The Standard - 2016 May 16 - Monday by Manila Standard

VOL. XXX NO. 93 3 Sections 32 Pages P18 MONDAY : MAY 16, 2016 www.thestandard.com.ph editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Declare expenses, winning bets told

POLL BODY RAPPED FOR ‘HELLO, GARCIA’ IT experts hit Comelec for Smartmatic tampering By Christine F. Herrera

IT EXPERTS on Sunday accused the Commission on Elections of electoral sabotage for engaging the services of Marlon Garcia, the same Smartmatic project director who was embroiled in an election-related scandal in 2013, also for tampering with the transparency server.

Peace be with you. Vice presidential candidate Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. greets his fellow churchgoers at a mass at the Shrine of

Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Baclaran, Parañaque City on Sunday. Marcos was joined by his wife Liza, son Sandro, mother Imelda and other relatives and friends at the service. EY ACASIO

Rody not keen on pursuing VP Binay

The Venezuelan technician admitted last week that he had introduced a script into the transparency server after voting had ended on May 9, but said it was just “a cosmetic change.” But IT expert and former Biliran Rep. Glenn Chong, a convener of AESWatch, vowed to revive his case against Garcia, the Comelec and other Smartmatic officials for “undermining the integrity” of elections. Chong, who ran but lost the 2013 congressional race, likened his case to independent vice presidential candidate Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., whose one-million vote lead over Robredo vanished after a few hours after the script was introduced. Chong likened Garcia to former Comelec official Virgilio Garcillano, who was accused of electoral fraud during the Arroyo administration. Garcillano was made famous for the “Hello Garci” scandal when then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo allegedly called him up and ordered him to take care of the administration candidates. In a complaint lodged with the Comelec and the Department of Justice, copies of which were obtained by Next page

Duterte spokesman slams leftist critics By John Paolo Bencito and Rio N. Araja THE camp of the president-in-waiting Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte slammed leftist groups Sunday for criticizing his eight-point economic program as “a continuation of the neoliberal poison imposed on the people by the Aquino regime” and accused

them of being “roadblocks to genuine change.” “Leftist groups have rejected the hands of friendship and cooperation by the incoming Duterte administration by mouthing their usual criticism of others but not undertaking their own criticism, self-criticism,” said Peter Laviña, Duterte’s spokesman, marking a break from the conciliatory

tone the mayor has taken toward the communists. “I am truly sorry for these leftist groups which will be left out in the march of history with their dogma and belligerent styles and methods of work. They need to right their wrongs and stop becoming roadblocks to genuine change,” Laviña said in his Facebook page. Next page

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4.2-m votes for VP still uncounted Poll... From A1

The Standard, Chong said on May 13, 2013, Garcia, then Smartmatic technology manager, “inexplicably changed the scripts on the un-reviewed source code at or about the time of the canvassing purportedly to adjust the questionable figures” received and announced by the transparency server without notifying the Comelec and concerned political parties. The tampering was made two hours after the voting closed, Chong said. At 7:30 p.m. of May 9, 2016, two hours after the voting closed and canvassing was already in progress, Garcia, now Smartmatic project director, ordered the introduction of a new script that resulted in the “breach” and change of a hash code that was supposed to protect the integrity of the packet data files in the transparency server, he said. This developed as lawyer Harry Roque, first nominee of Kabayan party-list that won a seat in Congress, said Smartmatic must be investigated and be held liable for the unauthorized and patently illegal change in the server script. “Their questionable move has brought serious doubts into the credibility of what should have been an otherwise orderly elections,” Roque said. “That the change they introduced was cosmetic is not the crux of the matter. The point is that the script was changed, and with-

Duterte... From A1

The broad economic priorities under a Duterte presidency that former Agriculture secretary Carlos Dominguez laid out Thursday would be wide-ranging, and include tax reforms, the acceleration of infrastructure building, support services for farmers and a reduction in crime to attract foreign investments. In a statement in the earlier part of the campaign, the Communist Party of the Philippines also twitted the Davao mayor. “In the hope of boosting his chances of gaining popular support, he issues radical sound bytes about destroying the government and setting up a new one,” the party said. “Talk is cheap, however, especially during the electoral campaign. If he ever wins, he will still have to prove himself in practice: Will he be like Venezuela’s [Hugo] Chavez who stood up to the bullying of the US government and promoted nationalization, a social welfare state and the arming of the people in Venezuela? Or will he be like Greece’s [Alexis] Tsipras who defended the welfare state in political debate but who later acceded to IMF and EU aus-

out authorization at that. If Smartmatic was able to freely change the script without Comelec’s prior approval, any result can now be changed by them,” he said. “If one character can be changed, so can others,” Roque said. Chong said he could not understand why the Comelec had to hire the services of Garcia again when his penchant for violating the country’s laws were officially recorded as evidenced by the pending cases against him. He said charges of electoral fraud were filed against Garcia and his fellow Smartmatic officials Albert Castro Rico and Cesar Flores. Apart from Chong, those who co-signed the complaint were Leo Querubin, Maria Corazon Akol and former Comelec commissioner Augusto Lagman. In the complaint, Garcia had tampered with the transparency service to “fix” the figures of about 12 million votes for the senatorial election as the numbers “far exceeded the number of voters in the precincts.” The complainants said Garcia had to introduce scripts to “adjust the questionable figures.” “Garcia had done it already three years ago and he did it again yet the Comelec still tapped him to do the dirty job for them,” Chong said. Garcia admitted having ordered the change in the hash code but said a new script had to be introduced to change the “?” to “ñ” in the names of some candidates such as

Roy Señeres for president and Sergio Osmeña and Getulio Napeñas for senator. “Smartmatic made a serious security breach, one that should not have been allowed and one that they should be held liable for. As a petitioner against Smartmatic since way back 2009, I welcome the promise of Commissioner Rowena Guanzon to have them investigated,” Roque said. Guanzon said Sunday the Smartmatic officials should not be allowed to leave the country while the incident is being investigated. Chong echoed the views of an IT expert who exposed Garcia’s “illegal moves.” At 4:57 a.m., Chong said Robredo overtook Marcos and posted a margin of 575 votes and since then had steady increased the margin to over 200,000 votes. Chong said he suffered a similar fate as Marcos when his 2,000-vote lead was overtaken at 5 a.m. “The hash code is like an electronic seal for the program but the Comelec allowed Garcia and Smartmatic to tinker with it just like that,” Chong said. He said several senatorial candidates were most likely affected by the change in the script or commands. “I would not be surprised for other people to believe that former Justice Leila de Lima, who consistently hung on to the 12th slot for the senatorial race, deliberately sat on our case because of the magic that Smartmatic officials can do,” Chong said. De Lima, he said, failed to

act on their complaint just like the Comelec. So if I were Francis Tolentino, Osmeña and Martin Romualdez, who ranked 13th, 14th and 15th, respectively in the senatorial race, I would watch the figures very closely,” Chong said. In the case of the Comelec, Chong said the officials also did not lift a finger on the complaint and even favored Smartmatic by awarding to the Venezuelan firm multimillion-peso contracts. “The lowest bidders in the P507.7-million transmission contract, the P1.1-million thermal paper and P122.7million national technical support system had been disqualified by the Comelec in favor of Smartmatic. Smartmatic is the most favored bidder by the Comelec,” Chong said. Smartmatic, he said, remains “untouchable” to this day. The IT expert who spoke on condition of anonymity said the Comelec had surrendered its matching password twice to Smartmatic, allowing Garcia to breach the system with the new code. The surrender of the matching password by the Comelec gave the Venezuelan firm Smartmatic full access to and complete control over the transparency server, according to the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Votingaccredited IT expert, who requested anonymity so as not to violate the source’s nondisclosure agreement. With Macon Ramos-Araneta and Rey E. Requejo

terity policy impositions?” The CPP added that Duterte has not exposed “any fundamental shift from the general run of neo-liberal economic policy of the past 30 or so years.” “On the contrary, he has promised to expand privatization and deregulation and declared plans to provide state funds to Lucio Tan and his ilk of big bourgeois compradors; and liberalization of trade by allowing the dumping of surplus steel from China,” the rebel group said. Militant groups maintained that Duterte’s economic agenda only entails “business as usual” politics, contrary to Duterte’s promise of pro-people economic development. “We realize though that these issues and demands will not be resolved simply by submitting proposals to the powers-that-be. Their achievement relies on actual struggle by the people themselves, especially since the ruling elite stand opposed to these pro-people reforms. In the end, it will be the people, not the politicians, who will be decisive in achieving real change,” Renato Reyes, secretary-general for militant group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, said in a statement. Sonny Africa, executive director for economic think

tank Ibon Foundation, said that Duterte’s policies don’t really differ from those of the other candidates. “Despite his singular personality it turns out that his plans for the economy are strikingly interchangeable with the other losing candidates and even with the outgoing Aquino administration,” Africa said. “His transition team hurriedly presented an eightpoint economic agenda to assuage elite panic. Belying Duterte’s powerful campaign theme of change, it embraces and upholds neo-liberal economic policies that enrich a few but keep the national economy backward and tens of millions of Filipinos in poverty,” he added. Laviña, however, said that efforts to sustain “gains even little by little here and there to advance the cause of the masses are better than none at all.” “They should bring down their utopian dreams closer to reality... To perpetuate the sufferings of the masses is treasonous,” Duterte’s spokesperson said. “Here is an unsolicited advice to them—dialogue with the incoming government instead of mounting black propaganda to be heard,” he added. He also slammed leftist

groups for vilifying the mayor and supporting the candidacy of Senator Grace Poe. “For groups that claim that they are patriotic, nationalist and anti-imperialist, many were aghast in their decision to go with someone who abandoned our country and once pledged allegiance to the US,” he said. “In their desire to push one of their national officials to be senator, they rush to a hasty decision, rejecting calls to wait for the maturing of the political situation before deciding,” he added. “Having done these mistakes, they want to continue with their old ways of critiquing, critiquing, critiquing,” he added. Throughout the campaign, Duterte maintained his “leftist” sentiments and voiced his dissatisfaction with the ruling elite that he claimed were taking out opportunities from the countryside. Duterte’s mentor, the exiled communist leader Jose Ma. Sison, also expressed his openness to a ceasefire between the left and the government, and expressed his intention to return to the country under a Duterte presidency. He also added that he wanted to meet his student in Europe before he assumes the presidency.

By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan

THE outcome of the vice presidential race is still uncertain as the Commission on Elections admitted there are still discrepancies in the certificates of canvass from six provinces, accounting for about 4.2-million votes, and special elections to be held in 11 towns with 19,791 votes. A lawyer for an opposition group who asked not to be named said the number of provinces with discrepancies has ballooned to 20 provinces, and that the hard copies of election returns did not match with the transmitted tally sent to the transparency server of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting. “There are discrepancies between the votes transmitted to PPCRV and the server of Comelec,” the lawyer said. The source did not say which provinces were affected, however, saying these reports were still being verified. Comelec Commissioner Christian Robert Lim maintained that there are only six provinces where votes have discrepancies and were now being audited by a subcommittee created by the Comelec. The six provinces that are still undergoing manual audit at the national board of canvassers are Benguet with estimated voters turnout of 281,833; Ilocos Sur with 329,561; Zamboanga del Sur with 780,760; Misamis Oriental with 690,528; Nueva Ecija, 1,055,726; and Iloilo with 1,078,011. Lim also said that the 15 CoCs that have yet to be canvassed due to ongoing special elections are: Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu, Apayao, Negros Occidental, Marinduque, Zamboanga del Norte, Cebu, Sarangani, Agusan del Sur, Leyte, Eastern Samar, Northern Samar, Samar and Antique. Comelec Secretary Consuelo Diola supported Lim’s count. “If they are claiming that there are 20 provinces, they may put them in writing,” she said, adding that political representatives have submitted manifestations to audit the votes of the six provinces. Diola said that there are several discrepancies that has been resolved during the manual auditing of subcommittee on Sunday, She said they expect that several political parties will be withdrawing their manifestations concerning the CoCs of six provinces. Diola said the votes that were transmitted from the vote counting machines to the transparency server were those election returns while the results transmitted to the Comelec server are those that have already been canvassed and consolidated. “So these are just a seeming discrepancies,” she said. Aside from the 15 CoCs and the six provinces, Diola

also admitted that provinces of Laguna and Southern Leyte were ordered “quarantined.” She said Leyte’s CoCs was quarantined after the province failed to include votes from two towns while Laguna transmitted the result from the Pre-Election Logical Accuracy Test that had been conducted before the elections. “The CoCs from Laguna and Southern Leyte remain under quarantine and we are still awaiting their respective chairmen of the provincial board of canvassers to arrive here,” Diola said. The manual auditing began at around 10:40 a.m Sunday at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City. The subcommittee started by reopening a ballot box from Benguet. But the verification process was halted after they learned that the ballot box contained CoCs for the presidential and vice presidential race. Ballot boxes from Misamis Oriental were also being opened. The CoCs were presented to legal counsels of representatives of respective senatorial candidates and party-list groups for them to verify and scrutinize the results from the transparency server. Representatives of some candidates have expressed their plan to file a manifestation for further study by the National Board of Canvasser, after discrepancies were detected in CoCs from Laguna and Ilocos Sur. In the case of Baguio City and Benguet, meanwhile, the transparency server had combined the votes from the province and city, even though they were indicated separately in the CoCs. The reaudit of the CoCs, however, showed that the number of votes reflected by the transparency server was the same as the total of the figures on the document. As of Saturday, a total of 149 out of 164 CoCs have been tallied by the NBC. Lim assured that this auditing process will only take two days. On Friday, the Comelec announced that it is looking to proclaim the 12 wining senators on Tuesday or Thursday. Also on Sunday, a Comelec official said vice presidential candidate Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was leading the overseas absentee voting count over administration bet Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo. With John Paolo Bencito

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Elected officials told to file statements

Resumption. Commision on Elections officials reopen a ballot box from Benguet for a reaudit of the election results during Sunday’s resumption of the canvassing at the Comelec’s Command Center at the PICC tent in Pasay City. EY ACASIO

Duterte says he does not intend to run after Binay PRESUMPTIVE President Rodrigo Duterte said Sunday he does not intend to run after Vice President Jejomar Binay who is being accused of graft charges over the allegedly questionable purchases during his tenure as mayor of Makati. “The vice president called up, greeted me and said congratulations,” Duterte said. “And I said Thank you. I then mentioned that he had not problems with me. I am not the only one who enforces the law. I will not go around finding faults. I would rather spend my time looking for solutions.” Duterte’s recent statements, however, ran counter with his po-

litical party’s earlier statement that it intended to send Binay to jail. After Davao City Mayor Duterte landed in the top spot in the preferential polls against the other contenders including Binay— the former front runner—Binay stepped up his attacks on Duterte in April, saying the criminals who were “either killed or sent to jail in Davao City all came from the ranks of the poor.”

“Binay would in all likelihood be the first big fish to be sent to jail with the preponderance of evidence of corruption against him during his stint as Makati mayor for more than 20 years,” Senator Aquilino Pimentel III, the president of PDP-Laban, Duterte’s political party, said in statement. Pimentel said a Duterte administration would spare no one regardless of social status or political affiliation in a relentless campaign against crime and corruption. The Office of the Ombudsman is expected to file criminal cases against Binay over the alleged overpricing of Makati City Hall Building II when his immunity from suit expires after he steps

down from office next month. In his campaign sorties, Duterte promised that, if elected, he would release former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo from detention. “I will release her. Why? Because the evidence [against her] is weak. I know that. I am a lawyer,” Duterte said in Pampanga in February this year. His top aide, Christopher Go, said Duterte would not follow in the footsteps of President Benigno Aquino III, who has been described as vindictive against his political rivals. Duterte has offered his hand of reconciliation with his opponents, saying the time has come for healing. John Paolo Bencito

THE Interior Department on Sunday reminded all newly elected officials they must submit their Statement of Contributions and Expenditures to the Commission on Elections before they are allowed to assume office. In a memorandum, outgoing Interior Secretary Mel Senen Sarmiento urged the elected officials to file their SOCE by June 9 and submit to his department a certification on their SOCE compliance by June 17. He cited Republic Act 7166 that says “No person elected to any public office shall enter or assume the duties of his office until he has filed the SOCE.” The law says “Every candidate and treasurer of the political party shall, within thirty days after the day of the election, file in duplicate with the offices of the Comelec the full, true and itemized statement of all contributions and expenditures in connection with the election.” Sarmiento said a winning candidate was required to present a certification from the Comelec that he or she had satisfactorily complied with Republic Act 7166. “In the absence of this certification, the winning candidate cannot enter into the execution of his or her office pursuant to Paragraph 2 of the same provision of the law,” he said. Winning provincial officials are obliged to submit their Comelec certifications to the DILG’s provincial directors while the winning city and municipal officials are required to submit their SOCEs to their respective DILG city or municipal directors. John Paolo Bencito

302 voters in Antique will finally vote today A WEEK after failing to cast their votes, 302 registered voters are set to vote today, Monday, when they participate in the special elections called by the Commission on Elections in certain towns in Antique. The special elections in Mabuyong, Anini-y and Insubuan, San Remigio, will be held from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. “Only those voters in the Clustered Precinct No. 3 in Brgy. Mabuyong, Anini-y and Clustered Precinct No. 25 in Barangay Insubuan, San Remigio, who were not able to vote during the May 9 elections, shall be allowed to vote,” the Comelec says in a resolution. The Comelec had previously reported that 268 voters in Mabuyong village and 34 voters in Insubuan village were not able to

vote on May 9 after their respective clustered precincts lacked the required number of official ballots. Mabuyong village has 691 registered voters while Insubuan village has 158. Comelec Resolution 10129 originally scheduled the special elections in Antique on May 14, but pushed it back to May 16. The poll body says the votes from the precincts will not be electronically transmitted and will be canvassed manually. “The election returns generated during the May 16 special elections shall be denominated and labeled as supplemental election returns to distinguish them from the May 9 election returns,” Resolution 10137 says. Sara Susanne D. Fabunan

Candlelight Memorial. The Department of Health and Quezon City conducted the world’s first AIDS Hour, when people gathered at the Quezon City Memorial Circle to observe the 33rd International AIDS Candlelight Memorial on Sunday. MANNY PALMERO

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5 Aussies face life for joining terror plot SYDNEY, Australia— Five young men face life behind bars after they were charged with terrorism offenses over a plan to sail to Indonesia to join jihadist groups in Syria, Australian police said. The men, aged in their 20s and early 30s and whose passports had been canceled, included notorious Australian Islamic preacher Musa Cerantonio, who was captured in the Philippines in 2014 and deported for reportedly urging people to join jihad in Iraq and Syria, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported. The men, who were arrested on Tuesday, bought a seven-meter boat and drove it 2,840 kilometers from Melbourne north to Queensland state where they planned to set sail to Indonesia, the Australian Federal Police said. “The men... were each charged with one count of making preparations for incursions into foreign countries for the purpose of engaging in hostile activities,” the Australian Federal Police said in a statement late Saturday. “The maximum penalty for this offense is life imprisonment.” The Australian Broadcasting Corp. named two of the other men as Shayden Thorne and Kadir Kaya. The Federal Police said there was no current or impending terrorism threat from the case and that the men were due at a Queensland state court hearing on Monday. AFP

Visiting vessel. The Korean National Maritime University training ship ‘Saeyudal’ docks at Pier 13 of the Manila South Harbor on Sunday, the start of its four-day goodwill visit to the Philippines. DANNY PATA

Communist rebels kill 3 AFP troops in Negros COMMUNIST guerrillas killed three soldiers in the first fatal clash since president-in-waiting Rodrigo Duterte offered to restart stalled peace talks, the military said on Sunday. The soldiers were on the central island of Negros on Saturday investigating reports that New People’s Army guerrillas were extorting money from villagers when they clashed with about 10 rebels, leaving three soldiers dead and two wounded, a military report said. The violence comes just days after Duterte said he was open to

resuming peace talks aimed at ending a decades-old insurgency that has claimed tens of thousands of lives. After his May 9 election victory, Duterte’s spokesman said the firebrand politician may release jailed communist rebels in an effort to reopen peace talks. Incumbent President Benigno

Aquino III ended talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines in 2013 over the rebels’ demand for the unconditional release of their detained comrades, which his government was unwilling to grant. Duterte, a hardline mayor accused of running vigilante death squads that have allegedly killed more than a thousand crime suspects in Davao, is a friend of The Netherlands-based Jose Maria Sison, who set up the communist party in 1968.

Duterte, who takes office on June 30, has previously described himself as a socialist. Running for almost half a century, the communist insurgency has claimed 30,000 lives, according to military estimates. The rebels’ strength has dwindled to less than 4,000 fighters from a peak of more than 26,000 in the late 1980s, according to the military. However, it retains support among the deeply poor in the rural Philippines. AFP

‘Piracy in Asean seas rising’

Baclaran visit. Outgoing Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez and his wife, congresswoman-elect Yedda Mendoza-Romualdez, join vice presidential candidate Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at a mass at the Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Baclaran, Parañaque City on Sunday. EY ACASIO

JAKARTA—Indonesia’s Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu has urged Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries to intensify joint patrolling to prevent the region’s waters from falling prey to Somalia-style piracy. “The Malacca Strait waters that link countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines, must not become like Somalia waters where piracy is rampant,” he said. Ryacudu called for strengthening joint patrolling and cooperation among these countries. In the past months, there have been incidents of piracy involving vessels passing through the Malacca Strait and waters bordering the Philippines, Indonesia and Ma-

laysia, followed by hostage-taking. A number of Indonesian citizens were the victims. Toward the end of March, tugboat Brahma 12 and barge Anand 12 were hijacked in the waters off Tawi-Tawi in Mindanao while sailing from Indonesia’s province of South Kalimantan to the Philippines. Ten crew members of the vessel, all Indonesian citizens, were held hostage in the incident and only released earlier this month. Tugboat TB Henry and barge Cristi were also hijacked on April 15 while on their way from Cebu to Tarakan in North Kalimantan. Four of their crew members were also held hostage and released in the second week of this month. PNA

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Radar project up for grabs By Florante S. Solmerin

THE Department of National Defense has scheduled the opening of bid documents on May 27, 2016 for two items under the Philippine Air Force’s Radar Basing Support System Project worth P521,648,939.26.

Back to school blues. Young mom buys notebooks and other school supplies at Divisoria in preparation for the school opening next month. MANNY PALMERO

DND’s bids and award committee said the two items (lots) consist of site development, rehabilitation/repairs, new constructions, and other requirements at Mt. Salakot to include Antonio Bautista Air Base in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan (Lot 1) and at the Paredes Air Station in Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte (Lot 2). Both radar stations are facing the West Philippine Sea where the Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal in Masinloc, Zambales and the Kalayaan Islands Group in Palawan are situated. These territories have either been seized and or being occupied by Beijing through its illegal “nine-dash line” which Manila opposed by filing an arbitration case before an international tribunal. The Hague is expected to issue a verdict in June this year. The same DND-BAC being chaired by assistant secretary Roy Deveraturda earlier opened the bid for all 3 lots including Lot 1 for P712,659,553.18. The DND-BAC has yet to disclose who won Lot 1 which has a total budget of P191,010,613.92 for which the opening of bid was slated on Feb. 17, 2016. The budget is for the Gozar Air Station Radar Site and the Philippine Air Defense Control Center Project in Lubang Island, Occidental Mindoro. The defense department had signed a deal in December 2015 with Israelbased Elta System Ltd. for the procurement of 3 air surveillance radars (possibly ELM 2288 Radar system) worth P2.68 billion to boost its maritime surveillance in the WPS. The ELM 2288 is reportedly a derivative from the TPS-77 of the United States Air Force.

Palace hits out at China over maritime disputes By Sandy Araneta MALACAÑANG on Sunday denounced China’s refusal to take part in a proceeding to resolve the disputes in the South China Sea, filed before the Permanent Court of Arbitration, an international organization based in the Peace Palace, The Hague. “The participation of the Philippines in international arbitration proceedings of the arbitration court is a strong adherence to the principles enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or Unclos,” said Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. “This is due to the promotion of our country of a rules-based approach towards the peaceful resolution of issues concerning maritime entitlement claims in the West Philippine Sea,” said Coloma.

“In our perspective, being part of the international community, China could show its compliance with Unclos, which is one of the signatories and other similar international laws, through its participation or participating in arbitration,” said Coloma Jr. “The Philippines is not alone in believing the country is justified in the filing of the petition before the arbitral tribunal. Many countries including the following: United States, Great Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan; expressed promoting the principles of peace, security and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, and resistance to what they called ‘intimidating, coercive or provocative unilateral actions that could alter the status quo and increase tensions’ in the South China Sea or West Philippine Sea, Coloma said. Beijing earlier lashed out at the South China

Sea tribunal and refused to participate in the case. An international arbitration tribunal abused its powers and acted unjustly by taking up Manila’s case against Beijing over their South China Sea dispute, China has said in its latest attempt to justify why it refused to take part in the proceedings or accept the impending ruling. Senior diplomat Xu Hong said at a media briefing earlier that the tribunal’s five judges had “rushed” to hear the case without examining the link between Manila’s claims and territorial sovereignty. The Philippines has submitted claims in three areas: clarifying the legality of China’s nine-dash line that covers a large swathe of the South China Sea; the status of Chinese-occupied features such as reefs and their maritime entitlements; and China’s activities in what the Philippines considers its exclusive economic zone.

Separate jail eyed for drug convicts By Macon Araneta REELECTED Senator Vicente Sotto III has filed a bill that seeks to establish a separate jail for the country’s big-time drug offenders to boost the government’s campaign against illegal drugs. Sotto said his proposal , Senate Bill No. 3226, provides for different categories of drug offenders and inmates who would be kept in separate institutions or parts of institutions taking into account their sex, criminal records, legal status of their detention and the requirements for their rehabilitation In his explanatory note of Senate Bill No. 3226, Sotto said that the present treatment program and detention security measures in the Bureau of Corrections are inadequate to prevent convicted drugs lords from continuing with their illegal practices even while in detention at the New Bilibid Prisons. “Recent incidents proved that convicted drug lords have continued to ply their trade inside the premises of the national penitentiary, probably with the aid of regular inmates with whom they are commingled with,” Sotto said. In December last year, enforcers from the National Bureau of Investigation, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and Philippine National Police, raided the NBP’s maximum security compound where they found drugmaking equipment and entertainment gadgets. He said that the philosophy of penology recognizes the need to classify the prisoners into reasonable categories for rehabilitation, treatment and protection of society. “This is one of the mandated responsibilities of the Bureau of Corrections in safekeeping inmates and completely incapacitating them, especially high-level illegal-drugs offenders, while serving their sentences,” Sotto said.

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MMDA collects 178 tons of poll garbage THE Metropolitan Manila Development Authority on Sunday said it collected 107 truckloads of election materials. MMDA Metro Parkway Cleaning Group head Francis Martinez said ‘‘Oplan Baklas’’ has collected 630 cubic meters of election materials equivalent to 178 tons from Feb. 9 to May 11, 2016. Martinez said the massive operation was conducted on May 10 that collected 117 cubic meters or 33 tons of materials mostly from schools. The next day, MMDA collected another 22 tons of election materials. Martinez said that the agency is expecting more than 100 truckloads of election materials at the end of the operation on May 30. He said that the number of collected election materials from the May 9 election was higher than those collected after the 2013 polls. Martinez said that cities of Manila and Quezon have the most number of collected materials. The agency deployed around 350 personnel roaming around Metro Manila to remove the election materials everyday, including weekends. MMDA Chairman Emerson Carlos said the agency prioritizes removal of election materials near school zones in preparation for the opening of classes in June. Collected materials will be donated to interested agencies for recycling for as long as a request will be addressed to the MMDA. Carlos said the MMDA was more than willing to donate the campaign materials to benefit the people, especially those who need them most. He said that the agency originally planned to use the confiscated tarpaulins during times of emergencies and natural disasters.

Aids Hour. Health department workers and members of the LGBT community conduct the first AIDS Hour at the Quezon City Memorial Circle, lighting a hundred candles that signify hope for victims of the incurable disease. The event coincides with the observance of the 33rd International AIDS Candlelight Memorial, which commemorate those who have died from HIV and AIDS. MANNY PALMERO

PH nurses seeking US jobs up by 16% More and more Philippine-educated nurses are seeking greener pastures in the United States, according to Cebu rep. Gerald Gullas Jr. At least 1,377 took the US licensure examination for the first time from January to March this year, in the hopes of practicing their profession in America, Gullas said Sunday. The number was up by 16.4 percent from the 1,183 Filipino nurses that took the US licensure test, or the NCLEX, for the first time in the same three months in 2015, said Gullas, vice chairman of the House committee on higher and technical education. The number of Filipino nurses taking the NCLEX for the first time (excluding repeaters) is considered a reliable indicator as to how many of them are trying to obtain US licenses and seek gainful em-

ployment in America. “Filipino nurses are among the hardestworking staff in American hospitals today. In fact, on weekends and holidays, Filipino nurses are readily available for additional work, when other nurses prefer to take the dayoff,” Gullas said. America itself has been producing a large number of nursing graduates every year, but Gullas said many of them choose to pursue other occupations. “Many US-educated nurses practice their profession only for a few years. They easily get tired of tough hospital work and simply shift to other careers,” Gullas pointed out. In the last 20 years, an annual average of 8,134 nurses educated in the Philippines took the NCLEX for the first time. Among foreign-educated nurses, Filipinos remain the most zealous job-seekers in America, where registered nurses receive a median annual pay of $66,640 (P3.1 million), or an hourly rate of $32.04 (P1,492), according to the US Bureau of

Labor Statistics. From January to March this year, a total of 287 Indians, 171 Puerto Ricans, 103 South Koreans and 93 Jamaicans also took the NCLEX for the first time. In occupational outlooks, the BLS said the US would need 439,300 additional RNs plus 53,400 advanced practice nurses between now until 2024. The BLS said employment growth will occur for a number of reasons, including the surge of newly insured patients due to Obamacare, or the US Affordable Care Act; the stronger emphasis on preventive care; and the rapidly increasing number of chronic conditions, such as diabetes and obesity. The bureau also cited the robust demand for healthcare services from America’s aging baby-boom generation, as they live longer and more active lives. Statistics from the US National Council of State Boards of Nursing Inc. show that a total of 53,297 US-educated nurses, including repeaters, took the NCLEX for RNs in the first quarter.

Protect kids from second-hand smoke, solon urges By Maricel V. Cruz A REELECTIONIST lawmaker has vowed to champion a measure that will protect children from second-hand smoke in public places and enclosed areas by pushing for the amendment of the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003 in the 17th Congress. Quezon City Rep. Alfred Vargas said the Constitution identifies children as one of the groups that must be prioritized in health development. He cited the World Health Organization and the Department of Health 2009 study, which reported that children are more vulnerable to the dangers of secondhand smoke compared to adults because of their small built. Another factor that makes children vulnerable is their ability to breathe faster than adults, which exposes them to a greater amount of tobacco smoke, Vargas said.

Vargas added that more studies have also associated children’s exposure to second-hand smoke to increased risk of lung cancer in adulthood. Vargas intends to refile the measure in the incoming 17th Congress, which he introduced in the 16th Congress in accordance with the policy of the State to protect and promote the right of the people to health. In HB 6485, Vargas proposed to amend Section 6 of Republic Act 9211 on Designated Smoking and Non-Smoking Areas by inserting the phrase: “Provided, that in all school-related activities, whether within or outside the school premises and whether held indoors or outdoors, smoking shall be absolutely prohibited.” On the same section, Vargas also proposed to change the visible-sign “NO SMOKING AREA” or “NO SMOKING” to “SMOKING IS ABSOLUTELY PROHIBITED IN ENCLOSED AREAS UNDER R.A. NO. 9211.” Moreover, Vargas inserted a provision on the same

section, stating that these smoking and non-smoking signages should be made part of the requirements for the issuance and/or renewal of the business permits and/or permits to operate of establishments, health facilities or schools and the failure to comply therewith is a ground for the denial or revocation of such permits, provided that for schools, these signages should be prominently displayed whenever youth activities are being conducted declaring that the area is a smoke-free zone. The bill also seeks to amend Section 29 of R.A. No. 9211 on Implementing Agency by changing the designation of the chair of the Inter-Agency Committee—Tobacco from the secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry to the secretary of the Department of Health and the secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry shall now be the vice-chairperson instead of the secretary of the Department of Health.

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DAR: Some farmers have sold land ZAMBOANGA CITY—The Department of Agrarian Reform has confirmed that some farmer-beneficiaries have sold the lands awarded them by the government through the agrarian reform program. DAR regional director Felix Aguhob said around 1,000 farmer-beneficiaries have sold their lands for the period May 2015 to April 2016. Aguhob said the figures were based on the number of transfer orders he had signed during the period. The lands are already in the process of being transferred to the buyers. “These sales still happen because the beneficiaries run short of money. Sometimes there is sickness in the family. The reasons vary. I will not deny that farmers resort to selling their land.” Aguhob said the farmerbeneficiaries who sold their lands have been disqualified from the government’s agrarian reform program. He said the agency screened the buyers to determine if they were qualified to avail of the program and willing to continue the unsettled amortization of the previous farmer-beneficiaries. Each of the farmer-beneficiaries of the agrarian reform program is awarded an average of 1.6 hectares of land to be amortized over 30 years. The amount of monthly amortization depends on the price of the land awarded to them. Meanwhile, Aguhob said his office provides assistance to discourage farmer-beneficiaries from selling the lands awarded to them. These include the provision of farm equipment and livelihood opportunities as well as the construction of farm-to-market roads. “DAR is reaching out to our agrarian reform beneficiaries. I hope they will no longer sell the lands awarded to them. We are always here to help them make the lands more productive,” Aguhob said. PNA

Dengue cases up in CAR By Dexter A. See

All smiles. A ginger farmer from Catanauan, Quezon province is happy about this season’s good harvest. REVOLI CORTEZ

DepEd opens 251 schools for Mindanao IPs By A. Perez Rimando PAGADIAN CITY, Zamboanga del Sur—The Department of Education has ordered the establishment of 251 new public elementary schools in various Indigenous Peoples’ communities in Mindanao for school year 2016-2017 which starts on June 13, a local education official said. DepEd Region 9 Director Isabelita Borres said a memorandum issued recently by Education Secretary Armin Luistro provided Mindanao’s five regions (except Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) with 583 new teacher slots in 251 identified sites—broken down into to 21 TS in 18 IS for Zamboanga Peninsula (Region 9); 82 TS in 39 IS for Northern Mindanao

(R10); 147 TS in 69 IS for Southern Mindanao (R11); 135 TS in 50 IS for Central Mindanao (R12), and 198 TS in 75 IS for Caraga (R13). Luistro required Southern Philippines’ regional offices to orient and train newly hired qualified teachers who should belong to the same indigenous cultural community they would serve, Borres said. The DepEd chief, Borres said, further mandated division offices “to identify actual IP school-age learners in each site in partnership with local IP leaders.’’ Luistro also directed the construction of 605 classrooms for the new 251 IS in cooperation with the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s KalahiCIDSS National Community-Development Program.

Let’s play! Children from Isabela province pose to culminate their 20-day summer music camp called Let’s Play. REVOLI CORTEZ

BAGUIO CITY—The Cordillera office of the Department of Health reported that dengue fever cases in the region increased by 141 percent in the first four months of this year compared to the same period last year. Lakshmi Legaspi, DoH-CAR regional director, said that the agency recorded 1,257 dengue fever cases from Jan. 1 to April 30, 2016 compared to the 521 cases recorded same period last year. She added that there were four deaths from dengue in the region for the first four months of this year compared to one recorded death for the same period last year. The fatalities this year included a 53-year-old male from Pilar, Abra, a three-year-old girl from Tabuk City, Kalinga, a five-year-old female from Tabuk City, Kalinga and a 33-year-old male from Tuba, Benguet. Legaspi added clustering of dengue cases were reported in Publacion East, flora; Cabatacan, Pudtol and Emiliana, Sta. Marcela, all in Apayao; Poblacion, Bokod; Luacan, Itogon; Poblacion Central, Kapangan; Bahong and Puguis, La Trinidad; Dominican Hill-Mirador, Baguio City; and Bulanao, Tabuk City, Kalinga. Baguio City recorded the highest increase in dengue fever cases from 62 during the first four months of last year to 396 cases during the same period last year. This represented a 539-percent increase. This is followed by Benguet with 109 cases last year to 403 cases this year representing a 270-percent increase. Mountain Province recorded a 133-percent increase with 21 cases for the first four months of this year compared to the nine cases for the same period last year while Kalinga which tallied 165 cases this year compared to 90 last year had an 83-percent increase. The increase in dengue cases has prompted the regional health office to likewise intensify the campaign against dengue, chikungunya, zika and Japanese encephalitis.

M O N D AY : M AY 1 6 , 2 0 1 6

opinion

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duterte on tHe pipeS

[ EDI TORI A L ]

By robert Harland

TesT case for The new presidenT WHILE the president-elect Rodrigo Duterte contemplates visits to the Vatican and Brunei, he should spare some time to remember his campaign promise to eradicate criminality wherever he finds it, even if it is in his own home. The need to instill discipline within his own ranks is crucial, as it would distinguish the new government from the administration of President Benigno Aquino III, whose predilection for selective justice has been amply documented. If change is indeed coming, this is as good a place to start as any. While Aquino turned a blind eye to scalawags in his camp, Duterte must prove upon assuming office that he will brook no nonsense from members of his own Cabinet—or even his over-enthusiastic supporters. Conversely, he must show that his administration is capable of giving justice, even to those who did not support him during the campaign. One way the new president can show he is serious about breaking Aquino’s pattern of selective justice is to have his Justice secretary pull out all the stops to prosecute 14 cyberbullies who made grave threats against human rights advocate Renee Julienne Karunungan during the election campaign, simply because she depicted Duterte on a Facebook meme as “a lazy choice.” “I hope you get raped, or get mugged,” one Duterte supporter told her. “That’s what you want, right? You don’t want change because you are against Duterte. I hope one of these days you get raped so you’ll come to your senses.” Another said: “I have friends who want to kill you. You have the money anyway, save that for your hospital expenses.” In the wake of his landslide victory, Duterte has called on Filipinos to move on and reconcile after a long and nasty campaign, but threats such as these are a crime and cannot be dismissed with an apology or the slap on the wrist. The need to prosecute this case becomes doubly important, given the promise by key Duterte officials that his government will be more “gender-sensitive.” In fact, toward this end, Senator Pia Cayetano has joined Duterte’s transition team to make sure that women would have a voice in the new administration. Cayetano, who has shown during her career as a senator that she can speaks out for what is right, needs to do so now and make sure state prosecutors do not softpedal the case, simply because the accused are Duterte supporters. The abuse of women should never be tolerated, and the incoming administration needs to send that message out, loud and clear—especially to its supporters.

Stupid Smartmatic pensées fr. ranhilio callangan aquino Commissioner rowena Guanzon was not only emphatic. she was furious. The fastidiousness with which the Commission on elections had prepared for the elections was close to being for naught after smartmatic made the public admission that it had introduced a change in the “script,” and that is partly the problem. The average

Filipino among whom i count does not know exactly what a script does, nor a tag, which also means then that the evil, with evil intent can more easily conceal their foul deeds behind a smokescreen of infotech jargon! senator Bongbong marcos has every right to complain— and this should not detract in any way from the integrity of Leni robredo. But it certainly should make it clear that like the errant pharaohs of egypt, smartmatic must henceforth be expunged from the memory of the nation, its corporate

name to be mentioned only in malediction, all references to it, suppressed as we would of anything vulgar and unseemly. This is not the first time smartmatic has been severely castigated. i will not forget the video clip of Congressman teddyboy Locsin giving smartmatic’s executives not only a mouthful but the appropriate percussive background of a banged table and a fearful countenance almost apocalyptic in dreadfulness. is it in fact correct that marcos should prove wrong-

smartmatic must henceforth be expunged from the memory of the nation, its corporate name to be mentioned only in malediction, all references to it, suppressed as we would of anything vulgar and unseemly.

doing in accordance with the common principle that he who alleges must prove the allegation? no, i do not think the burden is on him. There is something to learn from

the Civil Code’s treatment of common carriers that are charged with extraordinary diligence. When the plaintiff is able to prove that the passenger or the cargo failed

to arrive as scheduled, the law creates a presumption against the common carrier and assigns it the burden of proving that it did in effect measure up to the legally exacted standard of diligence. not that smartmatic is a common carrier, but that, considering the gravity of national elections, it should be held to a very high standard of diligence. information systems are extremely complicated. This is the reason i readily dismiss sixto Brillantes’ prattling about everything being

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in order as the usually careless ramblings of one close to dementia. He is not an it expert. The system was in smartmatic’s control and the reasoning that applies in the law on bailments applies to them: as between the bailor and the bailee, the burden of explaining where the goods are and what happened to them is not with the bailor but with the bailee because the latter is in the better position to provide an answer. smartmatic is definitely in a position to know exactly what their tweaking

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with the system did, or did not do. smartmatic has admitted to introducing something outside the ordinary course of events. The candidates, including Bongbong marcos, have a right to know exactly what was altered and what the effects of the alteration are. it will not do for smartmatic to deflect interrogatory by insisting that the results were not jeopardized. That is self-serving. if the change was merely cosmetic, why make the change under cover of Continued on A10

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

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

PresumPtive president rodrigo Duterte may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but, politics aside, he will be a godsend to the thousands of peace-loving citizens who are constantly disturbed by the excessive—and possibly harmful— ear-piercing racket from bora bora— motorbikes with modified or no mufflers at all. it seems the good mayor is also a man who likes peace and quiet and i hear he also has an intense disliking of this form of noise pollution. That’s great news because judging by his past record, he’s actually likely to do something about it, rather than let it slide as so many city officials around the country have done. Last year, mayor Duterte impounded more than 200 motorbikes in Davao City with modified mufflers. Duterte told desolate bike owners “What you put there [modified muffler] is not allowed by law. You cannot change it to make noise. if you replace [the muffler] you start to make noise. During night time you disturb your fellowmen.” He added that the impounding was not a traffic violation, but “confiscation based on nuisance law.” nuisance is specified in the Civil Code of the Philippines Book 2: Property, ownership and its modifications— all motorcycles with noisy, loud and modified mufflers or piping are being confiscated under this law. According to law, it in fact states— title viii Article 694 nuisance “is any act, omission, establishment, business, condition of property, or anything else which (1) injures or endangers the health and safety of others; (2) annoys or offends the senses.” Duterte was adamant: “noise is a pollutant, it destroys the hearing of the people. it disturbs the public peace. it’s unlawful and by law i am allowed to abate that nuisance.” This is great stuff, but if mayor Duterte can implement the law in Davao City, why are mayors and local government officials elsewhere not following suit. no doubt, many don’t want to lose votes, but long-suffering citizens hope that with a strong man at the helm, there will be a change of heart which means peace-loving people can get some sleep and not be woken up at 3 a.m. by anti-social numskulls on their noisy bikes. except for Davao City, bora bora seems to be a national problem. take Cebu for example. Late last year a lawyer and an anti-noise pollution advocate asked if the city had been “faithfully implementing the antimodified muffler ordinance of 2013 given the proliferation of the use of modified mufflers.” Continued on A10

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

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M O N D AY : M AY 1 6 , 2 0 1 6

opinion

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lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

opinion

everyman

duterte on tHe pipeS

[ EDI TORI A L ]

By robert Harland

doing in accordance with the common principle that he who alleges must prove the allegation? no, i do not think the burden is on him. There is something to learn from

the Civil Code’s treatment of common carriers that are charged with extraordinary diligence. When the plaintiff is able to prove that the passenger or the cargo failed

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

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

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

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

Emil P. Jurado Chairman Emeritus, Editiorial Board

A10 The bar exams: posT morTem TwO weeks ago, the out of the results of the 2015 box bar examination was released. It yielded a rita linda passing rate of 26.21 v. jimeno percent, the highest in six years, with 1,731 out of 6,600 plus examinees passing. The licensure exam for lawyers is one of the most difficult in the world, having eight subjects taken in four Sundays and requiring that the examinees garner an average of 75 percent in all the subjects taken. Traditionally the passing rate has been between 15 and 30 percent. In contrast, in New York, the recent bar exams have been branded as the worst in decades because the passing rate has hovered between 61 and 68 percent while the rate used to be higher than that. T h e Ph i l ippi ne the ability to exams, being comprehend, analyze largely in essay form, and answer in a logical have to be read and and coherent manner is graded by an not learned overnight. examiner for each of the eight subjects rather than a machine as in other licensure exams which use the multiple type of questioning. This means that each examiner had to read—for the most recent bar exam—more than 6,600 booklets. This manner of testing has been the subject of much criticism from law schools saying that it is an arbitrary process because it is subject to the personality make-up and the mood of the examiner. Many have said that some examiners have been power-tripping at the expense of the law graduates; thus, openly advocating the abolition of the bar examination itself. I had the privilege of being an examiner in Civil Law in the 2015 bar examination chaired by Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo de Castro. I was an examiner too in the 2010 bar exams for the same subject. Although I was asked by the Chair to be very reasonable, even generous, in grading, which I later learned she also asked of the other examiners, I realized that much as I personally wanted to pass as many as I could (being in the academe myself) there was something fundamentally and sadly wrong with the answers to the questions. This made it impossible to achieve a remarkably high passing rate. The greater majority of the examinees simply did not have the grasp of basic concepts of civil law. For example, one question I asked was, if two males lived together, could they be covered by the law on full co-ownership under Article 147 of the Family Code, that is, could they share equally in the properties purchased by just one of them during their cohabitation while the other one took care of their home? Many said yes because there was no impediment to their getting married. Really now. Two males could get married in this jurisdiction? what law school could they have graduated from, I asked myself. Many also answered, in a question about the rights of illegitimate children, that they have absolutely no right to inherit because they are illegitimate. Still, there were many whose comprehension of the given question was wrong, resulting in a wrong answer. worst, many of the examinees were unable to express their thoughts in English. The English grammar of many of the examinees could shock even a high school graduate who took his secondary education seriously. For instance, nearly a majority erred in the proper use of “is” and “are.” In one question involving two persons, “Y” and “Z,” many said “Z” and “Y” is wrong. Quite a number answered in a circuitous and incoherent manner. For most of the exam booklets, sentence construction, spelling and choice of words were so horrifying that if these examinees happened to pass the bar exams, they would have been a

M O N D AY : M AY 1 6 , 2 0 1 6

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Why obama can’T apologize for hiroshima by ramesh ponnuru BARACk Obama will be the first US president to visit Hiroshima, a prospect that has set off arguments about whether he should apologize for our use of nuclear bombs to end world war II. The white House says he will not. while the case that he should is strong, the case that he shouldn’t is stronger. Most Americans, from 1945 to the present, have believed that President Harry Truman was justified in bombing Japan. Most supporters of that decision say the bombs saved lives by breaking Japan’s will to continue fighting. The alternative, they add, was a ground invasion that would have caused much more blood, Allied and Japanese, to be shed. But there are others who dispute the claim that the bombs were necessary to bring about Japan’s unconditional surrender. An official US government report in 1946 concluded that “it seems clear that, even without the atomic bombing attacks, air supremacy over Japan could have exerted sufficient pressure to bring about unconditional surrender and obviate the need for invasion.” The core conviction of the opponents, though, is that it is always wrong to take actions intended to kill noncombatants, even on the hope the killing will bring about very desirable effects. That principle forms part of the duterte... From A9 Yes, you’ve guessed it. Two years after the ordinance was approved, traffic authorities haven’t enforced it. One Cebu resident suggested law enforcers should also go after distributors of the mufflers as well as the bikers. It’s estimated that 50

western tradition of thinking about the ethics of war. This tradition is not pacifist: It accepts that wars can be just, and that in a just war the military can justly take actions it knows will cause civilian deaths. But this view insists that the killing of noncombatants, including children, cannot be the goal of a just military act, either as an end in itself or as the means toward some other end (like breaking the enemy’s will so as to yield peace). we have largely adhered to this tradition, before 1945 and after. we have sometimes debated whether our use of drones is causing too many civilian deaths. But we do not deliberately target civilians for killing whenever we think the consequences would be beneficial. when Donald Trump suggested deterring terrorists by killing their family members, he was recommending a highly controversial change in our practices. Dropping atom bombs on Japan is hard to reconcile with the honorable tradition. This doesn’t call into question the essential justice of the Allied cause. It doesn’t mean Truman deserves all the connotations of a “war criminal” or “murderer,” terms some of his critics have been willing to employ. But it does suggest he chose wrongly. If he did, should Obama apologize for it? Collective or

institutional apologies are a tricky business: They often involve people apologizing for things they didn’t themselves do to people who weren’t the direct victims. That criticism was made when the House and the Senate apologized for slavery and Jim Crow. But Congress and the entire US government are enduring institutions, and the people who have contemporary responsibility for them can rightly acknowledge those institutions’ past misconduct. Congress surely bears a share of the blame for slavery and the oppression of African-Americans. If it was wrong to drop atomic bombs on civilian populations, and present leaders can rightly apologize for past wrongs, why shouldn’t Obama apologize at Hiroshima? I think the answer is simple. Almost all Americans recognize that slavery and Jim Crow were grave moral wrongs. Most Americans don’t view Hiroshima and Nagasaki similarly. They think we were justified. Obama therefore cannot legitimately apologize on behalf of the American people. He can regret the loss of life while staying silent on the morality of the bombings. Any apology should be left to a future president—and issued only if America reaches a new consensus on this issue. Bloomberg

percent of motorbikes in Cebu have modified mufflers. Even tourists, shocked by the extraordinarily high levels of noise pollution from bikes, have taken to the internet to ask why the authorities seem oblivious to the problem. One can only hope that now

things will change. It’s obviously not a top priority as Duterte forms his administration, but many are confident he’ll get round to it sooner or later— preferably sooner.

stupid... From A9 darkness? In fact, why change at all? But if it was necessary to introduce the change, then certainly the change was not innocuous, and Smartmatic bears the burden of telling us what exactly the change in script did to the system. I was aghast when, on television, we were told that the canvassing had been put on hold because “trial ballots” entered into the canvass, rather than the votes cast on the day of the election. How more inept and criminally liable can you get than that: mixing up trial ballots with actual ballots and transmitting the wrong set. And certainly, practical reasoning gets to work and forces the question: How often did this occur, and how widespread was the mix-up? I am not buying either the call to “wait for the official results.” The unofficial results depend on advanced copies of the official results, generated by the same system that “dirty hands” got themselves into. It is disgrace to the profession and would have caused injustice to their unsuspecting clients. As an examiner, I dropped nearly everything else I was doing—including writing this column for many months—to read each and every booklet. I wanted the standard of grading to be uniform and as reasonable as possible. But passing the bar does not lie in the hands of the examiners. It does not even hinge on how well one reviews for the bar exams. It lies, rather, in the foundation of an examinee’s four—year law education and, before that, his study ethics from elementary

Robert Harland is a British national based in Bacolod City.

foolish buying a newspaper in the morning, noticing some mistakes, and buying a copy of the same paper in the hope that the mistakes are not to be found in the second copy. where did PPCRV and Namfrel volunteers get the results if not from what the VCMs read at the precinct level, and then transmitted for municipal, provincial and national canvass? why is there this fatal attraction towards Smartmatic that makes it so difficult for officialdom to take its eyes off this lousy company? And let ignoramuses like me in matters digital desist from premature announcements that the results remain unassailable. Only programmers understand programming signs, and tags and scripts, and we would move towards a solution more quickly were charlatans to be sequestered somewhere at the foothills of Mount Apo until the dust settles! rannie_aquino@sanbeda.edu.ph rannie_aquino@csu.edu.ph rannie_aquino@yahoo.com to high school, to college. The ability to comprehend, analyze and answer in a logical and coherent manner is not learned overnight. Advocating the abolition of the bar examination is not the solution to the poor performance of examinees in the bar examination. Improving the system of educating students from kinder to law school is. Email: ritalindaj@gmail.com Visit: www.jimenolaw.com.ph

m o n day : m ay 1 6 , 2 0 1 6

A11

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Spieth misses cut

Jason Day of Australia plays a shot on the 14th hole during the third round of THE PLAYERS Championship at the Stadium course at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. AFP

MIAMI—World number two Jordan Spieth missed the cut Saturday at the US PGA Players Championship, his first event since squandering a backnine Sunday to lose last month’s Masters. The 22-year-old American, struggling with his putter, opened on 72 and followed with a 71 to stand on one-under 143, one stroke over the cut line to missing the last 36 holes for the second year in a row at TPC Sawgrass. Spieth, who defends his US Open crown next month at Oakmont, downplayed the notion he could be in a funk after his Masters meltdown, which denied him a second consecutive wire-to-wire win at Augusta National and handed England’s Danny Willett a first major crown. “I don’t think there’s much of a connection to the Masters. I just didn’t putt well,” Spieth said. “Augusta seems like a long time ago to me.” Adding to Spieth’s pain,

he was playing alongside top-ranked Jason Day as the Australian fired a 36-hole course record of 15-under 129 -- matching the 18-hole mark of 63 before completing a 66 on Saturday after storms and darkness delayed the end of round two. Spieth, 22, looked as miserable watching the Aussie sink his birdies the first two rounds as he did handing over the green jacket to Willett as a global audience watched on television. “It’s tough when you are getting shellacked by 15 shots in the same group,” Spieth said. “You see all those birdies going in and you wonder why you aren’t making any of them. It’s tough seeing every hole being birdied and not being able to do much about it.” “I’m striking the ball great. I just need to grind on my short game. If I putt anywhere near the standard I normally putt I’m at 6- or 7-under just on the greens.” AFP

Day hangs on to TPC golf lead MIAMI—World number one Jason Day battled through horrid putting conditions and a poor start Saturday to fire a one-over par 73 and lead by four shots after three rounds of the US PGA Players Championship. Players ripped the greens as all-but unfair as TPC Sawgrass produced only six sub-par scores, matching its all-time low for any round and sparking major complaints from the world’s top golfers. “I’ve never gone over putts where I’ve had to lag a 10-foot putt and not try to hole it,” Day said. “That’s the first time in my career I’ve had to do that. “It’s not a lot of fun to have to try and two-putt from 10 feet. I never got really comfortable on the greens at all.” Third-ranked Rory McIlroy was even harsher, saying, “That was borderline unfair on a few holes. A few pin positions were on crowns. You dribble a putt past the hole and it’s six feet by.” Day seeking his second wire-to-wire victory of the season and seventh title in 17 starts, finished 54 holes on 14-under 202. “Some of the pin locations were just a little bit iffy with how the greens were,” Day said. “It’s supposed to be tough I guess. It was a drastic change from Thursday and Friday. I was very shocked.” Day opened with a 63, matching the 18-hole course record,

and completed a weather-hit second round of 66 on Saturday to set a 36-hole record of 15-under 129. But after going bogey-free through 36 holes for the first time in his career, Day had a bogey and two double bogeys in the first eight holes of round three before fighting back with three birdies the rest of the way. “I feel good about my game. I have to focus on the positive. I’ve got a 4-stroke lead,” said Day, who has won his past four events when leading after 54 holes. Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, Germany’s Alex Cejka and American Ken Duke shared second on 206 with Italy’s Francesco Molinari on 207. South African Retief Goosen and American Kevin Chappell shot 70 to reach 208. - ‘Putting on dance floors’ Matsuyama birdied three holes in a row to open his front and back nines on the way to a 67 while Duke, a back-nine starter, birdied six of his last seven holes to move into the hunt with a shock 65. Few others were happy as the average score was about 75 on greens that were rock hard and lightning fast. “I felt like we were putting on dance floors,” said American

Billy Horschel after a 75, with Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell calling the green speeds “crazy” and US veteran Jim Furyk dubbing the firm and fast greens “almost impossible to play.” Mark Russell, a PGA Tour competition vice president, blamed high winds and a humidity drop for the green conditions after two days of record low scoring. “The moisture just went away and they did speed up. We just had a perfect storm that happened,” he said. “I empathize with them but we didn’t try to do anything to speed them up.” Day finished the last four holes of his storm-hit second round Saturday morning, a birdie on 15 and three pars completing a second-round 66 to give him a 36-hole tournament record of 15-under 129 and a record five-shot midway lead. - Day rallies from early woes But the Aussie struggled early in round three after going 36 holes without a bogey for the first time in his career. Day handed back five shots in six holes, missing a six-foot putt to drop a stroke at the par-3 third. He four-putted from 18 feet for a double bogey at the par-4 sixth and, after a tapin birdie on seven, made another double bogey at the par-3 eighth as his lead fell to a single shot. Day responded with a 10-foot birdie putt at the par-3 ninth, blasted out of a greenside bunker to three feet to birdie the par-5 11th, chipped in from 53 feet for a miracle par at 15 and birdied the par-5 16th. AFP

Suarez outguns Messi, powers Barca BARCELONA—In little under two years with Barcelona, Luis Suarez has won six trophies, silenced his critics with almost impeccable on-field behaviour and now, most remarkably of all, left Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in his shadow. Suarez fittingly scored a hattrick as Barca retained their La Liga title on Saturday with a 3-0 win at Granada to take his tally for the season to a remarkable 59 allied to 26 assists. Of those 59, 40 came in La Liga, making him the first man to depose Messi and Ronaldo and win the Pichichi award for Spain’s top scorer in seven years. Moreover, it is the most

prolific season anyone other than Messi and Ronaldo has produced in the history of the Spanish top flight. The Pichichi and golden boot for Europe’s top goalscorer are individual awards where all that matters are the numbers and Suarez can’t be discredited. He was sidelined as Neymar joined Messi and Ronaldo in FIFA’s top three at the Ballon d’Or to crown the world’s best player despite playing a pivotal role in turning Barca from trophyless in 2013/14 to treble winners a season later. The controversy and stigma of having bitten an opponent three times in his career con-

tinues to cost the Uruguayan in the popularity stakes. However, in his first full season without a prolonged suspension in three years, Suarez has shown his devastating potential to leave Ronaldo, Messi and Neymar trailing in his wake. Barca’s title run was built once more around the thrilling talents of the South American ‘MSN’ triumvirate. Yet, of the three, Suarez was the most consistent. The team’s form replicated his in front of goal, he starred in the most glorious parts of the campaign and, most tellingly, made the Barcelona’s Uruguayan forward Luis Suarez celebrates after scoring during difference when they most the Spanish league football match Granada CF vs FC Barcelona at Nuevo Los needed him. AFP Carmenes stadium in Granada. AFP

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FIFA’s 1st woman secretary general is used to crises

PARIS—Fatma Samoura, FIFA’s first-ever female secretary general, may be an outsider in the football world but she is hoping her two decades of experience as a UN diplomat will help her restore the sport’s “tarnished image”. “My goal is to support the programme of president Gianni (Infantino) and to help football restore its tarnished image,” the Senegalese UN diplomat, named Friday as the second-in-command of football’s ruling body, told AFP. “And to those who speak of my lack of experience, I say give me the time to prove myself,” she said in a telephone interview Saturday from Nigeria’s Abuja, where she was representing the United Nations Development Programme at a summit to discuss efforts to defeat Boko Haram Islamists. FIFA’s new second-in-command is no stranger to the kind of power struggles that brought FIFA to the brink, having served as the representative of the UN Development Programme in post-coup Madagascar from 2010 to 2015 before moving to Nigeria. “FIFA is the United Nations of football and I bring 21 years of experience in the private sector and the UN in terms of good governance and transparency, and the obligation to make the different federations and FIFA accountable,” the 54-year-old said. Samoura’s years with the UN, including with the World Food Programme, have taken her crisis-management skills to hotspots such as Afghanistan, Chad and Darfur. “We must try to restore football to what it was, the most popular sport that breaches social divides,” she told AFP. “And one of the things I am going to try to do is bring greater support to women’s football.” - Infantino pledge Samoura, who was named as the successor to disgraced Frenchman Jerome Valcke at a FIFA congress in Mexico on Friday, will take up her post by mid-June after undergoing an eligibility check administered by an independent review committee. She said she met Infantino, who was appointed to succeed Sepp Blatter in February, for the first time in November last year. “I was in Madagascar at the time and it was during a match between Madagascar and Senegal,” in a qualifier for the 2018 World Cup, she said. afp

Djokovic takes on Murray in net finals

ROME—World number one Novak Djokovic overcame a self-inflicted ankle injury to battle into the Rome Masters final after a thrilling 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) win over Kei Nishikori on Saturday.

Serbia's Novak Djokovic reacts during the semifinal match against Japan's Kei Nishikori at the ATP Tennis Open tennis tournament at the Foro Italico in Rome. afp

Bolt makes triumphant start to season GEORGE TOWN—World 100- and 200-meter record holder Usain Bolt of Jamaica opened his 2016 season Saturday with a 100m victory in 10.05 seconds at the Cayman Invitational. Making his fist strides on the road to the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in August, Bolt crossed the finish line .07 of a second ahead of American runner-up Dentarius Locke. “It wasn’t the best, but as long as I

come out injury free, that’s the key thing,” Bolt said. “I didn’t feel as smooth as I wanted to, but as I always say, it’s hard to just come into your first race and do extra well.” Jamaican Kemar Bailey-Cole, who trains with Bolt at Racers Track Club, was third in 10.18 with a light tailwind of 0.1m/sec. Bolt is planning his campaign with the aim of defending his 100m,

200m and 4x100m Olympic crowns in Brazil, seeking an unprecedented third gold medal in a row in all three events in what he has said will be his final Olympics. Bolt, who races in Ostrava next week, said he is not worried with his form. “It’s just more races,” Bolt said. “My coach will determine what I need to work on, but right now it’s just more races. The more races I

run, the better I will feel so I am just looking forward to running more races and see what happens. “I am never worried. I’ve been in worse situations. It’s just race rusty. I can tell. I could feel the difference from when you are flying from when you are not.” The 29-year-old superstar had not competed since winning three gold medals at last August’s World Championships in Beijing. afp

Europe’s top swimmers descend on London LONDON—As the Olympic Games loom ever closer, Europe’s best swimmers gather in London on one of the final stepping stones to Rio de Janeiro. When the European Championships start on Monday at the London Aquatics Centre – which staged the swimming at the 2012 Olympics – there will be just 82 days before the Games start in Brazil. Given the proximity, few who are competing in Rio will have rested before the London meet, but are instead in heavy training, eyes planted firmly on what lies ahead in August. Two years ago in Berlin, Great Britain topped the medal table with a haul of 24. Prominent was 19-year-old Adam Peaty, a fortnight after beating Olympic champion Cameron van der Burgh to second in the 100m breaststroke at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Peaty was a stand-out in Berlin, winning four gold medals and setting a world record in the 50m breaststroke, albeit not ratified due to an administrative error. Olympic 50m freestyle champion Florent Manaudou also made four visits to the top of the podium, while Sweden’s Sarah Sjoestroem claimed three golds.

Musician Ziggy Marley throws out a ceremonial first pitch before the game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California. afp

It means Djokovic will meet Britain’s Andy Murray, the second seed, in a second successive Masters final on Sunday a week after beating the Scot in Madrid. Djokovic, the top seed and defending champion, had laid the foundations for a fifth title in Rome with a hard-fought and classy win over seven-time champion Rafael Nadal on Friday. But the Serbian almost scuppered his hopes when he inadvertantly bruised his left ankle with his raquet as he hit it against his shoe to shake off the red dirt. Later, he said: “A message to all the kids out there: don’t hit your own ankle when you’re cleaning your shoes.” If left Djokovic requiring medical treatment, and appeared to rob him of the early momentum against the Japanese sixth seed. “It was an awkward situation in the first game, I hit myself pretty hard on the ankle and bruised the bone,” he explained. “It hurt for a while, and though the pain faded it returned towards the end of the match.” Nishikori—who suffered a semi-final defeat to the Serbian in Madrid—was a tough customer for tennis’s man of the moment. Nishikori’s agility and movement were crucial in a 43-minute first set that he peppered with a healthy dose of drop shots. Djokovic upped the momentum at a key moment in the second set, forcing a decider with a break on his first set point in the 10th game. Djokovic maintained the momentum in the third set, but again Nishikori came out swinging. The Serbian got the break in the second game, only for Nishikori to level at 4-4. He saved match point at 5-4 before going on to force the tiebreak. Although he saved a further two match points, Nishikori was unable to save a fourth as Djokovic sealed the win in just over three hours. In the end, the Serbian won 112 points to 111 for Nishikori. afp

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Malaysia Dragons join PBA D-League THE Westsports Malaysia Dragons will participate as guest team in the PBA DLeague Foundation Cup, which gets going on June 2. The reigning Asean Basketball League champion will carry the colors of Bluestar Detergent in the tournament that will have a total of seven teams vying for the title. With a core led by Fil-Am Matthew Wright and Fil-Canadian Jason Brickman, Blustar Detergent is expected to provide tough challenge for newly crowned Aspirant’s Cup champion Phoenix Fuel, defending champion Café France, Tanduay Rhum, Mindanao Aguilas, AMA Online Education and Racal Tiles Masters. The Accelerators try to complete a championship double, while the Bakers look to retain the title after a disheartening loss to Phoenix Fuel in the finals last conference. “The participation of Westsport Malaysia Dragons is a positive development for the league. Their presence brings some sort of international flavor in the tournament and should raise the level of competition that should excite the fans,” said PBA Commissioner Chito Narvasa. The eliminations will now be a doubleround format. The top four teams will advance to the semi-finals with the no. 1 and 2 seeds earning a twice-to-beat advantage. The finals will be a best-of-three series.

TNT jrs pick up 2nd straight win Games Today (Phil. Science High gym) 8 a.m. – Tropang TNT vs Rain or Shine 9:30 a.m. – Phoenix vs NLEX 11 a.m. – Alaska vs Mahindra

ALAIN Ayrton Cajayon, Jean Capispisan and Ike Jordan Lim each scored 12 points and formed the triumvirate that helped the Star Hotshots withstand the Phoenix Fuel Master, 66-60, Sunday in the Cloudfone-Batang PBA 16&Under basketball tournament at the Philippine Science High School gym in Quezon City. The game was airtight all throughout and was tied, 45-all, going to the fourth quarter before the Batang Hotshots gained some separation, spoiling Elmar Marsonia’s 26-point output for the Batang Fuel Masters. In other games, unbeaten leader Tropang TNT overwhelmed Globalport, 100-34, after opening the game with a 37-7 first-quarter surge. Six Batang Texters were in double figures – Emmanuel Valencia Jr. and Kevin Garnett Raymundo each tallied 14 points and the trio of Antonio Lledo III, Greg Alfred delas Alas and Bryan Magtoto contributed 13 apiece. Add-

CycleAsia. Over a thousand bikers, including Alaska Milk president and CEO Wilfred Uytengsu, also the president of the organizing Sunrise Events, Inc., join the Alaska CycleAsia Philippines at SM by the Bay grounds at Mall of Asia in Pasay yesterday. On its third year, the event features the Challenge Ride of 40km and Community Ride of 20km ride, Tricycle Ride and the Kids Ride.

Pagara fights Juarez By Ronnie Nathanielsz

UNBEATEN Prince Albert Pagara faces the biggest test of his career against Mexico’s rugged Cesar Juarez, who engaged Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire in a brutal battle for the vacant WBO super bantamweight title in San Juan, Puerto Rico on Dec. 11. Donaire dropped Juarez twice in the fourth round to eventually earn a lopsided decision, in which Juarez admitted he lost, but that the judges scorecards did not reflect the closeness of the bout. All three judges were from Puerto Rico. Jose Roberto Torres and Nelson Vazquez had Donaire the winner, 116-110, while Gerardo Martinez also scored it for Donaire by a wider 117-109 margin. Featured columnist Brian Mazique of Bleacher Report said that while the DonaireJuarez title fight was not the main event of the TV broad-

cast and it wasn’t massively hyped, Donaire’s unanimous decision victory over the Mexican turned out to be a “legitimate Fight of the Year candidate. The two men laid their hearts and bodies on the line in a memorable scrap, but Donaire prevailed.” Since the loss to Donaire, Juarez also dropped a 10-round split decision to Giovanni Delgado, who had a record of 15-4 with 9 knockouts. Jake Donovan of Boxing Scene wrote: “Three months after taking Donaire to hell and back, Juarez was brought crashing back to earth. The

super bantamweight hopeful suffered a stunning split decision loss to Delgado in their 10-round clash in Mexico City.” Donovan said: “The concept behind the fight was proving that Juarez belonged among super bantamweight contention following his brave showing versus Donaire. A win in this fight was rumored to have lined up a future showdown with unbeaten Albert Pagara, with the winner likely to race to the front of the line for a title shot. It wasn’t to be on this night for the local favorite, who was sound offensively, but struggled to keep a determined Delgado at bay. The fight was back-and-forth for much of the night, but with Delgado often landing first and at a greater rate.” ALA Promotions’ President Michael Aldeguer, who is still in the US, told The Standard he had just finalized the Pagara-Juarez fight on July 9 in San Francisco, with Zanfer Promotions, which is headed by Fernando Beltran. “This is the biggest test of

Albert. We knew it would be a dangerous fight and is a risk to his No. 2 world ranking, but again just like (Mark ‘Magnifico’) Magsayo, we need to find out if he has what it takes to be a world champion,” said Aldeguer, pointing out that Juarez gave Donaire one of the toughest fights in his career. “So this should be another exciting fight. This will be a make-or-break fight for Albert’s career.” Juarez, who is 24 years old, won the vacant WBO International super bantamweight title with a unanimous decision over Juan Carlos Sanchez Jr. The 22-year-old Pagara has an impressive record of 18 knockouts in 26 wins. with no defeats and is coming off a lopsided near-shutout decision over Yesner Talavera last Feb. 27 at the Waterfront Hotel and Casino in Cebu City, with judges Salven Lagumbay and Greg Ortega turning in identical 120-107 scorecards. Edward Ligas had Pagara the winner, 119-108.

Baran, Bayking share Dumaguete tennis honors

Karl Baran (second from left) and Bliss Bayking (third from left) hold their trophies and medals after ruling their respective divisions in the PPS-PEPP Dumaguete leg yesterday. With them are Praxevilla Tennis Club president Jaymar Pantilag and PPS-PEPP area manager Ronabelle Sancez.

TOP seed Karl Baran survived a semifinal scare then trampled Al Francis Andrade, 6-2, 6-4, in the finals to capture the boys’ 18-and-under crown while Bliss Bayking bagged two girls’ titles in the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala regional agegroup tennis tournament Dumaguete leg at the Praxevilla and Silliman Tennis Club yesterday. Baran went through some anxious moments against No. 5 Reyniel Marcellana in the semis but came through with big shots to eke out a 7-5, 6-4, decision and seal a title clash with the unranked Andrade, who nipped fellow giant-killer Ibarra Ortega Jr., 6-4, 1-6, 10-8, in the other semis pairing in the lower bracket. But the top La Carlota, Negros Oc-

cidental bet flashed superb form in the finals and completed a straight-set win while settling for runner-up honors in the 16-U side after defaulting his finals match with Ortega. Bayking, on the other hand, pulled off two tough wins to lead the winners in the girls’ category of the Group 2 tournament sponsored by Palawan Pawnshop and presented by Slazenger. The 14-year-old rising San Carlos City star hacked out a thrilling 5-7, 6-2, 10-6 victory over Averille Sacapano to clinch the 14-U plum then scored a repeat over the Boracay ace, 7-6(1), 6-1, in the 16-U finals to emerge the lone double winner in the event backed by Asiatraders Corp., exclusive distributor of Slazenger, and sanctioned

by the Philippine Tennis Association headed by president and Paranaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez. “Watch out for these two young, tall and talented players along with a slew of others who have been benefitting from our year-long circuit in terms of training and exposure. And we hope to produce more Barans and Baykings in the future through our series of tournaments nationwide,” said Palawan Pawnshop president/CEO Bobby Castro. Sacapano atoned for her twin losses to Bayking by taking the premier 18-U crown with a 6-0, 4-6, 12-10 victory over Precious Coderos while top seed Alexa Milliam romped off with the 12-U diadem with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Arean Pecaoco.

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FEU tossers seal quarterfinal cast PHILADELPHIA—The Atlanta Hawks, fresh off a victory over LeBron James six-game A S u r eand B e t fCleveland, o r P r o g r e s s saw i n G a their ming, E n t e r t a i n m ewin n t a nstreak d N a t i osnapped n Building Saturday by the NBA’s second-worst team, Philadelphia, while the INVITATION TOPhoenix. BID FOR THE PROCUREMENT OF TWO (2) YEAR SERVICE Cavaliers ripped CONTRACT FOR MANPOWER OUTSOURCING FOR COMPUTER MAINTENANCE SERVICE UNDER ITB NO. PB16-044

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) is inviting all interested bidder in its forthcoming public bidding for the Procurement of Two Year Service Contract for Manpower Outsourcing for Computer Maintenance Service under ITB No. PB16-044. Brief Description and Required Personnel:

Manpower Outsourcing for Computer Maintenance Services – Nine (9) IT Technicians for deployment to Metro Manila and Provincial Branches and Corporate Offices.

NUMBER OF IT TECHNICIANS TO BE DEPLOYED

BRANCH ITD – Corporate

Casino Filipino-Malate

Casino Filipino-Pavilion

Casino Filipino-Angeles/Mimosa/Olongapo

Casino Filipino-Cebu/Mactan

Casino Filipino-Bacolod

Casino Filipino-Davao

By Atencio/VolleyballPSL Beach Volleyball

COLLEGIATE finalists Bernadeth Pons and Kyla Atienza used their vast experience to lead Far Eastern UniversityPetron to a 21-14, 21-15, beating of Cignal Team Awesome’s Mary Grace Berte and Vhima Condada last Saturday in the 2016 Philippine Super Liga Beach Volleyball Challenge Cup at the Mall of Asia Sands by the Bay.

They became the last pair to reach the quarterfinal round after finishing the eliminations with their second win in three games in Pool D. Pons and Atienza, who settled for runner-up honors in the recent UAAP finals, had little trouble taking a 14-point lead in the first set. The 19-year-old Pons first took charge with her serves, hitting at least four aces to lead the Lady Tams to an 18-4 edge. Atienza’s spikes to the backline then had the Lady Tams staying ahead, 13-6 in the final set. “We were communicating well. Our long shots were scoring

points for us,” said Atienza. Their chance of making it to the quarterfinals improved after Jovelyn Gonzaga and Nene Bautista of RC Cola -Army A eased out April Ross Hingpit and Jonafer San Pedro of Meralco, 21-17, 21-16. Gonzaga and Bautista then ended their Pool D stint with a three-game sweep, making it to the quarterfinals as well. A pair of errors at the net allowed the Army women to keep their distance, 19-15. Cherry Rondina and Patty Orendain earlier beat Aiza MaizoPontillas and Bang Pineda, 21-9, 21-8, for a quarterfinals seat following sweep of Pool C.

TOTAL

9am-6pm

3 1

10am-6pm TOTAL

Casino FilipinoDavao

Six Million Three Hundred Eighty-Six Thousand Pesos (PhP6,386,000.00)

Casino FilipinoBacolod

Three Million One Hundred Ninety-Three Thousand Pesos (PhP3,193,000.00)

Casino FilipinoCebu/Mactan

Two (2) Year Service Contract for Manpower Outsourcing for Computer Maintenance Service

Casino FilipinoAngeles/Mimosa/ Olongapo

ABC (VAT-Exclusive, Zero Rated Transaction) [FOR TWO (2) YEARS)

Casino FilipinoPavilion

ABC (VAT-Exclusive, Zero Rated Transaction) [FOR ONE (1) YEAR)

Casino FilipinoMalate

Working Hours:

Description

ITD-Corporate

Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC):

Shift (inclusive of one (1) hour break)

Note: *1 Team Leader, 2 Technicians

GRAND TOTAL

Foton’s Cherry Rondina (center) hammers a smash on the waiting Aiza Maizo-Pontillas of Petron in the PSL Challenge Cup. ROMAN PROSPERO

Information Technology Department (ITD) - Corporate Five (5) days a week; nine (9) hours a day inclusive of one (1) hour break

Contract Duration: Source of Fund:

Casino Filipino Branches Six (6) days a week; eight (8) hours a day inclusive of one (1) hour break Within a period of Two (2) Years commencing from the effectivity date specified in the Notice to Proceed. Internally Funded

Bidder should have completed, within the last three (3) years before the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II Instructions to Bidder. Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”. Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least sixty percent (60%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines, and to citizens or organizations of a country the laws or regulations of which grant similar rights or privileges to Filipino citizens, pursuant to RA 5183 and subject to Commonwealth Act 138. All particulars relative to Pre-Bid Conference, Detailed Evaluation of Bids, Post-Qualification and Award of Contract shall be governed by the pertinent provisions of R.A. 9184 and it’s IRR. The schedule of activities is listed, as follows: Activities 1. Issuance of the Bidding Documents

Schedule May 16, 2016 (Monday) to June 6, 2016 (Monday)

2. Pre-Bid Conference

May 24, 2016 (Tuesday), 2:00 p.m.

3. Deadline for the Submission and Receipt of Bids

June 6, 2016 (Monday), 2:00 p.m.

4. Opening and Preliminary Examination of Bids

June 6, 2016 (Monday), 2:00 p.m. onwards

Complete details of the project are indicated in the bidding documents which will be available to prospective bidder at the Bids and Awards Services Department (BASD), acting as the BAC Secretariat, upon payment of the non-refundable cost for the sale of bidding documents in the amount of Ten Thousand Pesos (PhP10,000.00). Prospective bidder may also download the Bidding Documents free of charge from the following websites: www.pagcor.ph and www.philgeps.gov.ph and may be allowed to submit bids provided that bidder shall pay the non-refundable cost for the sale of bidding documents not later than the date of the submission of bids. The Pre-bid Conference is open to all prospective bidder. Prospective bidder should present to PAGCOR’s Cashier located at the Sixth (6th) Floor, PAGCOR Corporate Office, New World Manila Bay Hotel, 1588 M.H. del Pilar Street corner Pedro Gil Street, Malate, Manila either the Bidding Fee Slip which may be secured from BASD or a copy of this ITB in effecting payment for the Bidding Documents. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18. PAGCOR assumes no responsibility whatsoever to compensate or indemnify bidder for any expenses incurred in the preparation of their bids. In accordance with Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) Circular 06-2005 - Tie-Breaking Method, the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) 2 shall use a non-discretionary and non-discriminatory measure based on sheer luck or chance, which is “DRAW LOTS,” in the event that two or more bidder have been post-qualified and determined as the bidder having the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid (LCRB) to determine the final bidder having the LCRB, based on the following procedures: 1. 2.

In alphabetical order, the bidder shall pick one rolled paper. The lucky bidder who would pick the paper with a “CONGRATULATIONS” remark shall be declared as the final bidder having the LCRB and recommended for award of the contract.

PAGCOR reserves the right to accept or reject any Bid, and to annul the bidding process and reject all Bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidder. Please address all communications to the Bids and Awards Committee 2 thru BASD, Room 203, Second (2nd) Floor, PAGCOR House, 1330 Roxas Boulevard, Ermita, Manila, Tel No.: 524-3911, 521-1542 local 223 or 671. (SGD) RODERICK R. CONSOLACION Chairperson Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) 2 (TS MAY 16, 2016)

A Sure Bet for Progress in Gaming, Entertainment and Nation Building

INVITATION TO BID FOR THE PROCUREMENT OF SERVICES FOR ISO 9001-2008 CERTIFICATION UNDER ITB NO. PB16-046 (RE-BIDDING) The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) is inviting all interested bidders in its forthcoming re-bidding for the Procurement of Services for ISO 9001-2008 Certification under ITB No. PB16-046. Brief Description

To procure the services of a Certifying Body (CB) competent and qualified to: 1. Assess conformity of PAGCOR’s QMS with ISO 9001:2008 standards covering its Core Processes (Gaming Operations, Casino Licensing and Regulation, and Corporate Social Responsibility) in its three (3) Corporate Offices and Casino Filipino – Tagaytay as pilot branch; and 2. Provide training for transition to and subsequent conformity assessment to ISO 9001:2015.

Contract Duration

Three (3) Years from the effectivity date specified in the Notice to Proceed

Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC)

The ABC for the project is in the total amount of Three Million Forty-Six Thousand Pesos (PhP3,046,000.00), VAT-Exclusive, Zero-Rated Transaction.

Source of Funds

Internally Funded

Bidders should have completed, within the last three (3) years before the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders. Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”. Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least sixty percent (60%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines, and to citizens or organizations of a country the laws or regulations of which grant similar rights or privileges to Filipino citizens, pursuant to RA 5183 and subject to Commonwealth Act 138. All particulars relative to Pre-Bid Conference, Detailed Evaluation of Bids, Post-Qualification and Award of Contract shall be governed by the pertinent provisions of R.A. 9184 and its IRR. The schedule of activities is listed, as follows: Activities 1. Issuance of the Bidding Documents 2. Pre-Bid Conference 3. Deadline for the Submission and Receipt of Bids 4. Opening and Preliminary Examination of Bids

Schedule May 16, 2016 to June 6, 2016 May 24, 2016; 10:00 a.m. June 6, 2016; 10:00 a.m. June 6, 2016; 10:00 a.m. onwards

Complete details of the project are indicated in the bidding documents which will be available to prospective bidders at the Bids and Awards Services Department (BASD), acting as the BAC Secretariat, upon payment of the non-refundable fee for the sale of bidding documents in the amount of Five Thousand Pesos (PhP5,000.00) from the address below. Prospective bidders may also download the Bidding Documents free of charge from the following websites: www.pagcor.ph and www.philgeps.gov.ph and may be allowed to submit bids provided that bidders shall pay the non-refundable fee for the sale of bidding documents not later than the date of the submission of bids. The Pre-bid Conference is open to all prospective bidders. Prospective bidders should present to PAGCOR’s Cashier located at the Sixth (6th) Floor, PAGCOR Corporate Office, New World Manila Bay Hotel, 1588 M.H. del Pilar Street corner Pedro Gil Street, Malate, Manila either the Bidding Fee Slip, which may be secured from the BASD, or a copy of this ITB in effecting payment for the Bidding Documents. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18. PAGCOR assumes no responsibility whatsoever to compensate or indemnify bidders for any expenses incurred in the preparation of their bids. In accordance with Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) Circular 06-2005 - Tie-Breaking Method, the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) shall use a non-discretionary and non-discriminatory measure based on sheer luck or chance, which is “DRAW LOTS,” in the event that two or more bidders have been postqualified and determined as the bidder having the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid (LCRB) to determine the final bidder having the LCRB, based on the following procedures: 1. In alphabetical order, the bidders shall pick one rolled paper. 2. The lucky bidder who would pick the paper with a “CONGRATULATIONS” remark shall be declared as the final bidder having the LCRB and recommended for award of the contract. PAGCOR reserves the right to accept or reject any Bid, and to annul the bidding process and reject all Bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders. Please address all communications to the Bids and Awards Committee through BASD, Room 203, Second (2nd) Floor, PAGCOR House, 1330 Roxas Boulevard, Ermita, Manila, Tel No.: 524-3911, 521-1542 locals 223 or 617. (Sgd.) CELESTINA R. ADOR Chairperson Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) 4

(TS-MAY 16, 2016)

Hassan won’t play in Game 7 MIAMI—Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside will not play Sunday in Toronto in a one-game showdown to see which team advances to face Cleveland in the NBA Eastern Conference finals. Whiteside has not played since suffering a sprained right knee ligament in the second quarter of game three in the best-of-seven playoff series, which the Heat evened at 3-3 with a 103-91 victory on Friday. “I can’t really put a measurement on it,” Whiteside said of a timetable for his return. “It just really depends on what the doctors say and how everything is feeling. I don’t really want to make anything worse.” Whiteside hopes the Heat can eliminate the Raptors and advance to a showdown with the Cavaliers, who host game one of the East final on Tuesday. AFP

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SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

Roach tells Khan: Forget Pacquiao By Ronnie Nathanielsz

FREDDIE Roach, senator-elect and eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao’s Hall of Fame trainer, has advised Amir Khan to forget about a fight against the Filipino icon. Roach also told Khan to instead recover from what he described as “a bad knockout.” The British fighter, who bagged a silver medal in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, moved up two-weight divisions to face Saul “Canelo” Alvarez at a catch-weight of 155 pounds and suffered a devastating one-punch knockout at the new 20,000-seat T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas last May 7. Sky Sports in Britain reported that following the knockout, Khan confirmed he will “spend time with his family in the immediate future, but also earmarked a bout with former gym-mate Pacquiao as “definitely a possibility,” expressing

enthusiasm about going “straight into another big fight.” Pacquiao (58-6-2-KO38) himself called time on his legendary career after outpointing Timothy Bradley in April and his long-time coach Roach, formerly Khan’s trainer, was quick to pour cold water on the idea of him facing Khan any time soon despite admitting the multi-division champion may fight again. In an interview reported on boxingscene.com, Roach said: “That was a real bad knockout. After that kind of knockout, honestly I don’t know about that [Khan fighting Pacquiao].

Sports unites nations, tribes LOCKER ROOM RANDY CALUAG

IT is said that the first Olympics took place in Greece. The strongest men among nations took part in the games and during that time, all the warring nations of early civilizations become united for the love of the games. That tradition still exists in modern times, as athletes from all races and religions gather under one roof every four years to compete in what is now known as the modern Olympic Games. The best of the best compete against each other in their bid for greatness and to bring home that glittering gold medal. It’s a badge of honor for the athletes. But you don’t have to have the same Olympics for sports to become an instrument of unity. Martial arts sport, for one, is good example. Sir Henry Kobayashi, founder of Hybrid Yawyan has been organizing a mixed martial arts tournament called Balikatan whose main feature is the battle of warriors between the Philippines and India. Among the Indian fighters in action yesterday at the Marikina Sports Center was

international martial artist Hapreet Kaur. She was the only female among four Indian warriors representing the highly touted Budo Kai Do Mixed Martial Arts Federation of India. Kaur was to take on Beverly Sayod of Hybrid-Yawwan, making her debut in the event organized by Sir Henry Kobayashi. “We have a growing relationship with our Indian brothers in martial arts. Like the Philippines, India has a deep sense of martial arts tradition. With this Balikatan event, we are helping each other in catching with the growth of MMA in Asia,” said Kobayashi. *** Boxing is another sport that provides sanity to the deteriorating diplomatic relationship between China and the Philipines, thanks to Brico Santig’s Highland Promotions and Liu Gang’s Zowi Boxing. The give-and-take relationship is simple. Santig provides the trainers for Liu’s stable of boxers. Liu, who has earned reputation as one of the biggest promoters in China, get Filipino boxers from Santig. The Filipinos are always prioritized in Liu’s promotion. No less than OPBF chairman Ramon Guanzon has lauded the cooperation between China and the Philippines in boxing. “We are happy to be part of

China’s emergence in professional boxing. And Mr. Liu, in particular, is also very helpful to our Filipino boxers,” added Guanzon, who is also the chairman of the Games and Amusement of Board. *** Don’t look far though. One Meralco Foundation and the Philippine Marine Corps is using football to unite the future generations of this country. Just recently, they hosted more than 200 kids from TawiTawi, Sulu, Basilan, Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat, Misamis, Lanao del Sur, Pagadian, Bohol, and Palawan for a football festival at the Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City “It’s an ongoing activity year in and year out, which culminates in the ‘Football for Peace’ in Manila,” said event co-founder Rookie Nagtalon. “The good thing here is that the kids from Mindanao were also mixed with children from Manila to remove some sort of barrier that exists.” Marine Lt. Col. Stephen L. Cabanlet, who started the football for peace program, said they will continue doing and making the program sustainable. “We are building a generation of love and peace. We will begin the remove the culture of hatred. Sport can really become a uniting force of a nation,” he said.

Standard Insurance bet makes it to Naval Academy. Philippine Military Association Cadet Mary Pauline “Pawi” Fornea, a member of the Philippine Navy Standard Insurance cycling team, was admitted to the US Naval Academy in Annapolis. Pawi holds the PMA record for the fastest 3K run for plebes and has been a consistent dean’s lister at the academy.

Flores replaces Mendoza as Melindo’s opponent By Ronnie Nathanielsz WITH Milan Melindo’s rematch with flyweight champion Javier Mendoza called off because of an injury to the champion, Zanfer Promotions has picked Maximino “Max” Flores as a replacement against the Filipino fighter in their May 28 showdown at the St. La Salle Coliseum in Bacolod City. The Melindo-Flores fight is in the undercard of the WBO light flyweight title bout between Donnie Nietes and Raul “Rayito” Garcia. Flores has a record 19-2 with 13 knockouts, but both defeats were by knockouts. He lost by a second-round TKO to Valentin Leon in a four-round bout on June 25, 2011 and then dropped a second-round TKO, also in a four-round bout on April 12, 2013, before winning a rematch on April 12, 2013. In his last fight, Flores scored a split decision win over Victor Sandoval on Feb. 6 this year. A ringside report said: “The contests between these two promising near neighbors saw Flores emerge with a split decision vic-

Shia LaBeouf to portray McEnroe in new film CANNES—Maverick Hollywood actor Shia LaBeouf is to play the original tennis rebel John McEnroe in a new film about his rivalry with the Swedish star Bjorn Borg, the producers said Sunday. “Borg/McEnroe” will follow the two men’s epic battles on and off the court through the 1970s and 1980s, the Swedish producers Film Vaest announced at the Cannes film festival.

The fiery American star revolutionized the image of the sport, bringing rockstar petulance to the centre court. LaBeouf too loves to prick convention, famously showing his contempt for the celebrity circus by wearing a brown paper bag on his head at a red-carpet premiere at the Berlin film festival two years ago. The actor is at Cannes for the premiere Sunday of British director Andrea Arnold’s

road movie “American Honey”, which is vying for the festival’s top prize, the Palme d’Or. The producers said the Icelandic actor Sverrir Gudnason will play the “Swedish iceman” Borg with Stellan Skarsgard -- who co-starred in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” -- cast as his influential coach Lennart Bergelin. The film will be shot in the autumn in Sweden, London, Monaco and New York. AFP

tory, although the judges came up with three very different views of the fight. Scores of 80-73 and 78-77 for Ensenada’s Flores and 78-74 for Sandoval from Tijuana. Flores is 11-1, 2nd in his last 14 fights and has reversed the loss in those figures. Sandoval had won 10 of his last 11 fights, but his 11 victims had only amassed 7 wins between them.” Earlier, on Feb. 14, 2015, Flores was involved in a no-contest against Gilberto Parra due to an early clash of heads. A report on the fight said: “It was a match with a good level of boxing and many emotions. Action began in the very first round and the initiative was taken by Maximino Flores, as he threw the frontal attack, with a good flow of blows mainly sent to the soft zone of Gilberto Parra. Parra spent a long time looking for the distance you would work better to attack, so his shots were not so frequent as to endanger Flores. Yes, Gilberto accommodated a pair of frilly both left-handed and right in the face and backed Maximino but only a little.”

LOTTO RESULTS

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m o n day : m ay 1 6 , 2 0 1 6 RIERa U. maLL aRI EDITOR

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

sports@thestandard.com.ph

sports

Calvin Abueva of Alaska maneuvers his way against the defense of Rain or Shine’s Jewel Ponferada and Beau Belga in a PBA Commissioner’s Cup game won by the Aces, 86-78.

Aces stay alive, force Game 6 by jeric lopez

ALASKA is still breathing. For the second straight time, Alaska staved off elimination as it lived to fight another day after downing Rain or Shine, 86-78, in Game 5 of their best-of-seven championship in the 2016 Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup Sunday night. Calvin Abueva showed why he is the Best Player of the Conference by coming up with his finest showing thus far in the finals, pouring in a double-double of 20 points and 13 rebounds, on top of two blocks to allow the Aces to stretch the series yet again. The finale now stands at 3-2, still in favor of the Elasto Painters, but the Aces have put more pressure on

their foes heading into Game 6. “We still have a chance at this and we’ll continue to take it one game at a time,” added Alaska coach Alex Compton. “It was another proud game for me and our guys. But still, this doesn’t change my opinion of ROS. It makes me proud of my guys the way we played defense. I don’t know

dAy hAngs on to tpc leAd turn to A11

game Wednesday (Finals, Game 6 - Smart Araneta Coliseum): 7 p.m. - Alaska vs. Rain or Shine

when was the last time they (Painters) scored below 80. The last two games were more of the team that I know, I just want us to play that way,” he added. The Painters will be looking to finally end it on their third try on Wednesday, while the Aces are hoping to send the series into a winner-takeall Game 7. Abueva’s clutch baskets lifted Alaska down the stretch. From a 69-all standoff with five minutes left, the Aces orchestrated a

key 5-0 run to take a 74-69 lead in crunch time. That proved to be the needed separation for Alaska as it was able to hold on, thanks to key baskets from Abueva that kept Rain or Shine at bay. “Na-3-0 kami. Ngayon na ‘yung recovery namin, nitong last two games. Lumalabas na ‘yung energy namin talaga,” said Abueva. The scores: ALASKA 86 - Abueva 20, Dozier 14, Jazul 13, Hontiveros 12, Baguio 11, Banchero 6, Racal 5, Baclao 2, Thoss 2, Dela Rosa 1. RAIN OR SHINE 78 - Chan 17, Lee 16, Quinahan 9, Cruz 8, Ponferada 8, Henderson Niles 6, Norwood 5, Belga 4, Almazan 2, Ibanes 2, Ahanmisi 1, Tiu 0.

djokovic bAttles murrAy in net finAle turn to A12

Diaz hopeful of a Rio berth by peter Atencio THE Philippine Olympic Committee is still awaiting word on the status of Filipina weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz. Based on her good showing recently, Diaz is deserving of a third consecutive trip to the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. According to the International Weightlifting Federation, the Philippines has earned a quota place in the women’s division because of Diaz’s performance in the recent Uzbekistan Asian Championships, which served as a Continental Qualification Event for the Rio Games. “But there’s no official confirmation yet. We hope to know by the end of the month, or by June,” said POC first vice president and Rio Olympics’ chef de mission Joey Romasanta. During the meet, the 25-yearold Diaz took a silver and two bronze medals in the women’s 53-kg category. This earned the Philippine a fifth-place finish in the Team Classification.

MONDAY: MAY 16, 2016

RAY S. EÑANO EDITOR

RODERICK T. DELA CRUZ ASSISTANT EDITOR

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

BUSINESS

Pure Foods’ profits. San Miguel Pure Foods Co. Inc. at its annual stockholders’ meeting says first-quarter net income rose over 30 percent to P1.2 billion. Parent San Miguel Corp. said first-quarter earnings increased more than two-fold to P13.5 billion. San Miguel Pure Foods chairman Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. (center) converses with vice chairman Ramon Ang (right). With them is Alexandra Trillana, corporate secretary and general counsel.

PSe comPoSite index Closing May 13, 2016

8300 7840 7380 6920 6460 6000

7,436.79 111.75

PeSo-dollar rate

Closing May 13, 2016 48.00 46.00 45.00

P46.555

44.00

43.00

HIGH P46.550 LOW P46.770 AVERAGE P46.672 VOLUME 589.370M

P426.00-P637.00 LPG/11-kg tank P35.40-P42.60 Unleaded Gasoline

oPriceS il P today

P23.49-P27.07 Diesel

SMC industrial park luring big companies By Jenniffer B. Austria

SAN Miguel Corp. is in talks with a big toy manufacturing company and a ship building firm to locate within the conglomerate’s first industrial estate development in Davao del Sur province. San Miguel president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang said over the weekend the company received inquiries after it started inviting potential investors to locate within its 2,000-hectare Davao Industrial Estate. “We will be bring a toy manufacturing firm that will employ 80,000 people and I will be bring-

ing soon a ship building company,” Ang said. He said investors in the Davao Industrial Estate would benefit from lower power prices at P3 per kilowatt hour compared with the prevailing rate of P10 per Kwh, as well as a good investment environment and strategic site with easy access to the Davao City and

General Santos City international airports and Davao seaport. The industrial estate also offers low, long-term lease rate, growing skilled workers, a 20-meter deep international port to accommodate container vessels, and a private airport. A 600-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Malita, Davao Occidental, owned by San Miguel, is expected to partially go on stream by the second quarter of 2016. Aside from the industrial estate and power plant developments, the San Miguel group has other investments in Mindanao, including the Daguma coal mine and other mining projects. “We have planned these invest-

ments years ahead without knowing the next president will come from Mindanao. Those projects were built to help the people of Mindanao and to create jobs,” Ang said, referring to presumptive president Rodrigo Duterte. San Miguel, meanwhile, expects to sustain its growth momentum after posting strong firstquarter earnings. Ang attributed the company’s first-quarter performance to the robust growth of Petron Corp., which was benefiting from the higher economic yield from the expansion of its Bataan refinery. The conglomerate’s core businesses, like food, tollways and power business, remain strong.

PAL’s income fell 28% to P2.7b in ﬁrst quarter

P34.55-P39.15 Kerosene

By Darwin G. Amojelar

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Friday, May 13, 2016

F oreign e xchange r ate Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

46.5840

Japan

Yen

0.009173

0.4273

Pound

1.445500

67.3372

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.128879

6.0037

Switzerland

Franc

1.030822

48.0198

Canada

Dollar

0.778513

36.2662

Singapore

Dollar

0.728704

33.9459

Australia

Dollar

0.732500

34.1228

Bahrain

Dinar

2.652661

123.5716 12.4221

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266660

Brunei

Dollar

0.726058

33.8227

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000075

0.0035

Thailand

Baht

0.028297

1.3182

UAE

Dirham

0.272272

12.6835

Euro

1.137900

53.0079

Korea

Won

0.000855

0.0398

China

Yuan

0.153516

7.1514

India

Rupee

0.014982

0.6979

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.248942

11.5967

New Zealand

Dollar

0.681200

31.7330

Taiwan

Dollar

0.030670

1.4287 Source: PDS Bridge

THE operator of Philippine Airlines said over the weekend net income fell 28 percent in the first quarter, as expenses grew faster than revenues amid volatile exchange rate. PAL Holdings Inc. said net profit reached P2.71 billion in the January-to-March period, up from P3.78 billion registered in the same period last year. Revenues rose 4.1 percent in the first quarter to P29.12 billion from last year’s P27.98 billion. PAL Holdings attributed the increase in revenue to the depreciation of Philippine peso, which averaged 47.27 per US dollar in the first quarter from last year’s 44.42 per greenback.

The company said if the exchange rate had remained at the 2015 level, total revenues would have decreased by P609.6 million. Passenger revenues rose to P24.65 billion in the first quarter from P23.09 billion in the same period last year. Cargo revenues fell 31 percent to P1.47 billion from P2.14 billion. Expenses in January to March grew 6.2 percent to P26.2 billion from P24.7 billion last year. “The increase was also brought by the effect of the peso-dollar exchange rate fluctuations,” PAL Holdings said. It said if the exchange rate had remained at the 2015 level, total expenses would have decreased by P57.6 million.

Flying operations expenses declined P462.3 million to P14.09 billion, attributable mainly to lower fuel costs. Fuel price dropped to an average of $60.87 per barrel in the first quarter of 2016 from $89.91 in 2015. PAL operated more international flights in the first quarter, increasing aircraft and traffic servicing cost by 23.2 percent to P3.41 billion over the year ago level of P2.77 billion. PAL, now wholly-owned by tycoon Lucio Tan after he bought back a 49-percent stake that San Miguel Corp. purchased from him in 2012, signed a memorandum of understanding in February with Airbus for the acquisition of six A350-900 aircraft with

the option for another six for delivery in the years 2018 to 2019. The acquisition of six Airbus A350 was valued at $1.83 million. PAL plans to deploy the A350 extra wide-body, which seats more than 300, on new routes to North America and Europe. The first A350 is scheduled to be delivered in 2018. A350 is the world’s latest generation airliner, featuring the most modern aero-dynamic design, carbon fiber fuselage and wings. With the Trent XWB engines, A350 operates at 25 percent less fuel burn and emissions, significantly lowering maintenance costs. The extra-wide cabin provides passengers more personal space in all classes.

MONDAY: MAY 16, 2016

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

The STandard BuSineSS Weekly STockS revieW STOCKS

MAY 9-13, 2016 Close Volume

AG Finance Asia United Bank Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. Bank of PI China Bank BDO Leasing & Fin. Inc. Bright Kindle Resources COL Financial Eastwest Bank Filipino Fund Inc. First Abacus I-Remit Inc. Manulife Fin. Corp. MEDCO Holdings Metrobank Natl Reinsurance Corp. PB Bank Phil Bank of Comm Phil. National Bank Phil. Savings Bank Philippine Trust Co. PSE Inc. RCBC `A’ Security Bank Sun Life Financial Union Bank Vantage Equities

3.39 46 104.00 93.00 40 3.00 1.54 14.2 16.2 7.05 0.7 1.73 600.00 0.570 87 0.97 15.00 24.00 51.80 105.9 356 273.4 30.05 190.5 1351.00 59.00 1.52

Aboitiz Power Corp. Agrinurture Inc. Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. Alsons Cons. Asiabest Group Bogo Medellin C. Azuc De Tarlac Century Food Chemphil Conc. Aggr. À’ Cirtek Holdings (Chips) Concepcion Crown Asia Da Vinci Capital Del Monte DNL Industries Inc. Emperador Energy Devt. Corp. (EDC) EEI Euro-Med Lab. First Gen Corp. First Holdings ‘A’ Ginebra San Miguel Inc. Holcim Philippines Inc. Integ. Micro-Electronics Ionics Inc Jollibee Foods Corp. Liberty Flour LMG Chemicals Mabuhay Vinyl Corp. Macay Holdings Manila Water Co. Inc. Maxs Group Megawide Mla. Elect. Co À’ MG Holdings Panasonic Mfg Phil. Corp. Pepsi-Cola Products Phil. Petron Corporation Phil H2O Phinma Corporation Phoenix Petroleum Phils. Phoenix Semiconductor Pryce Corp. À’ RFM Corporation Roxas and Co. Roxas Holdings San Miguel ‘Pure Foods À’ SPC Power Corp. Splash Corporation Swift Foods, Inc. TKC Steel Corp. Trans-Asia Oil Universal Robina Victorias Milling Vitarich Corp. Vivant Corp. Vulcan Ind’l.

47 3.71 0.91 1.74 14.2 56.5 193.00 20.5 120 195 18 46.45 2.27 4.79 10.6 9.480 7.60 5.85 7.32 1.7 21.35 68 14.78 14.58 5.69 2.390 234.60 35.00 2 3.6 39.50 28 22.95 6.6 340.40 0.285 4.67 3.46 11.46 3.01 11.62 5.50 1.58 2.8 4.21 2.54 4.4 221.6 4.1 2.6 0.154 1.20 2.63 206.6 4.87 0.96 31.00 1.35

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

0.405 70.80 14.60 1.23 5.95 0.445 0.450 828 7.95 12.62 5.07 5.88 0.285 1451 6.39 91.10 4.5 5.33 6 7.8 0.69 13.52 0.465 6.02 3.39 0.0340 1.370 1.840 2.75 70.50 2.15 980.00 1.18 0.81 190.00 154.000 0.3200 0.2330 0.305

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

7.500 7.97 1.24 2.100 0.265 35.500 3.06 5.23 0.540 0.99 0.990 0.136 0.465 49 0.850 0.158 1.01 1.93 1.32 4.90 4.25

Value

FINANCIAL 2,931,230.00 2,784,380.00 1,369,550,417 538,492,913.00 15,488,575.00 470,790.00 1,097,730.00 57,780,220.00 16,677,250.00 4,936 3,500 91,080.00 573,500.00 1,217,940.00 2,078,627,192.00 73,000.00 4,010,938.00 168,000.00 22,677,994.50 53,518.00 3,560.00 1,548,652.00 19,873,845 1,780,165,042.00 417,845.00 26,485,642.00 85,410.00 INDUSTRIAL 9,158,300 416,395,435.00 3,602,000 13,571,970.00 7,673,000 3,074,643.97 127,947,000 217,736,270.00 25,700 351,094.00 490 27,685.00 300 61,238.00 6,133,700 123,680,779 110 13,320.00 14,470 2,730,020.00 374,800 6,755,260.00 1,733,800 80,220,070 1,645,000 3,752,900.00 1,554,300 7,706,905.00 436,400 4,662,258.00 52,939,204 167,048,570.00 6,799,300 53,221,371.00 45,853,200 271,448,242.00 919,100 6,831,886.00 7,000 12,080.00 10,967,600 230,429,623.00 840,190 55,283,319.50 24,700 348,342.00 839,700 12,088,260.00 872,200 4,890,536.00 20,975,000 51,576,370.00 5,398,570 1,250,650,268.00 300 10,500.00 47,000 92,520.00 115,000 419,420.00 8,700 323,430.00 6,104,800 171,446,605.00 3,426,300 77,924,155.00 903,300 5,810,521.00 862,770 296,812,746.00 1,660,000 469,300.00 98,000 419,470.00 15,116,000 51,706,760.00 39,919,300 448,773,380.00 27,000 83,120.00 11,500 133,156.00 5,384,200 28,271,750.00 1,506,000 2,089,810.00 1,105,000 3,042,360.00 818,000 3,399,140.00 5,000 12,700.00 4,000 17,900.00 144,980 31,786,510.00 67,000 269,700.00 847,000 2,168,720 11,560,000 1,770,040.00 801,000 947,360.00 6,202,000 15,972,380.00 12,148,850 2,512,184,324.00 109,000 502,820.00 34,328,000 32,389,930.00 5,000 155,485.00 7,252,000 10,033,110.00 HOLDING FIRMS 61,030,000 22,743,350.00 11,244,750 782,852,915.50 47,428,400 689,323,534.00 4,165,000 5,822,650.00 151,000 905,150.00 319,080,000 158,429,430.00 43,622,000 21,742,295.00 3,194,360 2,541,627,940.00 8,175,000 64,397,305.00 26,314,800 328,366,566.00 33,800 171,167.00 1,529,400 8,918,558.00 9,730,300 5,396,460.00 843,670 756,005,340.00 146,800 916,957.00 23,693,580 2,076,476,309.00 5,000 21,500.00 2,400 12,954.00 20,600 121,315.00 20,515,400 152,405,906.00 4,708,000 3,373,710.00 39,372,800 543,024,108.00 50,000 23,650.00 172,128,200 1,018,500,320.00 24,000 75,740.00 53,800,000 1,770,000.00 357,000 476,620.00 2,451,000 4,495,130.00 132,000 353,980.00 1,184,090 80,724,969.00 64,000 137,970.00 1,672,080 1,606,011,935.00 1,764,000 2,068,530.00 457,000 360,330.00 90 17,100.00 6,200 930,055.00 23,780,000 7,606,300.00 84,490,000 19,967,970.00 20,380,000 6,574,500.00 PROPERTY 18,144,500 135,806,558.00 2,100 16,737.00 31,597,000 38,291,730.00 9,244,000 19,714,990.00 7,210,000 1,963,200.00 80,412,800 2,824,285,030.00 5,651,000 17,019,250.00 171,100 892,698.00 20,429,000 10,753,930.00 81,000 79,930.00 138,000 135,810.00 23,880,000 3,190,760.00 7,670,000 3,599,950.00 11,838,500 565,526,715.00 1,975,000 1,664,510.00 80,000 12,280.00 17,018,000 17,059,550.00 83,153,000 157,327,720.00 130,000 172,080.00 46,200 226,958.00 367,981,000 1,488,607,650.00 901,000 60,900 13,473,760 5,790,170 387,800 157,000 696,000 4,069,300 1,042,500 700 5,000 53,000 950 2,097,000 24,852,060 76,000 267,200 7,000 443,260 510 10 5,710 653,600 9,598,290 310 449,570 56,000

MAY 2-6, 2016 Volume Value

2.85 45.5 99.50 90.95 39.75 2.90 1.46 14.2 15.3 7.05 0.68 1.67

307,000 59,500 12,498,060 19,008,390 809,600 286,000 1,565,000 15,500 871,900 40,100 18,000 46,000

736,820.00 2,685,970.00 1,240,060,606 1,722,869,484.50 31,991,145.00 848,790.00 2,356,190.00 217,980.00 13,242,444.00 286,164 12,240 76,050.00

0.570 78 0.97 15.00

4,359,000 10,155,700 181,000 148,100

2,485,440.00 800,035,132.00 174,330.00 2,192,042.00

50.00 103.5 310 260 30.2 171.5 1360.00 59.00 1.5

701,860 24,940 20 21,060 616,100 4,892,200 770 551,290 245,000

35,343,972.00 2,543,958.00 6,200.00 5,540,104.00 18,841,575 838,438,134.00 1,061,900.00 31,961,203.50 368,600.00

44.05 4.2 0.76 1.4 13.9 57 190.00 19.12 130 187 18.02 45.05 2.26 4.62 10.7 8.870 7.98 5.65 7.10 1.61 19.64 64 14.70 14.00 5.4 2.260 226.80 35.00 1.88 3.5 35.50 28.25 21.35 6.4 336.60 0.285 4.40 3.4 10.50 3.16 11.60 4.82 1.53 2.69 4.10 2.23 4.55 206 4.14 2.59 0.150 1.23 2.50 204.4 4.65 0.9 35.00 1.27

10,272,600 2,592,000 600,000 4,268,000 16,500 2,450 2,820 3,056,500 200 6,800 432,900 3,400 1,869,000 3,247,798 229,100 43,282,700 3,475,900 43,715,500 392,700 34,000 11,342,200 913,370 49,100 299,600 895,000 7,992,000 2,666,780 25,000 96,000 46,000 55,900 12,115,200 5,583,440 246,600 838,490 180,000 57,000 1,823,000 19,335,900 47,000 6,600 2,095,000 842,000 2,309,000 1,149,000 8,000 6,000 43,380 15,400 813,000 6,660,000 238,000 10,237,000 11,128,630 40,000 21,842,000 2,700 3,470,000

457,105,565.00 10,989,310.00 453,530.00 5,958,900.00 220,464.00 135,906.50 462,018.00 58,037,842 26,950.00 1,298,564.00 7,712,354.00 156,255 4,230,270.00 3,932,230.00 2,462,128.00 383,301,787.00 27,181,820.00 247,868,315.00 2,812,965.00 56,850.00 222,666,568.00 58,554,045.50 720,158.00 4,234,618.00 4,919,881.00 17,824,230.00 604,483,760.00 790,885.00 183,390.00 167,570.00 1,935,350.00 338,935,785.00 18,297,370.00 1,554,277.00 283,341,920.00 49,000.00 252,840.00 6,495,470.00 204,011,966.00 148,520.00 76,268.00 9,914,910.00 1,275,510.00 6,347,820.00 4,739,000.00 17,920.00 27,300.00 9,044,704.00 76,860.00 2,039,320 1,005,190.00 278,600.00 25,524,930.00 2,271,394,462.00 186,680.00 19,561,980.00 93,170.00 4,417,940.00

0.350 64.30 14.36 1.09 6.00 0.440 0.435 735 7.82 11.70 5.08 5.70 0.204 1363 6.20 78.40 4.8 5.33 6.1 6.9 0.68 14.4 0.460 5.65 2.88 0.0320 1.440 1.770 2.7 66.95 2.14 913.00 1.14 0.79 190.00 145.000 0.3100 0.2000 0.290

34,440,000 6,568,090 15,646,800 35,000 406,800 432,507,000 56,920,000 1,153,830 7,322,900 18,483,800 37,400 1,412,600 1,040,000 688,025 998,400 9,851,470 8,000 40,600 400 10,355,700 177,000 13,990,800 90,000 134,048,000 25,000 75,700,000 429,000 8,673,000 409,000 570,860 106,000 1,223,580 572,000 973,000 30 17,800 36,240,000 2,300,000 1,540,000

12,087,100.00 425,798,020.00 224,932,550.00 38,540.00 2,442,101.00 203,377,320.00 26,621,650.00 856,069,205.00 57,207,505.00 218,919,262.00 190,036.00 7,943,545.00 215,570.00 924,687,105.00 6,347,241.00 779,138,606.50 38,900.00 216,184.00 2,262.00 73,034,288.00 120,870.00 205,560,722.00 41,100.00 760,943,105.00 72,970.00 2,450,600.00 603,160.00 15,428,190.00 1,057,280.00 38,494,631.50 226,540.00 1,128,137,025.00 648,160.00 749,790.00 5,700.00 2,536,870.00 11,303,950.00 449,300.00 410,750.00

7.410

16,724,500

123,923,056.00

1.05 2.050 0.270 33.850 2.95 5.1 0.510 0.98 0.980 0.129 0.455 38.05 0.830 0.149 0.95 1.85 1.33 4.60 3.7

22,524,000 28,578,000 35,450,000 63,402,700 13,053,000 77,705 188,607,000 85,000 39,000 33,960,000 4,110,000 5,045,300 176,000 910,000 19,266,000 58,670,000 477,000 26,000 220,575,000

24,855,260.00 60,018,930.00 10,436,300.00 2,143,422,955.00 38,419,950.00 408,470.00 102,101,740.00 80,650.00 37,850.00 4,405,410.00 1,865,850.00 191,967,225.00 146,910.00 142,920.00 18,338,910.00 106,138,990.00 617,550.00 117,900.00 805,651,530.00

STOCKS

MAY 9-13, 2016 Close Volume

MRC Allied Ind. Phil. Estates Corp. Phil. Realty `A’ Phil. Tob. Flue Cur & Redry Primex Corp. Robinson’s Land `B’ Rockwell Shang Properties Inc. SM Prime Holdings Sta. Lucia Land Inc. Starmalls Suntrust Home Dev. Inc. Vista Land & Lifescapes

0.093 0.2900 0.520 31.00 8.6 29.50 1.56 3.12 23.80 0.92 6.59 1.060 4.950

2GO Group ABS-CBN Acesite Hotel APC Group, Inc. Asian Terminals Inc. Berjaya Phils. Inc. Bloomberry Boulevard Holdings Calata Corp. Cebu Air Inc. (5J) Centro Esc. Univ. Discovery World DFNN Inc. Globe Telecom GMA Network Inc. Grand Plaza Hotel Harbor Star I.C.T.S.I. Imperial Res. `A’ Imperial Res. `B’ IPeople Inc. `A’ IP E-Game Ventures Inc. IPM Holdings Island Info ISM Communications Jackstones LBC Express Leisure & Resorts Liberty Telecom Lorenzo Shipping Macroasia Corp. Manila Broadcasting Manila Bulletin Manila Jockey Melco Crown Metro Retail NOW Corp. Pacific Online Sys. Corp. PAL Holdings Inc. Phil. Racing Club Phil. Seven Corp. Philweb.Com Inc. PLDT Common PremiereHorizon Premium Leisure Puregold Robinsons Retail SBS Phil. Corp. SSI Group STI Holdings Transpacific Broadcast Travellers Waterfront Phils. Yehey

7.56 53.2 1.34 0.590 11.38 28.5 4.72 0.0580 3.1 92 9.55 1.7 6.90 2252 6.75 23.50 1.20 64 16.10 185 12.98 0.0100 9.65 0.365 1.8800 2.09 11.3 7.74 4.50 1.28 2.80 22.20 0.580 2 2.38 4.06 2.800 17.56 5.13 8.99 108.50 23.50 1726.00 0.420 0.930 42.10 82.95 6.20 3.16 0.600 1.98 3.43 0.385 5.700

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

0.0043 2.01 4.20 14.00 0.244 7.8000 7.7500 0.67 0.510 8.70 0.860 0.305 0.255 0.270 0.0130 0.0140 2.05 5 2.65 0.6000 1.3500 0.0093 0.0095 3.95 6.22 3.15 0.0130 127.00 3.53 0.0160

ABS-CBN Holdings Corp. Ayala Corp. Pref ‘B2’ First Gen G FPH Pref C GLOBE PREF P GMA Holdings Inc. Leisure & Resort Pref. MWIDE PREF PCOR-Preferred A PCOR-Preferred B PF Pref 2 PNX PREF 3A PNX PREF 3B SMC Preferred B SMC Preferred C SMC Preferred D SMC Preferred E SMC Preferred F SMC Preferred G SMC Preferred H SMC Preferred I

50.55 535 116 510 530 6.6 1.09 109 1026 1085 1022 106 110 78 80 76.15 76.2 77.5 78 75.5 75.2

Leisure & Resort Warr.

3.040

Alterra Capital Makati Fin. Corp. Italpinas Xurpas

6.73 4.03 3.07 17.9

First Metro ETF

123

Value

27,030,000 2,442,880.00 12,830,000 3,731,100.00 9,458,000 4,964,100.00 21,400 689,535.00 76,800 653,330.00 16,516,800 476,202,775.00 617,000 954,080.00 94,000 287,970.00 153,230,800 3,760,019,820.00 14,237,000 12,933,960.00 5,500 35,564.00 3,625,000 3,862,160.00 20,219,000 95,210,510.00 SERVICES 307,800 2,371,068.00 1,298,750 69,500,666.00 1,163,000 1,590,520.00 1,292,000 764,520.00 31,100 357,974.00 100 2,850 37,113,000 170,547,940.00 93,120,000 5,250,200.00 5,077,000 15,670,330.00 3,131,430 284,480,255.00 20,200 190,280.00 95,000 161,540 285,200 1,939,157.00 349,585 786,804,700 422,200 2,859,948.00 3,100 73,075 206,000 242,290.00 3,516,930 223,542,216.50 391,400 6,468,076 2,460 461,371 100 1,298.00 46,400,000 458,150.00 1,421,400 13,723,996.00 351,310,000 130,913,100.00 48,008,000 92,943,200.00 618,000 1,308,490.00 14,900 163,118.00 524,000 3,996,374.00 6,713,000 29,804,540.00 11,000 13,600.00 2,000 5,600.00 1,100 24,044 210,000 121,790.00 883,000 1,766,120.00 28,336,000 67,077,710.00 24,027,000 97,356,710.00 96,834,000 232,636,900.00 5,100 87,798.00 212,100 1,075,199 200 1,798.00 1,980 214,746.00 487,100 11,205,980.00 688,105 1,182,803,595.00 2,050,000 828,350.00 100,210,000 90,133,990.00 31,589,500 1,327,470,480.00 8,929,320 723,828,291.00 1,478,100 9,206,254.00 32,097,000 103,486,710.00 6,016,000 3,568,760.00 83,000 155,810.00 3,465,000 11,869,430.00 5,530,000 2,055,000.00 927,900 5,265,650.00 MINING & OIL 2,696,000,000 11,514,000.00 177,000 363,460.00 366,000 1,547,690.00 36,400 468,654.00 220,000 53,010.00 101,300 789,939.00 60,500 468,553.00 3,574,000 2,445,840.00 7,739,000 4,085,160.00 807,400 6,921,935.00 97,812,000 83,891,730.00 5,200,000 1,540,250.00 130,130,000 32,894,550.00 5,330,000 1,437,850.00 641,600,000 8,331,700.00 214,800,000 2,917,200.00 1,735,000 3,469,550.00 15,097,100 76,078,117.00 2,195,000 5,651,880.00 889,000 521,930.00 1,033,000 1,400,420.00 75,000,000 703,300.00 4,000,000 37,900.00 137,000 524,820.00 5,904,800 36,522,547.00 56,504,000 164,513,990.00 294,600,000 3,563,000.00 3,074,240 394,911,604.00 6,547,000 23,528,660.00 2,090,300,000 31,705,500.00 PREFERRED 2,963,430 153,717,587.50 47,960 25,469,200 30,300 3,514,800.00 99,870 50,933,700.00 200 106,000.00 216,400 1,413,600.00 11,000 11,990 3,460 379,228.00 2,180 2,236,690.00 350 376,900.00 4,750 4,854,680.00 550 57,800.00 1,500 165,000.00 1,500 117,000.00 64,330 5,151,455.50 1,800 137,070.00 12,500 952,920.00 6,840 529,413.00 56,260 4,387,884.00 209,060 15,686,652.50 235,920 17,740,771.00 WARRANTS & BONDS 889,000 2,694,260.00 SME 4,029,000 22,784,020.00 640,000 2,552,130.00 1,112,000 3,444,550.00 16,514,900 284,930,824.00 EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 59,540 7,175,299.00

MAY 2-6, 2016 Volume Value

0.082 0.2600 0.530 29.45 8.52 26.70 1.51 3.1 22.65 0.86 6.45 1.010 4.580

2,620,000 80,000 7,222,000 300 365,400 12,117,800 1,411,000 120,000 66,991,100 11,767,000 5,300 2,243,000 60,967,000

215,010.00 19,740.00 4,013,110.00 8,345.00 3,113,508.00 326,424,330.00 2,129,190.00 364,880.00 1,512,463,990.00 9,964,490.00 34,157.00 2,255,930.00 283,235,410.00

7.75 54.9 1.25 0.580 11.58 28.4 4.08 0.0550 3.07 86.75 9.5 1.7 6.80 2178 6.86 24.00 1.18 63 17.28 178 11.52 0.0099 9.66 0.355 1.8700 2.09 11 7.47 4.24 1.12 2.80 21.00 0.580 1.97 2.25 3.74 2.530 16.88 5.09 8.66 110.00 22.75 1660.00 0.400 0.850 39.95 74.95 6.08 3.29 0.570 1.99 3.34 0.335 5.230

403,000 769,950 327,000 5,515,000 14,300 400 20,064,000 67,050,000 5,127,000 2,414,480 11,100 64,000 1,985,300 389,150 381,000 700 128,000 7,246,220 1,184,900 3,470 7,300 9,800,000 2,345,000 450,770,000 67,850,800 162,000 15,400 265,900 8,463,000 64,000 24,000 5,400 2,077,000 220,000 45,301,000 2,836,000 186,866,000 71,000 86,500 37,000 5,486,470 427,800 936,765 2,680,000 61,605,000 16,418,800 4,936,670 2,387,700 10,828,000 18,167,000 358,000 7,100,000 570,000 150,400

2,947,032.00 42,591,742.00 405,850.00 3,119,040.00 166,022.00 11,020 81,875,750.00 3,684,000.00 15,976,410.00 212,197,420.50 104,914.00 112,160 13,675,424.00 838,644,770 2,570,842.00 16,800 150,640.00 456,776,069.00 21,863,994 633,661 84,096.00 97,910.00 22,580,730.00 161,362,750.00 156,569,100.00 341,200.00 160,902.00 2,018,604.00 35,711,720.00 71,600.00 67,000.00 112,125 1,204,520.00 435,260.00 104,778,970.00 10,692,050.00 498,478,040.00 1,236,712.00 435,814 320,420.00 594,773,051.00 9,812,460.00 1,580,215,760.00 1,116,500.00 43,736,370.00 639,275,855.00 374,528,493.00 14,538,233.00 35,415,250.00 10,602,470.00 708,190.00 23,372,270.00 189,000.00 801,765.00

0.0041 2.03 4.20 12.30 0.236 8.0000 7.7500 0.65 0.510 8.27 0.840 0.290 0.250 0.275 0.0120 0.0130 2 5.03 2.42 0.6000 1.2500 0.0093 0.0095 3.71 6.14 2.20 0.0120 126.40 3.18 0.0086

7,354,000,000 714,000 314,000 11,700 2,440,000 62,800 45,600 3,690,000 3,077,000 22,400 213,168,000 3,790,000 416,660,000 35,290,000 185,800,000 17,600,000 1,375,000 15,948,500 1,354,000 64,000 897,000 28,000,000 5,000,000 113,000 19,633,200 5,574,000 149,900,000 1,959,640 4,688,000 3,623,000,000

31,667,400.00 1,480,960.00 1,325,640.00 132,214.00 585,620.00 514,809.00 356,322.00 2,377,820.00 1,531,335.00 180,311.00 192,692,360.00 1,079,950.00 107,457,020.00 9,722,900.00 2,323,000.00 237,800.00 2,766,820.00 83,432,208.00 3,270,540.00 36,230.00 1,169,060.00 272,400.00 47,500.00 424,200.00 123,483,081.00 12,441,250.00 1,772,600.00 247,834,422.00 15,066,660.00 30,071,400.00

53.55 530 118 500 530 6.62 1.07 108.5 1026 1050 1020 105 110 78 80.5 77 77 78 78 75.05 75.15

581,960 33,930 57,030 10,130 2,390 174,500 275,000 2,000 50 240 1,275 25,250 52,290 10,000 13,130 32,400 30,100 80,770 165,290 1,067,390 315,540

31,839,124.00 17,982,900 6,679,475.00 5,066,300.00 1,247,800.00 1,135,470.00 294,630 216,738.00 51,300.00 251,800.00 1,295,250.00 2,626,950.00 5,749,000.00 780,000.00 1,051,632.00 2,462,640.00 2,290,300.00 6,276,409.00 12,882,687.00 80,187,194.00 23,690,888.00

2.880

2,247,000

6,497,110.00

4.18 3.82 2.99 16.2

132,000 211,000 558,000 7,901,400

529,060.00 837,430.00 1,649,970.00 128,522,078.00

115

60,140

6,951,478.00

WEEKLY MOST TRADED STOCKS Abra Mining United Paragon Manila Mining `A’ Megaworld Prop. Island Info ATN Holdings A Philodrill Corp. `A’ Manila Mining `B’ Metro Pacific Inv. Corp. SM Prime Holdings

VOLUME 2,696,000,000 2,090,300,000 641,600,000 367,981,000 351,310,000 319,080,000 294,600,000 214,800,000 172,128,200 153,230,800

STOCKS SM Prime Holdings Ayala Land `B’ Ayala Corp `A’ Universal Robina Metrobank JG Summit Holdings Security Bank SM Investments Inc. Megaworld Prop. Banco de Oro Unibank Inc.

VALUE 3,760,019,820.00 2,824,285,030.00 2,541,627,940.00 2,512,184,324.00 2,078,627,192.00 2,076,476,309.00 1,780,165,042.00 1,606,011,935.00 1,488,607,650.00 1,369,550,417.00

MONDAY: MAY 16, 2016

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

JG Summit’s profit jumps 61% By Jenniffer B. Austria

JG Summit Holdings Inc., the investment company of tycoon John Gokongwei, said net income jumped 61 percent in the first quarter to P9.63 billion from P5.98 billion a year ago, boosted by the airline and petrochemical businesses.

JG Summit said in a statement airline unit Cebu Air Inc. posted a net income of P4.04 billion in the first quarter, up 81 percent from a year ago, on lower fuel prices. JG Summit Petrochemicals Corp. and JG Summit Olefins Corp. achieved a net income of P1.07 billion in the JanuaryMarch period, a reversal of the P891.99-million net loss recorded in the same period last year. Property unit Robinsons Land Corp. also delivered strong results, with firstquarter net income of P1.55 billion, up 10.7 percent from year ago as revenues increased 12.1 percent to P5.47 billion. Food manufacturing unit Universal Robina Corp. saw an 11.9-percent improvement in first-quarter net income to P3.21 billion. However, URC’s revenues slightly declined to P28.5 billion from P28.65 billion, on lower net sales of the branded consumer foods group. Banking unit Robinsons Bank Corp. generated banking revenue of P808.99 million in the first quarter, an increase of 12.2 percent from last year’s P721.22 million. This increase was brought about by higher interest income, commission income and trading gain for the period. Revenues from core investments also declined 34.6 percent to P1.03 billion, on lower dividends declared by Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. Equity in net earnings of associates, primarily from investments in UIC and Manila Electric Co., increased to P1.83 billion from P1.68 billion. The group’s operating expenses grew 14.5 percent in the first quarter to P10.67 billion, on higher selling, general and administrative expenses, particularly in the food and airline business units. The conglomerate’s operating income also went up by 25.3 percent to P14.64 billion.

Shell technology forum. Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. organizes the Shell Technology Forum to bring together experts of the oil

and gas company and its local customers to sustain their partnership in meeting business challenges. Shown during the forum are (from left) Shell Shanghai Technology Company team lead Felix Guerzoni, fuels technical advisor (East) Kong-Hua Ong and Shell Global Solutions Malaysia fuels scientist Mae Ascan as they answer questions from participants at Hotel Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila.

Market likely to trade lower on profit taking STOCKS are expected to trade lower this week, on profit taking after a strong run last week that sent the benchmark index to a nine-month high. Analysts said while there was still room for the market to sustain its upward trajectory, the market’s significant rise last week had made shares prices more expensive, which could prompt investors to cash in on previous week’s gains. “Valuation concerns remain which could limit the market’s rise. Chartwise, the week’s close at 7,436.79 continues to suggest the market has still some room to try 7,600 to 7,800 levels in the near term,” BDO Unibank chief investment strategist Jonathan Ravelas

said. The market is currently trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 22 times. PE indicates how cheap or expensive a market or specific stock is. The positive first-quarter earnings of listed firms could also boost investor sentiments, analysts said, as investors remained positive about the domestic economy. The economic advisers of presumptive president Rodrigo Duterte unveiled an eight-point economic agenda, which included the continuation of macroeconomic policies of the outgoing administration and acceleration of infrastructure spending. The bellwether Philippine Stock

Exchange index soared 6.4 percent last week to close at 7,436.79 on May 13, the benchmark’s highest close since Aug. 13, 2015 when it settled at 7,439.80. The broader all-share index also jumped 6 percent to end the week at 4,412.26. All major sub-indices ended in the green, led by holding firms which jumped 9.1 percent, property which climbed 6.8 percent and financials which advanced 5.7 percent. Foreign investors were net buyers by P1.8 billion last week, as total overseas buying reached P25.01 billion while foreign selling amounted to P23.2 billion. Average daily turnover also im-

proved to P10.7 billion from previous week’s average of P6.2 billion. Top gainers last week were JG Summit Holdings Inc., which went up by 12.2 percent to P91.1; Megaworld Corp., which rose 14.8 percent to P4.2; and Ayala Corp., which advanced 12.6 percent to P828. Heavy losers were LT Group Inc., which dropped 6.1 percent to P13.52 and Emperador Inc, which dipped 4.8 percent to P7.60. These stocks were affected by pronouncements by Duterte camp that the next administration planned to implement liquor ban in public areas nationwide after 1am. Jenniffer B. Austria

Liberty Telecoms booked P113-m net loss in first quarter By Darwin G. Amojelar THE telecommunications unit of San Miguel Corp. said it booked a net loss of P113.96 million in the first quarter, lower than the P207.15-million net loss it incurred a year ago. Liberty Telecoms Holdings Inc. said revenues dropped to P35.93 million in the first quarter from last year’s P77.25 million. “The group’s revenues for the period reflect the substantial decrease in revenue from broadband services as compared to the same period last year,” Liberty

Telecoms said. The company’s expenses fell 85 percent to P149.30 million from P276.64 million. Despite the losses, the company said major shareholders understood the losses were expected following the launch of the group’s Internet access product. Liberty Telecoms said it planned to maximize existing assets and network sites through leasing agreements and optimize operating cost to increase revenues. It also plans to synergize its

operations with SMC Telecommunications Group. Besides Liberty Telecoms, San Miguel has other telecommunication companies under its portfolio, including Express Telecommunications Inc., Eastern Telecommunications Philippines Inc. and Bell Telecommunications Philippines Inc. San Miguel president Ramon Ang said last week said the company received four “serious offers” from foreign investors to be its joint venture partner for a mobile broadband business, after talks with Telstra Corp. Ltd.

bogged down in March. San Miguel and ’s Telstra ended talks on a $1-billion joint investment in a new mobile network in the Philippines due to “commercial arrangements” issue. San Miguel said Ddspite the collapsed joint venture, it would still switch on its telecommunications network along with a high-speed Internet service as scheduled. Telstra offered to continue technical work design and construction consultancy support to San Miguel.

Italpinas loan. Publicly-listed Italpinas Development Corp. signs on Friday a P350-million loan agreement with state-owned Development Bank of the Philippines to partly fund the first phase of its two-tower project in Cagayan de Oro City. IDC chairman Romolo Valentino Nati (third from right) and DBP executive vice president Mario Palou (third from left) exchange documents of the loan agreement at the Peninsula Manila in Makati City. With them are (from left) IDC director Antonio Samson, DBP senior assistant vice president Jeanne Adamos, IDC president Jose Leviste III and IDC senior vice president Harrold Dacumos.

Economy likely rose over 6% in 1st quarter THE Philippines will continue to be the bright spot in Asia as the economy likely expanded by 6.2 percent in the first quarter, significantly faster than 5 percent a year ago on domestic demand and investments, Moody’s Analytics, a division of Moody’s Corp., said over the weekend. “The Philippine economy is expected to have expanded 6.2 percent year-on-year in the opening quarter of 2016, largely unchanged from the 6.3-percent result posted in the fourth quarter of 2015,” Moody’s said in a report. Moody’s said the performance would make the Philippines the best-performing economy in Southeast Asia. It said unlike its regional counterparts, the Philippine economy has overcome the negative effects from slowing global demand. “Although the archipelago’s exports have been falling, private consumption and investment activity are expected to remain strong,” it said. The government is scheduled to release the first-quarter GDP data this week. Economists polled by the Standard, meanwhile, said the gross domestic product rate in the first quarter of 2016 likely grew 6.6 percent on the average due to robust domestic consumption due to election-related spending. Analysts said economic growth in the January-to-March period would range from 6.1 percent to 7.6 percent, up from 5 percent a year ago. Metrobank research analyst Pauline Revillas said the GDP likely grew 6.1 percent amid solid consumption spending. “We expect first quarter GDP to come in at 6.1 percent amid still solid consumption spending, sustained pick-up in election and investment spending,” Revillas said in an e-mail.

GT Capital to raise stake in Pro-Friends By Jenniffer B. Austria

GT Capital Holdings Inc. of tycoon George Ty will invest an additional P8.76 billion to increase its stake in mass housing developer Property Company of Friends Inc., or Pro-Friends, to 51 percent. GT Capital said it planned to invest P6.2 billion to raise its stake in Pro-Friends to 42 percent by the second half of 2016 from the current 22.68 percent that required an investment of P7.24 billion. GT Capital will further invest P2.56 billion to increase its stake in the mass housing developer to 51 percent by the first quarter of 2017. “Total price for the 51 percent would be P16 billion. So we initially paid up P7.24 billion for the 22.68 percent stake. Then tranche two will be another

P6.2 billion and the balance that would bring us to 51 percent would be first quarter next year,” GT Capital president Carmelo Bautista said. GT Capital said funding for the investment would come from internally generated funds and some short term debt. GT Capital’s investment in Pro-Friends will stay at the holding level as the company has no immediate plans of consolidating Profriends under property unit Federal Land Inc. “Eventually, once we identified synergies between the two

separate businesses, the intention is to consolidate but not in the near future,” Bautista said. Bautista said Pro-Friends this year would push through with plans to roll out 500 units monthly or 6,000 new homes this year. “There is backlog in the affordable housing sector. It’s affordable and it’s large segment so we can build as many as pos-

sible,” Bautista said. Federal Land will also launch seven new projects this year, mostly residential developments covering the high-end and mid market Established in 1999, ProFriends is today one of the country’s leading property developers, focusing on the low-cost and economic housing segments, and retail and office space leasing. It has built and sold over 36,000 affordable homes in the provinces of Cavite and Iloilo. Its flagship and largest project is Lancaster New City, which spans the areas of Kawit, Imus, and General Trias in Cavite province. Pro-Friends in 2014 had planned to conduct an initial public offering to raise as much as P7.7 billion in proceeds. The company, however, did not push through with the IPO and instead opted to tap GT Capital as a strategic investor.

Monetary Board closes another Cavite rural bank By Julito G. Rada THE Monetary Board, the policy-making body of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, closed a Cavite-based rural bank due to unhealthy financial condition, the 10th lender shut down since January. State-run Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. said in a statement over the weekend the board placed Rural Bank of Amadeo (Cavite) Inc. under its receivership Friday. PDIC took over the bank on the same day. Rural Bank of Amadeo is a two-unit rural bank with head office at 111 A. Mabini St., Amadeo, Cavite. Its lone branch is in

Magallanes, Cavite. Records showed that as of Dec. 31, 2015, the bank is owned by Andamo-Villanueva Estate Inc. (40 percent), Emmanuel Nicholas Andamo III (19.40 percent), Eliza Andamo (11 percent), Emilio Andamo (10.16 percent), Abelardo Andamo (10.15 percent), RBOA (Treasury stock) (6.49 percent) and Constancio Lamano (2 percent). The bank’s president and chairman is Henry Berber. Rural Bank of Amadeo as of March 31, 2016 had 1,583 accounts with total deposit liabilities of P46.42 million, all of which are insured. Also on Friday, the Monetary Board closed the Government

Service Insurance Systemowned GSIS Family Bank. GSIS Family Bank is a 22-unit thrift bank with head office at the second floor of AIC Grande Tower, Garnet Road, Ortigas Center, Pasig City. The bank has seven branches in the National Capital Region, one in Bulacan, 11 in Cavite, and two in Laguna. GSIS Family Bank, based on the bank information sheet filed by the bank with PDIC as of Dec. 31, 2015, is owned by the Government Service Insurance System (99.6 percent). The bank’s president is Emmanuel Benitez and its chairman is Geraldine Marie Berberabe-Martinez. Latest available records show

that as of March 31, 2016, the bank had 14,507 accounts with total deposit liabilities of P974.81 million. Total insured deposits amounted to P786.39 million or 80.67 percent of total deposits. Other financially-ailing rural banks closed since the start of 2016 were Surigao-based Surigao City Evergreen Rural Bank Inc., Rural Bank of Malinao (Aklan) Inc., Rural Bank of Panay Inc., Koronadal Rural Bank Inc., Negros Oriental-based Rural Bank of Basay, Rural Bank of Villaviciosa (Abra) Inc., Cebubased Lapu-Lapu Rural Bank Inc. and Rural Bank of Bayawan, also in Negros Oriental.

M O N D AY : M AY 1 6 , 2 0 1 6

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

First Gen plans 3 hydro projects By Alena Mae S. Flores

FIRST Gen Corp. of the Lopez Group is keen on developing three hydro power projects in Mindanao with a combined potential output of 102.5 megawatts and cost of around $470 million to construct. First Gen’s business development team is strengthening its expertise in hydro electric power plant construction and development so that the company can start the construction of the projects this year. The projects are the 32-MW Bubunawan, 30-MW Puyo and 40.5-MW Tagoloan run-of-river hydro stations. “We remain bullish in developing our hydro portfolio... For Bubunawan, we proceeded with rehabilitating the access road at the site and expect it to be completed in

2016,” First Gen president and chief operating officer Francis Giles Puno said. Chief finance officer Emmanuel Singson said the big capital expenditures for hydro were expected in the next three years. “Bubunawan is about $180 million to $190 million but that would come in two to three years... around $130 million to 140 million for Puyo. For Tagoloan, nothing firm yet but about the same,” Singson said. Puno, meanwhile, said the lingering effects of El Niño, along with the water conservation program of the National Irrigation Administration, resulted in the lower dispatch from the 132-MW PantabanganMasiway hydro complex in Nueva Ecija province in the first three quarters last year. First Gen Hydro Power Corp., a unit of First Gen, owns and operates the Pantabangan-Masiway hydro electric plant. Puno said the lower generation was ease by the two unexpected typhoons in the last quarter last year that significantly increased dam elevation. Total plant generation, as a result, increased 4.2 percent to 259.2 gigawatthours in 2015.

With (front row from left) Zuellig president Ernesto Garilao; former Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral, DOH Secretary Janet Garin; former Health Secretaries Francisco Duque III and Enrique T. Ona; Philippine College of Physicians president Dr. Anthony Leachon: Ayala Health COO Rene Figueroa Jr. (Back row from left) PHAP executive director Teodoro Padilla; Philippine Coalition Against Tuberculosis founding chairman Dr. Camilio Roa; PHAP president Dr. Beaver Tamesis; DOH head executive staff Dr. Dominga Padilla; ADB Senior Health Specialist Dr. Eduardo P. Banzon; World Bank Senior Economist Dr. Caryn Bredenkamp; Quezon City Health Officer Dr. Verdades Linga; and Pharex president and CEO Tomas Aganal III

Health for Juan and Juana I HAD previously mentioned here that universal health care or UHC was a top campaign issue not just in the Philippines but in the United States as well. In the recent presidential and vice-presidential debates, UHC was one of the main points of discussion. It is safe to say that votes for a particular presidential and vicepresidential candidate had something to do with their position on universal health care. Last May 4, the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP), together with the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), the Zuellig Family Foundation and Havas Life, hosted a forum entitled “Health for Juan and Juana: Moving Forward with the Philippine Health Agenda.” I had been invited as a panelist for the afternoon session that discussed ways forward for the Philippine Health Agenda in the coming six years. The consensus among government and private sector health practitioners and workers was about the level of trust between and amongst themselves. This was truly a challenge to hurdle if we want a comprehensive health agenda to be pursued with the needed vigor and competence.

Great strides in UHC had been achieved by the Aquino Administration, particularly on Philhealth membership and on the increase in the national budget for Health. I must say that the sin tax bill which heaped great benefits on UHC, was a major achievement of President Aquino. Pnoy mustered his political will to ensure its passage. We all know that for the longest time the sin tax bill languished and gathered dust in the halls of Congress. Despite that, however, it seems that majority of those who really need universal health care are not availing of this vital service. It was revealed during the forum that the Philhealth utilization rate of the marginalized members of our society is lower than the utilization rate of those who can afford. In other words, the poor is subsidizing the rich. This anomaly must be rectified. We hope the incoming administration will address this matter as part of its health agenda.

Condo village living. Avida Land Corp., a unit of Ayala Land Inc., breaks through with its one-of-a-kind development that introduces condo-village living in the city through Avida One Antonio in Makati. Residents can enjoy the security and exclusivity offered in village-living in the heart of the bustling Makati at One Antonio.

SM Prime opens new Cavite mall SM Prime Holdings Inc., one of the leading integrated property companies in Southeast Asia, opened Friday its newest mall, SM City Trece Martires, its 58th in the country. It is the fifth mall in the province of Cavite after the successes of SM City Bacoor, SM City Dasmariñas, SM City Rosario and SM City Molino. Located at the heart of the province, the latest premier destination adds 84,000 square meters in gross floor area, bringing SM Prime’s total retail space to almost 7.5 million sq. m., the largest footprint in the country. “The success of our first four malls in Cavite encouraged us to expand the malling lifestyle in the province. SM City Trece

Martires will be a great addition in the development of Cavite as we remain committed to expand towards the provincial areas,” SM Prime President Hans Sy said. SM City Trece Martires, which is situated on the corner of two main thoroughfares—Governor’s Drive and Capitol Road—opens new doors to the city of Trece Martires that has more than 100,000 residents. It is bounded by Tanza on the North and West, Naic also on the West, Amadeo and Indang on the South, and General Trias on the East. Cavite, based on a 2010 census, is the most populated province in the Philippines with 3.1 million people. Opening with almost

80 percent of space leaseawarded, SM City Trece Martires is furnished with well-chosen retail stores, cozy dining outlets, forefront recreation and entertainment facilities and guest-focused service centers. It is boosted by an inviting architectural design that give a new lifestyle look in the city and in the province. Joining the opening of SM City Trece Martires are some of the well-loved retail stores, food outlets and anchor tenants like The SM Store, SM Supermarket, Ace Hardware, Watsons, BDO, SM Appliance and SM Cinema. The new mall will house four state-of-the-art cinemas for a total of 237 cinema seats. A 737-slot parking space is also provided for shoppers’ convenience.

Former Health Secretaries Enrique Ona and Francisco Duque

Former Health Secretary and Dean, Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health Manuel Dayrit

Coalition for Health Advocacy and Transparency founding chairman Roberto Pagdanganan

The columnist stressing a point

The World Bank’s Caryn Bredenkamp with QC Health officer Dr. Verdades Linga

Dr. Eduardo P. Banzon, Senior Health Specialist in the Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department of the Asian Development Bank

MONDAY: MAY 16, 2016

BUSINESS business@manilastandardtoday.com extrastory2000@gmail.com

Puregold holding retailers’ convention PUREGOLD is hosting the 11th Tindahan Ni Aling Puring SariSari Store Convention, a five-day event that recognizes the role of neighborhood retail warriors in keeping the “pambansang negosyo” vibrant. This year’s Sari-Sari Store Convention, set on May 18 to 22, is a “national tribute” for loyal TNAP members who serve as the backbone of the local economy and of Puregold’s business, being one of its primary clientele. “Our sari-sari store owners exemplify the ideal entrepreneur: hardworking and persevering, pursuing their business for their families and really showing their love for what they do,” said Vincent Co, president of Puregold Price Club Inc. “At the same time, they serve as their local neighborhood’s store of choice where basic commodities are made affordable through ‘tingi’ [retail] prices. We really cannot underestimate the role that sari-sari stores play in our society,” said Co. Themed “PINASipag, PINASwerte, PINASenso,” this year’s Sari-Sari Store Convention seeks to strike the patriotic chord in more than 70,000 TNAP members at a time when the nation is on the brink of change. “We have been doing this for a decade now and we wanted to mark the start of another 10 years with a celebration worthy of the people we are honoring. At the same time, we want to unify our TNAP members behind one common goal: that with hard work, success is always within reach,” said Co. “We also want to encourage future members and future generations to join our cause of providing business opportunities to Filipino families,” he said.

ANA MAE D. VIDAL

GREEN LIGHT

Financial healing power EXCEEDING use of my credit limit made me realize how challenging life could be. I ran out of people whom I can turn to since I haven’t paid yet my debt from them. I cannot borrow from the bank because of my negative credit rating. As the due date of my credit card was approaching, I was so anxious and easily agitated. Indeed, it was so terrible! But what is good being buried in debt is I learned from the mistakes I made. My world turned upside down after the graduation of my two younger sisters whom I supported financially. Released from my obligations, I found myself spending here and there to the point of using my credit card for not so important things. “Just for this year,” I told myself. Yes! I was in debt and became so deficit, I became stressed. I have a hard time allocating my money for the payment for my utilities and daily expenses. And more than that, I had

Napocor seeking to recover P10.3b By Alena Mae S. Flores

STATE-OWNED National Power Corp. is seeking to recover P10.324 billion from customers for subsidies it spent in building power facilities in remote areas. Napocor said in a published petition filed before the Energy Regulatory Commission the amount would translate into an increase of P0.1248 per kilowatt-hour starting 2016 under the universal charge for missionary electrification. Napocor said the proposed basic universal charge for missionary electrification was “necessary in order to cover the required subsidy requirements and at the same time, maintain a reliable and stable funding source for its operating

costs requirements including a sufficient subsidy for payment to new power players/qualified third parties and renewable energy developers.” It said there was a need to meet the customer’s electricity requirements through the implementation of the proposed improvement of Napocor’s generation function to provide a sustainable development in off-grid areas and connect electricity to unserved communities. Napocor said the lack of funds from the universal charge for missionary electrification subsidy and from supposedly transitory funds which could be sourced through loans would affect its funding and operation. “Be it recalled that the Department of Justice issued an opinion which limited and suspended Napocor’s authority to borrow funds or enter into a loan agreement,” it said. Napocor calculated the application based on the 2015 results of operations and fuel

costs for 2017, operating expenses, depreciation costs and calculated revenues. “In the instant petition, petitioner has utilized the authorized RORB methodology using the year 2015 base rate being the most recent financial statement available during the calculation stage,” it said. The application also included the renewable energy cash incentive for off-grid developers. “Based on the results of the calculations made, the total proposed UCME subsidy requirement for the missionary electrification will amount to P10.324 billion for CY 2017 inclusive of the cash incentive for renewable energy,” Napocor said. Napocor last year filed an application for the basic universal charge for missionary electrification for 2015 and 2016 before ERC in support of its missionary electrification function. The application is still pending with ERC.

Soft broom making.

Members of Igorot and Ibaloi tribes in Barangay Sanguit, Dupax Del Sur, Nueva Viscaya undergo skills skills upgrading on soft broom making. The skills training is an ensuing activity of the technology transfer series on soft broom making under the Yaman Pinoy Intergrated Livelihood Program funded through the 2015 BuB project of Dupax Del Sur.

to sacrifice my financial gains just to pay for everything. With this experience, I started my journey to find ways to lighten up my burden, overcome my struggles and manage myself to get out from this terrible nightmare. My quest started by finding information to educate me on how to manage my finances. I read self-help books about finances, browsed blogs, and watched video lectures on financial literacy. Thus, from my self-help education experience, allow me to share with you important points that I’ve learned out of it. Adjust on your lifestyle Our lifestyle is the core of our financial struggle. We are caught in the corner and struggle so much financially if we conform to a lifestyle that is beyond our means. “Live within your income” is a popular cliché but truly highlights the need for self-control. It is inevitable for us to lose control when we are being pressured by the things that surround us. As a result, we have a bad spending habit. We buy stuff that we thought we could not live without, yet at the end of the day, are not really important and only results to the misallocation of our finances. Moreover, the wants of this life fuel us up to get what we want in spite of

our insufficient means to get what we want. Remember, wealth is relative – it varies from person to person. Now if your lifestyle demands are so high it would be best to increase your means in that way you can have anything what you wanted for. Understanding customs and tradition Different cultures have different customs and traditions. Filipinos have certain customs and traditions that really affect the way how we handle our finances. To name some are practices like “Balato,” “Pasalubong,” and “Fiesta.” Even being too hospitable can compromise the way we budget our finances, for instance, when some of our friends visit us, we tend to showcase that we have more than enough, even if we don’t. There is nothing wrong when you want to share, however remember that you can only share if you have enough. Money is a family matter Money is a family matter. It is an imperative for a family to understand the nature of money, as to how we allocate it, spend and make use of it to enhance the quality of our life. However, few of us overlook the importance of discussing and emphasizing it within our family circle. As a consequence, the family suffers because they do not know how to

cooperate and maximize the opportunity to contribute for the family’s betterment. For parents, it is one of their responsibilities to teach their kids the concept of saving. Also, it is their duty to instill the virtue of thrift. Save, invest and share No one can share, if he/she doesn’t have and so it is very important to save and maximize the opportunity to earn more by investing in ways that bring a good return. However, let us be wise on how we save our money. Remember, when holding your money in cash for the long term there is the added problem of inflation. The interest on most saving accounts does not cover the increase in inflation. Thus, make your savings work for you, rather than you work for your savings. Save for the short term and then use that money to buy investments that bring in regular cash flow. Maximizing your income would liberate you from debts that haunt you and can increase your capacity to help and share with those who are in need. It is our obligation to build our own wealth. We need to have an adequate financial education that will help us develop a good attitude towards how we handle our finances. There are no shortcuts or any magic

potions that will help us to be rich instantly or be liberated from our financial struggles. But, I know the surest ways for us to overcome them is through financial education. According to best-selling author Robert Kiyosaki, there are three types of education: academic, professional and financial education. However, our school system focuses only on scholastic and professional skills, not financial skills. If you have the education about how money works, you gain power over it and can begin building your wealth. Living in abundance is what we desire and through building our wealth we can maximize the opportunity for us to share, help and live a life to the fullest. Let us be financially free! The author is an MBA student at the Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business. This essay is part of a journal she keeps in fulfillment of the requirements of the course, Lasallian Business Leadership with Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethics. Visit her blog at https://ana0403.wordpress.com/. The views expressed here are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official position of DLSU, its faculty, and its administrators.

M O N D AY : M AY 1 6 , 2 0 1 6

WORLD

CESAR BARRIOQUINTO EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Chaotic decade now collectible SHANGHAI—At the “East is Red” shop in Shanghai, every nook and cranny is packed with memorabilia of China’s Cultural Revolution, from small badges of Chairman Mao Zedong to gigantic posters of his iconic image. Owner Guo Bing himself is a child of the Cultural Revolution, born in 1966, the year the chaotic and violent decade was launched on May 16. His parents named him with the Chinese character for “soldier”, a common practice at the time. But now, Guo sees profits rather than Communist Party ideals in the relics of the past, as the market booms for collectibles from a time scarred victims would prefer to forget. “Prices have risen because of the anniversary of the Cultural Revolution,” said Guo at one of his two shops in China’s commercial

hub, whose gleaming skyscrapers epitomize the country’s economic boom after the abandonment of Maoist orthodoxy. “People suffered during the Cultural Revolution,” Guo admitted, before quickly adding: “We are meeting demand. There is a market.” Guo was a “Little Red Guard” as a child in Jiangsu province, he said, wearing his older brother’s army uniform, pinning a Mao badge to his chest and signing patriotic songs. One of them, “The East is Red”, gave him the name for his business, which has dealt in Cultural

Revolution memorabilia for two decades. For some buyers, such objects tap into nostalgia for a simpler time, when the state provided everything and society was more equal, despite the abuse the victims suffered. “It was an exciting time for kids,” Guo said. “Most collectors now are old people, younger people lag behind.” The objects on offer range from an enameled metal plate with the slogan “Chairman Mao’s revolutionary art and literature line victory forever” to a book of cartoons published in early 1977, soon after Mao’s death and the fall of his widow Jiang Qing. Along with the three other members of the “Gang of Four”, she was officially blamed for directing the mayhem. Once a movie actress in Shanghai, she was among a cabal of radicals with links to the city who

were among the driving forces behind the Cultural Revolution. “We can remember history,” Guo said. On a high bookshelf in the shop, a framed picture shows Mao with a mango, which became an object of veneration after the leader gifted the fruit to a group of workers in 1968. The cult of the mango, as it is known, was even the subject of an exhibition at the Museum Rietberg in Zurich in 2013. The reproduction sells for 50 yuan ($8), Guo says, but an original would cost hundreds of dollars. The disparity offers a opportunity for the unscrupulous to profit, and collectors and dealers said that rampant fakes are a problem for Cultural Revolution memorabilia, like other collecting categories in China. On Chinese website Kongfz. com, an eBay-like platform for an-

tiquarian books and other items, a search for Cultural Revolution turns up nearly 200,000 items with the most expensive an extensive collection priced at 3.0 million yuan. “All along, people have appreciated Cultural Revolution objects,” said long-time dealer and collector Lin Ji. “Where there is a market, there are fakes,” he added, citing reproductions of Red Guard armbands as an example. Mao badges and the “Little Red Book” of his thoughts and sayings were once ubiquitous in Chinese households, but collectors hope growing scarcity will increase prices over time. “There are too many things [from the Cultural Revolution]. But the good stuff is getting harder and harder to find,” said Guo, who has a prized Mao statue stored away at home, not for sale. AFP

Republic of the Philippines Province of Bataan City of Balanga BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE OFFICE Invitation to Bid No. Goods-029-2016 29

The Provincial Government of Bataan, through the General Fund intends to apply the below listed procurement w/ corresponding Approved Budget of the Contract (ABC). Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected a bid opening. Name of Project

Approved Budget of the Contract (ABC)

1. Supply & Delivery of Shirts, Caps & Wristbands w/ Barcodes for Bataan Green Legacy Comprehensive Tree Planting on June 24, 2016

=P=2,090,700.00

The Provincial Government of Bataan now invites bids for the above listed Procurement. Delivery of goods is requiredon or before the maturity date stipulated on contract. Bidders should have completed, at least one (1) contract that is similar to the contract to be bid. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders. Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using non-discretionary pass/fail criterion as specified in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 9184 (RA 9184), otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”. Bidding is open to all interested bidders, whether local or foreign, subject to the conditions for eligibility provided in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”. Interested bidders may obtain further information from Office of Bataan Bids & Awards Committeeand inspect the Bidding Documents from 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. at the same office.

Initiation. Children from Russia’s Caucasian Republic of Dagestan attend a ceremonial initiation into

the Young Pioneer youth communist group, created in the Soviet Union for children from 10 to 14 years old, in Moscow’s Red square on May 15, 2016, during the organization’s celebration day. AFP

Russia ‘ashamed’ over doping scandal LONDON—Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko apologized on Sunday for the doping scandal that threatens the athletic superpower’s participation in the Rio Olympics. Mutko, writing in The Sunday Times, admitted the Russian Athletics Federation and athletes had made “serious mistakes” breaking anti-doping rules. He said “they had rejected the principle of fair-play so fundamental to sport for immediate benefits. “Let us be clear. We are ashamed of them.” Mutko’s mea culpa comes just three days after he described as “absurd” the allegations that Russian athletes were involved in systematic doping at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. A report in the New York Times based on information from the former head of Russia’s anti-doping laboratory claimed that dozens of athletes including 15 medalists were involved. Russian athletics faces a battle

to compete at the Olympics in Rio in August. The sport’s ruling body the IAAF provisionally suspended the Russian athletics federation in November over a bombshell report by a World Anti-Doping Agency independent commission alleging state-sponsored doping and mass corruption in the sport. The International Association of Athletics Federations will examine the issue of Russia’s participation in Rio at an extraordinary Council meeting next month. Mukto told The Sunday Times: “We are very sorry that athletes who tried to deceive us, and the world, were not caught sooner. “We are very sorry because Russia is committed to upholding the highest standards in sport and is opposed to anything that threatens the Olympic values.” He insisted that since the scandal emerged Russia was putting her house in order. “Since Russia was suspended

last November, with RUSADA, the Moscow laboratory and the ARAF all losing their WADA status, we have agreed a road-map with WADA aimed at restructuring these organizations, taking a series of steps to demonstrate how committed we are to ensuring that sport in our country is clean and fair.” Mutko listed some of the new measures designed to ensure his country’s appearance in Rio. “Before the Rio Games begin, our aspiring Olympians will undergo a minimum of three antidoping controls carried out by the IAAF – in addition to any testing that they receive in all qualifying competitions. “In addition, two international experts are now based in Moscow to supervise all activities of our anti-doping agency.” He said UK Anti-Doping had been appointed by WADA to take charge of drug-testing in Russia, although UKAD said on Friday it was reviewing its position after the Sochi revelations. AFP

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

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

The Provincial Government of Bataanwill hold a Pre-Bid Conference on May 23, 2016 at 10:00 A.M at Provincial BAC Office, PEO Capitol Compound, Balanga City, Bataan, which shall beopen only to all interested parties who have purchased the Bidding Documents. Bids must be delivered on or before June 06, 2016 at 2:00 p.m. at Provincial BAC Office, PEO Capitol Compound, Balanga City, Bataan. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated on IRR of RA 9184 and Bid Securing Declaration in standard form. The winning bidder has the option to deliver the items requested by the end-user with higher technical specification & better technology provided it will be beneficial to the government & will not incur additional expenses on the part of the procuring entity. Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend opening of Bids at Bataan BAC Office. Late bids shall not be accepted. In case of the above dates is declared a special Non-Working Holidays, it will automatically reset on the next working days. Other necessary information deemed relevant by the Provincial Government of Bataan Activities 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

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

Schedule May 16 – May 22, 2016 Refer to date of Opening of Bids May 16 – June 06, 2016 May 26, 2016 June 06, 2016

The Provincial Government of Bataan reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders. For further information, please refer to: Engr. Josephine R. Valenzuela Provincial BAC / PEO Bataan Provincial BAC / PEO Office, Capitol Compound, BalangaCity, Bataan 047-237-9316 bac@bataan.gov.ph

(TS-MAY 16, 2016)

(SGD) ENRICO T. YUZON BAC CHAIRMAN

M O N D AY : M AY 1 6 , 2 0 1 6

B8 116-year-old woman may still be here in the 2020s VERBANIA, Italy—As a young woman in the roaring 1920s, the world’s oldest living person loved to go singing and dancing. Now 116-year-old Italian Emma Morano’s next challenge is to see in the 2020s and become the oldest human being on record. The last known surviving child of the 19th century is enjoying the spotlight after succeeding American Susannah Mushatt Jones, who died last week, as the oldest person on the planet. And on the evidence of AFP’s visit to her this weekend, Morano could very well go on long enough to surpass Jeanne Calment’s record. The Frenchwoman died in 1997 at 122 years and 164 days, the oldest recorded age achieved by a human being. Morano was having the first of her two daily naps when AFP came calling at her tiny secondstory apartment in Verbania, a small town on the shores of Lake Maggiore in northern Italy. But her carer had no doubt that she would want to have her picture taken once again. Barely a few seconds after being woken, she was alert, sitting up on the edge of her bed and smiling for the camera. Clutching an embroidered pillow she received when she celebrated her 116th birthday last year, she spoke in a barely audible but unwavering voice. “I’m doing fine, who are you?” she said, confirming comments from her doctor and her few surviving relatives that becoming a world-beater has boosted her already remarkable vitality. Morano’s extraordinary longevity—and more broadly Italy’s high number of centenarians—is a subject of much fascination among scientists. The eldest of eight children, Morano was born on November 29, 1899. She has outlived all her younger siblings, the last sister having died five years ago at the age of 102. She is now looked after by two elderly nieces with the help of a Colombian carer. Morano cannot walk, does not see well enough to watch television and has reportedly not left her flat in 25 years. AFP

CESAR BARRIOQUINTO EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

WORLD Efforts to counter IS propaganda working WASHINGTON—US authorities and Internet giants are boosting attempts to counter the Islamic State group’s online propaganda, though it is unclear how effective these efforts are in hampering the jihadists’ publicrelations machine.

Photocall. French actress Marion Cotillard poses on May 15, 2016, during a photocall for the film ‘Mal de Pierres (From the Land of the Moon)’ at the 69th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France. AFP

With calls to jihad and highly produced videos of IS fighters in battle or killing captives, the IS group has long used the Internet and social media to recruit fighters for its so-called caliphate in Iraq and Syria, and to incite individuals around the world to commit terrorist attacks. To try to stop this, web giants like Twitter and Facebook are working hard to shut down jihadist accounts, though these often pop back up under a new name. “Twitter has publicly said they’ve taken down close to 200,000 handles. They’ve taken down way more than that,” Richard Stengel, the under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs said at a recent seminar aimed at countering IS’s “brand.” “YouTube has taken down literally millions of videos. Facebook has hundreds of people who are working 24/7 to take down this noxious content,” added Stengel, who also was the former managing editor of Time magazine. At the same time, US efforts are being led by the State Department’s Global Engagement Center, which was overhauled this year and brought under the leadership of Michael Lumpkin, a former US naval officer. The center “is not going to be focused on US messages with a government stamp on them, but rather amplifying moderate credible voices in the region and throughout civil society,” said Lisa Monaco, President Barack Obama’s top homeland security advisor. The US military’s Central Command, which oversees operations in the Middle East, is “actively engaged” on social media to counter IS propaganda. “The command has a robust online engagement program that harnesses the professional talents and expertise of both military members and contractors working together,” Pentagon spokesman Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway said. “We operate using truthful information directed toward regional audiences to combat ISIL’s lies and deception,” he added, using an IS acronym. Stenger said efforts are paying off. “There’s now five times as much messaging on social media that is anti-ISIL than pro-ISIL, again, mostly in Arabic,” he said. AFP

More Americans are having their tattoos removed LOS ANGELES—You’re lovestruck and can’t wait to have your partner’s name or face etched onto your skin for eternity. Or you’ve just turned 18, and your first rebellious act upon reaching the age of majority is to have a dragon tattooed on your chest. Well, you may want to think twice before rushing to the tattoo parlor.

Although studies show that more and more Americans are sporting tattoos (one out of every five adults according to one poll), they also point to an increasing number who end up regretting getting one, leading to a boom in the tattoo removal industry. “In the last five years, we have seen a marked uptick in the number of people seeking to have tat-

toos removed,” said Dan Mills, president of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. According to ASAPS, more than 46,500 Americans underwent tattoo removal in 2015, a 39.4 percent increase over the previous year. Most—45.9 percent—were between the ages of 19 and 34, closely followed by 35-50 yearolds, with 37.9 percent.

“I see a lot of people having them taken off because they don’t want their children to see them and then go get a tattoo,” said Mills, who is based in the Los Angeles area, considered America’s tattoo hub. “And some people take them off because a lot of employers won’t hire somebody with a visible tattoo.” A Harris Poll conducted last

fall found that nearly a quarter of people who get tattoos end up remorseful, up from 14 percent in 2012. The main reasons mentioned for their change of heart, the poll found, are lifestyle or career changes, the breakup of a relationship, a poorly done tattoo or, as one woman put it to AFP, “being young and stupid” when they had it done. AFP

m onday : m ay 16, 2016

TaTUm anCHETa EDITOR

BInG PaREL

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

BERnadETTE LUnaS WRITER

life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

E aT, dRInK , T R aV EL

LIFE Aburi 5 Kinds

Maguro Pepper Steak

WhERE AuThEnTIC AnD mODERn JApAnESE CuISInE blOOmS

“T

here are many dishes here that stay true to what traditional Japanese cuisine is all about, but there are also a nice mix of dishes that introduce a modern twist.” This is how Astoria Hotels and Resorts business development executive Jacqueline Ng describes Japanese restaurant Minami Saki which is located in Astoria’s Ortigas property. Minami Saki opened in 2014 when Ng’s father met executive chef Kimito Katagiri, who was then nearing retirement after working at different hotels and restaurants in the Philippines. “Thankfully, we managed to convince him not to fully retire and we gave him creative freedom over the entire menu, including conceptualizing the interior and the ambiance [of Minami Saki],” shares Ng. Ng says the Japanese chef wanted Minami Saki to have an intimate feel, hence the dim lighting. But on top of the look and feel, chef Katagiri has the overall control on the food being served. “Focus is very much on the food,” emphasizes Ng. Armed with decades of food and beverage experience, chef Katagiri brings guests “a delicately constructed indulgence” as he employs his signature take on authentic and modern Japanese cuisine marked by a bold mix of appetizing flavors. According to Ng, the chef is careful with his instructions on his team of Filipino sous chefs and kitchen staff in perfecting the art of authentic Japanese gastronomy which discerning diners will appreciate. “This year, we went back to our roots and rediscovered what it meant to deliver authentic fine Japanese dining,” says Ng. But to stay relevant in the ever evolving culinary scene, as well as to offer something that other Japanese restaurants don’t have, chef Katagiri employs modern and innovative culinary techniques. Chef Katagiri uses a blowtorch in most of the dishes served in the restaurant to enhance their natural flavors. The torch-searing technique adds depth to the dishes, which are then drizzled with his special aburi sauce whose ingredients only chef Katagiri knows. “Even I don’t know what’s in it,” discloses Ng. “And I think that’s what makes it very special.” The said sauce has the same consistency as mayonnaise, but looks more like cheese spread. For instance, the Aburi 5 Kinds is a serving of five sushi made of fresh tuna, salmon, eel, hamachi and lapu-lapu, which are torch-seared to enhance the natural flavor of both the sashimi and the drizzled aburi sauce. The aburi sushi is then garnished with salty fly-fish roe and a small piece of sweet fruit to create a unique Japanese-Filipino fusion sushi experience. The aburi sauce in Kaki Papaya Yaki, meanwhile, is responsible for fusing together the contrasting taste and texture of Japanese oysters and papaya in the dish. Minami Saki also offers Take Sashimi (tuna, salmon, lapu-lapu, squid and mackerel sashimi), Maguro Pepper Steak (seared dice chunks of tuna drizzled with rich pepper sauce), Scallops with Tamago Sauce (pan-seared scallops enveloped in creamy Japanese-style egg yolk sauce), Usuyaki Steak with Mushrooms (a trio of shiitake, enoki and shimeji mushrooms rolled into thinly sliced US sirloin), Cha Soba (cold green tea noodles served with fried tempura) and the “spectacle dessert” Coffee Jelly (premium brewed coffee gelatin paired with homemade salted caramel ice cream that has a whimsically dramatic presentation). “Here at Minami Saki, the food is at premium quality but at a price point that is reachable for different markets around the area,” says Ng. –Bernadette Lunas Minami Saki is open daily from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and from 6:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., and is located on the ground floor of Astoria Plaza, 15 J. Escriva Drive, Ortigas Business District, Pasig City. For table reservations, call (02) 687-1111.

phOTOS by STAR SAbROSO

Take Sashimi

Coffee Jelly

Cha Soba

Wasabi Creme Brulée

Kaki Papaya Yaki

m onday : m ay 16, 2016

LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

The Dalmore brand ambassador Adam Knox

@LIFEatStandard

The Dalmore 12, King Alexander III and The Dalmore 15

makatI ShangrI-La, manILa cELEbratES thE grand brItISh FEStIvaL

akati Shangri-La, Manila will celebrate the spirit of Great Britain from May 23 until May 27. Aside from the famous Big Ben in London, Great Britain is also known for its musicians, great food, fine premium teas as well as luxurious British pubs. Inspired by The Beatles “Let It Be” and the United Kingdom s “Britain is Great,” Makati Shangri-La showcased a glimpse of the grand event which started with the welcome speech of its general manager Alain Borgers, who highlighted the exciting activities coming up in the hotel. The celebration will feature a series of British affairs The Grand British Buffet at Circles Event Café, a Grand High Tea at the Lobby Lounge, a wine dinner created by Michelin-starred chef Daniel Galmiche, the Seven Sense Whisky Experience at Sage Bespoke Grill Private Dining, the British Pub Nights at Sage Bar, and Let It Be Great, a concert that pays tribute to The Beatles. According to executive chef Paul Lenz, Let It Be Great will have an extension buffet at the Circles Event Café where the focus is on the original British cooking which will definitely go beyond the famous Fish and Chips. The buffet will give guests a taste of classic British dishes such as the Shepherd s Pie, Bubble and Squeak, as well as their very own specialty, the Yorkshire Pudding. And since the Brits drink tea not coffee, guests can enjoy the classic tea session with the British High Tea Experience at the Lobby Lounge along with Twinnings tea ambassador, Charles Smith, who will educate the guests about British tea traditions. The guests will surely enjoy eating a fresh selections of finger sandwiches, scones and sweet pastries carefully handcrafted by the hotel s chef while being serenaded by the hotel s in-house orchestra. On May 26, the 45-piece Manila Symphony Orchestra, in partnership with Globe Platinum, will perform songs by the famous British band, The Beatles, along with four up-and-coming artists. The MSO will transport guests to Abbey Road while

playing all-time favorites like “Here Comes the Sun,” “Here, There and Everywhere” and “Let It Be.” Pre-concert cocktails will be served at 7:00 p.m. Before Asian countries took over the title of Best Whisky in the World, “Scotch” used to reign at the top spot. The Old World allure is still ingrained in their whiskies and Makati Shangri-La, Manila will be celebrating it with one of the most revered whiskies in the world, The Dalmore. Guests can enjoy a gustatory experience paired with the whisky that the richest people in the world enjoy. Seven Senses Whisky Experience with The Dalmore will engage guests in a multi-sensory experience at the Sage Bespoke Grill Private Dining Room with The Dalmore whisky ambassador Adam Knox, paired with a six-course menu by Michelin-starred Chef Daniel Galmiche on May 23 to 27, 6:00 to 10:30 p.m. Of course, a British experience wouldn t be complete without a Brit pub selection of beers and gin cocktails. From 6:00 to 9:00 p.m., guests can try Sage Bar’s Fuller s beer, London s pioneer brew, and gin cocktails featuring such brands as Boodles London dry gin, the artisanal Islay label Botanist Gin and the Bulldog Gin. For whisky lovers, if you miss the Seven Senses Whisky Experience with The Dalmore, you can partake of whisky flights from The Dalmore with brand ambassador Adam Knox at Sage Bar on May 23 and 25 at 9:00 p.m. If you are a guest with a Mabuhay Miles membership, you may receive a 10 percent discount at all events. Globe Platinum also gives its members access to these events with a 20 percent discount. Marjaleen Ramos For more information, you may download the e-brochure at bit.ly/LetItBeGreat. For inquiries and reservations, please call restaurant reservations at (63 2) 813 8888 or email rric.slm@shangri-la.com. For more updates, follow Makati Shangri-La, Manila on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @MakatiShangriLa.

Experience British High Tea at the Lobby Lounge with Twinnings' tea variants

The Dalmore Vintage 1997

Ice sculptures of London's Tower Bridge and Big Ben

Makati Shangri-La, Manila’s general manager Alain Borgers

The second-oldest entry in the Dalmore Constellation series, distilled in 1966

British award-winning beer from Fuller’s Brewery

Delectable British inspired dessert

m onday : m ay 16, 2016

LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

team two– (from left) the Manila times’ Christina alpad, apetite Magazine’s nina Daza-puyat, Manila bulletin’s sol vanzi, the standard’s tatum ancheta and star sabroso

the winners of the cook-off challenge during the DIva Loves Food event

2 nEw Food battLE ShowS From dIVa LoVES Food

he pressure in the kitchen can be overwhelming for the chef and the staff who prepare the food. There have been a lot of reality TV shows and movies where everyone just goes berserk while preparing a dish. DIVA, the leading women s entertainment destination from NBC Universal International Networks, launched its DIVA Loves Food lineup in an event where they gave media guests a taste of the heat behind the kitchen to usher in two new food battle shows. A tight kitchen area, limited ingredient resource, scarce kitchen utilities and an added time pressure to create special dishes can be a tough challenge to any group of people with little or no experience behind the kitchen. Surprisingly, the experience turned out to be fun, media guests realized how imaginative and competitive they can get during a cook-off challenge. This makes the two new shows from DIVA Loves Food all the more interesting for people. For the month of May, TV viewers can feast on two kitchen battle series on Diva with My Kitchen Rules that returns on its seventh season and Chef in Your Ear on its premiere season.

My Kitchen Rules

My Kitchen Rules is a popular Australian cooking game show that started airing in 2010. The show chooses pairs with little experience in cooking, mostly home cooks, and these partners can often be friends,

relatives, lovers or coworkers whose real life jobs don’t necessary involve the kitchen. The pairs battle off in instant restaurant rounds, where they prepare a three-course menu, just like in a real restaurant, for the show s judges to grade. This season, past MKR contestants are back to join the reality series. To spice things up, renowned English celebrity chef Rachel Khoo also joins as the shows newest judge. Eighteen talented teams from different walks of life will battle it out to impress the judges. Imagine miners, police officers, lawyers, and regular blokes working it out in the kitchen and competing in a series of challenges. Catch the show s seventh season every Monday to Wednesday at 9:25 p.m.

Celebrity chef rachel Khoo joins MKr as the show’s newest judge

actually setting foot in the kitchen, remotely guiding two clueless cooks through an ear piece for an hour while they watch through a video monitor. It’s hard enough to be a cook competing behind the kitchen, but directing two clueless cooks through an earpiece to create their masterpiece makes it 10 times harder. But, this makes for a good show! Catch Chef In Your Ear every Wednesday at 8:00 p.m., only on Diva. EvEnt photos by star sabroso

chef in youR eaR

Do you remember the animated movie Ratatouille in 2007, the movie that made everyone fall in love with this talented rat named Remy who just happened to have the palate of a Michelin star chef? As a rat, Remy couldn t use his talent in the kitchen, simply because he s a rat, so he uses a young man named Alfredo Linguini, an ordinary garbage boy, to be his hands in the kitchen while he operates under a chef s hat, literally hiding on top of Alfredo s hair. Well, the new show Chef In Your Ear works a little like the relationship between Remy and Alfredo, except that in the show, each episode features a competition between two professional chefs who compete without

Chef In your Ear airs on Diva every every Wednesday at 8:00 p.m.

a grand stay in makati City By BeRnadette lunas Location, facilities and value for money – these are three of the major factors many staycation warriors consider when choosing a hotel. The minor aspects could change depending on every individual’s priorities but the aforementioned criteria greatly influence their decision on whether to book a room or browse through a list of other choices. It would seem that City Garden Hotels’ youngest property, the City Garden Grand in Makati, got its priorities straight, as the two-year-old hotel provides premium amenities and excellent service right smack in a central location where major commercial areas are accessible – all for a practical cost. Towering amid buildings along the stretch of Kalayaan Avenue and in the corner of Makati Avenue, the 300-room City Garden Grand Hotel was built for business and leisure travelers seeking rosemary ballroom

luxury accommodation in the busy neighborhood. Luxury is evident the minute guests enter the property as they will be greeted by an elegant lobby with furnishings from Padua Furniture. The chandeliers are made with thousands of capiz shells and the hallways are encrusted with semi-precious onyx stones. Finding a parking almost always spoils an experience even before it begins, but City Garden Grand Hotel ensures that guests and their cars are taken cared of with its complimentary valet parking service. Refreshments are available in the lobby as guests wait for the check-in process, which by the way only takes a few minutes. The spacious rooms and suites evoke a home-like vibe thanks to interiors that feature warm, earth tones and a seamless interplay of Narra hardwood, floor-toceiling glass, marble and, again, onyx stones. The plush beds, covered with a continued on c4

m onday : m ay 16, 2016

LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

The spacious deluxe room with a view

@LIFEatStandard

The powdery white sand beach fronting the Henann Resort Alona Beach

PaNgLao’s JEwEL merCury rising

By BoB zozoBrado

etting its name from the Cebuano word “panglawod,” which means ‘for the open sea,” Panglao has been the favorite destination of late for fun seekers who go to get a glorious tan on the beach. This town in the southwestern tip of Bohol has a population of less than 50,000 and is a 40-minute drive from Tagbilaran, the capital of the province. This town and neighboring Dauis make up Panglao Island, very well known for its diving locations and tourist resorts which put to good use the island’s white sandy beaches. The most famous and the most developed is Alona Beach, stretching 1500 meters long, and lined with palm trees, deluxe resorts and shops. This part of the island is ringed with reefs that are relatively

narrow and shallow, approximately six meters deep, but with submarine cliffs plunging to depths of about 55 meters. I was curious where the beach got its name so I asked around and was told that it was where the television commercial for a local whisky was filmed, starring that sexy actress of yesteryears, Alona Alegre, galloping on horseback in skimpy beach wear, along the entire length of the beach. Since that time, the natives residing in the area, awed by her mesmerizing charm and physical endowments, have named the beach after her. The Henann Group of Resorts, known for its top-notch hotels in Boracay, chose to open in the area, its landmark property, the Henann Resort Alona Beach. With 400 spacious and deluxe rooms, it is the largest resort in Bohol. Each villa, room, and suite exemplifies elegance and quiet luxury, providing the perfect backdrop for romantic dates, family gatherings, or other gettogethers that rejuvenate the mind and body. The lush scenery that surrounds the beachfront resort is complemented by leisure facilities such as Kai Regency Spa, three swimming pools, and several restaurants and pool bars. Aside from

Henann officers (from left) AVP-Sales Isabel Garcia, chairman Dr. Henry Chusuey and Luxus Pacific general manager Mary Ann Ong

making it easy for one to have pleasurable pursuits, the resort also lends its business center, VIP lounge, and meeting rooms to business travelers who go for the happy combination of work and leisure. In fact, the resort also has a convention center that can accommodate 1,000 participants. In addition to its scenic location, Henann Resort Alona Beach also serves as a base from where one can begin to explore the famous snorkeling and diving spots around Panglao Island. Although questions have been raised on the unrestrained development of the area which, critics say, has ignored municipal development policies leading to the overcrowding of Alona Beach and causing it to lose its paradise-like image, still, local residents welcome the buzz of activity resulting from such development. They are happy with the marked improvement of the area’s economy, with more jobs, more sales of local products and souvenirs, more business activities that have certainly improved their wellbeing. The municipal, provincial and national governments are pushing through with their plan to build a new international airport on the island, with a final approach path directly over Alona Beach.

Henann vice chairperson Anna Lissa Chusuey, Issa Litton and CV Travel’s Claudette Vitug

Henann Resort Alona Beach assistant sales director Manuel Sandagon, DOT’s Pam Samaniego and Afro Asian Travel’s Fate Nacpil

The opening of Henann Resort Alona Beach has been a milestone in the 17-year history of the Henann Group of Resorts as it is its first property outside Boracay. This is why Dr. Henry Chusuey, the chairman, has left no stone unturned in seeing to it that the resort will proudly banner the standards of excellence that make Henann Resorts a leading brand for leisure properties in the country. More information on Henann Resort Alona Beach may be obtained from (532) 2303000 or through manila.hbl@henann.com or by clicking on www.henann.com/bohol. For feedback, I’m at bobzozobrado@gmail.com

yoUr MoNday CHUCKLE: a family of mice was surprised by a big cat. Father mouse jumped and said, “Bow-wow!” The cat ran away. “What was that, Father?” asked Baby mouse. “Well, son, that’s why it’s important to learn a second language. Dining by the beautifully landscaped pool

a Grand.... From C3

500-thread-count duvet made in India, and the non-allergenic pillows ensure a comfortable sleep. Basic amenities, such as cable TV, Wi-Fi Internet connection, hot and cold shower and mini bar are also provided in the room. But perhaps, the major selling factor of each City Garden Grand Hotel room, especially those located on higher levels, is the sweeping view of Makati skyline, while some even offer a spectacular view that extends to Manila Bay.

Fitness buffs or guests who want to take the opportunity to break a sweat while staying in the “Grand” property may head over to the fully-equipped gym on the 9th floor or swim in the rooftop pool on the 32nd level. Those who want a truly stress-free stay will enjoy an hour of massage at the spa, also on the 9th floor. Guests will never run out of food choices in the hotel as buffet breakfast and a la carte lunch are served at the Spice Cafe on the 7th level. Partake of a meal that comes with a lovely view at Firefly Roof Deck. (Tip: Dine in the evening to take advantage of the night view and live acoustic band performance.) But should diners have a specific meal preference, it

helps that the hotel is located in Makati area that abounds with restaurants serving Korean, Japanese, Persian and Filipino cuisines, among others. Aside from dining establishments, City Garden Grand Hotel is surrounded by shopping, entertainment and leisure options, all easily accessible: Rockwell Center is just a five-minute walk, Bonifacio Global City can be reached in 20 minutes by car, while NAIA is only a 30-minute drive away (not taking into account road traffic and other circumstances). While almost all hotels strive for the “home away from home” feeling, City Garden Grand is not only successful in providing

Presidential Suite living room with jacuzzi

a homey vibe but a convenient place where one can get what he wants and what he needs.

Visit www.citygardengrandhotel.com to know more about the Makati property.

m oNDAy : m Ay 16, 2016

SHOWBITZ isahred @ gmail.com

ISAH V. RED EDITOR NICKIE WANG WRITER

‘SupERgIRl’S’ CaT gRanT IS any gIRl’S bEST mEnTOR

here’s one thing that is most talked about today – it’s the challenges that many female bosses face. Although #ladyboss and #girlboss have seeped into modern-day conversations and pop culture, many still don’t know how to cope with being both female and a boss at the same time. How can we blame them? It’s not as easy as it looks. For one, more and more women in management positions find out that they must develop the more traditionally masculine traits like assertiveness and confidence while they downplay feminine traits such as being collaborative and nurturing like it’s a bad thing. But what is the real score? How do you become a respectable boss without sacrificing your femininity? Well, have we got an answer for you. We turn to Supergirl’s Cat Grant (Calista Flockhart, Ally McBeal), media mogul and CEO of CatCo Worldwide Media. Although she usually comes off as cold and demanding – the typical ice queen – there is more to her character. Let’s find out what these are and what makes her the best fictional mentor a girl could ever have.

She’s the ultimate “supermom”. As the head of a media conglomerate and a single mom, Cat has learned a lot about how to succeed both professionally and personally. She may push her employees to work hard but all she wants is to present the best product for the success of the company. She’s also made it clear that she cares more about her son more than anything. When Kara/Supergirl (Melissa Benoist, Glee) asked how she keeps it all going, Cat gave the most practical yet helpful advice on the show: Juggle two balls before you juggle three. Basically, what Kara needs to do is to get her personal life under control first before she can add the responsibilities of being a superhero to her list of things to do. When she has both those aspects covered, she can tackle DEO investigations as if it were a cakewalk. Definitely advice anyone could live by if we do say so ourselves. Because let’s be real here, it’s not about piling on the responsibilities, it’s about mastering the few that you have before adding new ones. Doing this ensures that you only give your best in everything. And isn’t that what we’re really after? She’s not overprotective of Kara (or any of her employees for that matter). There’s a fine line between mentoring and coddling, and many female bosses sometimes blur the lines. But being someone’s mentor doesn’t mean you have to hold their hand all the time. In the show, most of the people who are looking out for Kara are trying too hard to protect her rather than making sure she gets better and that is far from what we want. Cat is not afraid to tell Supergirl the cold hard truth. When she wasn’t doing her best as a superhero, Cat was the first to point it out which made Kara re-evaluate how she was handling things, as expected of the glamorous and wise Cat, telling it like it is! She encourages Kara to be strong. Cat gets her name wrong, calling her Kira instead of Kara. And Kara lets her except for a few times when she asserts herself. This is when she gains Cat’s respect. For someone in the competitive fields of

media and superhero-hood, Kara needed to develop a backbone and stand up for herself. Cat sees the need, and she pushes Kara to be strong. And you know what? Look at Kara now, strong and confident, as a superhero should be.

Calista Flockhart as Cat Grant, the shallow and superficial founder of the media conglomerate CatCo Worldwide media

She puts her faith in Supergirl. The relationship between mentor and mentee is largely dependent on faith – faith that things will get better. Cat sees Supergirl’s flaws and she points it out, hoping that it will push Supergirl to succeed. Now that is what we call, tough love. She is a strong woman. All of the points above would not have made any sense if Cat herself was not strong as a person. She gets confidence from who she is – her talents and her grit. In fact, her girl speech in the pilot episode packs some major #CareerInspo. So much so, we couldn’t help but cheer and clap from our end. “What do you think is so bad about ‘girl’? I’m a girl. And your boss. And powerful and rich and hot and smart. So if you perceive Supergirl as anything less than excellent, isn’t the problem you?” And that right there is what makes Cat Grant the best mentor ever. Catch more of Cat Grant’s inspiring career moves in Supergirl with double episodes on the fastest growing channel in the Philippines, Warner TV 9 p.m. starting May 31. Kantar Media Philippines recently declared Warner TV as the fastest growing entertainment channel in the Philippines. The channel with the latest series, hottest new episodes and blockbuster movies has increased ratings by 327 percent yearon-year, and it ranks no. 3 among international English general entertainment channels. Furthermore, in March, Warner TV achieves its record high in ratings and moves up as the no. 2 channel, ahead of AXN, Sony Channel, Lifetime, Diva Universal, Star World and Universal Channel. Warner TV is available on SKYcable Channel 77, SKYcable HD Channel 197, Cignal HD Channel 119, Destiny Cable (Digital) Channel 77, Destiny Cable (Analog) Channel 80, and Cable Link Channel 30. For more updates on the best in action, comedy and drama, follow on facebook. com/WarnerTVAsia.

Calista Flockhart (center) with melissa Benoist (right), the Kryptonian 24-year-old known as Supergirl

Scenes from the American superhero fiction action-adventure drama series featuring Calista Flockhart

m onDAy : m Ay 16, 2016

SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

JEnnylyn okAy to bE Rom-com quEEn shTIcks JOsEph pETER GOnzalEs

ennylyn Mercado is now being tagged as the new “Rom-Com Queen” based on the box-office success of all her potboilers starting with English Only, Please until the currently showing Just The 3 of Us opposite John Lloyd Cruz. What’s her reaction to this? “Well, of course I’m happy if people see it that way. I’m glad that they enjoy watching my films. For me, that’s the greatest compliment,” she says. Some quarters ask if this development is fine with her considering that she is more identified as a dramatic actress. “It’s just okay. Actually, this is a breather (sic) to the heavy dramas I usually do. At least, doing a romantic comedy is lighter. It’s fun. When you go home, you don’t feel emotionally drained.” Jennylyn Mercado

It was reported that even Piolo Pascual expressed his desire to collaborate with her on the big screen, a proof of how indemand she is at this point. “That’s nice. I hope it pushes through in the coming days! That would be exciting. I’m flattered that he wants to do a project with me.” Personally, over at the Kapamilya ground, with whom does she want to be paired next? “To be honest, I have no one in mind in particular. Whoever is available or will be assigned by the producer, it’s just fine with me. Actually, I’m not just limiting it to a male screen partner, I also want to do a vehicle opposite a female star where we can be sisters, best friends or rivals in the story. My personal picks as co-stars? S a r a h G eronimo

or Toni Gonzaga!” says Jennylyn. Meanwhile, talks are rife that she will be Alden Richard’s partner in GMA’s remake of the hit Koreanovela My Love from the Star. “To be honest, I still don’t know about that. Nothing’s official yet although I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it will indeed push through since it’ll be a fresh team-up. I was able to watch the original version and fell in love with the story. It will be exciting to play the central female character Steffi Cheon if ever.” This early, many are curious how she will handle probable bashers once the camera grinds for the said show especially since Alden is very much identified with Maine Mendoza. “I don’t think there’s a need for that. They should bear in mind that it’s just work. Alden and I are professional actors. We’re here to work. One thing more, it would not be a positive reflection as well to their idols if ever, right?” Her contract with the Kapuso expires this month. Some ask what will happen next. “They have an offer although we haven’t officially talked about the details yet. Of course, I will renew with them if given the choice. I’ve been with the network since Day One of my showbiz career,” ends Jennylyn. ********

Derek Ramsay is happiness personified at this point “Yes, I’m very happy right now. For one, my health is in excellent state. Work is very good since a lot of projects are continuously coming my way. They also offer variety which I like the most. My personal state (with steady-date Joanne Villablanca) is in tip-top shape as well.” “I can say that as of the moment, things are running perfectly in my life. Everything is falling into its proper place, so to speak. I can’t ask for anything else except perhaps to spend more quality bonding time with my son. But everything else is good,” he states. People are curious if wedding bells are in the offing for him and Joanne since obviously, he’s very happy with her. “Maybe not in the next year. My contract with TV 5 is still ongoing. In the next two perhaps. As of now, my hands are full and I’m not complaining. I would just like to strike while the iron is hot, so to speak. But definitely, I will go in that direction. Eventually, when I’m certain that I’ll be able to give more time to my family.” The handsome actor explains that Joanne is willing to wait. “Oh yes! She’s very understanding. She knows how busy I am with work. It’s good that we enjoy every single moment that we have. When we have the time to be together, we don’t waste any of it. We maximize what we have,” says Derek.

Apl.de.Ap’s manager explains side by RObbIE panGIlInan LOS ANGELES - Reacting to the article about Apl.de.Ap snubbing the invitation to receive the Hero Award during the 118th Philippine Independence Day celebration in Vancouver, the manager of the FilipinoAmerican rapper explained their camp’s side on the matter. Audie Vergara, the Philippine-born and US-raised manager of Apl , immediately got in touch with Janice Lozano, the spokesperson of the United Filipino-Canadian Associations in BC (UFCABC), host of Independence Day celebration on June 4 and Gala Night on June 11 at the Westin Bayshore in Vancouver BC. The event is supported by the Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver. Through an email sent on May 9, Vergara

said, “It is an incredible honor. Apl is scheduled to be in NYC on June 4. We’re confirming that trip now, should anything change, I’ll contact you right away.” When Lozano asked if Apl could grace the Gala Night on June 11, Vergara replied, “Shanghai on June 11, if it’s a go by the end of the week. We’re in the middle of a major, major project in the Philippines, we’re f*&%^ng busy as shit.” The response irked Tom Avendaño, president and CEO of the Multicultural Helping House Society (MHHS), an organization that has helped 200,000 Filipinos in Canada. “Just for instance, when you hear the Philippine National Anthem, you halt for a while as a sign of respect. The same way

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if some would be given a prestigious acknowledgement, like the Hero Award from an organization, wouldn’t you respond and give importance to it?” he said. On Oc. 24, 2014, Avendaño was conferred the Paul Yuzyk Award for Multiculturalism in the Lifetime Achievement category by Jason Kenney, Minister of Multiculturalism. This award recognizes Avendaño’s exceptional contribution to pluralism and the integration of newcomers and immigrants into Canadian society. “May sakit ako noon (I was sick then), when I heard the news. Pinilit kong tumayo at nagbihis para makapunta at matangap yung award (I forced myself to get up and get dressed to come and receive the award),” said 82-year-old Tatay Tom.

Apl.de.Ap with manager Audie Vergara and Vincent Herrera at Itb berlin

As of press time, there is no direct response from the singer of the Grammy Award-winning group The Black Eyed Peas himself.

m onDAy : m Ay 16, 2016

SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

‘BEcAuSE of you’ fInAlE lEAVES gooD VIBES GMA’s top-rating primetime drama Because of You concluded its run last Friday on the Telebabad block. The program not only ranks as one of the well-loved series’ of the network but also is a hit among netizens who have consistently followed the love story of lead stars’ Carla Abellana as Andrea, Rafael Rosell as Oliver and Gabby Concepcion as Jaime. Carla said she has learned many things while doing the soap which has brought laughter and good vibes to the TV viewers. “Kaya pa lang makabuo ng isang show na hindi kailangan ng big scenes, big set-ups. Simple lang basta au-

thentic yung comedy. Good vibes lang the entire time at nakakapag-deliver naman ng maganda. Yung output maganda pa rin for the viewers.” For Rafael, he has a lot of unforgettable moments portraying the role of Oliver including the scenes “when Oliver was hanging out the window and when he left Andrea at the altar.” He added, “I like both scenes because it’s an experience I’ve never had before. The fear, the mixed emotions, the bad consequences, I could never do that in real life but I’m thankful I got to experience it through the character of Oliver.”

He also shared that viewers need to watch out for the last episode because it will have an “awesome ending including who will end up with who, and the lessons learned through this journey of friendship, heartache and love.” Gabby said he definitely enjoyed doing the soap because its very light and he had a great time working with everyone especially Carla. He likewise appreciates the hard work and dedication of everyone, which contributed to the success of the show. “Si Carla ay nakakatawa. I truly enjoy her presence sa set. And, it’s a team effort after all. Kaya sobra akong nagpapasalamat in everything that comes along.”

Best summer finds from Tom and carla’s celebrity ukay-ukay This summer, Tom and Carla’s Celebrity Ukay-Ukay offered a treasure trove of items from your favorite Kapuso stars at the Heatwave Clearance Sale, organized by Cut Unlimited Inc. last Friday to Sunday. Pre-loved clothes, shoes, bags and other items from Kapuso celebrities were on sale at the bazaar at the World Trade Center in Pasay City. One hundred percent of the proceeds of Tom and Carla’s Ukay-ukay and part of the ticket proceeds from the Heatwave Clearance Sale will be donated to GMA’s socio-civic arm, the GMA Kapuso Foundation. In addition to Celebrity UkayUkay ambassadors Tom Rodriguez and Carla Abellana, celebrities who donated to the cause this year included Mike Tan, Julie Anne San Jose, Bea Binene, Louise De los Reyes, Andre

carla Abellana and Tom Rodriguez

Paras, Juancho Trivino, Luane Dy, John Pol Dimaculangan and Mel Tiangco.

GMA Network, Inc. was the official TV media partner of the Heatwave Clearance Sale.

maricel and Wilma’s friendship falls apart Caviteños had a huge treat as the cast of Kapamilya afternoon series We Will Survive were at SM Trece Martires, 5 p.m. yesterday. They bonded and partied with Melai Cantiveros, Carlo Aquino, Jeric Raval, Josh De Guzman, Bea Saw, Regine Angeles, Maris Racal, and the rest of the cast as they performed and thanked the show’s fans for their love and unwavering support. Meanwhile, as the story continues, an emotional encounter between Wilma (Pokwang) and Maricel (Melai Cantiveros) en-

sued as the latter discovered that her best friend broke her promise and allowed Pocholo (Carlo Aquino) to be with her son Jude (Josh De Guzman). With so much anger in her heart, the single mother decided to leave Wilma and take her son away from her best friend and her son’s father. But despite Maricel’s decision, Pocholo will still fight for his right and will do what it takes just to be with his son. How will Wilma face life without her adoptive son Jude? Will she be able to mend her friend-

ship with Maricel? Will Pocholo get the forgiveness he has been asking from Maricel? More exciting scenes are set to surprise the viewers in We Will Survive, the teleserye that shows however ugly the world gets, there is beauty in life as long as we are together, weekdays after Tubig at Langis on ABS-CBN or on ABS-CBN HD (SkyCable ch 167). Viewers may also catch up on the program’s past episodes on iWanTV.com and onskyondemand.com.ph for Sky subscribers.

BFFs no more. melai cantiveros and Pokwang as maricel and Wilma in the late afternoon soap “We Will Survive’

“Because of you” lead cast gabby concepcion, carla Abellana and Rafael Rosell

‘Alamat’ takes story-telling a notch higher It’s a magical Sunday afternoon as GMA News and Public Affairs brings back the first-ever Pinoy animated anthology series Alamat. The show premiered yesterday afternoon. First aired in 2015, the groundbreaking show featured myths and legends that mirror Filipino culture, and voiced by big stars. It also received an Anak TV Seal Award for promoting values among viewers specially children. This year, viewers expect the second season to be beyond enchanting and colorful, as GMA takes this medium of storytelling to the next level. While stories will be still be brought to life by some of the world’s sought-after Filipino animators, each episode will now also feature live action drama with more song numbers and magical stories. The characters will fall in love, fight monsters big and small, and make the whole family laugh or cry. On top of this, every episode will have a mysterious story teller. Viewers can look forward to discovering our narrator’s connection to the story at the end of each episode. Joining the cast this season are some of the Kapuso Network’s best thespians: Benjamin Alves, LJ Reyes, Bianca Umali, Frencheska Farr, Rafa Siguion-Reyna, Leo Martinez, Tonipet Gaba, Love Añover, John Feir, Zymic Jaranilla, and Miggs Cuaderno.

leo martinez voices the warrior Sampo

RJ Padilla as The narrator

For its first episode yesterday, Alamat featured the legend of Sampaloc (tamarind). Leo Martinez lent his voice to the warrior Sampo. Comedian RJ Padilla, on the other hand, voiced and also played The Narrator. “Alamat ng Sampaloc (Legend of the Tamarind)” was a story about a town plagued by a monstrous bird called Minokawa. Three warriors arrive just in time to defeat the monster and be named the town’s new leaders. Yet, unknown to many, the three have a hidden agenda. Being powerful warriors, no ordinary citizen can oust them by force. This action-packed episode also raised relevant questions about leadership and vigilance. Alamat airs Sunday,s 5:15 p.m. on GMA-7.

Ang Alamat ng Sampaloc is the first episode of gmA’s animated series “Alamat”

moNDAy : mAy 16, 2016

ISAH V. RED EDITOR NICKIE WANG WRITER

isahred @ gmail.com

ISAH V. RED

SHOWBITZ

eginning tonight, watch the comeback of two of the country’s FITSPOs (fit inspirations) – Kapuso Network’s Drama King Dennis Trillo and Philippine TV’s Sweetheart Heart Evangelista – in an exceptionally hot and sexy series in Juan Happy Love Story. This primetime show will excite viewers as they learn to appreciate their own love stories through Juan (Dennis) and Happy’s (Love) journey, how a man and a woman who are worlds apart in their views about life and love find themselves in a whirlwind romance. In the series, Trillo is Juan, a responsible and go-getter businessman who is also a certified ‘chick boy.’ He meets Happy played by Evangelista, a feisty and family-oriented woman who relies on signs to find her The One. Their life will be tested when they found out they cannot bear a child. As their solution, they decide to adopt a child. The lovers will then find Katkat, a 6-year-old bubbly girl. They had a whirlwind romance and eventually marry. They started having marital problems and they decided to separate. But because it will be easier for two parents to adopt a child instead of a single parent, Happy asked Juan to live with her again so that the DSWD will grant their application for adoption. Juan agrees vowing to win Happy back. Agatha and Bob will try to intervene. Agatha, played by Kim Domingo, has started to fall in love with her business partner, Juan. Bob, played by Joross Gamboa, is hoping to win his high school best friend, Happy. With Bob and Agatha’s plan to break Juan and Happy’s marriage, will they be able to legally adopt Katkat? Will they be able to create a family that they have both longed for? Joining them in Juan Happy Love Story are: Queen of Philippine Cinema Gloria Romero as Lola Mameng and Nick Lizaso as Lolo Caloy, Juan’s grandparents; Gardo Versoza as Boyong and Lotlot De Leon as Isay, Happy’s parents; Ericka Padilla as Joy, Happy’s older sister; Joross Gamboa as Bob, Happy’s childhood best friend; Dominic Roco as Henry, Happy’s brother-in-law; Kim Domingo as Agatha, Juan’s business partner; Vincent Magbanua as Lucky, Happy’s youngest brother; Rob Moya is Kyle, Juan’s bestfriend; Leanne Bautista as Katkat, Juan and Happy’s adopted child; Arianne Bautista as Sally, Happy’s friend; Koreen Medina as Lorriane, Kyle’s wife and Happy’s friend; Vince Gamad as Glenn, Juan’s friend. Will Juan Happy Love Story be a worthy replacement of the rom-com that ended last Friday? As we always say, “We will see after three weeks and let you know. Haha!”

Gardo Versoza

Lotlot de Leon

Gloria Romero

Rob moya

Joross Gamboa

Kim Domingo

Dominic Roco

Heart Evangelista and Dennis Trillo reunite in a sexy rom-com “Juan Happy Love Story”

GMA NETWORk OffERs A sExy AND NAuGhTy pRIMETIME sERIEs