The standard 20160422 friday

VOL. XXX NO. 69 3 Sections 32 Pages P18 FRIDAY : APRIL 22, 2016 www.thestandard.com.ph editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Aquino defends Kris’ use of chopper

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RODY TO CUT TIES WITH US, AUSSIES

By Rio N. Araja

TRASH-TALKING presidential frontrunner Rodrigo Duterte warned Thursday he is prepared to cut diplomatic ties with the United States and Australia after their ambassadors criticized his joke about the jailhouse rape of a missionary.

Duterte also told the ambassadors to “shut their mouths,” as controversy continued to rage over his comments in which he

said he wanted to have been the first to rape the Australian woman who was brutalized and murdered in a 1989 prison riot.

“Australian, American ambassadors, shut your mouth,” he said during an interview.

He said Australian Ambassador Amanda Gorely and US Ambassador Philip Goldberg have no business stepping into the political affairs of the country.

“Do not interfere because it’s election time,” he added.

Asked if his stance could affect the Philippines’ diplomatic relationship with the two of the countries closest allies, he said, “That’s

their problem, not mine.”

“I have never interfered in their elections. If I become president, go ahead and sever [diplomatic ties],” he added.

Duterte, who while campaigning has called the Pope a “son of a bitch” and promised to kill tens of thousands of criminals, recounted at a recent rally the 1989 riot as part of his tough-on-crime pitch to voters.

“They raped all of the women... there was this Australian lay min-

ister... when they took them out... I saw her face and I thought, ‘Son of a bitch. What a pity... they raped her, they all lined up’,” he told the crowd.

“I was mad she was raped. But she was so beautiful, I thought, the mayor should have been first.”

Duterte was at the time mayor of Davao.

The frontrunner has at times on the campaign boasted about running the death squads, claiming they killed 1,700 people, but also denied any links to them.

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Waving the flag. This photo taken on April 19 shows Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, the front-running presidential candidate in the May 9 elections, swearing in front of a

Philippine flag during a campaign sortie in Iloilo City. Duterte has warned he is prepared to cut diplomatic ties with the United States and Australia after their ambassadors criticized his joke about the jailhouse rape of a foreign missionary in 1989. AFP

Site uploads personal info of 56.7-m voters

By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan and Joel Zurbano HOURS after the arrest of a suspect accused of defacing the official Commission on Elections website, hackers calling themselves LulzSec Pilipinas uploaded the personal information of some 56.7-million registered voters on their site.

The site, named “Philippines, we have your data,” was uploaded hours after Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista announced the arrest of one of the three hackers, who is in government custody.

The site contains a search engine that enables visitors to look up registered voters to find information such as their home addresses and birthdates.

The data that has been accumulated from the Comelec website is said to include birthdates, fingerprint data, names of relatives, home addresses, citizenship information, passport information, and other miscellaneous data.

“We thought that it would be fun to make a search engine over that data,” the hackers said on the website.

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Roxas confirms meeting at INC

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‘Where’s P7.6-b coco levy fund?’

By Christine F. Herrera

THE Confederation of Coconut Farmers demanded Thursday that Malacañang produce the P7.6 billion in coco levy funds that it illegally took from the United Coconut Planters Bank and San Miguel Corp. without explaining where the money would be used.

Cocofed Chairman Efren Villaseñor said his group, representing about 2.8-million coconut farmers, learned recently that the Palace and the Presidential Commission on Good Government withdrew the P7.6 billion cash component of the coco levy fund last year from UCBP and SMC. “There have been reports that P5.2 billion of the P7.6-billion have already been transferred from a special account of the Bureau of Treasury to the general fund, which Malacañang can use for any purpose it desires, including for the elections,” Villaseñor said.

He said they have already written letters since last year to the PCGG and Malacañang asking them to show the money, but no reply was

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Duterte has similarly offered varying responses to the rape comments, with his media team releasing a statement in which he apologized. But on the campaign trail, he has repeatedly told reporters he would not say sorry.

Australian Ambassador Amanda Gorely criticized his remarks this week, saying on Twitter: “Rape and murder should never be joked about or trivialized. Violence against women and girls is unacceptable anytime, anywhere.”

US Ambassador Philip Goldberg later agreed with her.

“Statements by anyone, anywhere that either degrade women or trivialize issues so serious as rape or murder are not ones that we condone,” Goldberg said in an interview with CNN Philippines television.

Duterte has repeatedly expressed anger at what he regards as their intervention in domestic politics.

“It would do well with the American ambassador and the Australian ambassador to shut their mouths,” Duterte told reporters on Wednesday.

A US embassy spokesman said there was no immediate response to Duterte’s remarks about the ambassadors. An Australian embassy spokeswoman said there would be no comment.

In another warning to the country’s traditional allies, Duterte’s camp singled it was prepared to change foreign policy and start direct talks with China over a long-running territorial dispute.

President Benigno Aquino III has been improving defense ties with the United States and Australia to bolster the Philippines in its dispute with China over the South China Sea. China claims most of the South China Sea, even up to the coasts of its neighbors like the Philippines which has ac-

ever received.

“We wanted straight answers.

Where is our money? Their silence is making us worried because it might have been spent on the election. We want a reply but until now our inquiries are being ignored,” Villaseñor said.

Villaseñor said that when the Supreme Court decided in favor of the coconut farmers in 2012 with respect to the coco levy fund, it ordered the PCGG to put the whole cash component (P5.2 billion worth of SMC shares and P1.4 billion deposited at the UCPB) in a special account at UCPB, the Development Bank of the Philippines or Land Bank of the Philippines.

But he said the PCGG, through then chairman Andres Bautista,

cused China of “bullying” other claimants.

Aquino has refused to hold direct talks with China over the dispute, preferring multilateral discussions and filing a legal challenge with the United Nations.

However, a Duterte spokesman said in an interview with ABS-CBN television on Thursday that he would be prepared to talk directly with China.

“He is also supporting multilateral efforts to rein in China but at the same time, he is open to bilateral talks,” said Peter Laviña.

“He said, if we can talk to China [about] joint development of the resources of the South China Sea and eventually we need China’s investments and technology.”

President Aquino said he had not seen Duterte’s comments about cutting ties with the country’s allies.

“But assuming that’s what he said, what benefit will the country gain from this? America is a very big trading partner, always in the top three. Australia has been helping us even in the peace process in Mindanao and he comes from Mindanao and I am sure he would want to have lasting peace in Mindanao,” said Aquino.

Also on Thursday, a consumer group accused Duterte of being involved in smuggling in Davao.

Perfecto Tagalog of the Coalition of Filipino Consumers also said former National Food Authority administrator Lito Banayo, Davidson Bangayan alias David Tan and Paolo Duterte alias Polong were in cahoots with the mayor’s son, Paolo.

“It’s as clear as day that Davao City is a smuggler’s haven because Mayor Duterte’s son is the lord of smugglers,” Tagalog said in Filipino.

Duterte’s camp dismissed the accusation as being another form of black propaganda.

“They should have filed cases long ago. Why raise the issue now?” said Laviña.

Volunteers Against Crime

suddenly ordered that the fund be withdrawn from SMC and the UCPB and transferred straight to the Bureau of Treasury in violation of the Supreme Coourt ruling.

“They illegally transferred the money in violation of the SC’s decision that it should stay in any of those three government banks. They initially put the money in a special account in the BTR but recently we have heard that they have withdrawn most of the money from the special account [and moved them] to the general fund,” he said.

He added that putting the money in the BTR destroys the very essence of the SC decision that coco levy fund is a public fund held in trust by the government for the benefit of coconut farmers.

“Putting it in BTR and then to the general fund, the government now is the absolute owner of the fund and they can use it for any purpose they want to the prejudice of the millions of farmers who had fought for decades to recover the money,” he said.

Villaseñor said the government had long wanted to lay its hands on the coco levy fund and dispose

and Corruption chairman Dante Jimenez also accused Tagalog of acting as an attack dog for groups that want to tarnish Duterte’s image.

He said Tagalog was not a part of the VACC. Tagalog, who claimed to be a VACC member and a former supporter of Duterte, said he based his accusations on a 2007 report made by the National Bureau of Investigation and the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group, copies of which were given to the media.

“Intelligence information received that a certain Glen Escandor, son of Col. Escandor and owner of Mandaya Hotel, and Paolo Duterte aka Polong, son of Mayor Duterte of Davao City are business partners in smuggling activities and are responsible in the proliferation of smuggled Sub-Urban Vehicles and high-end cars in the area,” the PASG report dated Dec. 7, 2007 signed by Rosauro Bautista, PASG team leader 2, said.

The report continued: “These activities are being undertaken without any arrest or apprehension by concerned government agencies due to the alleged power and influence of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, the father of Paolo.”

Laviña said the smuggling charges were baseless, and said efforts to smear Duterte would backfire on his rivals.

“This is an affront on the intelligence of our Filipino voters.

They know these are lies and blatant them with disinformation,” he added.

Duterte earlier dismissed a complaint filed by the Women Against Duterte with the Commission on Human Rights for violation of the Magna Carta of Women as “foolish” and “silly.”

“My mouth shouldn’t be an election issue. The issue should be corruption. Where is the country’s money? I may have a bad mouth. But that’s the way I am. It is up to you if you can accept me for what I am.” With AFP

of the assets connected to the fund through privatization.

“This is evident in two executive orders [EO Nos. 179 and 180] of President Aquino last year, which provided for the privatization of the coco levy fund assets, which is now estimated to be around P200 billion and use the proceeds for other purposes,” he said.

“We were not even consulted on the issuance of the two EOs. We were surprised because Malacañang wanted to dispose of the fund without even consulting us. It seems they have other purposes for the fund, maybe for the elections, but it is not for the coconut farmers,” he said.

This, he said, prompted the coconut farmers to seek a temporary restraining order from the SC to stop the implementation of the twin EOs for being “immoral, unconstitutional, illegal and anti-farmer.”

The Court granted their petition and a TRO had been issued, he said.

But before the TRO could be issued, the P76 billion from the UCPB had already been taken out by Bautista and transferred.

Bautista is now chairman of the Commission on Elections.

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Comelec spokesman James Jimenez urged the public not to visit the hacker website as this would put them at risk.

“The National Bureau of Investigation CyberCrimes Division is now looking into the website, and investigating the matter,” Jimenez said. “We advise the public not to use the hacker website as it can be used by the hackers to steal your information and thus expose you even further to the dangers of identity theft.”

He said the NBI has yet to furnish them a copy of its investigation.

Jimenez also apologized for the “continuing attack” on the privacy of all registered voters.

“We assure the public that the Comelec is doing everything we can to resolve this matter at the soonest possible time,” he said.

A former Comelec commissioner and IT expert Gus Lagman criticized the poll body for putting sensitive personal information on its public website.

“The Comelec was wrong. Why put that on a website? Now the people have lost their privacy,” Lagman said, adding that the information could be used for identity theft.

But Lagman ruled out the possibility that the compromised data could be used to manipulate the results of the May elections.

“The election is not an issue here. The biometrics that they alleged have are just photocopies. You need the original biometrics to rig the election result,” Lagman said.

He said he saw no way for the hackers to manipulate next month’s elections.

A cybersecurity expert who spoke on condition of anonymity said the government could take down the website created by Lulzsec Pilipinas, but the Justice Department would have to obtain a court order to do so.

“The government has the means to take the website down. It will be difficult but it can be done,” the source added.

Earlier, Bautista announced that the hacker arrested by the NBI was a 20-yearold IT graduate from a “prestigious university.”

In a press conference, NBI Cybercrime Division chief Ronald Aguto said it took them about three weeks to find him and said they were still tracking down two

Villaseñor said even the two bills that had been filed in the Senate and the House of Representatives on the use of the coco levy fund were similar to the EOs being pushed by Malacañang.

The farmer-leader said his members did not want to privatize the assets of the coco levy fund and instead wanted to use the fund for the development of the farmers and the coconut industry.

Confed is composed of organizations comprising 90 percent of the more than 3.2-million coconut farmers in the country spread out over 63 provinces.

“Our decision is not to lay our hands on the coco levy fund and just use it for the implementation of programs for the benefit of the whole coconut industry,” Villaseñor said.

“We want to regain our old stature of being the biggest coconut exporter in Asia and we can only do that if we provide all the support for our farmers, especially teaching them new technologies on how to maximize the earning potential of the coconut from the husk to its shell down to its water and the meat,” he said.

other hackers.

“He just wanted to demonstrate the vulnerability of the website,” Aguto said of the hacker’s motive.

Aguto identified the suspected hacker Paul Biteng, a resident of Sampaloc, Manila.

Biteng was charged with violating Section 4a of the Cybercrime Prevention Act, which deals with confidentiality, integrity and availability of computer data and systems.

Biteng admitted to defacing the Comelec website but denied that he was the one who uploaded the data online.

Aguto said at least two more hackers were involved in the data dump.

The NBI official said they will go after the two other hackers as well as any other individual who has physical possession of the data illegally uploaded online.

Aguto said that his agency is still identifying the specific affiliation of the hacker and that the investigation is ongoing.

During the arrest, the police were able to confiscate the computer used in hacking and defacing the Comelec website.

“There is an ongoing forensic investigation,” he said, adding that they could not say yet if the data accumulated were legitimate.

He also could not say whether the data they discovered came from the Comelec.

Bautista said the arrested hacker was cooperative.

“He told us he wanted to make sure that the security features of our vote counting machines were working,” he said in Filipino.

“I told him that he didn’t need to [hack the website]. If he just wrote us and addressed the letter to us we would have immediately addressed his concerns,” Bautista added.

In March, Anonymous Philippines defaced the official website of the Comelec, and posted a message demanding that the security features of the vote counting machines are turned on during Election Day. “What happens when the electoral process is so mired with questions and controversies? 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 hacker named “Anynymous” wrote.

The message was accompanied by a threat to the commission that the group will be vigilant on how the Comelec will be running the forthcoming elections.

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Thanksgiving. Senator Grace Poe is shown here with her sister Lovi during a thanksgiving concert in Cagayan de Oro City. JAY MORALES

Aquino defends sister’s use of govt helicopters PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III on Thursday defended his sister Kris Aquino who was accused of using a presidential helicopter during a campaign sortie of the ruling Liberal Party bet Manuel Roxas II. Speaking to reporters in Batangas, Aquino said there was nothing wrong if Kris used a presidential chopper after she was photographed alighting from a blue and white Bell 412 helicopter bearing the presidential seal.

She and an aide were wearing a yellow shirt, the LP’s campaign color.

Roxas also defended Kris on Thursday after she drew flak from netizens for using military choppers to campaign for him in

Cebu Tuesday.

“I think she was with the President right?” Roxas told reporters in Jaen, Nueva Ecija.

“She is the sister of the President. She is a member of the President’s family. There are courtesies and privileges extended to the President’s companions.”

The spokesman of the Philippine Air Force also defended Kris for using the assets of the 250 Presidential Airlift Wing in her campaign sorties for Roxas.

“I don’t think she was there to campaign.

That question should be asked from the Office of the President,” PAF spokesman Colonel Araus Robert Musico said.

Malacañang on Thursday denied the allegations by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan that the Liberal Party’s Manuel Roxas II and Leni Robredo were the most corrupt presidential and vice presidential candidates, respectively, for using government resources

and coercing the recipients of the government’s dole to the poor to support them.

Aquino said it was Kris who volunteered to join the campaign.

On a personal note, he said he wanted to show Kris the gains of the democracy that their parents, former Senator Benigno Aquino Jr. and former President Corazon Aquino, fought for.

Malacañang earlier said that the immediate family members of the President were allowed to ride with him in government vehicles.

Aquino also said his sister was one of the biggest individual taxpayers in the country.

He added that he had been open to allowing investors to ride in the presidential chopper.

Aquino said that those criticizing Kris for riding the presidential chopper may be the same people who never saw good in his governance. Sandy Araneta, John Paolo Bencito and Florante S. Solmerin

THE United Nationalist Alliance said Thursday press freedom will be at risk if Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte wins the presidency in this year’s elections.

The group said three journalists in Davao were the victims of summary executions by the notorious Davao Death Squad.

UNA spokesman Mon Ilagan cited Reporters Without Borders, which has said that the global score of the Philippines in the 2016 World Press Freedom Index fell 3.47 points from last year’s 41.19.

Ilagan said they feared the dangers the media would be exposed to under a Duterte presidency.

“Our journalists are being attacked left and right,” said Ilagan, a former broadcaster.

“It is frightening to imagine the media under a leader who promises a bloody cleansing under his rule but only prey on the poor, the helpless and those who dare to speak against him.” said.

UNA standard-bearer Jejomar Binay had earlier assured the National Press Club that his administration would give priority to the resolution of cases involving the media.

He said he would create an independent commission to investigate the summary executions perpetrated by the Davao Death Squad, which has been tagged by the United Nations, Amnesty International, and other human rights groups for the killing of thousands of civilians including minors.

The independent commission would be composed of former Supreme Court justices and members of human rights groups, the National Press Club and the Commission on Human Rights.

“A Binay administration will defend the freedom of the press. He witnessed the suppression of press freedom and the harassment of journalists as a human rights lawyer during martial law,” Ilagan said.

Binay has also taken Duterte to task for the unresolved murder of three journalists whose deaths are being blamed on the Davao Death Squad, a vigilante group suspected of carrying out extra-judicial killings in Davao City.

Broadcaster Juan Pala was killed in September 2003. Rene Galope, who was critical of Duterte’s management style, was killed in November 2004. Radioman Fernando Lintuan was ambushed and shot dead on Christmas eve in 2007 after exposing the alleged misuse of public funds in the construction of the Davao Peoples’ Park. Vito Barcelo

Roxas confirms having visited Iglesia leader Eduardo Manalo THE ruling Liberal Party’s standard bearer, Manuel Roxas II, on Thursday confirmed he paid a visit to Iglesia Ni Cristo Executive Minister Eduardo V. Manalo on Tuesday night to seek an endorsement from the country’s largest block-voting sect.

He said his meeting with the leader of the two-million bloc-voting INC members gave him a chance to present his platform and described it as good.

“It was good. I thank Ka Eduardo [for the opportunity] and I explained my views on what’s important for our country,” Roxas said in a press conference in Jaen, Nueva Ecija.

“We see the INC and other religious organizations as part of our nation-building efforts because their objective really is to help people.”

Roxas and his wife, former broadcaster Korina Sanchez, were personally received

by Manalo in a one-on-one meeting at the Central Office’s Bulwagan Room. Another presidential bet who sought the INC’s endorsement was Senator Grace Poe who met with the INC’s chief political affairs minister Eraño Codera early in April.

Candidates running for national and local positions seek the INC’s support every election cycle given its reputation for bloc-voting. The leadership of the INC is expected to announce its preferred candidates a week before the elections.

Roxas has benefited from the INC’s support several times in the past. The group backed him during the 2004 senatorial elections in which he landed in first place with 19-million votes.

Six years later, Roxas also received the group’s backing in the vice presidential race but narrowly lost to then Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay. John Paolo Bencito

Support. Retired generals, colonels and commanders of the major service commands of the Armed Forces of the Philippines expressed their full support to the vice presidential bid of Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during a dinner hosted for him in Makati City on Tuesday.

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New road. President Benigno Aquino III and Batangas Gov. Vilma Santos-Recto listen to Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson as he explains details of the Lipa-Alaminos Road.

MALACAÑANG PHOTO

Cotabato gov’s removal urged

By Christine F. Herrera

THE women’s group Gabriela on Thursday demanded the suspension or removal from office of Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Mendoza, a Liberal Party member and close ally of President Benigno Aquino III, for having ordered the dispersal of protesting farmers in Kidapawan last April 1.

“The Department of Interior and Local Government should immediately order her suspension if not her removal from office,” Gabriela Rep. Emmi De Jesus said, adding that Mendoza should also be charged for her criminal neglect of farmers’ demands for calamity aid and subsidies amid a long drawn drought.

De Jesus faulted Mendoza for the violent dispersal of the barricade set up by the drought-hit 6,000 farmers that resulted in the death of two protesters and wounding of a hundred others when the police opened fire at the barricade.

De Jesus made the demand following the admission of relieved Cotabato police chief Alexander Tagum during a Senate hearing on Wednesday that the order to disperse the protest came no less from the governor herself.

“Mendoza’s continued stay in officer is a big insult and injustice to the farmers whom she had left to starve and authorities harassed,” De Jesus said.

The Gabriela solon further said there can be no excuse for the violence inflicted on the protesting farmers who have been denied of calamity aid due them and that all investigations being conducted must lead to-

wards giving farmers justice.

“The finger-pointing and buck-passing during the Senate hearing should not end in a whitewash. The people must stay vigilant and ensure that investigations are not meant to give those accountable the venue to wash the blood off their hands,” De Jesus said.

Jerome Aba of Suara Bangsamoro and Arlene Amar, survivors of the Kidapawan carnage, joined sugar workers led

by Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura in demanding justice, genuine land reform and food aid amid tiempo muerto (dead time) and El Niño.

The survivors and sugar workers launched the “Tiempo Muerto” campaign against hunger and poverty in a media forum in Quezon City Thursday.

Tiempo muerto, or dead time, refers to the annual crisis period when the sugar industry temporarily grinds to a halt and farmworkers are left without any stable source of income.

Labor hits fudged ‘food basket’ costs

By Christine F. Herrera THE labor group All Workers Unity on Thursday assailed the Aquino administration for deliberately and erroneously reducing the food and non-food portions of extreme poverty threshold pegged at P50 and P21 per person per day, respectively, to make it appear that the minimum wage rates in all regions, like the P481 per day in Metro Manila, are above the poverty line.

“However, the new food basket threshold left the minimum wage earners malnourished and ‘food poor’,” according to Alex Alegre of AWU. Alegre explained the Philippine Statistics Authority released the new “food basket” data from the Official Poverty Statistics of the Philippines for the first quarter of 2015 that the country’s average poverty threshold is P10,969.

At P10,969, the food threshold is pegged at P7,638, or P50 per person per day, while the non-food threshold is estimated at P3,331, or P21 per person per day, he explained.

Alegre said the PSA decided the P21 per person per day was

“enough” to cover expenditures on clothing and footwear; housing; fuel, light and water; maintenance and minor repairs; rental of occupied dwelling units; medical care; education; transportation and communication; non-durable furnishings; household operations; and personal care and effects.

He said the Food and Nutrition Research Institute website displayed a nutritionally adequate one-day menu sample for a single adult.

At P50 per day, the FNRI said workers could have for breakfast daing na bisugo, fried egg, rice, powdered whole milk and ripe papaya; paksiw na galunggong, munggo gisado, rice and latundan for lunch; breaded pork, pinakbet, rice for supper; taho and boiled camote and fruit juice for snacks in the morning and afternoon.

“It does not take a genius to understand that P50 per day per person does not satisfy any nutritional requirement. What kind of government sets a standard budget for food that can hardly fill an empty stomach to go to work?” Alegre said.

Philrem owners face P36-m tax rap

By Gabrielle Binaday and Rey Requejo THE Bureau of Internal Revenue on Thursday slapped a P35.61-million tax evasion case against the controversial remittance firm Philrem Service Corp. that has been implicated in the $81 million stolen from the Bangladesh central bank and brought into the country.

The BIR filed a case before the Department of Justice against Philrem and its president Salud Bautista and treasurer Michael Bautista for trying to evade payment of the gross receipts tax (GRT), failure to file percentage tax returns (PTR), and illegal pursuit of business from 2005 to 2014.

In its complaint, the BIR said Philrem’s registered its line of business as “other land transport operation not elsewhere classi-

fied” but amended its primary business purpose with the Securities and Exchange Commission to become a money remittance firm of currency from abroad.

Philrem also registered with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to act as a remittance agent starting in 2005.

However, the complaint said despite this, Philrem still did not update its registration with the BIR.

Just a drill. Patients at the Jose Fabella Hospital in Sta. Cruz, Manila carry

their babies during a nationwide earthquake drill on Thursday. DANNY PATA

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Romualdez tops Erap list Pay increase for judiciary workers OKd

By Rey E. Requejo THE Supreme Court has approved the implementation of salary increases for judicial employees.

In his speech at the national convention of the Philippine Association of Court Employees, Associate Justice Jose Perez revealed that the SC has approved the implementation of Executive Order 201, the law signed by President Benigno Aquino III that modified the salary schedule for civilian government personnel and authorized the grant of additional benefits for both civilian and military and uniformed personnel.

Perez said the high court will soon release the first tranche of the increase, the amount of which would depend on the salary grade of each employee.

The EO was issued after Congress failed to pass the proposed Salary Standardization Law of 2015.

Aside from the salary increase, the magistrate also updated the employees on medical benefits and creation of family courts.

Perez’ announcement came after court employees held a Black Monday protest earlier this week to air demand for a wage increase.

However, the Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees said EO 201 provides for a measly P500 a month or P20 a day increase.

In another development, the high court said that the results of the 2015 Bar examination will be known on the first week of May. A highly placed source in the judiciary disclosed that the Supreme Court will hold a special en banc session and break its decision-writing recess to approve the results.

Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo De Castro, who chaired the Court’s Bar Committee last year, earlier said the oathtaking of the passers has already been set on June 16.

Out of the 7,146 examinees, over 6,600 examinees completed the four-Sunday exams held at the University of Sto. Tomas in Manila in November last year.

In the 2014 Bar exams, a total of 1,126 of the 5,984 passed or a passing rate of 18.82 percent.

In the Bar last year, the examinees are again required to use transparent or seethrough bags for purposes of convenience and security.

By Joel E. Zurbano

Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez has topped the list of senatorial candidates being supported by Manila Mayor Joseph estrada, who is widely believed to wield the ‘magic’ to win over voters in his city.

In his previous meetings with community leaders in Manila, Estrada sought the residents’ support for his preferred senatorial candidates, saying they are the leaders the country need to uplift the lives of every Filipino and bring progress to the nation.

One of them, he said, is Romualdez who authored the recently signed law that exempts people with disability from paying the 12-percent value added tax on certain goods and services.

President Benigno Aquino III has signed the PWD bill into law after two-and-a half months since it was ratified by Congress.

Romualdez authored the House version of the PWD law.

“We have to support Congressman Martin Romualdez, president of the Philippine Constitution Association. Ang pinagmamalaking anak ng Leyte, at pamangkin sa talampakan ng unang mayor ng Maynila na si Miguel Lopez Romualdez,” said Estrada.

The other senatorial bets endorsed by Estrada are incumbent Manila Vice Mayor Isko Moreno, former Valenzuela City mayor Sherwin Gatchalian, former journalist and Akbayan Party-List Rep. Risa Hontiveros, Bayan Muna Party-List Rep. Neri Colmenares, former Metro Manila Development Authority chairman Francis Tolentino, Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao, Senator Serge Osmeña,

former Technical Education and Skills Development Authority head Joel Villanueva, and former senators Miguel Zubiri, Richard Gordon and Panfilo Lacson.

Estrada is also actively campaigning for his goddaughter, presidential candidate Senator Grace Poe, and vice presidential bet Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Just like her father, the late actor Fernando Poe Jr., Poe is believed by Estrada to take care of the poor and the oppressed should she become the next president.

“Whoever we are, we owe it to the poor people,” Estrada said of himself and FPJ, his close friend. “Grace Poe, I’m sure, is for the people. If ever she becomes president, she will also give priority to the masses.”

Candidates running for national and local elections often seek the endorsement of Estrada, who is to known to still wield the socalled “Erap magic” that many believe could bring crucial votes in the elections.

Top bet. Senatorial candidate and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez attends the birthday party of Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada at Shaw Boulevard in Mandaluyong City. Romualdez is one of the senatorial bets endorsed by Estrada. JoEl SanToS

Bank rejects Deguito ‘documents’

Maia DEguitO

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

RIZAL Commercial Banking Corp. on Thursday debunked the claim of dismissed branch manager Maia Deguito that the transactions on the $81 million laundered money had the approval of the bank’s head office.

“This is false,” RCBC executive vice president

Macel Fernandez-Estavillo said. Deguito herself admitted that the accounts were credited automatically without need of any approval.

Bank records showed that, at the end of day of Feb. 5, a hold was initiated by Operations Group but was lifted when Maia explained that the clients

were long-standing clients of hers and that the amounts were expected, and that KYC (know your client) documents were in order.

Hence, the lift of the hold was approved based on Deguito’s representations that these were long standing clients and that the funds were expected.

This showed that Deguito did not tell the truth to RCBC because she did not have head office approval, and in fact wanted to keep the Head Office in the dark as long as she could.

In that letter, Deguito claimed to have met the account holders and spoken repeatedly

with Mr. Jessie Christopher Lagrosas (one of the account holders) and received his instructions. Deguito later admitted that she lied as she was only getting instructions from Kim Wong. In fact, the SSS ID of Lagrosas shows the face of Adrian Yujuico.

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A6 Plant agents vs airport’s ‘tanim-bala’ extort gang, Recto urges

NEWS

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Post-war games. Thunderbolt A-10 fighter

jets are parked at the Haribon hangar in Air Force City of Angeles, Pampanga for a routine tuneup prior to their return to their aircraft carrier vessels on Thursday, April 21. The jet fighters were used for training during the PH-US war games or 2016 Balikatan exercises. DANNY PATA

By Joel E. Zurbano SENATOR Ralph Recto on Thursday proposed that the next administration should install a presidential action and complaint center at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport to assist passengers victimized by the so-called “bullet-planting” extortion scheme.

Recto’s proposal came on the heels of the case of two septuagenarians who became the latest victim of the scam at the Naia Terminal 1.

Authorities detained and placed under investigation Salvacion and Esteban Cortabista who were allegedly caught carrying a live ammunition while they were about to board a flight to Los Angeles last Tuesday morning.

The couple were able to get past the initial x-ray scanning counter but they were prevented upon reaching the second and final checking at the departure area after members of the Office for Transportation Security found a bullet of a .38-caliber pistol inside their hand-carry bag.

Relatives of the couple claimed that some airport personnel demanded money amounting to P50,000 in exchange for their release and avoid flight delays.

But airport policemen said the couple initially admitted owning the live ammunition but when their relatives and members of the media arrived at the scene, they denied owning the prohibited item.

The couple was released for further investigation after several hours.

Since November, airport authorities apprehended more than 50 passengers carrying bullets in their bags at Naia Terminals 1, 2 and 3 amid the growing controversy over the alleged bullet-planting scheme involving some erring personnel.

Recto said the next administration should “plant a presidential action and complaint desk as a one-stop, on-the-spot troubleshooting center” for overseas Filipino workers and other travelers.

“You put up a Malacañang-attached office there and it will lead to better service and passenger care.

It will also be a deterrent against scams,” Recto said.

Citizen’s suit targets pork-linked politicians THE Alliance of Good Governance, an independent anti-corruption group, is building up cases to be filed against politicians involved in the pork barrel scam allegedly engineered by Janet Lim Napoles even as the Office of the Ombudsman upheld the filing of charges against a former Malabon-Navotas congressman for graft and malversation.

The AGG expressed frustration that politicians involved in the pork barrel scam are either running for reelection or other elective posts in the May 9 elections.

AGG mentioned at least two politicians, Quezon City 1st district congressional candidate Vincent “Bingbong” Crisologo and Cagayan de Oro 2nd district congressional bet Maximo Rodriguez Jr., who have been implicated by the Commission on Audit over the alleged misuse of their Priority Development Assistance Fund by coursing it

through spurious non-government organizations.

Crisologo is trying to regain the Quezon City 1st district congressional seat he held in 2004 to 2013, while Rodriguez, the incumbent Abante Mindanao party-list representative is seeking to replace the congressional seat of his elder brother Rufus Rodriguez whose 3rd term ends in June 30 this year.

Many of those implicated have not been impleaded and are now running for reelection, said the AGG. This, the group said sets

a bad precedent and proves that the campaign to rid corruption in government is selective and continuing culture of impunity.

“We are trying to fight impunity by proving that powerful politicians, many belonging to dynasties are within the reach of the long arm of the law,” said AGG spokesman Alberto Vicente.

The Special CoA audit for calendar years 2007-2009 listed Crisologo as having received a total of P178,250,000 in hard and soft projects.

In the CoA observation, there were PDAF releases that “were not efficiently monitored and tracked.”

At least three Special Allotment Release Order (Saro) under the name of Crisologo have “unutilized balance” and that this had expired and should be returned to the national government.

The CoA report listed the unu-

tilized Saro under Crisologo’s name as the following: Saro nos.

ROC-08 04600 with an amount of P200,000; G-09-08009, with an amount of P18,000; G-09-08009 with amount of P18,000.

Other observations in the 2007– 2009 CoA reports indicate that P612,000 worth of soft projects of barangays in Quezon City “not compliant with the provisions of RA No. 9184 and other existing rules and regulations, with substantial amounts supported with questionable documents.”

The same audit report also indicated that Crisologo dealt with NGOs like the Dynamic Filipino Citizen Civic Organization Inc. amounting to P98 million. He also dealt with the Kaloocan Assistance Council Inc. for projects worth P133.6 million; The Unlad Pinoy Organization with projects worth P35.3 million. Rio Araja

Kabaka attends to 70,000 poor Manilans

Hacking suspect. Agents of the National Bureau of investigation escort one of the suspects in the alleged hacking of the Comelec website. DANNY PATA

THE 30-year-old Kabalikat ng Bayan sa Kaunlaran (Kabaka), founded by mayoralty candidate Congressman Amado Bagatsing on Dec. 3, 1985, has served about 70,000 indigent Manilans with free medicine and medical attention.

Kabaka, a non-government organization, has 30,000 cardcarrying members spread all throughout the City of Manila.

These facts and figures “are proofs enough of the sincerity and dedication of Kabaka to truly see firsthand the health concerns and needs of our citymates and do something about it free of charge,” Bagatsing said.

One’s health condition is a primary concern of everybody. But because of the high cost of seeing a doctor for

medical examinations, and sometimes even surgery or operation, plus the high cost of medicines, people tend to ignore this. That’s when the Kabaka comes in and helps.

And we are more than willing and happy to assist,” Bagatsing declared.

The Kabaka gets its medicine supply from medical companies, individuals and businessmen.

“When we were still given our so-called ‘pork barrel’ from Congress, I immediately distributed the same to various government-owned hospitals where Kabaka patients availed of it,” Bagatsing added.

Apart from its main clinic/medical center at the back of the Residencies de

Manila in Pandacan district, Bagatsing has also constructed Kabaka in Tondo fronting the Mary Johnston Hospital and in Sampaloc beside the Plaza Noli.

Due to this encouraging and remarkable results of Kabaka all these times, Bagatsing’s quest to be the next mayor of the city, scores of its beneficiaries and including volunteer doctors and nurses from bigname medical centers, are now finding the time to push Bagatsing mayoralty bid.

“If and when Bagatsing is elected mayor, we will expect more and more Kabaka clinics sprouting all over Manila,” said lawyer Ed Francisco, Kabaka president.

Tony Macapagal

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NEWS

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Police nab suspect in former vice mayor slay

By Romeo Dizon

CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga—Police arrested Thursday the suspect in the killing of a former vice mayor of Pandi town in Bulacan.

Chief Supt. Rudy Lacadin, Philippine National Police regional director, identified the suspect as Ariel Orolfo of San Ildefonso, Bulacan, a gun for hire.

Orolfo has a standing warrant of arrest for the murder of another person in Nueva Ecija recently.

Lacadin said that the suspect was positively identified by the witnesses through a picture shown to them by the police operatives.

Orolfo killed on the spot former vice mayor Roberto Rivera of Pandi, Bulacan in barangay Manatal Monday and escaped on board a motorcycle but he was recognized by the witnesses.

Rivera, who sustained several gunshot wounds in the body, was pronounced dead on arrival at the Rogaciano Mercado Memorial Hospital in Sta. Maria, Bulacan.

Yolanda survivors dramatize livelihood, land plight

By Ronald O. Reyes TACLOBAN CITY—Hundreds of farmers and fishermen on Thursday gathered in the city to dramatize their demand for help after the 2013 Super Typhoon “Yolanda” flattened their houses and livelihood.

Dubbed as “Dignity” caravan, survivors from Leyte and Samar provinces reiterated their appeal on rights to land, food, shelter, coconut levy fund, and full recovery more than two years after Super Typhoon “Yolanda” damaged their sources of income.

“This is to reclaim our life with dignity which was started with a march from Sariaya to Manila.

This is because we are ignored by the government,” said Dhon Daganasol, spokesman of the 5,000 strong members of farmer group Katarungan in Eastern Visayas.

“We hope to create enough noise around their issues,” he added.

During the caravan, protesters towed a small banca filled with Certificate of Land Ownership Award or CLOAs and other farm products to dramatize their struggle.

Claro Pasion, national chairperson of Katarungan, said that over 14,000 CLOAs have remained undistributed to Leyte farmers, causing the delay and deprivation of assistance during Yolanda.

He then demanded a full audit of CLOAs’ distribution from the Department of Agrarian Reform in the region on the said issue.

Pasion enjoined the call for the government to investigate the poor and anomalous implementation of the agrarian reform CARPER in Leyte which, according to him, resulted in thousands of undistributed CLOAs, deprivation of tenants’ rights, land grabbing and human rights violations in many parts of the province.

The old way. Farmers in Bucloc, Abra store rice grains in traditional granaries. DAVID CHAN

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ADELLE CHUA EDITOR F R I D AY, A P R I L 2 2 , 2 0 1 6

OPINION [ EDI TORI A L ]

THE BREACH WHEN news that a group had hacked the website of the Commission on Elections broke earlier this month, the poll body’s officials took a dismissive stance. No confidential information had been compromised, Chairman Andres Bautista said. There would be no effect whatsoever in the preparations for the elections 17 days from now.

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez refused to say anything except that they would consult with their own information technology department given the technical nature of the statement.

We never heard anything more from the “consultation” but we certainly were horrified Thursday upon seeing that the hackers had dumped the information of nearly 57 million registered voters on a website they had created.

This occurred merely hours after one of the three supposed hackers had been arrested. As if to taunt the authorities and the general public, the hackers said they thought it would be fun to create a search engine out of the data they had obtained from the Comelec website.

Using the hackers’ site, anybody could access a registered voter’s address, birth date, parents’ name, fingerprint and other information. The immediate and general concern is that these could be used by unscrupulous individuals, who need only to have an internet connection to gain access to the wealth of information, for identity theft.

Weeks ago, information technology Trend Micro had warned that “in previous cases of data breach, stolen data have been used to access bank accounts, gather further information about specific persons, used as leverage for... phishing emails... blackmail or extortion, and much more.”

This time around, the Comelec has apologized to the public for the violation of their privacy and assured us it is doing everything it can to resolve the matter at the soonest possible time.

But this leaves us all with gaping questions: If the Comelec is too busy resolving this matter now, how could it safeguard the integrity of the elections due to take place in a little over two weeks? If it was not able to protect its own site before, how can it ensure the security of the thousands of machines it will deploy to various places to receive people’s votes?

A former elections commissioner said that while the data breach is massive, the hackers could not manipulate the results of the election given the information they currently have.

This is hardly comforting. Perhaps those out to violate the sanctity of our votes have not yet gotten their hands on the information—after all, the people have not voted yet. They, or some other group, have certainly established their capability to do so.

The breach threatens the foundation of the democratic exercise we are about to have.

For its part, the Comelec has no reason to play down what has just happened. The implications of the data dump are grave. The people will be unforgiving should elections fail.

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

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KRIS’ JOYRIDE LOWDOWN JOJO A. ROBLES

THE 44 members of the Special Action Force who were left to die in that godforsaken cornfield in Mamasapano, Maguindanao last year looked to the skies for air support that never came. But when Kris Aquino needed a chopper to join Mar Roxas in a campaign sortie, they sent a whole squadron to go with her.

President Noynoy Aquino has justified the use by his obnoxious sister of a brace of presidential helicopters to stump for administration candidate Roxas in a provincial sortie by saying, of all things, that Kris was one of the country’s biggest taxpayers. On so many levels, this is just plain wrong.

But don’t take it from me. Listen to Aquino himself explaining his quick exoneration of his sister: “It’s been my habit that when I’m meeting busi-

nessmen... if I need to take them in the [presidential] helicopter to dialog with them sometimes, to show them the vision... Whether as an individual taxpayer or somebody very close to me, who shared all of the burdens, I think it’s just proper that I share the successes. We shared the hardships, I also share the success,” Aquino said.

Aquino also said that Kris volunteered to help Roxas and so he asked her to join him during the campaign sortie to Dalaguete, Cebu. He said he also wanted to show his sister—like the businessmen he supposedly takes on presidential helicopter joyrides—“the result of meaningful democracy that our parents fought for.”

My only response, after I’ve picked up my jaw from off the floor, is to ask like Mayor Rodrigo Duterte once did: “Mr. President, are you on drugs?”

Before Aquino tried yesterday to douse the fire caused by Kris’ quickie trip on our dime with aviation fuel, Malacañang

If Kris is such a bigshot taxpayer, you’d think she’d be able to afford her own transportation.

Palace attempted to spin the incident by saying that presidential relatives are allowed to ride official vehicles assigned to the president. Of course, that wouldn’t really work because what Kris and her brother did was to use a government vehicle for campaigning—an actionable offense, according to the Omnibus Election Code.

Aquino is obviously spinning the tale into a sightseeing tour for Kris because he knows he cannot admit that he and her sister were stumping

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

Chairman President & Chief Executive Officer Board Member & Chief Legal Adviser Director of Operations Finance Officer

Ma. Isabel “Gina” P. Verzosa Head, Advertising Solutions Anita F. Grefal Treasury Manager Edgar M. Valmorida Circulation Manager

for Mar using the chopper with the presidential seal. It’s hard to support that theory when Kris was videotaped and photographed wearing the official yellow-and-black campaign uniform of Team Roxas, a proletarian departure from her usual ultra-expensive designer outfits of the day.

The President has tried very hard to hide his campaigning for Roxas by inaugurating a road here and a bridge there just when his candidate is making a campaign stop nearby. It was obviously an oversight on his part when he allowed Kris to tag along—perhaps because he’s been doing it for so long without being called out for it.

Official resources simply cannot be used to campaign for any candidate, no matter how big the taxes paid. Besides, if Kris was such a big-shot taxpayer, you’d think she’d be able to afford her own transportation and not need a free ride at taxpayers’ expense.

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

Continued on A11 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

F R I D AY, A P R I L 2 2 , 2 0 1 6

A10

OPINION lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

THE REQUIREMENTS OF DISCOURSE PENSEES FR. RANHILIO CALLANGAN AQUINO LAPSUS linguae…a slip of the tongue. Was that it, when Digong Duterte made those unfortunate remarks about the violated Australian lay missionary? Most are convinced that it was more than that. Many accuse him of a vitium, a fundamental failure of character. But “sana nauna si Mayor” has sparked a flurry of exchanges, both on traditional as well as on social media, in varying degrees of wholesomeness, in different levels of intelligence or stupidity!

Discourse is good. It is necessary. In fact, it is a basic constituent of a free society. This is the reason that in our hierarchy of constitutional values, the freedoms of speech, expression and of the press rank rather highly and are hardly ever trumped at all by other values. Is it discourse that is ongoing between Digong supporters and detractors? Some posts on social media are nearhysterical. Many are vitriolic. Many are likewise ample proof of the prevalence of irrationality.

The debates were not any better. When Alan Cayetano was asking for a two-minute extension, and he added the remark—addressed to Bongbong Marcos—“O baka yun, gusto mo pang nakawin”— what was that for? Was that really debate? Is that the kind of democratic discourse that has the power to generate legitimacy? Of course, Cayetano may have scored points, if rhetorics were the measure. But the discourse by which democracy thrives is something other than doing better than one’s adversary at diatribe, insult, and philippics. The fact is that discourse does have requirements, and it is not clear to me that all these requirements are met.

First of these is the commitment to rationality. We are rational—that is the traditional Aristotelian definition. But we can choose to wallow, and in fact have chosen to, at various times, in irrationality. When ex-

changes are characterized by ad hominems, non sequiturs, ignoratio elenchis and all other material fallacies that result in a shifting subject of exchange, aside from the formal fallacies that are the hallmark of a way-ward mind, there is no rationality, especially when one refuses to desist from the ways of sophistry. When one engages in what is supposed to be rational exchange but starts with the premise that one’s opponent can never be right because he does not tread the “straight and righteous path” and that therefore all his positions are tainted by his moral perversity, there is a failure in respect to the very first requirement. A commitment to rationality includes the willingness to concede that one’s argument fails in the face of the opponent’s superior argument—and that is a rarity in our midst!

Many in the profession of opinion-making are purveyors and peddlers of some counterfeit of discourse.

It is also required that all enjoy the right to free and unfettered questioning. All relevant questions must be raised, and all with relevant questions must be entertained. First, it is only when there are no more relevant questions that one reaches certitude. Second, the requirement that the questions be relevant should screen out the impertinent, for not every question, not every interjection is in fact pertinent and relevant. However, the centrality of this requirement is clear in those societies that restrict if not curtail altogether the right to question, the right to contest, the right to challenge. Such societies are rightly characterized as unfree!

There is likewise the requirement that every speaker be responsible. This does not

HERE WE GO AGAIN SIX years ago at this time, we were also being informed— or conditioned—who we were about to vote in the presidential election of 2010.

Pulse Asia would take its last pre-election survey on April 23-25 and show Senator Noynoy Aquino getting 39 percent of votes, far outperforming his closest rivals former President Erap Estrada and Senate President Manny Villar who were statistically tied at 20 percent.

The son of former Senator Ninoy and the recently deceased iconic former President Cory Aquino would eventually win the May 10 election by garnering 42 percent of the votes.

President Erap would get 26 percent and Senator Villar, 15 percent.

In other words, the Pulse Asia survey was correct in predicting our next president in 2010.

In the vice presidential race, the same Pulse Asia survey would show Senator Mar Roxas obtaining 37 percent and Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay far behind at 28 percent.

That was why many of us would not believe the Social Weather Stations survey that would be taken a week after, on May 2-3, because it showed the mayor already overtaking at 37.2 percent the former frontrunner’s 37 percent.

We were more surprised when the actual Comelec results would have the mayor winning the vice presidential race with a 41.6-percent share of the votes against the senator’s 39.5 percent.

We should learn and not take these surveys lightly.

The survey leader should never coast along especially if one of his pursuers is gaining momentum that could catapult him to the lead.

Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte was one such pursuer in the March 14 SWS survey where he ranked fourth only at 21 percent. Senator Grace Poe led at 27 percent and Vice President Jojo Biprincipally require refinement of speech and courtesy towards all—although these are necessary if one is not to be a boor. (And no boor should ever be elected to high office!)

A speaker is responsible when he is prepared to support any validity claim that every speech-act makes: whether it be the truth of what one ways, the sincerity by which one says what he says, the normative correctness of the re-

FILIPINO PENSIONER HORACE TEMPLO nay followed at 24 percent.

Former Secretary Mar Roxas was even ahead of him at 22 percent.

Mayor Digong was, however, attracting more support from the low-income group in his provincial sorties and was not giving up.

Thus he said – “I do not question survey companies. But you are not there until you are there.

That has always been the rule in the elections. You are not there until you are there.”

Enigmatic, maybe, and typical of his straight-to-thepoint statements, but they reflected nonetheless the attitude of a champion who would not quit.

His positive fighting attitude is now being rewarded. In the latest ABSCBN survey that Pulse Asia conducted in April 5-10, he got 32 percent and led by seven percent Senator Grace Poe who was left behind at 25 percent. Vice President Binay and Secretary Roxas got 20 percent and 18 percent.

Mayor Digong could pull away from the pack if only he would continue to use simple and folksy messages to the voting population.

But he had been again careless in his words, and couldn’t resist blurting preposterous jokes for the sake of entertaining his audience.

Unfortunately, he did these in two occasions at the expense of others—playfully cursing last year Pope Francis for causing traffic jams and making a sexist statement last Saturday about an Australian missionary who had been raped and murdered by prisoners in 1989.

These were unnecessary remarks that had offended or at the least disappointed a lot of us.

Saying them in public were indeed big mistakes by a leading presidential candilationship established by the exchange. Any of these can be challenged, and the responsible speaker must be prepared to vindicate them.

Not infrequently, charges are hurled that rest on hardly anything more than gossip, peddled innuendo and what contemporary philosophers call “idle talk.” And the hypocrisy of idle talk, says Heidegger, consists in allowing it to pass for knowledge, under-

date like him. Mayor Digong should have never made these remarks, not even in the private company of his most trusted and closest friends.

At the least, they required from him an admission of guilt and a public apology.

In fact, these are required, too, of any decent person who has committed these mistakes whether or not he is running for public office.

Otherwise, he would have to be branded a bigot and a disrespectful and ill-mannered person.

When Mayor Digong made the required admission of guilt and public apology for his comments about the Australian—and promised a clean government despite his “dirty mouth”—his followers couldn’t help but pray that he would not repeat them.

Another similar incident may lead some to abandon him, as they did when he cursed the Pope. He lost the top place in the surveys thereafter, which he recovered only after months of hard campaigning.

As expected, many of the 68 percent of voters who are diehard supporters of his rival candidates are now pouncing on his latest faux pas. Even those who are still uncommitted are joining them as they conveniently advocate the rights of women and the abused. On Sunday’s scheduled presidential debate, we would also witness his rivals ganging up on him on this issue.

These would continue until election time.

But my senior citizen friends Fred, Tito and Albert would still stay by Mayor Digong’s side because his rivals would remain incompetent, corrupt and inexperienced no matter how many faux pas he makes.

For them, what they see is his decisive action in delivering instant justice to the Australian rape victim in 1989.

Expect therefore like in 2010 that the Pulse Asia’s latest survey results would again materialize into real election results on May 9. standing and insight. Moderators at public forums, columnists and commentators can do so much to steer the exchanges towards genuine rational discourse. Unfortunately, many in the profession of opinion-making are purveyors and peddlers of some counterfeit of discourse! rannie_aquino@sanbeda.edu.ph rannie_aquino@csu.edu.ph rannie_aquino@yahoo.com

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OPINION lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

BACK CHANNEL ALEJANDRO DEL ROSARIO DAVAO City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte continues to draw voters with his outlandish promise to eliminate criminality in the first three to six months of his presidency.

Duterte’s anti-crime policy has found traction with the citizenry who has grown weary of the surge in crime and will vote for anyone who can give them relief.

Buhay Party-List Rep. Lito Atienza, the anti-thesis of everything Duterte stands for, warned voters to be careful what they wish for.

“It’s frightening that on the morning of May 10, Filipinos might just wake up to learn that

VIRTUAL REALITY TONY LOPEZ DAVAO City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte apparently has seized the lead in the presidential race with 32 percent of the total vote, seven percentage points ahead of Senator Grace Poe’s 25 percent, according to the Pulse Asia-ABS CBN five-day survey that ended April 10, 2016. Assuming a voter turnout of 80 percent or 43.44 million, Duterte is likely to garner 13.9-million votes, 3.04-million votes more than Poe’s expected 10.86-million votes.

Duterte has momentum. The worst of his campaign, the rape comment, is not expected to do much damage to the Bad Boy of Davao.

If ethno-linguistics demographics comes into play in the final two weeks of the campaign, the foul-mouthed mayor could pad his current 13.9 million votes easily by 2.9-million votes from two regions alone—1.5 million from Mindanao and 1.47 million from vote-rich Cebu.

In Pulse Asia as of April 10, 2016, third placer is Vice President Jejomar Binay with 20 percent (equivalent to 8.68-million votes). Administration candidate Manuel Araneta Roxas is ensconced at 18 percent (about 7.8-million votes).

The Pulse Asia-ABS CBN survey seems reliable. It has 4,000 registered voters as respondents (in

Kris’... From A8 No, there was no aerial tour for Kris’ benefit so she may witness the gains of democracy.

There is only an unfeeling president and his family, who have been used to ruling the country for so long that they think nothing of riding presidential choppers whenever they feel like it, simply because they can.

That’s a significant achievement of the restoration of democracy, I guess. Imagine if

A CULTURE OF DEATH Duterte is the new president of this country of 100 million,” said Atienza.

The three-term Manila mayor is not running for president nor seeking a Senate seat. But he has grown concerned that Duterte’s numbers in the poll surveys continue to climb.

Duterte is advocating a presidential policy that seeks to promote a “culture of death” which is drawing away votes from Senator Grace Poe, former DILG Secretary Mar Roxas and Vice President Jejomar Binay of the opposition United Nationalist Alliance.

Atienza has decided to seek reelection as Buhay Party-List representative where he believes he can do more. A run for the Senate is too expensive without

any assurance of winning. His chances of winning as one of three nominees of Buhay, being the constant top-notcher among the party-list groups, give him confidence of being able to contribute in passing laws for the benefit of the common man.

Atienza noted that after six days of hearing by the Senate Blue Ribbon committee looking into $81 million hacked from the Bangladesh bank account in New York, there has been no serious proposal to amend the Anti-Money Laundering Law. He intends to pass legislation in the next session of Congress to include casinos and the real estate industry under the coverage of the AMLC. *** It’s interesting to note that

the tough-talking Rodrigo Duterte topped that last Pulse Asia and Social Weather Stations poll surveys for preferred presidential candidates for the May 9 elections which is only 17 days away.

After cursing visiting Pope Francis last year for aggravating Metro Manila’s traffic, Duterte has found himself in a new controversy for a distasteful joke about an Australian missionary gang-raped in Davao. While he had apologized for the rape joke which had gone viral, Duterte only added to the flame when he invoked his right as Davao mayor to have been the first in line to the beautiful Australian missionary.

There was no word from Duterte whether he has pun-

ished the perpetrators. His daughter Sarah also claimed she was raped but again there was no word Duterte had executed the criminal.

Lito Banayo, one of Duterte’s advisers, had his hands full in defending the Davao mayor and soften the impact of his bad rape joke even as women’s groups lashed back at him for his low regard of women.

Not too many know that a former president and the columnist of a major morning daily are supporting Duterte.

The columnist romanticizes Duterte’s deeds in Davao while the former president is quarterbacking a group of Mindanao businessmen into funding the mayor’s presidential bid.

IS DUTERTE UNSTOPPABLE? polling, the more people you ask, the greater is your finding closer to reality) and the margin of error is 1.5 percentage points. So if you add 1.5 percent to Poe’s 25 percent (and get 26.5) and you deduct the same 1.5 percent from Duterte’s 32 percent (to net 30.5), does she catch up with the frontrunner?

No. The mayor still ends up with a four percentage- point margin or about 1.73-million votes.

Thus, to beat Duterte, Poe must produce not just three million more votes to tie his 32 percent plus another two-million votes to win the presidency by a comfortable margin. That means gaining fivemillion votes between this writing and May 9, or within two weeks.

Where will she get those votes?

To generate that avalanche, Poe must produce a message so stunning it will change voters’ mind about voting for Duterte and shift their support for her.

In a national election, it takes about a month to transmit that kind of message. Even the death of Cory Aquino in August 2009 took about two months in voters’ minds to sink before a groundswell developed to propel her son BS Aquino III’s presidential candidacy.

To bring down Duterte, a rival must generate so vicious a black propaganda it will shatter the mayor’s political image beyond repair. How do you make a selfconfessed bad boy worse? He was expelled twice from his schools.

He admits to killing people. He vows to kill more people, if elected. He admits to habitual womanizing and kissing women without provocation. And he admits to having wanted to rape that Australian missionary woman who was held hostage by rioting Davao prisoners and who was repeatedly raped before she was killed. He thinks like a king and a warlord.

As for Binay and Mar Roxas, the odds are against their staging a come-from-behind victories, despite their vaunted political machines. Duterte is ahead of Binay by 5.2-million votes and of Roxas by 6.0-million votes.

In my observation of past presidential elections, a candidate that far a distance from the frontrunner can cheat only up to twomillion votes (using all kinds of machinery) and no more. Cheat beyond two-million votes and you create a scandal so outrageous and atrocious it will probably spill people into the streets in violent protest, and your clan will forever be banished from the face of the political earth.

Besides, buying two-million votes at P1,000 per vote is P2 billion. Only the Comelec is efficient and corrupt enough to sell you that huge chunk of votes and probably for a much less amount.

But can Comelec stomach that rape of democracy?

Nationwide, the cheater just gets tired, empties his war chest

unnecessarily and will think twice before gambling his grandchildren’s inheritance.

One option for the laggards is to consolidate their regional bailiwicks. Binay is considered an Ilocano and an Ibanag but then Cebuano speakers outnumber Ilocanos by a ratio of 2.7 to one, according to Unesco data.

Mar Roxas is Ilonggo or Hiligaynon but then again, Cebuanos outnumber Ilonggos by a ratio of three to one. Grace Poe is reckoned as both from Luzon (Fernando Poe was from Pangasinan) and Ilonggo (she is foundling from Iloilo). Again, Cebuanos outnumber Pangasinenses by a ratio of 8.7 to one—nearly eight Cebuano speakers for every Pangalatok.

In basically Tagalog Metro Manila, Duterte has matched Poe’s popularity. Both have identical 32 percent, per Pulse Asia April 10.

However, Poe beats Duterte by a ratio of two to one (41 percent vs 22 percent, per Laylo) in Southern Luzon or Calabarzon, the Philippines’ vote-richest region.

Poe would have 1.89-million votes in Calabarzon to Duterte’s 1.0 million, barely a one-million vote advantage.

In terms of regional languages spoken thus, Duterte has very strong upside potential.

The probinsyano-looking mayor from the south so far has (per Pulse Asia), 58 percent of Mindanao, a region that can give him up to 80

percent of its vote.

In the sample size of pollsters like Laylo, Mindanao is credited with 23.3 percent of national votes or 10.13-million votes, or 8.1-million votes assuming an 80-percent turnout. Duterte has already has 4.7 million of that.

With 80 percent voter loyalty, he could conceivably generate additional 1.5-million votes.

In the Visayas, Duterte enjoys only 29 percent of the vote, per Pulse Asia of April 10. Visayas has 20 percent of national vote of 43.44 million or 8.69 million of which 6.95 million could be the voter turnout. So 29 percent of 6.95 million is 2.0-million votes. Cebuano speakers are easily half of Visayans. So Duterte should get at least 3.47 million out of the 6.95 million expected Visayan voter turnout.

So 3.47 minus 2.0 million is 1.47 million—what Duterte could get in additional Cebuano votes.

From Mindanao and Visayas alone, the PDP-Laban presidential candidate could swing nearly three million more votes—1.5 million from Mindanao and 1.47 million from Cebu. Western Visayas (Region 6) is in Mar Roxas’s grip with 60 percent. Region 6 has five percent of national votes or 1.73 million in voter turnout terms. Mar has one million of that; Duterte has a paltry four percent or 69,200 votes.

everyone who needed airlifting was given a ride by the President himself—whether they be soldiers beset on all sides by Moro rebels, people stranded on their roofs by floods or even commuters waiting for hours in the sun to get on the MRT. Of course, none of those people would be among the top taxpayers who can even afford to buy their own helicopters instead of bumming rides on government expense. And that makes all the difference in the world.

*** Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has been slammed for his admittedly strange call for the US and Australia to cut ties with the Philippines if he is elected president, if they hate him so much.

But some foreigners, like American Chamber of Commerce senior adviser John D. Forbes, really deserve to be taken down a notch or two.

Friends have related that top Duterte supporter and former agriculture secretary Carlos “Son-

ny” Dominguez abruptly turned his back on Forbes during a recent cocktail party after Forbes proclaimed that he has “no respect for the Filipino electorate.”

Dominguez went on social media to respond to Forbes, posting a photo of the American businessman with the words that he said. My friend Alex Magno noted in his column that Forbes’ comment is “not just a smear on a candidate he passionately supports, but a smear on a whole people, falling into

the pit of bigotry.”

As a young reporter, I covered Dominguez at the agriculture department during the Cory years.

He’s always struck me as a smart, level-headed guy who does not suffer fools gladly; Forbes crossed the line and Dominguez is simply not the kind of person to get into a public shouting match with anyone.

But I agree with Alex. This Forbes guy still has a lot to learn about not abusing the hospitality of his hosts in another country.

biznewsasia@gmail.com

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Heat crush Hornets for 2-0 lead MIAMI—Dwyane Wade sank two key late baskets as the Miami Heat shot better than 57 percent for the second straight game en route to a 115-103 playoff win over the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday.

Ringia seeks tennis repeat JANUS Ringia tries to bring his winning act to Mactan as he heads the field in the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala regional age-group tennis tournament presented

by Slazenger at the Mactan Island Lawn and Airbase Tennis Club in Cebu Friday.

Ringia, 16, swept the boys’ 16- and 18-andunder crowns in Bicol last week with the top Koronadal bet upbeat of his chances for another twinkill against a field toughened by the participation of the likes of Matt Palasan and Jonelle Llavore of Cagayan de Oro, Rey Toledo and Vhon Tudtud in both divisions of the Group 2 tournament sponsored by Palawan Pawnshop and sanctioned by Philta.

Keen competition is also seen in the girls’ side with Davao’s Patricia Velez priming up against Cebu’s Kristin Salimbangon and Carlyn Guarde of Sultan Kudarat and CDO’s Gennifer Pagente in the 18-U section. Guarde, who also won in the Bicol stop of the circuit backed by Asiatraders Corp., exclusively distributor of Slazenger, the official ball, gains the top seeding in the 16-U class with Pagente, Salimbangon, Pink Manabat, Hazel Coderos and Shedel Gica of Cebu and Wyne Paglinawan also tipped to contend.

But a host of local bets are out to defend their turf, including Chad Cuizon, Lyra Mae Repollo, CJ Suson, Cesar Salimbangon, Bless Coderos and Kenneth Tenpre.

“Janus will have his hands full against a new set of rivals, particularly from the host city while competition in the girls’ side remains wide open, guaranteeing another spirited battle for top honors,” said Palawan Pawnshop president/CEO Bobby Castro.

The fight for the boys’ 14-U crown is also expected to be fierce with a full-packed field of 64, led by Rupert Tortal of Surigao, Davao’s John Velez, Cesar Salimbangon and Ashton Villanueva of Ozamis City.

Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat drives to the basket against the Charlotte Hornets during the Eastern Conference playoffs First Round Game 2 at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. AFP

Incentives await PH jins Alora, Lopez

By Peter Atencio INCENTIVES from the Philippine Sports Commission await Pauline Louise Lopez and Kirstie Elaine Alora, the only Filipino taekwondo jin headed to the coming Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Alora and Lopez came up with podium finishes at the recent Asian Qualifying Tournament in

Pasay City.

Alora stands to receive P250,000 under Republic Act No. 10699, which is National Athletes, Coaches and Trainers Benefits Acts of 2001.

Alora placed second in a field of five competitors in the Seniors’ Female A +67kg category.

In earning the silver and an Olympic qualifying berth, she got past Nepal’s Nisha Rawal and top-

seeded Akram Khodabandeh of Iran.

Then, she fell short of the gold after bowing to Taipei’s Huai Hsuan Huang.

In the -57kg, division, Lopez almost came close to an Olympic berth, but only managed a second runner-up finish after losing out to Thailand’s Phannapa Harnsujin.

After that, she went on to be-

come the country’s first and only gold medal in the event as she beat South Korea’s Lee Ah-Reum, 8-6, on Wednesday.

She stands to get P500,000.

PSC executive director Atty.

Guillermo Iroy said the cash bonanzas will come their way once the Philippine Taekwondo Association submits its report and recommendation to the agency.

World Slasher Cup 2 8-cock derby set in May THE Pintakasi of Champions and the Smart Araneta Coliseum management will hold the second edition of the 2016 World Slasher Cup, the “Olympics of Cockfighting,” on May 26 to June 1.

Riding high on the success of the biggest-ever 2016 World Slasher Cup-1 8-Cock Invitational Derby held on Jan. 30 until Feb. 4 this year, the second edition promises to be another recordbreaker.

The forthcoming Slasher event will have two separate 2-cock elimination days on May 26 and 27, followed by the semis on May 28 and 29.

The 4-cock pre-finals for those with scores of 2, 2.5 & 3 points will be on May 30 & 31, while the 4-cock grand finals take center stage on June 1, wherein all undefeated entries with scores of 3.5 or 4 points will lock horns for the championship.

Entry fee is pegged at P88,000.00, with a minimum bet requirement of P33,000.00.

Students’ netfest. Participants and officials in the 4th National Students Tennis Championship-Graham C. Lim Classic are shown here. After the first day of competition, Arellano University players emerged as the players to beat. AU players won their initial matches to advance to the next round of the tournament. Jovita Soriano won against Dana Villeno of EAC to open the hostilities, while Willy Sabas edged Kert Ocampo of Mapua in a close and thrilling match. Rommel Fortadez easily won against Longie Sales of San Sebastian College, while Wilber Sabas handily defeated John Paul Gulfu, also of SSC. William Deyro beat Justin Villaluz of Mapua, while Tamari Guira whipped Ramcie Manongsong of SSC due to the latter’s decision to retire from the match.

After a franchise playoffbest first half of shooting, Miami maintained control in the second half to protect home-court advantage in the first round Eastern Conference series and go ahead two games to none.

“I was taking what they gave me, understanding what their game plan was,” Wade said. “I’m an aggressive player, so I’m always going to put pressure on the basket. That’s what I do, and I got a couple of things to go for me.”

Game three is Saturday in Charlotte.

In Cleveland, LeBron James scored 27 points and the Cavaliers tied an NBA playoff record with 20 three-pointers in a 10790 victory over the Detroit Pistons.

Wade scored a teamhigh 28 points and added eight assists for the Heat, who shot 57.9 percent from the floor on Wednesday.

That followed a game one victory in which they shot 57.6 percent.

The Hornets cut an 18-point deficit in the third quarter to seven with under four minutes to play, but the Heat clamped down defensively.

A total of five Miami players finished in double figures, including Hassan Whiteside who scored 17 points on eight-of-eight shooting from the field and Luol Deng with 16 points.

Whiteside added 13 rebounds and two blocks, and Goran Dragic scored 18 points and Josh Richardson scored 15.

“Everything was falling for me,” Whiteside said.

Miami took a 72-60 lead into halftime thanks to shooting a franchise playoff-best 74.4 percent from the field in the first half, including seven-of-10 from three-point range.

While the Heat were nine-of-16 from threepoint range, the Hornets hit just one-of-16 from beyond the arc.

Kemba Walker had a game-high 29 points and Al Jefferson scored 25 on 12-of-17 shooting from the floor for the Hornets.

The Hornets’ Marvin Williams missed all 10 of his shots from the floor to finish scoreless. Nicolas Batum had nine points and seven rebounds but left early in the fourth quarter with a sprained left ankle and did not return.

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Nadal, Nishikori advance in Barcelona BARCELONA—Fresh from winning the Monte Carlo Masters Rafael Nadal continued his fine form with a 6-3, 6-2 win over fellow Spaniard Marcel Granollers to reach the third round of the Barcelona Open on Wednesday.

Nadal is looking to equal Argentine legend Guillermo Vilas’s record of 49 claycourt tournament wins and capture a ninth title in the Catalan capital this week after suffering shock defeats in the past two years.

The 14-time Grand Slam champion was rarely troubled despite losing his serve in the opening game as he fought back to move into a 4-1 lead and sealed victory after just over 90 minutes on court to improve his head-to-head record over Granollers to 4-0.

“The start was very difficult because it was very windy,” said Nadal.

“I started with less depth than I wanted, but it was very important to break back straight away and from that point on it was more straightforward.”

Nadal will face another Spaniard in Albert Montanes in the last 16 on Thursday.

“I have been playing very well in Monte Carlo, but this is a new tournament and every day there is a difficult opponent.”

Defending champion Kei Nishikori is likely to be Nadal’s biggest threat and the Japanese extended his unbeaten run in Barcelona to 11 matches with a comfortable 6-4, 6-2 win over the Netherlands’ Thiemo de Bakker.

Nishikori needed just over an hour to dispose of the world number 102 as he broke in the first game of each set and held serve throughout to win his first match of the season on clay.

The world number six, who also won in the title in 2014, will face French 13th seed Jeremy Chardy in the next round.

Nadal could face his conqueror from last year’s US Open, Italian Fabio Fognini, in the quarter-finals after he won just his fourth match of the season 3-6, 6-0, 6-1 against Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny.

German teenage sensation Alexander Zverev is also into the third round after edging past 15th seed Thomaz Bellucci 6-3, 6-7 (3/7), 7-5. AFP

San Juan cagefest. San Juan City Vice Mayor Francis Zamora, PBA superstars Gary David, Asi Taulava, and Jeff Chan, join the

players from Barangay St. Joseph and Brgy. West Crame during the Championship Game of the Zamora Cup Basketball and Volleyball Tournament. Brgy. West Crame emerged as the Champions.

Scott draws flak, splits sport with Olympic snub LOS ANGELES—Australia’s former world number one Adam Scott drew criticism and reignited debate over golf’s inclusion in the Olympics after announcing he would skip Rio because of his busy schedule.

Golfing legend Jack Nicklaus and two-time major winner Johnny Miller both expressed disappointment at Scott’s move as golf returns to the Games after a 112-year absence.

“Playing for your country is a lot bigger than playing for yourself,” Miller said, according to newspaper reports.

The 35-year-old Scott, currently world number seven,

made his announcement on Wednesday. “My decision has been taken as a result of an extremely busy playing schedule around the time of the Olympics and other commitments, both personal and professional,” he said in a statement.

But Miller blasted back: “I would say I don’t care how tired you are, and I wouldn’t even care where you place in the tournament, but you

need to be there to represent your country.”

Nicklaus, winner of a record 18 majors and regarded as the greatest golfer in history, told reporters at a charity golf event in Ohio: “I think that’s sad. I think it’s sad for the Olympics and for the game of golf.

“I don’t know Adam’s circumstances, so I couldn’t comment on what he’s dealing with. Obviously, he felt like he couldn’t play, and if he felt that way, I understand. But it’s unfortunate.”

Australian golf great Jack Newton jumped to Scott’s defence and told critics to lay off the 2013 US Masters champion.

“It’s a personal decision,”

Newton was reported as saying on Thursday. “He’s not letting the country down.

He’s not letting the Olympics down.”

But outspoken Australian swimming great Dawn Fraser was strongly critical of her fellow countryman.

“Well done Adam great to put your country on hold so that you can fulfil your own schedule,” the triple Olympic 100m freestyle gold medallist wrote on her Facebook page, adding that she worked three jobs to realise her own Olympic ambitions.

“How much money do you want in life... I am still trying to survive at 78 years of age but a very proud Australian,” added Fraser. AFP

Phoenix slalom 3rd leg on Sunday THE third leg of the RACE Motorsports Club 2016 Phoenix National Slalom Series heads to its newest venue, the Robinsons Place Las Pinas parking lot on Sunday.

Open and unlimited practice runs are slated from 8 to 10 a.m., while the official practice sessions begin at 11 a.m., wherein each participant is given only one official practice run regardless of how many classes or cars he/she is entered.

Each participating driver will receive 4 liters (1 gallon) of Phoenix Accelerate fully synthetic oil.

Contenders must use the specified Federal Tyres for at least nine or 75% of the series and must possess the Automobile Association of

the Philippines Clubman license. All drivers will be charged an additional P300 per leg for the AAP Clubman License.

The slalom event is affiliated with the AAP and FIA and is the longest-running national motorsport discipline in the country.

Expected to participate are the Club Series Champions, headed by Milo, Noel and Estefano Rivera of Tough Gear; Dr. Peewee Mendiola of Team Big Chill; MSM Motorsports; AF Racing Team; Orthodox Racing Team Comet and a lot more.

Winners of the second leg will also be awarded on Sunday. All class and overall winners will receive 4 liters of Phoenix Accelerate fully synthetic oil.

The 2016 National Slalom Grand Series Series is presented by Phoenix Premium 98 and Phoenix Accelerate Fully Synthetic Oil, with major sponsors Federal Tyres, Outlast Battery and Robinsons Las Pinas. It is also supported by Starbright Body Kits, Auto Transporter, Aeromed, media partners Stoplight TV, C! Magazine, Auto Industriya, Ride and Drive Philippines, Targa Pilipinas and Power Wheels Magazine.

A free slalom clinic is offered from 9 to 10 a.m.

For details, contact Bing Bang Dulce at tel. nos.

928-6951, 0922-8165344 or 0917-8119337; e-mail racemotorsportsclub@yahoo.com or Facebook page Race Motorsports.

Dion Ortiz of the AF Racing Team leads the novice category of the Phoenix National Slalom Series.

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Texters, Aces in game of death

By Jeric Lopez

DO or die? Who will move forward? Who will bow out?

WNBA legend Taj McWilliams-Franklin interacts with boys and girls of a public elementary school at the Baseco Compound in Tondo, Manila during the NBA Cares outreach program conducted with the help of World Vision Philippines, Thursday.

Cage great touches lives of Baseco kids

By Reuel Vidal WOMEN’S National Basketball Association legend Taj McWilliams-Franklin touched the lives boys and girls of a public elementary school at the Baseco Compound in Tondo, Manila during the NBA Cares outreach program conducted with the help of World Vision Philippines, Thursday.

McWilliams-Franklin is in the Philippines to mentor boys and girls in the JrNBA/ JrWNBA Presented by Alaska basketball program. She

spent a morning at the school interacting with the underprivileged children of one of the biggest slum communities in the country.

The 6’2” African-American towered over everyone at the event. Boys and girls were wide-eyed with awe of her size, her dark skin, her thick lush, jet black hair but most of all, of her incandescent smile and warm, friendly personality.

She interacted with the children by reading aloud an illustration book and telling her life story of over-

coming adversity which she hoped would inspire them.

Later she joined the children in playing parlor games and gave out prizes of Alaska Milk to everyone.

The JrNBA/JrWNBA Presented by Alaska is the league’s global youth basketball participation program for boys and girls. It teaches the fundamental skills of the sport as well as the core values of the game at the grassroots level in an effort to help grow and improve the youth basketball experience for players,

coaches and parents.

McWilliams-Franklin is a two-time WNBA champion and a six-time all-star.

She is considered one of the best low post players to play the women’s game. Her basketball career has spanned three decades. She retired from the WNBA in 2012 and is the current head coach of the women’s basketball team at Post University.

World Vision Philippines aims to provide for the needs of children and assist them through sustainable development and education.

Those questions Game Today will be answered (Quarterfinals, Knockout when Alaska and Smart Araneta Coliseum): 7 p.m. - Talk ‘N Text Talk ‘N Text go all vs. Alaska out in their knockout game in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Tied at 1-1 in their best-of-three quarters series, the deciding Game 3 is expected to produce fireworks as the Aces and the Tropang Texters go at it at 7 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum with the last semifinal ticket on the line.

The two teams showed how evenly matched they are in the series’ first two games as they went toe-to-toe.

In Game 1, Talk ‘N Text rode hotshot rookie Troy Rosario’s career game as his 31 points led the Tropang Texters to a 106-99 Game 1 win last Sunday and to a 1-0 lead.

The Aces retaliated Tuesday night, scoring a tight 85-81 victory in Game 2 with four chargers tallying in double-figures, to level the series at 1-1 and force the sudden death Game 3.

Despite his team’s victory in Game 2, Alaska coach Alex Compton still isn’t satisfied with how his team is playing offense in the series.

While he praised the Aces’ defensive improvement, he said that they need a polished offense tonight to have a better chance of taking home the game and the series.

“I was so happy with how we defended in the last game, but we also have to get better looks on offense this coming Friday for Game 3,” said Compton.

The victor will join Meralco, Rain or Shine and San Miguel Beer in the semis and will face the Bolts in a best-of-seven affair.

After Rosario’s explosion in Game 1, it was import David Simon’s turn to drop 31 points for the Texters in Game 2 but still, his team fell short of winning and taking the series.

Alaska’s defense are expected to focus on those two along with resident Talk ‘N Text stars Jayson Castro and Ranidel De Ocampo.

The Aces are opting to attack with more variety, spreading the wealth on offense to keep the Talk ‘N Text defense guessing.

UP booters end Tamaraws’ reign ROOKIE Kyle Magdato struck late in the first half as University of the Philippines ended Far Eastern University’s two-year reign with a 1-0 victory Thursday in the UAAP Season 78 men’s football tournament at the Moro Lorenzo Field.

After Feb Baya’s cross was punched away by Tamaraws keeper Ray Joyel, Magdato was there for the rebound late in the first half, which turned out to be the winning moment for the Fighting Maroons.

With 30 points, UP secured the top ranking, while giving University of Santo Tomas and Ateneo a free ride in the semifinals set on April 28 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

Parading with a young crew, which has been steady all-season long, the Maroons were able to advance in the Final Four, despite losing ace

striker Jinggoy Valmayor to graduation.

“Of course, Jinggoy (Valmayor) has been a very instrumental part of our campaign in the last five years. He has scoring goals for us. But I think this group, in terms of work ethic, in terms of fight and stability, it is as strong as it gets. Per position, we covered everything,” said coach Anto Gonzales, who is seeking to steer UP back on top after three seasons.

The Maroons also achieved a clean sheet for the sixth straight match, truly living to their lofty billing as the league’s best defensive side.

“That is always been our philosophy, everything starts with defense. Our goals haven’t really come really very often sa amin. Pero in terms of controlling the game and securing the backline, nandoon kami,” said Gonzales.

PEP for Sports. Seventy-

one national athletes completed the Philippine Sports Commission’s Personal Enhancement Program for Sports module on personality development last April 14 at the Philsports Complex, Pasig City. Featured speakers George Mercado and Lourdgina Lalim tackled various aspects of the module such as confidence-building, assertiveness, public carriage and proper behavior during social situations with the participants. The PEP for Sports is being managed by the Office of PSC Commissioner Iggy Clavecilla.

Chiefs blast Scorpions in Martin Cup ZACH Nicholls and newcomer Adam Gupilan struck hard for the Arellano University Chiefs as they blasted the Centro Escolar University Scorpions, 82-74, Monday in the 22nd Fr, Martin Cup Summer Basketball Tournament at the St. Placid gym of the San Beda College-Manila campus in Mendiola.

Nichols and Gupilan, who is from Los Angeles, California, scored 23

and 17 points to lead the Chiefs to their first win two games in Group A of the senior division.

This enabled the Chiefs to bounce back from a 78-82 loss to the Adamson Falcons two weeks ago.

In the junior matches, the Far Eastern University Baby Tamaraws whipped Pace, 88-33, to pick up their second straight triumph in Group A.

Manila Patriotic School tasted their first win in three games, at the expense of San Beda-Alabang, 93-50, in Group B. In other games, Letran-A put away Jose Rizal University-A, 80-64, to post their second straight triumph in Group A of the senior division.

JRU-B turned back Letran-B, 6962, for their first win in Group A.

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LOTTO RESULTS

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

Knights-Lions tiff opens NCAA Season 92

By Peter Atencio THE defending champion Letran Knights, now coached by Jeff Napa, will meet the San Beda Red Lions in the opening game of the 92nd season of the National Collegiate Athletic Association men’s basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena.

According to a schedule drafted by Season 92 host San Beda, action is set to begin at 2 p.m.

It will be followed by a showdown between the Mapua Cardi-

nals and the Jose Rizal University Heavy Bombers at 2 p.m.

Games will eventually be held four times a week, according to incoming management committee Chairman Mari Martinez of host San Beda.

Organizers said the schedule of the basketball games of the 92nd season of the National Collegiate Athletic Association will be shortened, now under review, with Andy Jao coming aboard as the new commissioner.

Plans for a new schedule/for-

mat was unravelled after rector president Fr. Aloysius Maranan of incoming host San Beda led a turnover ceremony last April 7, with outgoing host Mapua Institute of Technology.

On the other hand, Jao’s appointment was only formalized last Wednesday by Maranan.

There are plans to have the basketball matches on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

This the second time that the schedule/format was changed for a second time since season 83.

Under the new schedule, four junior matches are slated on Mondays, two senior games are on Tuesday, while two senior encounters and one junior game is set for Thursday.

On Friday, two senior games and two junior encounters are supposed to be played.

“We decided to make it this way, so that the weekends will give the players complete rest and time to study,” said incoming management committee chairman Mari Lacson.

Masrin recovers, stays at the helm TRECE MARTIREZ, Cavite—Danny Masrin checked an impending foldup with two late birdies as he salvaged an even par 72 in another punishing day to cling to a one-stroke lead over Guido Van der Valk of the Netherlands halfway through the $60,000 ICTSI Sherwood Hills Classic at the Sherwood Hills Golf Club here Thursday.

Danny Masrin hangs on to a one-stroke lead over Guido Van der Valk in the $60,000 ICTSI Sherwood Hills Classic at the Sherwood Hills Golf Club Thursday.

Donaire leads way for new breed of PH boxers WITH Manny Pacquiao’s recent retirement from boxing, WBO Super Bantamweight title-holder and five-division champion Nonito Donaire Jr. is now the Philippines’ biggest boxing draw and probably, the new alpha of Philippine boxing.

The former Ring magazine Fighter of the Year will have an opportunity to cement his legacy further, while giving a preview of what Philippine boxing has in store, when he battles the dangerous Hungarian Zsolt Bedak in the main event of the Top Rank and ALA Promotions event “The Time Has Come” at the Cebu City Sports Center on Saturday.

Donaire Jr., who like Pacquiao, has wowed the boxing world with powerful hits and knockouts, will be serving as the link between two generations: the era of Manny Pac-

quiao and the era of superstars-inwaiting Mark “Magnifico” Magsayo and Jason “El Nino” Pagara, who are both fighting in the undercard of the event.

“Donaire vs. Bedak: The Time Has Come” will be aired on free TV on ABS-CBN on April 24 at 8:30 a.m., with a telecast on ABSCBN Sports + Action on the same day at 1 p.m.

Viewers can also watch it on high-definition on ABS-CBN Sports + Action HD Ch166 on April 25, 10 p.m.

Users of ABS-CBN TVplus and ABS-CBN mobile can catch the fight in the new Kapamilya Box Office Channel.

Donaire Jr., who sports a career 36W-3L (23 KOs) record, is raring to stamp his class in his weight division and return to the top of the pound-for-pound rankings by

going for a smashing victory over his opponent Bedak, who totes a 25-1 card and is known to throw a nasty left hook, which is Donaire’s weapon as well.

The reigning WBO Super bantamweight champ is out to put a good show in front of the Cebuanos as he fights for more glory, and a possible shot at more lucrative fights before he decides to call it a day.

“I’m thankful the opportunity to be the best, and to be able to inspire the next generation of boxers,” Donaire said.

Meanwhile, the 20 year-old Magsayo (13-0, 10 KOs), who has won six of his last seven fights via knockout, will have his hands full against Chris Avalos (26-4, 19 KOs) in a fight for the vacant WBO International Featherweight title.

Avalos is a super bantamweight

counterpuncher who has held four different super bantamweight belts in his career, including the WBO Intercontinental Super Bantamweight title in 2011.

Twenty-seven-year-old Pagara (37-2, 23 KOs), on the other hand, who is ranked number 1 in the WBO Super Lightweight division, will deal with the tall and long Mexican knockout artist Miguel Zamudio (35-8, 21 KOs), who is three years younger at 24, and likes to utilize his 71-inch reach advantage.

This exciting world-class boxing event also features a super featherweight bout between Paul Fleming and Miguel Angel Gonzales.

Bringing this world-class boxing action closer to Filipino fight fans is ABS-CBN, the leading media and entertainment company in the Philippines.

Masrin, who showed up the elite field with an opening 68, threatened to pull away in the early going with a sizzling start of three straight birdies from No. 3 but faltered in the wind midway through, yielding five strokes in a six-hole stretch from No. 9 and dropping off the lead.

But he came through with superb iron shots that set up birdie putts on Nos. 15 and 18 which he made, saving a 35-37 card in steamy condition and regaining the lead from a charging Van der Valk at four-under 140.

“I was playing good in the first nine and suddenly my game disintegrated. I lost my patience. It’s quite windy in the afternoon. It really bothered me right on the first hole,” said Masrin.

Van der Valk, a regular campaigner here but still in search of a breakthrough win, also banked on a strong windup – at the front – to get into the mix, birdying four of the last five, including three straight to cap a 33-35 card and match Masrin’s opening round output for a 141.

Finland’s Janne Kaske bogeyed his last hole on the ninth late in the afternoon of another wind-blown day and missed joining the Dutch ace at second and completing a rare bogeyfree round after gunning down birdies Nos. 12 and 17 and stringing eight straight pars at the front.

With Tony Lascuna continuing to grope for form and the other top local bets failing to make their move, Marvin Dumandan stepped up with a gutsy 70 to gain a share of third with Kaske, who settled for a 71, at 142 even as James Ryan Lam carded a 71 to join six other foreigners at 143.

They include Canadian Lindsay Renolds, who fired a 69, Japanese Toru Nakajima and American John Catlin, who shot identical 70s, Thai Kasidit Lepkurte, who made a 72, Jarin Todd of the US, who made a 71, and Oscar Zetterwall of Sweden.

B1

FRIDAY: APRIL 22, 2016

RAY S. EÑANO EDITOR

RODERICK T. DELA CRUZ ASSISTANT EDITOR

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

BUSINESS

Loyola shuts down 9 branches

By Gabrielle H. Binaday

LOYOLA Plans Consolidated Inc., the troubled pre-need company, closed all nine provincial branches as its centralizes its operations in Makati City, the Insurance Commission said Thursday.

Insurance commissioner Emmanuel Dooc said the closure of the nine branches of Loyola Plans was a part of the company’s plan to centralize its operations in its head office.

“Based on the initial meeting with Loyola Plans, it explained that the closure of some of its branch offices was in furtherance of its ongoing plan to cen-

tralize its business operation in its head office in Makati as it was no longer viable for the company of maintain its branch offices,” Dooc said.

Dooc, however, said the commission had not yet received a formal explanation from Loyola Plans for the closure of the nine branches.

Loyola Plans closed its branch

offices in Dagupan City, Tugegarao City, Lucena City, Los Baños in Laguna, Legaspi City, Cebu City, Lapu-Lapu City, Bacolod City and Davao City.

Loyola Plans president and chief executive Jesusa Puyat Concepcion assured plan holders in the provinces that standard operating procedures were placed on the handling and processing of claims.

Concepcion this week offered more than P1.8 billion worth of non-cash assets to IC for liquidation in order to cover its P238-million trust fund deficiency.

IC said about 36 checks were already given to policy holders who filed their claims with

Loyola Plans head office in Makati.

“Loyola Plans already started paying out overdue matured benefits to its plan holders as early as Monday afternoon. Yesterday, Loyola Plans already released the checks due to 36 plan holders who have filed a claim before it,” the IC said.

IC said it was also set to release 61 checks representing the payment for matured benefits of the plan holders who had filed complaints against Loyola before the pre-need regulator.

IC said it had received 95 complaints against Loyola Plans for non-payment of matured benefits since March 31, 2016.

It said all 95 complaints were

already addressed by Loyola Plans while 13 were previously settled, 20 were pending for verification by Loyola and were being processed for the issuance of checks and 61 checks were ready for releasing.

“We want to assure the plan holders of Loyola that the company will honor and make good all its commitment and obligation to its plan holders as they fall due. We are closely monitoring the claims settlement process of Loyola to fast track the release of over due claims.

The commission will issue further announcement and advisory with regard to this matter,” Dooc said.

PSe comPoSite index Closing April 21, 2016

8300 7840 7380 6920 6460 6000

7,257.85 56.48

PeSo-dollar rate

Closing April 21, 2016 48.00 46.00 45.00

P46.440

44.00

CLOSE

43.00

HIGH P46.320 LOW P46.440 AVERAGE P46.384 VOLUME 710.500M

P400.00-P620.00 LPG/11-kg tank P30.00-P39.32 Unleaded Gasoline Angry plan holders storm the head office of Loyola Plans Consolidated Inc. office on Arnaiz Street in Makati City on Tuesday to get their claims for matured policies. Loyola Plans earlier offered to liquidate P1.8 billion worth of real estate properties to cover the trust fund’s deficiency and settle the claims of plan holders. DANNY PATA

Bloomberry willing to report deals to AMLA

By Jenniffer B. Austria BLOOMBERRY Resorts Corp. chairman and chief executive Enrique Razon Jr. said Thursday he is in favor of including casinos in the list of institutions required to report suspicious transactions to the Anti-Money Laundering Council.

Razon, however, said the threshold for reporting transactions for casinos should be higher compared with those of banks and other covered institutions.

“Absolutely, the problem with casinos and the banks [is that] the threshold has to be different.

If we stick to the present threshold, we will report everybody who comes to the casinos,” Razon said in an interview at the sidelines of the annual stockholders’ meeting of International Container Terminal Services Inc. Razon is also the chairman of ICTSI. Under the Anti-Money Laundering Act, all covered institutions must report transactions involving more than P500,000 to the AMLC. “AMLA is [there] just to protect from people who are doing things that are not legal. We don’t want those people here anyway,” Razon said.

The government is strongly pushing for the inclusion of casinos among the covered institutions following an $81-million money laundering scandal that used banks and casinos as conduits.

Razon said casino was not a good venue for money laundering activities.

“It’s not recommended, but if you are laundering money, don’t do it in the casino because the casino will make you play the entire amount at least once. So if you lose it all, you will lose what you laundered. It’s not the place to do it. In fact it’s the worst place [for laundering],” Razon said.

Meanwhile, Razon said he expected Bloomberry to return to profit this year after it posted a net loss of P3.37 billion in 2015 .

“Outlook is far better this year because we’ve cleaned up all the problem accounts. It should be positive this year because of much lower cost and no more bad accounts and bad debt and more revenues,” Razon said.

He, however, said competition was expected to intensify over the next two to three years, with the opening of more casinos within the Pagcor Entertainment City.

oPriceS il P today

P19.25-P22.75 Diesel P34.55-P39.15 Kerosene Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Thursday, April 21, 2016

F oreign e xchange r ate Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

46.1330

Japan

Yen

0.009114

0.4205

UK

Pound

1.433200

66.1178

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.128952

5.9489

Switzerland

Franc

1.029548

47.4961

Canada

Dollar

0.790264

36.4572

Singapore

Dollar

0.744435

34.3430

Australia

Dollar

0.779000

35.9376

Bahrain

Dinar

2.658019

122.6224

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266738

12.3054

Brunei

Dollar

0.741675

34.2157

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000076

0.0035

Thailand

Baht

0.028690

1.3236

UAE

Dirham

0.272301

12.5621

Euro

Euro

1.130200

52.1395

Korea

Won

0.000884

0.0408

China

Yuan

0.154452

7.1253

India

Rupee

0.015115

0.6973

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.258933

11.9454

New Zealand

Dollar

0.697300

32.1685

Taiwan

Dollar

0.031080

1.4338 Source: PDS Bridge

FRIDAY: APRIL 22, 2016

B2

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

The STandard BuSineSS daily STockS review Thursday, april 21, 2016

52 Weeks

Previous

High Low 7.88 75.3 124.4 107 56.5 2.49 4.2 17 30.45 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 1.97 1.68 12.02 19.6 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 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 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 5.25 12.98 6.75 15 7.03 3.4 4.5 6.3 7.86 1450 5.5 3.28 0.315 2.18 2.65 234 5.28 1.3 2.17

34.1 2.3 1.63 23.35 17.3 5.88 250.2 3.87 8.45 3 10.04 3.03 1.95 1 4.02 1.65 801 4.1 1.55 0.138 1.02 2.09 152 4.28 0.640 1.2

0.59 59.2 30.05 2.16 7.39 3.4 3.35 823.5 10.2 84 3.35 4.92 1455 7.5

0.44 48.1 20.85 1.6 6.62 0.23 0.23 634.5 7.390 12.8 2.6 2.26 837 5.3

76 5.29 9.25 0.85 17.3 0.71 5.53 9.66 0.0670 1.61 2.99 84.9 974 1.66 1.39 156 0.710 0.435 0.510

49.55 3 4.84 0.59 12 0.580 4.2 3 0.030 0.550 2.26 59.3 751 1.13 0.93 80 0.211 0.179 0.310

10.5 26.95 1.99 1.75 0.375 41.4 5.6 1.44 1.97 1.48

6.74 12 0.65 1.2 0.192 30.05 3.36 0.79 1.1 0.97

STOCKS

High

Low

FINANCIAL 3.17 3 46.2 45.2 104.00 102.50 89.80 88.50 39 38.45 2.95 2.95 1.66 1.43 14.2 14.1 16.08 15.94 1.78 1.7 615.00 605.00 0.640 0.610 83 81.8 1 0.97 14.70 14.58 53.80 53.50 102.9 98 273.8 271 32 31.85 177 171.4 1433.00 1395.00 57.50 57.35 1.56 1.56 INDUSTRIAL Aboitiz Power Corp.

43.85 44.5 43.9 Agrinurture Inc. 4.6 4.72 4.5 Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. 0.8 0.85 0.8 Alsons Cons.

1.46 1.46 1.43 Asiabest Group 13.2 13.5 12.86 Bogo Medelin 56 63 61 Century Food 19.2 19.22 19 Chemphil 161 160 135.1 Conc. Aggr. ‘A’ 230 240 202 Cirtek Holdings (Chips) 18.7 18.98 18.4 Concepcion 48.5 48.5 48.4 Crown Asia 2.35 2.38 2.29 Da Vinci Capital 5.68 5.77 5.56 Del Monte 11.16 11.22 11.02 DNL Industries Inc. 9.200 9.400 9.180 Emperador 8.08 8.14 8.02 Energy Devt. Corp. (EDC) 5.79 5.89 5.79 EEI 7.26 7.40 7.23 First Gen Corp.

21 21.25 21 First Holdings ‘A’ 69.9 70.4 69.9 Ginebra San Miguel Inc. 14.30 14.50 14.04 14.00 14.00 Holcim Philippines Inc. 13.98 Integ. Micro-Electronics 5.8 5.8 5.73 Ionics Inc 2.530 2.610 2.500 Jollibee Foods Corp.

226.00 227.00 223.40 LBC Express 11.36 11.82 11.36 Liberty Flour 35.00 35.00 35.00 LMG Chemicals 2.1 2.1 2.01 Mabuhay Vinyl 3.6 3.68 3.46 Manila Water Co. Inc. 27.5 27.4 27 Maxs Group 21.9 22.05 21.7 Megawide 6.67 6.74 6.7 Mla. Elect. Co `A’ 336.00 343.00 335.00 Pepsi-Cola Products Phil. 3.77 3.79 3.77 Petron Corporation 10.90 11.10 10.96 Phil H2O 3.2 3.2 3.2 Phinma Corporation 11.62 11.62 11.62 Phoenix Petroleum Phils. 4.43 4.48 4.28 Phoenix Semiconductor 1.57 1.60 1.56 Pryce Corp. `A’ 2.8 3.05 2.81 RFM Corporation 4.35 4.34 4.30 Roxas and Co. 2.4 2.4 2.4 San Miguel ‘Pure Foods `A’ 218 215 212 SPC Power Corp.

4 4.1 4.1 Splash Corporation 2.71 2.74 2.61 Swift Foods, Inc. 0.161 0.162 0.159 TKC Steel Corp.

1.23 1.23 1.19 Trans-Asia Oil 2.71 2.78 2.60 Universal Robina 204.4 207 200 Victorias Milling 4.7 4.7 4.65 Vitarich Corp.

1.08 1.12 1.06 Vulcan Ind’l.

1.27 1.34 1.26 HOLDING FIRMS Abacus Cons. `A’ 0.360 0.370 0.360 Aboitiz Equity 63.95 64.15 63.60 Alliance Global Inc. 16.38 16.68 16.34 Anglo Holdings A 1.16 1.12 1.11 Anscor `A’ 6.06 6.15 6.06 ATN Holdings A 0.295 0.310 0.290 ATN Holdings B 0.300 0.290 0.285 Ayala Corp `A’ 773.5 786 768 Cosco Capital 8.52 8.61 8.45 DMCI Holdings 12.36 12.44 12.30 F&J Prince ‘A’ 5.2 5.25 5.2 Filinvest Dev. Corp.

5.75 5.78 5.75 GT Capital 1369 1392 1365 House of Inv. 6.49 6.49 6.49 IPM Holdings 9.69 9.71 9.67 JG Summit Holdings 81.40 83.30 81.40 Keppel Holdings `A’ 5.5 5.5 5.41 Lopez Holdings Corp.

7.4 7.6 7.28 Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp. 0.68 0.7 0.67 LT Group 15.82 15.8 15.68 Mabuhay Holdings `A’ 0.480 0.485 0.485 Metro Pacific Inv. Corp. 5.81 5.81 5.77 MJCI Investments Inc. 3.4 3.4 3.4 Pacifica `A’ 0.0330 0.0340 0.0330 Prime Orion 1.910 1.920 1.890 Republic Glass ‘A’ 2.78 2.78 2.77 San Miguel Corp `A’ 74.00 74.80 74.00 SM Investments Inc. 959.00 964.00 953.00 Solid Group Inc. 1.24 1.24 1.20 South China Res. Inc. 0.80 0.80 0.80 Top Frontier 165.000 164.000 155.800 Unioil Res. & Hldgs 0.3150 0.3250 0.3150 Wellex Industries 0.1990 0.1990 0.1960 Zeus Holdings 0.280 0.290 0.285 PROPERTY 8990 HLDG 8.090 8.100 7.950 Anchor Land Holdings Inc. 7.22 7.22 7.22 A. Brown Co., Inc. 1.38 1.48 1.30 Araneta Prop `A’ 1.500 1.550 1.530 Arthaland Corp.

0.265 0.290 0.260 Ayala Land `B’ 34.000 35.000 34.000 Belle Corp. `A’ 3.08 3.1 3.02 Century Property 0.560 0.57 0.550 City & Land Dev. 0.97 0.97 0.97 Cityland Dev. `A’ 0.990 0.980 0.980 AG Finance Asia United Bank Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. Bank of PI China Bank BDO Leasing & Fin. INc. Bright Kindle Resources COL Financial Eastwest Bank 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 14,014,535 92,590,967 91,079,032 156,674,703 346,658,678 1,337,031,126 2,043,436,801

3.18 46 103.10 88.70 38.5 2.95 1.45 14.2 15.94 1.78 599.00 0.620 81.85 1.05 14.70 53.60 102.9 270 32 174 1400.00 57.40 1.59

Close

%

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

3.1 46.2 104.00 89.80 38.5 2.95 1.59 14.2 15.98 1.78 605.00 0.620 83 0.98 14.60 53.50 102.9 273.8 31.85 171.5 1395.00 57.40 1.56

-2.52 0.43 0.87 1.24 0.00 0.00 9.66 0.00 0.25 0.00 1.00 0.00 1.41 -6.67 -0.68 -0.19 0.00 1.41 -0.47 -1.44 -0.36 0.00 -1.89

309,000 17,300 1,961,140 819,570 117,800 70,000 1,429,000 11,900 618,900 22,000 310 3,409,000 3,044,930 58,000 688,600 62,430 1,310 420 75,800 1,197,890 100 32,520 66,000

44.15 4.63 0.83 1.45 13.28 61 19.18 136.1 206 18.4 48.5 2.32 5.56 11.16 9.300 8.14 5.85 7.33 21.15 70 14.04 14.00 5.75 2.570 226.00 11.82 35.00 2.01 3.68 27.3 21.9 6.73 340.00 3.78 11.00 3.2 11.62 4.48 1.57 2.83 4.34 2.4 215 4.1 2.72 0.160 1.23 2.68 200.8 4.65 1.12 1.33

0.68 0.65 3.75 -0.68 0.61 8.93 -0.10 -15.47 -10.43 -1.60 0.00 -1.28 -2.11 0.00 1.09 0.74 1.04 0.96 0.71 0.14 -1.82 0.14 -0.86 1.58 0.00 4.05 0.00 -4.29 2.22 -0.73 0.00 0.88 1.19 0.27 0.92 0.00 0.00 1.13 0.00 1.07 -0.23 0.00 -1.38 2.50 0.37 -0.62 0.00 -1.11 -1.76 -1.06 3.70 4.72

2,846,600 994,000 80,000 1,646,000 43,100 270 217,100 80 7,240 126,600 17,600 1,471,000 833,900 11,600 1,821,000 884,300 9,014,200 1,018,200 1,937,800 119,890 8,900 326,800 100,900 3,829,000 596,430 1,800 600 81,000 46,000 751,300 110,700 260,700 283,350 198,000 11,210,900 3 5,000 253,000 396,000 2,145,000 67,000 4,000 46,290 5,000 790,000 4,770,000 128,000 19,506,000 2,637,260 22,000 19,569,000 1,020,000

0.370 64.00 16.68 1.12 6.06 0.295 0.285 786 8.53 12.36 5.25 5.75 1380 6.49 9.71 83.00 5.5 7.57 0.7 15.7 0.485 5.77 3.4 0.0330 1.890 2.78 74.80 960.00 1.20 0.80 161.000 0.3150 0.1970 0.290

2.78 0.08 1.83 -3.45 0.00 0.00 -5.00 1.62 0.12 0.00 0.96 0.00 0.80 0.00 0.21 1.97 0.00 2.30 2.94 -0.76 1.04 -0.69 0.00 0.00 -1.05 0.00 1.08 0.10 -3.23 0.00 -2.42 0.00 -1.01 3.57

60,000 2,223,320 10,105,202.00 6,281,300 -13,885,328.00 12,000 12,000 3,210,000 1,540,000 348,620 86,889,065.00 2,521,500 3,688,935.00 8,186,000 -68,814,870.00 126,700 231,200 1,150,000.00 110,495 76,433,700.00 50,000 1,442,300 1,823,690 71,026,518.50 11,600 4,836,500 -5,956,244.00 177,000 2,443,300 8,931,964.00 130,000 40,190,800 -15,884,808.00 10,000 11,400,000 678,000 53,480.00 4,000 65,860 1,118,761.00 285,079,990 865,000 122,000.00 50,000 23,200 56,766.00 1,320,000 630,000 870,000

8.000 7.22 1.31 1.550 0.270 35.000 3.03 0.560 0.97 0.980

-1.11 0.00 -5.07 3.33 1.89 2.94 -1.62 0.00 0.00 -1.01

154,400 1,200 26,569,000 384,000 2,750,000 7,580,900 13,565,000 3,112,000 8,000 10,000

713,365.00 36,012,962 8,268,964.00 -555,320.00 -57,510.00 -14,200.00 -8,973,272.00 -182,525.00 106,400.00 -10,010,608.50 -1,367,310.00 -547,000.00 97,020.00 1,382,260 -111,705,631.00

79,529,080.00 -9,180.00 -6,560.00 720,000.00 2,534,086.00 1,351.00 -560,300.00 72,730 9,200.00 199,274.00 519,991.00 -1,239,864.00 8,098,981.00 709,003.00 -8,440,105.00 -3,002,359.00 2,820.00 -2,590,000.00 122,566.00 33,180.00 15,849,964.00

2,429,935.00 -10,875.00 100,900.00 18,364,936.00 234,270.00 16,093,474.00 32,000.00 15,700.00 -29,500.00 137,600.00 -30,234.00

-984,130.00 -228,818,840.00 -23,090.00

52 Weeks

Previous

High Low

STOCKS

High

%

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

Crown Equities Inc. 0.124 Cyber Bay Corp.

0.500 Double Dragon 36.4 Empire East Land 0.840 Global-Estate 1.13 Filinvest Land,Inc. 1.86 Megaworld 4.03 MRC Allied Ind. 0.086 Phil. Estates Corp.

0.2600 Phil. Realty `A’ 0.610 Phil. Tob. Flue Cur & Redry 28.25 Primex Corp.

8.53 Robinson’s Land `B’ 29.55 Rockwell 1.6 Shang Properties Inc. 3.19 SM Prime Holdings 22.40 Sta. Lucia Land Inc. 0.87 Starmalls 6.3 Suntrust Home Dev. Inc. 1.150 Vista Land & Lifescapes 4.830

-0.81 -2.00 0.27 0.00 -1.77 0.00 1.49 -1.16 -3.85 -4.92 0.00 0.82 -2.03 0.63 0.00 0.89 -3.45 3.17 -1.74 0.41

250,000 10,342,000 737,700 1,040,000 5,839,000 19,540,000 32,182,000 350,000 80,000 7,013,000 300 100 2,536,400 1,060,000 1,000 9,154,100 3,538,000 2,100 1,367,000 5,485,000

10.5 66 1.44 1.09 14.88 15.82 0.1430 5.06 99.1 12.3 2.6 7.67 4 2720 8.41 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 2.46 15.2

1.97 35.2 1 0.63 10.5 8.6 0.0770 2.95 56.1 10.14 1.6 4.8 2.58 1600 5.95 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 1.8 6

0.62 1.040 22.8 185 22.9 3486 0.760 2.28 46.05 90.1

0.335 0.37 14.54 79 4.39 2748 0.435 1.2 31.45 60.55

11.6 0.85 10 0.490 1.9

7.59 0.63 5 0.315 1.14

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

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

Discovery World DFNN Inc. Easy Call “Common” Globe Telecom GMA Network Inc. 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 Manila Jockey Melco Crown Metro Retail MG Holdings NOW Corp.

Pacific Online Sys. Corp.

Phil. Seven Corp.

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

SSI Group STI Holdings Travellers Waterfront Phils.

Yehey

3.95 -0.95 0.00 -1.67 0.00 2.88 -4.84 0.96 0.67 -1.05 1.17 -1.29 0.00 1.21 -0.14 1.69 3.65 3.05 0.00 -15.43 0.00 -4.76 -2.31 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.36 0.00 5.26 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 21.51 0.00 0.90 0.45 -0.54 0.00 -1.15 -0.72 0.69 -3.03 -2.52 1.59 0.00 0.00 3.98

520,900 41,076.00 28,320 31,000 2,431,000 1,200 13,392.00 187,500 462,060.00 91,870,000 120,590.00 263,000 -3,130.00 213,270 7,201,105.00 5,800 2,000 45,100 3,000 56,930 3,993,750.00 126,800 48,000 218,560 -953,750.00 10,200 320 22,000 38,440.00 2,100,000 57,000,000 9,150.00 5,380,000 -97,710.00 33,000 113,300 15,800.00 253,000 201,000 17,000 7,100 78,000 10,000 12,855,000 -9,444,780.00 2,504,000 -93,780.00 200,000 131,560,000 8,224,470.00 1,000,000 70 128,800 15,540.00 156,530 -128,966,360.00 2,300,000 12,948,000 -2,290,380.00 4,106,100 53,899,180.00 1,961,640 36,840,223.00 905,800 164,589.00 6,899,000 -236,250.00 2,761,000 -31,360.00 94,000 -159,360.00 250,000 159,100 -90,305.00

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

2.50 0.00 0.47 0.00 -2.35 0.00 -1.00 0.00 0.00 1.58 -3.88 -1.69 0.83 -1.96 0.00 -7.14 3.21 4.13 6.54 3.08 -1.45 3.16 4.44 0.00 3.54 2.22 0.00 0.00 2.41 1.19

345,000,000 5,384,000 -32,400.00 246,000 -119,470.00 41,400 560,000 5,300 18,300 1,681,000 52,500.00 5,852,000 103,800 59,500.00 135,373,000 7,428,870.00 490,000 30,040,000 3,200,000 124,200,000 17,700,000 2,964,000 -84,650.00 21,064,600 -2,214,355.00 1,801,000 229,000 208,000 -44,240.00 19,000,000 7,000,000 133,000 2,959,900 161,072.00 4,269,000 -74,450.00 178,400,000 120,000.00 549,050 -52,941,391.00 1,653,000 -44,380.00 424,000,000

70 553 8.21 111 1047

33 490 5.88 101 1011

78.95 84.8

74.5 75

ABS-CBN Holdings Corp.

Ayala Corp. Pref `B1’ GMA Holdings Inc. MWIDE PREF PF Pref 2 PNX PREF 3A SMC Preferred B SMC Preferred C SMC Preferred D SMC Preferred F SMC Preferred H SMC Preferred I

-0.09 0.00 -1.16 0.00 0.50 0.00 1.37 0.25 0.66 0.32 0.07 -0.07

1,023,860 1,200 43,900 1,060 1,100 500 33,010 35,300 140 480 138,000 100,000

-1.39

580,000

0.00 11.14 1.28 -4.99

218,000 195,000 65,000 4,901,100

0.25

7,850

6.98

0.8900 LR Warrant Alterra Capital Makati Fin. Corp.

Italpinas Xurpas

-13,266,220.00 1,541,890.00 -476,150.00

15

3.5

12.88

5.95

9,800.00

130.7

105.6 First Metro ETF

STOCKS

FINANCIAL 1,617.05 (UP) 9.75 INDUSTRIAL 11,705.46 (DOWN) 19.01 HOLDING FIRMS 7,199.11 (UP) 51.91 PROPERTY 2,981.36 (UP) 40.53 SERVICES 1,530.18 (UP) 6.97 MINING & OIL 10,897.01 (UP) 67.78 PSEI 7,257.85 (UP) 56.48 All Shares Index 4,288.61 (UP) 23.21 Gainers: 105; Losers: 83; Unchanged: 48; Total: 236

Close

0.083 0.415 2.4 0.83 1.15 1.42 4.13 0.090 0.290 0.39 23 2.69 22.15 1.6 3.1 15.08 0.69 3.38 0.83 5.73

0.124 0.123 0.123 0.500 0.485 0.490 36.5 36 36.5 0.840 0.840 0.840 1.15 1.10 1.11 1.88 1.84 1.86 4.14 3.97 4.09 0.085 0.085 0.085 0.2550 0.2470 0.2500 0.650 0.580 0.580 28.25 28.00 28.25 8.6 8.6 8.6 29.45 28.70 28.95 1.61 1.55 1.61 3.19 3.19 3.19 22.80 22.10 22.60 0.88 0.84 0.84 6.53 6.5 6.5 1.190 1.130 1.130 4.850 4.820 4.850 SERVICES 7.6 7.95 7.61 7.9 57.75 58.5 57.1 57.2 1.28 1.28 1.28 1.28 0.600 0.610 0.580 0.590 11.16 11.16 11.16 11.16 4.51 4.70 4.50 4.64 0.0620 0.0620 0.0590 0.0590 3.11 3.14 3.09 3.14 90.1 91.05 89.7 90.7 9.5 9.5 9.4 9.4 1.71 1.73 1.72 1.73 7.00 7.00 6.91 6.91 2.93 2.93 2.93 2.93 2140 2178 2110 2166 6.95 6.97 6.93 6.94 1.18 1.20 1.18 1.20 64.3 67.1 64.4 66.65 15.10 15.58 15.06 15.56 190 190 190 190 14 15.9 11.6 11.84 0.0100 0.0100 0.0100 0.0100 0.315 0.315 0.295 0.300 1.7300 1.7500 1.6700 1.6900 2.2 2.22 2.2 2.2 7.99 7.99 7.90 7.99 3.79 3.80 3.76 3.79 1.17 1.17 1.17 1.17 2.77 2.79 2.78 2.78 20.90 23.00 20.60 20.90 0.570 0.610 0.590 0.600 2 2 2 2 2.28 2.35 2.25 2.28 4.04 4.11 4.00 4.04 0.300 0.300 0.280 0.300 2.650 3.250 2.450 3.220 17.5 17.5 17.5 17.5 111.00 112.00 112.00 112.00 22.15 22.25 21.90 22.25 1855.00 1859.00 1840.00 1845.00 0.440 0.455 0.440 0.440 0.870 0.880 0.850 0.860 41.50 41.70 40.00 41.20 79.50 80.60 79.50 80.05 6.60 6.65 6.40 6.40 3.57 3.62 3.47 3.48 0.630 0.650 0.630 0.640 3.6 3.63 3.6 3.6 0.325 0.325 0.325 0.325 5.020 5.390 5.020 5.220 MINING & OIL 0.0040 0.0042 0.0040 0.0041 2.16 2.16 2.04 2.16 4.25 4.30 4.25 4.27 12.56 12.58 10.24 12.56 0.255 0.255 0.248 0.249 8.3000 8.3 7.9 8.3000 8.0300 8.0000 7.7500 7.9500 0.75 0.77 0.75 0.75 0.530 0.560 0.520 0.530 8.25 8.45 7.97 8.38 1.030 1.080 0.990 0.990 0.295 0.305 0.290 0.290 0.240 0.244 0.238 0.242 0.255 0.250 0.246 0.250 0.0120 0.0130 0.0120 0.0120 0.0140 0.0140 0.0120 0.0130 2.18 2.4 2.18 2.25 5.57 5.85 5.52 5.8 2.6 2.86 2.6 2.77 0.6500 0.6700 0.6500 0.6700 1.3800 1.3900 1.3600 1.3600 0.0095 0.0098 0.0095 0.0098 0.0090 0.0094 0.0094 0.0094 3.80 3.80 3.80 3.80 5.65 5.87 5.65 5.85 2.25 2.42 2.28 2.30 0.0120 0.0120 0.0120 0.0120 126.00 126.50 125.60 126.00 3.32 3.5 3.32 3.4 0.0084 0.0085 0.0085 0.0085 PREFERRED 57 57.5 56.9 56.95 518 518 518 518 6.88 6.81 6.8 6.8 110.5 110.5 110.5 110.5 1010 1017 1015 1015 103.8 103.8 103.8 103.8 76.45 77.5 76.5 77.5 79.8 80 79.8 80 75.5 76 76 76 77 77.25 77.25 77.25 75.05 75.2 75.1 75.1 75.1 75.1 75.05 75.05 WARRANTS & BONDS 3.600 3.670 3.500 3.550 SME 4 4.23 3.9 4 3.86 4.29 3.86 4.29 3.13 3.17 3.13 3.17 19.64 19.66 18.56 18.66 EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 118.2 118.6 118.1 118.5

T op g ainerS VALUE 772,672,821.33 1,328,979,672.196 1,603,829,517.27 912,008,898.85 1,399,550,048.60 409,145,683.844 6,521,341,496.09

Low

0.201 0.69 10.96 0.97 2.22 2.1 5.94 0.180 0.470 0.72 27 8.54 31.8 2.29 4.9 21.35 1.06 7.56 1.62 8.59

-720,329.00 266,160.00

Close

104,500.00 8,111,130.00 -55,890.00 -12,255,890.00 8,276,120.00 -244,250.00 25,880,520.00 521,920.00 21,125,400.00 -217,130.00 -712,520.00

-41,139,409.00 -70,670.00 -1,015,000.00

2,857,600.00 -150,100.00

40,239,194.00

T op L oSerS Close (P)

Change (%)

STOCKS

Close (P)

Change (%)

NOW Corp.

3.220

21.51

Chemphil

136.1

-15.47

Makati Fin. Corp.

4.29

11.14

IPeople Inc. `A'

11.84

-15.43

Bright Kindle Resources

1.59

9.66

Conc. Aggr. 'A'

206

-10.43

Bogo Medelin

61

8.93

Manila Mining `B'

0.0130

-7.14

Nihao Mineral Resources

2.77

6.54

Natl. Reinsurance Corp.

0.98

-6.67

Manila Bulletin

0.600

5.26

A. Brown Co., Inc.

1.31

-5.07

Vulcan Ind'l.

1.33

4.72

ATN Holdings B

0.285

-5.00

Oriental Pet. `B'

0.0094

4.44

Xurpas

18.66

-4.99

Nickelasia

5.8

4.13

Phil. Realty `A'

0.580

-4.92

LBC Express

11.82

4.05

Boulevard Holdings

0.0590

-4.84

FRIDAY: APRIL 22, 2016

B3

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

MNTC allots P3.9b for upgrade

By Darwin G. Amojelar

MANILA North Tollways Corp. said on Thursday it will spend P3.9 billion to upgrade North Luzon Expressway and Subic-Clark Tarlac Expressway.

“Prior to the integration of NLEx and SCTEx last month, we have lined up a lot of enhancement works for both roads, putting priority on the convenience and safety of our motorists,” said MNTC president Rodrigo Franco.

The works that are being done simultaneously include pavement maintenance, road widening and toll plaza expansion.

MNTC allotted P2.6 billion of the total capital spending for a road widening project covering Segments 2 and 3 of NLEx that started in March to accommodate the growing number of vehicles plying the tollway.

The road widening project will expand the existing two-lane portion of NLEx between Sta. Rita and San Fernando to three

lanes on both the northbound and southbound sides, while the current one-lane stretch between Dau and Sta. Ines will be expanded to two lanes on both sides.

MNTC is also investing P1 billion for the pavement improvement of the entire 94-km stretch of SCTEx from 2016 to 2018.

The 2016 pavement upgrade amounting to P305 million includes asphalt overlay and road patching of Porac in Pampanga to Concepcion in Tarlac, while the 2017 upgrade involves the repair from Porac to Floridablanca and from Concepcion to San Miguel.

Pavement works in 2018 will cov-

er the stretch of Floridablanca to Tipo and from San Miguel to La Paz. Franco said the pavement upgrade on SCTEx was part of the company’s efforts to make the SCTEx’s pavement as smooth as that of the NLEx. While the 2016 pavement upgrade for SCTEx has just recently started, the 2016 heavy maintenance program for NLEx is now halfway through completion. The P113-million project focuses on road patching of some northbound and southbound portions of NLEX from Valenzuela to Sta. Ines.

Also in progress is the expansion of the NLEx Bocaue Toll Barrier from 25 toll lanes to 33 toll lanes to enhance mobility of motorists using the Bocaue southbound toll plaza. The additional eight mixed lanes are being built at a cost of P206 million.

The project, which is set to be completed this year, involves the construction of an eight-lane skewed toll plaza at the southbound portion of NLEX Bocaue. Four passthrough lanes at the left side of the existing Bocaue Toll Barrier will be made to lead motorists to the new toll plaza.

Stocks rally; Ayala, Megaworld advance THE stock market bounced back Thursday as another surge in oil prices and gains on Wall Street reinforced optimism about the world economy.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index rose 56.48 points, or 0.8 percent, to 7,257.85 on a value turnover of P6.5 billion. Gainers beat losers, 105 to 83, with 48 issues unchanged.

Conglomerate Ayala Corp. climbed 1.6 percent to P786, while unit Ayala Land Inc., the second-biggest builder, advanced 2.9 perent to P35.

Technology stock Now Corp. jumped 21.5 percent to P3.22, while Megaworld Corp., the third largest builder, added 1.5 percent to P4.09.

The rest of Asian stock markets rallied again, with a positive vibe flowing across trading floors. Investors shifted out of safe-bet assets such as the yen, which helped Japan’s Nikkei record a third-straight gain.

The Nikkei finished 2.7 percent higher as the yen eased against the dollar. While it dipped slightly Thursday, the greenback is near the 110 yen level not seen since the start of the month, which has shored up Japan’s exporters.

In other markets Hong Kong was up 1.8 percent while Sydney ended 1.1 percent higher Seoul was 0.8 percent stronger. Singapore, Taipei, Wellington and Manila also rose.

In early European trade London added 0.2 percent, while Frankfurt’s and Paris each gained 0.3 percent.

However, Shanghai closed 0.7 percent lower, extending the previous day’s losses, with analysts suggesting the recent batch of upbeat data has fuelled fears Chinese authorities will hold off unveiling any fresh stimulus for the time being. With AFP

Choices IT IS the third week of April, only a half month to go until the Philippine national elections. In the AIM classrooms where I teach, the discussions have focused on execution and, more specifically, on managing change.

Execution In the last two weeks, my classes have been in the area of strategy implementation. For some reason, my schedules had managed to bunch up and I was teaching strategy to four different classes: our full-time MBA program, our evening Executive MBA program, the four-week Management Development Program, and senior executives of a power company.

They all agreed that while formulating strategy is not easy, execution is even more challenging.

As we discussed the challenges of strategy implementation, I posed the question I normally ask. I start off this question with an illustration, essentially an upside-down triangle that I call the engine of strategy. I tell them this: Let us think of the engine of

strategy as having three distinct but interconnected components: (a) First, there is the hardware component, the tangible assets such as cash, building, and equipment needed to implement strategy; (b) Second, there is the software component, the policies, processes, standards needed to operate the business, and finally, (c) the “liveware” component, the organization piece, the people piece. Then I ask this question: Which of these pieces is hardest to manage? Which is easiest? Which piece, if you do it well and can make it a source of competitive advantage, is toughest to copy? Which is easiest?

To the question of easiest, the typical answer is the hardware component. That part is a matter of finding enough capital – not, of course, that capital is not scarce. In fact, because capital can be scarce, there is sometimes argument concerning whether hardware or software is more difficult. But to the question of which is toughest to manage, and toughest to copy, the usual overwhelming majority opinion (in fact, typically unanimous) points to liveware.

Liveware When I was starting out in my career, one of our managers carried a mug that sported this statement: “Managers get things done through people. Engineers get things done through machines.” That one actu-

Security Bank award. The Asian Banker’s Excellence in Retail Financial Services Awards 2016

names Security Bank Corp. as Best Improved Retail Bank in Asia Pacific, Central Asia, Africa and the Gulf Region during the awards night held at the W Hotel in Hong Kong. Accepting the award on behalf of Security Bank are retail banking executives (fourth and fifth from left) Leslie Cham, senior vice president and branch banking group head, and Patricia Tan, first VP and retail marketing division head.

ally made me laugh out loud. To this day, when I talk about strategy, I like to joke that the great thing about dealing with machines is that machines are perfectly obedient.

In fact, the challenge of managing organizations is akin to the challenge of leadership: that a leader is defined by having followers, and that following is the decision of the follower, not the leader.

In real life, even when you have formal authority, there are many ways an employee can superficially comply with the requirements of his job without actually being on board in terms of executing strategy – especially radically new strategy.

There are, of course, what Rick Maurer calls the levels of resistance to change: (a) cognitive resistance: “I don’t get it;” (b) emotional resistance: “I don’t like it;” and finally, (c) the social level, the one that many managers often fail to take into account: “I don’t like you.”

The challenge of leading change really involves not just eliciting buy in to the change itself, it involves buy in to following the change leader. This explains why much of the negative campaigning around the current presidential candidates focuses on their personalities and not their capabilities.

Campaigns The other part of managing change that has implications for

the presidential elections is that, in every change effort, there will always be three types of individuals: those who support the change, those who are against the change, and those who are undecided. For the most part, the change leader’s effort should be around harnessing those who support the change and on convincing those who are undecided. This is especially important when those against the change effort have taken a hard line.

In the last SWS Bilang Pilipino survey conducted April 13 and 14, to the question of whether they are likely to change their minds about who to vote for, about 61% of respondents said they will definitely not change their minds, about 22% said they have made definite decisions, about 11% were still undecided, and about 6% said “I don’t know.” What this means is that, theoretically, about 17% of voters can still change their minds about who they will vote for. The same poll had Poe at 34%, Duterte at 33%, Roxas at 16%, and Binay at 15%. If this survey is representative of the voting public, this means that Poe need only keep her current followers plus sway a small amount of those in the undecided/swayable segment in order to win. The path to success for Roxas and Binay is much tougher. In order to win, they must hold on to their own votes,

win virtually all of the undecided and potentially swayable, and take away votes from other candidates.

At this point in the campaign, much of what can be said for and against candidates have been said.

Unfortunately, the rhetoric has been skewed heavily to the negative. In the beginning, the brunt of the negative campaigns focused on Binay. As election neared and it became clear that the support for Duterte was growing, the focus of the negative campaigning shifted to Duterte. This negative campaign has been so aggressive and widespread that it is hard to imagine that those who are not adamantly behind Duterte would still be voting for him. The unfortunate rhetoric of this campaign is contained in the statement “anybody but -.” The reality is that it is Poe’s name that occurs least frequently at the end of that statement. What that means is that even if the Roxas or Binay campaign manages to sway voters away from Duterte, all they might end up doing is giving Poe the win.

What many candidates forget is that convincing voters they shouldn’t like the other candidate is not the best way to win. The best way to win is to convince voters that you are the better choice.

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

FRIDAY: APRIL 22, 2016

B4

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

IN BRIEF RCBC debunks Deguito

RIZAL Commercial Banking Corp. on Thursday debunked the claim of dismissed branch manager Maia Deguito that the transactions on the $81-million laundered money had approval of the bank’s head office.

“This is false,” RCBC executive vice president Macel Fernandez-Estavillo said. Deguito herself admitted that the accounts were credited automatically without need of any approval.

Bank records showed that at the end of day of Feb. 5, a hold was initiated by the bank’s operations group but was lifted when Deguito explained that the clients were long-standing clients of hers and that the amounts were expected, and that KYC (know your client) documents were in order.

Hence, the lift of the hold was approved based on Deguito’s representations that these were long standing clients and that the funds were expected.

Meanwhile, RCBC treasurer and executive vice president Raul Tan resigned from his post on Wednesday. “Out of decency and honor, and despite his lack of involvement in the same, he tendered his resignation because of command responsibility, as [Maia] Deguito—whose culpability has been clearly and convincingly established— was under him,” Estavillo said.

Tambunting online

TAMBUNTING Pawnshop., one of the largest and oldest gadget and jewelry pawnshops in the Philippines, teamed up with MFT Group of Companies and GrabExpress to launch Tambunting Online.

Tambunting Pawnshop president Ramon Tambunting said during the launching Tambunting Online was sdesigned to provide customers with quick, convenient and secure ways to get muchneeded funds. It also takes away the hassle and the privacy and security issues that traditionally accompany the practice of pawning one’s valuables, he said.

“As Tambunting marks its 110th anniversary, we are pleased to offer something that we know our market wants and needs. Throughout the years, we have developed a good ear for what our market wants, and Tambunting Online answers the need for faster, more convenient, yet safe transactions. We are pleased to be working with like-minded partners who share our goals in making this groundbreaking service available to the Filipino public,” said Tambunting. Jenniffer B. Austria

ICTSI sees bleak outlook

PORT operator International Container Terminal Services Inc. said Thursday it expects a bleak outlook until 2017 because of weak global trade.

“The outlook is nothing to be excited about. The problem with the world now is the demand. The global economy has no growth in trade. You see, some areas are growing some areas not, but when you average it out, there’s a little growth,” ICTSI chairman and president Enirque Razontold reporters at the sidelines of the stockholders’ meeting iof the company.

“So, I expect it to continue until next year. It will probably get worse before get its better,” he said.

The country’s biggest port operator reported a net profit of $58.5 million in 2015, down by 68 percent from $182 million in 2014. Gross revenues from port operations dropped 1 percent to $1.05 billion last year from $1.06 billion in 2014.

Darwin G. Amojelar

Balance of payments to remain in surplus

By Julito G. Rada

BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said Thursday the $2.2-billion balance of payments surplus target for 2016 remains realistic, amid the robust growth in remittances, foreign direct investments and portfolio investments.

“We remain optimistic that we shall be able to achieve our BoP target of some $2.2

Mitsubishi’s sales rise 24%

MITSUBISHI Motors Philippines Corp. said company sales in the first quarter grew faster than the entire Philippine automotive industry.

MMPC said it sold 14,688 vehicles in JanuaryMarch period, up 23.8 percent from 11,849 units delivered during the same period in 2015.

The industry grew 21.6 percent in the first quarter, based on the combined reports of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. and Trucks Manufacturers Association.

Mitsubishi captured a 19.2-percent market share, keeping its spot as the second bestselling automotive brand in the country.

Mitsubishi Montero Sport remained the bestselling mid-size SUV in the first quarter, accounting for 42.3 percent of the light commercial vehicle sales. Othel V. Campos

Foreign portfolio investments or ‘hot money’ in March posted a net inflow of $482 million, the highest in 12 months, on renewed investors’ confidence.

Money sent home by overseas Filipinos grew 9.1 percent in February to $2.1 billion from $1.935 billion a year ago, the fastest in eight months.

Bangko Sentral earlier projected remittances to grow around 4 percent this year, or at the same pace in 2015.

Guinigundo said monetary authorities were closely monitoring external developments because of their impact ton external trade. These are the tightening moves of the US Federal Reserve, the growth trajectory of the Chinese economy and oil prices in international markets.

Tambunting’s 110th year.

Tambunting Pawnshop launches Tambunting Online during its 110th founding anniversary at Solaire Resort & Casino in Parañaque City on April 21.

Shown answering questions during the launching are (seated, from left) Grab Express representative Arlet Villanueva, MFT Group chief executive Maria Francesca Tan, Tambunting Pawnshop president Ramon Tambunting and vice president Joey Tambunting.

DANNY PATA

Startup hotshots at Slingshot PH 2016

Seaoil earns P1b INDEPENDENT oil player Seaoil Philippines Inc. said Thursday net income hit a record P1.05 billion in 2015, a five-fold increase from P200 million in 2014, amid increased sales volume despite weaker world oil prices.

Seaoil president for retail business and chief finance officer Mark Yu said revenues climbed to P31.5 billion in 2015 from P28 billion in 2014 as the company achieved 59 percent of volume growth by capitalizing on areas where it had logistical advantage, streamlining business processes andapplying results-oriented programs.

Industry-led factors such as low fuel prices and increasing vehicle sales also contributed to Seaoil’s stellar performance as these encouraged end-users to consume more fuel, he said.

“In this industry, what you have to look at is not quite revenue but volume because oil prices move. For us, our volume grew by 59 percent. The oil market grew by 2 billion liters and we captured 25 percent of that. That’s 500 million roughly. That contributed from roughly 760 million liters to over 1.2 billion liters,” Yu said. Alena Mae S. Flores

billion by the end of 2016,” Guinigundo said in a text message.

The BoP position, which represents the country’s external strength, swung to a surplus of $854 million in March from a deficit of $244 million a year ago, on sustained net inflows of hot money and remittances.

Data showed the March surplus was the highest in 13 months, or since February 2015 when it reached $985 million.

It was also a sharp turnaround from the $316-million deficit in February 2016.

This trimmed the BoP deficit in the first three months to $275 million.

Guinigundo said capital flows-wise, foreign direct investments and portfolio investments were seen to remain generally resilient.

TODAY is the second and last day of Slingshot Philippines’ National Summit on Startups and Innovation at the Philippine Trade Training Center in Pasay City. Slingshot PH is the Department of Trade and Industry’s startup and innovation ecosystem and development program aimed at spurring economic growth by giving innovators, startups and entrepreneurs opportunities to exchange ideas, determine policy and seek funding support from investors who are ready to embrace innovative ideas.

Slingshot PH provides the platform where innovators can engage policy makers in a dialogue to highlight the problems faced by innovators and the possible solutions to various challenges and hindrances. According to the World Intellectual Property Organization’s 2015 assessment, the Philippines is now ranked 83rd – or 17 steps higher than its previous ranking of 100th – in the global innovation index.

One of the participants to Slingshots PH 2016 is the newly created La French Tech Philippines ecosystem with French-Cambodian entrepreneur Thierry Tea as its Ambassador. La French Tech, which had its beginnings in 2013, is a publicly funded initiative to promote French startups under a single brand not only in France but also overseas. Since its inception, La French Tech has already developed hubs in major cities that include New York, San Francisco, Barcelona, London, Sao Paulo, Tokyo, Cape Town and Tel Aviv, among several others, and is eyeing Manila as its next hub.

According to La French Tech Philippines, the country is an “attractive venue for entrepreneurs worldwide. Being a traditional exporter of electronic components whose people have acquired a strong technical and IT background, the Philippine environment is a naturally favorable site for those who want to develop IT and tech business. French entrepreneurs are attracted to the highly skilled

workforce in the Philippines and Filipinos’ proficiency with languages.”

According to its Ambassador Thierry Tea, who is one of the keynote speakers of Slingshot PH 2016, La French Tech Philippines “started with 22 entrepreneurs and it has already grown by more than 30 percent in less than a month.”

Tea is optimistic that the initiative shall “indeed favor the networking of talents and encourage entrepreneurship among them, thereby creating a synergy whose common goal is to contribute to develop opportunities, creativity, attract more entrepreneurs and investors while also positioning France on a path to become a major Tech and innovation partner of the Philippines.”

Among the entrepreneurs with inspiring success stories are Sébastien Caudron, ex-president of Netbooster Asia and now regional director of Philippine-based Group M; Fabrice Boutain, CEO of Anxa which is an online coaching platform based in Alabang that now has more than one million subscribers; Cyril Rocke, president of DataOne which hosts a large number of major corporation’s servers; young entrepreneur Boris Chevreau, the former marketing manager of PhilJets who launched Infinit3solutions which serves as a onestop recruitment and consulting agency in Metro Manila; Benedicte Souppe whose social startup Calawis Garden delivers fresh fruits and vegetables directly from organic farms; and Henri Motte-Munoz with Edukasyon.com that helps students choose the direction they want to take.

With the strong dynamics of the ecosystem, an application for the French Tech Hub certification of Manila is being prepared within the group. Major cities such as San Francisco, New York or London already benefit from the said certification that provides funds, visibility and mentorship to entrepreneurs, Tech Philippines said.

SAP appoints new head for Southeast Asia Leading global enterprise application software company SAP has announced the appointment of Scott Russell as its president and managing director for

SAP Southeast Asia, further strengthening the senior management team of SAP Asia Pacific Japan. Scott Russell will be responsible for driving SAP Southeast Asia’s sustainable growth strategy and operations and will directly report to Adaire Fox-Martin, president of SAP Asia Pacific Japan.

Russell, who was in Manila recently, is a seasoned executive with more than two decades in the IT industry spanning across software, cloud and services.

Prior to this new appointment, he was COO for SAP Asia Pacific Japan where he provided leadership and direction to SAP’s multi-functional sales and operations organizations in APJ, driving continuous productivity improvements and significantly contributing to the achievement of revenue and profitability objectives. Scott was also the interim President and Managing Director for SAP Southeast Asia for the last quarter, where he helped to ensure business continuity.

“As one of the world’s fastest-growing and competitive regions, Southeast Asia is a strategic market for SAP Asia Pacific Japan,” said Fox-Martin who expressed confidence that Russell’s wealth of business and management expertise in the technology industry, will build on a strong growth trajectory and lead SAP Southeast Asia to continued success.

“Southeast Asia companies understand that innovation will be at the forefront of how business operates. As such, technology as an enabler of business can be seen as a means to expand their business and promote growth,” noted Russell, who added that with SAP HANA at the core, and available in the Cloud, SAP is well positioned to bring the value of digital business framework consisting of innovative applications and a reliable network to drive the transformation of Digital Asia and help customers create value.

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

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CESAR BARRIOQUINTO EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Elizabeth a constant in years of turmoil WINDSOR—Britain celebrated the 90th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday with tributes to a popular monarch who has steered it through the decline of empire and a wave of scandals to the Internet age.

Prime Minister David Cameron paid tribute to the queen as “a rock of strength for our nation” and her son and heir Prince Charles marked the occasion by reading Shakespeare verses in a special broadcast on the BBC radio.

The sovereign, who last year overtook her great-great grandmother queen Victoria to become Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, will meet well-wishers near Windsor Castle later on Thursday to mark the day.

In the evening, she will light a beacon, the first in a chain of 1,000 which will be illuminated around the country and the world, and host a family dinner.

While still an active monarch, the queen, who has reigned since 1953, has scaled back her duties in recent years as Prince Charles and grandson Prince William plus wife Kate take a more prominent role.

The royals remain popular but some analysts question what will happen when the queen—who is in good health, enjoying regular rides on her favorite pony and walking her corgis—reaches the end of her life.

The Times newspaper in an editorial praised the queen as “a symbol of continuity and the best embodiment we have of a complex national identity”.

But it warned the monarchy “will not long retain its popularity” if Charles, an opinionated environmentalist, is seen as interfering in politics in breach of constitutional conventions.

Part of the queen’s appeal in Britain is that she is seen as above the political fray in Westminster, while Charles’s views often prove controversial.

British MPs will devote most of the day to a debate in her honor led by Cameron in the House of Commons, and parliament will be lit up in red, white and blue, the colors of Britain’s flag.

Two military gun salutes will take place at London’s Hyde Park and the Tower of London to mark the occasion. AFP

WORLD

Ecuador orders drastic measures after quake PEDERNALES, Ecuador—Ecuador announced drastic economic measures late Wednesday, including a hike in some taxes and mandatory wage contributions, to deal with the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that killed more than 500 people and injured over 5,000.

Launching. A general view of the atmosphere during the Haute Living presentation of the launching of the Pasquale Bruni Giardini Segreti Collection at the Neiman Marcus Beverly Hills on April 20, 2016, in Beverly Hills, California. AFP

Saturday’s 7.8-magnitude quake was the worst to hit the South American country in decades, causing hundreds of buildings to collapse and damaging roads and other key infrastructure in tourist areas.

The official death toll currently stands at 525, with 5,733 injured and 163 still missing.

But aside from the staggering human cost, the quake comes as a big economic blow to oil-producing Ecuador, which has already taken a huge hit from the drop in global crude prices.

President Rafael Correa, in an evening address to the nation, estimated that the cost of rebuilding could come to as much as $3 billion and knock two or three points off the country’s GDP. Correa went on to announce a series of measures to help cover the costs, including an increase in the country’s value added tax from 12 percent to 14 percent for a year.

He also announced mandatory wage contributions—people earning $1,000 a month will have to pay the equivalent of a day’s salary for a month, those earning $2,000, one day’s worth for two months, up to those earning more than $5,000 who are being asked to contribute one day’s salary for five months.

And anyone whose assets exceed $1 million will have to pay a one-time contribution of 0.9 percent of their wealth, he added.

He also said unspecified state assets would be sold.

Correa’s address ended a day that began before dawn with panic as a new 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast.

The latest quake caused no damage or casualties, but shook the ground forcefully in the dark of night, sending terrified residents running into the streets in the devastated resort town of Pedernales.

Meanwhile, the toll from Saturday’s quake continued to rise as emergency workers untangled the masses of rubble, often by hand or with basic tools.

“The death toll will continue to rise, unfortunately, but at a slower pace. Many bodies have already been recovered,” Correa warned.

At least 11 foreigners were killed in Saturday’s quake, which struck a Pacific coast region popular with tourists. They included citizens of Britain, Canada, Ireland and several Latin American countries. AFP

Australia’s quolls trained not to eat poisonous toads SYDNEY—Scientists are training an endangered furry marsupial—Australia’s beloved quoll—to avoid eating toxic toads that have devastated predator populations in a novel attempt to save native fauna.

Carnivorous quolls, commonly known as the native cat, are under attack from the poisonous cane toad, an invasive species from Central and South America.

The toads were introduced to

Australia in 1935 but are so poisonous they can kill predators that try to eat them.

Numbering more than 200 million, the invasive species continue to spread across northern Australia at an estimated 40-60 kilometers a year, leaving a trail of catastrophic population declines in native predators.

Now a government-funded project has been set up to train “toad-smart” northern quolls to

avoid eating the poisonous toads and help re-establish a population of the marsupials in Kakadu.

Quolls are also under threat from feral cats.

Up to 30 trained quolls will be released in the wilds of southern Kakadu’s Mary River district this year as part of a three-year plan.

Quolls are exposed to food containing toad skins and nauseous chemicals which they gradually learn to avoid.

A successful experimental program from 2010 showed that the toad-smart females not only survived and reproduced but that new generations learned to avoid eating the toads from them, resulting in a five-fold increase in local quoll numbers.

“It is fantastic to see the success of this innovative program to protect Australia’s small mammals,” said Environment Minister Greg Hunt on Thursday.

“This is extremely important work. Without focused conservation initiatives such as this it would be unlikely the species would recover for the foreseeable future.”

Threatened Species Commissioner Gregory Andrews said the project was part of a A$750,000 (US$585,000) investment strategy to make Kakadu safe again for native animals and plants. AFP

B6

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WORLD

CESAR BARRIOQUINTO EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Islands ready for climate agreement

Before the summit. US President Barack Obama speaks with Omani Deputy Prime minister Sayed Fahd bin Mahmud al-Said during the family photo for the US-Gulf Cooperation Council Summit in Riyadh on April 21, 2016. Obama met Gulf leaders in Saudi Arabia to push for an intensified campaign against the Islamic State group despite strains in the Gulf’s ties with Washington. AFP

Obama seeks Gulf help in campaign against IS

RIYADH—US President Barack Obama met Gulf leaders in Saudi Arabia on Thursday to push for an intensified campaign against the Islamic State group, despite strains in ties with Washington.

Making what is likely his final presidential visit to America’s historic allies, Obama posed for a summit photo with the six regional leaders, including Saudi King Salman, before beginning about four hours of talks at a royal palace.

With nine months left of his term, the president is also again seeking to reassure his Sunni allies upset over American overtures to their regional rival, Shiite Iran.

The summit comes after Washington reported progress in recent months against the Sunni extremists of IS, who seized large parts of Iraq and Syria.

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states are part of the US-led coalition which has been carrying out air strikes against IS.

In a bid to keep up the momentum against the jihadists, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter—in Riyadh with Obama—announced on Monday that the US will send more troops and Apache attack helicopters to Iraq.

Washington also wants to emphasize the reconstruction of cities taken back from IS. On Wednesday, Carter pleaded for greater Gulf financial and political involvement in Iraq, which is battling an economic crisis as well as the extremists.

Carter made the comments after meeting his Gulf Cooperation Council counterparts.

“I encourage our GCC partners to do more, not only militarily as the Saudis, as the UAE have been

doing... but also politically and economically,” Carter said.

Sunni support for “multi-sectarian governance and reconstruction” in Shiite-majority Iraq will be critical to ensuring the defeat of IS, the Pentagon chief said.

On the eve of the summit, US Secretary of State John Kerry was also in Riyadh, where he held talks with Deputy Crown Prince and Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman.

Bahrain’s King Hamad said in a statement that the summit “clearly reflects outstanding relations between the GCC countries and US”.

He hoped the talks “would come up with results that would help handle the grave regional and international challenges, (and) boost regional peace and security.”

But Gulf leaders are offended by Obama’s perceived reluctance to get involved in the region’s problems, and in particular his tilt towards their arch rival Iran.

They worry that Iran will be

emboldened to seek a still bigger role in the region after the lifting of international sanctions in January under a landmark nuclear deal with major powers led by the United States.

Prince Turki al-Faisal, the kingdom’s former intelligence chief, told CNN that Obama’s conduct and declarations have made Saudi Arabia realize that the relationship has changed.

“My personal view is that America has changed, you know, as much as we have changed here,” he said.

“How far we can go with our dependence on America? How much can we rely on steadfastness from American leadership? What is it that makes for our joint benefits to come together? These are things that we have to recalibrate,” the senior royal said.

He did not think the next president should be expected to return to “the yesteryear days when things were different.” AFP

UNITED NATIONS—With their very existence under threat from climate change, the world’s island states come to the United Nations on Friday not only to sign the Paris climate deal but to be first in line to make sure it goes into force.

Led by Fiji, at least nine islands will formally present their ratification of the agreement to the United Nations, moving quickly to the next stage in a bid to bind countries to their commitments to tackle global warming.

The Paris agreement will come into force as soon as 55 countries responsible for 55 percent of the world’s greenhouse gases have ratified the accord.

“We wanted to be the first to ratify it,” said Fiji’s Prime Minister Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama, whose cabinet quickly endorsed the deal, followed by the parliament in February.

That same month, the Pacific paradise island was hit by Tropical Cyclone Winston that killed 44 people, destroyed 40,000 homes and caused more than $1 billion in damage.

“A single climatic event can wipe out all the gains we have made and set back our development,” the prime minister told a news conference.

Other early ratifiers of the deal will be Tuvalu, Kiribati and the Maldives—low-lying islands that face oblivion from rising sea levels—as well as Belize, Barbados, Nauru, Saint Lucia and Samoa.

China and the United States, the world’s top two greenhouse gas emitters, are pushing for quick ratification so that the Paris deal can come into force, possibly as early as 2016 or 2017.

More than 160 governments, including some 50 heads of state and government, are to sign the historic accord during the ceremony on Earth Day. It will be the largest signing of an international agreement since the Convention on the Law of the Sea in 1982.

French President Francois Hollande will be the first to sign the accord, but the ceremony will also see island leaders take the podium to appeal for urgent action to ratify the Paris accord. AFP

Malnutrition still a concern in N. Korea SEOUL—Malnutrition remains a significant health issue in North Korea, with a drought last year slashing crop output and undermining the push for agricultural self-sufficiency, according to a new UN report.

More than three quarters of North Korea’s population of 25 million remain “food insecure and highly vulnerable to shocks,” said the report compiled by UN agencies in Pyongyang and published Wednesday.

“An estimated 18 million people are in need of some form of humanitarian assistance,” it added.

Malnutrition rates continue to

be a public health concern, with significant gaps remaining in nutritional intake, particularly affecting women and children under-five.

Undernutrition is a major underlying cause of “maternal and child mortality and morbidity,” said the report.

According to the UN Food and Agricultural Organization’s 2015 State of Food Insecurity report, the proportion of people undernourished in the total population was 41.6 per cent in 2014-16, up from 35.5 per cent in 2005-07.

By the end of 2015, the impact of two consecutive drought seasons had “severely affected” crop perfor-

mance, with production down 11 percent from the previous year.

“The country continues to suffer from food insecurity as well as limited access to health and water, sanitation and hygiene, resulting in chronic malnutrition and poor health outcomes,” the report said.

Production is constrained by insufficient arable land, land degradation due to intensive cultivation, as well as a scarcity of quality seeds, fertilizers and pesticides, the report said.

North Korea has suffered regular food shortages and hundreds of thousands are believed to have died during a famine in the mid-to-late 1990s. AFP

Shinto rite. Shinto priests walk towardsthe outer shrine to administer the Shinto rite ‘Kiyoharai’ on the first day of the three-day spring festival at the controversial Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo on April 21, 2016. AFP

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MOTORING

RAMON L. TOMELDAN EDITOR

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

B7

FASTEST DRIFT

Nissan GT-R breaks Guiness world record DUBAI—Nissan has set the Guinness world record title for the fastest ever drift. The record was broken with a speed of 304.96 km/hr and 30 degrees angle using a specially-tuned MY16 Nissan GT-R. Masato Kawabata, the Japanese drift champion and title holder for the Japanese drifting series, clinched the top spot from former record holder Jakub Przygoński of Poland. The record was set during a special event that took place at Fujairah International Airport, UAE. The record-breaking Nissan GT-R was developed with the support and coordination of Nismo specialists. It was tuned to 1380 HP in order to set the record, and adapted so all the power went to the rear wheels. The GT-R was prepared by GReddy Trust and tested extensively at Japan’s Fuji Speedway facility with Kawabata at the wheel. The car was set up for agility while maintaining stability and confidence-inspiring handling characteristics – essential when performing such challenging feats.

“Once again, Nissan has broken a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title and has made international history for the fifth time in the Middle East,” said Samir Cherfan, Managing Director of Nissan Middle East.

“The Nissan GT-R is one of the world’s most iconic supercars, proving time and again the incredible breadth of its capabilities, and has clearly demonstrated its performance leadership by beating the best drift cars out there.

The fact that this achievement was set here in the UAE makes it even more special for our region. Setting this incredibly difficult world record was a clear demonstration of the excitement we are bringing to the Middle East with the Nismo brand.”

Fujairah International Airport was strategically chosen for its 3km long airstrip which was deemed to be sufficiently long enough for the challenge. From the outset, Nissan wanted to perform the drift at a speed of more than 300km/h and Kawabata, who leads in the Japanese drifting series for Team Tokyo, was chosen from a group of highly specialized competition drivers.

“We were very happy to be able to host such an exciting event,” said Mohammed Al Salami, chairman of Fujairah International

Airport, “Once again, the UAE has achieved another GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title. This great country is always accommodating when it comes to helping individuals and companies make history, and the staff at Fujairah International Airport were able to assist this record attempt while maintaining the airtight security required at facilities such as ours.”

Cherfan also thanked the airport personnel and its management for their support, saying, “Fujairah International Airport was a perfect fit for this world record attempt and the enormous levels of support we received from every level was invaluable. We had to set up a workshop in one of the airport’s hangars and had just five days to get everything ready including the specially tuned MY16 Nissan GT-R, spare parts, tyres and all the other equipment which required stringent security checks and processes. Without the dedication and tireless assistance of everyone at Fujairah International Airport we could not have achieved this, and I wish to express my sincere thanks to everyone involved.”

Mohammed Al Falasai from The Prodrift Academy UAE commented: “The Prodrift Academy UAE, in partnership with Nissan Middle East, is proud to be part of the Guinness World Records for the fastest drift.

Hard work and dedication from all parties involved have enabled us to achieve our goal of setting this new record. Through our dedicated training programs, the Prodrift Academy and Nissan will continue to be at the forefront of drifting in the Middle East.”

GReddy Trust’s technicians worked on the specially tuned MY16 Nissan GT-R setup on site in the three days leading up to the event and had only three attempts to break the record as per strict guidelines set by Guinness World Records. Support was also provided by technicians and logistics personnel from the Prodrift Academy, Recaro for the driver’s seat, RAYS for the supply of special, lightweight alloy wheels and Toyo Tires for the drift tyres that were specially designed for this stunt.

FASTLANE New Brio Amaze rolls out HONDA Cars Philippines Inc. rolls out the New Brio Amaze 1.3 S AT Special Edition, equipped with new and exclusive features that provide a more dynamic customer experience for Honda’s compact sedan. With its limited availability in the market, customers are encouraged to reserve at their chosen Honda dealership to be one of the few to own this exclusive product.

The New Brio Amaze 1.3 S AT Special Edition bears new exterior features, such as fog lights and 14” alloy wheels, especially designed to embody a stronger styling statement for the New Brio Amaze.

The Brio Amaze is designed with an Interior Trim Garnish for a classier and a more sophisticated feel that complements its spacious interior. It also comes with an Advanced Audio (USB, Auxiliary Connectivity), and new exclusive features, such as Rear Seat Arm Rest, Driver and Front Passenger Vanity Mirrors, Driver and Passenger Seatback Pockets, and a total of Five (5) Cup

Holders. To ensure utmost customer safety, the it is now incorporated with a security alarm.

The development of the Brio Amaze embodies the application of Honda’s “man maximum, machine minimum” design concept showcasing high levels of Honda DQR – durability, quality, and reliability.

Considering its compact size, measuring at 3,990mm (length) with 2,405mm wheelbase, the New Brio Amaze boasts a powerful yet fuel efficient 1.3 liter i-VTEC engine, which delivers a maximum power output of 100 ps at 6,000 rpm, thus providing a more comfortable mobility in a wide variety of driving situations.

With all these features in place, the Brio Amaze 1.3 S AT Special Edition will retail at P 719,000. Customer deliveries will start on the third (3rd) week of April 2016, HCPI said. It will be available with the following colors: Crystal Black Pearl (New) Lunar Silver Metallic (New) Taffeta White

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B8

RAMON L. TOMELDAN EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

MOTORING

ISUZU mu-X

makes a splash

Text and photo by Dino Ray V. Directo III

WITH EL NINO inducing the heat factor to rise to record highs , Isuzu Philippines Corporation sent a select group of motoring mediamen to cool their heels by organizing an out-of-town ride and drive.

The scenic island of Coron, Palawan gave the Isuzu executives a perfect excuse to test the mettle of their refreshed SUV, the mu-X. Coron, also known as the largest in the Calamian group of islands, is fast developing into a destination of choice for both local and foreign tourists due to its lush tropical feel, clear blue waters and pristine beaches.

With IPC’s energetic top honcho Hajime Koso leading the 24-man contingent of pen pushers and Isuzu executives, the adventure began upon arrival at the Busuanga Airport.

With a convoy of six mu-Xs, our group drove through Coron’s dirt road, which put the suspension system, driving and riding capabilities of the mu-X to the test. First day of our Coron experience was a visit to

the island wildlife sanctuary of Calauit.

Built by the late President Ferdinand Marcos as a game reserve and sanctuary, Calauit was created by way of a foreign grant from former Kenyan President Jomo Kenyatta to bring in eight species of protected wildlife such as: 12 bushbucks, 11 elands, 11 gazelles, 15 giraffes, 18 impalas, 12 waterbucks, 10 topis, and 15 zebras.

According to Calauit island park officers, the island fell into disrepair and only five of the original species survived to this day. “We are trying our best to survive and it is hard to keep up with the day to day operations since no funding has been allocated for the upkeep of the island,” says a park ranger.

After a sumptuous lunch at the island sanctuary, our convoy pro-

ceeded with the drive to a hotel, which was a two hour drive from the port of Calauit. Despite the punishing terrain, the mighty 4JJI-TC 3.0 liter VGS engine of the MU-X powered through the off-road terrain without any hitch.

T h e climate control system also never faltered despite the searing heat of the summer sun.

On the second day, while wearing their sporty summer shirts provided

by Reebok, the participants experienced the serene and placid waters of Palawan, took an Island tour on Banul Beach, Barracuda Lake, and feasted on barbeques at Atwayan Beach, just before visiting Kayangan Lake and Siete Picados.

“This event, mainly complemented by the 2016 Isuzu mu-X 3.0LVGS and this province, has proven the point: that the vehicle is eyed to be

close to the heart of every traveler and that its power would keep one’s heart beating fast,” Koso said.

“We are proud that this vehicle was brought along this side of the world so that many can enjoy its perks and abilities,” he added.

Truck attack Back in Manila, Isuzu staged a three-day Truck Fest at the SMX Convention Hall of the SM Mall of Asia. Themed as “Trucks for Life,” IPC showcased its truck lineup and demonstrated Isuzu’s heritage and core competency at truck manufacturing, but also strengthen the company’s ties with consumers.

“One of the key ingredients in our partnership with our clients is the trust that has been forged through time, and which is emblazoned in every Isuzu vehicle,” said Koso.

“Isuzu trucks are not merely figures

in the company’s sales report, but are testaments to the security and assurance that they provide to customers. Isuzu is a responsible partner for life.”

Leading the 19-vehicle lineup at this year’s Truck Fest are Isuzu’s heavy-duty models, which have long served as benchmarks both globally and locally for their quality, durability and reliability. Prominently displayed at the Truck Fest were Isuzu’s C-Series and E-Series models, most prominent among which are the CYH51S (GVW 9.74 tons) , a 20-cubic-meter dump truck, and the similarly configured CYZ51M (GVW 10.225 tons), a 15-cubic-meter version. Another CYZ51M, equipped with a control lever and is designed as a concrete mixer, complete the full-size CSeries range.

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TATUM ANCHETA EDITOR

BING PAREL

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

BERNADETTE LUNAS WRITER

life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

ST Y L E & BE AU T Y

LIFE

M

C1

WhAT’S In yOuR TRAvEl bAg?

ost of us are probably already on vacation mode especially since Labor Day is just around the corner. Some have already planned their itineraries for a cooler place, while others who want to take advantage of the summer season have already packed their luggage and are raring to hit the beach.

Whether we choose a destination where the climate is colder or opt for a place where we can enjoy the tropical breeze, bringing travel essentials is a very important part of the journey.

It is said that there are two kinds of travelers: One who packs light and another who brings his entire closet. Whichever one you may be, take these pointers about the essential stuff to bring during your trip based on the experiences of different personalities from Manila’s fashion industry.

We love following the travel adventures of #TravelBubbies couple Vince Uy and Nino Gaddi. Their travel adventures always look fun and they are always put together. We asked them what their top travel essentials are and here’s what they have to say:

vince uy

Creative director, Preview magazine My gadgets kit – Lanvin envelope, iPad, Mophie powerbank, Happy Plugs earphones.

I really get anxious when flying so the moment I get in the plane I’m automatically

Millet Arzaga

Stylist My travel compass would be dictated by my fascination for eyewear art, jewelry and education. I search for an eyewear that looks like an art piece or a Danish ring I want to buy, or a class/course I want to learn.

So what’s in my Hedgren travel bag?

Prada Eyewear. They have big frames and have quirky designs. Though when I buy eyewear abroad, I look for unique styles and then end up buying an Alain Mikli.

Sunskeen Sunblock for the Face. This has ALL my sunblock concerns checked: SPF 50, hypoallergenic, non-comedogenic, fragrance-free, water resistant and it feels light. Vanilla & Co. Pure Shea & Cocoa Whipped Butter Cream – I swear by this

on my earphones and iPad, either playing games or listening to good music while reading my magazine collections.

An extra shirt (Helmut Lang neoprene shirt) as rips, spills and stains, not to mention extreme weather changes, are just a few of the reasons why you’ll thank yourself for packing that extra shirt in your travel bag.

Kiehl’s Midnight Recovery Concentrate, (because) my skin gets extremely dry so this keeps my skin fresh and hydrated especially during long haul flights; versatile sunglasses (Saint Laurent mirrored lens sunnies) preferably neutral toned sunnies because they go with almost everything; a wallet organizer (Louis Vuitton long wallet organiser) to organize the trip currencies, tickets, subway cards, store membership cards, IDs, mileage cards, etc.

I am so so OC when traveling that I carry this with me.

nino gaddi

Managing director, Fête Events & PR Company The top five things I pack (in my carryon bag) when traveling include a “freshness kit” (Tumi Gold pouch) which contains a Lip balm – a must wherever I go, whether here or abroad; Mustela Lipid Replenishing Balm – this is a very effective all-around moisturizer for our face and body; Wet Wipes – we tend to eat a lot when traveling, so we use this before and after eating (also to freshen up); alcohol spray to keep our hands clean; dental floss because like what I’ve said, we tend to eat a lot when traveling, and this is to avoid

having veggies/meat stuck between our teeth while talking to strangers and when asking for directions; breath spray to keep our breath as “friendly” as we are; and cologne to keep us feeling and smelling fresh while exploring the places that we go to.

Next is a power bank. We usually use our phone for taking photos and videos of the sceneries and taking selfies. And nowadays, there are so many social media apps that we use when uploading them. A power bank is a must!

Next on my travel essentials are money/ card/coin holder. A big wallet (Gray Burberry) holds all the cash and cards that I bring when traveling; a smaller wallet/card holder (Prada) where I carry small amounts of cash and some cards (just enough for the day); and a coin organizer that makes my life easier when paying and when it’s time to get rid of the loose coins before going back to Manila.

We need to protect ourselves from sickness because it’s hard to get sick when traveling, specially abroad. We usually bring Berocca (or a very potent vitamin C supplement) along with other vitamins and meds like paracetamol, loperamide and antacid.

Fifth on the list would be shades. I sometimes wear this to protect my eyes from the sun, but its main purpose is to make me look better in photos! I normally wear my eyeglasses so I can see the scenery clearly and appreciate its beauty.

Sidney yap

Stylist I’m kind of a city traveler, so I bring locally-made instant skin softener for dry basic stuff like a scarf.

Whether traveling to hands and heels!

Pigeon Wipes – alcohol-free baby wipes a cold weather city or with 100 percent food grade ingredients! tropical island, I like So safe for baby and me. I also bring bringing scarves. It Manish Arora cleaning cloth for glasses. helps me go from the They're thick, artfully printed hot outdoors to cold and designed by another eyewear indoor sites (like designer fave. I also bring Nivea malls and airports), Lip Balm, which works on dry, and helps me adjust chapped lips, plus it’s unscented; to sudden rain or and Gucci chunky wallet. No cold drift.

I always travel with the ostrich pillow/ money, no card = no travel. But eye mask. It helps me sleep on airplanes money + card = can travel.

I always lug a water bottle plus as well as in hotel rooms as it also covers whatever shopping finds I get in a the ears.

I usually carry a clutch with me so Marc by Marc Jacobs waterproof tote bag. And of course, my that when I explore the city, I put all the Smythson of Bond Street leather essentials there like maps, phone, cash, passport holder. This is my fave credit card etc. so I won’t be toting a big bag Bond St. London souvenir. I had it and I’m kinda paranoid putting my stuff in my pockets – I might get pick-pocketed. engraved before I got married.

Also in my essentials list is a smart phone so I can take photos and videos of what I see. I can save information of places, restaurants and stores I want to check out.

I can save maps also so I won’t get lost; also a universal adaptor so your tech items will be charged wherever you go.

Other travel essentials are sunblock, sunglasses, earphones or headphones, hat, moisturizer, lip balm.

Continued on C4

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The Merlion

LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

The Louvre

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The Leaning Tower of Pisa

Discover exciting Thai fare and savor delectable flavors as the Tourism Authority of Thailand dishes out amazing bites. You can even get a chance to win an all-expense paid trip to Bangkok!

BoNIFAcIo HIgH STREET’S SummER oN THE STREET

W

e can always count on Ayala Malls to come up with familyfriendly outdoor activities to lure us away from our tablets and smart phones. This summer, Bonifacio High Street (BHS) gives us fun-filled reasons to brave the heat at The Fort by putting up imitation structures of famous landmarks around the globe.

Bonifacio High Street brings the world at your feet with larger-than-life installations inspired by the most iconic structures from all over the world. Revel at the 20-ft. tall Leaning Tower of Pisa, The Louvre, Merlion from Singapore, Paris and Egypt with free ice cream on top! A lot of these structures are cool for your OOTDs so have fun and enjoy your next walk in BHS. Aside from the sights in BHS, Ayala Malls also organized outdoor activities in the area to celebrate walk-in-the-park lifestyle in the form of recreational sports, photography, pets, music and the arts, food, travel and culture and even a random “Geekery.”

Activities are already gearing up in BHS, starting last April 15 to 17 with 1000 Smiles Thai Festival featuring amazing samplers of Thailand dishes and an ROX (Recreational Outdoor Exchange) Outdoor Festival where

participants got to sweat out unwanted pounds and got physical under the summer heat.

Since BHS has pet-friendly parks and walkways, it’s a perfect go-to date place for you and your fur baby. Very few malls or even parks in the country welcome animal companions, but in BHS, they are not only invited – they are the star! Last April 10, Waggin’ Tails happened in the BHS Park organized in collaboration with All4PetsParty. People and their fur friends got to enjoy free vet consultations, pet agility courses, pools and playpens, and got to take home loads of freebies. The fun will continue with The Great Shih Tzu Walk at the Activity Center and 9th Avenue on May 7. This will be hosted by Royal Canin in an attempt to break the Guinness world record for the biggest gathering of same breed dogs. So tick that calendar and get your pooches geared up for this fun activity.

Artist’s block? BHS has got you covered in time for your deadline. Soak in inspiration with the Arts and Music brought to you by The Coffee Bean festivities on April 30. Get treated to an all-sensory experience with live music from the best talents of BGC Impromptu; bring home unique and creative trinkets from the BGC Art Mart; and hone

brand new skills with the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf ’s free creative movement workshops and improvisation classes. Did we mention there will be free coffee too? Sold!

Mother’s love is the closest we’re ever going to get to unconditional Love – well, maybe next to a dog’s love. But anyway, take the first woman in your life on her day this May 8 (Mother’s Day) as Bonifacio High Street celebrates one of the most popular working holidays in partnership with Mommy Mundo. On that day, our moms will get to enjoy inspirational talks, on-stage activities and charming gifts and prizes!

The month of May will be Sole-full as BHS literally “walks” you into an intergeneration selection of popular sneaker models. Calling all sneakerheads and running enthusiasts for a weekend to remember on May 21 and 22. Bonifacio High Street will showcase your favorite kicks from all the big names in the kicks industry. Indulge in exclusive promos and discounts from popular brands such as Sole Academy, Adidas, Nike, and more, while enjoying fun game booths and live music from some of the best DJs! The community of Geeks will find another space to converge and share their

unique hobbies at the “United Geekdom” weekend on May 21 to 22. Activities featured in these events celebrate the comic-driver life with Lightsaber Demos, Game of Thrones (GOT) Quiz Nights, and a showcase of Lego, comic books and other collector items.

Because even a selfie falls short sometimes, capping off the summer festivities is the CameraHaus Photo Festival from May 28 to 29. This is not only for photographers and hobbyists because the festival will include special summer discounts and promos from various camera brands, photo contests and lectures and amazing giveaways. — Weizel Gulfan Look out for the #BHSSummer food truck and exchange your P1500 receipts from any Bonifacio High Street shop until May 29 and get free ice cream from Mad Marks along with other summer treats. In partnership with Globe Telecom and Emirates Airline, BHS is giving you another reason to visit this summer as you may also get a chance to win a FREE flight for two to Singapore, Italy, and Paris, plus free Globe Data Roaming for five days, all for a minimum spend of P3000 single or accumulated receipts from any Bonifacio High Street shop or restaurant until June 9.

The secret to stylishly strong hair New range of hair products lets women ‘stand up’ to styling damage Its not easy to keep up with the latest trends in hairstyles, because whether it’s voluminous, straight or wavy, it almost always means your locks will go through damaging styling procedures.

For the crowning glory that’s usually subjected to hair chemicals and heat styling tools, keeping it strong and healthy-looking is important. Hair and salon products brand TRESemme steps up to the call for fortifying hair products that can be used everyday at home.

The new TRESemme Platinum Strength range strengthens hair and repairs up to two years of damage caused by everyday hairstyling.

Dry, dull, and desperate tresses will find their match with the TRESemme Platinum Strength Shampoo, Conditioner, Treatment Mask and Stay Soft Leave In Treatment, which all feature the line’s Platinum Strength Renewing Complex.

The technology features intensive moisturizers that strengthen every hair strand by reinforcing the natural protective layer to prevent breakage and further signs of aggression due to blowdrying, ironing and curling.

Here are the salon-quality products that let women “stand up” to styling damage.

The effect: When used regularly together, the salon-quality formulas repair and protect hair against styling damage. With continued use, they work to protect hair against future styling harm. Hair will feel strong, manageable and ready for styling.

Platinum Strength Treatment Mask

The formulation: Formulated with a renewing complex, this deep conditioning treatment gives strength and moisture to hair.

The effect: Revitalizes strands, leaving hair smooth, healthy looking and strong.

Platinum Strength Shampoo and Premium Strength Conditioner

The formulation: Repairs up to two years’ worth of damage in just five uses by reinforcing hair’s natural protective barrier, restoring hair and protecting against future damage.

TRESemme Platinum Strength range

Platinum Strength Stay Soft Leave In Treatment

The formulation: Repairs up to two years’ worth of damage in just five uses by reinforcing hair’s natural protective barrier, restoring hair and protecting against future damage.

The effect: When used regularly with the Platinum Strength Conditioner, it repairs and protects hair against styling damage.

With continued use, it works to protect hair against future styling harm.

With TRESemme Platinum Strength, it’s now possible to recreate the hottest hair trends straight from the runways of New York Fashion Week without worrying about styling damage.

Take on the heat with the Uptown Sleek, sported by Hollywood A-listers and models at the Carolina Herrera show. A chic long bob, this style features smooth and straight locks, giving off a sophisticated edge. Keep on coloring with Copper Waves, just like those presented at BCBG Max Azria. This hairdo adds a hint of volume with the right attitude, and is fabulously worn with a touch of color.

Bounce back from curling, with the Diane Curls, aptly inspired by fashion icon Diane von Furstenberg. This look uses tight curls swept to the side and pinned with an accessory.

Like TRESemmePH on Facebook or follow @ TRESemmePH on Twitter and Instagram for more updates.

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TRAVEL BEAUTY ESSENTIALS

I

pop-up beauty By jigs mayuga

traveled a great deal when I was in my early twenties.

I was a flight attendant for an international carrier and I have to admit it was one of the best times of my life. Hopping on and off a plane for work from one destination to the next without a care in the world. I would be sipping cocktails on the beach in Guam at one moment, and walking through the streets of Seoul in the snow the following day. I could be partying in Hong Kong

and then be back in Manila for some rest and relaxation in a couple of days. For trips like those, it is important to pack beauty essentials that are compact, will protect and nourish the skin from the harsh elements when inflight or outdoors, and instantly brighten the face with just a dab of your fingertips. Here are some of my picks to add into your beauty arsenal the next time you decide to go on a fun holiday.

BENEFiT The POREfessional: instant Wipeout masks, Central Square

ORigiNs Three Part Harmony Nourishing Cream, SM Makati

I love using cloth masks for air travel. I put them on before the flight lands and my skin instantly feels clean and refreshed. This dual-sided mask from Benefit cleans and smoothens the looks of pores around the chin, nose and forehead. The specially-textured fabric woven from cottony fibers helps exfoliate and remove pore impurities. When you’re ready to “super clean,” firmly press on the plastic bubble to release the pore serum. Peel back corner, remove mask and apply smoother side to pore-problem areas.

Relax and close your eyes. After 10 minutes, remove the mask and use the other side to wipe off serum. Contains mushroom extract which is known to help clarify pores.

Keeping the skin hydrated, especially on long flights, is crucial if you want to look your best when you get to your final destination. As we all know, cabin air is very dry. This intensely rich cream with Tazetta Lily Bulbs, White Myrtle and Japanese Knot Weed helps produce youthful supplies of natural collagen to help visibly repair the skin’s structure. Fine lines and wrinkles are softened. With deeply nourishing plant butters plus Vitamin E, this luscious cream renews skin’s hydration levels. It also has Scutellaria that helps reveal radiance, refines tone and brightens skin to impart a healthy, vibrant glow.

NuXE Rêve de miel Lip Balm, Rustan’s Makati

aVENE Very High Protection Cream sPF50+, Watsons

Chapped lips are never sexy, and the cold weather does not help with this problem at all. This lip balm is a MUSTHAVE product in all seasons.

A tender and comforting honey kiss enhanced with a dash of grapefruit essence, tried and tested on dry lips for over 20 years, even in conditions of extreme cold in Canada. Rêve de Miel is also Nuxe’s inimitable signature, with smooth, melting textures and delicious scents to cloak the skin in comfort. The lip balm can also be used as an overnight treatment. Apply before sleeping on the plane and wake up to soft and smooth lips in the morning.

Sun exposure even in colder climates can still cause premature wrinkles and skin cancer. This sunblock with an SPF of 50 protects even the most sensitive skin from both UVA and UVB rays of the sun. Contains Pre-tocopheryl, a Vitamin E precursor, that gives additional cell protection and hydration. Avène Thermal Spring Water soothes and calms irritated skin. With an invisible, non-oily texture and a specially designed tube for easy application. Apply evenly to the skin before sun exposure. Reapply frequently in case of prolonged exposure, and after swimming.

sTiLa Convertible Color Dual Lip & Cheek Palettes in sunset serenade, Rustan’s A new bouquet from the brand’s iconic and original multitasking makeup for lips and cheeks, each shade inspired by flowers to create the perfect palette in beautiful warm tones. The creamy, translucent formula blends like a dream for petal soft lips and cheeks in pretty pops of warm, radiant color with shades like peach blossom and twilight rose.

This on-the-go palette is very convenient and the pigments can be applied either with your fingertips or with a brush.

Follow me on Instagram and Twitter @jigsmayuga

Get that flawless look with Belo all-in-one BB cream BB creams have become all the rage with their promise of giving you that flawless look in a jiffy as they act as moisturizer, primer, sunscreen, concealer and foundation all rolled into one.

A beauty routine that normally takes an hour or so (especially for the non-expert) can be accomplished in several minutes, thanks to the power of BB creams.

However, it’s a challenge to find the perfect allin-one BB cream because many of those currently out in the marker do not live up to the hype or expectations, and they also do not give the added benefit of intensive whitening and sun protection.

But it seems the search is over for Filipinas with the new Belo Intensive Whitening BB Cream that delivers that instantly flawless, no-makeup look even while it whitens the skin over time.

The Belo Intensive Whitening BB Cream’s Tone Correcting formula evens out skin tone and conceals skin imperfections like scars, fine

lines, and wrinkles. Plus, it has the power of kojic acid and tranexamic acid that improves skin clarity, whitens the complexion, and reduces the appearance of stubborn dark spots with regular use.

And since Belo Intensive Whitening BB Cream is also rated SPF 50 & PA++++, it protects the skin against age-accelerating UV rays.

“Belo BB Cream is so convenient to use that it has become my go-to product. It’s my secret to achieving that #I Woke Up Like This no makeup look whether I’m on or off set!” revealed commercial model and actress Coleen Garcia.

Many are wondering what the “BB” stands for, with some guessing that the letters probably stand for “beauty balm” or “blemish balm.” But according to managing director for Belo Essentials as Cristalle Belo, the “winning formulation and conceals-as-it-whitens benefits” that the BB Cream offers makes it a truly “Belo Beauty” Cream.

Coleen Garcia

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

WhAt’S In YouR...

From C1

Pia Reyes

Makeup artist Whenever I travel I usually check first what’s the norm and the weather so I know what kind of stuff to bring. If it’s going to be cold, I load on moisturizer. Our type of lotion in the Philippines won’t be good enough for cold weather so I usually have a different set of moisturizer for hot weather and cold weather. Sunblock in all types of weather is also essential, especially if there will be a lot of walking

Anne Calma

Brand manager, Charles & Keith Philippines My work as a buyer entails a lot of travelling abroad. I fly to Singapore six times a year to do shoes buying. But whether it’s a long trip to Europe or a short weekend getaway to Hong Kong I strap myself with these essentials like a uniform. It’s the best time to let go of the everyday tote and shift to this versatile Paul Smith cross body in bright blue.

This croc skin purse from Comme des Garcons can carry all kinds and sizes of currency. With all the walking and outdoor exposure, keep clean and fresh with Bench antibacterial wipes. A lightweight face oil is also perfect for any type of weather. Laura Mercier’s Infusion de Rose Nourishing Oil is a good morning to night moisturizer. I also keep my hands protected with L’Occitane’s shea butter hand cream for an extremely long day outdoors. From Manila to the world, it is good to be always photo-ready with a pair of Charles & Keith flat lens and NARS Amsterdam Pure Matte Lipstick.

outdoors. To combat dryness, I also bring Smith’s Rosebud Salve Balm for my lips and Innisfree Jeju Tangerine Blossom for my hands.

During plane rides, an eye mask is usually very helpful for me; it won’t let your seatmate’s reading light get in between you and your nap time. I always say, “Look scary now, feel pretty after,” so I also carry Refresh Tears Eye Drops often as it keeps my eyes feeling fresh and looking bright. Long travels on planes

usually keep you up and leave your eyes tired and it shows on the face. Think of face masks as investments! When you get to your destination you can dupe others into thinking you’ve had hours and hours of sleep, but if you can’t do the mask, use a collagen eye patch. Other beauty stuff I bring are Vichy Facial Mist to keep my skin from looking dry or Estée Lauder Micro Essence and Advanced Night Repair, the perfect combo for the skin! Sample sizes come

in handy during flights because skincare never stops for anything.

A light cologne spray like PINK Fresh and Clean also always comes handy to make your seatmate smile. All these beauty essentials are packed of course in a clear plastic bag. I like the Ikea colored plastics because the colors match my moods. If not, the ever-reliable Ziploc does the job. Oh, one more thing, I like to bring vitamins and throat spray so I don’t get sick when I travel.

Peewee Isidro

Editor-in-chief, Mega Magazine I’m blessed to travel because of my work. Usually I fly to cities like London or Paris. These destinations are known for their style so I bring fashion and beauty items that stand out but are functional.

I always bring a small sling bag which can carry my essentials. I like my sling bag from Balenciaga because not only does it carry my phone, card, lipstick, shades and passport, it can also be a clutch at night when I have to go out so it’s double purpose.

Whenever I go it’s usually winter or cold season so I bring a lip balm (Burts Bees) to keep my lips hydrated. I also do not forget to put sunblock (Clarins) because of all the sun exposure I get while walking.

Shades (sunglasses by Fendi) are also important because they protect your eyes and hide the fact that you lack sleep.

It’s also nice to bring a scent (English Pear and Freesia by Jo Malone) that is light and a pick-me-upper. It’s usually in a pocket size so it saves space and not so heavy to carry around.

Lastly, I usually bring a pair of heels (Nº21 Ronny mules) that I can use for a night out or dinner.

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Mr. peter Douglas Winter and Mrs. lois Winter

Mr. Andrew Kawsek and family

Ms. Sandra Carvalho and husband Chandru Ramnani

Mr. Roberto Del Rosario, Mrs. Aileenette Moleen Del Rosarioand company.

Mrs. Marilou Kawsek and guest

Mrs. Elsa C. Constantino, Mrs. Elita Montilla and company

Charice pempengco and Alysa Quijano

Victor Barrios and company

Mr. Marco Antonio p. lorenzo and daughters

A

A ROyAl pOlO mATch

s if the summer heat is not enough, it took a friendly polo match under the scorching heat of the Manila sun to keep the friendly ties between two countries very much alive and burning.

Supporting the long-standing friendship between the Philippines and Brunei, Dockers Philippines sponsored a friendly polo match among Manila Polo Club’s (MPC) top polo players and of the Royal Family of Brunei on March 6 at the Enrique Zobel Field in MPC in Makati City.

“Dockers Philippines is so happy to be part of an important event like this. It’s such an honor for us to be able to welcome the Royal Family of Brunei and be instrumental in strengthening the two countries’

friendship by sponsoring this friendly polo match,” said Kaths Laudit, Dockers Philippines marketing head.

Also, this event is perfect for the brand as it celebrates its 30th anniversary, wherein it aims to remind people that it will continue to innovate while still staying true to its purpose and identity that made it an instant and lasting classic in the industry.

Today, Dockers brand remains at the top of its game by maintaining its status as America’s favorite khaki and the iconic brand for the good guys.

“Dockers has become the brand for khaki pants. We ensure that there are no compromises in the quality and that we offer collections that both the younger and older generations would love,” Laudit said.

For the event, Laudit says that Dockers collections are perfect for MPC members because it is what you will typically wear to a polo match or to a regular Sunday in the club.

“Dockers is perfect for Manila Polo Club members because our collections are the typical laid back, fashionable, and comfortable outfits that you can easily sport if you want to watch polo matches,” Laudit added.

As a support, Dockers Philippines gave an exclusive offer to all MPC members, which entitled them to a 30-percent discount on all items from March 1 to April 6 at any Dockers store nationwide.

Meanwhile, during the polo match, the MPC team and Brunei’s Royal Family both scored great wins. The MPC team led by Iñigo Zobel snatched the first game (6-3)

of the afternoon after scoring six points against Brunei’s three points.

However, Princess Azemah-led team of Royal Family of Brunei recovered from the first game upset after finishing with five points against MPC’s three points.

The Mabuhay Cup 2016, which celebrated tradition and heritage of two Southeast Asian countries and their good relationship in different fields, was attended by MPC board of directors, members, top polo players, and Brunei’s Royal Family and their entourage.

As it celebrates its anniversary this 2016, the menswear brand promises more exciting collections and innovations to roll out this year, as well as events and promos that Dockers lovers will surely love.

Marcos thanks former anti-martial law activists Vice presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos thanked former crusaders against Martial Law who had expressed support for his campaign and said that he remains hopeful that more people will judge him for his merits as a public servant when deciding who to vote for on election day.

“I have heard that they (former antiMarcos activists) came out to express their support for me despite the barrage of negative criticisms that are being thrown my way throughout this campaign trail. I appreciate their words and their confidence in my capabilities,” he said.

In a forum last Saturday, Mandaluyong City Mayor Benhur Abalos, Born-Again Bishop Butch Belgica, labor leader Terry Tuazon, and Cocofed Chairman Efren Villasenor appealed to the public to move on from issues of the past and focus on the future of the country as they highlighted the senator’s credentials to hold the second highest position in the land.

Abalos, whose family has always been identified with former President Corazon Aquino and who joined the People Power Revolution in 1986, appealed for objectivity and said that voters should filter out

Vice presidential canditate Bongbong Marcos during a campaign sortie

what they hear about the Marcoses. He added that if justice had not been served in the 30 years after the Marcoses left Malacanang, then it is the government who is at fault and not the family since they have been answering the charges against them in the court of law as any accused should do.

Despite his negative experience during the Martial Law, wherein he was jailed several times because of being a unionist, Tuazon, for his part, said that former President Marcos, compared to the country’s next

five presidents, established the most number of pro-labor and pro-workers legislations during his time.

He said that he felt Senator Marcos’ similar priority when he stated during the recent vice presidential debate that he wanted to handle the Labor department to address workers’ concerns. He expressed faith that Bongbong will be able to continue his father’s legacy when it comes to the labor front.

Villasenor noted that it was Senator Bongbong Marcos who backed their position to

have a say over how the coco levy fund is to be used to ensure that this will benefit coconut farmers throughout the country which is something the government has failed to do since the Supreme Court decision declaring that the fund is “owned by the government to be used only for the benefit of all coconut farmers and for the development of the coconut industry.”

Belgica, for his part said that the senator is the most qualified to become vice president and will become an asset to whomever wins as president because he has a clear understanding of issues affecting the nation, especially in handling the decades-long conflict in Mindanao. He said that without the senator, the country can bid goodbye to the chances of having a united nation.

Marcos said he has confidence that the Filipino electorate will not be swayed by propaganda and the pervasive mudslinging in the campaign and instead check on the track record of each candidate.

“At the end of the day, our track record as public servants should matter first and foremost and I am glad that more people are seeing past the negative campaigning,” he said.

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pEOplE ¼

are talking about

¼

are not talking about

Maxine Medina

Derrick Monasterio

If Pia Wurtzbach was under heavy pressure to win the Miss Universe title last year, the newly crowned Miss Philippines Universe must be feeling double the pressure. For one, she’s got big shoes to fill, not to mention the expectation of pageant fans that she’ll deliver a backto-back win for the country. We do hope that she’d use this massive pressure as a motivation to perform well just like what her predecessors did.

It makes perfect sense why Derrick was thrilled when GMA Records gave him a chance to fulfill this dream to become a recording artist – it’s everyone’s dream in this business. But the trouble in this industry, everyone who has the ambition to become a singer is being given a chance whether or not they have the talent. We’d like to see Derrick soar as an actor first rather than launch his career in music, which doesn’t see any bright future.

Dominic Ochoa While he’s getting so much attention now after he was cast as the lead actor in My Super D, ABS-CBN’s newest fantasy series, many didn’t know that he’s been acting since he was 22. Now, 41, Dominic finally gets to shine in a project he can claim his own. Indeed, some actors are only being rediscovered when they hit their 40s.

‘Echorsis’ It’s hard to ignore a good film, much more a movie that obviously stands out for being unique in its approach in telling a story like, let’s say, Heneral Luna. The film was a sleeper hit. It was the word of mouth that made it a blockbuster. But the same thing cannot be said about Echorsis. If the film is indeed good and groundbreaking, no amount of publicity is needed to lure moviegoers to visit the cinema and pay just to see the film.

carrot Man

AlDub

The Igorot native has come a long way from picking carrots in Cordillera. From a virtually unknown lad, Jeyrick Sigmaton is now an Internet sensation, a regular guest in some Kapuso shows, and a proud endorser of a mass-produced fashion apparel.

Some say his journey to fame is just beginning, we say…probably.

Nothing is sure though unless he’s prepped to be something else other than the carrot man.

Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza had a good amount of success since their love team was introduced around nine months ago. Yet, they still wanted to prove their critics wrong for believing that they don’t have the star power to make their upcoming movie a blockbuster and their first television series a top-rating show. Only “tamang panahon” can tell if anything of these would ever happen. They shouldn’t be worrying if their confident that their projects are of good quality.

cROsswORD puzzlE

answer PreVIOUs PUZZLe

ACROSS 1 Go for 6 Sharp-smelling 11 Unruly mane 14 Boredom 15 Magna cum — 16 Jackie’s second 17 Rationed out 18 Out of sight!

19 Liquid meas.

20 Geologic divisions 22 The cream 24 Spot remover 28 Loose cannons 30 Like a pearl 31 Ducklike birds 32 Clinging vines 33 Readies the dog team 37 Japanese

PC giant 38 Swelters 39 Omitting none 40 Silo cousins 43 Wander off 45 Aussie minerals 46 Roof of the mouth 47 Occupy completely 50 Batter’s backup 51 Road shoulders 52 Firm up 53 Rapper’s pal 54 Beaten path 57 Alpine peak 62 A Gabor sister 63 Gave a cattle call 64 Sister’s girl 65 Cave, maybe 66 Big pitchers 67 Senor Bolivar DOWN 1 Not masc.

2 Vane dir.

3 Explosive letters 4 Pool hall item 5 Like an ogre 6 Pond growth 7 Motor vehicles 8 Wish undone 9 Wyo. neighbor 10 Political thaw 11 Mandrake’s field 12 Hold forth

FRIDAY, APRIL 22, 2016

13 21 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 31 33 34 35 36 38 41 42 43 44 46 47 48 49 50 52 55 56 58 59 60 61

Nuclear reactors ER personnel Bonny miss Mocking Nightclub charge Susan Lucci vamp “Little piggie” Customs Ages upon ages Candle holders?

Rains ice pellets Miles or Bernhardt Buoy up More cunning Halters Standard Lake Superior islands Glossy fabrics RN’s specialty Flash in the — Receded Daring Pun feedback Sniffles Stadium level Tough — to hoe Dazzle Square root of IX Opal or onyx Kind of system Cartoon Chihuahua

f RIDAy : A pRIl 2 2, 2016

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C7

HowIE SEVERIno’S IntERVIEw wItH Al GoRE tonIGHt On Earth Day, GMA News TV proudly presents Addressing the Climate Crisis—an interview with environmental activist and US Vice President Al Gore by News To Go anchor Howie Severino.

In 2013, Super Typhoon Hi Yan (Yolanda), which claimed more than 6,000 lives, was the deadliest tropical cyclone to hit the Philippines in recent history. Now, the developing El Niño threatens food security in the country.

These recent extreme weather events demonstrate how vulnerable the Philippines is to what experts believe are the very real impacts of climate change.

In the face of this growing

threat, how can our country respond?

In this interview with Vice President Gore, a few days after his surprise visit to Leyte in March, the environmental activist discusses the possible solutions to climate change—from the transition to renewable energy to government intervention.

As Gore shares the cost-effectiveness of transitioning to renewable energy, he also emphasizes the urgent need for the Philippines to do so, to avoid having to Broadcast journalist Howie Severino in a sit-down interview with US Vice president Al Gore eventually relocate more than 13 Addressing the Climate Crisis million Filipinos from our coasts. climate crisis, not just in avoiding to as “the biggest business opporGore also says that every nation its devastating impacts, but also tunity in the world”, as it would airs at 10:15 p.m. tonight only on GMA News TV. will benefit from addressing the in benefitting from what he refers create millions of jobs.

Cebu reclaims ‘Reyna ng Aliwan’ crown Sinulog festival queen Cynthia Thomalla won Cebu’s seventh Reyna ng Aliwan title in glittering ceremonies capping this year’s summer cultural extravaganza.

Baguio’s Andrea Fe Gomez, representing the Panagbenga festival, was named first runner-up, with Airish Yamamoto (Anilag festival of Laguna), Darlene Joy Tabuga (Pintados de Passi festival of Iloilo), and Lou Dominique Piczon (Manaragat festival of Catbalogan) shared second runner-up honors.

The half-German Thomalla also won special awards for Best in Festival Costume, Best in Evening Gown, Best in Swimsuit, and Most Photogenic. As Sinulog festival queen, she also rode the IPI-Sinulog float, which won first prize.

Gomez, a student at St Louis University, also won the award for Miss Unique Smile, courtesy of ACS. Tabuga, whose features echo showbiz celebrities Ruffa Mae Quinto and Katrina Halili, was named by her fellow candidates as Miss Friendship, and received a special award from

Hotel Jen’s general manager Edward Kollmer.

The 2016 Aliwan Fiesta was presented by Manila Broadcasting Company, Star City, and the Cultural Center of the Philippines, in cooperation with the Cities of Manila and Pasay, with support from TM, Pride Detergent, Unique Toothpaste, Shield Bathsoap, Tanduay Rhum, Alaska, Coca Cola, Dunkin Donuts, M. Lhuillier, Columbia Candies, Cherry Mobile, Fukuda, AICS, GES Led Lights, Bayview Park Hotel, Robinsons Place Manila, and Hotel Jen. newlycrowned 2016 Reyna ng Aliwan Cynthia thomalla during the pagent’s finals night held recently

Cebuana beauty Cynthia thomalla is the new Reyna ng Aliwan

film workshops with international faculty Film professors from New York Film School and London Film School will teach advanced courses in screenwriting, editing and directing at the Cinemalaya Institute beginning May 2016. Applications are now being accepted.

Sophia Wellington will teach Writing the Feature-length Screenplay, on May 24 to July 2. Designed for students with scriptwriting experience and with outlines or drafts of existing screenplays, the course will take students through the process of refining a feature idea, creating strong characters, developing a story arc, writing a step outline and a draft of the screenplay. They will study plotting, visual storytelling, scene writing and dialogue as they meet the challenge of a robust outline. At the end of the course, students will have a step outline and scenes to enable them to complete a draft of their feature screenplay.

Course instructor Sophia Wellington has taught screenwriting

at many film schools including the London Film School and London Film Academy. Wellington is an expert in script development.

Jon Hammond will teach film editing on June 6 to July 1. Film Editing Class is an advanced and intensive four-week course featuring lectures and exercises. Key areas to be studied and explored are editing fiction, making the cuts (conventions and reasons), structure (the architecture of the film and editing as final rewrite), dramatic point of view (subjective and objective shots), editing dialogue scenes, montage sequences, action sequences and transitions, linear time, non-linear time and alternative realities and others. The course is highly recommended for editors with some experience in non-narrative or narrative forms, but would like to master the art of editing narrative fiction films. Hammond is a freelance editor at BBC, ITV, C4, and many others.

Carlos Siguion-Reyna will teach Basic Filmmaking: The Silent Film on May 24 to July 2. This is a six-week course in directing.

In this course, students will apply the basics of film language in film exercises and achieve a basic mastery of the classic conventions and tools of the film directors.

Siguion-Reyna is an award winning film/theatre director.

Venue for the editing course will be at the Central Digital Lab, while the Screenwriting and Directing courses will be held at the Shooting Galleries, both in Makati City.

The Cinemalaya Institute is the training arm of the Cinemalaya Foundation. Through the Cinemalaya Institute, the Cinemalaya Foundation focuses its efforts on providing education, training and accreditation of practitioners in key aspects of film production.

For inquiries, please call CCP Media Arts Division at telephone number 832-1125 local 1705.

lovi says Chiz is a person of substance

After the recently concluded PiliPinas Debates 2016 for vice presidential candidates at University of Sto. Tomas, Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero was the topic of conversation in an unexpected way.

The senator’s performance was way above average as he did not put forward dubious statements and he was able to defend himself from the issues that were thrown at him.

But what was most noticed was his manner of speaking, which according to many, especially the netizens, was monotonous or like a robot and he was like reciting a “tula.”

The senator earned a lot of negative reactions, but his friends, more so his wife, Heart Evangelista, defended him to the hilt posting words of encouragement

on her social media accounts.

Even Heart’s BFF Lovi Poe joined the defense team, posting on her Instagram account her thoughts on Senator Chiz Escudero’s performance in the debate.

“Everyone has talked about corruption but only Chiz has actually done something about it by authoring and passing the FOI Bill in the Senate,” Lovi said in her post.

“Words should only hold weight when honest intentions are behind them. #BeAPersonOfSubstance #SayChiz,” she added with a photo uploaded on the IG account.

While Heart admits to getting hurt by the netizens’ bashing of her husband’s manner of speaking, she is not taking it against those who didn’t like Escudero’s way of speaking.

f riday : a pril 2 2, 2016

C8

iSaH V. rEd EDITOR NiCKiE WaNG WRITER

isahred @ gmail.com

SHOWBITZ WhaT’s up WITh KapusO sTaRs? ISAH V. RED

W

ith the summer heat driving almost everyone to seek refuge in some out-of-town resorts or in cooler destinations outside the Philippines, we were wondering what’s going on in the showbiz circle where the mantra is no matter what, come hell or high waters, the show must go on.

We gathered bits of news, albeit gossip, about some stars and here they are….

Kapuso’s next big leading man

After his stint in My Litle Nanay in which he had several scenes with the country’s esteemed superstar Nora Aunor, the gods must have been pleased with his performance that the network is now poised to launch him as its next big leading man.

The young matinee idol is edgy, especially now, that he has been signed to star in Magkaibang Mundo.

For him, while it is intended for daytime TV, it is something that he will never forget as this is the first time he is playing the main character.

He said that he is under heavy pressure to look and act good in the teleserye.

“Hindi naman lahat nabibigyan ng malaking pagkakataon na gaya nito. Pinaghirapan ko talaga anuman ang na-achieve ko, luckily napasin yung efforts ko at nabigyan ako ng project na ito. Hard work really pays off,” says the good looking hunk.

Wynwin Marquez consoles grieving Mark herras

Mark Herras’ mother passed on recently and the actor was visibly sad. He went

home to Laguna, where the remains of her late mother were lying in state. She was interred last Wednesday.

And guess who was by Mark’s side all the while? Rumored girlfriend Wynwin Marquez was it. According to those who were there during the nights of the wake, she was always in Laguna consoling the grieving Mark.

Does this mean the two are dancing to the same rhythm and beat? Both are single and eligible, although Mark has child out of wedlock, that’s no hindrance to a romantic alliance if both are attracted to each other.

What did Janine discover about aljur?

Janine Gutierrez is excited about the new program on GMA Network that she will star in along with Aljur Abrenica. The pretty Kapuso star says she is getting to know Aljur more and she discovers many things about him.

“Since we see each other more often now than before, I get to discover his character more. He is makulit at sobrang nakakatawa.

Maloko din siya sa set kasi madalas niya akong inaasar but he’s also very deep, very insightful at makuwento.”

aljur abrenica, intense lover

Production people who was with Aljur Abrenica during the publicity shoot for the new series Once Again in which he plays leading man to Janine Gutierrez was astounded by what the actor revealed.

He said he is able to relate to the character he is playing in the series because like him he is a passionate when it comes to love and family. “He is the kind of guy who will do everything for his family, like me,” he said

“Once again” lead stars aljur abrenica and Janine Gutierrez

and added, “Nakikita ko ang sarili ko sa kanya kasi parehas kaming family man.

Grabe rin kami magmahal sa isang babae na tipong ipaglalaban mo siya hanggang sa kamatayan.”

Regine mingles now with child co-stars

At the beginning of the taping of Poor Señorita, lead star Regine Velasquez-Alcasid was a bit aloof dealing with the younger cast of the series. She said that it was her approach to ensuring that she gets into the character she plays in the series.

Regine plays Rita Villon, a rich single lady who lost her millions after giving them away when she learned that she had cancer. The diagnosis though was not accurate and the doctor said she didn’t have cancer, but it was too late. Already, a hired killer was after her and she lands in a poor neighborhood in the city. A bunch of young orphans took her in and treats her like an aunt.

That gave her the opportunity to know more about her young costars. “Kapag nandoon na kami sa set and when we’re on a break I make it a point to talk to them already. Pero noong umpisa, hindi talaga ako nakikipag usap para medyo may taray factor. But now that Rita is getting closer to the kids, mas bonded na kami and you can see it naman na on screen.

I think I have a really good chemistry with them.”

Rising star. Kapuso talent Juancho Trivino

Songstress regine Velasquez-alcasid