The Standard - 2016 June 21 - Tuesday

VOL. XXX NO. 129 3 Sections 32 Pages P18 TUESDAY : JUNE 21, 2016 www.thestandard.com.ph editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Ex-poll chief accused of plunder

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SC ASKED TO STOP COMELEC ON SOCE Extending deadline illegal, says resigning CFO chief

By Rey E. Requejo

Duterte team seeks business feedback

A PARTY-LIST group on Monday asked the Supreme Court to nullify the Commission on Elections resolution extending the deadline for candidates and political parties to submit their statements of contributions and expenditures for the May 9 polls.

By John Paolo Bencito and Gabrielle Binaday DAVAO CITY—The country’s top business leaders met with the incoming economic managers of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte Monday to generate recommendations for the new administration’s 10-point socio-economic agenda laid out here in Davao.

The new 10-point agenda will center on Duterte’s commitment to keep the sound fiscal, monetary and trade policies put in place by previous administrations, while advocating tax reforms, accelerated infrastructure development, better support services for farmers, and a reduction in crime to attract foreign investments.

“The policy of the new government is to reduce tax evasion and smuggling, and [to lower] tax rates. We want to execute projects in countryside and create jobs there. These goals are not single goals but they are a whole program,” incoming socio-economic planning secretary Ernesto Pernia said in a media briefing.

Among the targets are: • Continue and maintain macroeconomic policies, including fiscal, monetary and trade policies.

• Institute progressive tax reform and more effective tax collection while indexing taxes to inflation, in line with the plan to submit to Congress a tax reform package by September; • Increase competitiveness and the ease of doing business, drawing upon successful models used to attract business to local cities such as Davao, as well as pursuing the relaxation of the constitutional restrictions on foreign ownership, except with regards land ownership, in order to attract foreign direct investments; Next page

Lawyer Manuelito Luna files a petition before the Supreme Court questioning the legality of the Commission on Elections’ decision to extend the deadline for candidates and political parties to submit their statements of contributions and expenditures (SOCEs). DANNY PATA

In a petition, lawyer Manuelito Luna, nominee for the 1-Abilidad party-list and retired soldier Justino Padiernos of the People’s Freedom Party also asked the court to issue a status quo ante order that would retain the deadline on June 8, saying the Comelec “gravely abused its discretion” when it moved the deadline to June 30 to accommodate losing presidential candidate Manuel Roxas and his Liberal Party.

“There is no substantive justification for the Commission to disregard the ‘final and executory’ deadline prescribed by Section 14 of Republic Act 7166 …” the petitioners argued.

They said that as an administrative agency, the Comelec is mandated to strictly enforce the provisions of Republic Act 7166 or the Synchronized National and Local Elections and for Electoral Reforms.

The law states that candidates and their political parties must submit their respective SOCEs within 30 days of the election.

The petitioners said extending the 30-day deadline was tantamount to amending the law, which is within the jurisdiction of Congress.

Luna and Padiernos said as taxpayers, they have legal standing to question the Comelec’s decision.

“As civic-minded citizens and taxpayers, petitioners have a personal stake in the resolution of the controversy, and are necessarily injured or threatened to suffer injury when an agency of government honors the law in its violation than in its obedience, as in this case,” petitioners said.

Last week, the Comelec en banc, voting 4-3, set aside the recommendation of its Campaign Finance Office to deny the request of the LP for an extension of the deadline.

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Members of the incoming Duterte Cabinet meet with the country’s biggest names in the business community on Monday during the first day of Sulong Pilipinas business forum here in Davao City. The economic team of the incoming president presented the government’s plans for the country.

JOHN PAOLO BENCITO

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The four commissioners who voted for the extension said they gave weight to the practical implications of an adverse ruling.

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said besides Vice President Maria Leonor G. Robredo, five senators, 115 congressmen and 40 governors would be unable to take office because their parties had failed to submit their SOCE on time.

“The effect would have been huge. Many would not be able to sit in office and the voters’ process would have been defeated over their failure to file,” he said.

Those who voted for extension were Commissioners Arthur D. Lim, Al Parreño, Sheriff M. Abas and Rowena V. Guanzon.

Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista, Commissioner Christian Robert S. Lim, head of the Comelec-CFO, Commissioner Luie Tito F. Guia voted against the extension.

Bautista voted not to extend the deadline, but accept the SOCE subject to a fine.

In its request to extend the filing of SOCE, the LP through lawyer Maria Bernadette Sardillo, cited as reasons “the confusion brought by the stringent new requirements for its submission as stated in the Omnibus Rules on Campaign Finance or Comelec Resolution No. 9991’’ and that more than a thousand documents would have to be attached to the SOCE filing for the LP and its presidential candidate.

Lim on Monday submitted his irrevocable resignation as chief of the Comelec’s Campaign Finance Office, saying that the en banc decision was illegal.

“It appears that there are no more rules now so what will I do?” Lim said, when asked why he resigned as CFO chief.

“My views now are inconsistent with the views of the en banc so why should I continue to head the CFO?” he added Lim, in his memo, recommended to the en banc to reject the request filed by the Liberal Party and Roxas for a 14-day extension.

But the Comelec en banc set aside the CFO recommendation and instead extended the deadline for filing of SOCEs from June 8 to June 30.

“Extending is illegal because the law provides that it should be within 30 days. If you go beyond 30 days, that’s tantamount to an amendment of the law,” Lim said.

He also noted that the previous instances of extension, such as in 2013, were also illegal, but none questioned it.

Bautista said he would ask Lim to reconsider his decision, noting the importance of his role in leveling the playing field during elections.

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Brillantes accused of graft, plunder before Ombudsman

By Rio N. Araja

FORMER Commission on Elections chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. was accused of graft and plunder Monday before the Office of the Ombudsman for signing a P240 million contract with SmartmaticTIM to rehabilitate 81,000 precinct count optical scan machines, a deal that was eventually struck down as illegal by the Supreme Court.

Former Negros Oriental congressman Jacinto Paras files a plunder complaint against former Commission on Elections chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. over a failed P240-million contract that he signed just before he retired. MANNY PALMERO

Duterte...

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• Accelerate annual infrastructure spending to account for 5 percent of the gross domestic product, with public-private partnerships playing a key role; • Promote rural and value chain development toward increasing agricultural and rural enterprise productivity and rural tourism; • Ensure security of land tenure to encourage investments and address bottlenecks in land management and titling agencies; • Invest in human capital development, including health and education systems, as well as matching skills and training to meet the demands of businesses and the private sector; • Promote science, technology and the creative arts to enhance innovation and creative capacity towards self-sustaining and inclusive development; • Improve social protection programs, including the government’s conditional cash transfer program, in order to protect the poor against instability and economic shocks; and • Strengthen the implementation of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law to enable, especially, poor couples to make informed choices on financial and family planning.

Most of the incoming Cabinet were present during the first day of talks, including executive secretary Salvador Medialdea, presidential

spokesperson Ernesto Abella, trade secretary-designate Ramon Lopez, public works secretary-designate Mark Villar, budget secretary Ben Diokno, Pernia, finance secretarydesignate Carlos Dominguez, agriculture secretary-designate Emmanuel Piñol, tourism secretary-designate Wanda Tulfo-Teo, interior secretary-designate Mike Sueno and presidential legal adviser-designate Salvador Panelo.

The two-day conference will run until June 21 where members of the business community are expected to synthesize recommendations from the business community to be presented to Duterte.

In an earlier interview, Duterte defended his economic agenda from criticism that it’s similar to what the Aquino administration advanced and lacked elements of socialism, which he supported during the campaign.

Dominguez on Monday said the tax reform program would likely push for income tax exemptions for those who earn up to P1 million a year, similar to the recommendation of Finance officials of the outgoing administration under their Comprehensive Tax Reform Program.

Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima earlier presented the CTRP to Duterte’s economic team.

“The new administration will definitely review the tax system, initially to update the income tax brackets and eventually to lower corporate and individual tax rates,” Dominguez said.

The rationalization of fiscal incentives and the indexing of the

excise tax of fuels to inflation were also part of his proposals.

“We wish to see our workers having more disposable income to do as they wish. Our corporate tax rates will be adjusted to be competitive with the rest of the region to make our economy more competitive for investments,” Dominguez added.

While he earlier said that he will not push for the expansion of the value-added tax from 12 percent to 14 percent, Dominguez included the expansion of VAT in his proposal to the business community.

“We hope to broaden the tax base even more to compensate for lower rates,” Dominguez said.

“There are some suggestions for raising the VAT rates to offset reduction of individual and corporate tax levels. We submit this matter for your consideration and suggestions,” he told the business leaders.

Dominguez said the new administration would likely resort to borrowing to ensure sustainability.

“While we might seek financing to secure economic opportunities for our people, we must also manage the national debt so that it does not become a drag on our growth,” he said.

“The public mandate is clear. We want a society that multiplies opportunities for its citizens. We want a community that is caring. We want a leadership that looks after the vulnerable,” he added.

“The macroeconomic numbers are, as you very well see, very good.

We expect to sustain the economy’s robust growth well into the medium term.”

In his complaint, former Negros Oriental congressman Jacinto Paras also implicated excommissioners Lucenito Tagle and Elias Yusoph, and incumbent Commissioners Christian Robert Lim and Al Parreño for approving Resolution No. 992 issued in December 2014.

Cesar Flores, Elie Moreno and Marlon Garcia—all Smartmatic officials—were also listed in the complaint.

Paras questioned the deal done through direct contracting, which is prohibited under the Government Procurement Reform Act of 2003.

Paras urged Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales to conduct an investigation into the alleged conspiracy of Brillantes, Tagle, Yusoph, Lim and Parreño for granting the diagnostics and repair service contract for 81,000 PCOS machines without a public bidding.

The contract was awarded on Jan. 30, 2015, just a month before Brillantes, Tagle and Yusoph retired in February 2015.

Paras said the “midnight deal” was sort of a “pabaon” (cash send-off gift) for the retired Comelec officials.

The petitioners also accused the respondents of receiving kickbacks of at least P50 million for their “very strong defense of the deal between Comelec and Smartmatic.”

The diagnostics and PCOS repair originally cost P300 million, but this was later lowered to P240 million.

On April 21, 2015, the Supreme Court declared the Smartmatic deal null and void.

Paras said he initiated the filing of plunder and graft complaints because “nobody stood and pursued the criminal aspect of the declaration of nullity by the Supreme Court on the extended warranty contract.”

Paras also called on the Ombudsman to conduct a lifestyle check on Brillantes, Tagle, Yusoph, Lim and Parreño, and urged the Anti-Money Laundering Council to look into their bank accounts.

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MNLF, MILF want Moro convention DAVAO CITY—The Moro National Liberation Front and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front said Sunday they were ready to help draft a revised Bangsamoro Basic Law through a “Moro Convention” to end the decades-long conflict in Mindanao.

“It will represent the Bangsamoro and will no longer be the MNLF and MILF,” MNLF chairman Abul Khayr Alonto said.

“There will be no more fronts. They will be talking about the Bangsamoro.”

Alonto said the Moro Convention will be “a collective effort of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Moro National Liberation Front.”

He said the convention will seek a draft proposed bill with wider autonomy for the Bangsamoro territory under a federal-parliamentary system, which would complement the proposal of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte for a shift to a federal system of government.

He said the two groups “will work hard to convince” Duterte to support the draft bill.

He said he believed Duterte would bring “lasting peace to this country.”

Alonto said while the BBL had good intentions, it failed because of the lawmakers and President Benigno Aquino III who “killed” the bill by not certifying it as “urgent,” adding that the ill-fated Mamasapano massacre had left the BBL hanging.

“If you talk about the BBL immediately, what you mean is negativism, and what will come to mind is Mamasapano,” Alonto said.

He said the MILF and the MNLF “will be moving around the Bangsamoro communities” to present the draft.

Alonto, who heads a faction of the MNLF, said he would be meeting with MNLF chairman Nur Misuari to “iron things out” between them and inform him of the intention of Duterte to have them united with the MILF, and “for the purpose of having lasting peace” under the federal system where a stronger Bangsamoro “can sit well.”

“I’ll be meeting our good Brother Misuari,” Alonto said.

“He was a good friend of our Presidentelect even before the MILF was established.”

Alonto said the Bangsamoro lost hope after the Mamasapano incident derailed the BBL. “But we are here because that hope once again is revived and resuscitated because of the election not only of a true son of Mindanao but a brother by blood: Rodrigo Roa Duterte, the president-elect of the Philippines, the first Mindanaoan president,” Alonto said. John Paolo Bencito

Demands. Government employees and their unions gathered at the National Printing Office in Quezon City on Monday to agree on a ‘to do list’ for the incoming president. Among their demands is a wage adjustment for low-level employees and the removal of unfair Executive Orders and policies. They called on the Duterte administration for a P16,000 monthly minimum wage. MANNY PALMERO

Bishops call on police to reject vigilantism THE Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines on Monday appealed to law enforcers to uphold “reason and humanity” in their campaign against criminals, and particularly those involved in illegal drugs.

CBCP president Pangasinan Archbishop Socrates Villegas praised the police’s intensified campaign against crime but voiced alarm over the increasing incidents of suspects being killed because they were resisting arrest.

“We commend you, our law enforcers, on your newfound earnestness in enforcing the law and in apprehending malefactors, but we are disturbed by an increasing number of reports that suspected drug

peddlers, pushers and others have been shot supposedly because they resist arrest,” Villegas said.

“It is equally disturbing that vigilantism seems to be on the rise. Media have carried reports of bodies, apparently of homicide or murder victims, showing up on whom placards announcing their supposed crimes are writ large!”

Villegas urged the police not to resort to summary executions in addressing the

problem of criminality.

With incoming President Rodrigo Duterte’s endorsement for the people to exercise warrant-less arrest, the CBCP called on the people to abhor vigilantism or participate in vigilante movements.

Villegas said that while the Church recognized the difficulties that the law enforcers faced, it appealed to them to always uphold the rule of law in going after lawless elements in the country. Rey E. Requejo

Maceda fighting for his life

Courtesy call. President Benigno Aquino III receives from Science and Technology Secretary Mario Montejo the Diwata 1 Microsatellite Book during Montejo’s courtesy call in Malacañang on Monday. MALACAÑANG PHOTO BUREAU

FORMER Senate President Ernesto Maceda is fighting for his life after undergoing a gall bladder operation at the St. Luke’s Hospital in Quezon City, his sons said Monday.

Lawyer Ernest Maceda denied earlier reports that their 81-year-old father had died but stressed they were not expecting miracles.

He said their father was still in life support as of noontime.

Maceda’s other son, Erwin Maceda, also said their father was not dead yet but was suffering from complications as a result of his heart condition.

He said they were still waiting for their eldest brother who would be coming from San Francisco Monday night.

Maceda was a senator for three terms: once during the pre-martial law Congress and twice after the 1986 People Power Revolution.

He was Senate president from 1996 to 1998 during the time of President Fidel Ramos.

His profile posted on the official Senate website showed he began his term in the Senate in 1971, but it was cut short following President Ferdinand Marcos’ declaration of Martial Law in 1972.

His bill, later known as the “Maceda Law” granting protection to real estate buyers on installment basis, was the only measure signed into law before Martial Law was declared.

After breaking away from Marcos over his Martial Law declaration, Maceda went on exile in the United States where he became the aide and adviser of the late Senator Benigno Aquino Jr. After Martial Law, he was again elected to the Senate in 1987 to 1992 and from 1992 to 1998.

During his stint as senator, he gained the moniker “Mr. Exposé” for revealing government anomalies and controversial issues in his privilege speeches.

Among his high-profile exposés was the PEA-Amari scam involving the overpriced purchase of reclaimed land in Manila Bay, which he tagged “the grandmother of all scams.”

Maceda also initiated the Senate investigation on the so-called ‘Brunei Beauties’— Filipino celebrities who were allegedly into high-class prostitution in the oil-rich state.

Macon Ramos-Araneta

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Duterte: DENR goes to Lopezes

By John Poalo Bencito

Deliver us from poison. Students of the Manila Science High School join activities to promote poison-proofing homes and schools as part of the annual National Poison Prevention Week. DANNY PATA

Rody eyes emergency powers vs traffic woes

By John Paolo Bencito DAVAO CITY—President-elect Rodrigo Duterte will ask Congress to grant him emergency powers to deal with traffic situation in Metro Manila, the Transportation Secretary-designate Arthur Tugade said on Monday.

Tugade said Duterte wants the emergency powers to last for two years so that he can directly contract out transportationrelated projects, open private subdivision roads to traffic and remove transport terminals and public markets located on busy thoroughfares.

“The image of the Republic of the Philippines is being damned

by transportation and traffic. If this is not a crisis, what is?” he said, noting the Japan International Cooperation Agency has studied the situation and found that the country loses P2.4 billion daily due to traffic. “[That’s] on traffic and transportation alone, you multiply that [P2.4 billion] by 365 days a year.

How many years has the govern-

ment failed to give solutions to that problem,” he said.

Tugade said previous administrations have tried to solve the crisis, but has failed due to the same problems after being blocked by court orders or by local government units.

“We all need to make sacrifices,” he said, assuring that the Duterte administration will comply with laws on property and just compensation.

“It will not be unreasonable because if you borrow roads from subdivisions, you have to compensate them also for road maintenance, for security,” he added.

“It will not be exercised capriciously and arbitrarily. It will have to be exercised in the interest of

the majority and the interest of common good,” Tugade said. “It must not be whimsical, it must not be arbitrary.”

Tugade said that the group of incoming Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre, incoming Solicitor General Jose Calida and incoming Presidential Chief Legal Adviser Salvador Panelo, have been studying the proposal, whose target implementation will run for two years.

“It’s not perpetual. This emergency power is not without precedent. Hopefully when Congress [convenes] then we will present our draft. Even now, we are already talking about it,” he said.

“Hopefully it can be a dramatic reduction,” he added.

DAVAO CITY—Presidentelect Rodrigo Duterte on Monday offered the environment and natural resources portfolio to a scion of the Lopez family of Iloilo which owns a conglomerate involved in power generation and oil distribution.

In a video release of the Presidential Broadcast Staff Radio-Television Malacañang, Duterte said he offered the post to Gina Lopez, chairperson of the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission and managing director the ABS-CBN Lingkod Kapamilya Foundation.

According to the RTVM release, Duterte offered the post to Lopez after her courtesy call at the Presidential Guest House at DPWH Panacan Depot in Davao City.

Lopez, who said she would think about the appointment, is the daughter of the late media tycoon Eugenio Lopez Sr., founder of the Lopez group of companies, formerly known as Benpres Holding Corp.

The conglomerate, now known as Lopez Holdings Corp., has controlling interests in two media companies, seven power generation firms, four property development companies, two engineering and construction corporations and seven manufacturing companies.

The decision to name Lopez to the DENR post came as a surprise after Duterte said shortly after the elections that he would name a nominee of the communist National Democratic Front to the post.

The NDF nominated Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate to the DENR portfolio, but he supposedly begged off claiming that he preferred to continue his work in Congress.

DoH turnover underway

By Macon Ramos-Araneta THE cancer support group New Vois Association of the Philippines supported the appointment of career health department official Paulyn Jean Rosell-Ubial as the next Health secretary even as outgoing Health Secretary Janette Garin highlighted her accomplishments in the agency.

“We are confident that with Secretary Ubial as DoH secretary, public health, specially tobacco control, will take on a new level,” said NVAP president Emer Rojas, also a global cancer ambassador for the American Cancer Society.

“Her job as Health secretary is a tall order but with her huge experience in public health and dedication to her job we are confident that she can carry on the mandate as DoH chief,” he said.

Rojas said NVAP and other health advocates are familiar with Ubial’s commitment to public health since they have worked with her in pushing for tobacco

control legislations like the sin tax and the graphic health warning despite a very strong tobacco lobby.

Meanwhile, Garin prepared to turn over the leadership of the agency to Ubial as she highlighted her accomplishments.

Garin, who took over from Dr. Enrique Ona, introduced programs that were designed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the agency, particularly in the financing of health care, service delivery, regulatory functions, infrastructure and procurement and logistics management which.

At the same time, she initiated partnerships that complemented the work of DoH and was able to accomplish what others can only hope to accomplish over a full six years in office.

But despite her achievements, she was no stranger to controversies. During her remaining months at the department, Garin again became a target of a smear campaign from others who were angling to replace her as DoH chief.

Corn-eating contest. Contestants munch down corn during a corn-eating contest at the SM Mall of Asia Esplanade in Pasay City sponsored by dental care brand Polident and the Philippine Periodonthics Society. DANNY PATA

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3-nation patrol vs ASG in the works Amid the rising security challenges in Southeast Asia, the defense chiefs of the Philippines, malaysia and indonesia have meet in manila monday to explore the possibility of conducting trilateral air and maritime patrols in common areas of concerns by the three nations.

This is an obvious reference to the sulu sea, the maritime area bordering the three nations where abu sayyaf Group bandits have infiltrated and launched several kidnapping attacks against malaysian and Indonesian seafarers.

Present during the trilateral meeting were Philippines’ National Defense secretary Voltaire Gazmin malaysia and his counterparts Dato’ seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein of malaysia as well as General ryamizard ryacudu of Indonesia.

The meeting was conducted in the spirit of cordiality, mutual understanding and good neighborliness.

It reaffirmed the commitments made last may 5 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia by the Foreign ministers and the Chief of Defense Forces of the three countries in addressing regional maritime and security challenges affecting the three countries.

During the meeting, the defense ministers raised concern over the recent incidents of kidnappings and armed robbery at sea in the maritime areas of common concern, and reaffirmed the need, commitment and collective responsibility of the countries to address such threats that undermine peace, security and prosperity of the region. all three agreed that the best practices shared by malaysia and Indonesia on their experiences in the malacca straits Patrol may be adopted as a model for trilateral cooperation to address common maritime security concerns.

In this regard, the three deliberated and have agreed in principle for the armed forces and/or relevant agencies to explore the following measures: a. Coordinated activities among the militaries of the three countries, focusing on maritime security; b. Possibility to establish joint military command posts at designated locations including ad hoc military liaisons on board; c. Trilateral maritime and air patrol at the maritime areas of common concern; d. Trilateral maritime Patrol working Group which would set the operational directions on the conduct of the trilateral maritime patrol. The maritime Command Centers shall be established by the respective countries and shall retain overall responsibility for the tasking and deployment of their respective assets. PNA

Shanties on fire. Residents watch haplessly as firefighters train their hose on burning shanties beside the Metropolitan Medical Hospital in Tondo, Manila on Monday, June 20, 2016 Firemen have yet to assess the damage. DANNY PATA

Famous surgeon cleared of estafa

By Rey E. Requejo aesTHeTIC surgeon to celebrities Dr. Joel mendez has been acquitted of estafa charges filed against him by an advertising firm for issuing unfunded checks amounting to P3.4 million in 2008.

In a 44-page decision authored by associate Justice amy Lazaro-Javier, the Ca’s Ninth Division overturned and set aside the decision rendered by Presiding Judge Leoncio Janolo of Pasig City regional Trial Court, Branch 64, convicting mendez for committing the crime and sentenced him to a period of six to 12 years of imprisonment.

The rTC also directed mendez to indemnify the complainant Digichive Philippines and Total Data Central solution Inc. the amount of P3.4 million.

In clearing mendez, the Ca ruled that

the trial court erred in finding mendez guilty of estafa on the ground of reasonable doubt.

The appellate court held that there was no intention on the part of mendez to defraud the complainants. In fact, the latter showed good faith when he offered to fully settle his obligation by suggesting to come up with a payment scheme.

The appellate court explained that in estafa through false pretense or fraudulent act under article 315, par.2 (d) of the revised Penal Code, what is penalized is criminal fraud or deceit in the issuance of check, and not the non-payment of debt.

The Ca noted that the prosecution even admitted that mendez issued the checks a day after the execution of the advertising contract.

The checks, according to the Ca were issued in payment of pre-existing obligation and not as a principal inducement for Digichive and TDCsI to execute the advertising contract for the installation of advertisements on several sites of the Ninoy aquino International airport Terminal 2.

“In other words, the obligation was already incurred and outstanding even before the postdated checks were even issued,” the appellate court said.

The Ca added that deceit cannot be alleged against mendez as he showed good faith by exerting efforts to make good the value of the checks. while the Ca acquitted mendez, it directed him to pay Digichive and TDCsI the amount of P1.7 million as actual damages, plus interest of six percent per year from finality of the decision.

NBI charter revision up for Noy’s OK Cleanup.

Workers from Malabon City Hall remove waterlilies from Malabon City’s Catmon Bridge.

ANDREW RABULAN

demands of investigative and detective work.

“The bill also intends to Lawmak ers and authors of the proposed National Bu- modernize the facilities and reau of Investigation mod- intelligence devices, estabernization act on monday lishment of forensic and expressed optimism that scientific laboratories and outgoing President Benigno training of NBI personnel,” aquino III will sign the bill Vargas said. rodriguez and escudero into law before he steps down on June 30 as the measure said the NBI should modhas reached the Office of the ernize as this is the lead government agency tasked to President last Thursday.

Congressmen rufus ro- act on cases like human trafdriguez of Cagayan de Oro ficking, extrajudicial killCity, evelina escudero of ings, Cybercrime Prevention sorsogon and alfred Var- act violations, anti-dummy gas of Quezon City, said Law violations, threats to House Bill 5855, seeks to security or assaults against expand the structure, capa- the persons of the President, bility and manpower of the Vice President, senate PresiNBI to meet the increasing dent, House speaker and

By Maricel V. Cruz

Chief Justice of the supreme Court.

“It shall also tackle syndicate related cases, mass fatality caused by natural disasters and commercial, economic and financial crimes,” rodriguez added, referring to one of the salient features of the measure.

Under the measure, the NBI will revamped as part of the enhancement program within the bureau.

The bill provides that 30 percent of the funds coming from the collections of NBI clearance fees will be used for the bureau’s modernization for three years but shall not to exceed its annual appropriation of P150,000,000.

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Abaya, Ginez rapped for graft

By Rio N. Araja

OUTGOING Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya of the Department of Transportation and Communications and Chairman Winston Ginez of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board are facing a graft complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman for the “illegal” operation of Uber, U-Hop and GrabCar.

PCSO’s 53rd. The façade of PCSO’s newest branch in Baler, Aurora. The office is the 53rd in the agency’s nationwide network of branches, from an initial 25 in 2010 when the Aquino administration took office. PCSO has added 28 branches to its network since 2012.

The new branch was inaugurated by PCSO vice chairman and general manager lawyer Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II last May 16. While there, he also turned over nine brand-new ambulances from the PCSO Ambulance Donation Program to Aurora province.

7m sign up for Metro-wide quake drill

By Joel E. Zurbano AN eSTiMATeD seven million people from various sectors in the National Capital Region are expected to join the 2nd metro-wide earthquake drill on Wednesday as part of the government’s preparation in the event a major disaster occurs.

Blaring of sirens on radio and television networks, fire alarms and ringing school and church bells will mark the simultaneous drill at exactly 9 a.m.

“We are making sure that no stone is left unturned to guarantee that the 2nd ShakeDrill will be equally successful and that all the challenges and problems encountered last year are now properly addressed,” said lawyer emerson Carlos, chairman of the Metro Manila Development Authority.

The city government of Makati announced it will implement road closures and traffic rerouting on major streets in the city during the event. elmer Cabrera, officer-in-charge of the Makati Public Safety Department,

said from 8:30 a.m. to 12 noon, the Manila-bound lane of J.P. Rizal from Zobel Street to Antipolo Street will be closed while the leftmost lane of the same segment will remain open to one-way traffic bound for Manila.

The following roads will be totally closed: Cardona Street from J.P. Rizal to Osmeña; Angono Street from J.P. Rizal to Osmeña; hormiga Street from Angono to Cardona; Morong Street; Zobel Street from J.P. Rizal to Osmeña; Zenaida Street; Ma. Aurora Street, and Buencamino Street.

All vehicles from Manila going to epifanio de los Santos Avenue are advised to take Antipolo Street and turn right to Osmeña Street and take Zobel Street.

Cabrera said the staging area for ambulances and fire trucks are in Angono Street and Zobel Street while the command and medical posts and triage will be stationed also in Angono Street. The rest of the fully closed roads will serve as the holding areas of evacuees from the different offices and buildings

in the city hall compound.

During rescue scenarios on the collapsed Guadalupe Bridge and Guadalupe MRT Station, the northbound bus lanes (yellow lanes) on edsa spanning Guadalupe Bridge will be closed to traffic from 6 a.m. to 12 noon. For the rest of the northbound lanes and southbound lanes in Guadalupe Bridge, traffic will stop at the sound of the siren (signal for an earthquake) at 9 a.m.

At 9:03 a.m., the southbound traffic will proceed, while the northbound traffic will proceed to the areas outside the bus lanes.

The northbound east Cloverleaf will also be closed to traffic from 6 a.m. to 12 noon while the southbound segment will remain open.

The closed road will serve as the preposition area for Makati’s ambulances and rubber boat of rescuers, and vehicles from MMDA and other local governments.

Motorists are advised to take alternate routes during the drills: all vehicles along J.P. Rizal eastbound toward edsa may take San Jose

Street, turn right to Burgos Street and turn to edsa. They may also turn right at Lawton Avenue, right at Kalayaan Street and right turn to edsa toward destination.

Those coming from J.P. Rizal are advised to take edsa, make a left turn to Lawton Avenue, and right turn to Kalayaan Avenue toward destination.

All Public Utility Jeeps from FTi and Market-Market may take Kalayaan Avenue towards destination.

The city government will deploy traffic personnel to assist the public and motorists along affected routes.

The MMDA said participants are enjoined to perform the “duck, cover and hold” drill. Mayors of the 16 cities and one municipality comprising Metro Manila are expected to attend, the MMDA said.

The earthquake drill will also be held simultaneously in the provinces Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal and Laguna.

Based on the map released by the Philippine institute of Volcanology and Seismology, the West Valley Fault also transects portions of the four provinces.

Abaya and Ginez issued an accreditation, not a franchise, to authorizing Uber and GrabCar to pick up passengers and operate within the Metro Manila, charged Jun Magno, president of Angat Tsuper Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operator ng Pilipinas Genuine Organization Transport Coalition (Stop & Go).

The operation of such transportation network vehicle service needed a franchise under the law, Magno said. he challenged the approval of a DoTC order in 2015 permitting “innovation across all forms of public land transport” to increase mobility, improve public transport and “respond to the needs of the modern commuter.”

Abaya and Ginez committed graft in giving Uber, U-hop and GrabCar a favored treatment at the expense of the other taxi operators and passenger drivers, Magno said. he questioned why the two officials had allowed the three transport network services to pay just P520 in application fee to operate, and to operate without any guidelines from the house of Representatives. “even before the issuance of the respondents of the said department order and memorandum circulars, it already deeply affected the rights of the complainants’ officers and members being concerned citizens, taxpayers, operators and drivers of public utility vehicles.

Many taxi drivers transferred to TNVS as they could allegedly have relatively good income, passengers of taxis and AUV express decreased tremendously as commuting public tried the use of TNVS resulting in loss of income of operators and drivers of these taxis and AUV express,” Magno’s complaint read.

Ateneo launches shuttle service The Metro Manila Development Authority on Monday signed an agreement with the Ateneo de Manila University to launch the school’s Shuttle Service Program that will decongest traffic along Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City.

The program, according to MMDA Chairman emerson Carlos, was made initially in Ateneo to encourage and teach high school students learn how to commute.

The MMDA identified the streets near ADMU and Miriam College where heavy traffic usually occurs. The agency earlier appealed to school administrators to put in place a shuttle bus system to ease traffic gridlock caused by private and public utility vehicles dropping and picking up students.

“We started here in Ateneo

because teenagers and high school students are those who can commute. Actually it is a way of educating them. Many young people, especially those in the upper classes, didn’t know how to commute,” said Carlos.

Carlos said the shuttle service program will be used exclusively by teachers, employees and students of Ateneo.

“They will not be allowed to be dropped anywhere, so it’s from point to point from origin to destination.”

Apart from Katipunan, the MMDA said heavy traffic usually occurs also in the vicinity of Poveda College and De La Salle University in Greenhills, San Juan City, and La Salle in Taft Avenue, Manila.

The MMDA suggested to school administrators to implement a 15-second policy for students alighting from or

boarding vehicles in front of schools to avoid road congestion.

The agency came up with the program following observation of some motorists that traffic was heavy during morning and late afternoon hours due to the surge of the students in and out of the school.

The motorists noted the halting of public utility vehicles near schools for dropping and picking up students, far away from the regular PUV stops aggravated the traffic situation while the presence of enforcers has not helped in ensuring free f low of traffic.

But the MMDA stated that congestion alone is not only a matter of concern, but also the safety of students, saying erring drivers seem to pay no attention to safety areas such as school zones. Joel Zurbano

Road widening. Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista spells out the details of the

C5 road-widening project and the city’s comprehensive resettlement plan where as many as 55,550 informal-settler families have to be resettled to allow the unimpeded implementation of national and local road network projects during a forum held at the Boracay Mansion in New Manila. MANNY PALMERO

T U E S D AY : J U N E 2 1 , 2 0 1 6

A7

NEWS editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Indonesian govt offers scholarships

Brand new day. Fishermen in Zambales prepare their nets for an early-morning catch. SONNY ESPIRITU

Aquino set to OK P50-b prison project in N. Ecija

By Ferdie G. Domingo

CABANATUAN CITY—Outgoing Nueva Ecija Gov. Aurelio Umali has said the P50.2billion construction of the New Bilibid Prison in General Tinio town will push through amid the reluctance of President Benigno Aquino III to approve the same over fears he might be accused of implementing a “midnight deal” in the remaining days of his term.

Umali said he had spoken with Mr. Aquino and the latter had said he would give his go signal for the project, even as its implementation would be left to

the Duterte administration.

President Aquino expressed his reluctance over approving the project when he visited the province to inaugurate a solar farm.

The New Bilibid Prison will be constructed inside the Fort Magsaysay Military Reservation where Mr. Aquino’s late father, former senator Benigno Aquino Jr. was placed under solitary confinement during martial law.

The two-story facility is planned to be constructed under the build-transfermaintain structure at a 500-hectare area in Barangay Nazareth inside the fort as a joint undertaking of the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Corrections.

Teodora Diaz, BuCor assistant director, said the facility will have a maxi-

mum capacity of 26,000 inmates. To be transferred are 20,000 inmates from the NBP’s current location in Muntinlupa City and 2,000 from the Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong City.

Novo Ecijanos had already anticipated the project which is expected to generate at least 53,800 jobs.

Bidding for the project was set in February 2015, seven months after it was presented to local officials.

The contract was supposed to be signed in April 2015 and actual construction, estimated to take three

years, should have started in October 2015. The following schedules were all delayed.

The 551-hectare NBP in Muntinlupa, which opened in 1940, is now heavily congested as it houses 14,500 prisoners in its maximum security detention area alone although it was programmed to accommodate only 8,400 inmates. All in all, the NBP houses around 20,000 inmates.

The government plans to convert the Muntinlupa penitentiary, valued at around P42 billion, into a mixed-use commercial area.

COTABATO CITY—The government of Indonesia has pledged to bring 30 Islamic theology students on a scholarship program in Aceh, according to Imam Alzad Sattar, regional undersecretary for Islamic studies of the Department of EducationARMM. Sattar said scholarship agreement was forged last June 17 by the ARMM government, the Indonesian Embassy and the Yayasan Sukma School in the Aceh.

Aceh, an Indonesian region in Sumatra, is a known Islamic bastion with several governmentrun schools teaching Islamic theology courses.

According to lawyer Rasol Mitmug Jr., chief of staff of ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman, the 30 scholars, who will enjoy free tuition, textbooks, uniforms and accommodation are expected to become teachers upon their return to ARMM. Mitmug said the scholarship program will benefit mostly the Madaris Education Bureau that handles Islamic peace education subjects in public schools.

Dr. John Magno, DepEd-ARMM regional secretary, sees the partnership between ARMM and Indonesian government will complement the peace initiatives of the regional government.

Magno said they are finalizing the process of screening the scholars who would be sent to Aceh.

Davao City vice mayor objects to appointment of Labor exec

By Funny Pearl A. Gajunera

No to coal. Residents of Pinamucan Ibaba, Batangas City protested the city council’s approval of the proposed 600-MW coal-fired power plant of JG Summit in their area.

DAVAO CITY—Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte has asked President-elect Rodrigo Duterte to reconsider the appointment of Department of Labor and Employment Undersecretary Joel Maglungsod.

“I texted Bong Go to tell President Rody to reconsider the appointment Joma [Joel Maglungsod],” the younger Duterte said.

The objection is reportedly due to the fact that the Kilusang Mayo Uno has been using its influence on the incoming government on the labor issues con-

cerning Nakashin Davao International Inc. Maglungsod is a former general secretary of KMU. According to the vice mayor, KMU has been resisting peaceful talk between the employees and the management of the Nakashin.

“I think the question now is, is the KMU willing to help the company or the business community of Davao City,” he said.

Last week, Nakashin filed a company closure with the Labor Department due to the stoppage of the operation of the company following the barricade of the employees.

Nakashin hired their em-

ployees through agencies.

The younger Duterte said that they have tried to talk to the employees to file complaints against the agencies instead, however, “the KMU won’t give in, they really want to kill the company.”

Meanwhile, KMU Secretary-General Karlo Olalo did not buy the idea that “a company as big as Nakashin will face bankruptcy, especially that the owners are foreigners.”

In April, several employees of Nakashin conducted a protest due to the lack of benefits.

Nakashin exports frozen fruits to Japan, Europe and other countries.

T u E S D AY : J u N E 2 1 , 2 0 1 6

A8

opinion

ADELLE chuA EDITOR

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

opinion

EAGLE EYES TONY LA VIÑA

Joy in mystery of family

[ EDI TORI A L ]

Breaking convention IT IS likely that President Benigno Aquino III, who only has nine days remaining in his term, considers the failure to pass the Bangsamoro Basic Law in Congress as the biggest frustration of his six-year term.

Getting the bill passed would have brought the promise of lasting peace in Mindanao and would have earned for Mr. Aquino the distinction of being the president finally able to end the decades-old conflict in the South.

Alas, deliberations on the BBL were hampered by the perception that the government only spoke with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and not the other stakeholders in Mindanao—other Moro groups, indigenous peoples, Christians and others.

And then came January 2015, when 44 police commandos pursuing terrorists died in the hands of MILF members in Mamasapano, Maguindanao. This dealt a final blow to the bill because it raised the issue of the MILF’s sincerity in talking peace with the government.

But now there is talk that the MILF and the Moro National Liberation Front will hold a Moro Convention that they hope would end the protracted conflict in Mindanao. All fronts will be represented in the meetings, and attendees will be there in view of the Bangsamoro in general.

Specifically, the convention will produce a draft bill that would go well with the federal-parliamentary system envisioned by incoming President Rodrigo Duterte.

The most encouraging phrase in all this must be “all fronts.” To be sure, taking into consideration the concerns of all stakeholders who would be affected by the proposed Bangsamoro entity will be complicated and difficult. But this is exactly how consensus is built.

Alongside talks of peace should be efforts to make economic gains felt by a wider group of Mindanao residents. Some of the poorest and underserved local government units are in Mindanao. Dissatisfaction with their leaders, poor education and lack of opportunities to improve their condition consign many to a life of discontent, resentment and insurgency.

Peace is never easy; lasting peace, even less so. Even if an agreement is finally arrived at and a law finally passed, the pursuit of peace entails constant, inclusive consultations. This may just be another item for discussion—speculation—for most of us. For those who live in Mindanao, these decisions would define the way they live. The incoming administration must learn to listen more than its predecessor ever did.

We’re our oWn Backup LOwDOwN jOjO A. RObLES Now that President Noynoy Aquino is leaving, I guess we can finally put to rest the old lies that he so brazenly told us during the six years of his now-ending term. And one of the biggest whoppers told

by Aquino is the one about how the United States has got our back in our territorial dispute with China.

I don’t know where the Aquino administration got the idea that the reason the Americans are so interested in the South China Sea (or west Philippine Sea, if you insist) is that they want to protect us from Chinese hegemony. But I heard that line again from the Department of National Defense this week, in reaction to the arrival of the giant US aircraft carriers John C. Stennis and Ronald Reagan in the disputed waters for war exercises.

Department spokesman

Peter Galvez said the exercises showed that the US was “resolute” in fulfilling its “ironclad commitment” to defend the Philippines. “we welcome the strong partnership we have with our friends and allies in light of [the dispute] where our legitimate rights have been overstepped,” Galvez said.

Incoming Kabayan party-list Rep. Harry Roque, a longtime campaigner for independent policy and action by the Manila government in the sea dispute, was quick

A9

One of the biggest whoppers told by Aquino is the one about how the US has got our back against China.

to point out that the US has always taken a very different view of the problem of Chinese encroachment in the contested waters. “The interest of the US has always been freedom of navigation, not the territorial integrity of the Philippines or any other country contesting the sea,” Roque said.

And that freedom, according to most estimates, is worth $5 trillion in goods that pass over the important sea annually. The defense of the Philippines, no matter what Aquino and his minions have told us, is just not that important to our Great

white Brothers.

Thus, according to the US Pacific Command, which sent the two giant aircraft carriers into the sea, the current drills “were meant to promote freedom of navigation and overflight in the region’s airspace and waters.” The command never said that it was siding with anyone in the dispute over the shoals and other features of the sea; and even China’s island-building efforts in the area have always been framed

Published Monday to Sunday by Philippine Manila Standard Publishing Inc. at 6/F Universal Re Building, 106 Paseo de Roxas, corner Perea St., Legaspi Village, Makati City. Telephone numbers 832-5554, 832-5556, 832-5558 (connecting all departments), (Editorial), 832-5546, (Advertising), 832-5550. P.O. Box 2933, Manila Central Post Office, Manila. Website: www.manilastandardtoday.com E-mail: contact@thestandard.com.ph

by the US in the context of freedom of navigation. of course, with the upholding by the Supreme Court of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, which basically gave basing rights to the Americans in the Philippines, we are now certain to become participants—with large targets on our backs for the Chinese—if war breaks out in the contested sea. But again, it is important to point out that if war happens, it will be because China

MST ONLINE

can be accessed at: www.manilastandardtoday.com

MEMBER

PPI

Philippine Press Institute The National Association of Philippine Newspapers

will not accept the idea of free navigation of ships and their precious cargo, and not because the Americans will back us up to the hilt.

That thing about the US as our backup is really just Noynoy talking. Because if the Americans really had our back, they would have certainly stopped the Chinese from taking Recto Bank, Panatag Shoal and all the other features in the sea that the Philippines has standing

THIS is the fifth in a series of columns on Amoris Laetitia (“The Joy of Love”), the apostolic exhortation Pope Francis issued last February 2016. This is on the third chapter entitled “Looking to Jesus: The vocation of the family,” where Pope Francis elaborates on essential elements of the Church’s teaching on marriage and the family.

In Chapter 3, the Pope depicts the vocation of the family in the context of the Gospel and as affirmed by the Church over time. In and among families, Francis writes, the Gospel message should always resound. The core of that message, the kerygma, is what is “most beautiful, most excellent, most appealing and at the same time most necessary.” This message “has to occupy the center of all evangelizing activity.” It is the first and most important proclamation, “which we must hear again and again in different ways, and which we must always announce in one form or another.”

According to Francis: “our teaching on marriage and the family cannot fail to be inspired and transformed by this message of love and tenderness; otherwise, it becomes nothing more than the defence of a dry and lifeless doctrine. The mystery of the Christian family can be fully understood only in the light of the Father’s infinite love revealed in Christ, who gave himself up for our sake and who continues to dwell in our midst.”

This chapter gives emphasis on the themes of indissolubility, the sacramental nature of marriage, the transmission of life and the education of children. Contrary to those who reject marriage as evil, the New Testament teaches that “everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected” (1 Tim 4:4).

Marriage is “a gift” from the Lord (1 Cor 7:7). At the same time, precisely because of this positive understanding, the New Testament strongly emphasizes the need to safeguard God’s gift: “Let marriage be held in honour among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled” (Heb 13:4).

This divine gift includes sexuality: “Do not refuse one another” (1 Cor 7:5), he says.

Continued on A11

Continued on A11

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

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

Emil P. Jurado Chairman Emeritus, Editiorial Board

Anita F. Grefal Treasury Manager Maan Ilustre Advertising and Marketing Head Edgar M. Valmorida Circulation Manager

T u E S D AY : J u N E 2 1 , 2 0 1 6

A8

opinion

ADELLE chuA EDITOR

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

opinion

EAGLE EYES TONY LA VIÑA

Joy in mystery of family

[ EDI TORI A L ]

Breaking convention IT IS likely that President Benigno Aquino III, who only has nine days remaining in his term, considers the failure to pass the Bangsamoro Basic Law in Congress as the biggest frustration of his six-year term.

Getting the bill passed would have brought the promise of lasting peace in Mindanao and would have earned for Mr. Aquino the distinction of being the president finally able to end the decades-old conflict in the South.

Alas, deliberations on the BBL were hampered by the perception that the government only spoke with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and not the other stakeholders in Mindanao—other Moro groups, indigenous peoples, Christians and others.

And then came January 2015, when 44 police commandos pursuing terrorists died in the hands of MILF members in Mamasapano, Maguindanao. This dealt a final blow to the bill because it raised the issue of the MILF’s sincerity in talking peace with the government.

But now there is talk that the MILF and the Moro National Liberation Front will hold a Moro Convention that they hope would end the protracted conflict in Mindanao. All fronts will be represented in the meetings, and attendees will be there in view of the Bangsamoro in general.

Specifically, the convention will produce a draft bill that would go well with the federal-parliamentary system envisioned by incoming President Rodrigo Duterte.

The most encouraging phrase in all this must be “all fronts.” To be sure, taking into consideration the concerns of all stakeholders who would be affected by the proposed Bangsamoro entity will be complicated and difficult. But this is exactly how consensus is built.

Alongside talks of peace should be efforts to make economic gains felt by a wider group of Mindanao residents. Some of the poorest and underserved local government units are in Mindanao. Dissatisfaction with their leaders, poor education and lack of opportunities to improve their condition consign many to a life of discontent, resentment and insurgency.

Peace is never easy; lasting peace, even less so. Even if an agreement is finally arrived at and a law finally passed, the pursuit of peace entails constant, inclusive consultations. This may just be another item for discussion—speculation—for most of us. For those who live in Mindanao, these decisions would define the way they live. The incoming administration must learn to listen more than its predecessor ever did.

We’re our oWn Backup LOwDOwN jOjO A. RObLES Now that President Noynoy Aquino is leaving, I guess we can finally put to rest the old lies that he so brazenly told us during the six years of his now-ending term. And one of the biggest whoppers told

by Aquino is the one about how the United States has got our back in our territorial dispute with China.

I don’t know where the Aquino administration got the idea that the reason the Americans are so interested in the South China Sea (or west Philippine Sea, if you insist) is that they want to protect us from Chinese hegemony. But I heard that line again from the Department of National Defense this week, in reaction to the arrival of the giant US aircraft carriers John C. Stennis and Ronald Reagan in the disputed waters for war exercises.

Department spokesman

Peter Galvez said the exercises showed that the US was “resolute” in fulfilling its “ironclad commitment” to defend the Philippines. “we welcome the strong partnership we have with our friends and allies in light of [the dispute] where our legitimate rights have been overstepped,” Galvez said.

Incoming Kabayan party-list Rep. Harry Roque, a longtime campaigner for independent policy and action by the Manila government in the sea dispute, was quick

A9

One of the biggest whoppers told by Aquino is the one about how the US has got our back against China.

to point out that the US has always taken a very different view of the problem of Chinese encroachment in the contested waters. “The interest of the US has always been freedom of navigation, not the territorial integrity of the Philippines or any other country contesting the sea,” Roque said.

And that freedom, according to most estimates, is worth $5 trillion in goods that pass over the important sea annually. The defense of the Philippines, no matter what Aquino and his minions have told us, is just not that important to our Great

white Brothers.

Thus, according to the US Pacific Command, which sent the two giant aircraft carriers into the sea, the current drills “were meant to promote freedom of navigation and overflight in the region’s airspace and waters.” The command never said that it was siding with anyone in the dispute over the shoals and other features of the sea; and even China’s island-building efforts in the area have always been framed

Published Monday to Sunday by Philippine Manila Standard Publishing Inc. at 6/F Universal Re Building, 106 Paseo de Roxas, corner Perea St., Legaspi Village, Makati City. Telephone numbers 832-5554, 832-5556, 832-5558 (connecting all departments), (Editorial), 832-5546, (Advertising), 832-5550. P.O. Box 2933, Manila Central Post Office, Manila. Website: www.manilastandardtoday.com E-mail: contact@thestandard.com.ph

by the US in the context of freedom of navigation. of course, with the upholding by the Supreme Court of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, which basically gave basing rights to the Americans in the Philippines, we are now certain to become participants—with large targets on our backs for the Chinese—if war breaks out in the contested sea. But again, it is important to point out that if war happens, it will be because China

MST ONLINE

can be accessed at: www.manilastandardtoday.com

MEMBER

PPI

Philippine Press Institute The National Association of Philippine Newspapers

will not accept the idea of free navigation of ships and their precious cargo, and not because the Americans will back us up to the hilt.

That thing about the US as our backup is really just Noynoy talking. Because if the Americans really had our back, they would have certainly stopped the Chinese from taking Recto Bank, Panatag Shoal and all the other features in the sea that the Philippines has standing

THIS is the fifth in a series of columns on Amoris Laetitia (“The Joy of Love”), the apostolic exhortation Pope Francis issued last February 2016. This is on the third chapter entitled “Looking to Jesus: The vocation of the family,” where Pope Francis elaborates on essential elements of the Church’s teaching on marriage and the family.

In Chapter 3, the Pope depicts the vocation of the family in the context of the Gospel and as affirmed by the Church over time. In and among families, Francis writes, the Gospel message should always resound. The core of that message, the kerygma, is what is “most beautiful, most excellent, most appealing and at the same time most necessary.” This message “has to occupy the center of all evangelizing activity.” It is the first and most important proclamation, “which we must hear again and again in different ways, and which we must always announce in one form or another.”

According to Francis: “our teaching on marriage and the family cannot fail to be inspired and transformed by this message of love and tenderness; otherwise, it becomes nothing more than the defence of a dry and lifeless doctrine. The mystery of the Christian family can be fully understood only in the light of the Father’s infinite love revealed in Christ, who gave himself up for our sake and who continues to dwell in our midst.”

This chapter gives emphasis on the themes of indissolubility, the sacramental nature of marriage, the transmission of life and the education of children. Contrary to those who reject marriage as evil, the New Testament teaches that “everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected” (1 Tim 4:4).

Marriage is “a gift” from the Lord (1 Cor 7:7). At the same time, precisely because of this positive understanding, the New Testament strongly emphasizes the need to safeguard God’s gift: “Let marriage be held in honour among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled” (Heb 13:4).

This divine gift includes sexuality: “Do not refuse one another” (1 Cor 7:5), he says.

Continued on A11

Continued on A11

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

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

Emil P. Jurado Chairman Emeritus, Editiorial Board

Anita F. Grefal Treasury Manager Maan Ilustre Advertising and Marketing Head Edgar M. Valmorida Circulation Manager

T U E S D AY : J U N E 2 1 , 2 0 1 6

A10 HAIL TO THE CHAIR VICTOR AVECILLA Carlos Dominguez, the incoming Finance secretary of President-elect rodrigo Duterte, recently announced that he wants an increase in the everyday (expanded) value added tax, from the current 12 percent to an unreasonable 15 percent. secretary Dominguez says that his proposal is necessary because the Duterte administration needs money to run the government.

The Dominguez proposition is fraught with consequences which the liberal Party and other anti-Duterte groups will surely exploit to embarrass Duterte when he assumes the presidency in July. Duterte should scuttle it immediately. although the VaT is supposed to be a “value-added” tax, it is nothing more than a expanded sales tax, that is, a tax on every first sale of any product, including food, medicine, gasoline, and other prime commodities. With the exception of senior citizens in certain very limited instances, the VaT applies to everyone, regardless of their status in life. Under the current law, each sale made at a store or similar outlet is subject to the 12-percent VaT. a VaT on the sale of luxuries and unnecessary items like cigarettes, liquor, cinema tickets, candies and chocolates, cosmetics, perfume, and the like may not be so objectionable. on the other hand, a VaT on the sale of prime commodities like food, and imperatives like medicine,

OPINION lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

Duterte shoulD not increase the Vat electricity, running water, and fuel, is patently oppressive. as it is in the Philippines, the cost of medicine, branded or generic, is already prohibitive for the poor and the marginalized sectors of society. Imposing a tax, like the VaT, on the sale of medicine, aggravates their financial problem, and practically makes health care an impossible dream for the poor and very low-income families. such a tax also renders health care, which is guaranteed by the 1987 Constitution, a teasing illusion to many. any tax on the sale of medicine is anti-poor. Considering the prohibitive cost of medicine in the Philippines today, nobody in his right mind, rich or poor, would want to get sick. Naturally, when one is sick, one has no choice but to buy the needed medication in order to recover his health. To impose a tax on the sale of medicine, therefore, is to tax one’s natural desire to recover one’s health.

The tax is also unreasonable.

Why should the natural, human desire to recover from an illness be subjected to a tax? No matter how small it may be, any tax on the desire to get well is inhuman.

For the rich, the VaT is affordable. For the poor, however, the VaT is an additional financial burden to their already difficult lives. It is lamentable enough that the price of prime commodities is prohibitive for the poor.

Worse, they must pay a VaT on each purchase. More often than

As it is, the 12-percent VAT makes life difficult for the poor. Increasing it to 15 percent, as Secretary Dominguez wants to, is patently antipoor.

not, the VaT itself bars access to food and medication on the part of the poor. obviously, the poor are the most adversely affected by the VaT. During the Marcos administration, the sales tax on products was pegged at a reasonable 3 percent. To make up in volume, the government encouraged more sales. after 1986, the government abolished the sales tax and replaced it with the VaT, then in the amount of 10 percent. It was eventually “expanded” to its current rate of 12 percent. Today, a poor family’s grocery bill of P500 just for bare necessities is actually for groceries worth only P440. P60 automatically goes to the government, even if no pub-

lic utility (like roads or bridges) was used, or even if no public service was involved. The P60 is embezzled by the government, or used to perpetuate itself and its minions in power. as it is, the 12-percent VaT makes life difficult for the poor. Increasing it to 15 percent, as secretary Dominguez wants to, is patently anti-poor.

The Dominguez plan will also undermine and embarrass the administration of President Duterte.

Dominguez’ excuse—that the incoming administration needs funds—is flimsy. It suggests incompetence on his part. of course, every administration needs funds. In fact, because of the massive corruption during the administration of President Benigno aquino III, the Duterte government would need a lot of money to operate properly.

Increasing the VaT, however, is not the solution. It will only worsen the poverty problem.

Instead of increasing the VaT, the Duterte administration should consider substantial savings in the government. The junkets, luxury vehicles, discretionary funds, and dozens of consultants which government officials under past administrations have been used to, will have to be kept to a minimum.

This should also apply to senators and representatives who take luxury trips abroad, and who use several vehicles each time they travel.

In the same light, useless

infrastructure projects like those road islands in Pasig City should stop. The share of local government units from tax revenues should be reduced since the funds are wasted on ghost employees at city hall and vanity structures in the city, as what takes place in Herbert Bautista’s Quezon City.

Pork barrel allocations should be eliminated outright, and revenues from natural resources, such as the Malampaya natural gas fund (worth at least a hundred billion pesos yearly) should be spent properly.

Dominguez should read his world history. Many governments were overthrown by the people on account of excessive taxation.

Excessive taxation triggered the american revolution in 1776. It was one of the reasons why andres Bonifacio instigated the Philippine revolution against spain. a twentieth-century saying posits that the power to tax is the power to destroy people and commerce. The world has changed since. People all over the world today will not hesitate to overthrow abusive governments. That is what happened in Egypt, syria, and libya. It’s happening now in Brazil, in spain, and in Portugal.

Duterte was elected on the public impression that he is everything that the corrupt and abusive President aquino III isn’t. That is why Duterte must scuttle any plan to increase the VaT.

West PhiliPPine sea in the Public minD: beyonD sounD bites by tess bacala as THE Philippines heads into a new political dispensation, much of the country is watching with bated breath how the newly minted President-elect rodrigo Duterte will sooner or later deal with the issue of China’s aggressive intrusion into the West Philippine sea (or areas of the south China sea lying within the country’s exclusive economic zone prescribed by international law).

By this time, thanks or no thanks to a media feeding frenzy over the maverick presidential winner from the south, who hasn’t heard or read Duterte’s public statements (or watched him on television issuing the same) on the country’s territorial conflict with China?

His pronouncements have sent mixed, nay, contradictory, signals on where he stands or sits amid this simmering maritime flashpoint in Philippine-sino ties. This, against a backdrop of the much-anticipated ruling of The Hague tribunal, where the Philippines, taking the path of international arbitration under outgoing President Benigno “Noynoy” aquino III’s watch, has lodged its case against China. such declarations easily lend themselves to sound bite-riddled,

“he said/she said,” media reports, the better to dumb down important issues and public discourse. That they have generated more media hype is best viewed in light of the fact that they come no less from the country’s recently proclaimed president, who has earned a global reputation not only for his foul mouth bent on spewing out invective-laden rants each time he speaks, but also for his predictable yet no less disturbing off-the-cuff comments even on a highly volatile issue that is the West Philippine sea.

Duterte is known to have said he would seek multilateral talks with other claimant states to the south China sea and major Philippine allies like the United states, favored a joint exploration with China in the resource-rich, strategic waterway, and, perhaps tongue-in-cheek, that he would jet-ski to the Panatag (scarborough) shoal to plant a Philippine flag on the disputed island.

The 71-year-old soon-to-beerstwhile Davao City mayor’s every declaration, however, facetious or mind-boggling to some, and clearly a sharp departure from the aquino administration’s posture on the West Philippine sea, has merited prominent print space and airtime.

But whether extensive media cov-

erage of the country’s territorial tensions with China, conveniently alongside Duterte’s propensity to flip-flop on the maritime wrangling in the West Philippine sea, has led to more nuanced and expansive understanding among Filipinos of the relevant issues involved is entirely another matter.

To date, much of the narrative on the escalating territorial quarrel between the two asian neighbors tends to pit the states involved against one another—China vs the Philippines and another regional claimants, and China vs the Us as well as Japan as major global powers keen to assert freedom of navigation in the contested waters of the south China sea, and push for regional peace and stability in the face of China’s bluster.

There is no gainsaying the polarizing impact of the south China sea disputes, which involve other southeast asian neighbors. Yet such discords carry more complexities than what the Philippine media may have cared to examine and bring to the forefront of public discussion. are there other frames besides conflict through which the south China sea issue—and how it impacts a smaller country like the Philippines—must be seen and reported by the press? surely there are, such as the economic and historical sides of the dispute.

What are the dominant narratives driving public discussions on the West Philippine sea? What issues are being glossed over or have merited little, if any, media attention? Is there adequate context and background in media coverage of the ongoing maritime standoff between China and the Philippines?

To what extent have the media, citing carefully researched pieces of evidence presented by experts including associate Justice antonio Carpio, challenged China’s extensive territorial claims, moored in the historically dubious nine-dash line that covers practically the entire West Philippine sea?

Media’s role in fostering public understanding of important issues—not least of which are the dark clouds hovering over the West Philippine sea—cannot be underscored enough.

This is true not only at the national level but also across communities that are far removed from the center of foreign policymaking in the Philippines. Interestingly enough, it is in these areas where impoverished and marginalized sectors such as fisherfolk have been feeling the brunt of China’s bellicose actions, enough to send alarm bells ringing and crisis shockwaves rever-

berating across the country. But this kind of scenario is perhaps best left to the imagination.

It appears that the tides of public opinion on the West Philippine sea have yet to rise in unison with the frenzied efforts of the government to wrest back control of the contested islands. suffice it to say that public engagement and dialogue around the West Philippine sea vary at best—and it behooves the media to report on the country’s claims in the disputed waters with increased sharpness, nuance, background and context.

To do otherwise is to leave the public wading helplessly in the murky waters of the disputed islands—amid a sea of shallow reports on competing maritime claims, not to mention Duterte’s controversial pronouncements that conveniently offer sensationalist grist for media mills.

TO THE pOInT EmIL p. juRADO Mr. Jurado’s column will resume on Thursday.

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OPINION

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

Taking pangolins off The menu Bloomberg editorial The latest poster mammal in the struggle against environmental crimes is something called a pangolin. Cute and scaly, it is no match for the criminal gangs that have made it one of the most trafficked animals for bogus medicines and gourmet meals.

A recent report from the United Nations and Interpol highlights the sophistication of this new breed of criminals, and the difficulty and necessity of fighting them.

Their interlinked networks connect local resources to global markets in surprising ways—South African street gangs, for instance, trading illegally caught abalone for methamphetamine from Asian syndicates. Rebel

groups such as Sudan’s Janjaweed, Uganda’s Lord’s Resistance Army and Colombia’s FARC use “taxes” and revenue from such underground commerce to fund their mayhem. Illicitly harvested timber and fish are increasingly blended into legal commercial streams with false permits and certifications, feeding corruption.

More money and manpower would certainly help in this fight, but better coordination and intelligence-sharing can also make a huge difference.

Tactics used successfully against drug traffickers—controlled deliveries of wildlife to nab distributors and bosses instead of just poachers and foot soldiers, for instance— could be more aggressively applied. So could existing UN

conventions to pursue crossborder investigations and prosecutions. Initiatives such as the Container Control Program, which has tightened screening of the nearly halfbillion shipping containers shuttling around the world, could benefit from more support. So could civil society groups that have pioneered the use of smartphones, commercial satellite imagery and other technology to turn ordinary citizens into real-time watchdogs.

Curbing demand also helps. China’s announcement that it would join the US in all but banning the ivory trade is good news for threatened elephants and rhinos.

And while there is much controversy over China’s wildlife law encouraging the farming

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Joy... From A9

claims to, but which were weaponized without resistance by China during Aquino’s term.

The good thing about the incoming Duterte administration, according to Roque, is that it appears to understand that while there is an overlap in US-Philippines interests in the sea dispute, Manila can and should chart its own course diplomatically and even militarily, if need be. “The pronouncements of incoming President Rodrigo Duterte and his foreign secretary-designate, Perfecto Yasay Jr., tend to show that our policy should be upholding our own interests, which are not the same as those of the US, China, Asean or any other country or group involved in the controversy,” Roque said.

Time will tell if Duterte’s jet-ski policy will succeed where Aquino’s promised defense of Recto Bank (“we will defend it like Recto Avenue,” Noynoy said in one Sona) failed. But if Duterte is able to make us understand that what happens to our territorial claims is really our lookout, then he will have already made a lot of progress. *** Speaking of whoppers, I fail to understand why the Commission on elections granted the once-ruling-but-now-virtually-defunct Liberal Party a two-week extension to file its statement of contributions and expenditures for the last May 9 elections. This is, after all, the same election agency that refused to extend the period for the registration of voters—something that various sectors requested way before deadline, to no avail.

As some have pointed out, Comelec has no business giving LP an extension to file its SOCe after the deadline expired. Because the party already failed to make the deadline without seeking an extension before that, it is already in violation of the law and should be penalized accordingly.

To put this in context, if a student has already failed to submit a paper on time, he has already been graded on that basis. And any request for an extension for the submission should have been made before the deadline, when his teacher has not yet given him the appropriate grade that takes into account his non-submission.

But, of course, we’re talking about the LP here, which has always been above mere laws and regulations. Right, Chairman Andy Bautista?

On the permanence of marriage bonds, the Pope clarifies that: The indissolubility of marriage—‘what God has joined together, let no man put asunder’ (Mt 19:6)—should not be viewed as a “yoke” imposed on humanity, but as a “gift” granted to those who are joined in marriage.

In explaining the magisterium, the Pope liberally quotes on various sources including The Vatican Council II document Gaudium et Spes, along with Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae, and St. John Paul II’s Familiaris Consortio. Drawing from the example of the holy Family, the Pope reflects on the calling of every family in this wise: “The covenant of love and fidelity lived by the holy Family of Nazareth illuminates the principle which gives shape to every family, and enables it better to face the vicissitudes of life and history. On this basis, every family, despite its weaknesses, can become a light in the darkness of the world.”

On the sacrament of Matrimony, the Pope compares a married couple to the unity of the Trinity. Thus, “Scripture and Tradition give us access to a knowledge of the Trinity, which is revealed with the features of a family.

The family is the image of God, who is a communion of persons.

At Christ’s baptism, the Father’s voice was heard, calling Jesus his beloved Son, and in this love we can recognize the holy Spirit (cf.

Mk 1:10-11), he says. he further explains that the sacrament of marriage is not a social convention, an empty ritual or merely the outward sign of a commitment.

The sacrament is a gift given for the sanctification and salvation of the spouses.

and harvesting of endangered species—some research suggests doing so might just encourage illicit demand, but the practice could also increase supply, thus making endangered species less so—it needn’t deter China from pursuing other strategies. It should back media campaigns to persuade the public to cut down on delicacies such as shark-fin soup, a side dish with drastic consequences for the marine ecosystem, or to forego dubious medical treatments based on animal parts, such as Vietnam’s use of rhino horn to treat cancer.

It’s not necessary to buy into all the report’s assumptions or methodology -- it lumps wildlife trafficking, illegal logging and fishing, and

On imperfect unions, the Pope has this to say on the mission of the Church: Church’s pastoral care for the faithful who are living together, or are only married civilly, or are divorced and remarried. Following this divine pedagogy, the Church turns with love to those who participate in her life in an imperfect manner: she seeks the grace of conversion for them; she encourages them to do good, to take loving care of each other and to serve the community in which they live and work.

The reflection also includes the “wounded families” about whom the Pope—quoting the Final Report of the 2015 Synod extensively —says that “it is always necessary to recall this general principle: ‘Pastors must know that, for the sake of truth, they are obliged to exercise careful discernment of situations.’ The degree of responsibility is not equal in all cases and factors may exist which limit the ability to make a decision.

Therefore, while clearly stating the Church’s teaching, pastors are to avoid making rash judgments that do not take into account the complexity of various situations, and they are to be attentive, by necessity, to how people experience and endure distress because of their condition.”

In a later chapter of Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis elaborates on principles of discernment pastors and couples in difficult situations, for example divorced and remarried Catholics, may use to grow and mature in faith. The question of taking communion by these Catholics is specifically addressed in that chapter.

Imperfect as all families are, wounded as some families have experienced, the family is a gift to

illicit shipments of hazardous chemicals together, and guesstimates the annual toll at up to $258 billion—to see the value of fighting this kind of crime. What is it worth to the planet to save the anteater? Whatever the answer, it has little to do with what a poacher could make by driving it to extinction.

Ultimately, of course, the best way to curb environmental crimes—whether against endangered species, high-seas fisheries or primeval forests—is to encourage economic development and the improvements in governance, rule of law and property rights that come with it.

That won’t make for a cute video, but in the long run, it may be the pangolin’s best hope. Bloomberg

be celebrated. For as Pope Francis proclaims: “The incarnation of the Word in a human family, in Nazareth, by its very newness changed the history of the world.” he explains the mission of families: “We need to enter into the mystery of Jesus’ birth, into that “yes” given by Mary to the message of the angel, when the Word was conceived in her womb, as well as the “yes” of Joseph, who gave a name to Jesus and watched over Mary.”

But why celebrate the mystery of the family? Pope Francis answers: “We need to contemplate the joy of the shepherds before the manger, the adoration of the Magi and the flight into egypt, in which Jesus shares his people’s experience of exile, persecution and humiliation. We need to contemplate the religious expectation of Zechariah and his joy at the birth of John the Baptist, the fulfillment of the promise made known to Simeon and Anna in the Temple and the marvel of the teachers of the Law who listened to the wisdom of the child Jesus. We then need to peer into those thirty long years when Jesus earned his keep by the work of his hands, reciting the traditional prayers and expressions of his people’s faith and coming to know that ancestral faith until he made it bear fruit in the mystery of the Kingdom. This is the mystery of Christmas and the secret of Nazareth, exuding the beauty of family life! It was this that so fascinated Francis of Assisi, Theresa of the Child Jesus and Charles de Foucauld, and continues to fill Christian families with hope and joy.”

Facebook: tonylavs5 or Dean Tony La Viña Twitter: tonylavs

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Runners hopeful

Naina (center), who has been in Hong Kong for 12 years after fleeing violence in her community in South Asia, runs on a running track with Virginie Goethals (right), Hong Kong director of the Free to Run charity, in Hong Kong. For a group of refugees in Hong Kong running has become a lifeline as they face an agonizing wait to find a new home. AFP

Spieth’s charge falters OAKMONT, United States—Defending US Open champion Jordan Spieth knew he would need something spectacular to get in the hunt in the final round at Oakmont on Sunday, and a triple-bogey sure wasn’t what he had in mind.

Spieth, hoping to bounce back at the second major of the year after an astonishing back-nine collapse cost him the title at the Masters in April, never fully fired at Oakmont.

He went into the round eight strokes off the pace, saying he would need to “pull a Johnny Miller” to have a chance.

But Spieth never looked like matching the stunning 63 Miller produced to win the 1973 US Open at Oakmont.

A triple-bogey six at the par-three sixth, where he was in a greenside bunker, ended any thought of a rally.

His shot out left him 16 feet from the hole and he took four putts from there. AFP

HONG KONG, China—It is a simple act: pulling on running shoes and hitting the track – but for a group of refugees in Hong Kong it has become a lifeline as they face an agonizing wait to find a new home.

They come from all over the world, fleeing violence, some bearing physical scars, but there is no talk of the past as they sweat through training each week at an athletics track in the heart of the city.

Organizers say many in the “Free to Run” program are torture victims.

Running helps them recover from trauma – it also combats the mental toll of being stuck in limbo.

Hong Kong does not give refugees a permanent home in its own territory and they can spend years in the city, hoping to find sanctuary in a third country.

In the meantime, they are unable to work because of government restrictions, and subsist on handouts from authorities and NGOs. “I don’t want to stay home, I want to be busy. Running has helped me move forward,” says Naina, who has been in Hong Kong for 12 years after fleeing violence in her community in South Asia.

Like many of the refugee runners, she is now taking part in the vibrant local racing scene, recently completing a 30-kilometer challenge.

“Since joining the running program I’ve lost weight and I feel stronger. I have more confidence to talk with people.

Before I always hid myself,” she says.

International charity Free to Run set up the running group a year ago, in collaboration with local NGO Justice Centre. AFP

Johnson win at US Open ends years of frustration OAKMONT, United States—Dustin Johnson ended years of misery at the majors with a comefrom-behind win in the US Open at Oakmont on Sunday, but he was given a huge fright late on over a potential rules violation.

The 31-year-old American closed with a 69 for a four-under total of 276, three strokes clear of Scott Piercy (69), Jim Furyk (66) and Shane Lowry (76).

They were the only players to finish under par. Sergio Garcia (70) and Branden Grace (71) both ended level.

The victory was sweet for a player who bore the scar tissue of multiple near misses at the majors, most notably at last year’s US Open when he threeputted the final green to hand the win to Jordan Spieth.

Johnson was the third

straight first-time winner of a major tournament after Jason Day won the PGA Championship last year and Danny Willett took the Masters in April.

But it was a perplexing final few holes for him after officials informed him at the 12th that he could be penalised for a potential rules violation back on the fifth green when his ball moved slightly as he prepared to putt.

As it turned out, the last few holes went his way. He finished with a birdie at the last and his margin was such that the victory could not be overturned even

if he were penalized.

The United States Golf Association then announced that the penalty stroke would be applied.

“Feels good. Feels really good.

Feels well deserved. I’ve had a lot of opportunities that I didn’t quite get it done. So this one’s definitely really sweet,” Johnson said.

“It means the world. It’s Father’s Day. My birthday’s in a couple days.

Couldn’t have came at a better time.”

Johnson started the last 18 holes tied for second, but he was four strokes behind Ireland’s Lowry.

But with his driving back to its best after a rocky third round, Johnson reached the turn in three-under 33.

That was enough to haul him level with Lowry, who minutes later promptly dropped another bogey at the ninth.

Johnson was back in the lead, as he had been at the halfway stage

of the tournament, and from then on he looked to be in the clear before the upsetting news that he could be hit with a penalty stroke muddied the waters.

For Lowry it was a humbling experience on what was the first time the player from County Offaly in central Ireland had led a major tournament after 54 holes.

He never looked comfortable from the moment his approach to the second hole spun back off the green.

Three holes later he dropped another one after finding a bunker off the tee and suddenly all the pressure of a major tournament was weighing heavily on his burly shoulders.

The dropped shot at nine saw him surrender the lead, and although he briefly managed to draw back level with Johnson, his normally reliable putting stroke let him down badly over the last few holes. AFP

Murray takes fifth Queen’s crown LONDON, United Kingdom— Andy Murray made history at Queen’s Club as the defending champion fought back to win the Wimbledon warm-up event for a record fifth time with a 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 6-3 victory over Milos Raonic on Sunday.

Murray was on the ropes for a set and a half in west London, but the world number two staged a gritty revival to surpass a group of eight four-time Queen’s champions including John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Andy Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt.

The 29-year-old survived a barrage of 14 aces from Raonic to finally subdue the Canadian third seed in two hours and 13 minutes, in the process becoming the first player to successful-

ly defend the title since Roddick in 2005.

He recovered from 3-0 down in the second set and now has a remarkable 30-5 match record on the grass at Queen’s, a venue that has remained close to the Scot’s heart since he secured the first ATP Tour match win of his career against Santiago Ventura in 2005.

“This tournament has loads of history with unbelievable crowds and a strong field. To win here for a fifth time means a lot for me,” Murray said.

“Milos has a huge serve and sometimes it’s just too good. I was guessing a bit but I got more of a feel for the speed of it as the match went on.”

It was Murray’s 37th career ATP title and his second of

2016 as the former Wimbledon champion erased the bitter taste of French Open final defeat against Novak Djokovic two weeks ago.

Despite picking up the oversized trophy, a cheque for £322,126 ($460,000, 410,000 euros) and 500 ranking points, the most significant prize of the week for Murray is the knowledge he is in peak form ahead of his bid to dethrone Djokovic at Wimbledon, which gets under way on June 27.

Murray’s success maintained his 100 percent record in Queen’s finals in the week he reunited with coach Ivan Lendl, who will have relished getting the better of old rival McEnroe in his new role as Raonic’s coach. AFP

Britain’s Andy Murray lifts the trophy after winning the men’s singles final match against Canada’s Milos Raonic at the ATP Aegon Championships tennis tournament at the Queen’s Club in west London on June 19. Murray won the match 6-7, 6-4, 6-3.

AFP

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US boxers in ALA card

By Ronnie Nathanielsz

Favorites. Spain’s defender Sergio Ramos plays the ball during the Euro 2016 group D football match

between Spain and Turkey at the Allianz Riviera stadium in Nice. Manchester City midfielder David Silva believes it is “normal” that two-time defending champions Spain has been made the bookies’ favorites after a scintillating start to their Euro 2016 campaign. Vicente del Bosque’s men have already secured their place in the last 16 after sweeping aside Turkey 3-0 on Friday and opening with a 1-0 win over the Czech Republic. AFP

ALA Promotions president Michael Aldeguer is expanding his San Mateo Events Center card titled “Fists of the Future” to include American boxers on the undercard of the main event, featuring unbeaten Prince Albert Pagara against rugged Cesar Juarez of Mexico on July 9.

Middleweight Mauricio Zavaleta of San Leandro, California will face Darren Mallard, while featherweight Hector Valdez of Dallas, Texas will take on Vincent Jennings in a six-round bout at 125 pounds, which is expected to be a barn burner.

Valdez, who is unbeaten in six fights with 5 knockouts, is a 20-year-old prospect and is coming off a six-round unanimous decision over Naciff Castillo at the Texas Theatre in Dallas last May 24.

Sy paces 1st batch of World Cup finalists SAMMY Say Sy, a regular competitor in the local keg circuit, shot a 12game series of 2622 pinfalls to lead the first batch of 34 male and 24 female finalists in the 2016 National Bowling World Cup championships at SM Fairview recently.

Sy finished ahead of veteran Angelo Constantino, who carded 2619 at Superbowl during the first center finals of the prestigious annual competition to determine the two Philippine representatives in the international Bowling World Cup finals slated on October 14 to 23 at Hao’s Bowling Centre in Shanghai, China.

Rochelle Munsayac showed the way in the ladies’ division by scoring 2002 pinfalls in 10 games. She was followed by Bea Camille Santarin with 1848 and Krizziah Tabora (1832).

Champions from more than 80 countries vie for honors in the World Cup international finals, which is considered the

world’s toughest individual bowling event.

Four Filipinos, led by legendary Paeng Nepomuceno, have already won the World Cup. In fact, Nepomuceno holds the distinction of being the first bowler to win the crown four times so far.

The other Filipino champions are Lita dela Rosa, Bong Coo and C.J. Suarez.

Biboy Rivera and Liza del Rosario, who represented the Philippines in last year’s BWC international finals at Sam’s Town in Las Vegas, Nevada, are expected to taske another crack at the title.

Competition is ongoing to determine participants in the

second center finals scheduled from July 8 to 14 in 14 different centers.

The national finals will be held on August 13-14 at Coronado Lanes, August 16-17 at Paeng’s Midtown and August 19 at SM North EDSA. The other batch of national finalists so far: Men --Eric Aranez (2580), Jorel Siumbulan (2532), Alex Ngoi (2507), Merwin Tan (2493), Ezzie Gan (2473), July Vargas (2420), Benshir Layoso (2414), Paulo Valdez (2367), James Fajardo (2213), Noel Abad (2152), Ting Valdez (2151), Larry Tinio (2196), Ernie Jacinto (2117), BJ Aganus (1923), Rene Meneses (1730), Alvin Pastrana

(2018), Lito Fabros (1939), Ramel Francisco (1937), Jun Garcia (1868), Norman Lising (2285), Kap Aguila (2314), Raul Imperial (2249), Don Tungala (2015), Obet Bayot (2177), Randall Go (2001), Pro Surrel (2000), Angel Dilig (2175), Edgar Gamboa (2108), Allen Laigo (1881), Eugene Suarez (2037), Wilson Sua (2036) and Norberto Ulgado (1975).

Ladies – Pure Anselmo (1784), Myrna Bautista (1754), Silva Yap (1742), Khen Abad (1713), Ann Iteralde (1706), Gelyn Pulayan (1664), Dhel Marquez (1629), Leah Naorbe (1623), Juvy Santiago (1473), Lhet Ledesma (1456), Jessica Rivera (1404), Tina Ocampo (1399), Winnie Kilito (1604), Gina Varilla (1683), Sherry Ann Cruz (1643), Donie Bautista (1665), Allen Joy Laigo (1326), Editha Sarmiento (1614), Ayed Luzon (1558), Chit Leoncio (1547) and Susan Viray (1538).

Fight News reported that Valdez, one of Dallas’ exciting young fighters displayed his blazing handspeed in the opening round as he landed a big left hook and worked the body of Castillo.

In the 2nd round, Castillo had to be checked by the doctor because of an apparent head-butt, but was allowed to continue. Valdez kept the pressure on Castillo throughout the fight as he preferred to counter Valdez and fight off the ropes.

The fight got a little nasty when Castillo complained to referee Laurence Cole that he was being head-butted by Valdez, with Cole deducting a point from Valdez for using his shoulder in the third round.

Entering the fifth round, Valdez was well in control and snapped the head back of Castillo on several occasions.

Explosive PSA Forum at Shakey’s IT’S going to be an explosive session of the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum today as protagonists in the coming Universal Reality Combat Championship, including controversial actors Baron Geisler and Kiko Matos, serve as special guests of the weekly program at Shakey’s Malate.

Geisler and Matos, whose highly publicized bar-brawl a few weeks ago led to their inclusion as part of the June 25 undercard, will be joined by fighters Chris Hoffmann and Arvin Asintado, together with URCC founding president Alvin Aguilar, as they talk about the Saturday event to be held at Valkyrie at the Palace in Taguig.

The other half of the session aired live over DZSR Sports Radio 918 and presented by San Miguel Corp., Accel, Shakey’s, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. will be about the Diamond Motors Motocross Series.

Talking about the competition are riders Glenn Aguilar and Janelle Saulog, organizer Sam Tamayo, sponsor John Blaylock, and Dennis Sibucao of Mitsubishi.

Carlos eyes breakthrough in ICTSI golf JOBIM Carlos hopes to rebound from a mediocre showing at Eagle Ridge following a playoff setback at Eastridge, seeking no less than a breakthrough win in the ICTSI Forest Hills Championship beginning Wednesday at the Forest Hills Golf and Country Club in Antipolo.

The rookie pro showed a lot of promise despite bowing to Clyde Mondilla in sudden death at the Manila Masters last month but turned in a so-so finish the following tournament, ending up tied at 26th at the Eagle Ridge Invitational won by Tony Lascuña early this month.

Carlos also failed to make the cut in last week’s Queen’s Cup in Thailand but the former national champion remains upbeat of his chances in the P2 million tournament sponsored by ICTSI the way the rest of the crack international field feels of their

respective bids.

That should make the battle for the top P360,000 purse tight and fierce with Carlos tipped to be among the early contenders along with Lascuña, Mondilla, Jay Bayron, Elmer Salvador, Orlan Sumcad, Charles Hong, Cassius Casas and Zanieboy Gialon.

Mars Pucay, who won here when the rolling, challenging layout first hosted a Philippine Golf Tour event in 2010, also hopes to re-display the form he showed in topping the elite field that included Juvic Pagunsan, who, however, pulled out without prior notice in the first round, leading to his suspension.

Meanwhile, Carlos, Lascuña and Mondilla, along with the other leading pros, test the par-72 layout in today’s (Tuesday) pro-am tournament where they will be paired with the guests and officials of the event’s

chief backers, including by Custom Clubmakers, adidas, KZG, Summit Mineral Water, Srixon, Pacsports, TaylorMade, Sharp and Champion.

Dutch Guido Van der Valk will be the lone foreign player in the pro-am but a host of others are expected to crowd the local aces in the tournament proper, including Japanese Yuta Sudo and Koichi Minami and Koreans Charlie Chang, Song Hyup Hong, Kim Chang Yeon, Thomas Kim, Brian Kim, Park Chan Jung, Park Jun Song and Park Min Ung and American Chris Oetinger.

Other local players seeing action are Jhonnel Ababa, Joenard Rates, Rico Depilo, Rene Menor, Rufino Bayron, Michael Bibat, Justin Quiban, Jerson Balasabas, Albin Engino, Mhark Fernando, Marvin Dumandan, Randy Garalde and Arnold Villacencio.

Jobim Carlos seeks a breakthrough win in the ICTSI Forest Hills Championship beginning Wednesday following a mediocre showing at Eagle Ridge.

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Lady Maroons stay in V-League hunt UNIVERSITY of the Philippines came back strong from a five-set setback the last time out, beating Team Iriga, 25-17, 25-17, 25-19, on Monday to wheel back into contention for a playoff for the last semifinal berth in the Shakey’s V-League Season 13 Open Conference at The Arena in San Juan.

The Lady Maroons dominated the now as far as the school program is first set, fought back from an early concerned.”

The Lady Maroons overwhelmed deficit in the second before pouncing on the Lady Oragons’ sloppy defense the Lady Oragons in spikes, 35-25, and floor coverage in the third to and had more blocks, 5-3. But the Bicol-based team produced nine aces complete the 62-minute victory. as UP struggled with its Though it was only UP’s Games tomorrow second victory against 1 p.m. • Navy vs Air Force reception in the second three losses, it kept the 4 p.m. • BaliPure vs Baguio set of the match aired live Lady Maroons in the hunt 6:30 p.m. • Air Force vs Iriga on ABS-CBN Sports + Action Channel 23. for a playoff for the last FiGrazielle Bombita fired 11 hits nal Four berth in the season-opening conference of the league sponsored by while Shola Alvarez added nine markers and Karen Levina and ShalShakey’s.

“Coach told us to play with con- lane Eniong each had six points for fidence which we just did,” said Di- the also-ran Iriga, which fell to 1-5.

In the Spikers’ Turf, Cignal fought ana Carlos, the Pampanga ace spiker whose 13-point performance, includ- back in a marathon second set setback ing 10 attack points, netted her the and a meltdown in the fourth with a gritty stand in the decider, hacking best player of the game honors.

The win also primed up the Dil- out a thrilling 25-13, 34-36, 25-15, iman-based squad for its crucial 17-25, 19-17 decision over Instituto match with National U in the penul- Estetico Manila to wrest the solo lead timate elims playdate of the tourna- with four straight wins.

The HD Spikers bucked the powerment backed by Mikasa and Accel on hitting troika of Greg Dolor, Jeffrey Saturday.

“We need to prepare every time we Jimenez and Edan Canlas and made go up against a fellow UAAP team,” the hits that mattered most to escape said UP coach Jerry Yee. “It will also with the victory in their two-hour, serve as a gauge as to where we are two-minute encounter.

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

INVITATION TO BID FOR THE SUPPLY AND DELIVERY OF IT RELATED EQUIPMENT UNDER ITB NO. PB16-016ANG The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) is inviting all interested bidders in its forthcoming public bidding for the Supply and Delivery of IT Related Equipment under ITB No. PB16-016ANG. Brief Description

IT Related Equipment

Delivery Period

Within sixty (60) calendar days from the effectivity date specified in the Notice to Proceed

Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC):

The total ABC is Four Million Eight Hundred Eighteen Thousand Five Hundred Fifty Pesos (P 4,818,550.00), VAT-Exclusive, Zero-Rated Transaction.

Lot 1 : Various IT Equipment - Three Million One Hundred Forty-Nine Thousand Five Hundred Fifty Pesos (P 3,149,550.00), VAT Exclusive, Zero Rated Transaction Lot 2 : Audio/Visual Accessories – Two Hundred Sixty Thousand Pesos (P 260,000.00), VAT Exclusive, Zero Rated Transaction Lot 3 : Software Licenses – One Million One Hundred Sixty-One Thousand Pesos (P 1,161,000.00), VAT Exclusive, Zero Rated Transaction Lot 4 – Distribution Amplifier – Two Hundred Forty-Eight Thousand Pesos (P 248,000.00), 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 June 21, 2016 to July 12, 2016

Approved Budget for the Contract

July 12, 2016 (Tuesday), 2:00 p.m.

July 12, 2016 (Tuesday), 2:00 p.m., onwards

Cost of Bidding Documents (in Philippine Pesos) 500.00

More than 500,000.00 up to 1 Million

1,000.00

More than 1 Million up to 5 Million

5,000.00

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 bidding fee 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 Finance Section located at the Mezzanine Floor, Casino Filipino – Angeles, Mac Arthur Highway, Balibago, Angeles City either the Bidding Fee Slip which may be secured from the BBASS 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 post-qualified and determined as the bidder having the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid (LCRB) to determine the final 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 Branch Bids and Awards Committee through the Branch Bids and Awards Services Section, Mezzanine Floor, Casino Filipino – Angeles, Mac Arthur Highway, Balibago, Angeles City at Tel No.: 892-5073 local 401.

(SGD) GLECY B. DANGA Chairperson Branch Bids and Awards Committee (BBAC)

Ramirez back in PSC

By Peter Atencio WILLIAM “Butch” Ramirez, incoming President Rodrigo Duterte’s long-time adviser for sports while still Mayor of Davao City, has finally been convinced to come back as Chairman of the Philippine Sports Commission.

Sources speaking on condition that they will not be identified said Ramirez finally agreed to take back the post he once occupied after nearly a month of thinking things over.

He will be bring with him people, who have hands-on experience in handling matters at the PSC in the past and will be named commissioners when he comes aboard.

The incoming administration, according to the source, wants to bring people into the government sports agency with knowledge on what to do, the ins and outs, and having the desire to fix situations.

Ramirez has headed the Davao Sports Development Division

since he quit his post as PSC Chairman in 2008.

Ramirez bared that plans are afoot to give equal importance to grassroots development, international sports and elite-level activities.

The search and development for young and talented athletes will be enhanced, set to begin at the soonest time, once the new set of officials are in place in the PSC. Reviving the Philippine Sports Institute is also among his goals.

A budget of P1.4 billion will be in the hands of Ramirez and the new set of commissioner when they finally sit down and hold office.

The money comes from funds saved by the government sports agency over the last six years.

Outgoing PSC Chairman Ricardo “Richie” Garcia, who is waiting for his replacement, said the money was earmarked as seed money for the purchase of land which will be utilized as a national training center for athletes.

June 28, 2016 (Tuesday), 2:00 p.m.

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, upon payment of the non-refundable cost for the sale of bidding documents based on the following matrix:

500,000.00 and below

Shola Alvarez (19) of Iriga challenges UP’s blockers Mae Basarte (2) and Katherine Bersola (8) during their Shakey’s V-League encounter.

(TS-JUNE 21, 2016)

RC Cola kicks off Superliga title quest turn stronger, even better HEAVYWEIGHT RC Games Today 4 p.m. – Generika vs after it left.

Cola-Army kicks off And in the pre-season its title quest when it Standard Insurance-Navy 6 p.m. – RC Cola-Army vs conference a few months battles a young Amy’s Amy’s Kitchen ago, RC Cola-Army Kitchen side in the 2016 Philippine Superliga All-Filipino delivered a preview of its vaunted Conference women’s volleyball strength and power as it crushed the tournament Tuesday at the FilOil Thailand national juniors team in four sets en route to winning the PSL Flying V Center in San Juan.

The match is at 6 p.m. following Invitational Cup crown.

It was a historic feat as it was the 4 p.m., encounter between the returning Generika and neophyte the Filipinos’ first victory over the Standard Insurance-Navy in this Thais since winning the gold medal highly-competitive club tourney in the Singapore Southeast Asian bankrolled by Asics, Grand Sports, Games 23 years ago.

But RC Cola-Army coach Mikasa, Mueller and Senoh with Kungfu Reyes is downplaying their TV5 as official broadcast partner.

After taking the league by storm, chances, saying they are way bethe Lady Troopers took a three-con- hind other teams in terms of trainference leave of absence only to re- ing and preparation.

Kiwis a force to reckon with THE New Zealand Tall Blacks have been undefeated in their overseas tour thus far, a clear indication they will be a force to reckon with in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena on July 5 to 10.

The Tall Blacks have won their first three games in the Atlas International Basketball Challenge in Suzhou, China all in runaway fashion, speaking well of their buildup for the Manila OQT where they clash with Smart Gilas and France during elimination play.

The Kiwis were particularly impressive in their 98-74 whipping of the host Chinese after earlier triumphs over Belarus and Japan.

Michael Karena was their main man versus the Chinese, with the 6’10” rookie center top scoring with 18 points on a perfect 9-of-9 field shooting. Consistent performers for the Kiwis in the Chinese meet are brothers Corey and Tai Webster, Isaac Fotu and Jordan Ngatai.

With OKC Thunder center Steven Adams unavailable, not a single NBA player will be suiting up for New Zealand in its bid for a third Olympics stint after the 2000 and 2004 Summer Games.

The provisional Tall Blacks roster, however, features nine holdovers from the team that placed 15th of 24 teams in the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain.

They are the Websters, Fotu, Tom Abercrombie, BJ Anthony, Jarrod Kenny, Rob Lowe, Mika Vukona, Everard Barlett.

Also contending for spots in the Final 12 are Karena, Ngatai, Finn Delany, Shea Lli, and Ethan Rusbatch.

T UE S DAY : J UN E 2 1 , 2 0 1 6

A15

SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

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

P0 M+ P0 M

Cleveland...

From A16

Cleveland the lead for good, while J.R. Smith had 12 points and Kevin Love had nine points and 14 rebounds.

James made three free throws and added a 3-pointer to give the Cavaliers an 89-87 lead, but Klay Thompson’s layup lifted the Warriors level with 4:39 to play.

The teams each went six possessions without scoring after that, tension mounting as time and again they thwarted each other until Irving’s 3-pointer.

“It was 89-89 it felt like for three days and it was really only probably a minute and a half,” Smith said. “The way we fought and everything we worked for and this year was bottled down to a minute and a half. So we had to buckle down. Fortunately we got stops and Kyrie just had a hell of a shot.”

After another Cavaliers’ stop, James was fouled by Green as he tried for a clinching slam dunk. Instead, he made a free throw to produce the final margin and the Warriors could only watch the celebration begin.

‘Hell of a grind’ “It was a hell of a grind,” Irving said. “The odds—it was 92 percent to eight percent. Vegas said it couldn’t be done. Everyone in the world said it couldn’t be done. I’m thankful.

I’m truly humbled.”

The game featured 20 lead changes and was tied 11 times. Each team managed its biggest lead in the third quarter, neither ahead by more than eight after six games where the final margin was in double digits.

“I could never imagine it was going to be this sweet, but it’s a great feeling,” said Cleveland’s Tristan Thompson.

NBA scoring leader Steph Curry had 17 points while fellow Warriors 3-point sharpshooter Thompson managed only 14.

“It stung,” Curry said. “It sucked to watch them celebrate and we wish that would have been us, but at the end of the day, you congratulate them for accomplishing what they set out to do.”

The winner-take-all showdown captured the attention of US President Barack Obama, who watched the end on Air Force One after returning from a family trip and tweeted, “What a game and what a series for the cavs. Happy to see KingJames bring it home for Cleveland!” AFP

LeBron James of Cleveland displays both the Larry O’Brien NBA Championship Trophy and the Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award after the Cavaliers were crowned champions of the 2016 NBA Season. AFP

A king reclaims his throne OAKLAND—LeBron James wept while Cleveland cheered.

The prodigal son who left for Miami in 2010 to win two NBA titles, then returned home in 2014 vowing to end a major sport title drought that had haunted Cleveland since 1964, delivered on his promise Sunday when the Cleveland Cavaliers beat Golden State 93-89 in the decisive seventh game of the NBA Finals.

“It’s the greatest feeling in the world,” James said. “I dreamed about it, envisioned it and to see it come true is just plain beautiful.”

James dropped to his knees and cried on the court, wept as he kissed the trophy and again as he spoke about years of Cleveland sport frustration since Jim Brown led the Cleveland Browns to a 27-0 victory over the Baltimore Colts for the 1964 NFL crown.

“Those emotions came out of

me, just understanding what our city has been through over the last 50-plus years since Jim Brown,” James said. “Then also people just counting me out. Throughout my 13-year career, I’ve done nothing but be true to the game, put my heart, my blood, sweat, tears into the game, and people still want to doubt what I’m capable of doing.

“So that was a little icing on the cake for myself to just let me know that everything I’ve done, it results in this. Hard work pays off and that’s what happened tonight.”

Thousands gathered on the streets of Cleveland to watch the game on big screens and a roaring celebration began when the final buzzer sounded, ending 52 years of sporting frustration.

“I came back for a reason. I came back to bring a championship to our city,” James said.

On the...

A hell of a shot STEP BACK ARMAN D. ARMERO

ONE shot.

“A hell of a shot.”

That was JR Smith, describing Kyrie Irving’s heave from the three-point area with 52 seconds to go that practically brought down the Golden State Warriors to their knees and gave the Cleveland Cavaliers their firstever NBA title.

It was a historic comeback for the Cava-

liers, who had to rise from the pit of a 1-3 deficit, including two road games, to finally seal the deal, 93-89, before a stunned Oracle Arena crowd.

And it was that hell of a shot by the 24-yearold Irving which made it happen, a shot so intrepid you’ll never imagine coming from someone so young.

Before that trey, Irving was his usual efficient self, hitting jump shots and banging in impossibly-angled banked

shots against bigger guards.

Sure, Lebron James proved in the NBA Finals that he’s still undisputed as basketball king, but without Irving, James could not do it all by himself even with his immense talent, as last year’s finals against the same team showed.

Indeed, Irving’s trey came at the right time and at the exact moment, shattering an 89-80 standoff after both teams missed shot after shot for at

“Right now it’s just excitement.

It’s not even relief. To continue to be an inspiration to our city, it means everything.

“I’m ready to get back to Cleveland. I can’t wait to get off that plane and hold that trophy up and see all our fans at the terminal. So I can’t wait to give the emotion back to them.”

Cleveland’s biggest party And Wednesday’s celebration parade?

“Oh, my goodness,” James said.

“It’s going to be the biggest party that Cleveland has ever seen.”

There has been pain in the past 18,802 days for Cleveland.

James led the Cavs to the finals in 2007 and 2015 only to lose.

Major League Baseball’s Cleveland Indians have not won a World Series since 1948, losing in 1995 and 1997. Meanwhile the Browns, playoffs losers thanks to an Earnest Byner fumble and an epic John Elway touchdown drive, moved to

least three minutes leading into that fateful trey.

It wasn’t an easy shot, as Irving had to arc his shot a little bit against the outstretched arm of Stephen Curry, but the shot went straight into the basket, as if carried by the wing of a prayer and perhaps the hopes of an entire city.

That was a hell of a shot, and it carried the Cavs into basketball heaven.

Email me at armero_23yahoo.com.

From A16

to me to try to lead my team and do what I need to do on the court in big stages.”

Seemingly not his entire self in the finals, where his performance was inconsistent if not sub-par, Curry admitted to his shortcomings as well.

“Done it before and I didn’t do it this time around,” he added.

In a shocking conclusion, the Warriors are now on the bad side of history after being the first team to lose in the finals after holding a commanding 3-1 series lead.

With that, this is now being considered as the biggest collapse in NBA finals history.

Baltimore and were replaced by an expansion team struggling to be a winner.

“Just knowing what our city has been through and our fans, they ride or die, no matter what has been going on they continue to support us,” James said.

“And for us to be able to end this, end this drought, our fans deserve it. And it was for them.”

Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue, a mid-season replacement for the fired David Blatt, missed James crying for his own tears.

“I didn’t see it. I was on the bench crying myself. Just a lot of emotions,” Lue said. “LeBron, he deserves it. He’s a hard worker. He’s been the face of the NBA for 13 years. To come back to Cleveland, to bring them a championship, just shows you who he is.

“He’s a giver. He’s always looking to take care of people. If anyone deserves it, LeBron James definitely deserves it.” AFP

Given that the conclusion of the season didn’t end up in their favor, Curry is aware that the record-setting season they had will be overshadowed by their inability to cap it with a second straight championship.

“It wasn’t easy what we accomplished, but it is not an easy pill to swallow what we didn’t accomplish,” he said.

The Warriors had three chances to clinch the championship but they were unable to get over the hump after Cavs’ superstars LeBron James, who was named the Finals Most Valuable Player for the third time in his career, and Kyrie Irving just went off and carried their team on their shoulders from Game 5 all the way to Game 7 to make history.

“We had a goal at the beginning of the year to repeat, and that goal we failed,” said Warriors’ forward Draymond Green.

T U E S DAY : J U N E 2 1 , 2 0 16

A16

RIERA U. MALL ARI EDITOR

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

sports@thestandard.com.ph

SPORTS

Cleveland,

this is for you The champion Cleveland Cavaliers celebrate on stage after winning Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors at ORACLE Arena in Oakland, California. AFP

OAKLAND—LeBron James delivered one of his mightiest all-around performances Sunday and the Cleveland Cavaliers completed the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history, dethroning defending champion Golden State 93-89 to capture their first league title.

The Cavaliers were the first club to rally from a 3-1 deficit to win the best-of-seven series, giving Cleveland its first major sports champion since the 1964 NFL Browns and ending the longest such title drought for any American city.

“Cleveland, this is for you,” a tearful James screamed on the court after the frantic final seconds.

James scored 27 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and passed off 11 assists—only the third “triple double” in a finals seventh game—to take the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player award for the third time in his career, humbling a Warriors team that won a record 73 regularseason games.

“We were able to put together some spectacular games down 3-1,” James said. “This is special. I kept that positive attitude. I don’t

know why we had to take the hard

road. Against all odds.”

“King” James made good on the promise he made to his hometown after returning in 2014 from Miami, the city he left for in 2010 to learn how to become a champion, leaving behind fans who felt betrayed and some who burned replica James’ jerseys.

WHILE the city of Cleveland celebrates its first championship in major sports in 52 years after the Cavaliers won their first National Basketball Association title on Sunday (Monday manila time), Most Basketball Player Stephen Curry is in sorrow and dealing with the agony of defeat.

than two steals and two blocked shots a game—the greatest allaround numbers ever produced with a crown on the line.

‘Probably never be over it’ Golden State suffered the worst choke in NBA Finals history after the winningest campaign in league history. The Warriors had not lost three games in a row since 2013.

“It sucks. It hurts to lose when you had a 3-1 lead,” said Draymond Green, who led the Warriors with 32 points.

“It’ll sting me for a while. It’s supposed to sting. I’m not over the loss. I’ll probably never be over that. It will sting for a while, but it’s fuel.”

Only two other clubs down 3-1 in the finals had ever forced a seventh game, none in 50 years until now. Cleveland was only the fourth road winner in 19 NBA Finals seventh games, the first since Washington captured the 1978 title in Seattle.

Kyrie Irving added 26 points, including the crucial 3-pointer with 52 seconds remaining to give Turn to A15

On the bad side of history

By Jeric Lopez

“For us to be able to end this drought, our fans deserve it. And it was for them,” James said. “To continue to be an inspiration to our city means everything.”

James, 3-3 in six consecutive finals appearances, led the series with 29.7 points, 11.3 rebounds and 8.7 assists a game plus more

After capping off a historic season in disappointment after his Golden State Warriors recorded the best regular-season slate of 73-9, won their first 24 games of the season and came back from a 1-3 series deficit in the Western Conference Finals, Curry admitted that losing Game 7 and the championship is a bitter pill to swallow for him and his team.

“This will haunt me for a while,” said Curry in the postgame press conference after Cleveland defeated Golden State, 93-89, in the deciding Game 7 to claim the NBA championship and leave the Warriors with a broken heart as their magical season didn’t exactly end the way they wanted it to. “It means a lot Turn to A15

Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors is a look of dejection after the Cleveland Cavaliers won Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals.

AFP

B1

TUESDAY: JUNE 21, 2016

RAY S. EÑANO EDITOR

RODERICK T. DELA CRUZ ASSISTANT EDITOR

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

BUSINESS

Menarco Tower tops off.

Menarco Tower, the only office building in the Philippines to register for Well Certification and the maiden development of boutique developer Menarco Development Corp. in Bonifacio Global City, celebrates a significant milestone with a topping-off ceremony. Shown are (from left) Datem area manager Emerito Alcala, marketing manager Lesley Ardelle Villanueva, operations manager Gerry Sulit, C/S Design Consultancy Inc. managing director Anna Maria Sy-Lawrence, Menarco chairman Menardo Jimenez Sr., managing director Carmen Jimenez Ong, Jacmi president Jose Ramon Aliling, Arcadis operations manager Michael Hearn, Aidea Philippines Inc. president and chief executive Abelardo Tolentino Jr. and Sy2+Associates Structural Engineers executive vice president Wilson Sy.

Duterte set to spend P1t in infrastructure

By Gabrielle H Binaday

DAVAO CITY—The incoming Duterte administration will increase annual infrastructure spending to P1 trillion beginning 2017 to spread development to other parts of the country.

Incoming budget secretary Benjamin Diokno said the plan was to raise infrastructure spending to as much as 6 percent of gross domestic product.

Diokno said that while agriculture would be the main priority in the 2017 budget proposal, infrastructure spending would account

for the largest part at a range of P800 billion to P1 trillion.

“We will prioritize number one agriculture, number two, infrastructure. We are planning to spend as much as 5 percent to 6 percent [of GDP] for infrastructure. And we’re thinking about P800 billion to P1 trillion for in-

frastructure,” Diokno said at the sidelines of the Sulong Pilipinas business consultation forum at SMX Convention Center here.

Latest data from the Budget Department showed that as of the third quarter of 2015, the government spent only P243 billion in infrastructure or 2.55 percent of GDP, below the 2015 target of 4.47 percent of GDP. The Aquino administration set an infrastructure spending target of P595.7 billion in 2015.

Higher infrastructure spending is in line with the Duterte administration’s target to raise the budget deficit ceiling to 3 percent of GDP in 2017 from the current

target of 2 percent.

Incoming Economic Planning secretary Ernesto Pernia cited the need to spread development outside Metro Manila. He said about two-thirds of GDP was currently concentrated in the National Capital Region.

“We need to rebalance the economy from NCR development to regional and rural development to achieve for poverty and inequalityreducing growth,” Pernia said.

Pernia said the Duterte administration was looking at a GDP growth of 6.5 percent for 2016, a more feasible target than the Aquino administration’s goal of 6.8 percent to 7.8 percent.

PSE approves Cemex’s P40-b maiden offering

By Jenniffer B. Austria THE Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday approved the P40-billion initial public offering of Cemex Holdings Philippines Inc., one of the leading cement producers in the country.

A memorandum posted on the PSE website showed Cemex Holdings’ maiden offering would be from July 4 to July 11, while listing was tentatively set on July 18.

“The exchange’s approval of the initial public offering of CHP’s shares is subject to its compliance with all of the post-approval requirements of the Exchange,” the PSE said.

Cemex Holdings will offer up to 2.032 billion primary shares at an offer price of up to P17 per share to raise P34.5 billion and another 304.9 million in case of over allotment that will generate P5.18 billion.

The shares will be listed in the main board of the PSE. Cemex Holdings will have a market capitalization of P88.32 billion and a public float of 45 percent, after the IPO. Documents showed Cemex Holdings planned to use the proceeds for the repayment of up to $504 million worth of short-term loan to related third-party New

Sunward Holdings B.V., which was used to acquire operating subsidiaries Apo Cement Corp. and Solid Cement Corp.

Citigroup Global Markets Limited, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, Singapore Branch and J.P. Morgan Securities PLC are the joint global coordinators and book runners while BDO Capital & Investment Corp. is the domestic lead underwriter.

Cemex Holdings is the newly formed subsidiary of Cemex Asian South East Corp, which is a wholly-owned indirect subsidiary of Cemex España, S.A., which in turn is indirectly owned by Ce-

mex, S.A.B. de C.V. of Mexico, one of the largest cement companies in the world.

Cemex Holdings currently operates two cement plants in the Philippines, Apo Cement and Solid Cement, with aggregate installed annual capacity of 5.7 million tons as of March 31, 2016.

Apo cement plant in Cebu currently has three grinding lines and has an installed annual capacity of 3.8 million tons of cement serving customers in the Visayas and Mindanao while Solid cement plant in Rizal has three grinding lines with an installed annual capacity of 1.9 million tons.

PSe comPoSite index Closing June 20, 2016

8300 7840 7380 6920 6460 6000

7,665.33 43.26

PeSo-dollar rate

Closing June 20, 2016 48.00 46.00 45.00

P46.335

44.00

CLOSE

43.00

HIGH P46.300 LOW P46.420 AVERAGE P46.363 VOLUME 428.350M

P427.00-P620.00 LPG/11-kg tank P36.35-P43.45 Unleaded Gasoline

oPriceS il P today

P24.75-P29.60 Diesel P34.55-P39.15 Kerosene Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Monday, June 20, 2016

F oreign e xchange r ate Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

46.4180

Japan

Yen

0.009556

0.4436

UK

Pound

1.447700

67.1993

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.128866

5.9817

Switzerland

Franc

1.041667

48.3521

Canada

Dollar

0.778634

36.1426

Singapore

Dollar

0.743052

34.4910

Australia

Dollar

0.743000

34.4886

Bahrain

Dinar

2.657172

123.3406

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266660

12.3778

Brunei

Dollar

0.740302

34.3633

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000075

0.0035

Thailand

Baht

0.028385

1.3176

UAE

Dirham

0.272264

12.6380

Euro

Euro

1.133500

52.6148

Korea

Won

0.000855

0.0397

China

Yuan

0.151745

7.0437

India

Rupee

0.014911

0.6921

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.244021

11.3270

New Zealand

Dollar

0.706800

32.8082

Taiwan

Dollar

0.030950

1.4366 Source: PDS Bridge

TUESDAY: JUNE 21, 2016

B2

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

The STandard BuSineSS daily STockS review Monday, June 20, 2016

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High Low

STOCKS

7.88 75.3 124.4 107 56.5 2.49 17 30.45 10.4 2.6 890 1.01 100 30.5 75 91.5 137 361.2 57 180 1700 124 3.26

2.5 66 88.05 88.1 45.45 1.97 12.02 19.6 6.12 1.02 625 0.225 78 17.8 58 62 88.35 276 41 118.2 1200 59 2.65

AG Finance Asia United Bank Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. Bank of PI China Bank BDO Leasing & Fin. INc. COL Financial Eastwest Bank Filipino Fund Inc. I-Remit Inc. Manulife Fin. Corp.

MEDCO Holdings Metrobank PB Bank Phil Bank of Comm Phil. National Bank Phil. Savings Bank PSE Inc. RCBC `A’ Security Bank Sun Life Financial Union Bank Vantage Equities

47 5 1.46 2.36 15.3 89 20.6 85 36 65.8 2.97 4.14 21.5 21.6 11.96 9.13 11.8 2.89 31.8 109 20.75 15.3 9.4 0.98 241 79 4 74 33.9 90 13.26 293 0.62 5 5.25 12.98 15 7.03 3.4 4.5 6.3 7.34 1450 3.28 0.315 2.18 2.65 234 5.28 1.3 2.17

35.9 1.11 1.01 1.86 7.92 40.3 15.32 20.2 10.08 29.15 1.5 1.5 10.72 9.55 9.04 6.02 8.86 1.06 20.2 71.5 13.86 13.24 5.34 0.395 173 34.1 1.63 33 23.35 17.3 5.88 250.2 0.335 3.37 3.87 8.45 10.04 3.03 1.95 1 4.02 5.9 801 1.55 0.138 1.02 2.09 152 4.28 0.640 1.2

Aboitiz Power Corp.

46.4 Agrinurture Inc. 3.9 Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. 0.83 Alsons Cons.

2 Asiabest Group 12.58 Bogo Medelin 58.5 Century Food 21.5 Conc. Aggr. ‘A’ 186 Cirtek Holdings (Chips) 16.8 Concepcion 47.2 Crown Asia 2 Da Vinci Capital 5.12 Del Monte 11.3 DNL Industries Inc. 9.800 Emperador 7.18 Energy Devt. Corp. (EDC) 5.25 EEI 7.73 Euro-Med Lab 1.73 First Gen Corp.

22.15 First Holdings ‘A’ 64.1 Ginebra San Miguel Inc. 11.98 Holcim Philippines Inc. 15.00 Integ. Micro-Electronics 5.61 Ionics Inc 2.320 Jollibee Foods Corp.

239.00 Liberty Flour 33.00 Mabuhay Vinyl 3.31 Macay Holdings 38.65 Manila Water Co. Inc. 27.2 Maxs Group 27.75 Megawide 6.6 Mla. Elect. Co `A’ 325.00 MG Holdings 0.270 Panasonic Mfg Phil. Corp. 4.43 Pepsi-Cola Products Phil. 3.41 Petron Corporation 11.66 Phinma Corporation 11.64 Phoenix Petroleum Phils. 6.00 Phoenix Semiconductor 1.74 Pryce Corp. `A’ 2.77 RFM Corporation 4.24 Roxas Holdings 4.17 San Miguel ‘Pure Foods `A’ 216.2 Splash Corporation 2.5 Swift Foods, Inc. 0.147 TKC Steel Corp.

1.67 Trans-Asia Oil 2.49 Universal Robina 207 Victorias Milling 4.64 Vitarich Corp.

0.88 Vulcan Ind’l.

1.27

0.59 59.2 30.05 2.16 7.39 3.4 3.35 823.5 10.2 84 3.35 3.68 4.92 0.66 1455 7.5 76 5.29 6.66 9.25 0.85 17.3 5.53 0.0670 2.31 1.61 2.99 84.9 3.5 974 1.66 1.39 156 0.710 0.435 0.510

0.44 48.1 20.85 1.6 6.62 0.23 0.23 634.5 7.390 12.8 2.6 1.15 2.26 0.152 837 5.3 49.55 3 3.52 4.84 0.59 12 4.2 0.030 1.23 0.550 2.26 59.3 1.5 751 1.13 0.93 80 0.211 0.179 0.310

Abacus Cons. `A’ Aboitiz Equity Alliance Global Inc. Anglo Holdings A Anscor `A’ ATN Holdings A ATN Holdings B Ayala Corp `A’ Cosco Capital DMCI Holdings F&J Prince ‘A’ F&J Prince ‘B’ Filinvest Dev. Corp.

Forum Pacific GT Capital House of Inv. JG Summit Holdings Keppel Holdings `A’ Keppel Holdings `B’ Lopez Holdings Corp.

Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp.

LT Group Metro Pacific Inv. Corp.

Pacifica `A’ Prime Media Hldg Prime Orion Republic Glass ‘A’ San Miguel Corp `A’ Seafront `A’ SM Investments Inc. Solid Group Inc. South China Res. Inc. Top Frontier Unioil Res. & Hldgs Wellex Industries Zeus Holdings

0.385 73.70 15.90 1.16 6.27 0.360 0.350 839 7.93 12.92 5 5 6.50 0.220 1431 6.31 83.40 6.19 6.83 7.55 0.69 15.5 6.5 0.0320 1.470 1.820 2.62 78.70 2.2 961.50 1.18 0.80 187.000 0.3150 0.2000 0.320

10.5 1.99 1.75 0.375 41.4 5.6 5.59 1.44 1.97 1.48 0.201 0.69 10.96 0.97 2.22

6.74 0.65 1.2 0.192 30.05 3.36 4.96 0.79 1.1 0.97 0.083 0.415 2.4 0.83 1.15

8990 HLDG A. Brown Co., Inc. Araneta Prop `A’ Arthaland Corp.

Ayala Land `B’ Belle Corp. `A’ Cebu Holdings Century Property City & Land Dev. Cityland Dev. `A’ Crown Equities Inc. Cyber Bay Corp.

Double Dragon Empire East Land Global-Estate

7.660 1.29 2.190 0.280 38.350 3.36 5.19 0.500 1.00 1.030 0.134 0.600 58.55 0.800 0.97

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

SHARES 11,415,596 50,956,932 96,908,125 159,076,757 379,983,486 852,768,717 1,559,032,604

Close

High

3.95 46 108.70 97.20 37.65 3.28 14 18 7.00 1.77 598.50 0.570 87.05 15.00 23.00 53.50 106.5 265 32.05 201 1374.00 65.20 1.55

Low

FINANCIAL 4 3.78 46 45.5 108.90 107.80 97.35 97.00 38.5 37.7 3.28 3.28 14.2 14.2 18.42 17.98 7.00 7.00 1.85 1.76 600.00 595.00 0.570 0.550 88.6 87.05 15.00 14.94 23.00 23.00 53.90 53.55 106.5 106.5 262 260 32.05 31.95 201 198 1375.00 1374.00 65.40 64.10 1.55 1.52 INDUSTRIAL 46.55 46.2 3.86 3.7 0.83 0.83 2.03 2 12.6 12.2 57 55.1 21.5 21.35 195 186 17.46 16.7 47.5 46 2.19 2.05 5.35 5.1 11.3 11.14 9.800 9.650 7.26 7.18 5.34 5.28 7.75 7.67 2.3 1.67 22.55 22.2 65 64.1 12.00 11.90 15.18 14.62 5.6 5.55 2.330 2.300 239.00 235.00 33.00 33.00 3.29 36.29 38.65 38.65 27.5 27 28.3 27.75 6.64 6.6 325.00 320.20 0.270 0.270 4.21 4.20 3.5 3.4 11.64 11.42 11.54 11.00 6.29 6.00 1.74 1.68 2.8 2.75 4.24 4.18 4.17 4.17 216 215.8 2.5 2.5 0.150 0.148 1.68 1.62 2.52 2.49 207 203.2 4.65 4.52 0.91 0.88 1.28 1.23 HOLDING FIRMS 0.390 0.375 74.00 73.05 15.88 15.70 1.16 1.13 6.27 6.20 0.380 0.350 0.375 0.345 853.5 837 7.97 7.84 12.92 12.72 5.36 4.82 6.6 5.02 6.50 6.40 0.225 0.225 1449 1416 6.34 6.34 84.55 83.20 6.19 5.1 6.5 5.01 7.55 7.4 0.75 0.69 15.68 15.5 6.69 6.5 0.0320 0.0320 1.340 1.300 1.840 1.820 2.63 2.63 79.80 78.30 2.20 2.13 990.00 966.00 1.18 1.15 0.80 0.79 188.000 185.300 0.3200 0.3100 0.2020 0.1970 0.320 0.315 PROPERTY 7.680 7.630 1.31 1.26 2.200 2.150 0.270 0.270 40.100 38.350 3.38 3.31 5.19 5.13 0.51 0.500 1.05 1.05 1.070 1.020 0.139 0.132 0.640 0.600 59.9 58.3 0.800 0.790 0.99 0.97

Close

%

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

3.88 45.5 108.60 97.10 37.9 3.28 14.2 18.14 7.00 1.85 595.00 0.560 88 15.00 23.00 53.90 106.5 261 32 199.9 1374.00 65.20 1.52

-1.77 -1.09 -0.09 -0.10 0.66 0.00 1.43 0.78 0.00 4.52 -0.58 -1.75 1.09 0.00 0.00 0.75 0.00 -1.51 -0.16 -0.55 0.00 0.00 -1.94

355,000 9,500 1,834,640 792,750 34,700 1,000 2,000 1,173,300 900 13,000 100 690,000 5,784,780 30,200 1,000 74,450 1,000 5,430 163,100 228,680 155 202,170 17,000

46.25 3.78 0.83 2.01 12.38 55.4 21.4 195 16.72 47.3 2.17 5.21 11.3 9.650 7.21 5.29 7.74 1.72 22.5 64.1 12.00 14.80 5.55 2.300 238.00 33.00 3.29 38.65 27.1 28.3 6.6 322.80 0.270 4.20 3.4 11.60 11.00 6.20 1.73 2.8 4.24 4.17 216 2.5 0.148 1.63 2.50 204.6 4.65 0.91 1.27

-0.32 -3.08 0.00 0.50 -1.59 -5.30 -0.47 4.84 -0.48 0.21 8.50 1.76 0.00 -1.53 0.42 0.76 0.13 -0.58 1.58 0.00 0.17 -1.33 -1.07 -0.86 -0.42 0.00 -0.60 0.00 -0.37 1.98 0.00 -0.68 0.00 -5.19 -0.29 -0.51 -5.50 3.33 -0.57 1.08 0.00 0.00 -0.09 0.00 0.68 -2.40 0.40 -1.16 0.22 3.41 0.00

480,500 1,103,000 17,000 2,794,000 2,800 570 617,500 1,920 437,200 1,800 7,901,000 192,400 42,600 1,531,100 756,000 12,400,100 132,300 6,500 563,700 153,780 24,800 11,800 393,900 687,000 464,400 50,200 5,000 1,500 5,301,000 294,200 4,000 111,810 190,000 10,000 142,000 1,775,100 62,600 1,212,700 216,000 85,000 541,000 4,000 1,000 408,000 570,000 594,000 2,324,000 1,167,660 14,000 4,695,000 365,000

0.385 73.50 15.70 1.16 6.27 0.365 0.375 841 7.85 12.84 5.08 5.02 6.48 0.225 1445 6.34 84.35 5.6 5.6 7.52 0.7 15.56 6.67 0.0320 1.340 1.840 2.63 78.85 2.13 982.00 1.15 0.80 188.000 0.3100 0.2020 0.320

0.00 -0.27 -1.26 0.00 0.00 1.39 7.14 0.24 -1.01 -0.62 1.60 0.40 -0.31 2.27 0.98 0.48 1.14 -9.53 -18.01 -0.40 1.45 0.39 2.62 0.00 -8.84 1.10 0.38 0.19 -3.18 2.13 -2.54 0.00 0.53 -1.59 1.00 0.00

340,000 1,912,970 4,346,200 37,000 40,600 8,070,000 170,000 340,700 968,100 3,820,100 141,500 150,700 137,200 10,000 157,925 400 3,866,290 102,900 259,700 1,235,200 1,573,000 2,418,700 60,094,900 400,000 6,000 152,000 2,000 300,760 27,000 158,680 574,000 72,000 1,050 3,900,000 60,000 870,000

7.660 1.28 2.160 0.270 39.550 3.31 5.13 0.500 1.05 1.070 0.138 0.620 58.45 0.790 0.99

0.00 -0.78 -1.37 -3.57 3.13 -1.49 -1.16 0.00 5.00 3.88 2.99 3.33 -0.17 -1.25 2.06

272,800 1,957,000 754,000 30,000 19,404,400 485,000 3,000 15,127,000 1,000 68,000 9,740,000 33,293,000 729,820 199,000 8,225,000

366,995.00 23,365,740 7,110,587.50 -34,110.00 22,592.00 -3,765,528.00

76,392,406.00 -1,222,144.00 -488,400.00 4,774,440 492,528.00 -3,871,337.50 -6,060,755.00 212,100.00 4,836,720.00 326,600.00 -7,770.00 4,418,204.00 2,800,501.00 -3,643,378.00 -3,073.00 3,440.00 -319,390.00 -3,638,467.00 -27,324.00 24,856.00 -348,000.00 48,038,950.00 57,975.00 -118,274,095.00 1,120,920.00 -3,197,974.00 -34,000.00 -854,942.00 -48,930.00 1,066,270.00 215,972.00 8,150.00 97,683,864.00 -24,640.00

21,895,245.00 -18,218,974.00 -7,500.00 -70,847,195.00 235,446.00 20,856,390.00 -765,700.00 7,927,560.00 -8,964,580.00 -5,074,898.00 9,468,456.00 20,840,532.00 3,200.00 2,395,270.00 81,861,150.00 -465,750.00

1,378,360.00 -45,720.00 2,240.00 296,034,285.00 391,670.00 2,582,500.00 233,720.00 960,000.00 -14,342,867.50 41,710.00

52 Weeks

Previous

High Low

STOCKS

Close

High

%

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

1.42 1.27 4.13 0.090 0.290 0.39 23 2.69 22.15 1.6 3.1 15.08 0.69 3.38 0.83 5.73

Filinvest Land,Inc. 2.04 Interport `A’ 1.27 Megaworld 4.41 MRC Allied Ind. 0.087 Phil. Estates Corp.

0.2550 Phil. Realty `A’ 0.455 Phil. Tob. Flue Cur & Redry 41.00 Primex Corp.

9.52 Robinson’s Land `B’ 29.65 Rockwell 1.64 Shang Properties Inc. 3.09 SM Prime Holdings 25.45 Sta. Lucia Land Inc. 0.91 Starmalls 6.55 Suntrust Home Dev. Inc. 1.010 Vista Land & Lifescapes 5.280

-1.47 -0.79 -0.23 2.30 -1.96 2.20 4.63 -2.31 -0.84 6.10 -0.65 -0.20 -1.10 -0.76 0.00 -1.52

18,633,000 93,000 30,131,000 940,000 640,000 130,000 5,900 117,600 1,410,300 1,181,000 2,000 9,785,600 572,000 1,100 159,000 3,882,600

10.5 66 1.44 1.09 14.88 28.5 15.82 0.1430 5.06 99.1 12.3 7.67 4 2720 8.41 70.5 119.5 7 12.5 0.017

1.97 35.2 1 0.63 10.5 18.2 8.6 0.0770 2.95 56.1 10.14 4.8 2.58 1600 5.95 17.02 102.6 3.01 8.72 0.011

0.8200 2.2800 5.93

0.041 1.200 2.34

12.28 3.32 3.2 95.5 1 2.46 15.2

6.5 1.91 1.95 3.1 0.650 1.8 6

1.040 22.8 6.41 18 185 22.9 3486 0.760 2.28 46.05 90.1

0.37 14.54 3 8.8 79 4.39 2748 0.435 1.2 31.45 60.55

11.6 0.85 10 0.490 1.9

7.59 0.63 5 0.315 1.14

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

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

DFNN Inc. Easy Call “Common” Globe Telecom GMA Network Inc. Grand Plaza Hotel I.C.T.S.I. Imperial Res. `A’ IPeople Inc. `A’ IP E-Game Ventures Inc. IPM Holdings Island Info ISM Communications Jackstones LBC Express Leisure & Resorts Liberty Telecom 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 RTL SBS Phil. Corp.

SSI Group STI Holdings Travellers Waterfront Phils.

Yehey

-0.55 -1.62 0.80 0.00 -0.53 7.94 2.03 1.72 0.00 -1.91 0.00 0.61 2.34 -0.18 0.00 20.65 -0.16 2.91 -1.91 10.00 -0.10 0.00 -3.13 -2.13 0.17 -0.39 -4.24 0.00 0.00 -1.75 0.51 12.79 0.75 -1.06 -1.42 -0.62 -8.34 0.83 -0.20 0.00 -2.27 2.61 -1.84 1.57 2.03 7.67 3.51 6.18 -7.04 -0.15

60,500 280,600 16,000 2,608,000 24,000 97,300 11,766,800 43,590,000 1,804,000 560,060 100 222,500 20,000 163,745 126,600 3,300 514,990 10,500 300 107,800,000 710,000 13,330,000 2,523,000 35,000 11,400 46,800 2,079,000 12,000 1,900 3,000 5,000 56,168,000 12,963,000 3,448,000 16,600 56,000 100 210 41,000 31,885 2,580,000 60,281,000 1,537,100 779,750 949,900 38,056,000 4,816,000 7,123,000 20,000 11,400

0.0098 5.45 17.24 25 0.330 12.7 12.8 1.19 1.62 9.5 4.2 0.48 0.420 0.440 0.022 0.023 8.2 49.2 4.27 1.030 3.06 0.020 0.021 7.67 12.88 10.42 0.040 420 9 0.016

0.0043 1.72 6.47 9.43 0.236 6.5 5.11 0.85 0.77 5.99 1.17 0.305 0.2130 0.2160 0.013 0.014 3.240 18.96 2.11 0.365 1.54 0.012 0.013 5.4 7.26 2.27 0.015 115.9 3.67 0.0100

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

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

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

TA Petroleum United Paragon

0.00 0.00 -2.40 -0.85 0.88 0.41 -0.96 3.23 0.00 0.90 1.06 3.39 1.89 0.00 0.00 0.00 2.67 6.81 3.70 -1.72 5.51 0.00 10.00 -0.49 -0.98 -1.08 0.00 0.39 -0.75 0.00

377,000,000 42,000.00 936,000 -317,570.00 331,000 -163,010.00 6,600 130,000 4,900 26,500 -30,488.00 602,000 1,750,000 25,000.00 166,600 49,501,000 -4,649,680.00 380,000 17,070,000 560,000 302,300,000 23,000,000 468,000 13,143,000 -206,620.00 4,936,000 85,000.00 240,000 442,000 800,000 1,300,000 3,300.00 26,000 10,120,800 1,116,817.00 6,801,000 -2,142,440.00 3,600,000 526,620 11,584,843.00 790,000 35,700,000

70 553 525 118 120 515 8.21 111 1060

33 490 500 101 101.5 480 5.88 101 997

1047

1011

78.95 84.8

74.5 75

1.34

1

ABS-CBN Holdings Corp.

Ayala Corp. Pref `B1’ Ayala Corp. Pref ‘B2’ First Gen F First Gen G GLOBE PREF P GMA Holdings Inc. 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 G SMC Preferred H Swift Pref

-2.44 0.37 0.00 0.00 4.43 0.19 0.00 0.09 4.05 0.45 0.00 1.50 0.00 0.63 2.25 -1.95 -0.65 0.00 1.32 11.11

144,300 10 100 4,860 500 300 4,500 3,900 4,250 2,095 8,865 1,000 1,000 16,330 105,000 23,550 10,350 1,500 26,500 2,000

6.98

0.8900 LR Warrant

0.64

297,000

2.81 0.00 3.33 -3.61

1,071,000 3,000 5,343,000 1,497,500

2,342,210.00 -2,464,134.00

0.32

2,070

-1,251.00

Alterra Capital Makati Fin. Corp.

Italpinas Xurpas

15

3.5

12.88

5.95

130.7

105.6 First Metro ETF

STOCKS

FINANCIAL 1,737.26 (UP) 1.74 INDUSTRIAL 11,795.08 (DOWN) 46.71 HOLDING FIRMS 7,543.33 (UP) 66.06 PROPERTY 3,349.64 (UP) 34.10 SERVICES 1,604.52 (UP) 2.31 MINING & OIL 11,940.39 (UP) 87.02 PSEI 7,665.33 (UP) 43.26 All Shares Index 4,564.66 (UP) 15.39 Gainers: 99; Losers: 57; Unchanged: 51; Total: 247

Close

2.1 1.8 5.94 0.180 0.470 0.72 27 8.54 31.8 2.29 4.9 21.35 1.06 7.56 1.62 8.59

2.00 1.99 2.01 1.26 1.23 1.26 4.45 4.37 4.4 0.089 0.086 0.089 0.2550 0.2500 0.2500 0.465 0.455 0.465 43.00 40.30 42.90 9.51 9.12 9.3 30.00 29.00 29.40 1.77 1.65 1.74 3.07 3.07 3.07 25.70 25.20 25.40 0.91 0.88 0.9 6.5 6.5 6.5 1.020 1.010 1.010 5.300 5.200 5.200 SERVICES 7.26 7.3 7.22 7.22 49.4 50 48.55 48.6 1.25 1.36 1.26 1.26 0.640 0.660 0.640 0.640 11.36 11.4 11.3 11.3 31.5 38 34 34 5.90 6.10 5.92 6.02 0.0580 0.0620 0.0580 0.0590 2.82 2.85 2.78 2.82 99.5 99.55 97.5 97.6 9.88 9.88 9.88 9.88 6.55 6.59 6.16 6.59 3.42 3.50 3.50 3.50 2284 2318 2276 2280 6.35 6.42 6.35 6.35 21.55 27.00 23.00 26.00 60.8 61.15 60.1 60.7 13.06 13.46 13.04 13.44 11.5 11.28 11.28 11.28 0.0100 0.0110 0.0100 0.0110 9.62 9.62 9.42 9.61 0.325 0.330 0.320 0.325 1.6000 1.6200 1.5500 1.5500 2.35 2.3 2.3 2.3 11.98 12 12 12 7.72 7.72 7.57 7.69 3.30 3.30 3.16 3.16 2.62 2.62 2.62 2.62 20.00 20.00 19.00 20.00 0.570 0.560 0.560 0.560 1.95 1.96 1.96 1.96 2.97 3.35 2.97 3.35 4.01 4.10 3.99 4.04 2.820 2.820 2.770 2.790 12.68 12.6 12.5 12.5 4.83 4.82 4.80 4.80 8.99 8.24 8.24 8.24 120.00 121.00 121.00 121.00 24.55 24.55 24.20 24.50 2030.00 2042.00 2020.00 2030.00 0.440 0.440 0.430 0.430 1.150 1.180 1.090 1.180 43.40 43.10 41.65 42.60 79.75 81.20 79.75 81.00 6.41 6.60 6.41 6.54 3.00 3.30 3.07 3.23 0.570 0.590 0.560 0.590 3.4 3.65 3.45 3.61 0.355 0.345 0.330 0.330 6.590 6.600 6.580 6.580 MINING & OIL 0.0042 0.0042 0.0041 0.0042 2.46 2.50 2.43 2.46 4.58 4.69 4.45 4.47 11.80 11.70 10.32 11.70 0.228 0.230 0.228 0.230 7.2700 7.84 7.3 7.3000 7.3200 7.8400 7.0600 7.2500 0.62 0.65 0.62 0.64 0.495 0.510 0.490 0.495 8.88 9.05 8.69 8.96 0.940 0.980 0.940 0.950 0.295 0.305 0.295 0.305 0.265 0.270 0.260 0.270 0.285 0.285 0.280 0.285 0.0150 0.0160 0.0150 0.0150 0.0160 0.0160 0.0160 0.0160 1.87 1.94 1.88 1.92 4.99 5.33 5.05 5.33 2.7 2.94 2.65 2.8 0.5800 0.5800 0.5700 0.5700 1.2700 1.3500 1.2500 1.3400 0.0110 0.0110 0.0100 0.0110 0.0100 0.0110 0.0100 0.0110 4.07 4.05 3.84 4.05 9.21 9.27 8.99 9.12 4.62 4.85 4.57 4.57 0.0130 0.0130 0.0120 0.0130 129.00 131.10 129.50 129.50 4.01 4.06 3.94 3.98 0.0120 0.0120 0.0110 0.0120 PREFERRED 49.1 48.1 47.8 47.9 540 542 542 542 540 540 540 540 116.5 116.5 116.5 116.5 117.5 122.7 122.7 122.7 540 541 540 541 6.4 6.4 6.4 6.4 111.8 111.9 111.9 111.9 1037 1079 1075 1079 1110 1115 1110 1115 1038 1038 1038 1038 106.4 108 108 108 114 114 108.6 114 79.5 80 79.5 80 80 82 80.5 81.8 77 76 75.5 75.5 76.5 76.5 76 76 77 77 77 77 75.5 76.95 76.5 76.5 2.25 2.5 2.5 2.5 WARRANTS & BONDS 3.130 3.250 3.100 3.150 SME 3.91 4.05 3.83 4.02 3.49 3.49 3.49 3.49 4.8 5.28 4.8 4.96 16.6 16.78 15.88 16 EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 125.6 126 125.1 126

T op g ainerS VALUE 880,196,323.50 787,344,577.368 1,757,770,172.28 1,390,233,108.209 1,412,416,290.27 345,576,635.288 6,628,813,249.809

Low

-3,071,840.00 6,330.00 3,446,520.00

930.00 6,708,475.00 11,766,115.00 -9,302,969.00

44,835.00 9,599,353.00 33,400.00 2,934,967.50 -21,086,320.00 -12,858,621.50 1,922,060.00

22,120.00

649,490.00 11,748,480.00 24,910.00 14,430.00 7,260.00 -83,035.00 2,660,680.00 -13,685,650.00 6,549,620.00 -14,097,808.50 -206,900.00 594,470.00 -1,797,460.00 -14,276,690.00

2,205,155.00

108,000.00 -4,435,560.00 -1,728,950.00 76,000.00 100,100.00

77,950.00

T op L oSerS Close (P)

Change (%)

STOCKS

Close (P)

Change (%)

Grand Plaza Hotel

26.00

20.65

Keppel Holdings `B'

5.6

Melco Crown

3.35

12.79

Keppel Holdings `A'

5.6

-18.01 -9.53

Swift Pref

2.5

11.11

Prime Media Hldg

1.340

-8.84

Oriental Pet. `B'

0.0110

10.00

Phil. Racing Club

8.24

-8.34

IP E-Game Ventures Inc.

0.0110

10.00

Waterfront Phils.

0.330

-7.04

Crown Asia

2.17

8.50

Phinma Corporation

11.00

-5.50

Berjaya Phils. Inc.

34

7.94

Bogo Medelin

55.4

-5.30

SSI Group

3.23

7.67

Panasonic Mfg Phil. Corp.

4.20

-5.19

ATN Holdings B

0.375

7.14

Liberty Telecom

3.16

-4.24

Nickelasia

5.33

6.81

Xurpas

16

-3.61

TUESDAY: JUNE 21, 2016

B3

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

Century runs solar plant in GenSan CENTURY Pacific Food Inc. completed its first foray into renewable energy with the installation of a solar power plant for a newly-built cold storage facility in General Santos.

The facility is expected to reduce the company’s power costs for its tuna business unit. It also began harnessing the power of the sunvia 300 solar panels installed on its rooftop.

“Alongside being beneficial to the environment, investing in a solar power system and inenergy efficiencies have proven to make good business sense,” said vice president Teddy Kho. Solar energy during the day will offset more than 20 percent of the storage facility’s power requirements, reducing its total grid dependence. Over the course of a year, the installation will mitigate production of over 68,000 kilograms of carbon emissions, the equivalent of approximately 170,000 car miles that would have required planting 3,000 full-grown trees to offset.

The company’s new cold store facility, which was designed to provide maximum insulation, will also use energy-efficient equipment and panelling to reduce power usage.

“Affordable and consistent power supply is critical for our climate-controlled facility to ensure that the fish is properly preserved and kept fresh at all times,” Kho said.

The solar installation is a pilot project for the company, which continues to explore other means of utilizing renewable energy in its various manufacturing plants.

Century Pacific is the Philippine’s largest canned food company with manufacturing facilities in General Santos, Zamboanga, Laguna and Taguig.

It is the company behind household names Century Tuna, Argentina Corned Beef, 555 Sardines, Swift, Angel, and Birch Tree, which have established market-leading positions in the Philippines and are growing a presence abroad.

Melco reduces losses, upbeat on operations

By Jenniffer B. Austria

MELCO Crown (Philippines) Resorts Corp., operator of the $1-billion City of Dreams Manila casino facility, said it remains optimistic about the Philippine gaming market despite increasing competition and a declining regional gaming market.

Melco Crown chairman and president Clarence Chung said in an interview following the annual stockholders’ meeting the company was narrowing its losses by reducing expenses and focusing on non-gaming amenities.

“While we continue ramping up our financial performance and I think we are more focused on cash flow and Ebitda in the time

being... hopefully our accounting losses will be reduced given improved operations in the following years,” Chung said.

“The Philippine gaming market probably last year posted if not the highest growth in the world at least the highest in the region for the Asian region. Philippines gaming market has grown. So we are optimistic. We will do what we will do best to continue to make

this as attractive as possible and give customers great experience,” Chung said.

Melco Crown property president Geoff Andres is also optimistic about City of Dream Manila given the improving infrastructure in the Philippines.

“We have built a good product, we are just getting started. With improved infra there is nothing but upside for all of us,” Andres said.

Andres noted that if the government decided to ease visa restrictions, it would lure more foreign players to come to the Philippines.

Melco Crown in the first quarter of 2016 narrowed its net loss to P1.13 billion from P3.08 billion in the same period last year on improved operating rev-

enues and minimal increase in expenses.

First quarter operating revenues nearly doubled to P4.53 billion from P2.34 billion, due to bigger resort operations since the opening in December 2014.

Casino revenues, which accounted for 83 percent of the total net operating sales in the three months ending March 31, 2016, stood at P4.05 billion, up 108 percent from P1.95 billion recorded in the same period a year ago.

Nn-casino revenues, including hotels, food and beverage, entertainment and retail, amounted to P388.6 million in the first quarter of 2016.

Share price of Melco Crown on Monday jumped 12.8 percent to P3.35.

SSS Manila.

The Social Security System inaugurates its relocated Manila office (right) at the second floor of Zen Towers along Natividad Street in Ermita, Manila. SSS Manila serves more than 7,400 employers and about 84,000 members from 104 barangays. Shown cutting the ribbon are (front row, from right) SSS president and chief executive Emilio de Quiros Jr., Zen Towers Corp. general manager William Lee and SSS vice president for National Capital Region east-west division Nelson Ibarra.

Dominguez resigns from Alsons board to assume new govt post

By Alena Mae S. Flores LISTED Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc. announced Monday the resignation of Carlos Dominguez from the board effective June 17 as he prepares to take his new post as incoming Finance Secretary.

“We at Alsons Consolidated Resources have long benefitted from Mr. Dominguez’s expertise and vast experience in numerous fields. While his counsel and presence in our board meetings will be sorely missed, we in ACR strongly support his answering

the call to serve our country and our people,” Alsons chairman and president Tomas Alcantara said.

Dominguez served as director of Alsons since March 8, 1995.

“We wish Mr. Dominguez all the best as he embarks once again on the path of government service,” Alcantara said.

Alcantara earlier urged the incoming Duterte administration to ensure the growth of Mindanao through adequate power supply.

“Our business, not only power, are really concentrated in Mindanao as our signature says,

we’re steadfast in Mindanao.

That is our battle cry and we believe Mindanao continues to have a bright future and with an expansion of the economy and the expansion of capacity of power, these can assist in priming Mindanao for bigger growth.

If you put in power, this will in fact increase the consumption,” Alcantara said.

He said that with the current power projects lined up in Mindanao, the region was expected to have “comfortable surplus” in the medium term.

“So Mindanao should be free

from the debilitating brownouts that we have been so used to and we are forced to live with over this year,” Alcantara said.

He said if all the committed projects were realized in Mindanao, there will be a 30 percent surplus in power capacity by 2018 or 2019.

“But again we are anticipating that demand will further increase so give it another five or six years, there will be another requirement for additional capacity. So we are not worried about the short and medium term about the surplus situation. It’s in fact needed,” he

said.

He said Alsons was moving forward with three power projects this year, namely the second unit of Sarangani Energy, 105-MW San Ramon coal plant in Zamboanga and the 15-MW Siguil hydro project.

He said the 210-MW Sarangani Energy project and the 105MW San Ramon project were estimated to cost a combined $1 billion.

“That is what’s going to be committed for the three projects.

And you’re not counting yet the hydro,” he said.

B4 DoTC says Sobrepeña MRT firm owes P2.5b

By Darwin G. Amojelar THE management of Metro Rail Transit Line 3 said MRT Development Corp. led by businessman Robert Sobrepeña owes P2.5 billion in unpaid development rights to the government.

The operator of MRT 3 said MRT DevCo had continuously failed to pay the Transportation Department development rental payment amounting to P2.5 billion, despite repeated demands.

“As a result, DOTC-MRT 3 is constrained from issuing access permits to MRTDevCo, its advertising manager, Media Puzzle Inc., and any of their contractors and affiliates,” the agency said.

The advertising business at MRT is a part of the development and commercial rights granted by the government to MRT Corp., as a part of their 1998 build-lease-transfer agreement as well as the right to develop the air space above the 13 stations.

The Transportation Department had planned to buy out the MRT 3 assets from the Sobrepeña Group even after Congress did not approve the P53.9-billion allocation in the 2015 budget for the government’s takeover.

President Benigno Aquino III issued Executive Order No. 126 in 2013, directing the Transportation and Finance Departments to buy the private sector out of MRT 3, pursuant to the build-lease-transfer agreement.

Metro Pacific Investments Corp. earlier said it re-submitted a $523-million proposal to rehabilitate and upgrade the MRT 3 system under the Duterte administration.

Metro Pacific signed a cooperation agreement in 2011 with several groups holding rights and interests in MRT 3, including MRTC, Metro Rail Transit Holdings Inc., Metro Rail Transit 2 Inc. and Monumento Rail Transit Corp., giving the First Pacific unit an option to acquire 48 percent. It did not exercise the option.

Waves Beach Club groundbreaking.

Waves Beach Club and Residences, a seven-hectare mixed-use, master-planned and carefully-engineered residential resort complex in San Juan, La Union, holds its public launch and official groundbreaking event. Shown are (from left) Waves Beach Club director Joseph Valero, RCL Realty and Consulting Services Inc. director Yessina Liriano, Danny Avecilla, RCL chairman and chief executive Fausto Liriano, vice president for investor relations Francisco Custodio Rojas, engineer Carlos Ospina and Maybank La Union branch manager Alberto Bautista Jr.

BDO sells 40% stake in One Network Bank

By Julito G. Rada

BDO Unibank Inc., the country’s largest lender controlled by tycoon Henry Sy, is selling 40 percent in rural bank subsidiary One Network Bank to US-based TPG Growth, the growth equity investment unit of TPG. TPG Growth announced on Monday an agreement with BDO to acquire a 40-percent stake in One Network Bank. Based in Davao, ONB has more than 100 branches and offices. Following the transaction, BDO will retain a 60-percent ownership in ONB. “We look forward to working with TPG to accelerate ONB’s expansion and to develop new prod-

ucts to cover the underserved market segments,” BDO president and chief executive Nestor Tan said.

“Through this partnership, ONB will benefit from TPG’s global experience in financial services, especially in developing markets,” Tan said.

Tan said the new phase of ONB’s growth was aligned with Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ ef-

forts to improve financial inclusion in the country. BDO is the market leader in the domestic banking industry with strong brand recognition, a solid balance sheet and the country’s largest branch and ATM network.

BDO acquired the Davaobased One Network Bank in July last year in a bid to seize opportunities in Mindanao.

Ganen Sarvananthan, head of TPG Southeast Asia, said BDO and ONB built an impressive foundation. “We look forward to bringing all that we’ve learned into a collaborative partnership and expanding the impact they’ve already created,” he said.

The transaction is subject to closing conditions and regula-

tory approval.

TPG teamed up with more than 15 financial services companies across Asia. In 2008, TPG worked with Bank Tabungan Pensiunan Nasional of Indonesia to open more than 550 new branches and create a micro-loan business that grew the bank’s customer base to more than 2 million group lending program clients and 250,000 micro, small and medium enterprises.

TPG has invested in a wide variety of financial services companies throughout Asia, including Indonesian financial institution BFI; Janalakshmi, India’s largest microfinance institution; Shenzhen Development Bank in China; and Union Bank of Colombo in Sri Lanka.

International tourism’s contribution doubled to P306b in 2015

By Othel V. Campos INTERNATIONAL tourism’s contribution to the economy doubled over the past five years, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.

The 2015 Philippine Tourism Satellite Accounts released by PSA showed that foreign tourists’ expenditures in the Philippines hit P306.6 billion last year, accounting for 8.2 percent of total exports of goods and services. This increased from only 4.3 percent of total exports of goods and services in 2010.

Foreign tourism receipts emerged as the third biggest export item in 2015, data showed.

“Looking back, the positive outlook of the industry, the harmonious public and private partnership, a good marketing campaign and the strong government support that the DOT received allowed tourism to reach the economic heights where it is today,” said Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez, Jr. Jimenez said in terms of growth and achievement, tourism climbed to third place, next

to trade industry and real estate as propellers of gross domestic product growth in 2015.

Data from PSA showed the tourism industry employed about 4.98 million people in 2015.

“To maintain the industry’s growth, the 2016-2022 National Tourism Development Plan is presently being finalized for presentation to the new administration for approval,” said Jimenez.

The national plan is expected to help sustain the strong firstquarter growth in tourist arriv-

als and help the country meet its target of 6.5 million foreign tourists by yearend.

First-quarter tourism arrivals increased 15.1 percent to 1,602,253 million from a year ago. International tourism revenues also rose 14.9 percent in the first quarter to P67.74 billion from P58.96 billion in 2015.

Arrivals in March rose 11.9 percent to 510,270 from 456,163 a year earlier. Tourism activities during the month generated P18.3 billion, or 6.85 percent higher than P17.13-billion earnings in the same month in 2015.

South Korea remains the top source of tourist arrivals, with a total of 383,544 tourists in the first quarter or 23.9 percent of the total.

It was followed by the US with 14.4-percent market share; China, 11.52 percent; Japan, 8.96 percent; Australia, 4.2 percent; Canada, 3.33 percent; Taiwan, 3.25 percent; the United Kingdom, 3.06 percent; Singapore.

2.77 percent; and Malaysia, 2.28 percent.

“The business is good, you only have to keep the momentum going,” said Jimenez.

T U E S D AY : J U N E 2 1 , 2 0 1 6

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

Really useful websites T H E R E ’ S nothing too flashy about the websites that we’re looking at this week, but they can be awfully useful in helping you perform specific tasks that might otherwise take you quite a bit of time and effort. Best of all, unlike utility software, these web-based services won’t require you to install anything at all on your PC. Just visit them with your browser.

Download a YouTube video. Want to save a YouTube video to your hard disk for offline playback? There are dozens of websites that will let you do this, but ClipConverter (www.clipconverter.cc) is one of the best I’ve seen so far. Unlike other sites, ClipConverter.cc gives you the option of converting the video into common formats (MP4, 3GP, AVI or MOV for videos) or simply extracting the audio (which can be saved in MP3, M4A or AAC formats). Just paste the URL of the video you want to capture, choose the options you like and click continue to begin uploading the video to ClipConverter for conversion. When it’s done, just click on the Download button to save a copy of the video or audio to your local drive.

Split a PDF file. If you’d like to split a PDF file into one or more pages, you can do it free at PDFSplit (www.splitpdf.com). Just upload the file to the website and indicate how you want the document broken up.

Convert PDF table to a spreadsheet. We’ve all been there before. A report in PDF format contains a table of data we need to manipulate.

But how do we get to the table that’s been frozen into the PDF document? The website PDFTables (https://pdftables.com) will do the trick quick and easy. If you only need to do this from time to time, it’s no sweat. PDFTables lets you convert up to 25 pages for free without having to open an account. If you sign up with an e-mail address, you get 50 more pages free.

B5

Energy World set to open LNG plant

By Alena Mae S. Flores

ENERGY World Corp. committed to commission the first 200-megawatt unit of the 650-MW liquefied natural gas combined cycle power plant in Pagbilao, Quezon by the end of the year.

Energy Department director Irma Exconde of the Electric Power Industry Management Bureau said EWC was supposed to commission the first unit within six months.

“The commissioning date of the first 200-MW gas turbine is six months after drawdown of the funds,” she said, quoting the letter of EWC to the department.

EWC said on June 14 it achieved drawdown of the P1.5billion funds for the Pagbilao LNG hub terminal project, which meant the project was expected to be completed by Dec. 14.

The company’s omnibus loan and security agreement provides an additional P2-billion facility for the project.

Standard Chartered Bank acted as issue manager and bookrunner while Land Bank of the Philippines was the lead arranger of the loan.

Energy undersecretary Mylene Capongcol earlier said tEnergy World’s natural gas plant power facility could not deliver power to the Luzon grid despite being completed.

“They are having interconnection problems,” Capongcol said.

Capongcol said Energy World’s planned floating storage regassification unit, which was supposed to be the first LNG facility in the country, remained to be completed.

Reynaldo Umali, chairman of the House committee on energy, also said a team from the committee visited the company’s project and learned about the interconnection issues hounding the project.

“There’s a problem in the interconnection. But the plant itself can produce anytime. It’s ready for commissioning, except for the interconnection concerns,” Umali said.

Energy World previously targeted to complete the first 200MW unit by March. The second 200-MW unit was supposed to be in commercial operation by June.

The company will initial source LNG from a floating, storage and regassification unit, pending the completion of an LNG terminal.

Do ANYTHING with PDF files. If you prefer all your PDF eggs in one basket, check out Smallpdf (smallpdf.com). Here you can compress, merge, split, rotate, unlock or protect a PDF file or convert popular file formats (PowerPoint, JPG, Excel, and Word) to PDF and vice versa.

Send large files. Websites that let you send documents too big to e-mail have grown up quite a bit since YouSendIt made its debut in 2004. The company has since renamed itself to Hightail and has added sharing, collaboration, and project management features, but the maximum file size on its free service is a paltry 250MB. If all you need to do is send a larger file for free, any of the services in the table below will do the trick better. Some sites will ask you to sign up first; others won’t. Be aware that the files expire after a while (usually 10 days) so your recipient should move quickly. Other sites also limit the number of times a file can be downloaded.

Service

Maximum file size (free)

URL

WeTransfer

2GB

www.wetransfer.com

pCloud

5GB (20GB if you register)

transfer.pcloud.com

DropsSend

4GB, five sends a month

www.dropsend.com

MailBigFile

2GB, 20 downloads per file

www.mailbigfile.com

MyAirBridge

20GB with registration

www.myairbridge.com

MailBigFile

2GB

free.mailbigfile.com

PlusTransfer

5GB

www.plustransfer.com

Calculate the duration between two dates. Counting the number of days between two dates can be tricky and surely tedious.

Timeanddate.com (www.timeanddate.com) will do the counting for you and a bunch of other time- and date-related tasks. To calculate the duration between two dates, go to the site’s Calculators menu and choose Date to Date Calculator.

Find out your IP address. Just go to WhatIsMyIP (www. whatismyip.com) to find out!

Copy and paste special characters. CopyPasteCharacter (www. copypastecharacter.com) solves my usual struggle with locating the Spanish character “ñ.” On top of that, it will let you copy and paste a whole slew of other special characters.

Appear busy. Okay, IdleKeyboard (http://idlekeyboard.com) isn’t all that useful, but it’s amusing and may come in handy when you want to appear busy at the office. All it does is loop the sound of typing so that anyone outside your cubicle hearing it will think you’re hard at work.

Column archives and blog at: http://www.chinwong.com

Sinotrans-Uni-Ship partnership. Uni-Ship Inc. recognizes 11 years of partnership with principal Sinotrans Container Lines of China. Uni-Ship in 2005 was appointed as the general agent of Sinotrans in the Philippines. Shown during the awarding of the token of appreciation are (from left) Sinotrans Shanghai business department general manager Yu Zhengbao, Sinotrans Xiamen branch general manager Liu Hai Peng, Sinotrans deputy general manager Liu Hong Bin, Sinotrans general manager Xu Qiumin, Uni-Ship chairman Jae Jang and Uni-Ship president Efren Caboteja.

DA to launch cash for work program—Piñol

By Anna Leah E. Gonzales INCOMING Agriculture secretary Emmanuel Piñol on Monday laid out the Duterte administration’s plans for the agriculture sector, including a cash for work program to help farmers and fishers displaced by El Niño dry spell.

“This roadmap was crafted after the rigorous nationwide journey called Biyaheng Bukid which, except for a few remaining island provinces, brought me to almost all parts of the country,” Piñol said in a statement.

Pinol said for the first 100 days of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte, the Agriculture Department would implement a cash for

work program for farmers and fishermen.

“Work includes manual repair and rehabilitation of irrigation facilities for farmers and cleaning of coastal waters of garbage and planting of mangrove trees for fisherfolk,” he said.

Piñol said the agency would also start a national mapping in order to determine which crop or agricultural activity would be best in a specific area.

He said the government would also start a national food consumption survey to determine the kind of food and volume of food commodities consumed by Filipinos.

“This would also project the food consumption of the country

in relation to population growth,” Piñol said.

Inspection of irrigation services, dredging of silted dams and provision of shallow tube wells to ensure sufficient supply of water for the next rice planting season will also be conducted, he said.

Piñol said DA will also support in the form of seeds, fertilizers, farm inputs and distribute fishing boats and nets to the country’s fisherfolk. “ A special project titled Pagkain Para sa Masa will be launched in Metro Manila establishing arrozcaldo feeding stations to ensure that the street dwellers and the homeless will not go to sleep on an empty stomach,” Piñol said.

B6

TUESDAY: JUNE 21, 2016

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

BSP confident on BoP target A breakup that shouldn’t happen AS I contemplate the possible outcome of the June 23 referendum on the United Kingdom’s continued membership in the European Union, I am reminded of the 20th century headline of a leading British newspaper—I think it was The Times of London—regarding a gathering storm in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean. The headline read: “Storm closing in; Continent isolated.”

The newspaper headline was highly revealing about the frame of mind of a segment of Britain’s population—apparently a very large segment, as the opinion surveys on the coming referendum indicate—on the issue of the United Kingdom’s relations with the continent. The latest survey results say that around 50 percent of the British people want the UK to leave the EU. Like the person who wrote the “Storm closing in” headline, a large number of Britishers believe that their country is more consequential than their 27 EU partners put together. The adherents to the “Leave” side of the referendum believe that the EU needs the UK more than the UK needs the EU and that the UK can do very well outside the EU. Does the EU need the UK more than the UK—a country with the world’s fifth largest economy—needs the EU? The “Remain” side of the referendum, which includes the majority of Confederation of British Industry (CBI) members, believe that Brexit (British exit) from the EU would be bad for the British economy, which has historically been export-oriented and which encompasses the City of London, the square kilometer of central London that is arguably the world’s most important financial center. Ironically, Brexit is favored by a large segment of Prime Minister David Cameron’s own Conservative Party. Likewise, ironically, Brexit is apparently favored by the majority of the Labor Party, whose bluecollar members have been adversely affected by lower-cost labor from Southern and Southeastern Europe and the recent wave of immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa.

Immigration is a major part of the platform upon which the Brexit folk have been campaigning. They believe that the UK has taken in more immigrants than economic and social stability permits and that Britain should recover at least some of the control over immigration policy that, they claim, Britain lost to the EU. But the most weighty item in the pro-Brexit folk’s brief against continued UK membership in the EU has been money—more specifically, Britain’s share of the EU budget. The pro-Brexit side of the referendum has been arguing that Britain has been bearing a disproportionately large share of the EU budget and that Britain has not been getting enough bang for its buck. If they were to agree to a renegotiation of the terms of UK membership, they want it to proceed on the basis of a reduced British share of the EU budget.

The other large EU members—particularly Germany and France— are opposed to the idea, which would see their own shares raised in order to compensate for the reduction in Britain’s share.

There are other issues that the pro-Brexit advocates have found unsatisfactory, but these two issues—immigration and the EU budget—are clearly the issues that the advocates of British exit from the European Experiment have found particularly unpalatable.

If the pro-Brexit side wins—the latest opinion poll results indicate that the contest is too close to call—can the UK continue to do well outside the EU? The economists should have the least say on this subject, and the preponderance of economic opinion, within the UK and elsewhere, is that the standard of living of the British people will suffer a decline if the advocates of “Leave” prevail on June 23.

It would be the greatest of shames if Brexit were to come to pass. The histories of the UK and Europe have been so closely intertwined for the last 1,000 year—Norman the Conqueror, Joan of Arc, the Armada, the Thirty Years War, the Seven Years War, Napoleon, the Duke of Wellington and the two World Wars are the people and events that kept Britain and the European countries engaged with one another—that it is extremely difficult to imagine that they could discontinue their union and pursue separate destinies.

When the tunnel separating Great Britain from the European mainland—the English Channel tunnel, or Chunnel—was placed in service, most people thought that in a sense Britain had geographically become a part of Europe, and that the ties between Britain and Europe had become truly unbreakable.

Perhaps. Let’s see what June 23 brings.

E-mail: rudyromero777@yahoo.com

By Julito G. Rada

BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said the revised $2-billion surplus target on the balance of payments this year is realistic after the position remained in surplus for the third month since March.

Data from Bangko Sentral Monday showed the balance of payments posted a surplus of $241 million in May, a significant turnaround from the $58-million deficit a year ago. It was also higher than the $184-million surplus recorded in April this year. The May figure brought the balance of payments in the first five months to a surplus of $216 million, lower than the $1.199-billion surplus in the same period last year.

“The surplus for May was mainly due to inflows from BSP operations and income from its investments abroad which more than offset the payments for national

government’s maturing foreign exchange obligations,” Tetangco said in a text message.

He said the country’s macroeconomic fundamentals remained solid, citing the sound and stable banking system and manageable inflation environment. “... We can expect to register more inflows in the months ahead. The $2-billion projected BoP for full year is attainable, given the information [that] we have now,” Tetangco said.

The balance of payments summarizes the country’s economic transactions with the rest of the world, with a deficit indicating

that foreign exchange payments outstripping receipts and a surplus the reverse.

Persistent surpluses help build up the country’s gross international reserves, an ample supply of which helps prop up the peso against the US dollar, and keep domestic inflation at bay.

Bangko Sentral Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said inflows of remittances from migrant Filipino workers, business process outsourcing revenues, foreign direct investments and the re-flow of foreign portfolio investments buoyed the country’s balance of payments position in May. Registered foreign portfolio investments or “hot money” in May posted a net inflow of $73 million, a turnaround from the $569-million net outflow a year ago due mainly to renewed investors’ interest in the domestic markets, coupled with the peaceful conduct of national elections.

CFO of the year search. The ‘ING Finex CFO of the Year,’ the Philippines’ longest and only

search of its kind that honors outstanding corporate financial stewards, marks its 10th year. Dutch financial giant ING Bank and the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines, which sponsor the annual award, announced the start of the CFO nomination process on June 15 at the Finex general membership meeting.

Shown are (first row from left) award committee co-chairman Abelardo Cortez; sponsor Consuelo Garcia, country manager of ING Bank, N.V., Manila; co-chairman Melito Salazar Jr., chairman of Omnipay Inc.; liaison director Grace Palma-Tiongco; (second row, from left) Albert Gamboa, Bloomberg TV Philippines senior producer; search and selection committee co-chair Tess Dimaculangan; member Roberto Borromeo; co-chair Judith Lopez and member Marybeth Delgado, president of Rural Bank of Tandag, Surigao.

Subic free port key logistics hub in Luzon THE Subic Bay Freeport Zone is primed to accommodate the increasing demands of both local and international trade by serving as the main logistics hub for business and industries in northern and central Luzon.

The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority highlighted the Freeport’s metamorphosis into one of the nation’s strategic gateways for international and local cargo shipping and handling—capabilities seen to boost efficiencies of business enterprises in Northern and Central Luzon provinces.

The free port, the largest in the Philippines, is supported by Subic Bay International Terminal Corp., a unit of International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI), operates New Container Terminals 1 and 2. The terminals are

dedicated to providing the most cost-effective logistics solutions for foreign and local industries and the burgeoning tourism industry.

While SBMA continued to deliver seamless service as a partner in providing international cargo shipping services for multinational companies here in the region over the past years, it has recently shown eagerness in providing services to small and medium enterprises.

The interest is caused by the increasing opportunities for businesses and industries to capitalize on the nation’s continuing economic growth along with various well-established locators and entrepreneurs who want to operate at a much faster, more efficient, and highly productive way.

“A lot of developments are hap-

pening now in Subic that provide immense business opportunities for SMEs especially in the northern and central Luzon region,” SBITC president Roberto Locsin said.

“Companies looking to broaden their networks and connect with markets and suppliers anywhere in the country, or the world for that matter,” he said.

The opportunities for entrepreneurs and businesses have the definite potential to usher in logistical improvements in the country and provide a seamless transport of goods from Subic to other parts of the country. This would then spur much higher growth and make business operations more sustainable, allowing productivity improvements and other innovative solutions.

T U E S D AY : J U N E 2 1 , 2 0 1 6

WORLD

CESAR BARRIOQUINTO EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

B7

British MPs gather for tribute to lawmaker

Screening. Cuban actress Ana de Armas gestures as she arrives on May 16, 2016, for the screening of the film ‘Hands of Stone’ at the 69th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France. AFP

Remote island keeps Tanzania’s albinos safe UKEREWE, Tanzania—It’s an hour after dawn on Ukerewe island in Lake Victoria and Alphonce Yakobo, face and hands withered by the scorching sun that has tortured his pigment-free skin for all of his 57 years, is vigorously sweeping the leaves outside his house.

“This is the best time of the day: the day has begun but the sun is not yet up,” he says. In a few minutes time Yakobo will put on a wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses and slather sunscreen over every bit of his exposed skin.

Yakobo suffers from a genetic condition called albinism, meaning his body does not produce melanin leaving his skin, hair and eyes devoid of pigmentation and protection from the sun.

Like all people with albinism, Yakobo has very poor eyesight and is extremely vulnerable to skin cancer.

But the sun overhead is not the only threat to albinos.

Here in Tanzania, as well as in

Malawi and some other parts of subSaharan Africa, albino body parts are sought after for potions and charms thought to bring luck and wealth, and many fall victim to murderers who dismember their bodies to supply this grisly black market trade.

Canadian charity Under The Same Sun has documented 161 attacks on people with albinism in Tanzania in recent years, including 76 murders, more than anywhere else in Africa.

Yet Ukerewe island is relatively untouched by this phenomenon.

“There were times when I was afraid in the past, but now I thank God because we can sleep at night without a gun,” says Yakobo, who works as a

fishmonger in Ukerewe market.

“Here, we are safe, we are surrounded by water, no one can commit a crime and escape easily,” said Yakobo, who has three wives but regrets that not one of his 11 children is albino. “We could talk, and I would feel like I had passed on a part of myself.”

Over the years, Ukerewe has become known as a haven for people with albinism.

People say that it started long ago when families would abandon their albino relatives on the island, believing their unusual, ghostly appearance was the sign of a curse.

They survived and thrived and others, ostracized by society, made their way there too.

“In many respects, Ukerewe is at the forefront of integration of albinos in society. And I think the fact that it’s an island plays a big part in the minds of people, but reality is a bit more nuanced,” says Harry Freeland, founder of the non-gov-

ernmental organisation Standing Voice and the maker of a documentary about Ukerewe.

According to the Ukerewe Albino Society, there are 75 people with albinism living on the island of 200,000, a proportion roughly in keeping with Tanzania’s national average.

As elsewhere in Tanzania, bodysnatchers have come to the island to dig albino corpses from their graves and in 2007 one person was attacked and had his white hair cut for use in witchcraft, says Vicky Ntetema, director of the Tanzanian branch of UTSS. “But we have never had an albino murder,” points out Ramadhan Khalifa, president of Ukerewe’s albino community.

“Ukerewe is unique in that sense,” says Freeland. “It was in Ukerewe that the first census was done. The initiative came from the former president of UAS, and it was in 2006.” AFP

LONDON—British lawmakers prepared to pay tribute to a slain MP in a rare show of unity on Monday as the EU referendum campaign entered its final stretch with rival camps vying to seize the momentum.

Politicians will return to parliament, which had been in recess, for a special sitting to pay tribute to Jo Cox, a campaigner in favor of EU membership and refugee rights murdered on a village street last week.

Politicians on both sides of the debate sought to lay out their case to voters with just three days of campaigning left.

“You can change the whole course of European history,” proBrexit campaigner Boris Johnson wrote in the Daily Telegraph ahead of Thursday’s ballot.

“I hope you will vote Leave, and take back control of this great country’s destiny,” he said.

“This chance will not come again in our lifetimes, and I pray we do not miss it.”

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, arriving for a meeting with EU counterparts in Luxembourg, warned a British vote to leave the European Union would be “irreversible”.

“There will be no going back,” he said.

Prime Minister David Cameron on Sunday called on voters to pick “Remain” in a sometimes heated BBC television appearance in which an audience member accused him of appeasing an EU “dictatorship”.

“If we do leave we are walking out the door, we are quitting,” Cameron urged.

“I don’t think Britain at the end is a quitter. I think we stay and fight.

That is what we should do.”

The prime minister will speak at a campaign event later on Monday, and billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson is set to launch his own campaign pleading to remain in the EU. Footballing powerhouse the Premier League also weighed into the debate Monday, saying Brexit would go against the “openness” of the league and all of its clubs, while Hungary Prime Minister Viktor Orban put aside his own euroskepticism to issue a plea to British voters. AFP

Popular wombat put down in Australia SYDNEY—An Australian wombat who became depressed after a massive cyclone tore through his wildlife park home, depriving him of cuddles with tourists, has died, prompting an outpouring on social media.

Tonka, a bare-nosed wombat, was raised by rangers at Queensland’s Billabong Sanctuary after his mother was hit and killed on the road and he was rescued from her pouch.

The furry marsupial watched television with rangers, slept with a toy teddy bear, and delighted in having his tummy rubbed, the Sanctuary near Townsville said in a

Facebook post.

But after the monster storm Cyclone Yasi tore through Queensland in 2011, prompting the closure of the park for 10 weeks, Tonka went into a mysterious decline, refusing food and losing weight.

It wasn’t until the park reopened that Tonka became his normal self, cleaning out his food bowl for the first time in weeks.

“The conclusion? Tonka had missed his pats and cuddles and become depressed! Since then he never looked back,” the sanctuary said.

Tonka, who was seven, was put down on Saturday after extensive

tests showed he had irreversible kidney damage.

Bob Flemming, who owns the park, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that the response to Tonka’s death had been overwhelming.

“People have been sending in their photos of their experiences with Tonka, their children holding Tonka over the years,” he said.

“He just loved people so much, he fretted if he wasn’t being handled.”

In hundreds of comments online, several people wrote that Tonka had been the highlight of their Australian trip.

Sanctions. Belgian Foreign minister Didier Reynders answers journalists during a monthly foreign affairs meeting, where foreign ministers are to discuss extending the sanctions imposed on Russia in 2014 over the Ukraine conflict, in Luxembourg on June 20, 2016. AFP

T U E S D AY : J U N E 2 1 , 2 0 1 6

B8 Running gives hope to stranded refugees HONG KONG—It is a simple act: pulling on running shoes and hitting the track—but for a group of refugees in Hong Kong it has become a lifeline as they face an agonizing wait to find a new home.

They come from all over the world, fleeing violence, some bearing physical scars, but there is no talk of the past as they sweat through training each week at an athletics track in the heart of the city.

Organizers say many in the “Free to Run” program are torture victims.

Running helps them recover from trauma; it also combats the mental toll of being stuck in limbo.

Hong Kong does not give refugees a permanent home in its own territory and they can spend years in the city, hoping to find sanctuary in a third country.

In the meantime, they are unable to work because of government restrictions, and subsist on handouts from authorities and NGOs. “I don’t want to stay home, I want to be busy. Running has helped me move forward,” says Naina, who has been in Hong Kong for 12 years after fleeing violence in her community in South Asia.

Like many of the refugee runners, she is now taking part in the vibrant local racing scene, recently completing a 30-kilometer challenge.

“Since joining the running program I’ve lost weight and I feel stronger. I have more confidence to talk with people. Before I always hid myself,” she says.

International charity Free to Run set up the running group a year ago, in collaboration with local NGO Justice Center.

Most of the female runners, like Naina, start with the charity’s women-only hiking program on the city’s rugged hills before feeling bold enough to join the weekly hour-long track sessions that are open to both genders.

There are now 28 regular runners, two thirds of them women, some of whom have never done sport before.

Speeds vary but all are serious about training, supervised by an experienced British coach, although they are quick to laugh and joke in what has become a band of friends. AFP

CESAR BARRIOQUINTO EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

WORLD Global migrant tide swells to record 65m GENEVA—The number of refugees and others fleeing their homes worldwide has hit a new record, spiking to 65.3 million people by the end of 2015, the United Nations said Monday.

Video awards. Hailey Baldwin and Gigi Hadid attend the 2016 iHeartRADIO MuchMusic Video Awards at the MuchMusic HQ on June 19, 2016, in Toronto, Canada. AFP

Europe’s high-profile migrant crisis, its worst since World War II, is just one part of a growing tide of human misery led by Palestinians, Syrians and Afghans.

Globally, approaching one percent of humanity has been forced to flee.

“This is the first time that the threshold of 60 million has been crossed,” the UN refugee agency said.

The figures, released on World Refugee Day, underscore the twin pressures fueling an unprecedented global displacement crisis.

As conflict and persecution force growing numbers of people to flee, anti-migrant political sentiment has strained the will to resettle refugees, said UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi.

“The willingness of nations to work together not just for refugees but for the collective human interest is what’s being tested today,” he said.

The number of people displaced globally rose by 5.8 million through 2015, according to the UN figures.

Counting Earth’s population at 7.349 billion, the UN said that one out of every 113 people on the planet was now either internally displaced or a refugee.

They now number more than the populations of Britain or France, the agency said, adding that it is “a level of risk for which UNHCR knows no precedent.”

Displacement figures have been rising since the mid 1990s, but the rate of increase has jumped since the outbreak of Syria’s civil war in 2011.

Of the planet’s 65.3 million displaced, 40.8 million remain within their own country, while 21.3 million have fled across borders and are now refugees.

Palestinians are the largest group of refugees at more than five million, including those who fled at the creation of Israel in 1948 and their descendants.

Syria is next on the list, with 4.9 million refugees, followed by Afghanistan (2.7 million) and Somalia (1.1 million).

A worrying mixture of worrying factors have led to rising displacement and narrowing space for refugee resettlement.

“Situations that cause large refugee outflows are lasting longer,” the agency said, including more than 30 years of unrest in both Somalia and Afghanistan.

AFP

US detainees’ release ruled out over ‘jabbering’ Bae SEOUL—North Korea warned Monday that it would not even consider the release of two jailed Americans if former detainee Kenneth Bae keeps “jabbering” about his imprisonment.

Bae, a South Korean-born American missionary, was arrested in November 2012 and later sentenced to 15 years’ hard labor on charges of seeking to topple the North Korean government.

He was released in November 2014, along with one other US detainee, after a secret mission to Pyongyang led by US intelligence chief James Clapper.

Since his release, the 47-yearold has published an account of his time in a North Korean prison and revealed plans to set up a foundation to support North Korean defectors.

“As long as Kenneth Bae con-

tinues jabbering, there will be no negotiations on American criminals,” said the North’s state-run KCNA news agency.

“In that case, the US criminals held in our country will never be able to set foot in their homeland,” it said.

Two US citizens are currently serving prison time in North Korea.

Otto Warmbier, a 21-year-old

college student, was sentenced to 15 years’ hard labour in March for stealing a propaganda banner from a tourist hotel in Pyongyang.

In April Korean-American missionary Kim Dong-Chul was sentenced to 10 years’ hard labor on charges of subversion and espionage.

In the past North Korea has used the detention of US citizens to obtain high-profile visits from the likes of former US presidents

Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton to secure their release.

The United States has no diplomatic or consular relations with the North. The Swedish embassy in Pyongyang provides limited consular services to US citizens detained there.

The US State Department “strongly recommends against all travel” to North Korea and specifically warns of the risk of arrest. AFP

TUESDAY : J UNE 21, 2016

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ISAH V. RED EDITOR

BING PAREL

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

BERNADETTE LUNAS

life @ thestandard.com .ph

WRITER

@LIFEatStandard

A RTS, CU LT U RE , T ECH & MEDI A

LIFE

Martie Datu holds third solo exhibit at ArtistSpace

T

hey say a picture paints a thousand words, and this adage comes to life with the paintings of artist-turned-banker Martie Datu. A Banking and Finance graduate from the De La Salle University, Datu delved into the world of numbers shortly after she graduated in 2003, initially working with a multinational bank before deciding to join her father when he put up his own consultancy firm. Back then, she enjoyed doodling and did a bit of sketching but she never seriously thought about being an artist.

It was during her stint with a leading Swiss Bank in Singapore, however, that her passion for painting and the arts was rekindled, spending most of her free time painting and attending workshops. Pretty soon, she found herself getting more excited at the prospect of painting, her interest sustained as she explored galleries and art schools. She returned to the Philippines thereafter, having decided to follow what her heart dictated: She wanted to paint.

For someone who has had no formal art training, Datu’s works succeeded in catching the attention of art aficionados when a gallery owner gave her the opportunity to mount her first solo exhibit in 2014. Her work has since been seen in private collections in the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, and countries across Asia.

For her third exhibit that will run until July 3 at ArtistSpace in Ayala Museum in Makati, the artist draws from her personal experiences to bring viewers back to that place where one can recover all that may have been lost in a world that has become so disconnected owing

Yet Datu manages to elicit tender emotions from her paintings that depict such simple scenes as a little girl frolicking on the beach with her arms spread out in exuberance; or a boy out on a field playing with a toy plane. Such scenes depicted in her paintings capture those happy moments that no amount of words can accurately describe.

The artist believes that a happy childhood positively impacts one’s future, and this is vividly translated in the pieces that are showcased in her latest solo exhibit. It will not really be surprising if, looking at Datu’s works, exhibit goers will also find themselves reminiscing about happy moments during their childhood – strolling down the beach during family vacations, observing garden blooms and trees, and playing pretend with siblings.

Her favorite subjects are obviously children, and the faceless images somehow convey innocence, purity and the happiness brought by the freedom from having to worry about what tomorrow may bring.

Childhood, after all, is a blissful chapter where children simply live in the moment.

“When There Are No Words” will run until July 3 at the ArtistSpace, ground level, Ayala Museum, Annex, Makati Ave. corner Dela Rosa St. Greenbelt Park, Makati City. The ArtistSpace is open from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Mondays to Sundays. Admission is free.

Summer Stroll, acrylic on canvas, 30x24

to the unnecessary distractions that people encounter in their everyday lives.

A Trip to the Countryside, acrylic on canvas, 36x28

Ironic, really, since advancements in information and communication technology

He Soared and Conquered acrylic on canvas, 30x24

have made it so easy for people to communicate regardless of geographical distance.

For more information on the exhibition, email hello@martiedatu.com or log on to www.martiedatu.com.

For queries and concerns on ArtistSpace, email artistspace@ayalafoundation.org.

She Keeps Them Close, acrylic on canvas, 36x28

TUESDAY : J UNE 21, 2016

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

Mark Gil Asistin’s artificial bonsai takes two to three days to finish.

@LIFEatStandard

A faux bonsai by Christian Alberto is made of wire, beads, artificial moss and paint.

MARK GIL ASISTIN AND CHRISTIAN ALBERTO:

The real score with faux bonsai makers

BY EDGARDO S. TUGADE

W

hen we moved to Marilao, Bulacan, I became exposed to rural landscapes of grasslands and homesteads, and roadsides full of trees and green plants. After a few weeks of this, I decided to grow ornamental plants in our yard and went around the neighborhood to ask for cuttings or small shoots with roots. This also sparked an interest in bonsai culture and I joined several Facebook groups of bonsai artists.

I even wrote about the National Bonsai & Suiseki Competition, which took place in the Quezon Memorial Circle last April.

Through these groups, I got acquainted with two Pampangueños—one of whom is a bonsai grower—who create miniature artificial bonsai landscapes (called penjing by bonsai enthusiasts) made of wire, beads, stones and fake moss on a tiny plate.

I ordered one from my Facebook friend Mark Gil Asistin, and one of The Standard editors who saw it on my desk said it was beautiful.

The positive reaction moved me to interview Asistin and his office subordinate and protégé Christian Alberto through e-mail and private messages on FB. Both are gifted visual artists who work in SM City Clark. Asistin, 36, is a supervisor in the mall’s Visual Display Department, where Alberto, 28, is a propsman.

After taking a vocational course in drafting at the National Trade

Yanz Alberto

Mack Asistin

School, Asistin stopped schooling and put up his own ad-sign shop making signs, banners and billboards. After almost three years, he saved enough to go back to school and finished his Bachelor of Science in Commerce at Republic Central Colleges in 2006. He learned to make real bonsai during his first year of high school at Holy Angel University in 1994.

One day, his favorite mame (a real tree up to only six inches high) bonsai died and that’s when he began to make artificial bonsai as a hobby. Asistin started with just wire, painting the branches to make his pieces look real. “I surfed the Net to get more design ideas and befriended Facebook account holders with the same hobby. When I began posting pictures of my miniature artificial bonsai on Facebook, orders began coming in from netizens here and abroad. My first customers were my friends in the real bonsai Facebook

groups,” he told The Standard.

Asistin said “a fully finished artificial bonsai takes two to three days to make, depending on how many branches per tree. The amount of beads used depends on the quantity of the branches.

I spend about P250 pesos for the raw materials—pots, wires, paint, glue stick, liquid glue, white sand, and emulsion.”

He sets a price tag for his pieces depending on the number of each bonsai tree’s branches and whether the buyer wants a single tree in a pot or a complete landscape. Saying he would never give up his regular job to go fulltime as an artificial bonsai worker (“even if someone will finance me”) because he loves his work, Asistin maintains his profitable hobby because it is an effective stress reliever, and appreciative buyers who post glowing comments on Facebook give him a feeling of elation. He also continues culturing real

bonsai, which he said is more difficult and more challenging.

Asistin’s buyers both here and abroad (most recently Las Vegas and California) have increased rapidly so he sometimes runs out of stock. After he finishes each faux bonsai, he places it on his office desk. Alberto (a highschool graduate from Raniag High School in Ramon, Isabela) watched him making them and was inspired to do the same.

Alberto—who lives in Mabalacat and started working with the Visual Display Department of SM City Clark in January this year—shares that he is the youngest child and it’s his responsibility to help his mother.

He relates: “Going through my daily routine, I thought of doing work on the side to provide me an allowance and to pay the boarding house in Clark where I stay. I saw a cute little tree on a table... a tree made of beads and wire. I got interested in it and asked the owner how he made it. Right after that day I bought cheap materials to make a tree. I failed the first time, which is normal for a beginner. Soon I learned how to do it and enjoyed making them. I added an FB friend from Indiana—Derek Okeefe. He is a wire artist and he pushed me to continue my art and he believes in me. He was my first client in the US.” Like Asistin’s work, Alberto’s wire tree sculpture is made of

wire, beads, artificial moss and paint. “The raw materials are cheap but most of my clients pay for the art. I think I can assemble one wire tree in a day, but since I have to work, I complete an artificial tree in two to three days depending on my free time.”

He also posts photos of his finished works on Facebook. “I started selling my works a month after I began making them. The price of each piece depends on how long it took to make it, and the size and beauty of the art. I feel blessed by God because I cannot meet my needs without this sideline. So, if someone gave me an opportunity and financed me in this business, I will be happy to go into it full time,” Alberto said.

Aside from Okeefe, Alberto has had three other American customers; in the Philippines, four people have bought his pieces.

“Now I am in my fifth month of making wire trees. I thank [Asistin] who inspired me to go into this art, for pushing me and believing that I can do it... my partner and now my boss, my brother. I thank above all the Almighty Father for giving me this talent and other blessings,” the young man concludes.

Asistin may be contacted on Facebook through his account name "Makaila Sugar," and at cell phone number 09321131571.

Alberto's Facebook account name is Yanz Alberto" and his cell phone number is 09264781729.

Awesome deals with Citi Citi credit card holders are entitled to exciting freebies when they avail of PayLite for special purchases in select partner stores.

Cardholders get to take home a free Moshi MacBook case that provides supreme scratch resistance while accentuating the device’s elegant design for every purchase worth P50,000 or more at any participating Switch store located in Alabang Town Center, Baguio Ayala Technohub, Bluebay Walk, Evia Mall, Glorietta, Marquee Mall, Nuvali Mall, Paseo de Sta. Rosa, Robinsons Las

Piñas, SM Jazz Mall, The District Cavite, UP Technohub and UP Town Center.

Offer runs until June 30 from participating Switch stores located in Alabang Town Center, Baguio Ayala Technohub, Bluebay Walk, Evia Mall, Glorietta, Marquee Mall, Nuvali Mall, Paseo de Sta. Rosa, Robinsons Las Piñas, SM Jazz Mall, The District Cavite, UP Technohub, UP Town Center and more.

Amazing gadgets and stylish cases also await those who avail of zero percent PayLite up to 12 months at iStudio. Every purchase

of at least P50,000 will entitle cardholder to one Monocozzi SMIGHTY 10400mah power bank, or one Monocozzi, Moshi or Monifilm Case for your iPhone, iPad Air, iPad mini or laptop worth up to P1,500 for a minimum PayLite purchase of P25,000 from today until June 30.

What’s more, cardholders who avail of these special deals from Switch and iStudio also get to taste any of the following Yellow Cab 18inch pizzas delivered right at their doorstep: New York’s Finest, New York Classic or Four Cheese flavors.

Citi cardholders get to take home free Moshi Macbook case for every P50,000-worth purchase at selected Switch stores

To learn more about other Citi offers, visit www.citibank.com.ph or call the 24-hour CitiPhone Hotline at (02) 995 9999.

TUESDAY : J UNE 21, 2016

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

ARTS AND CULTURE ROUNDUP What’s on in theaters and galleries this week

EXHIBITS

WORKSHOPS

Cy Prés Silverlens Gallery, Makati City Ongoing until July 2

Poetry Writing Workshop Ayala Museum, Makati City June 22, 29, July 6 and 13; 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.

In his latest solo exhibition, visual artist Johann Espiritu cracks open his bank of memories to present images that explore the past its meaning and importance. He cuts and pastes Instax and giclee prints, super-imposes them until they make sense, and finally shows them to the public.

The lawyer-artist presents his random bits to unburden himself from never forgetting. Each piece on display tackles a part of his past which is brought to a reconstituted future. According to Espiritu, putting together these images has become, in itself, the experience and the real hard-copy.

Curious about what goes into writing poetry besides rhyme, meter and poetic license?

University of the Philippines Diliman professor Conchitina Cruz is facilitating a three-day workshop that will be discussed as a way of thinking exercise and eventually executed on page.

During the class, questions such as Why does a poem appear the way it does on a page? Why are sentences cut into lines? and Why are the pages filled with words or kept almost empty? Participants will explore the wide scope of poetry writing, and produce at least two poem drafts and one revision as outputs.

Visit www.silverlensgalleries.com to know more about this ongoing exhibit.

The P6,750 workshop fee is inclusive of materials, handouts, snacks, certificate, one-day free admission to the museum and one-day free access to the library. Call Marj at (02) 7598288 local 25 or email villaflores.md@ayalafoundation.org for inquiries and more details.

Paper Art Workshop Ayala Museum, Makati City June 25; 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Learn about the intricate art form of paper cutting in this one-day workshop headed by JV Calanoc. The practice of paper cutting originated in China in the second century and eventually branched out to various parts of the world.

Participants will be able to harness their ability to construct their own paper cut designs using elegant shapes and patterns and to handle paper in a non-conventional manner. Paper has the ability to transform the perspective of its audience and, if manipulated in a specific way, can play with light and depth.

Property of Space Artery Art Space, Quezon City Ongoing until July 9 Dramatizing the tensions that create space, Marc Gaba exhibits his current series of multi-media artworks. The premise of the exhibit is anchored on the ubiquitous No Parking sign which was photographed at night to conceptualize absence as a deictic marker.

Moreover, the paintings, video installation and a downloadable book of photographs abstractly reference the Occupy movement and the unfinished territorial dispute on the Spratly Islands in a bid to use art as political critique on social reality.

For inquiries and more details on this show, call (02) 725-2837 or send an email to arteryartspace@gmail.com.

Workshop fee ranges from P3,150 to P3,500. For inquiries and reservations, call (02) 759-8288 local 35 or email education@ ayalamuseum.org.

LECTURES Heart to HeART Ground Floor Lobby, Ayala Museum, Makati City June 26, 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.

As part of Ayala Museum and Rotary Club Makati-West s fundraising initiative dubbed Art Beat, dynamic husband-and-wife duo Elmer Borlongan and Plet Bolipata will share stories about their artistic and romantic relationship, CASA San Miguel, the Museum of Community Heritage and how the latter gives back to the people of San Antonio, Zambales.

Hosted by Julius and Tintin Babao, the talk sets the stage for a series of more intimate conversations between artists and creative professionals on their love for art, passion projects and causes close to their heart.

Admission to this talk is through a minimum donation of P800 to Art Beat. Call (02) 759-8288 local 35 or email education@ayalamuseum.org.

TUESDAY : J UNE 21, 2016

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

Fashion blogger AJ Dee usually looks for accessories and hard-to-find pieces shoes online

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@LIFEatStandard

Ali Khatibi books airline tickets and hotel rooms online whenever he and his family go on trips

CONVENIENCE FROM A CARD

elebrity dads AJ Dee, Ali Khatibi and Troy Montero all have one thing in common: They enjoy the conveniences of online shopping.

While balancing their respective career, family and personal time, the three men still find time doing what they love to do.

“I’m usually kept busy with sports training, attending business meetings and running errands,” shares mixed martial arts fighter Khatibi, husband of actress Cristine Reyes and father to Amarah.

Khatibi and Reyes make it a point to spend free days together eating out, watching movies or taking long drives. “Our daughter is only a year old, and it’s critical that the three of us spend time with each other as much as we can.”

Dee’s schedule is just as hectic.

But when he is not shooting, working at an event, or updating his blog, he squeezes in some

much-needed me-time by working out, watching a movie or reflecting.

But above everything, Dee actively finds time to talk to his family who is based in Norway. “It’s a different kind of situation because we’re apart from each other,” he says. He reserves late evenings to communicate with his wife and two sons through Facetime. When he visits them in Norway, the family bonds by shopping.

Like Khatibi and Dee, Montero’s daily routine is a balanced mix of daddy duty and work responsibility.

Up by 5:00 a.m. in the morning, Montero is in charge of taking his kids to school, before heading to the gym and to the office.

“Since school is on, family time is usually on the weekends,” says Montero.

The Montero-Miles brood counts shopping, eating out and traveling during the summer among their go-to activities.

“That’s the way I grew up. My

Metrobank Corporation’s YAZZ card is an all-around prepaid VISA card that allows cashless transactions.

parents made an effort to spend time with us on the weekends and I appreciate the time and effort they put into it.”

For these three guys, shopping certainly counts as both a family activity and a personal one.

Thankfully, despite their busy schedules, they can still shop for things they need with the help of online shopping.

Fitting the needs of these men—from paying bills, booking travel tickets and purchasing from online shops online—is Metrobank Card Corporation that offers YAZZ card, the allaround prepaid VISA card that allows cashless transactions, anytime, anywhere.

“We usually book airline tickets, hotel rooms online if we are going on a trip,” says Khatibi, who also purchases sports gear through the Internet. Dee, who has his own suit collection, naturally gravitates towards fashion pieces like accessories and hard-to-find shoes, while Montero likes the online-only travel perks, in addition to the convenience of purchasing anything from clothes to gifts.

With convenience and timesaving in place, these multitasking dads have more time to raise their families and enrich their lives.

YAZZ card can be used to instantly pay for bills and purchases from over 40 million VISA-accredited merchants worldwide.

For online transactions, the EMV-enabled card can be used to book travel tickets and buy books and games,

Celebrity dad Troy Montero takes advantage of travel perks he gets from purchasing online

among other things.

Interested patrons can avail of YAZZ card for P300 at SM Hypermarket, SM Supermarket, SM Business Centers, Savemore, Family Mart, Waltermart and CD-R King. The minimum load amount is P100 per transaction,

while maximum load per day is P10,000. To check the available load in the card, users can use the YAZZ mobile app, website, ATM, customer service or SMS inquiry.

For more information, visit YazzcardPH on Facebook.

T UES DAY : J UNE 2 1, 2016

SHOWBITZ isahred @ gmail.com

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ISAH V. RED EDITOR

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Kim Chiu and Xian Lim bring cheers to Filipinos in Saipan

he Story of Us stars Kim Chiu and Xian Lim roused the laidback island of Saipan, as they kicked off their “TSOURISTAS Global Trip” at the Royal Taga Convention Center World Resort in May. Through The Filipino Channel (TFC) and partner Philippine Airlines, the arrival of one of the most popular love teams on Philippine television came as good news for Filipinos in the capital of the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), home to about 18,000 Filipinos, according to the Consulate of the Philippines in CNMI. As the dry season in Saipan also comes to a close, TFC excited kababayans and continued to provide warmth to the thousands of Pinoys with a taste of Filipino entertainment they only previously saw on TFC and TFC.tv.

Chiu, a multi-talented performer, sang her famous hit “Mr. Right” and invited male members of the audience to apply as Chiu’s “The One” during the event. Winner Johnny Bohman was ecstatic as the teen superstar chose her over hundreds in the audience.

Lim, teasingly challenged Bohman to let the best man win, much to the amusement of the audience.

When it was Lim’s time to perform, he showed how one can have both talent and good looks at the same time. He sang “Harana” and Jireh’s viral hit “Buko,” which was also part of one of their movie’s soundtrack.

The day did not end without a duet from the love team.

The crowd swooned as the rumored couple sang “When You Say Nothing At All” by Lee Ann

Entertainment. Kim Chiu and Xian Lim perform before a cheering crowd at the Royal Taga Convention Center World Resort

Rimes and revealed they will continue to travel the world as part of the “Tsouristas Global Trip.”

Chiu, dubbed the Philippines’ Chinita Princess, may have travelled the world but for her, the experience in Saipan is one of the most memorable.

Chiu said: “We’re very happy sobra kasi parang it feels like we’re still in the Philippines parang hindi kami lumalayo sa Pilipinas kasi andaming Pilipino, andam-

PAL executives gave away two round-trip tickets (Saipan-Philippines-Saipan) where Shirley Kim (top photo) and Aira Joy Velasco won

ing nagha-hi samin. They’re very warm and lahat ng tao talaga tinatawag kaming Macoy at Tin so parang nakakatuwa.” (We’re very happy because it feels like we’re still in the Philippines, like we were never apart. There were a lot of Filipinos who welcomed us.

Everyone was warm and everyone was calling us Macoy and Tin.” Xian could only agree. He observed, “Walang katumbas iyong aura na binibigay talaga ng mga tao dito dahil napakabait, napaka-happy lahat, parang walang problema. Ang saya-saya dito and hopefully, when we get back, sana makita po namin ulit kayo.” (The vibe was incomparable. Everyone was kind, happy and cool. It was very different. When we get back, we hope to see the same people).

The “Tsouristas Global Trip” trended at no. six during the week of the event with over 20,000 tweets using the hash tag #KimXianSaipan.

ABS-CBN Managing Director for Asia Pacific Ailene Averion said Filipinos’ attendance, the trending on social media and the feedback the team received were proof of how receptive Filipinos are of ABS-CBN content, stars and engagements. “Saipan may be one of the most compact regions we serve, but what it does not have in terms of geographical size was made up for the bigness of the people’s hearts. I am not just talking about the Filipinos but also the locals who also watch our content,” she adds.

She ends, “It gladdens me to know that our stories resonate with them, proof that everywhere we go, there will always be loyal Kapamilyas just waiting for us.”

Guests who were met by TFC with the trademark Kapamilya treatment were Honorary Consul of the Philippines to the CNMI

Eli Arago. Performers include Revive Band that sang “Love On Top” by Beyoncé and “It’s Too Late” by Carol King. The Saipan Music Dance Studio moved the attendees to their feet, while viral sensation, Bernice Shane Sabino sang Sia’s “Flashlight” a take-off from her Smule video with Jessie J which has earned over 12 million views since posting.

“Tsouristas Global Trip” in

Saipan was made possible by Philippine Airlines’ launch of the maiden flight to Saipan on June 15. PAL gave away two roundtrip tickets to the Philippines where Filipinas Shirley Kim and Aira Joy Velasco won.

Catch the next destination of the “Tsouristas Global Trip” leg via TFC’s Facebook pages worldwide. For more updates via facebook.com/TFCGuamandSaipan

From left: “On China” host Kristie Lu Stout, Chinese director Lu Chuan, and journalists Clifford Coonan and James T. Areddy

Entertainment industry in China

China’s overall economy is slowing but there is still explosive growth in its entertainment sector. China is set to be the world’s biggest market for movies. It overtook North America at the box office for the first time this year. And that means Hollywood has to mind the censors if it wants a piece of the action.

In this month’s On China, CNN’s Kristie Lu Stout is in Shanghai, where the highly anticipated new Disneyland has just opened. She speaks with leading Chinese director Lu Chuan; Irish Times correspon-

dent and former Asia Bureau Chief for The Hollywood Reporter, Clifford Coonan; and Wall Street Journal correspondent James T. Areddy. In the course of the talk show they discuss the condition of China’s entertainment industry, the risk factor behind Disneyland’s biggest foreign investment, and the future of movie making in the country.

On China airs on CNN International on June 23 at $:30 p.m. in Manila, Hongkong, Beijing, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Taipe with replays at different times until July 24.

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T UES DAY : J UNE 2 1, 2016

SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters!: (from left) Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones and Chris Hemsworth

Win a trip to Hollywood for ‘Ghostbusters’ world premiere

T

he iconic Ghostbusters films took the world by storm 30 years ago and the franchise is returning this July with a fresh take by director Paul Feig (Spy, Bridesmaids).

An all-girl group made up of Melissa MaCarthy (Mike and Molly, Spy), Kristen Wiig (The Martian, Bridesmaids), Kate McKinnon (SNL) and Leslie Jones (SNL) will take the film reboot.

Signing up for a new HOOQ account up to June 24 gives subscribers a chance to watch the

world premiere with the Ghostbusters stars in Hollywood this July. Check out www.HOOQ.tv/ Ghostbusters for more details.

Globe GoSURF 99 and below, and up to 90 days of free trial for all mobile customers availing of GoSURF 299 and up. Text GS HOOQ to 8888 to get the promo.

It’s easy to get HOOQ Globe Broadband customers Sign up today for a seven-day also get HOOQ for free for selected free trial on www.HOOQ.tv. plans of Globe Home Broadband.

Once the trial expires, you can either pay the P149 subscription Catch the Ghostbusters fee monthly through credit credit films on HOOQ or charge it to your Globe bill by Before the ladies arrive to take texting HOOQ149 to 8888. over the 2016 reboot, catch the origiGlobe Postpaid customers can nal Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II get up to 45 days of free trial with films on HOOQ. Relive the iconic

moments like Bill Murray, Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd putting on their proton-packs and taking on Slimer and Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. For the first time on a SVOD platform, Hollywood movie buffs and fans of the iconic films will be able to access interviews, extra footage, and deleted scenes from the movies, all exclusively on HOOQ.

Watch the original Ghostbusters at the HOOQ Purple Carpet

In addition to featuring the classic

film series on the service, HOOQ will also screen Ghostbusters 1 and 2 at its first Purple Carpet Movie Night on July 15, 7 p.m. at the Bonifacio Ampitheater, right across the Globe Iconic Store. Admission is free when you show the HOOQ app on your mobile or tablet device at the entrance. The HOOQ Purple Carpet, powered by Globe, is a fun night out for friends and family, with wide-screen movie entertainment, lounge seating, food stalls, and exciting games and raffle prizes.

Miss World Philippines 2016 forges partnership with Viva The national search for Miss World Philippines 2016 officially started with CQ Global Quest, Inc., the local franchise holder under director Cory Quirino, inking a partnership with Viva Live, Inc. for the exclusive right to hold this year’s competition.

Quirino believed that Viva’s proven years of experience in managing and staging big events will guarantee Miss World Philippines to continue to fulfill its promise of giving aspiring candidates better opportunities to attain fame and success. Viva Chairman and CEO Vic del Rosario assured Qurino of a better Miss World Philippines, with more glitz and content, and giving the girls training to become a beauty queen, commercial model or even a film and TV star.

Miss World Philippines has

Sealing the deal. Viva Chairman and CEO Vic del Rosario and Miss World Philippines director Cory Quirino (second and third from left) flanked by 2015 titleholders

gained tremendous popularity after Megan Young succeeded in becoming the first Filipina to win the Miss World crown in 2013. Valerie Weigmann was not as successful, finishing just among the Top 25 in 2014, while last year’s Hillarie Parungao also failed to live up to high

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

ANSWER PREVIOUS PUZZLE

ACROSS 1 Mixer for rum 5 Family mem.

8 Steer or ram 12 Ms. Jong 14 Felipe or Moises 15 Faculty honcho 16 Sleuth’s clues 17 Now, to Caesar 18 Bill, briefly 19 Arson

21 Not as dull 23 Byron work 24 Gun the engine 25 — you serious?

26 Vestibules 30 Check endorser 32 Flee to the JP 33 Halls packet 36 Rochester clinic 37 Buenos — 38 “Pretty Woman”

actor 40 Ballroom dances 42 Nut holders 43 Knitting basics 44 Toto’s home 45 ICU units 48 More, in Mexico 49 Gob of bubblegum 50 Gone bad 52 Cheerfully 57 Gen. Bradley 58 Clarified butter 60 Goose-bumpy 61 Drama award 62 Come by honestly 63 Rodeo noose 64 Twig juncture 65 Tractor-trailer 66 Blended whiskeys DOWN 1 Druid 2 Two-piece cookie 3 Fact fudger 4 “Back in Black” group 5 Fake coin 6 Cl- or Ca++ 7 Horse chestnuts 8 Dept. store inventory 9 Insurance giant 10 Weaker, as an excuse 11 — nous 13 On dry land

expectation even as she finished a respectable 6th place over-all among the record 100-plus delegates and winning the Multi-media challenge award.

This year, the big buzz is about the possible entry of Weigmann’s close friend, Filipino-Australian model

TUESDAY, JUNE 21, 2016

14 Prince Charles’ sister 20 Ego companions 22 Flush with 24 Brings down the house 26 Not masc.

27 Viking name 28 Toy on a string (hyph.)

29 Super glue 30 Cruise stops 31 Incite (2 wds.)

33 They have their pride 34 Lampreys 35 Tijuana Ms. 37 Music adapter 39 Superman’s emblem 41 Gentle 42 Pester 44 Chiang — -shek 45 Emulate Bing 46 Lounge band 47 Priggish 49 Brown nester 51 Cone producer 52 Broken-off glacier 53 Estate recipient 54 Waiter’s burden 55 Diet 56 Stadium shouts 59 Yes in Yokohama

Catriona Gray, who many predict may give the country a strong chance at a second Miss World victory if she wins Miss World Philippines 2016.

Miss World owner and CEO Julia Morley has established a certain fondness for the Philippines after forging partnership in charity works under the Miss World ‘Beauty with a Purpose’ humanitarian advocacy.

Through ‘Beauty with a Purpose, ’Morley and the Miss World Organization have created a global network of charity and fundraising, empowering thousands of individuals to help their local and global communities, raising millions of dollars in support of the sick and disadvantaged. Early this year, Morley joined the ranks of the world’s most prolific benefactors when she was awarded with The Variety International Humanitarian Award,

an honor given to individuals or organizations who/which have shown exceptional understanding, empathy, and devotion to mankind over a significant period of time.

During the awarding ceremony, Morley got a surprise guest in Baby Sunshine, the little girl from the Philippines afflicted with cancer who would not have been alive today without Morley’s help.

Baby Sunshine was brought to the stage by Cory Quirino who spoke about the girl’s flight and their experiences on how Julia touched their lives, her contribution to the society and the inspiration she has provided through her initiatives.

Miss World Philippines 2016 aims to find Filipino women of substance who embody what Morley’s “Beauty with a Purpose’ represents.

– Eton B. Concepcion

T UES DAY : J UNE 2 1, 2016

SHOWBITZ isahred @ gmail.com

A

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

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ABS-CBN CELEBRATES PRESS FREEDOM

BS-CBN celebrated the 118th anniversary of Philippine Independence by highlighting the importance of freedom of the press and its contribution to the country’s history at “Isang Pamilya Tayo: The ABS-CBN Flag Raising Ceremony” held on June 12, which also marked DZMM’s 30th anniversary.

ABS-CBN Integrated News and Current Affairs head Ging Reyes said freedom has been the foundation of the Kapamilya network’s flagship AM radio station since it went back on air after the People Power Revolution in 1986, until its commemoration of 30 years of leadership in news and public service this 2016.

“As we celebrate the 118th anniversary of our independence and pay tribute to the Philippine flag, let us join in the celebration of DZMM’s 30 years and uphold media freedom, courageous reporting, and honest service,” she

“Isang Pamilya Tayo: The ABS-CBN Flag Raising Ceremony” Zen Hernandez (left) and Atom Araullo (right)

said.

Reyes recounted the events that shaped the history of the country – all covered by DZMM and ABSCBN – including the MV Doña

Integrated News and Current Affairs head Ging Reyes

Paz tragedy, Central and North Luzon earthquake, Mt. Pinatubo eruption, Typhoons Ondoy and Yolanda, among others.

“DZMM presents the history of

the Philippines as it is happening.

It is a live witness to the country’s stories of success and failure, of tragedy and recovery. Over the years, DZMM has been a catalyst

for change,” she added.

Reyes also highlighted how DZMM “led and set the trend” by introducing online live streaming and launching the TeleRadyo format, first as a cable channel, and now as an exclusive free channel on ABS-CBN TVplus.

The event also debuted DZMM’s new music video, with the theme song sung by Piolo Pascual, showing the past and present anchors, memorable coverages, and programs over DZMM’s 30 years.

During the ceremony, The Voice Kids finalist led the singing of the Philippine national anthem, while Darren Espanto performed the song “Bayan Ko.” “Isang Pamilya Tayo: The ABSCBN Flag Raising Ceremony,” hosted by Atom Araullo and Zen Hernandez, also underscored the important role of millennials, or people aged 18 to 32, in nationbuilding.

‘Alyssa Valdez: The Flight of the UAAP Phenom’ on ABS-CBN Sports + Action Sometimes, a sport runs across an athlete that is on another level compared to his or her peers.

They are known as generational talents, once-in-a-lifetime superstars, athletes who can do special things, great things, mixing it with charisma to charm more than a hundred thousand people.

Phenoms

The Philippines has its own phenomenal athletes. There’s Manny Pacquiao for boxing, Paeng Nepomuceno for bowling, Efren Bata Reyes for billiards, and Caloy Loyzaga for basketball.

The recent rise in popularity of volleyball in the country also gave

ABS-CBN Sports features multi-awarded athlete Alyssa Valdez in a documentary detailing the volleyball player’s rise to stardom

birth to another Filipino phenom.”

Filipinos will get to witness the rise of Philippine volleyball’s

Food crawl in Japan Are you ready for a food crawl?

Get a chance to visit one of the most breathtaking countries in the world! With Lifestyle’s Food Crawl in Japan viewer promo, you can win a trip to Osaka, Japan for two and once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go on a multi-stop food trip around the land of the rising sun to uncover the best and most interesting places to eat famous Japanese cuisines.

Do you wish to explore the Tsuyuno Shrine and wish for love? Check out the Osaka Castle? Enjoy Butterbeer at the Harry Potter World in Universal Studios? Experience premier shopping and enjoy cheap eats?

Experience all these and more!

Joining is easy! Here’s how: Watch Lifestyle between 8 a.m. and 12 noon, also a 8: p.m. and 10:p.m. from Monday to Friday.

Watch out for the program bug (this is The Crawl logo c/o Mariel) and take a selfie with it.

(The program bug appears on all shows within these time slots.)

Upload selfie on Facebook and tag (/LifestyleTVph) and use the

brightest star in Alyssa Valdez: The Flight of the UAAP Phenom, an ABS-CBN Sports’ documentary

detailing the path to stardom of one Alyssa Valdez, a three-time MVP in the UAAP Women’s Volleyball division, which will air on ABS-CBN Sports + Action at 11:30 a.m. today.

Valdez, who led the Ateneo Lady Eagles to two championships, will narrate how she ended up in Katipunan to play for the Blue and White and train under coaches Roger Gorayeb and later Tai Bundit, and then achieving superstardom never before seen in local collegiate sports.

Valdez will also open up about her personal life, from her roots in Batangas to her blooming relationship with fellow phenom Kiefer Ravena. The documentary will also

reveal the current path the erstwhile Queen Eagle, wherein she hopes to do more for the sport, her fans, and the country.

Anchored by Gretchen Ho, Alyssa Valdez: The Flight of the UAAP Phenom is a documentary produced by ABS-CBN Sports, the sports arm of ABS-CBN, which aims to champion sports and Filipino athletes through providing inspiring and exciting sports content on multiple platforms, ABS-CBN Sports + Action on free TV, ABS-CBN Sports + Action HD on cable, and sports. abs-cbn.com online. ABS-CBN is the Phillppines’ leading media and entertainment company.

History® turns lens on Asia’s best shutterbugs

After two successful seasons, A+E Networks® Asia’s original production Photo Face-Off is set to return on History® for season three. Currently in production, viewers in the region can look forward to the five episode series’ premiere later this year.

Award-winning resident professional photographer Justin Mott is back to take on a new group of hashtags #TheCrawlonLifestyle amateur photographers who will #LifestyleTVph #LoveYourLife- compete against him, and each othNow, with caption as answer to er, for the top prize. For the third the question “Why do you Love consecutive year, Canon will be the series’ presenting sponsor, in assoYour Life Now?” Log-on to lifestyletv.ph to ciation with Silk Air. This season’s register to the promo. (Per DTI pool of talented photographers are - FTEB SPD Permit No. 5960 Se- vying for an overseas trip to the Canon Photo Clinic, a Canon EOS ries of 2016) The promo will run until July 8 7D Mark II camera + Canon Red and the lucky winners will be an- Line Professional Backpack and the opportunity to photograph a red nounced on July 11.

Lifestyle is available on SKY- carpet event for A+E Networks.

Besides picking up valuable cable channel 52. For updates, photography tips from the relike their Facebook page at www. gion’s leading experts, viewers will facebook.com/LifestyleTVPH , follow their IG account Lifesty- also experience some of Southeast leTVPH and Twitter account @ Asia’s most unique activities and exotic locales. From capturing a Lifestyle52. figure skater in action, to styling

Award-winning resident professional photographer Justin Mott (left) and “Photo Face-Off” host Kelly Latimer (right)

and shooting an album cover for a popular local band, this year’s challenges will be more exciting than ever.

Three local amateurs in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand will be given new photographic challenges each week in their home town, designed to test the shooters’ creativity, skill and technical knowledge. A panel of professionals will judge their work and the pack will be whittled down after each challenge until there is one country representative who will then move on to the grand finale in Vietnam.

Each episode will feature a three-round battle: a speed chal-

lenge which will require them to think on their feet and race against time; a theme challenge where they will have to meet a client’s brief; and a final face-off where the last one standing will compete head to head with expert Justin Mott for bragging rights and Canon prizes.

Photo Face-Off is the first and biggest photography reality competition television series in Asia and is produced by Beach House Productions for A+E Networks Asia.

History™ is available on SKYCable Ch 67; Cable Link Ch. 43; Dream Satellite Ch 30; Destiny Cable Ch 57; and Cignal Ch 125.

T UES DAY : J UNE 2 1, 2016

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ISAH V. RED EDITOR NICKIE WANG WRITER

isahred @ gmail.com

SHOWBITZ ABS-CBN ‘Team Yey’ on digital free TV ISAH V. RED

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elevision entertainment for kids just got more exciting as Yey!, the country’s first local all-day children’s channel exclusively aired on ABSCBN TVplus, brings Team Yey, a new show that features six kids sharing their talents and skills each day of the week.

The first-ever locally produced kid’s show on digital TV, Team Yey showcases daily activities featuring dancing, food preparation, arts and crafts, sports, storytelling, music and fun challenges. One activity is highlighted per day with one “Team Yey” member taking the lead.

“We want kids to enjoy their childhood experiences. ‘Team Yey’ encourages kids to have fun while exploring possibilities that they may excel in, that’s why we feature a variety of activities led by kids who authentically enjoys what they do best.” said Danie Sedilla-Cruz, channel head for Yey. Talented kids who define kiddie ‘squad goals’ in a fun way lead the cool adventures on Team Yey. “Galaw Go,” which will be shown every Monday, features “Dance Kids” finalist AJ Urquia showing a variety of cool dance moves including hip-hop and folk dance that will get kids’ energy pumping and help them express themselves through their bodies and improve their physical wellbeing.

Tuesdays become yummy and interesting as “Goin’ Bulilit” and foodie at heart Mitch Naco leads “Snaks Naman” which is all about preparing tasty kiddie dishes in a fun way. Mitch gives a touch of creativity to desserts, drinks, and snacks to show kids that preparing meals can be enjoyable even if they do it independently.

On Wednesdays, budding artist and actress Hannah Vito takes on the spotlight in “Artstig” where imagination and resourcefulness come to life through arts and crafts projects. Hannah explores different ways to make kids appreciate that beautiful things can be created out of typical and found items.

Thursdays get physical in “Game? Play!” hosted by young athlete and vlogger Sam Shoaf. Sam introduces sports that kids can try like basketball and traditional Filipino games, like takip-silim, to demonstrate that playing games is just as fun and interactive as playing games on their gadgets.

Every Friday, child storyteller and commercial model Raven Cajuguiran narrates heartfelt stories on “Storyey” where magical stories come alive in mini-theater presentations or simple animations. Apart from featuring tales that kids will enjoy, kids can also draw valuable lessons from the stories.

Saturdays focus on music with The Voice Kids Season 1 contestant Luke Alford.

“Sound Check” sparks interest in music through inspiring songs and musical instruments.

As the week hits Sunday, the Team Yey members participate in engaging dares and challenges via “Sunday Fun Day!” where they all try out experiments and games that encourages them to do new things.

Learn, play, and try your best everyday with AJ, Mitch, Hannah, Sam, Raven, and Luke by watching Team Yey on weekdays

Learn to dance, prepare food, play sport, play music, tell stories and even explore arts and crafts with “Team Yey,” a new daily show designed for kids

AJ Urquia shows a variety of cool dance moves in “Galaw Go” segment of Team Yey

Hannah Vito explores different ways to make kids appreciate arts and crafts in “Artstig”

“Sound Check” sparks interest in music with the help of Luke Alford

Get physical with Sam Shoaf in “Game? Play!” segment

Mitch Naco hosts the “Snacks Naman” segment

Raven Cajuguiran tells stories in the “Storyey” segment

at 8:30 a.m. and 4:20 p.m. and on weekends at 8:30 a.m. and 2:20 p.m. on Yey! Yey! is a free and exclusive channel on digital TV via ABS-CBN TVplus. Coverage areas of ABS-CBN TVplus includes GMA,

Metro Manila, Rizal, Cavite, Laguna, Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Pangasinan, Benguet, Metro Cebu, Davao City, and Cagayan de Oro. Yey! is also available on cable via SKYcable and Destiny Cable

and on direct-to-home or satellite TV via SKYdirect.

For more information, visit tvplus.abscbn.com and follow ABS-CBN TVplus and Yey on Facebook.