon “Yolanda,” is clearly the product of a conviction that many voters will believe anything as long as it is in comicbook form.

Those voters, obviously, are poor and cannot afford to get information anywhere else. And that, in this age

of wall-to-wall media, both traditional and social, and mobile Internet (yes, even among the poor), is a very dangerous presumption to make.

Now, I understand that adequate proof can also be produced to show that it is equally perilous to assume that Filipino voters are intelligent, as a rule. A quick look at the survey leaders in the race for the Senate, for instance, will surely make you wonder what the respondents are looking for when

A9

The only thing true in the entire comic book is that Roxas was in Tacloban when Yolanda hit.

they consider the people who should represent them in that supposedly august chamber.

But my problem with Roxas’ transmogrification into a comic-book hero is that it comes from the candidate who claims that he is against all drama and has a monopoly on decency. The LP says the comic book is a “dramatization,” something that it echoes in a disclaimer on the cover, to the effect that it is “based on real events”; and it certainly isn’t a decent thing to insult people by assuming that they are idiots who can be swayed by a badly inked

comic book.

And it doesn’t help Mar’s case that his party’s spokesman can only point to anonymous supporters as the creators and financiers of the Roxas comic book. If the LP can proclaim that the comic sets things straight about what Mar did in Tacloban when Yolanda hit, why can’t it even own up to being the author and funder of the project, instead of pointing to unknown people as its source?

Published Monday to Sunday by Philippine Manila Standard Publishing Inc. at 6/F Universal Re Building, 106 Paseo de Roxas, corner Perea St., Legaspi Village, Makati City.

Telephone numbers 832-5554, 832-5556, 832-5558 (connecting all departments), (Editorial), 832-5546, (Advertising), 832-

And I wonder how the real victims of Yolanda would react to the colorful panels in the comic book portraying Mar as their savior during the calamity. After all, the propaganda materials (because that’s what they really are) were only distributed in Cavite during a birthday party for a local political ally last Sunday night; if Mar and his gang are really peddling the truth, they should have no problem distributing their comic books in Tacloban

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

MST ONLINE

can be accessed at: www.manilastandardtoday.com

MEMBER

PPI

Philippine Press Institute The National Association of Philippine Newspapers

City next time they visit.

The only thing true in the entire comic book is that Roxas was in Tacloban when Yolanda hit. The rest is condescending propaganda of the most unimaginative, egregious kind.

Oh and yes, Roxas fell off the motorcycle he was riding without a helmet, the better to identify him. Remember, Superman has kryptonite to deal with, too.

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 Anita F. Grefal Treasury Manager

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

VENERABLE Fulton Sheen in one of his sermons said that unless there is a Good Friday in our lives, there will never be an Easter Sunday. The Cross is the condition of the empty tomb, and the crown of thorns is the preface to the halo of light.

To the secular world, the Cross is something to be cast aside; a burden to reject. The precepts of Christ only becomes bearable and attractive when there is no cross. Sheen adds: The whole political and religious situation of the world can be summed up in terms of the divorce of Christ from His cross.

On three occasions, Christ himself was tempted to repudiate the cross and take the easy way out. First, the devil tempted him three times in the desert.

Second, Jesus strongly rebuked Peter, calling him Satan, when the latter protested upon learning about the manner of death in store for his master. And lastly, while hanging on the cross, the priests standing beneath the Cross hurled a challenge: “Come down and we will believe.” In every instance, Jesus Christ rejected them and willingly embraced his cross even to the point of giving up his life. His enemies were grossly mistaken into believing that Christ would abandon his teaching of selfimmolation and turn his back from the Father. In obedience to the will of the Father, Christ preached to his disciples “unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”

For all the beautiful sermons and the parables taught by Jesus, his most eloquent and powerful teaching was the unspoken word of the Cross. The Cross made Christianity possible. Our very essence as creatures of God will be rendered naught without the Cross because in the Cross, Christ took it upon himself to ransom us from our sinfulness. It made possible our redemption and with redemption Christ God reconciled the world to himself, “not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:19) The Cross of Christ is a glorious cross.

As already said, the excruciating pain and the agony suffered by Our Savior made possible his resurrection. By his death, Christ, motivated solely by his love for humanity, conquered death. In the same vein, our mundane sufferings and daily travails become glorious and assume a supernatural dimension pleasing to the Father when done with great love. Suddenly, the drudgery of daily living, the pains, and difficulties it entails when done Continued on A11 Rolando G. Estabillo Jojo A. Robles Ramonchito L. Tomeldan Chin Wong/Ray S. Eñano Francis Lagniton Joyce Pangco Pañares Adelle Chua Romel J. Mendez Roberto Cabrera

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

T U E S D AY : M A R C H 2 9, 2 0 1 6

A10

OPINION lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

I SAW HISTORY THE ‘NEW RULES’ ON PHILIPPINE CITIZENSHIP IN THE MAKING (1) TO THE POINT EMIL P. JURADO

HOLY Week gave me time to reflect on my past, what I did or did not do.

At my age of 88 years, I live on my memories.

And I thank God for having been a product of the war and having lived through it.

The most memorable years of my life were my years in journalism even though I went to college to become a lawyer and eventually passed the bar in 1954.

Being in the industry for the past 66 years, I have seen history in the making.

At times, I was part of it. I walked through the corridors of power, knowing, and sometimes becoming friends with, presidents.

Indeed I have seen the best and worst of them.

I got to know some presidents and even befriended some of them.

When I was hired by no less than the late Don Vicente Madrigal way back in 1955 to become the business editor of the defunct Philippines Herald, it was partly luck, but I would say it is a blessing. When I reported to the late Felix Gonzalez, who then was called “judge” upon orders of Don Vicente Madrigal, he asked me where I studied.

When I told him I was an Atenean and a lawyer, he said, “I hate Ateneans,” but added, “that’s your desk there since the former business editor is on leave taking the Bar to become a lawyer.”

When I was introduced to the staff and editors as the new business editor, Teodoro Valencia, or “Ka Doroy” as he was commonly called, approached my desk and told me that as of the next day, I would

be covering the Central Bank and Department of Finance. Ka Doroy at that time had his daily column “Over a Cup of Coffee,” which was widely read and respected.

In fact, I was told that if I needed financial help, I should see Ka Doroy.

No wonder every payday, there were always two lines of newsmen at his table: Borrowing money from him, and paying him back.

Santa Banana, believe it or not, for six months I was only getting P120 a month since I was new.

When I became part of the regular staff, I got P750.

I’m still wondering how my wife and I survived with that measly pay.

As a business editor, and covering the Central Bank under then-Governor Miguel Cuaderno, I had the opportunity to meet businessmen, CEOs and chairmen of the board, because I was a dutiful business editor. I had exclusive stories not only for the business pages but for the front page.

At times, I also covered Malacañang and the Department of Foreign Affairs when my colleagues Nestor Mata and Oscar Villadolid were out. That’s why I personally knew the late President Ramon Magsaysay and Carlos P. Romulo.

The Central Bank was an interesting beat because of import control. It was a time when businessmen fell in line at the Office of the late Virgie Yaptinchay, Central Bank Import Department director, for that much-needed quota allocation. Having the privilege of going in and out of Ms. Yaptinchay’s office unannounced as the Herald business editor, I recall introducing some businessmen to Virgie ahead of others. Many of them had since become billionaires.

That was the time when I had a scoop of three Monetary Board members taking advantage of their office to secure quota allocations for their businesses, and even played the stock market, something Monetary Board members should never do.

That exclusive I got for the Herald led to an episode of my life I can never forget. One evening, as I was getting down the stairs

THE four petitioners who filed the cases to disqualify Senator Grace Poe from running in the May 2016 presidential election are determined to seek the reversal of the recent decision of the Supreme Court which seemingly favored Poe. They filed a joint motion seeking a reconsideration of the said decision, on the ground that the basis upon which the ruling in favor of Poe was arrived at has no support in the text of the Constitution, and has in fact illegally amended the fundamental law of the land by creating “new rules” governing Philippine citizenship.

There is also the issue about whether or not the ruling in favor of Poe has the concurrence of a majority of the justices of the Supreme Court. Only seven justices categorically stated that Poe is presumed to be a natural-born citizen of the Philippines. Seven out of 15 justices is not a majority.

The four petitioners also assailed the supposed majority opinion for setting a dangerous precedent.

One of its consequences is that an alien can now simply arrange for his or her offspring to be “discovered” as a foundling, and thus, on account of this recent development in the Supreme Court, the alien’s offspring is presumed to be a natural-born citizen of the country.

Surprisingly, the premise of the supposed majority opinion is that those who assail Poe’s eligibility have the burden of proving her ineligibility, and failing in that regard, it must be presumed that Poe is eligible for her presidential run. That is an untenable assumption because if one is presumed to be qualified to run for public office, then nuisance candidates should be entitled to that presumption as well. Why then, were they disqualified even when nobody opposed their eligibility? For that matter, why does a

from my office at the second floor of the Herald and passed through the front beside our security guard, two burly men poked guns on both sides of my stomach, and told me to board a black car. Yes, it was just like what happens in movies about gangsters.

I was taken to the old Hotel Filipinas, to the top floor when I was made to enter a suite.

Seated at the sala of the suite was a fat man smoking a cigar, who said in the vernacular: “You are still a young man, and I would hate it if something happened to you. My friend (mentioning the name of one of the three Monetary Board members I exposed as guilty of graft and corruption) does not know it, but I would just like you write his side.”

“Sure, gladly,” I said.

whelmingly ratified the new constitution. The political opposition of that period denounced the statistics in both events.

While the supposed majority opinion relied heavily on the statistical inference made by the Solicicandidate have to file his support- tor General, it appears that the peing papers if he or she already en- titioners were not given the chance joys a presumption that he or she is to contest the authenticity and reliqualified to run for public office? ability of the figures submitted. In Under the rules on evidence, one this light, the statistical report subwho alleges a material fact has the mitted can be considered hearsay burden of proving it. Since Poe al- evidence. leges that she is qualified to run for Even assuming that those stapresident because she is a natural- tistics are correct, the fact that reborn citizen of the Philippines, then mains is that Poe was unable to she has the burden of proving this. locate even a single distant relative There is no presumption under so as to prove, once and for all, the Constitution, or in any law, or through DNA testing, that her bioin any international covenant duly logical parent is a Filipino. signed by the Philippines, that a The supposed majority opinion foundling is a natural-born citizen also put considerable weight on the of the country where the founding physical features of Poe, and conis discovered. sidered her features as represenThe supposed majority opinion tative of what it called a “Filipino also relied on a statistical inference look.” Good grief! Since when submitted by the Solicitor General were one’s physical features concluto the effect that the probability sive evidence of one’s citizenship? that a child born in the Philippines The last time physical features were between 1965 and 1975 is a natural- used to determine one’s citizenborn citizen is 99.83 per cent. That ship was when Adolf Hitler’s Nazis figure is impressive, but it is not a dominated Germany and much of certainty. It is just a statistical in- Europe during World War II. Milference, a mere probability. As stat- lions were killed by the Nazis on the ed in this column in the past, the basis of physical features!

Constitution requires a fact—that Just what constitutes as a “Filithe candidate for president must be pino look” anyway? The Aetas of a natural-born citizen of the Phil- Zambales are undoubtedly Filipiippines—and not a mere statistical no, but since they do not look like probability.

Poe, then they face the risk of getJust how reliable are those statis- ting disenfranchised because, as the tics in the first place? The period supposed majority opinion would from 1965 to 1975 includes 1969, have it, they do not have the physithe year reelectionist President Fer- cal features of Poe. Many Filipinos dinand Marcos of the Nacionalista do not share the same physical feaParty clobbered Liberal Party chal- tures of Poe, and they are naturallenger Sergio Osmeña Jr. in what born Filipinos! the LP considers to be the dirtiest The petitioners who filed the pre-martial law era election. That disqualification cases have good period also includes 1972, the year reason to say that this judicially when citizens assemblies overContinued on A11

“Just wait here,” said the man I recognized to be a mobster from South of Manila, who was one time accused of killing somebody on Dasmariñas Street.

The man then left, instructing one of his men to stay inside the suite and me to wait for a press statement of his friend whom I had exposed. After eating pancit canton which was ordered for me, I was advised by the guard to get some sleep. That was already one o’clock the next morning. I tried but I could not because I was so worried about my wife, who must have been so worried about me.

At six a.m. there was a knock at the door. Somebody had an envelope for me. When I opened the envelope, it was a press statement from the Monetary Board member I

HAIL TO THE CHAIR VICTOR AVECILLA

had exposed. When I was released from custody, I immediately went home and explained everything to my wife, who was indeed so worried. I then called up my brother Willie, who told me to wait for him. When Willie arrived, he told me we would go to Malacañang and see President Magsaysay. My brother said he was expecting us.

When we arrived at the Palace, a guard took us to the quarters of President Magsaysay, who then asked if I knew people who I thought should take over from the three. I was stunned but, I managed to blurt out three names— Jaime Velasquez, UP Dean Vicente Cinco and Agriculture Undersecretary Amando Dalisay. “Done,” the President said, and called his secretary to have

those three names immediately appointed to the Monetary Board.

After coffee, the President ushered me to his bedroom and opened one of his side drawers where a Smith Wesson .38 caliber with “PRM” was inscribed.

“This is for you,” he said and added that somebody would have it licensed under my name. The President also said that I would need security protection for myself and my family.

The following day, a Palace security guard came to our house and one was assigned to me, my wife, and one for each of my children. Having somebody always following me day and night was something new to me. It was worse for my wife, who had to be accompanied even to the bathroom by her guard.

Continued on A11

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OPINION lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

FIVE YEARS TOO LONG: WHY THE WORLD’S BIGGEST HUMANITARIAN DISASTER MUST END

By Yacoub El Hillo and Kevin Kennedy THE worst humanitarian crisis of our time has lasted too long as millions of Syrians have experienced widespread violence, destruction and displacement. Since March 2011, hundreds of thousands have been killed, over a million wounded and half the population has been displaced or sought refuge in neighbouring countries. Schools, hospitals and other infrastructure have been reduced to rubble, and over two million children and adolescents are out of school. Four out of five Syrians now live in poverty.

In a country that was once known as the “cradle of civi-

lization,” sieges are increasingly used as a tactic of war.

In 2016, on average nearly half a million people have been trapped in their towns, deprived of essential aid and surrounded by armed groups.

Millions more live in areas where aid seldom reaches.

Summary executions, arbitrary detention and horrific human rights violations are a regular feature of this crisis.

On Feb. 12 a landmark agreement was reached in Munich where a cessation of hostilities was agreed upon as well as accelerated delivery of aid to those most in need. Despite ruptures, the agreement has mostly been respected offering a glimmer of hope to millions of Syrians.

The ‘New... From A10 authorized use of physical features as an indicator of one’s citizenship “inserts in Philippine jurisprudence a kind of profiling that could be considered racist in character.” The supposed majority opinion puts a premium on one’s looks, rather than on uncontroverted evidence, in determining if one is a natural-born Filipino.

That’s not only racism plain and simple; that’s a return to the hated days of the Spanish colonial period in the Philippines when Filipinos were considered inferior and indolent mainly because they did not have the physical features of a typical Spaniard.

Unless revoked by the Supreme Court, the Filipino people are stuck with these “new rules” governing citizenship in the Philippines. These “new rules” consist of two phases, thus, one who is originally disqualified to run for president may still do so by—first, alleging that he or she is a foundling discovered in the Philippines between 1965 and 1975, and second, by sporting the judiciallymandated “Filipino look.”

I saw... From A10 And, my gulay, we had to feed them and give them tips. Those were the longest days and nights of my wife. Our security lasted for over a year after President Magsaysay died when his plane from Cebu crashed.

That was part of my life as a journalist I’ll never forget. But I was glad it happened because I proved to the Herald editors that I was worthy of their choice as a business editor.

Another exposé I made was in connection with import quota allocations. It was when the late Gregorio Licaros picked me up at home so we could inspect businesses and factories that were supposed to have used their quota allocations for imports, but never did. They used them for other purposes.

I knew that was a very dangerous game we were playing, but we did it just the same. That earned Licaros a lot of praise from the press.

Licaros later on became chairman of the Development Bank of the Philippines and governor of the Central Bank, a position he deserved.

That was “RM”—a man of action who listens to the people.

The critics of President Magsaysay accused him of being proAmerican. In a way he was, since he needed the help of the Central Intelligence Agency and the US State Department to counter the rise of communism from China with the help of the Hukbalahaps or Huks, whose leaders were being infiltrated by Chairman Mao Tse Tung’s type of communism. RM proved himself ready for the task when as defense secretary during the Elpidio Quirino administration, he led the fight against the Huks. That earned him the support of the people, enough to be president in 1955.

It was a sad day for the Philippines when RM died in a plane crash in 1957. He was indeed a man of the masses and a very popular president.

In Part 2 of my series, I’ll write about my television and radio days, and the many scandals in connection with the grant of import quotas and reparations by Japan to the Philippines.

It has presented a short respite for people who have repeatedly told us that all they want is to be safe and for their families to be protected from violence in a war that has endured far too long. In towns across parts of Syria, there are signs of that hope as families are once again walking in the streets and children playing in parks.

At this moment, we must also take stock of what we have accomplished and where we have fallen short. Over the course of the last five years, the United Nations, the Red Cross/Red Crescent movement and the NonGovernmental organizations have delivered health services, medicine, food, clean

water, sanitation and shelter to millions of people. It has come at a high cost as 85 humanitarian workers have lost their lives and hundreds of medical workers have been killed. Syrians themselves have played the lead role in alleviating the suffering of people in need - as first-line responders on the ground or hosting fellow Syrians fleeing conflict despite their own difficult circumstances.

Given the momentum started in Munich, we now have a unique opportunity that must not be lost. Humanitarian organizations are ramping up their operations but require access to all people in need on a sustained, unconditional and unimped-

ed basis. Sieges must be lifted and people allowed freedom of movement. The cessation of hostilities must be maintained and fully observed.

Most importantly, the political process must continue and achieve a permanent end to hostilities.

Five years of human suffering on an immense scale must be brought to an end. The Syrian people must have their dignity and security restored and have the opportunity to reconcile and rebuild.

Glorious... From A9

thus earned his salvation. The prodigal son had to descend to the level of a slave in order to acknowledge his faults and return to his loving father. Peter exhorted the first Christians, “Do not be surprised, beloved, that a trial by fire is occurring in your midst. It is a test for you, but it should not catch you off guard. Rejoice instead, in the measure that you share Christ’s sufferings. When His glory is revealed, you will rejoice exultantly.” Embrace our cross for the cross impels us!

The way to appreciate the fullness of Christ’s resurrection is to know the significance of the cross in his paschal sacrifice.

Easter is meaningless without the cross of Good Friday. For this reason our Lord also commands us to embrace our own crosses in order to attain salvation.

In the words of Pope Francis: “However it is also a glorious Cross, as glorious as the dawn after a long night, because it represents the totality of the love of

God, which is greater than our iniquity and our betrayals. In the Cross we see the monstrosity of man, when we allow ourselves to be guided by evil; but we also see the immensity of God’s mercy who does not treat us according to our sins, but according to His mercy. Before the Cross of Christ, we see, we can almost touch with our hands how much we are eternally loved; Before the Cross, we feel like ‘children’ and not ‘things’ or ‘objects’.”

The Pope prays: “Oh, our Jesus, lead us from the Cross to the Resurrection and teach us that evil will not have the last word, but love, mercy and forgiveness.

O Christ, help us to once again cry: ‘Yesterday I was crucified with Christ; today I am glorified with Him. Yesterday I died with Him, today I live with Him. Yesterday I was buried with Him, today raised with Him.’” Christ is risen! Christ is truly risen! Happy Easter!

Both Aquino and Roxas supported the candidacy of Pineda’s political nemesis, the suspended priest exgovernor Eduardo Panlilio, in the elections in 2010 and 2013. Aquino, Roxas and the rest of the anti-Arroyo opposition once hailed Panlilio as the epitome of good governance, until it became clear that the people of Pampanga had no use for him.

If Roxas once again made the mistake of backing Panlilio against Pineda, he and Robredo would certainly lose the Pampanga vote. And that, if you’re Roxas and the LP, is clearly unacceptable.

It is so much easier for the administration party to play

nice with the powerful Pinedas. As for Panlilio, who cares what happens to him, right?

Now, I’m not going to blame Roxas—who will do anything to get votes, after all—for going to bed politically with the Pinedas. But I’m really saddened by Robredo’s going along with the charade, because I honestly believe that she is made of more idealistic stuff.

Then I see the Facebook photographs of Robredo in her trademark tsinelas walking through a shallow canal, with an expensive Louis Vuitton bag slung over her shoulder. And I think maybe she’s not who she wants us to believe she is, either.

with love become bearable and partake of a redemptive value.

Thus the act of performing simple tasks which we often find annoying carry a divine seed that will sprout to full fruition when done with love. We have to stop seeing difficulties as somehow being in the way, and begin to see them as the Way. Since they are God’s will for me and you. Shema Israel! We are commanded by the Scriptures to love God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength. By embracing every cross, by carrying every task, by ascending every little Calvary with love, we are expressing our purest love for God just as Christ, without the least resistance up to the very end, offered himself as the paschal sacrifice.

Often, we recognize Christ only when we are forced to pass through spiritual fire. The thief, while hanging on the cross, cried out to Christ in supplication and

SuperMar... From A9 *** Before I forget, Roxas and his running mate Rep. Leni Robredo last week proudly proclaimed that they were being supported by Pampanga Gov. Lilia “Baby” Pineda in the coming elections.

Now, unless I am very much mistaken, Roxas and his former boss, President Noynoy Aquino, used to identify Pineda as a close associate of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the better to tar the latter with guilt by association, since Pineda is married to a certain Bong Pineda, the alleged Lord of All Jueteng in Central Luzon.

Yacoub El Hillo is the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Syria and Kevin Kennedy is the UN Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis.

Facebook: tonylavs5 or Dean Tony La Viña Twitter: tonylavs

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sports sports@thestandard.com.ph

Clippers book playoff berth DeAnDre Jordan tallied 16 points and 16 rebounds as the Los Angeles Clippers clinched a Western Conference playoff spot with a 105-90 win over the Denver nuggets on Sunday.

Cole Aldrich of the Los Angeles Clippers shoots the ball against the Denver Nuggets at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. AFP

Kiwi Ko cruises to Kia Classic crown WoRLD number one Lydia Ko captured her 11th USLPGA Tour title as she cruised to a four-stroke victory at the Kia Classic tournament on Sunday.

The 18-year-old New Zealand teenager fired a five-under par 67 to finish at 19-under 269 and earn $255,000 in first place prize money.

She will remain number one for the 23rd straight week.

The win puts Ko in the driver’s seat heading into next week’s ANA

Inspiration, the first major championship of the season.

“I’ve been playing consistently well, so I’m really happy about that.

But who knows what’s going to happen tomorrow,” Ko said.

Ko maintained the lead throughout the fourth round as she went into the final day holding a threeshot lead.

She finished with seven birdies, including birdies on each of the final three holes.

South Korea’s Park In-Bee shot a five-under 67 to finish alone in second place at 15-under 273. She had birdies on three of her first eight holes Sunday to apply some pressure on Ko. “I took a peek at the leaderboard and saw that In-Bee was making a lot of birdies,” Ko said.

“I knew that I had to focus until the last moment.

“Fortunately, I made some birdies down the stretch, and that

really helped.”

Japan’s Ai Miyazato shot a sixunder 66 in the final round to finish in third place at 276, while two South Koreans, Park Sung-Hyun and Jenny Shin, finished tied for fourth at 277 after both shot even par on the final day.

Four players tied for sixth at 10-under 278, comprising Gerina Piller, China’s Feng Shanshan, Jessica Korda and South Korea’s Kim Hyo-Joo. AFP

Quintana wins Tour of Catalonia

CoLoMBIA’S Nairo Quintana won the Tour of Catalonia on Sunday with the final stage—a 136km circuit around Barcelona’s Montjuic area, the site of the 1992 olympic Games —going to Alexey Tsatevich of Russia.

Quintana, head of the Movistar team, took the lead in what is Spain’s oldest stage race at the end of the fourth stage at Port Aine and he never looked like losing that on Sunday.

The Colombian successfully resisted a series of attacks from Chris Froome, Alberto Contador and Dan Martin in a race that featured the majority of this year’s contenders for the Tour de France.

While Tsatevich edged out Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic in a sprint finish, Quintana finished seven seconds clear of Spain’s Contador (Tinkoff) overall with Ireland’s Martin (Etixx) in third at 17 seconds off the pace.

Defending Tour de France champion Froome (Team Sky) was forced to settle for eighth place as he ended 46 seconds adrift. AFP

Chess winner. Open 20 champion Vince Angelo Medina poses with National Chess

Federation of the Philippines Executive Secretary GM Jayson Gonzales during the awarding ceremony of the National Age Group Chess Championship held at the PSC Canteen last week.

The Clippers became the fourth West club to book a playoff berth as they used a strong second half to get the job done in front of a crowd of 19,000 at the Staples Center arena.

Chris Paul scored 14 points, handed out nine assists and grabbed six rebounds for Los Angeles, which had six players score in double figures.

“We started getting stops in the second half,” said Paul.

“When D.J. Augustin came back in, we started blitzing, trying to get the ball out of his hands. He sort of controlled the game in the first half.”

“He did a little bit of everything. So, in the second half, we tried to take him out of the game. I think that helped us.”

Jamal Crawford scored 14 points, Jeff Green and Wesley Johnson added 13 points each, and J.J. Redick had 12 points.

Jordan connected on seven-of-10 shots from the floor as the Clippers clinched a playoff berth for the fifth consecutive season.

Jordan leads the NBA in field goal percentage.

Jusuf Nurkic led the Nuggets with 19 points. Augustin had 16 of his 18 points in the first half before the Clippers put a dent in his production after intermission.

Augustin added 10 assists.

Will Barton finished with 13 points for Denver. Gary Harris scored 11.

The Clippers opened the third quarter with a 13-4 run to stretch their four-point halftime lead to 67-54.

The Clippers took a 77-60 lead into the fourth and the Nuggets failed to get close again.

“The third quarter killed us,” Denver coach Mike Malone said. “They got out to a great start, we weathered the storm, came back, played really well and made it a game.

“Then, to get outscored 25-12 in the third quarter, I think we had five turnovers, and if we did not turn it over DeAndre blocked our shot it felt like.

We just could not score.”

DeMarcus Cousins finished with a double-double of 20 points and 12 rebounds and the Sacramento Kings rolled to their second straight victory with a 133-111 rout of the Dallas Mavericks.

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sports sports@thestandard.com.ph

Belgian cyclist dies in race motorbike smash. Belgian cyclist

Donaire gettting better

Antoine Demoitie has died after he was struck by a motorbike following a fall during the Gent-Wevelgem race in Belgium, police said. The 25-year-old, a member of Belgium’s second-division team Wanty-Gobert, was involved in a fall along with other riders around 150 kilometres (90 miles) into the race on Sunday in Sainte-Marie-Cappel, northern France. He was then hit by a motorbike while on the ground, before being transported to a hospital in Lille where he succumbed to his injuries. “The rider died.

An inquiry is under way to determine the circumstances,” Frederic Evrard, spokesman for the NordPas-de-Calais regional gendarmerie in France, said late on Sunday. AFP

By Ronnie Nathanielsz

WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire is improving with every training session as he prepares for his title defense against former Hungarian Olympian and world No. 4-ranked Zsolt Bedak at the Cebu Sports Center on April 23. Dodong Donaire Sr., the father/trainer of the former five-division world champion, told The Standard that Nonito “is getting better and better every week.”

The champion sparred eight rounds with unbeaten Michigan featherweight, 25-year-old Raeese Alemm, who Dodong said “fights like Bedak and is very fast.”

“But Nonito looked very good,” said the father/trainer. “Nonito is getting in shape, going down in weight and instead of slowing down he’s getting so much better. His speed and power is there. He’s going to be fine.”

Dodong said they have been watching tapes of Bedak’s fights and they would do more in the days ahead.

Team Donaire is scheduled to arrive in Manila next Monday and will resume sparring on Tuesday at the Wild Card Gym of the late Rod Nazario in BF Homes, Paranaque on and have chosen super featherweight Virgil Puton of General Santos City, with whom Nonito sparred before, as sparring partner.

The 26-year-old Puton, who is trained

by Jun Arlos, has a record of 16-7 with 7 knockouts.

PSA Forum tackles boxing convention THE coming Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation Convention in Bacolod City on Friday will be tackled in Tuesday’s Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at the Shakey’s Restaurant in Malate.

Appearing at the Forum aired live over DZSR Sports Radio 918 and presented by San Miguel Corp., Accel, Shakey’s and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. are promoter Brico Santig and boxers Rey Megrino and Carlo Magali, who will fight separate opponents in a triple-championship fight card that is part of the convention.

Brico co-promotes the event with Thai sports patron Naris Singwangcha.

All PSA members are enjoined to attend the session, which promptly starts at 10:30 a.m.

Azkals face N Koreans, try to boost standing

By Peter Atencio

THE PHILIPPINE Azkals may be out of contention for the third round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifiers, but other opportunities are waiting them when they meet powerhouse North Korea today at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.

They will have a chance to get a better position in the ranking system in the 2016 Asian Cup third qualifying round.

“I believe in the team.

They are good enough to play football in this game.

They have to show confidence (against North Korea),” said Azkals’ coach Thomas Dooley, who talked about the Azkals’ game with North Korea at 8 p.m. during a huddle with scribes Monday at

Sheraton Hotel, a few days after they took a 0-1 loss to Uzbekistan.

The Uzbeks have already entered the third round after notching their sixth win in seven games at the expense of the Azkals last Thursday in Tashkent. They are set to meet Bahrain in the remaining match, also tonight.

The North Koreans, coached by Kim Chang Bok, took the no. 2 spot with their 5-1-1 win-draw-

loss slate after they won over Bahrain, 2-0, last Nov. 17.

“We will do our best to show to everybody that we can play a good game in Manila,” said Kim, some four months after they played the Azkals to a scoreless draw in Pyongyang.

With a game left in their schedule, the Azkals can earn a better placing in the Asian Cup’s third qualifying round.

They are now in the same group with Iraq, China, Oman, Kuwait, Guam, Myanmar and Tajikistan.

Team skipper Juan Luis Guirado said he is retiring, and this will be his last game for the Azkals.

“I will miss everything, the opportunity to play with a great group after this,” said the 34-year-old Guirado, who added that he will concentrate his energies playing

with his club team Ceres-La Salle FC in the AFC Cup. Other Azkals playing today are Amani Aguinaldo will be around, along with Zachary Aristorenas, Misagh Bahadoran, Mario Javier Clarino, Kenshiro Daniels, Liam del Rosario, Patrick Deyto, Neil Etheridge, Roland Muller, Manny Ott and Daniel Gadia.

Also with the team are Javier Patino, Iain Ramsay, Simone Rota, Daisuke Sato, Martin Steuble, Miguel Tanton, Tomas Trigo, Dennis Villanueva, Luke Woodland and James Younghusband.

The match will be aired live today at 8 p.m. (Manila time) on ABS-CBN Sports+Action Channel 23.

Leading the North Koreans are Jang Song-hyok, Jang Kuk-chol, Han Song-hyok, Kang Kuk-chol, Jon Kwangik and Sim Hyon-jin.

Tanduay holds 3rd Chairman Kap Golf Invitational Tournament

LuCIo ‘BoNG’ TAN, Jr.

IT’S all about “El Kapitan” and the Tanduay Distiller, Inc. family and friends on April 1 with the staging of the 3rd Chairman Kap Golf Invitational at the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club.

The event, which promises to outdo the two previous successful editions, is held in honor of Tanduay Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Lucio C. Tan, who is credited for making

Tanduay the country’s biggest and well-known brand since he took over the company in 1988.

“Since my father acquired the company in 1988, we have grown to be not just one of the country’s biggest brands but more importantly, one of the brands that Filipinos love the most,” said TDI President Lucio ‘Bong’ Tan, Jr. “This annual fellowship is one way to recognize all the hard work

my father has done for the company and also, we never forget friends and partners who have been with us through the years,” he added.

Tournament chairman Gerard Cantada announced a system 36 format and the wholeday affair will culminate with an awarding ceremony and dinner party with a truckload of prizes to be given away.

Giveaways and prizes this year include Usana

products, gift certificates, gadgets, roundtrip tickets from Philippine Airlines and many other surprises.

“Golf is one way to spend quality time with friends. Every day, we all try to work hard, but we must always make time to be with people we value the most, and spend fun time together. That is the unique Tanduay spirit that has kept us strong through the years,” Cantada added.

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SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

Garcia: SEAG backlash looms

By Peter Atencio

SPORTS officials in Malaysia should expect a big backlash from member countries over its decision to remove many events in the 2017 Southeast Asian Games.

Philippine Sports Commission Chairman Ricardo “Richie” Garcia said this as he took note of the decision of organizers of the 29th

SEA Games to ratify an initial list of 34 sports and 342 events, with ice hockey and ice skating added for the first time.

Futsal, a form of fivea-side football, is also in the calendar, while eight traditional events were among those scrapped in athletics, along with Olympic staples fencing, judo and canoeing.

“They (organizers) have been removing events, adding some, and removing others again. From the beginning, this will make the staging of the games

difficult,” said Garcia.

The move has sparked talks within the region that certain countries will boycott events such the triple jump, high jump and the discus throw in athletics There is also talk that Asia’s governing athletics’ body, the Asian Athletics Association, will not sanction the holding of the athletics’ events in

the games.

The sanctions loom if events excluded from the overall line-up in athletics are not reinstated.

Other sports disciplines had a reduced number of events and these include wushu, boxing, weightlifting, tennis, volleyball, cycling and rugby, while some Olympic sports were scrapped altogether like rowing, fencing, triathlon,

Fil-Moroccans join PH National Open TWO Fil-foreign runners from Washington State are definitely coming to the 2016 National Open Athletics’ Championships next week at the Philsports oval in Pasig.

Fil-Moroccan Yacine Guermali, who is doing good in cross-country races, will try to make an impression with his brother Said, Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association president Philip Ella Juico announced.

“They’re coming. They are doing good in races in Washington State,” said Juico, who added that the two will compete in the 800-meter run.

The Guermalis will join Rio Olympics-bound Eric Cray, sprinter Brandon Thomas and thrower Caleb Stuart in their quest for glory.

“This will be a show of Fil-heritage athletic force,” Juico added.

Thomas, who is into sprints, will challenge varsity athletes, who are now part of the 41-man

national training pool.

One of the local runners expected to make his presence felt is Clinton Kingsley Bautista, who won two golds in 100-meter run and the 110-meter hurdles for Far Eastern University in the recent University Athletic Association of the Philippines meet.

He will be challenged

by Jomar Udtohan, who broke the sprints’ records in the recent 91st National Collegiate Athletic Association athletics’ competition.

A total of 16 golds will be at stake on opening day, with Bautista expected to shine in the preliminaries.

Juico also went on announce that Ayala Corporation will be a title sponsor in the three-day meet to be held from April 7 to 9.

“This is a breakthrough.

This will the first time that Ayala Corporation will partner with a national sports association in an event like this,” said Juico.

Peter Atencio

PH fly champ kayoes Japanese

By Ronnie Nathanielsz

Dunk king. Nigeria native Obinna Ezeike reigned supreme with his high-flying skills and

crowd-rousing showmanship in the slamdunk competition of the Red Bull King of the Rock National Finals at Baluarte de Dilao.

No. 1 Djokovic powers into Miami Open final 16 MIAMI—World number one Novak Djokovic advanced to the fourth round of the ATP and WTA Miami Open on Sunday, defeating Portugal’s 38th-ranked Joao Sousa 6-4, 6-1.

Two-time defending champion Djokovic, trying to match Andre Agassi’s record of six career Miami titles, needed only 78 minutes to win his 12th match in a row at the hardcourt event and 26th in his past 27 Miami starts.

“That first set could have gone either way,” Djokovic said. “I managed to hit the right balls at the right moment and make it to the finish.”

The 28-year-old Serbian, who won his 11th Grand Slam crown at the Australian Open two months ago, also has crowns at Doha and Indian Wells this year and hopes to complete the Miami-Indian Wells sweep for the third consecutive year.

Djokovic’s next foe will be Aus-

canoeing, dragon boat and wrestling.

SEA Games Federation Council Member Julian Camacho and Philippine Olympic Committee Chairman Tom Carrasco have been meeting with the heads of various national sports associations to discuss the appeal, which they need to submit to the federation by the end of March.

trian 14th seed Dominic Thiem, who dispatched 124th-ranked Japanese qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka 6-2, 6-2 in 64 minutes.

“He has one of the most powerful baseline games in tennis,” Djokovic said of Thiem.

“He likes to construct his points so I will try and take away his time.

He’s had one of the best years of his life. He’s beaten Nadal on clay. He’s one of the players in the next generation we should all look out for.”

Thiem captured his fifth career ATP title last month by beating Australia’s Bernard Tomic in the Acapulco final and downed 14time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal on the way to a Buenos Aires claycourt crown.

“I’m sure he wants to showcase all that he’s got in his arsenal but I will be sure to be ready for him,” Djokovic said.

Sousa fell to 0-3 against Djokovic

and 1-21 against top-10 foes with his 19th such loss in a row since beating David Ferrer in Kuala Lumpur in 2013.

“He came out with a clear game plan,” said Djokovic. “He wanted to take his chances. He did not have much to lose. It can be dangerous. I know the importance of stepping up a few levels and delivering my ‘A’ game.”

- Kerber, Azarenka advance Reigning Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber and last week’s Indian Wells winner Victoria Azarenka, who each upset world number one Serena Williams in the final to win those titles, reached the last 16 on the women’s side.

German second seed Kerber advanced 1-6, 6-2, 3-0 when 108th-ranked Dutch qualifier Kiki Bertens retired due to illness.

“I was not finding a rhythm at the beginning of the match,” Kerber

said. “I had to stay strong, believe and keep fighting. I hope she gets well soon but I’m glad to be in the next round.”

Kerber next faces Hungary’s 49th-ranked Timea Babos, who ousted 18-year-old Japanese 104th-ranked wildcard Naomi Osaka 7-5, 6-0.

Eighth-ranked Azarenka, a 26-year-old from Belrus who won 2009 and 2011 Miami titles, eliminated Polish qualifier Magda Linette 6-3, 6-0.

She next faces last year’s Wimbledon runner-up, Garbine Muguruza. The Spanish fourth seed ripped 74th-ranked US wildcard Nicole Gibbs 6-1, 6-0 in 55 minutes.

Two-time Australian Open champion Azarenka is trying to become only the third woman to take Indian Wells and Miami in the same year after Graf in 1994 and 1996 and Kim Clijsters in 2005. AFP

PHILIPPINE super flyweight champion Jonas “Zorro” Sultan scored an impressive second-round technicalknockout victory over Japan’s Tatsuya Ikimizu at the Towa Pharmaceutical Ractab Dome in Osaka on Easter Sunday.

Sultan, who fights out of the famed ALA Gym in Cebu, nailed the 33-year-old Ikimizu with a clinical overhand right that preceded the stoppage at 2:37 of the second round of a scheduled eight-round bout.

With the win, the 24-yearold Sultan improved to 10-3 with 6 knockouts, while bantamweight Ikemizu dropped to 13-2, with 6 knockouts.

Ikemizu had earlier lost a unanimous eight-round decision to former ALA boxer Mark John Yap, who fights out of Japan on April 16, 2015 and a 10-round unanimous decision to Go Onaga in Okinawa on Nov. 15 last year.

Sultan won the Philippine super flyweight title with a unanimous 12-round decision over fancied Rene Dacquel on July 11 last year.

Suarez...

From A16

Suarez moved on to the quarterfinals against India’s Dheeeraj, who brought some cheer to the Indian contingent when he beat Thailand’s Pachanya Longchin.

Nesthy Petecio, a silver medalist at the last AIBA World Women’s Championship in Korea, also dominated Filipino-American Jennifer Chieng of Micronesia in four rounds to score a 40-36 decision on the cards of the Hungarian and British judges and an even wider 40-35 on the scorecard of the Uzbekistan judge.

The half Filipino, half Micronesian Chieng began boxing a few years ago as a hobby.

“It started out as an outlet because most of the people in the pacific are really into MMA, contact or any physical sport,” said Chieng, who has quickly gone from casual boxer to a US Olympic hopeful. “My top goal, my main objective with boxing is to make the Olympic team.

There is no other focus that I have.” Ronnie Nathanielsz

T UE S DAY : M A RC H 2 9 , 2 0 1 6

A15

SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

Sports takes a break THE past Holy Week was a welcome respite to ARMAN most of us workD. ARMERO ing stiff, and I imagine that the break also did some good for Pinoy athletes, both amateur and pros, as they rested their sore muscles and tired spirits and maybe, even took time to be with their families and friends in the provinces or wherever they chose to spend the Lenten season.

Like any other ordinary Pinoy, I too welcomed the long break, but because I did not have enough money to go on a short vacation, I merely stayed home, slept a lot and ate whatever there was in the kitchen.

I also tried to watch some shows on TV, but because PH sports was at a standstill during the holidays, there was nothing to watch really, except for old movies and reruns and shows with religious themes. I admit I’m not big on religion and too much of that “holy” stuff tends to make me sleep.

The good thing, however, is that the NBA did not take a break, and so I was able to watch a couple of good games, specifically the Golden State Warriors’ game against the Dallas Mavericks on Black Saturday, where the defending champions beat the Dallas to improve their mark to 65-7 (win-loss). The Warriors then beat the 763rs on Sunday to make it 66-7, to inch seven wins closer to beat the Chicago Bulls’ 72-10 record.

Incidentally, there’s an ongoing debate whether the Warriors can indeed beat the Bulls’ record, considering that they still have to get past the San Antonio Spurs, whom they will face twice by week’s end. The Spurs, now with a 61-12 mark, will not likely beat the same record, but at least they can spoil Golden State’s bid.

But back to PH sports. Now that the Holy Week is over, Pinoy athletes should be more recharged and more focused as they continue to strive to perform at peak level, whether for personal glory, for their alma mater, or for the country.

Which brings us to a bit of good news in the amateur boxing front. Lightweight Charly Suarez, and women’s flyweight boxer Nesthy Petecio both advanced to the quarterfinals of the Asia/Oceania Olympic Qualifying tournament in China. Suarez beat a Taiwanese boxer, while Petecio stamped her class over Micronesia’s Jennifer Chang.

Let’s hope and pray that they continue to win and make it to Rio, where they have a more than even chance to finally nail that gold medal. *** Birthday greetings to three of the most important people in my life. First, my mother Quirina “Nena” Armero, who will be celebrating her 73rd birthday today (March 29), my niece Danielle Day, a former varsity chess player, who celebrated her birthday yesterday (March 28) and another niece Ronalyn, who turned a year older last Sunday (March 27). Happy birthday and thank you for inspiring and enriching my life.

E-mail me at armero_23@yahoo.com STEP BACK

Marcio Lassiter of SMB drives against Star’s Ian Sangalang in a PBA Commissioner’s Cup game won by the Beermen, 117-98.

SMBeermen buck manpower woes

By Jeric Lopez

SAN Miguel Beer continues to show why it has won three of the last four championships in the Philippine Basketball Association.

The Beermen kept rolling in the 2016 PBA Commissioner’s Cup as they won another one last Sunday at the expense of sister team Star. They have now totaled five wins against only two losses, just half-agame behind pace-setting Meralco.

What impresses San Miguel coach Leo Austria is that they have managed to remain in a good position despite missing the services of key star players recently.

SMB stalwarts June Mar Fajardo and Arwind Santos are currently out of commission as the former is still recuperating from a knee bruise, while the latter is mourning the death of his mother. Ronald Tubid is also dealing with an injury and has been out the past few games as well, but is set to make his

return in San Miguel’s next game.

“The players are challenged with the absence of June Mar (Fajardo), Arwind (Santos) and even Ronald (Tubid),” said Austria.

To fill in their voids, their teammates are making sure that the team is still in good hands as prolific import Tyler Wilkerson, Marcio Lassiter, Chris Ross and Alex Cabagnot are carrying the load for the Beermen.

In San Miguel’s impressive 117-98 drubbing of the Hotshots last Sunday, the team fully showcased its depth as it dominated even without Fajardo, Santos and Tubid.

Wilkerson dropped 44 points and Lassiter had 25 of his own, showing there was no shortage of firepower for

the rampaging Beermen.

“Nagtutulungan talaga ‘yung mga players and I’m really glad,” added Austria. “They are showing that they can win even without our key players and they are also showing that they’re supporting those, who are currently out for us.”

San Miguel Beer is obviously targeting to finish in the Top 2, where it will earn a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals.

Its closest rivals for this edge are No. 1 Meralco and No. 3 Alaska.

However, since San Miguel Beer had beaten both squads, it is in a good position to land in the Top 2 should it continue to pile up wins even in scenarios where there is a tie.

“We have a good chance to end up at No. 1 if we continue winning,” said Austria.

With the pending return of the three players who are currently out, the Beermen will only have more reason to believe that it is ready for the homestretch of the conference.

Batang PBA 12-Under basketball clinic listup on THE Philippine Basketball Association has come up with a new treat for children this summer.

In an effort to help children sharpen and improve their basketball skills, the league is now accepting enrollees for the Under Armour-Batang PBA 12-Under basketball clinic.

Interested players may download the application form from the PBA website (www.pba.ph) and PBA official facebook page (www. facebook.com/pba official) or visit the PBA office in Libis, Quezon City and look for Miss Jo Gomez.

Accomplished forms must be submitted at the PBA office together with the following requirements: two pieces 2x2 picture, original NSO birth certificate and current school ID. Registration fee is P500.

Deadline for submission of application is April 6. The clinic is limited to only 240 slots.

Coaches from the Basketball Coaches Association of the Philippines will be conducting conduct. The workshop will have four sessions on April 9 and 10 and 16 and 17. Sessions will be held from 8 to 11 a.m.

LOTTO RESULTS

Coffee-table book. Photo journalist Ramon Vecina (left), former Chief Photographer of the Manila Standard, donated a coffee table book named after him to Tonisito Umali (right), Assistant Secretary of the Department of Education for distribution to school libraries in the Philippines. With them is Andrew Neri, Milo Sports Executive.

6/55 00-00-00-00-00-00 6/45 00-00-00-00-00-00 4 DIGITS 0-0-0-0 3 DIGITS 0-0-0 2 EZ2 0-0

P0 M+ P0 M

T U E S DAY : M A R C H 2 9, 2 0 16

A16

RIERA U. MALL ARI EDITOR

REUEL VIDAL A S S I S TA N T E D I T O R

sports@thestandard.com.ph

SPORTS

Momentum could be on the side of Angelo Que who had a strong windup at Indian Open two weeks ago where he closed out with a solid seven-under 65 to grab a share of fourth place.

Suarez, Petecio crush foes VETERAN Charly Suarez scored the second Filipino victory Sunday afternoon and female hopeful Nesthy Petecio added another win later in the day at the AsiaOceania Olympic Qualification event in Qian’An, Hebei Province, China, a quiet city some two-and-a-half hours by land from the Beijing capital.

ABAP Executive Director Ed Picson said the muscular lightweight from Davao, who fights in all three programs of AIBA--the World Series of Boxing, the AIBA Pro Boxing and the AIBA Open Boxing--stamped his class on Chinese Taipei’s national champion Lai Chu-En on Easter Sunday.

Suarez, who is seeded No.2 in the lightweight division dazzled his opponent from the opening bell, prompting the Kazakh referee to give the 20-year-old Taiwanese a standing 8-count about a minute into the fight after he was rocked with a right hook to the head.

Towards the end of that first round, the referee again gave Lai the 8-count as he absorbed a hard right uppercut to the midsection.

The judges from Russia, Cuba and Sri Lanka had the Filipino winning decisively with identical cards of 30-26.

“He’s a bit young and inexperienced. But I didn’t lose my focus because he’s fast and has some power,” said Suarez of his young foe, who a day before upset a favored boxer from Turkmenistan.

Turn to A14

Que slugs it out with golf’s finest in ICTSI Luisita meet

POWER-HITTING Angelo Que will be leaning on sheer talent when he slugs it out with the cream of the crop in the rich ICTSI Luisita Championship unfolding Wednesday at the Luisita Golf and Country Club in Tarlac.

Not only will he be playing the tight, par-72 course for the first time in a long while but he will also be coming into the P3.5 million championship sponsored by International Container Terminal Services, Inc. without the benefit of a practice round.

Asian Tour stints and injuries have kept Que from playing in three tournaments that Luisita had staged since it returned to big-time hosting in May 2015 and personal commitments have prevented the former three-time Asian Tour winner from testing the hazardladen layout this week, including today’s (Tuesday) pro-am tournament.

“I still have to finish some person-

al things Monday and Tuesday and will just play Wednesday,” said Que, who also headed straight to the 2016 ICTSI Philippine Golf Tour’s kickoff leg at Anvaya Cove Invitational in Bataan last month and struggled to finish joint 10th.

But one thing going for Que is the momentum he had gained from a strong windup at Indian Open two weeks ago where he closed out with a solid seven-under 65 to grab a share of fourth place. He also hopes to cash in on the breaks that would come his way in all four days of the championship organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc.

“It all depends on the breaks of the game. I haven’t played Luisita in a while so we’ll just have to see,” said Que, whose length off the tee could also give him some edge on some par-4 holes and the four par-5s.

Meanwhile, Miguel Tabuena, Tony Lascuña, Charles Hong, Jay Bayron, Elmer Salvador and Clyde Mondilla toughen up for the event as they play in the traditional proam with the guests and officials of the event’s chief backers, including Custom Clubmakers, adidas, KZG, Summit Mineral Water, Pacsports, TaylorMade, Sharp and Champion.

Tabuena is seeking to sweep the first two legs of the PGT after beating Mondilla by three at Anvaya but the 21-year-old shotmaker and reigning Order of Merit winner sees a tougher outing this week with a full-packed field spiced up by a slew of foreign rivals.

They include Dutch Guido Van der

Clippers book playoff berth

Beermen buck manpower woes

TURN TO A12

TURN TO A15

Valk and Japanese Toru Nakajima, who finished joint fourth at Anvaya, and young Korean Park Min Ung, who placed ninth. Others in the fold are Americans Sam Ayotte, Daniel Inocencio, Dylan Jackson, Dillon Soldwisch, Christopher Oetinger and John Jackson, Koreans Hwang Kang Youl, Anthony Kim, Kim Chang Yeon, Park Jun Hyeok, Park Jun Song and Seok Jun Min, Aussies Mark Leich, Kevin Marques, Nathan Park, Nelson Turner and Ben Ratcliffe and Japanese Yuta Sudo and Ryoma Miki.

Other local bets expected to contend for the top P650,000 purse are Cassius Casas, Frankie Miñoza, Rolando Marabe Jr., Orlan Sumcad, Marvin Dumandan, Rufino Bayron, Michael Bibat, Jhonnel Ababa, Mhark Fernando, Jerson Balasabas, Jun Bernis, Dante Becierra, Anthony Fernando, Zanie Boy Gialon, Rey Pagunsan, Mars Pucay, Joenard Rates and Gerald Rosales.

TUESDAY: MARCH 29, 2016

RAY S. EÑANO EDITOR

RODERICK T. DELA CRUZ ASSISTANT EDITOR

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

BUSINESS

B1

Heritage conservation.

Holcim Philippines president and country chief executive Eduardo Sahagun (third from left) discusses the company’s continuing commitment to conservation efforts and sustainability during the two-day Seminar on Heritage Conservation, Contemporary Architecture and Urbanism at the National Museum. With Sahagun are (from left) Alliance Française de Manille director Patrick Deyvant, Holcim Philippines head for aggregates and construction materials William Delumley, presidential adviser for environmental protection Nereus Acosta and renowned French Architect Jacques Ferrier.

All bidders ignore Laguna Lakeshore

By Darwin G. Amojelar

THE Public Works Department on Monday announced a failed bidding for the P122.8-billion Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Project, after the government received no offer from prequalified bidders.

“It’s a failed bidding,” Ariel Angeles, director of public-private partnership service of the Public Works Department said, referring to the largest project under the PPP scheme.

Angeles said the three pre-qualified bidders—San Miguel Holdings Corp., Alloy Pavi Harshen LLEDP Consortium and Team Trident—did not submit any bid.

“The Laguna lakeshore project is just not feasible. Government will have to re-examine its assumptions and redesign a mutually beneficial contractual structure best suited for a deal as large and intricate as this one, given its potential to create opportunities that will generate the greatest benefit to a lot of people,” San Miguel Corp. president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang said in a statement.

Team Trident is composed of Trident Infrastructure and Development Corp., Ayala Land Inc., Megaworld Corp., Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. and SM Prime Holdings Inc. The Alloy-Pavi Hanshin LLEDP Consortium consists of Malaysia’s Alloy MTD Capital Berhad, Prime Asset Ventures Inc. and Hanshin Engineering Construction.

The three prospective bidders said the failed bidding was due to the lack of commercial viability of the project, which involves the construction of a flood control dike, a 47-kilometer, six-lane expressway on top of it and the reclamation of over 700 hectares of land for commercial development.

“This is probably the country’s largest and most complex PPP project to date and frankly, from an economic viability perspective and risk allocation perspective, we found that the government wouldn’t provide such concession agreement that addressed all these concerns of the private sector,” Team Trident spokesman Roman Azanza III said.

“The most logical approach for us was not to proceed. We have to stop and really give credit to all the men and women in government, their advisers and our advisers including the years worth of effort into this really complex project. But the end of the day, of course, a viable solution could not be found for all parties concerned,” Azanza said.

Effects on forex transfers watched

By Julito G. Rada BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo is optimistic the 4-percent growth target on remittances this year is still achievable despite the $81-million money laundering report that rocked the banking system.

Several foreign banks discontinued their partnerships with money transfer operators servicing migrant Filipino workers in the aftermath of the money laundering issue. “... We remain hopeful given the reports contrary to negative expectations,” Guinigundo said in a text message Monday. “We shall see this May when the first revision of the BoP [balance of payments] is completed. We can only say that once we see the bottom line of all these pluses and minuses,” he said.

The Finance Department said over the weekend it was pushing for changes in the Anti-Money Laundering Act after several foreign banks cut ties with money transfer operators servicing migrant Filipinos. Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said amending Republic Act No. 9160, or the Amla law, was urgent to protect the remittances of migrant Filipinos.

Guinigundo said the reports “are anecdotes we gather from various quarters. We are processing these with other reports showing more job orders from both old and new markets for our overseas workers.”

He said Bangko Sentral was interested to find the net impact of these developments on remittances.

Latest data from Bangko Sentral showed remittances in January rose just 3.4 percent to $2.022 billion from $1.956 billion a year ago. The January expansion was slower than the 4.9-percent growth in December when cash remittances hit an alltime high of $2.47 billion.

BROTH ER HOO D. The Xavier Sc ho ol batc h 1974 rec ently c elebrated their 42 n d anniver sar y at the G reenhills Uno Seafo od Palac e. The batc h mates have put their brother ho od to go od use as they ac tively engage in var ious philanthropic ac tivities. The c ountr y ’s exc lusive Filipino - Chinese boys have been c las smates sinc e 19 62.

TUESDAY: MARCH 29, 2016

B2

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

The STandard BuSineSS daily STockS review Monday, March 28, 2016

52 Weeks

Previous

High Low 7.88 75.3 124.4 107 56.5 4.2 17 30.45 10.4 2.6 890 1.01 100 1.46 30.5 91.5 137 361.2 57 180 1700 124 3.26

2.5 66 88.05 88.1 45.45 1.68 12.02 19.6 6.12 1.02 625 0.225 78 0.9 17.8 62 88.35 276 41 118.2 1200 59 2.65

47 5 1.46 2.36 15.3 89 148 20.6 125 85 36 65.8 2.97 4.14 21.5 21.6 11.96 9.13 11.8 31.8 109 20.75 15.3 9.4 0.98 241

35.9 1.11 1.01 1.86 7.92 40.3 32 15.32 62.5 20.2 10.08 29.15 1.5 1.5 10.72 9.55 9.04 6.02 8.86 20.2 71.5 13.86 13.24 5.34 0.395 173

79 3.95 4 33.9 90 13.26 293 5 5.25 12.98 6.75 15 7.03 3.4 4.5 6.3 1450 5.5 3.28 0.315 2.18 2.65 234 5.28 1.3 26 2.17

34.1 2.3 1.63 23.35 17.3 5.88 250.2 3.37 3.87 8.45 3 10.04 3.03 1.95 1 4.02 801 4.1 1.55 0.138 1.02 2.09 152 4.28 0.640 10.02 1.2

0.59 59.2 30.05 7.39 3.4 3.35 823.5 10.2 84 3.35 4.92 1455

0.44 48.1 20.85 6.62 0.23 0.23 634.5 7.390 12.8 2.6 2.26 837

76 6.5 5.29 9.25 0.85 17.3 0.71 5.53 0.0670 2.31 1.61 84.9 3.5 974 1.66 390 156 0.710 0.435 0.510

49.55 3.43 3 4.84 0.59 12 0.580 4.2 0.030 1.23 0.550 59.3 1.5 751 1.13 170 80 0.211 0.179 0.310

10.5 1.99 0.375 41.4 5.6 5.59 1.44 1.97 1.48 0.201 0.69 10.96 0.97

6.74 0.65 0.192 30.05 3.36 4.96 0.79 1.1 0.97 0.083 0.415 2.4 0.83

STOCKS

High

Low

FINANCIAL 3.02 2.96 46.25 44.45 106.30 105.00 91.40 90.60 39.2 38.95 1.39 1.31 14.2 14.1 15.3 15.12 7.29 6.40 1.87 1.71 640.00 639.50 0.590 0.570 86.5 85.8 0.95 0.95 14.50 14.40 53.85 53.50 104 104 289.4 286 30.15 29.8 163.6 159.5 1350.00 1350.00 58.00 55.70 1.54 1.54 INDUSTRIAL Aboitiz Power Corp.

43.55 44 43.55 Agrinurture Inc. 5.13 5.35 5.16 Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. 0.74 0.75 0.72 Alsons Cons.

1.43 1.53 1.41 Asiabest Group 10.98 10.98 10.2 Bogo Medelin 43.5 65 48.35 C. Azuc De Tarlac 188.00 190.00 188.00 Century Food 18.62 18.8 18.6 Chemphil 120 135 127 Conc. Aggr. ‘A’ 67 100.5 70 Cirtek Holdings (Chips) 17.2 18.34 17.2 Concepcion 43 43 43 Crown Asia 2.45 2.54 2.46 Da Vinci Capital 5.9 6.19 5.88 Del Monte 11.38 11.56 11.38 DNL Industries Inc. 9.320 9.690 9.320 Emperador 7.39 7.63 7.40 Energy Devt. Corp. (EDC) 5.94 6.05 5.90 EEI 7.38 7.69 7.48 First Gen Corp.

20.9 21.6 20.95 First Holdings ‘A’ 64.25 64.5 64.15 Ginebra San Miguel Inc. 12.30 12.00 12.00 Holcim Philippines Inc. 13.80 13.90 13.80 Integ. Micro-Electronics 5.72 5.72 5.65 Ionics Inc 2.950 2.990 2.830 Jollibee Foods Corp.

234.40 234.20 232.20 LBC Express 10.5 12.2 10.5 Liberty Flour 33.00 35.00 34.00 LMG Chemicals 1.85 1.9 1.85 Mabuhay Vinyl 3.15 3.4 3.15 Manila Water Co. Inc. 26.8 26.85 26.05 Maxs Group 21.45 21.9 21.4 Megawide 6.24 6.35 6.24 Mla. Elect. Co `A’ 320.00 320.60 319.60 Panasonic Mfg Phil. Corp. 4.22 4.49 4.28 Pepsi-Cola Products Phil. 3.92 3.81 3.73 Petron Corporation 10.96 10.86 10.38 Phil H2O 3.36 3.58 3.14 Phinma Corporation 11.52 11.52 11.50 Phoenix Petroleum Phils. 4.34 4.30 4.20 Phoenix Semiconductor 1.75 1.72 1.65 Pryce Corp. `A’ 2.7 2.75 2.7 RFM Corporation 4.19 4.19 4.14 San Miguel ‘Pure Foods `A’ 167 167 161.1 SPC Power Corp.

4.09 4.05 4.05 Splash Corporation 2.52 2.58 2.52 Swift Foods, Inc. 0.159 0.158 0.156 TKC Steel Corp.

1.25 1.25 1.21 Trans-Asia Oil 2.68 2.79 2.68 Universal Robina 211 212 209.2 Victorias Milling 4.68 4.64 4.6 Vitarich Corp.

0.72 0.76 0.71 Vivant Corp.

23.00 22.50 22.50 Vulcan Ind’l.

1.15 1.18 1.18 HOLDING FIRMS Abacus Cons. `A’ 0.365 0.365 0.365 Aboitiz Equity 63.05 65.00 63.05 Alliance Global Inc. 16.94 17.36 16.78 Anscor `A’ 6.18 6.13 6.12 ATN Holdings A 0.270 0.310 0.280 ATN Holdings B 0.280 0.305 0.290 Ayala Corp `A’ 742 759 739.5 Cosco Capital 7.32 7.44 7.34 DMCI Holdings 13.50 13.64 13.44 F&J Prince ‘A’ 5.05 5.05 5.04 Filinvest Dev. Corp.

5.05 4.95 4.90 GT Capital 1450 1478 1448 IPM Holdings 9.75 9.75 9.59 JG Summit Holdings 81.00 81.00 78.50 Jolliville Holdings 4.5 6.53 4.98 Keppel Holdings `A’ 5.89 5.99 5.99 Lopez Holdings Corp.

6.65 6.95 6.61 Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp. 0.69 0.72 0.7 LT Group 15.76 15.8 15.7 Mabuhay Holdings `A’ 0.500 0.500 0.460 Metro Pacific Inv. Corp. 5.9 5.9 5.75 Pacifica `A’ 0.0330 0.0350 0.0320 Prime Media Hldg 1.410 1.460 1.390 Prime Orion 1.980 2.030 1.990 San Miguel Corp `A’ 77.00 77.00 76.05 Seafront `A’ 2.2 2.30 2.30 SM Investments Inc. 990.00 990.50 963.00 Solid Group Inc. 1.10 1.15 1.10 Transgrid 150.00 133.00 133.00 Top Frontier 175.000 180.000 170.100 Unioil Res. & Hldgs 0.3100 0.3100 0.3100 Wellex Industries 0.1910 0.1960 0.1950 Zeus Holdings 0.285 0.295 0.295 PROPERTY 8990 HLDG 7.750 7.900 7.700 A. Brown Co., Inc. 0.88 1.08 0.90 Arthaland Corp.

0.225 0.224 0.224 Ayala Land `B’ 35.850 36.000 34.950 Belle Corp. `A’ 2.95 2.99 2.95 Cebu Holdings 5.19 5.19 5.16 Century Property 0.570 0.59 0.570 City & Land Dev. 0.97 0.94 0.94 Cityland Dev. `A’ 1.010 1.010 1.000 Crown Equities Inc. 0.130 0.128 0.128 Cyber Bay Corp.

0.500 0.510 0.495 Double Dragon 39.5 39.55 39 Empire East Land 0.870 0.880 0.870 AG Finance Asia United Bank Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. Bank of PI China Bank Bright Kindle Resources COL Financial Eastwest Bank Filipino Fund Inc. I-Remit Inc. Manulife Fin. Corp.

MEDCO Holdings Metrobank Natl. Reinsurance Corp.

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

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

Close

SHARES 8,383,716 90,884,793 163,595,703 139,614,362 316,084,456 502,062,323 1,246,336,212

2.96 46.25 106.30 91.40 38.5 1.32 14.1 15.2 6.52 1.81 620.00 0.570 86.45 0.95 14.50 53.60 104 287 29.6 163.6 1350.00 57.50 1.55

Close

%

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

2.96 46.2 105.00 91.40 39 1.38 14.1 15.24 7.29 1.81 640.00 0.590 86 0.95 14.50 53.55 104 287 29.8 160.5 1350.00 57.50 1.54

0.00 -0.11 -1.22 0.00 1.30 4.55 0.00 0.26 11.81 0.00 3.23 3.51 -0.52 0.00 0.00 -0.09 0.00 0.00 0.68 -1.89 0.00 0.00 -0.65

47,000 8,200 1,632,100 816,810 91,000 168,000 14,500 119,700 7,700 178,000 320 270,000 2,940,790 21,000 7,800 32,150 3,000 3,230 348,300 490,380 35 2,010 18,000

43.85 5.31 0.72 1.53 10.6 64 190.00 18.62 135 100.5 18.18 43 2.48 6 11.4 9.450 7.55 6.04 7.69 21.4 64.4 12.00 13.84 5.65 2.830 234.00 12.06 35.00 1.9 3.4 26.85 21.8 6.35 320.00 4.35 3.79 10.60 3.5 11.50 4.30 1.71 2.7 4.14 167 4.05 2.56 0.158 1.24 2.79 210 4.64 0.74 22.50 1.18

0.69 3.51 -2.70 6.99 -3.46 47.13 1.06 0.00 12.50 50.00 5.70 0.00 1.22 1.69 0.18 1.39 2.17 1.68 4.20 2.39 0.23 -2.44 0.29 -1.22 -4.07 -0.17 14.86 6.06 2.70 7.94 0.19 1.63 1.76 0.00 3.08 -3.32 -3.28 4.17 -0.17 -0.92 -2.29 0.00 -1.19 0.00 -0.98 1.59 -0.63 -0.80 4.10 -0.47 -0.85 2.78 -2.17 2.61

468,000 2,021,700 16,000 2,678,000 9,200 1,300 470 774,700 140 5,250 858,300 100 806,000 1,666,400 24,200 31,064,300 2,695,200 6,756,100 594,900 4,213,000 137,160 2,500 19,300 189,300 3,836,000 257,120 430,400 5,300 34,000 40,000 358,500 1,318,400 38,200 59,440 86,000 841,000 8,202,000 64,000 1,000 150,000 303,000 344,000 423,000 370 5,000 766,000 2,940,000 44,000 3,298,000 722,700 32,000 11,020,000 1,000 11,000

0.365 65.00 17.22 6.12 0.305 0.305 755 7.37 13.54 5.05 4.90 1456 9.75 80.50 6.2 5.99 6.95 0.7 15.7 0.500 5.85 0.0330 1.460 2.000 76.80 2.3 970.00 1.13 133.00 180.000 0.3100 0.1960 0.295

0.00 3.09 1.65 -0.97 12.96 8.93 1.75 0.68 0.30 0.00 -2.97 0.41 0.00 -0.62 37.78 1.70 4.51 1.45 -0.38 0.00 -0.85 0.00 3.55 1.01 -0.26 4.55 -2.02 2.73 -11.33 2.86 0.00 2.62 3.51

40,000 288,250 8,883,700 133,000 12,580,000 1,680,000 409,470 6,676,300 1,829,100 57,000 20,000 82,550 2,039,500 891,890 248,000 100 7,796,500 18,000 1,117,100 132,000 20,873,300 94,300,000 7,000 912,000 74,670 2,000 434,630 387,000 30 29,400 540,000 720,000 200,000

7.780 1.05 0.224 35.000 2.95 5.16 0.580 0.94 1.000 0.128 0.510 39.45 0.870

0.39 19.32 -0.44 -2.37 0.00 -0.58 1.75 -3.09 -0.99 -1.54 2.00 -0.13 0.00

161,300 37,729,000 250,000 12,798,200 885,000 5,700 10,540,000 2,000 16,000 200,000 3,115,000 2,437,600 496,000

8,910.00 355,915.00 -11,868,952 -5,445,911.00 2,184,390.00 5,680.00 -50,784.00 -2,100 -100,874,772.00 -1,052,008.50 192,050.00 -7,262,735 -38,921,098.00

15,589,500.00 -63,720.00 499,080.00 3,223,640.00

-76,245.00 -83,444.00 46,393,143.00 -6,821,136.00 -16,610,324.00 1,432,368.00 -13,610,375.00 -587,848.50 -26,362.00 42,470.00 -21,182,268.00 91,330.00 -306,410.00 13,384,540.00 10,668,978.00 -124,930.00 -29,760,464.00 13,440.00 41,640.00

687,150.00 58,991,636.00 124,200.00 -1,583,260.00 22,500.00

13,291,349.00 -13,857,000.00 42,700.00 37,202,735.00 5,079,285.00 -8,074,152.00 60,282,335.00 26,423,058.50 -12,700.00 -24,467,326.00 10,770,642.00 -75,025,272.00 132,000.00 -500,500.00 -725,053.00 -8,121,035.00 3,990.00 -106,680.00

673,826.00 -353,150.00 -226,812,175.00 -303,180.00 -242,440.00

5,062,095.00

52 Weeks

Previous

High Low

STOCKS

Close

2.22 2.1 1.8 8.4 5.94 0.180 0.470 0.72 8.54 31.8 2.29 4.9 21.35 1.06 7.56 1.62 8.59

1.15 1.42 1.27 3.1 4.13 0.090 0.290 0.39 2.69 22.15 1.6 3.1 15.08 0.69 3.38 0.83 5.73

Global-Estate Filinvest Land,Inc. Interport `A’ Keppel Properties Megaworld MRC Allied Ind. Phil. Estates Corp.

Phil. Realty `A’ Primex Corp.

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

10.5 66 1.44 1.09 14.88 28.5 15.82 0.1430 5.06 99.1 12.3 2.6 7.67 4 1700 2720 8.41 70.5 1.97 119.5 7 5.8 12.5 0.017 0.8200 2.2800 5.93 12.28 3.32 2.53 3.2 95.5 1 15.2

1.97 35.2 1 0.63 10.5 18.2 8.6 0.0770 2.95 56.1 10.14 1.6 4.8 2.58 830 1600 5.95 17.02 1.23 102.6 3.01 4 8.72 0.011 0.041 1.200 2.34 6.5 1.91 1.01 1.95 3.1 0.650 6

0.62 1.040 22.8 6.41 4 185 22.9 3486 0.760 2.28 46.05 90.1

0.335 0.37 14.54 3 2.28 79 4.39 2748 0.435 1.2 31.45 60.55

11.6 0.85 2.95 10 0.490 1.9

7.59 0.63 1.71 5 0.315 1.14

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

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

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

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

Pacific Online Sys. Corp.

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

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

SSI Group STI Holdings Transpacific Broadcast Travellers Waterfront Phils.

Yehey

0.0098 5.45 17.24 25 0.330 12.7 12.8 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 0.020 0.021 7.67 12.88 10.42 0.040 420 9 0.016

0.0043 1.72 6.47 9.43 0.236 6.5 5.11 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 0.012 0.013 5.4 7.26 2.27 0.015 115.9 3.67 0.0100

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

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

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

TA Petroleum United Paragon

70 553

33 490

120 515 8.21 12.28 111 1047 78.95 84.8

ABS-CBN Holdings Corp.

Ayala Corp. Pref `B1’ BC Pref A 101.5 First Gen G 480 GLOBE PREF P 5.88 GMA Holdings Inc. 6.5 Leisure and Resort 101 MWIDE PREF 1011 PF Pref 2 74.5 SMC Preferred B 75 SMC Preferred C SMC Preferred E SMC Preferred F

6.98

0.8900 LR Warrant Alterra Capital Makati Fin. Corp.

Italpinas Xurpas

15

3.5

12.88

5.95

130.7

105.6 First Metro ETF

High

VALUE 722,106,639.07 987,960,348.06 1,450,615,544.48 941,966,376.85 814,393,252.781 70,751,775.0192 5,109,624,403.06

FINANCIAL 1,628.50 (DOWN) 9.03 INDUSTRIAL 11,754.79 (UP) 24.55 HOLDING FIRMS 7,216.95 (UP) 6.82 PROPERTY 2,969.47 (DOWN) 28.63 SERVICES 1,546.84 (DOWN) 9.46 MINING & OIL 11,032.45 (DOWN) 136.77 PSEI 7,334.52 (DOWN) 25.53 All Shares Index 4,217.83 (DOWN) 2.75 Gainers: 107; Losers: 92; Unchanged: 44; Total: 243

Close

1.09 1.80 1.35 3.50 4.11 0.093 0.2300 0.460 8.7 28.45 1.53 3.05 22.40 0.88 5.9 1.090 4.550

%

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

1.12 1.05 1.08 1.79 1.76 1.77 1.39 1.34 1.39 3.65 3.65 3.65 4.17 4.09 4.13 0.097 0.089 0.089 0.2430 0.2370 0.2370 0.480 0.460 0.480 8.67 8.6 8.67 28.45 28.10 28.20 1.51 1.5 1.51 3.11 3.05 3.11 22.70 22.10 22.45 0.93 0.88 0.89 6.05 5.9 6.05 1.130 1.060 1.080 4.650 4.530 4.600 SERVICES 7.35 7.4 7.2 7.36 59.6 59.9 58.98 59 1.22 1.22 1.22 1.22 0.600 0.610 0.590 0.590 10.7 10.7 10.7 10.7 28.3 28.45 27.4 28.45 5.23 5.29 5.15 5.18 0.0740 0.0740 0.0700 0.0700 3.28 3.35 3.23 3.35 90.4 90 88.9 90 9.9 9.9 9.86 9.9 1.52 1.53 1.49 1.49 6.63 6.80 6.51 6.80 3.19 3.18 3.12 3.18 980 960 960 960 2106 2130 2084 2130 6.95 6.99 6.92 6.97 20.80 23.50 22.50 23.50 1.22 1.24 1.22 1.23 68.1 68 66 67 15.00 22.50 19.00 22.50 103.5 155 120 155 11.6 11.58 11.34 11.34 0.0110 0.0110 0.0100 0.0100 0.310 0.315 0.280 0.285 1.2900 1.3200 1.2600 1.2700 2.1 2.1 2.01 2.1 8.00 8.00 7.90 8.00 3.62 3.65 3.50 3.52 1.18 1.26 1.26 1.26 2.80 2.80 2.75 2.80 20.50 22.00 22.00 22.00 0.550 0.540 0.540 0.540 2.69 2.74 2.55 2.58 3.92 3.95 3.92 3.93 0.270 0.275 0.270 0.275 0.880 1.040 0.880 1.030 17.5 17.6 17.5 17.6 5.00 5.01 4.99 5.01 2.49 2.68 2.6 2.6 100.00 104.00 99.00 100.00 22.15 22.15 22.00 22.15 1978.00 1980.00 1952.00 1953.00 0.435 0.445 0.425 0.445 0.950 0.950 0.920 0.950 37.00 37.05 36.90 36.95 70.15 72.10 71.00 71.80 6.25 6.66 6.25 6.43 3.37 3.37 3.29 3.30 0.540 0.540 0.530 0.530 1.73 1.75 1.72 1.75 3.91 3.98 3.9 3.9 0.320 0.330 0.330 0.330 4.720 4.720 4.710 4.710 MINING & OIL 0.0046 0.0046 0.0045 0.0046 2.05 2.08 2.04 2.05 4.50 4.59 4.30 4.36 12.68 12.60 12.60 12.60 0.250 0.250 0.245 0.245 4.8600 7.29 6.5 7.2900 5.2000 7.8000 6.9700 7.6000 0.61 0.61 0.61 0.61 0.470 0.475 0.470 0.475 8.07 8.10 8.00 8.01 0.820 0.830 0.800 0.810 0.285 0.290 0.285 0.285 0.290 0.290 0.275 0.280 0.300 0.300 0.295 0.295 0.0120 0.0130 0.0120 0.0120 0.013 0.013 0.012 0.012 2.07 2.12 2.07 2.09 5.52 5.54 5.42 5.47 2.53 2.58 2.49 2.49 0.5200 0.5700 0.5700 0.5700 1.2700 1.2700 1.2600 1.2600 0.0097 0.0099 0.0099 0.0099 0.0100 0.0094 0.0094 0.0094 3.69 3.89 3.67 3.67 5.82 5.72 5.54 5.62 2.40 2.42 2.29 2.33 0.0120 0.0120 0.0120 0.0120 131.50 133.00 131.00 131.40 2.53 2.56 2.42 2.46 0.0085 0.0085 0.0085 0.0085 PREFERRED 58.6 59 58.4 58.7 520 526 526 526 13.2 19.5 15 19.8 113 113 113 113 527 522 522 522 6.94 6.95 6.95 6.95 1.09 1.1 1.1 1.1 106 106.9 106 106 1010 1008 1008 1008 80 80 77.4 80 82 82 81.95 81.95 75.7 76.5 75.7 75.7 76.5 76.6 76.3 76.6 WARRANTS & BONDS 3.620 3.640 3.390 3.390 SME 3.69 3.85 3.68 3.74 3.84 4.65 3.49 3.5 3.57 3.55 3.48 3.48 17.84 18.38 17.4 17.42 EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 120 120 119.5 120

T op g ainerS STOCKS

Low

-0.92 -1.67 2.96 4.29 0.49 -4.30 3.04 4.35 -0.34 -0.88 -1.31 1.97 0.22 1.14 2.54 -0.92 1.10

2,979,000 4,753,000 1,974,000 2,000 21,268,000 5,720,000 270,000 350,000 5,000 644,400 132,000 36,000 7,795,800 14,581,000 43,300 3,576,000 6,839,000

0.14 -1.01 0.00 -1.67 0.00 0.53 -0.96 -5.41 2.13 -0.44 0.00 -1.97 2.56 -0.31 -2.04 1.14 0.29 12.98 0.82 -1.62 50.00 49.76 -2.24 -9.09 -8.06 -1.55 0.00 0.00 -2.76 6.78 0.00 7.32 -1.82 -4.09 0.26 1.85 17.05 0.57 0.20 4.42 0.00 0.00 -1.26 2.30 0.00 -0.14 2.35 2.88 -2.08 -1.85 1.16 -0.26 3.13 -0.21

69,400 24,160 15,000 580,000 6,500 -5,350.00 400 674,100 -574,539.00 133,950,000 -79,400.00 1,258,000 -9,900.00 193,020 -884,716.00 1,100 9,000 807,900 74,500.00 9,000 830 45,640 -13,897,230.00 64,900 300 133,000 144,040.00 577,500 -16,916,230.50 431,100 3,230 55,800.00 2,500 5,200,000 70,090,000 6,900.00 236,800 16,000 -20,400.00 69,500 288,000.00 428,000 352,000.00 1,000 200,000 300 33,000 12,351,000 -3,956,810.00 828,000 74,370.00 40,000 63,654,000 -755,150.00 300 100,500 18,000 5,200.00 101,510 990.00 48,900 86,420 -45,453,825.00 990,000 7,094,000 2,236,800 -11,616,875.00 1,963,430 14,673,894.50 3,061,600 -32,700.00 3,873,000 -10,150.00 505,000 27,000 782,000 31,970.00 90,000 66,000

0.00 0.00 -3.11 -0.63 -2.00 50.00 46.15 0.00 1.06 -0.74 -1.22 0.00 -3.45 -1.67 0.00 -7.69 0.97 -0.91 -1.58 9.62 -0.79 2.06 -6.00 -0.54 -3.44 -2.92 0.00 -0.08 -2.77 0.00

256,000,000 -87,400.00 46,000 -27,040.00 735,000 -30,520.00 2,000 290,000 63,000 136,200 68,000 90,000 9,900 10,616,000 109,630.00 310,000 35,460,000 5,100,000 29,500.00 78,800,000 94,500,000 175,000 1,302,700 809,350.00 111,000 1,000 64,000 1,000,000 3,800,000 46,000 1,115,400 -765,327.00 2,883,000 126,950.00 25,700,000 155,290 -6,830,603.00 178,000 1,000,000

0.17 1.15 50.00 0.00 -0.95 0.14 0.92 0.00 -0.20 0.00 -0.06 0.00 0.13

169,430 80,000 1400 18,890 80,000 100 2,000 25,440 1,500 3,240 15,240 240 67,070

-6.35

640,000

-181,860.00

1.36 -8.85 -2.52 -2.35

24,000 936,000 231,000 6,516,200

10,830.00

0.00

3,010

5,504,310.00 196,480.00 44,227,440.00

-10,253,370.00 28,500.00 104,495,855.00 57,800.00 52,170.00 -1,792,160.00

-6,799,836.00 226,000.00

-1,896,038.00

T op L oSerS Close (P)

Change (%)

STOCKS

Close (P)

Change (%)

BC Pref A

19.8

50.00

Transgrid

133.00

-11.33

Conc. Aggr. 'A'

100.5

50.00

IP E-Game Ventures Inc.

0.0100

-9.09

Imperial Res. `A'

22.50

50.00

Makati Fin. Corp.

3.5

-8.85

Benguet Corp `A'

7.2900

50.00

Island Info

0.285

-8.06

Imperial Res. `B'

155

49.76

Manila Mining `B'

0.012

-7.69

Bogo Medelin

64

47.13

LR Warrant

3.390

-6.35

Benguet Corp `B'

7.6000

46.15

Oriental Pet. `B'

0.0094

-6.00

Jolliville Holdings

6.2

37.78

Boulevard Holdings

0.0700

-5.41

A. Brown Co., Inc.

1.05

19.32

MRC Allied Ind.

0.089

-4.30

NOW Corp.

1.030

17.05

Melco Crown

2.58

-4.09

TUESDAY: MARCH 29, 2016

B3

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

PSE fails to get merger relief

By Jenniffer B. Austria

THE Securities and Exchange Commission denied the request of the Philippine Stock Exchange for a rule exemption that would have enabled the local bourse to acquire a majority interest in Philippine Dealing Systems Holdings Corp.

SAP partner. Leading business management solutions provider and SAP gold partner ABM Global Solutions bags the Top Partner of the Year for Business One award in the recently-concluded SAP Partners Kick-Off Meeting held at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel. The meeting is an annual event held

by SAP Philippines to present the roadmap of the company and its solutions and give recognition to its outstanding partners. At the awarding rites are (from right) AGS general manager Luigi Lopa, country sales lead for SAP Business One Angel Denopol, SAP Asia vice president for global channels and general business for SAP Asia Pacific Elaine Liew and SAP PH channel sales manager Aldo Sanico.

Stocks drop; BDO, Ayala Land decline THE stock market retreated Monday on profit-taking, as the better-thanexpected jump in US growth raised the prospect of another Federal Reserve rate hike.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index fell 25.53 points, or 0.4 percent, to 7,334.52 on a value turnover of P5.2 billion. Gainers, however, beat losers, 107 to 92, with 44 issues unchanged.

SM Investments Corp. of retail tycoon Henry Sy Sr. dropped 2 percent to P970, while banking unit BDO Unibank Inc., the biggest lender in terms of assets, lost 1.2 percent to P105.

Ayala Land Inc., the second-largest builder, declined 2.4 percent to P35, but parent Ayala Corp. rose 1.8 percent to P755.

Petron Corp., the bigger of the two oil refineries, slumped 3.3 percent to P10.60.

Japanese stocks, meanwhile, gained but Asia’s other markets succumbed to afternoon selling.

After the turmoil of January and February, investor confidence has been broadly positive over the past month thanks to a string of central banks easing measures across the world and improving economic figures.

On Friday, the US Commerce Department said the world’s number one economy grew 1.4 percent in the final three months of 2015, much faster than the 1.0 percent initially recorded.

The increase came on the back of a surge in consumer spending, which was also much stronger than first thought.

The news ramped up expectations that the Federal Reserve will announce another hike in interest rates, providing some support to the dollar against the yen and euro.

In early trade Monday, the greenback bought 113.53 yen compared with 113.00 yen on Friday.

The US unit had tumbled below 111 yen earlier this month after the Fed lowered its outlook for interest rate rises this year, citing the possible impact on the US of a slowdown in the world economy.

“We’re now more conscious that there’s strength in the US economy,” Yoshinori Ogawa, a market strategist at Okasan Securities, told Bloomberg News.

The weaker yen lifted Japanese exporters, helping the Nikkei 0.8 percent higher by the close.

Markets in Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand were closed for the Easter break.

However, markets in the rest of Asia reversed morning gains to end lower.

Seoul was 0.1 percent off and Taipei fell 0.2 percent, while Singapore and Jakarta were deep in negative territory.

Shanghai closed 0.7 percent lower, having started on a high after official figures this weekend showed profits at China’s key industrial companies rose almost five percent in January-February, the first increase since mid-2015.

Mainland Chinese shares have recovered 12 percent since hitting a January low. Investors are hoping for fresh measures from Beijing to kickstart the economy, which is growing at rates not seen for a quarter of a century. AFP

The SEC decision effectively stopped the PSE’s landmark deal to consolidate the local capital market infrastructure by purchasing other shareholders in PDS, which operates the fixed income exchange and securities depository.

The SEC in an executive meeting held Monday rejected the petition of PSE, citing the exchange’s “failure to present clear and convincing evidence” that it was entitled to an exemptive relief and that its acquisition of PDS would not negatively impact on the PDS’ ability to effectively operate in the public interest.

“This is without prejudice to any subsequent application by the PSE for similar reliefs in the future,” the SEC in a resolution said.

The PSE earlier obtained approval of PDS shareholders to acquire a majority interest in the company, subject to regulatory approvals.

Under the Securities Regulation Code, no single industry or business group should own more than 20 percent of an exchange.

The PSE, thus, must request for exemptive relief from the rule.

The PSE on November 27 failed to obtain SEC approval for an exemptive relief after the corporate regulator asked for a more detailed information on the planned acquisition.

The PSE on January 26 submitted additional information regarding the deal. The PSE earlier said it remained hopeful its request for exemptive relief would be approved by the SEC, adding the planned merger would boost liquidity in the capital markets and encourage more issuances.

The merger is expected to help the Philippines meet the requirements for a cross-border trading platform linking Southeast Asian stock markets.

A . SOR I A NO COR POR ATI ON Not ic e of A nnu al M e et ing of Sto c khol d e r s N OTI C E I S H ER EBY G I V EN t h at t h e r e g ul a r A nnu a l M e et i n g of S to c k h o l d e r s of A . S o r i a n o C o r p o r at i o n ( “A N SC O R ” o r t h e “ C o m p a ny ” ) w i ll b e h e l d o n We dn e s day, 2 0 A p r i l 2 016 at 10:0 0 a.m. at t h e R i g o d o n B a llr o o m, M a ni l a Pe ni nsul a H ote l, Aya l a Ave nu e c o r n e r M akat i Ave nu e, 12 2 6 M akat i Ci t y, Phi li p p i n e s.

T h e a g e n da f o r t h e m e et i n g i s as f o ll ow s: 1.

A p p r ova l of t h e m i nute s of p r ev i o us m e et i n g.

2.

Pr e s e nt at i o n of t h e C h ai r m a n a n d C hi ef E xe c ut i ve O f f i c e r ’s M e s s a g e to S to c k h o l d e r s.

3.

El e c t i o n of t h e m e m b e r s of t h e B o a r d of D i r e c to r s.

4.

A p p o i nt m e nt of ex te r n a l au di to r s.

5.

R at i f i c at i o n of a ll ac t s, c o nt r ac t s, i nve st m e nt s a n d r e s o lut i o ns of t h e B o a r d of D i r e c to r s a n d M a n a g e m e nt s i n c e t h e l ast a nnu a l m e et i n g.

6.

Such other business as may properly come before the meeting.

O n ly sto c k h o l d e r s of r e c o r d i n t h e b o o ks of t h e C o m p a ny at t h e c l o s e of b us i n e s s o n 21 M a r c h 2 016 w i ll b e e nt i t l e d to vote at t h e m e et i n g. T h e li st of sto c k h o l d e r s e nt i t l e d to vote w i ll b e avai l a b l e f o r i ns p e c t i o n at t h e of f i c e of A . S o r i a n o C o r p o r at i o n, 7t h Fl o o r Pac i f i c S t a r B ui l di n g, M akat i Ave nu e c o r n e r G i l Puyat Ave nu e E x t ., M akat i Ci t y, te n (10) days p r i o r to t h e A nnu a l M e et i n g.

S to c k h o l d e r s a r e r e qu e ste d to c o m p l ete, date, s i g n a n d r et ur n t h e e n c l o s e d p r ox y f o r m to r e ac h t h e C o m p a ny as p r o m pt ly as p o s s i b l e n ot l e s s t h a n te n (10) wo r k i n g days p r i o r to t h e A nnu a l M e et i n g o r n ot l ate r t h a n 6 A p r i l 2 016 . T h e g i v i n g of su c h p r ox y w i ll n ot af fe c t yo ur r i g ht to vote i n p e r s o n s h o ul d yo u d e c i d e to at te n d t h e A nnu a l M e et i n g.

Pr ox y va li dat i o n w i ll b e h e l d at A . S o r i a n o C o r p o r at i o n, 7t h Fl o o r Pac i f i c S t a r B l d g., M akat i Ave nu e c o r n e r G i l Puyat Ave nu e E x t ., M akat i Ci t y o n 12 A p r i l 2 016 f r o m 11:0 0 a.m. to 12:0 0 n o o n.

M akat i Ci t y, Phi li p p i n e s, 19 M a r c h 2 016 .

T H E BOA R D O F D I R ECTO RS By:

LO O R N A PATA J O - K A PU N A N C o r p o r ate S e c r et a r y R EG I ST R AT I O N O F STO C K H O L D ERS W I L L STA R T AT 9: 0 0 a . m .

Please bring identification, such as valid passpor t, driver’s license or Company I. D. ( TS - MAR. 29, 2016)

B4 ICT hall of fame.

Convergys Philippines is elevated to the ICT Hall of Fame at the 10th International ICT Awards Philippines, after winning best company of the year for the third time. Shown during the awarding ceremony are (from left) Convergys facilities director Patricia Formoso, finance vice president Aldrin Dulig, global procurement senior manager Bel Cabel, finance director Flor Basilio, finance director Vivian Wycoco, senior vice president and country manager Ivic Mueco, chairman Marife Zamora, operations senior director Mark Smith and executive administrator Rina Ordoñez.

Banks added 395 branches

By Julito G. Rada PHILIPPINE banks added 395 offices and branches last year to reach more customers, data from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas showed Monday.

The number of banking offices increased 4 percent to 10,756 in 2015 from 10,361 in 2014, as the industry-wide expansion continued to widen its reach nationwide.

Data showed universal and commercial banks or UKBs accounted for 6,060 branches last year, up from 5,833 a year ago.

There were 40 head offices of UKBs with 6,020 branches or other offices.

Branches of thrift or savings banks also increased to 2,086 from 1,920 in 2014. Rural and cooperative banks expanded to 2,610 branches from 2,608 a year ago.

The number of financial institutions supervised or regulated by Bangko Sentral reached 28,374 in 2015, up from 28,135 institutions in 2014.

Bangko Sentral Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. earlier said the domestic banking system remained robust, supported by strong balance sheets and capital adequacy ratios which were above the prescribed standards.

Tetangco said banks continued to provide necessary funding for productive sectors of the economy. The average loan growth of the banking sector ranged from 13 to 14 percent.

Universal and commercial banks remained well capitalized as of the third quarter of 2015. Data showed the capital adequacy ratio of universal and commercial banks—a measurement of financial strength—hit 15.55 percent on solo basis and 16.4 percent on consolidated basis as of endSeptember 2015.

These figures were above the BSP regulatory threshold of 10 percent and minimum international standard of 8 percent.

The banks’ latest CAR on solo basis rose quarter-onquarter from the 15.48 percent posted as end-June last year.

DMCI sells P210-m stake in Subic Water

By Jenniffer B. Austria

DMCI Holdings Inc., the investment company of the Consunji family, sold a 10-percent interest in Subic Water and Sewerage Company to the local government of Olongapo for P210.58 million.

DMCI said in a disclosure to the stock exchange whollyowned subsidiary DMCI Project Developers Inc. sold 915,580 shares in Subic Water, the operator of the water and sewerage systems in Olongapo City and Subic Bay Freeport.

The shares represent 10 percent of the outstanding capital

stock of Subic Water.

DMCI-PDI said it would still own 30 percent of Subic Water’s outstanding capital stock, after the sale.

Subic Water is a consortium of DMCI, Singaporean water utility specialist Sembcorp Industries Ltd., Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority

and Maynilad Water Services Inc. Subic Water has exclusive right and privilege to operate, maintain and improve the water and sewerage systems of Olongapo City and Subic Bay Freeport under a 30-year franchise term.

The water utility firm is considered Southeast Asia’s pioneer company which introduced the first public-private partnership and build-operate-and transfer model in the water and wastewater services industry.

The company was formed in the 1990s in the wake of an impending water crisis in Olonga-

po City and the growing commercial water requirements of Subic Bay Freeport Zone.

The customer base of Subic Water doubled from 20,000 connections in 1997 to more than 40,000 accounts today.

From ten million liters a day, Subic Water now produces up to 42 MLD of highquality water.

DMCI also owns a 25.24-percent interest in Maynilad, the water concessionaire for the west zone of Metro Manila.

Aside from water utility, DMCI also has investments in coal mining, power generation real estate, infrastructure and construction.

SEC approves DoubleDragon’s P10-b share sale THE Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday approved the P10-billion preferred shares offering of DoubleDragon Properties Corp.

SEC commissioner Ephyro Luis Amatong said DoubleDragon’s preferred shares offering was the fifth equity deal approved by the corporate regulator since the start of the year.

Amatong said this was also the first time the SEC approved five equity deals in a span of three months.

He attributed the increase in capital market transactions to the robust domestic economy and the move of SEC to extend to

180 days from 120 days the validity of the financial statements of companies registering stocks for public offering.

Documents filed with the SEC showed DoubleDragon would issue as much as 100 million preferred shares at an issue price of P100 per share, worth a total of P10 billion.

The preferred shares will come from the proposed increase in the company’s authorized capital stock to P20.5 billion, consisting of 5 billion common shares with a par value of P0.10 per share and the creation of 200 million nonvoting preferred shares with a par

value of P100 apiece.

Proceeds from the offering will be used to finance the company’s real estate projects, including the rollout of community malls across the country, the construction of mixed-use development DD-Medrian Park in Pasay City, Jollibee Tower in Ortigas Center and the completion of residential and office development The Sky Suites Tower in Quezon City.

RCBC Capital Corp. and BPI Capital Corp. are the underwriters for the transaction.

DoubleDragon, a 50-50 joint venture of Injap Investments Inc. led by businessman Edgar Sia II

and Jollibee Foods Corp. chairman Tony Tan Caktiong, aims to be one of the five largest property companies in the Philippines by 2020 by building up 1 million square meters of leasable space.

The preferred shares offering is the first equity deal to be conducted by DoubleDragon after it was listed under the SME board of the PSE in April 2014.

DoubleDragon was transferred from the SME board to the main board of PSE in July 2015.

Share price of DoubleDragon dropped 0.1 percent on Monday to close at P39.45.

Jenniffer B. Austria

T U E S D AY : M A R C H 2 9, 2 0 1 6

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

Baguio hydro plant revived

By Othel V. Campos

STATE-RUN Bases Conversion and Development Authority tapped a Turkish group to rebuild a mini-hydro power plant in Baguio City to supply electricity to Camp John Hay. BCDA said it signed an agreement with John Hay Management Corp. and Riverflow Ventures and Power Energy Corp. of Turkey to rebuild a mini-hydro power plant with a capacity of at least 3 megawatts.

Riverflow Ventures is a joint venture composed of Turkish-

based Vendeka Bilgi Teknoloileri Ticaret Limited Sirketi and Isabela Power Corp.

“We are happy and look forward to the time when the minihydro power plant will be in operation as it will complement our medium and long-term development plans for Camp John Hay,”

said BCDA president and chief executive Arnel Casanova.

Casanova, JHMC president Jamie Eloise Agbayani and Riverflow Ventures represented by Vendeka Bilgi Teknolojileri Ticaret Ltd. Sirketi president Bilali Nadir Uzum and Isabela Power Corp. executive vice president Carlo Ma. Fernandez signed the agreement on March 16.

The agreement is expected to rationalize electricity prices within the former American military base for the benefit of current and future locators.

Agbayani said Riverflow Ventures would have the sole right to

reconstruct, operate and manage the mini-hydro power plant once used by the Americans when it was still in control of Camp John Hay. Under the agreement, RVPEC leased some 38.8 hectares within the Camp John Hay reservation, including the site of the minihydro power plant and the surrounding area that needs to be developed to facilitate the power plant’s operation.

The lease and development term of the property is 25 years, renewable for another 25 years upon mutual agreement of the parties.

Casanova

Basic Energy tapping Singapore solar firm

Asiacrest gets P192b. The Investment Bank Ltd. UK signs an investment contract with Asiacrest Renewable Energy Corp. to support various large-scale renewable energy projects in the Philippines. The estimated cost for these projects is 3.7 billion euros (P192.4 billion), which is to be implemented in stages over three years. Shown signing the investment agreement are (from left) Asiacrest vice president for operations Jimmy Peñamante, president and chief executive Lawrence Plata, TIBL chief executive Shanmugaveil Saunda Raju and Asiacrest vice president for finance Glenn Donato.

BASIC Energy Corp. said Monday it teamed up with solar power developer nv vogt Singapore Pte. Ltd. in line with its goal to develop alternative energy sources.

Basic Energy said the agreement with nv vogt covered the development of solar power projects in San Fabian and Bolinao, Pangasinan and other sites deemed ideal for solar power development.

Under the memorandum of understanding, signed by Basic Energy president Oscar De Venecia Jr. and nv vogt president Vivek Chaudhri, the two companies would conduct due diligence aimed at getting the initial solar project off the ground in BEC’s property in San Fabian, Pangasinan.

The property has a total lot area of 17.8 hectares, with the first phase expected to yield 10 megawatts-peak.

Basic Energy said it was

charged to secure all the necessary local and national government permits required for the project, starting with the filing of a letter of intent with the Energy Department.

Earlier this year, nv vogt switched on a 6.25-MWp solar plant operating under a bilateral power purchase agreement with SoCoTeco-1 in Koronadal, South Cotabato, the first PPA signed in the Philippines.

Armstrong Asset Management committed to provide $29 million to fund the construction of a series of solar power projects in the Philippines under the auspices of nv vogt.

Basic Energy said it was preparing for the drilling of the first well in Geothermal Service Contract No. 8 in Mabini, Batangas in May this year. Initial studies pegged the resource at a minimum 20 MWp.

Easter egg fun IN time for Easter, the Hungarian artist Gergely Dudas this month challenged Internet users to find an egg hidden among a row of bunnies—a reprise of his popular spot-the-panda-amongsnowmen visual puzzle.

With time on my hands over the long weekend, I decided to do a bit of easter egg hunting of my own—for the kind that hides inside computers, programs and websites and that can only be discovered if you know where to look and what undocumented commands to issue or keystroke combinations to execute.

One of the earliest easter eggs in software came from Warren Robinett, who put his name in a secret room in his 1979 Atari game Adventure. Robinett said he did this because Atari did not credit its developers at the time. “They had the power to keep my name off the box, but I had the power to put my name on the screen,” he said.

Since then, easter eggs have come and gone. Apple’s Mac used to have a lot of these hidden treasures, including Steve Jobs’ entire Harvard speech—but many of them are now gone, removed from newer versions of Mac OS X. Still, there are quite a lot places to find easter eggs. Here are some you can try out even today:

Google Easter Eggs 1) Search for “Do a barrel roll” and watch the contents of your browser window spin like the Red Baron.

2) Search for “askew” and the contents of your browser window tilts.

3) Go to Google Images and search for “Atari Breakout” to play a version of this once-popular video game.

4) See what Google looked like when it was launched in 1998 by typing “Google in 1998” in the search box.

5) Get an example of an anagram by using “anagram” as the search term.

Google will helpfully suggest: “Did you mean: nag a ram” 6) Learn random trivia by typing “I’m feeling curious” in the search box.

Command Line Tricks I’ve tested these on my Linux PC, but they ought to work on a Mac Terminal too.

1) Get a cow by typing “apt-get moo” at the terminal prompt.

2) Get a Lord of the Rings calendar by typing this into terminal: calendar -f /usr/share/calendar/ calendar.lotr -A 365 3) Get famous dates in history by typing this into terminal: cat /usr/share/calendar/calendar.history This will give you noteworthy events in

all 365 days of the year, including April 27, the day Magellan was killed in the Philippines.

4) Keep your eye on the mouse.

Type “xeyes” in terminal to get a pair of eyes that will follow your cursor around.

Unlike other easter eggs, this one is almost useful.

5) Play a text-based adventure game ala Zork by typing “emacs -batch -l dunnet” into a terminal. The game’s parser will understand commands like “look,” “inventory,” and “take” and the usual direction keys N, S, W and E. 6) Watch Star Wars – an ASCII version – by typing “telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl” in Terminal.

Firefox Tricks 1) Learn about robots by typing “about:robots” into the address line.

2) Get a reading from the Book of Mozilla by typing “about:mozilla” in the address line.

Mac easter eggs 1) The vinyl record icon in System Preferences > Users & Groups will reveal on closer examination (blow up the icon) the song titles “magic,” “revolution,” “boom,” and “unbelievable.” These were Steve Jobs’ most frequently used words during Apple keynote addresses.

2) The Sosumi sound effect in System Preferences > Sound is a reference to Apple’s legal battle with Apple Records, the Beatles record label, which started in 1978. Apple settled out of court in 2007, but not before it created a sound effect that dared Apple Records to “so, sue me.”

3) Discover the recipe for Mrs. Field’s Cookies by typing this in Terminal: open /usr/share/emacs/22.1/etc/ COOKIES 4) Play Tetris, Snake and Pong on Terminal by typing “emacs” followed by Esc then X, then type Tetris, Snake or Pong. This also works on Linux if you have emacs installed. To install in Linux, type “sudo apt-get install emacs” in Terminal.

Android On your Lollipop Android phone, go to Settings and About Phone. Tap the version number many times. A lollipop will appear. Long press on it to play a version of Flappy Bird that uses a little green android and giant lollipops.

Column archive and blog at: http://www.chinwong.com

TUESDAY: MARCH 29, 2016

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College education key—PIDS

By Gabrielle H. Binaday

THE state-run Philippine Institute for Development Studies said Monday the government should further invest in human capital, especially in higher education, to achieve the inclusive economic growth.

Global Money Week. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas leads this year’s celebration of Global Money Week with students of San

Ildefonso Elementary School, Bulacan. The students had a lively video conference with Russian students on creative ways to save and earn money while learning about each other’s savings habits, money managing skills and culture. Global Money Week is a worldwide activity organized by Netherlands-based NGO Child Youth Finance International. Bangko Sentral deputy director Rogelio Garcia (right) and Lucille Villacorte, teacher and awardee of the central bank’s 2014 Gantimpala para sa Ulirang PagtutuRO ng PAG-iimpok at Araling PanSAlapi, supervised the video conference.

ERC asked to clarify issues on retail competition

By Alena Mae S. Flores THE Semiconductor & Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation Inc. reiterated a call to the Energy Regulatory Commission to clarify certain issues under the proposed rules on retail competition and open access.

Seipi, in a series of letters to ERC, sought for a “smooth transition” in the wake of the forthcoming implementation of retail competition and open access by June 2016.

It also urged the regulator to review the impact of excluding distribution utilities and retail electricity suppliers from delivering to the

contestable market.

Seipi is the leading organization of foreign and Filipino semiconductor and electronics companies in the Philippines, allied industries and the academe.

The industry accounts for 49 percent of the total Philippine exports, directly employing 351,387 operators and technicians and has invested a total of P80.783 billion.

The group has sought clarification “whether the life of the existing preferential rate contracts will still be observed even after the deadline of mandatory contestability, or whether will these contracts be rescinded.”

ERC wants the remaining contest-

able customers or customers to switch to the retail electricity suppliers by June, which is also the start of the voluntary implementation of the 750-0kilowatt threshold of open access.

Retail electricity suppliers refer to any person or entity authorized by the ERC to sell, broker, market or aggregate electricity to end users in the contestable market.

Contestable customers are electricity end users who are given the choice to choose their supplier of electricity.

“The industry is very supportive of the country’s shift to retail competition and open access... We would just like to highlight the need of facilitating a smooth transition, so as not to

burden the companies with the volume of arrangements that need to be settled,” Seipi president Dan Lachica, who signed the letters, said.

The group noted ERC’s proposed rules preventing a distribution utility from supplying electricity to the contestable market, unless the supply is made in its capacity as supplier of last resort.

ERC’s proposed rules released in November 2015 further stated that the distribution utilities were enjoined to wind down their respective supply businesses, meaning no local retail electricity supplier should be allowed to act as such by June 26, 2016.

In a policy note “Promoting inclusive growth through higher education” by Dante Canlas, PIDS said investing in higher education contributes to growth and urged the government to implement several policy changes to build a critical mass of scientific and technical manpower.

The policy note said the rate of returns for high school and college graduates had a wide gap.

Studies on rate of return to college education support the view that the investment is remunerative, and that individuals can capture the benefits from such investment.

Latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that electronics and communication engineers had a monthly wage rate of P55,264, significantly higher than the P8,085 salary of unskilled workers.

PIDS said the demand for educated and skilled workers had been increasing and had widened the wage gap between the skilled and the unskilled.

“From a policy standpoint, this suggests that investments in higher education and skills training may help decrease the growing income inequality amid a rapid economic growth,” the policy note said.

“It is thus important for public policy to ensure that access to higher education and skills training required by these new jobs is expanded and equalized.

Otherwise, income inequality gets perpetuated as the economy continues to grow,” it added.

Depositors protected even without Secrecy Act THE Deposit Secrecy Act is again at the center of the latest incidence of misuse of the facilities of the Philippine banking system.

The management of the principally involved commercial bank, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., is invoking the Act in the ongoing Senate and Anti-Money Laundering Council investigations into the heist of $81 million belonging to Bank of Bangladesh. From the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the funds were remitted to four RCBC accounts.

In testimony before the Senate, RCBC management has stated that RCBC could not act speedily on the Bangladesh central bank’s stop-payment request because of the Deposit Secrecy Act’s provisions against disclosure of bank-client information. RCBC acted positively on the request in due course but not before the stolen funds had been remitted out of the Philippines. Where the funds are now has not been determined, and there is a growing belief that they may be unrecoverable.

Once again, the Deposit Secrecy Act has thwarted efforts to prevent the effectuation of a financial heist, and all because of the Act’s emphasis on secrecy. In the Philippines, legislation governing bank deposits has been, and continues to be, associated with the concept of secrecy.

Must this be so? Must the integrity of the

Philippine banking system be kept hostage to the belief that all bank deposits must enjoy the benefit of secrecy? To both questions my answer is an emphatic No. That the Philippines was the preferred destination for the stolen Bank of Bangladesh funds is not difficult to understand when it is stated that the Philippines is one of the three countries—the others are Switzerland and Lebanon—with the most depositor-protective banking systems in the world. This status is unjustifiable from either a legal or an economic or an administrative standpoint.

It is obvious that the target of any Deposit Secrecy Act–type prohibition is the State.

The record of the Congressional discussions on the Act shows that the legislators sought to stop the government from unjustifiably gaining access to, and examining, the records of bank clients. They recognized that private parties might wish to gain access—for whatever reason—to the banking records of other individuals, but the government clearly was the object of the secrecy-ensuring exercise.

The result, as everyone well knows, is that the fiscal and investigative agencies of the government—especially the Office of the Ombudsman and the Bureau of Internal Revenue—are denied access to private banking records when such access is necessary for the prosecution of crimes like corruption and tax evasion. Does that make for good governance? Is it conducive to economic progress? Definitely not.

The fear of an abusive government looking at depositors’ transactions at every turn begs the question, how many of the millions

of private deposit accounts, or what percentage of the total, are subjects of government requests for authority-granting court orders? An insignificant percentage, the record shows. So, why should the overwhelming majority of uncontroversial, illegality-free deposit accounts be included in the coverage of the Deposit Secrecy Act? The economic rationale for the Deposit Secrecy Act was the need to encourage private saving in banking institutions (as opposed to placing funds in the mattresses, piggy banks or other storage places) and, generally, to promote the habit of saving. Security from abusive government behavior was necessary, it was thought to convince savers to deposit their funds in banks.

That was several decades ago. Times and mindsets have changed. Placing funds in banks has become part of the Filipino’s way of life.

Filipinos with savings no longer feel that their bank deposits need special protective legislation. Those who have deposit accounts are not likely to close them if the Deposit Secrecy Act were to be repealed or severely watered down.

Private deposit accounts are personal properties, and, like all personal properties, they cannot be looked into or otherwise be disturbed without negative repercussions for the banks violating the terms of the deposit contract. It is not correct to say that private persons with bank deposits have no protection against an abusive State. They are amply protected by other laws. They can do without the Deposit Secrecy Act. In effect, the Deposit Secrecy Act covers two groups of bank depositors. One group

is made up of the overwhelming majority of bank-deposit owners who keep their noses clean, give rise to no red flags and are generally law-abiding. The other group, the small minority, is made up of bank-deposit owners who receive funds of probably questionable origin, engage in red-flag-type banking transactions and generally abuse the banking system. The first group does not need a Deposit Secrecy Act to protect their deposits; the second group definitely does.

Seen in this context, the Deposit Secrecy Act is a demonstration of a form of “burning the house to roast a pig.” With the Act in place, the authorities of this country are burning the national house—protecting perpetrators of financial heists, making possible illegal behavior and giving the Philippines a bad name in the world—in order to roast a pig, namely, prevent the government and other parties from having access to suspicious private deposit accounts.

There has to be something terribly wrong in the fact that the Deposit Secrecy Act, approved by a well-intentioned legislature, made possible the theft, with the use of a commercial bank’s facilities, of the $81 million from another country’s central bank.

The time has surely come to take a hard look at the Deposit Secrecy Act because it is an instrument of bank abuse and it has made the Philippines a virtual financial pariah. The nation’s financial reputation and the security of the Philippine banking system can no longer be kept hostage to a well-meaning but misplaced desire to safeguard private bank depositors’ rights.

E-mail: rudyromero777@yahoo.com

t u e s D aY : M a r c H 2 9, 2 0 1 6

WORLD

cesar barrioquinto EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

B7

Ice Age puppies awe scientists MOSCOW—The hunters searching for mammoth tusks were drawn to the steep riverbank by a deposit of ancient bones. To their astonishment, they discovered an Ice Age puppy’s snout peeking out from the permafrost.

Promotion. Indian Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor Khan poses with actor Arjun Kapoor to promote their coming Hindi movie ëKi & Kaí in New Delhi on March 28, 2016. AFP

Five years later, a pair of puppies perfectly preserved in Russia’s far northeast region of Yakutia and dating back 12,460 years has mobilized scientists across the world.

“To find a carnivorous mammal intact with skin, fur and internal organs— this has never happened before in history,” said Sergei Fyodorov, head of exhibitions at the Mammoth Museum of the North-Eastern Federal University in the regional capital of Yakutsk.

And the discovery could contribute to the lively scientific debate over the origin of domesticated dogs.

When the hunters stumbled on the first frozen pup in 2011, they alerted Fyodorov who immediately flew out to the remote Arctic tundra, about 4,700 kilometers from Moscow and only 130 kilometers from the Laptev Sea, which borders the Arctic Ocean.

Last year he returned for a more thorough look and found the second puppy close to the same spot, farther down the slope. Both had died when they were about three months old.

They most likely come from the same litter, said Fyodorov.

Last week he oversaw the removal of the second puppy’s remarkably well-

Brazil debates cost of corruption probe RIO DE JANEIRO—Brazil’s former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is raising hackles after warning that the mega Petrobras corruption probe is paralyzing essential sectors of the Brazilian economy, like oil and construction.

Many saw Lula’s comments as a cynical attempt to deflect public attention from a two-year-old investigation, now that he has been implicated in the widening corruption scandal.

But the issue he touched on, invoking the IMF as an authority, is at the center of a growing debate among analysts and economists.

At a meeting with union organizers in Sao Paulo on Wednesday, the former machinist said the probe was necessary but asked “whether it’s not possible to combat corruption without closing companies... and without causing unemployment.”

According to the IMF, he said, a 2.5 percentage point contraction in Brazil’s economy was attributable “to the panic created in Brazilian society.”

“When this is all over, there could be a

lot of people in jail, but there could also be millions of unemployed,” he said.

The IMF in January projected that the Brazilian economy would shrink by 3.5 percent this year, 2.5 percentage points more than its previous estimate. In 2015, the Brazilian economy sank 3.8 percent.

According to GO Associados consultancy, the corruption probe has reduced Brazil’s GDP by about 3.6 percentage points, taking into account direct and indirect effects as well as the incomes of hundreds of thousands of employees.

Unemployment, meanwhile, has continued to climb, rising to 8.2 percent in February compared to 5.8 percent a year earlier.

Maurice Obstfeld, the IMF’s chief economist, attributed the worsening outlook to the “political configuration” of Brazil, with the “initiation of impeachment proceedings (against current President Dilma Rousseff) and the increasing scope of corruption allegations.”

These factors, he said, “have undermined confidence, as has the continued

deterioration of the fiscal outlook.”

Reaction to Lula’s statements has been swift.

Antonio Cesar Bochenek, the president of the Association of Federal Judges of Brazil, said the corruption probe “has done no damage... and has allowed for the recovery of three billion reais ($800 million), as well as goods and property.”

“Impunity increases corruption and corruption causes disastrous damage to the economy,” Bochenek told newspaper O Estado de Sao Paulo.

For Jose Robalinho Cavalcanti, president of the National Association of Attorneys of the Republic, “Lula does himself a disfavor with such declarations because... he was in charge of running the country and knows very well that the economic situation is formed much more by economic policy than any investigation.”

Brazil has been rocked by allegations that construction companies colluded to overbill state oil giant Petrobras by billions of dollars, bribing corrupt executives and politicians to look the other way. AFP

Dreaming of fame in Seoul’s School of Go SEOUL—For the past two years, 12-yearold Cho Sung-Bin has spent nearly all his waking hours focused on a wooden board covered with black and white stones, honing the skills he hopes to translate into a lucrative career as a professional Go player.

“It’s fun. I never get tired,” said Cho, one of dozens of preteens sitting at rows of desks topped with playing boards at the Lee Se-Dol School of Go in central Seoul.

Many spend 12 hours a day practicing match play with each other in the small, neon-lit, largely windowless rooms of the school named after the grandmaster they all hope to emulate.

Already well known in East Asia, Lee achieved global recognition earlier this month when he took on Google’s artificial intelligence AlphaGo program in a five-

match showdown. The 33-year-old lost the series, but the battle gave an unprecedented boost to the ancient board game’s international profile.

Go originated in China 3,000 years ago and has been played for centuries mostly in China, Japan and South Korea, with more than 40 million fans worldwide.

The rules are simple—two players take turns placing black or white stones on a square board with a 19x19 grid. Whoever captures the most territory wins.

But the strategies needed to secure victory are complex, with reportedly more possible move configurations than atoms in the universe.

“Go is not just an entertainment. It’s an art form and a natural philosophy as much as a sport,” said professional player Seo

Kon-Woo. The game is also seen as a tool to help children improve their focus, with hundreds of private Go schools across South Korea offering after-hours tuition.

For those who show a special skill and affinity for the game, Go also offers a possible career path which, in the case of top players like Lee Se-Dol, can lead to fame and fortune.

“Many talented kids are discovered when they are five or six, and turn pro before they’re even 12,” said Kim Jung-Youl, a veteran coach and head of the Lee Se-Dol School.

Considered one of the greatest Go players of the modern era with 18 international titles, Lee started playing at the age of five and turned pro seven years later. AFP

preserved brain”the first in the world”, he said.

“Puppies are very rare, because they have thin bones and delicate skulls,” he said.

The duo have been named the Tumat Dog, after the nearest village to the site.

Fyodorov said a preliminary look at the mammoth remains also found at the dig suggested some had been butchered and burned, hinting at the presence of humans. It remains to be seen, however, whether the puppies were domesticated or wild.

The answer can only be determined by reconstructing their genomes, which would take at least a year.

Thus far, the lineages of wolves that likely gave rise to dogs have not yet been discovered and it’s possible that these puppies could be on that lineage, which would be very exciting,” said evolutionary biologist Greger Larson of University of Oxford, one of the scientists behind a collaborative project aimed at finding out when and where dogs became the first domesticated animals.

What makes the dog particularly intriguing is that it managed to become “man’s best friend” even before humans became settled farmers. AFP

EXTRA-JUDICIAL SETTLEMENT OF THE ESTATES OF SPOUSES SERAFIN ZAMORA CALIBOSO AND EMILY DOLOT CALIBOSO WITH WAIVER OF SHARE AND TRANSFER OF RIGHTS Notice is hereby given that the Estates of the late SPOUSES SERAFIN ZAMORA CALIBOSO AND EMILY DOLOT CALIBOSO, who died on April 21, 1989 at Marilao, Bulacan and March 20, 2004 at Marilao, Bulacan, respectively, has been the subject of an EXTRA-JUDICIAL SETTLEMENT OF THE ESTATES OF SPOUSES SERAFIN ZAMORA CALIBOSO AND EMILY DOLOT CALIBOSO WITH WAIVER OF SHARE AND TRANSFER OF RIGHTS among their heirs over a parcel of land covered by TCT No. T-52.096(M); the heirs agreed to adjudicate among themselves, that they release, waive and transfer their rights in favor of their co-heir, ERIC D. CALIBOSO, the parcel of land and existing improvements covered by TCT No. T-52.096(M); as per instrument dated September 18, 2015; known as per Doc. No. 370;Page No. 75; Book No. III; Series of 2015 under the Notary Public ATTY. CLAUDETTE C. TOLENTINO. ( T S - M A R . 2 2 / 2 9 , A P R 5 , 2 016)

EXTRA- JUDICIAL SETTLEMENT OF THE ESTATE OF FELIX B. MORALES WITH WAIVER OF SHARES AND TRANSFER OF RIGHTS Notice is hereby given that the Estates of the late FELIX B. MORALES, who died on April 30, 1989 at Pangasinan Medical Center, Inc. has been the subject of an EXTRAJUDICIAL SETTLEMENT OF THE ESTATE OF FELIX B. MORALES WITH WAIVER OF SHARES AND TRANSFER OF RIGHTS among their heirs over a parcel of land covered

by TCT No. 34712; the heirs agreed to adjudicate among themselves, that they release, waive and transfer their rights in favor of their co-heirs, EMER JOHN M. MACAPAGAL and ELTON JOHN M. MACAPAGAL, the parcel of land and existing improvements covered by TCT No. 34712; as per instrument dated November 9, 2015; known as per Doc. No. 432;Page No. 88; Book No. III; Series of 2015 under the Notary Public ATTY. CLAUDETTE C. TOLENTINO. ( T S - M A R . 2 2 / 2 9 , A P R 5 , 2 016)

AFFIDAVIT OF SELF-ADJUDICATION OF THE ESTATES OF SPS. MARCELINO AND JOSEFINA STA.ANA Notice is hereby given that the ESTATES OF SPS. MARCELINO AND JOSEFINA STA. ANA, who died on January 28, 2007 at Quezon City and August 5, 2003 at Bocaue, Bulacan, respectively, has been the subject of AFFIDAVIT OF SELF ADJUDICATION of the Estate to their sole heir MA. JENNIELYN DE LEON STA.ANA, over four (4) parcels of land together with all the improvements covered by TCT No. T-31168 P9(M), TCT No. T-20091, TCT No. T-35361-P(M), TCT No. 9468; the heir hereby adjudicate herself the above mentioned real properties; as per instrument dated May 13, 2015; known as per Doc. No. 238;Page No. 49; Book No. III; Series of 2015 under the Notary Public ATTY. CLAUDETTE C. TOLENTINO. ( T S - M A R . 2 2 / 2 9 , A P R 5 , 2 016)

EXTRA-JUDICIAL SETTLEMENT OF THE ESTATE OF DIOSCORO RAZO WITH WAIVER OF SHARE Notice is hereby given that the Estate of the late DIOSCORO RAZO, who died on September 27, 1998 at Manila, has been the subject of an EXTRA-JUDICIAL SETTLEMENT OF THE ESTATE WITH WAIVER OF SHARE among his heirs over a parcel of land covered

by TCT No. C-303831; the heirs agreed to adjudicate among themselves, that they waive and transfer their rights in favor of their co-heir, HENRIETTA P. RAZO, the parcel of land and existing improvements covered

by TCT No. C-303831; as per instrument dated January 27, 2004; known as per Doc. No. 255;Page No. 51; Book No. 13; Series of 2014 under the Notary Public ATTY. FERNANDO M. SALUDES. ( T S - M A R . 2 2 / 2 9 , A P R 5 , 2 016)

T U E S D AY : M A R C H 2 9, 2 0 1 6

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CESAR bARRioqUinTo EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

world

Guarded reactions to Trump’s policy plans SEOUL—South Korea and Japan offered muted reactions Monday to Donald Trump’s suggestion that, as president, he would withdraw the US troops from both countries and allow them to develop their own nuclear arsenal.

There are nearly 30,000 US troops permanently stationed in South Korea and 47,000 in Japan, with little appetite for nuclear weapons in either nation.

Asked to respond to Trump’s ‘America first’ policy to wean nations off US support, South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-Gyun said it would be inappropriate to comment on the remarks by a US presidential candidate.

But he stressed there was no change to Seoul’s position that the South Korea-US Mutual Defense Treaty remained the bedrock of Seoul’s alliance with Washington.

Japan’s top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga also declined to react directly to Trump’s comments, published Saturday in the New York Times, but insisted the military alliance with Washington was crucial and enduring.

“It is the main pillar of Japan’s foreign policy and extremely important for the prosperity and safety of the Asia-Pacific region and the world,” Suga told reporters.

He said Japan would maintain its policies against nuclear possession and production, and a ban on foreign nuclear weapons on its territory.

Support for a nuclear-armed South Korea is a minority voice in the country—although one that grows louder after every nuclear test by North Korea.

Japan is widely seen as having the know-how to produce nuclear arms but, as the only country to have suffered an atomic attack, public opinion is strongly opposed to such a move.

Trump’s remarks caused a stir in the media, however, with Japan’s mass-circulation Yomiuri Shimbun daily saying they had generated some government concern.

“If he becomes the US president, it would be a problem for the JapanUS national security system,” it quoted an unnamed source close to the government as saying. AFP

For hire. Laborers sit waiting for employers to hire them for the day along a road in Hanoi on March 28, 2016. Vietnam’s economy slowed in the first

quarter of 2016, official figures showed on March 25, hampered by low oil prices and an ongoing drought that has hit the agricultural sector hard AFP

Bomber was targeting Christians, says Taliban LAHORE—A Taliban suicide bomber who attacked a Pakistani park crowded with families on Easter Sunday was targeting Christians, the group said, as the death toll rose to 72 including many children.

Hundreds were hurt when explosives packed with ball bearings ripped through crowds near a children’s play area in the park in Lahore, where many had gathered to celebrate Easter.

“We carried out the Lahore attack as Christians are our target,” Ehansullah Ehsan, spokesman for the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar faction of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, told AFP by telephone on Monday from an undisclosed location.

He said the group would carry out more such attacks, vowing to

target schools and colleges alongside government and military interests.

The attack was the worst so far this year in a country grimly accustomed to atrocities, and will further undermine the fractious inter-religious ties in the Muslimmajority nation.

Witnesses described children screaming as people carried the injured in their arms, while frantic relatives searched for loved ones.

“We had gone to the park to enjoy the Easter holiday. There was

a blast suddenly, I saw a huge ball of fire and four to six people of my family are injured. Two of them critical,” 53-year-old Arif Gill told AFP. Rescue spokeswoman Deeba Shahbaz said the death toll had risen to 72 Monday, with 29 children among the dead. Senior police official Haider Ashraf confirmed the number, adding that most of the dead were Muslims.

“Everybody goes to this park,” he said.

A spokesman for the Lahore city administration put the number of Christians killed at “10 to 15” as the authorities scrambled to identify the dead.

Bits of human flesh and torn cloth could be seen Monday around the bloodstained swings

and merry-go-round where the bomb went off as children played.

Authorities said the park had seen a surge in people on Sunday thanks to Easter and the warm spring weather.

Some 8,000 were still there when the bomb was detonated in the early evening, park officials said.

“The militants went for a softer target because there was tight security for churches in Lahore,” said Cecil Shane Chaudry, executive director of the National Commission for Justice and Peace, a Christian organization.

Powerful military chief General Raheel Sharif vowed to bring those responsible to justice and said he “will never allow these savage inhumans to overrun our life and liberty”. AFP

Artist clowns with scandal-hit leader

Retaken. Syrian troops walk in the destroyed streets of the residential neighborhoods in the modern town adjacent to the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra. AFP

KUALA LUMPUR—A Malaysian designer’s caricatures of the scandal-plagued prime minister as a sinister clown have become a viral phenomenon, spurring a wider protest-through-images movement and making the artist a target of authorities.

The parodies of Prime Minister Najib Razak have rapidly become Malaysia’s most controversial images, earning designer and activist Fahmi Reza comparisons to streetart provocateurs like Banksy.

Shared widely on social media, they have sparked copycat variations and struck a chord with Malaysians outraged by the cor-

ruption allegations leveled at Najib and his moves to thwart investigations.

“Our country is being governed by fools and crooks,” Fahmi, a punk-rock aficionado, said in an email interview while on an extended trip overseas.

He seeks to “point out the hypocrisies [of Malaysian politics] to draw attention to these absurdities, and get people to laugh at it.”

But Malaysian authorities are not amused.

Fahmi, 38, who has been arrested previously for his activism, was questioned by police and told to stop posting the images, which

show Najib in powder-white clown make-up, with evilly arched eyebrows and a garish blood-red mouth.

He said police were investigating possible violations of multimedia laws that could bring five years in prison.

Last year, a Malaysian political cartoonist famed for skewering the government was hit with multiple sedition charges that lawyers say could see him jailed for up to 43 years.

Fahmi, who calls art his “weapon”, remains undeterred.

“They can jail a rebel, but they can’t jail the rebellion,” he said. AFP

tuesday : m arch 29, 2016

tatum aNcheta EDITOR

BING PareL

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

BerNadette LuNas WRITER

life @ thestandard.com.ph

@LIFeatstandard

a rts, cuLt ure & t ech

LIFE

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4 hOlI CElEbRATIOn In MAnIlA Th

T

he Holi Festival, one of the happiest and most colorful festivals of Hindus, was recently celebrated at SM by the Bay Central Park with more than 2,500 people gathering for the auspicious event.

Ushering in the arrival of spring, the festival widely celebrated in India, Nepal and other Hindu countries, saw its fourth year of celebration in the Philippines organized by Asia Society and SM by the Bay in partnership with the Embassy of India, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce, Indian Ladies Club and SingIndia Music of the Soul.

PhOTOS by STAR SAbROSO

Most of the population who joined the festivity are of Indian descent but there were a lot of Filipinos and other nationalities who embraced the celebration and took part in throwing colorful gulal powder at each other, singing and dancing with the crowd. More than just a Hindu celebration, the event turned into one multi-colored race united by love and friendship. “Today, we are not Filipino, Indian, American nor any other nationality,” Indian Ambassador to the Philippines Lalduhthlana Ralte addressed the crowd. “We are all global citizens,” he Continued on C3

everyone was barely recognizable from the explosion of colors. the audience bled with bursts of tangerine, blue, and pink until the sunset

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com.ph

@LIFEatStandard

ARTS AND CULTURE ROUNDUP What’s on in theaters and galleries this week

ExhibiTS (Cyber) Mystiq Tiger Video Room, Finale Art File, Makati City Ongoing until April 1

What’s So Wrong If You’re Wrong Silverlens Gallery, Makati City Ongoing until April 23

Eccentric visual artist Jeona Zoleta has always been interested in the future of funny, scattered and clueless feelings. For her, paintings may mean several different things but still ordinary. Zoleta uses oil, acrylic and polaroids to present her thoughts and idiosyncrasies that are as interesting as they are uncanny.

According to Zoleta, she believes she is, in a certain degree, a “fantasy witch makeup kit exploding like my new iPhone 6.” And her artworks on display are “my 2D printed soul part 2 of 69.” Her latest series of works is a result of her inner ramblings that wanted to come out and meet the world, or in her words: “[It] feels gangster blood boiling hot in my veins and spamming.

There is no mystery in anger, it just shows like bubbles and rainbow.”

To know more about this ongoing exhibit, visit finaleartfile.com.

They Call Me Conceptual But I’m Just an Esoteric Loser The Big Room, ArtInformal, Mandaluyong City Ongoing until April 16

In a world where inanimate objects take a life of their own – quietly in the background – and replace the regular functions of our lives, a visual artist tries to illustrate the way these things would look like should they happen.

Gene Paul Martin portrays the haunting condition of a world filled with the uncanny exchange between the inanimate and the imaginary that repeats the mime of everyday existence in search of their own meaning.

Using his trademark styles, Martin’s latest series of paintings on display frames his ideas without being trapped

by the conventions of a certain aesthetic movement. The exhibit offers a fresh point of view of what could be an alternative artistic discourse to the representation of cultural identity sans the need for tired clichés. In one of his paintings, for instance, Martin draws out essential reality in the middle of a wasteland. In another one, he transforms the living room into a “sentient space” assuming furniture has gotten smart like today’s electronic devices.

For inquiries and more details on this show, call (02) 816-044 or email info@silverlensgalleries.com.

Fun and Purpose Green Sun Hotel, Chino Roces Avenue, Makati City April 1 to 3

German artist Timo Roter exhibits his latest series here in the Philippines.

Roter, who is based in Hamburg and also lives in Manila took lessons in art history and ethnology in Germany, after which he studied the Filipino culture and language, subsequently joining group shows and exhibiting solo here in the country.

Roter showcases oil paintings and handwoven works of art in his latest solo exhibit in Manila. In his presentation,

he quotes another German artist, the late Martin Kippenberger who was known for his extremely prolific output in a wide range of styles and media.

Kippenberger said: “I can’t cut off an ear everyday. Do the Van Gogh here and the Mozart there. Anyway it’s exhausting enough always having to check up on what one is really doing!”

Visit www.artinformal.com for inquiries and more details on this ongoing solo show.

The Saturday Group of Artists, student artists and special needs artists come together for an art exhibit for a cause.

Zambawood, an enclave in San Narciso, Zambales meant to be a place where people who have special needs can enjoy and find their purpose, has launched this initiative to fund the construction of a Community Art Center. The Art Center will be a venue for working and vocational learning for the special needs adults and people from the community.

This project aims to demonstrate that integration and inclusion of the special needs people into the community is possible.

Tickets are priced at P1,200, inclusive of dinner, musical entertainment by a seven-piece string ensemble and a talk by guest speaker Dr. Francis Dimalanta who will talk about empowering individuals with special needs.

For tickets and more details, text 0927-6730827 or email artcenter@zambawood.com.

tuESday : m arch 29, 2016

LIFE life @ thestandard.com.ph

@LIFEatStandard

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4th hoLI cELEbratIon In manILa From C1 added, expressing hope that more people would participate in the years to come.

Predominant during the event was pink gulal, and these were splattered on the participants’ faces and bodies as they entered the grounds. As soon as the first color countdown commenced, everyone was barely recognizable from the explosion of colors on their bodies, and the audience bled with bursts of tangerine, blue, and pink until the sunset.

The crowd danced and jumped through traditional folk music – Bhangra and Bollywood music mixed by DJ CJ Wasu.

The amped-up members of the crowd threw some of their peers up in the air and some braved the stage to learn some signature dance moves with Samba School Imperatriz Filipinense’s rhythmic drum beats. Asia Society Philippines executive director Suyin Liu Lee, who opened the program, highlighted the importance of interaction and cultural exchange in promoting cooperation and understanding between communities.

Around the event complex, Indian food was offered with servings of chicken tandoori, pani puri, idli sambal and samosas by restaurants that include Kashmir, Bollywood, Royal Indian Curry House, Green Dot, and Saffron Plates. Different nationalities lined up to get traditional Mehndi (henna) tattoos while kids and kids-at-heart indulged their creative energies in creating their own rangoli artwork, a kind of folk art, wherein interesting patterns are filled with colored sand, colored rice, and flower petals, often crafted to celebrate auspicious occasions in India. After the sunset, Holika Dahan or the lighting of bonfire was performed by a Hindu priest while he chanted prayers and encouraged the crowd to throw away their sufferings and sorrows.

For more information about Asia Society or if you are interested to become a member contact +632-550-2612 or email info@asiasociety.org. Visit them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @AsiaSocietyPH.

the holi Festival or Festival of colors is a fun-filled celebration that is marked by dancing, singing, and the throwing of colored powder (gulal) up in the air to symbolize unity, freedom and the joy of living. the holi Festival organized by asia Society and Sm by the bay gathered thousands of Indians, Filipinos and other nationalities, all united in love and friendship

‘annIE’ IS comIng thIS SEptEmbEr at rESortS WorLd manILa The sun will come out tomorrow… because we’ve got Annie – thanks to Resorts World Manila that is taking on a beloved classic for its next major musical.

Along with Full House Theater Company, RWM will be staging the original Broadway musical “Annie” for its seventh major production this September at the Newport Performing Arts Theater.

The much-loved musical based on Harold Gray’s popular comic strip “Little Orphan Annie” opened in 1977 and ran for a record-setting six years at

the former Alvin Theater in midtownManhattan, New York. Everyone couldn’t help but fall in love with this charming 11-year-old orphan girl looking for her long lost parents, stuck in Miss Hannigan’s orphanage until her life takes on a different turn.

With music by Charles Strouse, lyrics

by Martin Charnin, and a book by Thomas Meehan, “Annie” was nominated for 11 Tony Awards and won in seven categories including Best Musical, with such popular musical numbers like “Tomorrow” and “It’s the Hard Knock Life” included in the production.

Since then, “Annie” has been staged in numerous productions in many countries and has even been adapted into film three times, starting with Aileen Quinn as Annie and Albert Finney as Daddy Warbucks in 1982 and most recently in 2014 which featured Quvenzhané Wallis and Jamie Foxx.

For more information and updates on RWM events and entertainment offerings, visit www.rwmanila.com or call the Tourist/Visitor Hotline at (632) 908-8833.

tuESday : m arch 29, 2016

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com.ph

@LIFEatStandard

CHRISTINA CHO 'Sunflower Field' Oil on canvas, 36 x 73 cm

MON ARTIZEN GROUP MOUNTS SIXTH EXHIBIT AT ARTISTSPACE FEMAlE GROUP OF ARTISTS SPEAkS THROUGH PAINTINGS

W

omen in traditional and conservative Korean society rein in their emotions and speak in hushed, gentle tones with conversations marked by periods of silence. From this society has emerged a group of women painters who have found their distinct and collective artistic voice in the Philippines. This voice – distinctly Korean in timbre and surprisingly audacious – is none other than the Mon Artizen group, founded by three intrepid ladies who embarked on a journey from “The Land of the Morning Calm” to the Philippines in 1998. Bonded by a common passion for the arts, having obtained formal art education from sterling art academies in South Korea, Carla Kim (Hyesook Jang), Sojung Lee and Miae Jung, began holding art sessions and mounting mini art exhibitions at least once a year to express their shared creativity.

Since then, the group’s once exclusive painting sessions have expanded to include Filipina painters, with the group now numbering 12, with Mon Artizen encouraging individuals to create art and have a great time communicating and enriching their view of the world with fellow members. The group welcomes all ladies who are interested in learning how to paint.

The artists of Mon Artizen have mounted a collective exhibition titled “Paintings That Speak, Poems With No Sound” in collaboration with the ArtistSpace of the Ayala Museum. The exhibition, which opened last March 17 and runs until the 31st, showcases loud and vibrant canvasses depicting unorthodox still life of floral and domestic arrangements, unexpected vistas of foreign architecture (mostly sun-drenched) landscapes and seascapes captured from privileged sojourns, and eye-catching patterns that mimic the immediate and natural environment.

Inspired by a diverse array of mostly autobiographical influences such as personal experiences of culture and nature as well as internal catharsis, every work in the exhibition tells of stories and serve as mute poems on the lives of the women painters of Mon Artizen. Composed through the

MIAE JUNG 'Self-Portrait' Oil on canvas, 38 x 33 cm

YOONAH SEO 'Part 1' Oil on canvas, 55 x 120 cm

group’s own brand of artistic freedom, the canvases are painted in the most colorful and expressive way possible, sometimes to the point of irreverence. They may be unusually outspoken but all works bear design elements that are distinctly Korean.

The 12 women painters of Mon Artizen hail from South Korea and the Philippines, and they are Carla J. Kim also known as Hyesook Jang (poetic still life); Sojung Lee (scaled illusions); Sungjoo Kang (clothed ambiguities); Jacqueline Lhuiller Hess

MIYOUNG JANG 'rest' Oil on canvas, 45 x 55 cm

CARlA kIM 'Lady in mangos' Oil on Board, 25 x 45 cm

(surprising sojourns); Miae Jung (magical landscapes); Yoonah Seo (rainbow cities); Christina Cho (rare vantage points); Mi Young Jang (wispy impressions); Hyang Ran Han (untold stories in details); Shin Young Park (emotional still life); Eunyoung Jung (rhythm and repetition); and Sunghye Yoon (stony stories).

Mon Artizen is proof that neither cultural norms nor distance from one’s home country are impediments in expressing creativity and pursuing one’s passions. By

continuously and bravely creating art that are true to themselves and their reflection of the world, the members of Mon Artizen will grow and create art marked by boldness, audacity and authenticity.

ArtistSpace is at the Ground Level, Ayala Museum Annex, Makati Avenue corner De La Rosa Street, Greenbelt Park, Makati City.

For more information, you may contact Lorraine Datuin at (02) 759-8288 or email artistspace@ayalafoundation.org.

T uES DAy : m A RcH 2 9, 2016

SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

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mIss pEREgRInE’s

hOmE fOR A pEculIaR chIlDREn

whole new world and new set of unconventional new heroes with incredible powers will rise in the upcoming movie fantasy adventure Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children based on the bestselling adventurous novel of the same title by author Ransom Riggs.

Directed by Tim Burton and written by Jane Goldman, the film stars Eva Green in the title role. She heads the special home and protects the children living in it who possess extraordinary abilities.

The movie also stars Asa Butterfield, Judi Dench, Rupert Everett, Ella Purnell, Allison Janney, Kim Dickens and Samuel L. Jackson.

The movie introduces us to Jake (Buttefield) and his newfound world and friends when he discovers clues to a mystery that spans alternate realities and times, he uncovers a secret refuge known as Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As he learns about the residents and their unusual abilities, Jake realizes that safety is an illusion, and danger lurks in the form of powerful, hidden enemies. Jake must figure out who is real, who can be trusted, and who he really is and the amazing power that he possesses.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will open in September in cinemas nationwide from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.

The fantasy film is based on the novel written by Ransom Riggs

A scene from “miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar children”

Eva Green plays miss Peregrine in the fantasy film

Ultimate villain rises in ‘X-men: apoCalypse’

Apocalypse is the ninth installment in the X-men film series

Sophie Turner as Jean Grey

michael Fassbender as magneto

Kodi Smith mcphee as Nightcrawler

The ultimate X-Men villain rises in the biggest battle of beloved superheroes in X-Men: Apocalypse as seen in the latest official international trailer reveal.

Directed by blockbuster filmmaker Bryan Singer, X-Men: Apocalypse features returning mutants Raven/Mystique played by Jennifer Lawrence, Magneto (Michael Fassbender), Charles Xavier (James McAvoy), Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne), Quicksilver (Evan Peters), Beast (Nicholas Hoult), Havoc (Lucas Till) and Bill Stryker (Josh Helman).

The movie also introduces up and coming actors Oscar Isaac who plays Apocalypse, Tye Sheridan as Cyclops, Alexandra Shipp as Storm, Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, Kodi Smit-McPhee as Nightcrawler, Ben Hardy as Angel, Lana Condor as Jubilee and Olivia Munn as Psylocke.

X-Men: Apocalypse will bring the audience into a world never-before-seen as they try to stop their greatest nemesis in his plan of global destruction. Being the first original mutant from Marvel’s X-Men universe, Apocalypse is also the most powerful who amassed many of the other mutants’ powers making him immortal and invincible. Awakening thousands of years after, he assembles his own team of mutants which he calls The Four Horsemen – War (Magneto), Death (Angel), Pestilence (Psylocke) and Famine (Storm) to help him annihilate the world. To stop Apocalypse’s path of global destruction, Raven/Mystique and Professor X must convince Magneto to abandon Apocalypse and join them and a new team of young X-Men. An epic showdown is about to happen in cinemas nationwide this May 18 when the Xmen confront their most legendary and most powerful enemy in X-Men: Apocalypse from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.

Check out the latest trailer reveal here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBX32kAQ3-w

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T uES DAy : m A RcH 2 9, 2016

SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

‘ROOTs’

TO pREmIERE In may samE Day as ThE U.s.

HISTORY® premieres Roots on May 31 at 9 p.m. over four consecutive nights. The four-night, eight-hour event series developed

by HISTORY, from A+E Studios, is a historical portrait of American slavery recounting the journey of one family and their will to survive and ultimately carry on their legacy despite hardship.

The stellar cast includes Academy Award® winners Forest Whitaker (Fiddler) and Anna Paquin(Nancy Holt); Academy Award® nominee and Emmy Award® winner Laurence Fishburne (Alex Haley); Golden Globe Award® winning and

Emmy Award® nominated actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Tom Lea); Tony Award® winner Anika Noni Rose (Kizzy); Grammy Award® winner Tip “T.I.” Harris (Cyrus); Chad L. Coleman (Mingo); Emayatzy Corinealdi (Belle); Matthew Goode (Dr. William Waller); Derek Luke (Silla Ba Dibba); MekhiPhifer (Jerusalem); James Purefoy (John Waller); Erica Tazel (Matilda) and, introducing, Regé-Jean Page (Chicken George) and Malachi Kirby (KuntaKinte).

“Roots will allow new audiences to experience this epic family saga with a new vision that is both in-

“Roots” is a remake of the Emmy Award-winning American television miniseries that aired in 1977

spiring and tremendously entertaining,” said Paul Buccieri, president of A&E and HISTORY. “We are proud that HISTORY will be able to bring new life to this powerful story that remains as important today as it did when the original

Roots first premiered.”

“Nearly 40 years ago I had the privilege to be a part of an epic television event that started an important conversation in America,” said LeVar Burton, co-executive producer. “I am incredibly proud to be

a part of this new retelling and start the dialogue again, at a time when it is needed more than ever.”

HISTORY™ is available on SKYCable Ch 67; Cable Link Ch. 43; Dream Satellite Ch 30; Destiny Cable Ch 57; and Cignal Ch 125.

sarah G. aNd the aNemix Girls iN New musiC vide0

cNN’s Kristie Lu Stout meets independent Andy Xie, Wall Street Journal correspondent Wei Gu, and Ascendent capital Partners co-founder Liang meng

CNN ‘ON ChiNa’ taCkles eCONOmiC slOwdOwN CHINA’S economic slowdown has sent shockwaves around the world.

There are fears of a ticking “debt bomb”. Beijing is in unchartered territory as it makes a painful transition from an investment and export-led economy to one driven by domestic consumption. Questions abound about the government’s ability to implement strong reforms.

In this month’s On China, CNN’s Kristie Lu Stout meets independent economist Andy Xie, Wall Street Journal correspondent Wei Gu, and co-founder of Ascendent Capital Partners Liang Meng. They discuss China’s economic dynamics and explore the opportunities ahead.

CNN’s On China airs April 1 at 5:30 and 11:30 p.m. with replays on April 3 , 23 and 24.

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3 left Bank pal 4 Flock 5 social mores 6 trellis coverer 7 tweeter partner 8 loathe

Did you know that one out of 4 people are at risk of anemia? Anemia, caused by iron deficiency, can greatly impact a person’s physical and cognitive performance thus affecting the overall work productivity.

In the Philippines, Merck Inc., through the country’s leading iron supplement brand for adults, Sangobion IRON+, has made it its mission to spread awareness for anemia so that more Filipinos can be aware of the condition. In fact, the World Health Organization revealed that between 20 and 39.9 percent of women in the country aged 15-49 years suffer from anemia (The Global Prevalence of Anaemia in 2011, authored by the World Health Organization).

The launch of the new cam-

tuesdaY, marCh 29, 2016

9 Fashion name 10 Crane 11 George who was a she 12 throttle 13 wind catchers 21 Break away 22 londoner’s umbrella 23 Governed 24 wipe clean 25 Pyramid site 29 lets off steam 30 the One-l lama 32 Peak 33 lament 34 Computer-chip maker 35 Blow, as a volcano 36 screams and shouts 42 train 46 Cancan’s — rouge 47 electrician’s job 48 Cut the cake 49 henry viii’s house 50 ryan or tatum 51 China neighbor 52 reeves of “the matrix” 54 extremist sect 55 Gibe at 59 Playground game 60 Nice summer 61 tulip color

paign, “Win Your Day” establishes Sangobion IRON+ as the blood health expert that talks about the 5 signs of anemia— tiredness, sickly (due to a weak immune system), paleness, distractedness (lack of concentration), and dizziness—and how to prevent or overcome them in order to Win Your Day. The highlight of the campaign is the “Win Your Day” TV commercial and music video, starring Sangobion IRON+ Brand Ambassador Sarah Geronimo.

Also featured in the video are the Anemix Girls – five women who were able to overcome their anemia with the help of the organic iron supplement.

They are fondly known as Tired Ellaine, Sickly Paula, Pale Sheena, Distracted Princess, and Dizzy Apple.

Selected through a series of Sangobion IRON+ activities that took place over several months last year, the girls went through several tests of physical energy, including a karaoke challenge.

Armed with golden voices and the eagerness to win their day, the five stood out from hundreds of candidates and proved to be the perfect companions of Sarah G. in the music video.

Merck Inc. Philippines Head of Marketing, Consumer Health, Debbie Go said, “A significant number of Filipinos, particularly women, are affected by anemia and don’t even realize it. We expect that this campaign will encourage them to be more conscious of their blood health, and take the necessary steps to fight anemia so they can go about each day in winning form.”

T uES DAy : m A RcH 2 9, 2016

SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

C7

AlEx GonzAGA’S SEconD book

A

From left, book launch host Robi Domingo, AbS-cbn president Ernie lopez, author Alex Gonzaga and AbS-cbn managing Director mark yambot

fter helping countless women cope with breakup in her first book, Dear Alex, Break Na Kami?! Paano?! Love, Catherine, Alex Gonzaga is back with her follow-up book that’s sure to be part of her beloved readers’ journeys in life and love.

Titled Dear Alex, We’re Dating. Tama, Mali?! Love, Catherine, the second book in the Dear Alex series was launched on march 20 in national Book Store – glorietta 1, much to the delight of fans who have been anticipating the book’s release.

Being the fun and perky host that she is, alex entertained the crowd as she indulged them with witty tips and hilarious retorts during the Q&a portion. making the afternoon even more engaging was Robi Domingo, who served as the event’s host. after the program, alex gamely took selfies with her fans and signed their books.

From “Where to go” to “How to act,” the second book will guide one through the different stages of dating. adding appeal and sense of humor to the book are practical pieces of dating and relationship advice from her daddy Bonoy, mommy Pinty, and ate Toni.

“Napakadaming rules—gawin mo ito, gawin mo ’yan. my book, however, is not a rule book. This is simply a guidebook,” alex says about her book. She writes about her dating experiences and learning with the same quotable wit and brutal frankness that fans loved in Book 1, which sold more than 120 thousand copies.

Published by aBS-CBn Publishing, Dear Alex, We’re Dating. Tama, Mali?! Love, Catherine is the latest addition to aBS-CBn Publishing, inc’s successful line of bestselling books. alex is part of a roster of authors that include Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, Georgina Wilson, Solenn Heussaff, Ramon Bautista, and Juan Miguel Severo.

The book is exclusively available in all national Book Store outlets nationwide for only 195 pesos.

AnDREA bocEllI’S ‘cInEmA WoRlD TouR’ concERT In mAnIlA

One of the most anticipated live performances in the country this year is the one with the world’s most beloved tenor, maestro Andrea Bocelli. He is set to hold his Cinema World Tour concert at the mall of asia arena on april 26 and it is presented by music management international (mmi Live). among the many highlights of the classy and elegant evening, the concert’s first half is featuring arias and duets from the world most famous operas with soprano Maria Katzarava and flautist maestro Andrea Griminelli.

The ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra and the Ateneo Chamber Singers will accompany Bocelli, bringing the event together in spectacular fashion.

The second half, however, is dedicated to the maestro Bo-

celli’s popular repertoire and select songs from the album Cinema with a special guest performer --the equally talented and beautiful Christine Allado, an emerging musical talent with a voice that fuses her classical soprano roots with a contemporary spin of Pop and Jazz. allado is an all-around performer and actress who has appeared on stages and broadcasts all over asia, and currently in London’s West end.

Cinema marks Bocelli’s first new studio recording in two years, which features a collection of movie songs including songs featured in films such as Doctor Zhivago”, Love Story, The Godfather, Life is Beautiful, Il Postino, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and many more, as well as popular songs from stage musicals,

immortalized in their film versions, like West Side Story and Evita. as a special bonus, there’s a brand new song taken from the popular Gladiator score.

With over 80 million albums sold worldwide, this international star who has been honoured with star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, whose Central Park concert in 2011 entered the history of music as one of the greatest live performances of all time, and who has had the honour of performing live in front of three Presidents of the United States, three popes, and royal families all over the world.

Visit #mmiLive for more details. For ticket information, log on to smtickets.com/ andreabocelli.com or call (02) 470-2222.

Italian classical crossover singer Andrea bocelli is set to hold a one-night concert on April 26 at the Sm mall of Asia Arena

cARToon nETWoRk’S All-nEW SERIES DEbuTS on ApRIl 9

The beloved powerpuff Girls return in an all-new series on cartoon network

Reimagined and ready for action, The Powerpuff Girls will return to Cartoon network in an all-new series on april 9, just days after its global premiere in the U.S. On that day, six brand-new episodes of The Powerpuff Girls will be showcased starting at 10 a.m. and 15 all-new episodes of Cartoon network’s best loved shows – Regular Show, Adventure Time and We Bare Bears – will be shown 8 a.m. on the same day. in addition, every Turner channel in the Philippines (including Warner TV, Boomerang, Toonami, truTV and TCm) as well as partner channel TV5 will be broadcasting The Powerpuff Girls content on the same morning. The series will also be supported via video and games on the Cartoon network Watch and Play and Cartoon network anything apps, and on Cartoonnetworkasia.com.

“The Powerpuff Girls will be simply everywhere! Whatever channel you turn to on april 9, and whatever screen you’re using,

there will be Blossom, Buttercup and Bubbles saving the day before bedtime! We’ve waited a long time to see these super-cute and super-fierce girls return to action, and the allnew series marks the homecoming for one of Cartoon network’s best loved shows,” said Mark Eyers, Content head of Cartoon network in asia Pacific.

Superhero-sisters Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup are widely known as The Powerpuff Girls. Together, they protect the beautiful, bustling metropolis of Townsville and its citizens’ sinister evildoers, intent on taking over. Juggling school, homework and a regular parade of villains is no easy task, but the girls are more than up for the challenge. armed with supercool superpowers and topnotch teamwork, The Powerpuff Girls, with the occasional assistance from Professor Utonium and the mayor of Townsville, will soon prove to their hometown and the world that it is possible to save the world before bedtime.

One of Cartoon network’s most enduring original series, the initial run of The Powerpuff Girls, created by Craig McCracken, premiered in 1996 and earned two emmy® awards along with five nominations and countless animation honors throughout its 78 episodes. The series also spawned a feature film with Warner Bros. Pictures in 2002. don’t miss the return of the trio back-toback with new episodes of Regular Show, Adventure Time, We Bare Bears, Clarence and many more, non-stop all day from 8 a.m.__ only on the number one kids’ channel Cartoon network. Once the hysteria calms down, the full series of The Powerpuff girls will kick in from may 2 at 5:45 p.m. as part of Laughternoons every weekday.

Cartoon network is available on SKYCable Channel 43, SKYCable Hd Channel 178, Cignal Channel 35, Cignal Hd Channel 110, destiny Cable (digital) Channel 43, destiny Cable (analog) Channel 51 and Cable Link Channel 26, dream Satellite Channel 15.

T ues day : m a rch 2 9, 2016

C8

isah V. red eDiTor nicKie wang WriTer

isahred @ gmail.com

SHOWBITZ The search is on for The nexT anne curTis, Derek ramsay

By Nickie Wang Kapamilya star Anne Curtis and TV5 actor Derek Ramsay are considered as the “Superbods” of their generation.

But what does being everyone’s fitspiration, a social media term for fitness inspiration, really mean?

On March 16, at the VIP launch of Century Tuna Superbods nation 2016, Century Pacific Foods general Manager Greg Banzon shared a little story about what Century Tuna Superbods is all about.

“My father just turned 90 years old a few months ago. In his 60s he had abs. In his 70s he’s still playing basketball. He always says that we should pursue excellence at any age and at any situation. His words remind me of what we are doing tonight. We inspire people to be the best version of themselves. That’s the very essence of Superbods,” the Century Tuna Food top gun shared.

Century Tuna Superbods nation is considered as the biggest and hottest summer event attracting hundreds of fit, sexy, and pumped up men and women all around the country. From numerous go-sees held recently, 24 finalists were chosen. These finalists are expected to follow in the footsteps of Century Tuna endorsers anne Curtis and Derek ramsay. numerous events will be held leading to the culmination of the search in the finals night on april 10 at the ultra exclusive Palace Pool Club.

“It’s heartening to see that the Superbods competition, after 10 years, continues to inspire these young men and women to stay healthy and in shape through proper exercise and

healthy diet,” said Banzon.

He furthered that he and his team are very proud of and excited about this year’s batch of Superbods finalists because they are all brimming with potential not just in terms of physical fitness but in terms of personality, talent and achievement as well.

“The judges will really have a tough time in choosing this year’s winners,” he quipped.

Since its inception in 2006, the Century Tuna Superbods search has indeed gone bigger, better, and bolder. For its 10th year, this is the first time the brand widened the competition, drawing numerous candidates from all over the country and the United States. after the rigorous screening sessions which saw the hopefuls strut their stuff on the catwalk and put their best bodies—and personalities—forward, these fine men and women were declared as finalists: Females: Olivia Medina, Carmela Fernandez, Ambra Gutierrez, Nancy Leonard, Princess Abella, Maria Martinez, Cassie Umali, Mirtle Gimenez, Kaara Tan, Carla Meneses, Anja Peter and Tanya Hyde; Males: Jerome Tan, Ryan Sy, John Padilla, Erie Obsena, Ifran Khan, Jose Pio Luz III, Tom Esconde, Cedric Roxas, Shawn Stansbury, Ali Khatibi, Clint Bondad and Ameen Sardouk.

From here, the 24 finalists will move on to the next leg of the competition, where they will be joined by two Superbods candidates from the USa.

Fil-italian model and superbods contestant ambra gutierrez

Fitness enthusiast and beauty queen nancy leonard

semerad Twins Team up wiTh Bargn on new euphoria maxx sporTs supplemenT Bargn Farmaceutici Phils Co (BFPC group.), one of the nation’s largest specialty manufacturer of health and wellness products, is proud to have inked a partnership with basketball stars, Anthony and David Semerad, more popularly known as the Semerad Twins, for their sports and body building supplement. Euphoria Maxx is a new formula designed to meet the demanding lifestyles of active, resultsdriven fitness consumers who want to get the most out of their workout and improve overall health.

“We are excited to be back again and join force with BFPC, a manufacturer we trust for quality and integrity, “ said anthony Semerad. “We are extremely grateful and excited that we can get to endorse product that we really use, our focus and dedication to living healthy and fit is very important, and Euphoria Maxx contributes a lot, it easily helped us gain lean muscles and endurance” added David Semerad.

Euphoria Maxx – formulated with potent herbs and amino acids - was designed by leading BFPC scientists and wellness experts. The product can safely boost testosterone to help user gain lean muscles it also contains amino acids for energy, stamina and immunity. It is free of banned substances and is based on cutting edge nutritional science and the highest quality ingredients to deliver optimal performance and results.

“I have known anthony and David for several years and during that period I have been impressed by the twins continued personal efforts in regards to maintaining a healthy lifestyle, getting a perfectly toned lean body and strong abs. Euphoria Maxx and the Twins share a strong mutual passion for helping people improve their quality of life through proper diet, exercise and supplementation.” said Nino Bautista, managing director.

“This new partnership is a perfect fit given our shared commitment to living a healthy life,” said Red Gatus, also managing director. “We are very pleased that together we are undertaking this initiative.”

Euphoria Maxx is widely available through leading drugstores and supermarkets nationwide.

semerad brothers anthony and david are proud endorsers of the sports and body building supplement euphoria maxx